The Dharma Revelation

Chapter 11

When Petra awoke the next morning, she was not glad she left the mess in the kitchen. She had overslept and was late, late on her first day at Osiris.

She showered quickly, threw some clothes on and tied her hair back.

As she cleaned the kitchen, putting the two mugs from last night into the sink, she thought about the odd conversation with Dharma. What an amazing child she was. Perhaps her parents worked here at the Osiris center, and she spent her time in study.

It occurred to Petra that had the mess not been there, she may have suspected the encounter was nothing more than a dream.

She grabbed her mobile phone, purse, pen and paper and dashed out of her room.

Drake had told her the first meeting was mostly informal, an introduction and orientation, but Petra did not want to give the wrong impression by showing up late. She made her way down the central corridor, noticing the sunlight streaming through the skylights in the ceiling. This building was not like anything she had seen before: part office, part apartment, part convention center, and yet something about it felt incredibly comfortable. The people who architected this building had a clear understanding of what was alluring to the human spirit.

She found the conference room; the door was open and people were inside, talking.

A man waved her in, and in doing so, everybody else stopped talking and looked over at her.

"I am sorry I am late," she said politely, stepping inside the room.

Everyone smiled warmly at her, standing up. The man at the head of the table waved off her apology.

"Welcome Petra, welcome! We are so glad to have you join us this morning. Please, come in, close the door; we were just getting started."

The room had a large window with a beautiful view of the grounds. There was a small table with juice, water and coffee in the corner, and she noticed the faint sounds of classical music playing somewhere.

Petra entered and sat down at the large table. The man at the head was black; he had a warm smile, was bald and seemed to look younger than he probably was. His fashionable glasses were rimless, which gave him a contemporary look.

"Allow me to make the introductions," he said enthusiastically, not taking his eyes off Petra. "This is Petra Delaere, I am pleased to say. Petra was formerly vice school master and guiding Dharma teacher at the Baltimore Zen Center. She is new here, obviously. Petra, it is our pleasure to welcome you here to Osiris."

She nodded politely, slightly embarrassed at all of the attention as the other people in the room showered her with welcoming comments.

"I am Caleb Drake," he continued. "Founder of Osiris and the one who brought us all here together. I am either crazy or brilliant; the jury is still out." Amid the laughter, Petra noticed there was a feeling of respect among everyone toward Drake. He turned his attention back to Petra, "Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe Petra is also working on a book, are you not?"

She nodded, "Actually, it is in the hands of the publisher, finally."

"Excellent," Caleb said sincerely. "Well, allow me to continue the introductions. To my right is Nasir Kamran, a highly successful business man here in the states. Nasir retired 15 years ago and has donated his money and time to his greatest passion: teaching the ways of Islam. He has lived in the upper northwest for most of that time, gaining more followers than any other single Muslim organization in the western United States."