At the suggestion of the Ven. Yao Xiang, Ming Zhen watched the YouTube conversation in which an orthodox Catholic priest traces his life from drugs and motorcycles to his present ministry. His recommendations are somewhat different from the Zen prescription, which Ming Zhen responds to in her essay.
Juan has retreated to the tropical jungle. He harbors a subtle jealousy of Tony Celine and a bold disgust with people. He’s defeated and physically ill and doesn’t want to know anything about anyone. Karen gets answers to her questions – some good and some distressing. Her odyssey has come to an end.
Firearms and Christianity brought new problems to Shogun Ieyasu which he solved by separation and division. When he died the Shogunate fell to his son and then eight years later to his grandson, the tyrannical Iemitsu. Forbidden to earn money and to spend months at court, languishing in boredom, most of the once-proud Samurai became poets, gamblers, fashionistas, gourmets, actors, gossipers, and womanizing drunks. Some, including Tsunetomo, who composed the Hagakure.
In Belize, Karen considers her situation. She now knows why Marc received such preferential treatment from the police, but the information doesn’t help her with the problems she faces. She needs someone to help her. For years, she had been without a serious man in her life, and little by little she is beginning to find herself attracted to two different men: both will need her help, but for wildly different reasons. She wants to solve one problem at a time; but time is not on her side.
Conflict between North and South, introduction of firearms, and foreign religious interference present problems that only an extraordinary man could solve. The Shogun Ieyasu intended to be that man.To attain his goal he calmly resorted to force and political trickery. Yet one small betrayal wore so heavily on him that he wrote the Buddha’s name 10,000 times to atone for it.
Japan’s first “Separation of Church and State” long cherished by Americans was accomplished by its first Shogun, (“the barbarian suppressing Commander in Chief”) Yoritomo Minamoto who let the Emperor preside over religious matters in Kyoto while he moved the government, the first meritocracy, to Kamakura where he set the stage for the flourishing of Zen and the Martial Arts.
A day of enjoyable sailing ends with the bad news of Agnes Celine’s death and the worse news that Karen Breiton is suspected of having caused her death. Karen has stumbled into someone’s trap. But who or why or what the event will have on her professional reputation are questions only a Mexican police detective can answer.
