he taught me the art of soft hands
and i began to understand his clarity and depth of wisdom

he was right
the next time i will not dodge bullets in the buddhafield battlefield
but i will simply become soft and absorb the battlefield
thank you master chen zhulin
you have opened my eyes and i bow to you

i was growing to love hongkong
these people atleast loved and understood their tai chi
and had great courage and humbleness to appreciate
an indian learn and play their sport with such passion

i was beginning to appreciate shona and ramesh and love their son tushar
but in hongkong time is money
soon i would need to get over this tai chi holiday and work for my living

my work permit accepted
stamped in my passport 9 october 1987

i was now needed to prove my work skills in the office
their company manufactured quartz wrist watches
which i found extremely cumbersome and boring
round and square watches…assembly…packing and shipments
high floor offices with no ventilation and air conditioning all day

the love for shona and ramesh
and my new attraction for tai chi kept me going

i love the chinese people and their food and taoist culture
and began to read again
mostly about taoist masters and the shaolin temple monks
i loved bruce lee and read more on his life in hongkong
and other forms of wushu and martial arts

i became passionate about their calligraphic arts
their bamboo paintings and their aesthetic ways of expression

i began reading about the samurai and the japanese way of life
and am entranced by zen haiku and its own universe

looking into the zen temples of kyoto and their endless beauty
this was an entire new world of sensitivity and creative expressions

enter the dragon
the world of the east held great interest for me now
hongkong china japan korea thailand
these were the frontiers of the future for bhagwan
they could understand him

i felt he made a great mistake as did all the gurus of the 70s era
just the bubble of the american dream
the idea that they would soon be fed up with the outer cover of materialism
and would soon turn inwards for their spiritual longings

the west simply did not have a clue as to what is inwards
nor the taste nor the aesthetic values of the east
and its profound culture and wisdom

the east was underdeveloped and to be looked down upon
the west with its advanced nations arrogant and powerful
and their value structures strongly conditioned

bhagwan would have been an emperor
and accepted in the east with great understanding
his work would have spread deep
and his flame would burn bright and be kept alive

the soil was already there
the east needed the modern buddha
and his diamond like clarity updating its ancient wisdom
to reawaken the sleeping dragons

in the east even the emperor bows to the awakened one
in the west they bow to the elected president and his power

i was wearing my tai chi kung fu clothes in the day for training
and wore my maroon robe to work
this was accepted but inwardly frowned upon
by the other brothers of ramesh who lived in the usa

i continued to arrive in the office in my maroon robe
i had worked two months enjoying my tai chi
working during the day and evening reading absorbing eastern cultures

soon the robe issue came up
and i had an intense argument in the office with his brother
in open view of all the staff
i was told to wear regular clothes or not work in the office

my work permit was finalised on 3 december 1987 that same day
i left that evening for india…i could not compromise on my robe

my sister and family were shocked
so sudden without any further discussions

i am sorry today and i love them always
they have been by my side whenever i have needed them
and i needlessly behaved this way

i am like this
this is just the way i have been created

whenever i was told lovingly that they understood me
i felt offended
was i that shallow that i could be so easily understood
perhaps my ego of being deep was hurt

i preferred to be misunderstood
this felt better and truer to me
and i had my aloneness all to myself

i think with my head upside down
the rebel in me just cannot lay down

i always need a new battle…a new challenge…more growth