Jik didn’t wait for the monk to ask what they wanted. “I have brought this barbarian here,” he said, “because he is lost and has no home. Also, although he is very brave, he is afraid of being outside in daylight. My father says Jampa Lodro will know what to do with him.” Actually the idea was his own, but ascribing it to his father would give it merit with the monks, it seemed to him. “He is obviously a good fighting man,” he went on. “You might want to hire him as a guard. And do not worry about the eyes. He sees very well, even in the dark!”
The monk smiled. “Thank you. We will see what Jampa says.” The man and Nils looked at each other again. Each seemed to listen to the other, too, although nothing was said, and Jik’s scalp crawled. Then the monk turned and led them to the dining hall, where a novice
284
was scrubbing tables with a stout brush and soapy water. He instructed the cook to feed the two visitors, then left. They were given two wooden bowls each. In one was barley porridge, in the other bean curd with a thick chunk of bread on top, and a small piece of cheese.
When Jik finished eating, he turned to see the monk standing just inside the door, waiting. “I have spoken with Jampa; I am to take the barbarian to him. You are to wait outdoors. I will be back shortly.”
Nils got up as if he’d understood what was said, and after washing his bowls, left the dining room with the monk. Jik washed his also, and went outside to nap beneath a tree.
Though his name was Tibetan, Jampa Lodro did not have the Golok features so common among the Sino-Tibetan aristocracy. This was because he had two Chinese grandmothers. His build was compact, and he looked remarkably solid for someone not a soldier or peasant. In fact, he came from a family of army officers, and until age twenty had been trainee! to be one. Then, in defiance of his grandfather, he’d run away to the monastery of La Tso, above Chengdu in the mountains of Sichuan, and been accepted as a student by the most holy Phabong Rimpoche.
This was an honor, for the number of novices was severely restricted, a requirement instituted by Songtsan I for military, agricultural, and labor reasons. Applicants were closely examined as to their potential and their motivation.
Nonetheless his paternal grandfather had disowned him. Much to the distress of the family, for it was universally considered that to become a drapa, a religious student, was at least acceptable to any family. And to be accepted by a famous rimpoche was an honor.
Most especially acceptance by one with the rare reputation of Phabong Rimpoche. Phabong was a most exalted master, the most famous student of the venerable Tri Kunlek. Tri Kunlek was the great reformer, founder
285
of the popularly termed “Bloodless Order,” so called because it declined to sacrifice animals or divine from entrails. In fact, it rarely divined and did not sacrifice at all. It had also abandoned other practices of most older orders, practices with little or no spiritual virtue. It followed only a few practices which, if followed correctly and with perseverence, put one knowingly in touch with the Tao.
The Bloodless Order was most famous, though, for the spiritual skills of its leading adepts, who, it was-popularly believed, could levitate, fast without losing even a Kilo of weight, and consult with spirits who had won free of the physical plane. Its adepts were known for their modesty, and never talked about their abilities, but almost everyone knew someone who’d seen them do such things.
And Jampa Lodro was said to be as exalted a master as his mentor, Phabong, and Phabong’s mentor, Tri.
Nils Järnhann knew none of this when he met Jampa Lodro. But he did know, at once, that the stocky, stubble-headed man with the wispy white beard was a wizard more powerful than Fong Jung Hing; and spiritually far more advanced than Nils’s own mentor, Raad-giver, the Dane.
Jampa, in turn, recognized at once that the man before him had been born with more power, more potential, than anyone he’d known before. And that he’d already developed much of that potential. Jampa motioned Nils to be seated on a mat, then sat down facing him. Neither spoke a language that the other knew, but that was no obstacle. Within half an hour they knew each other as closely as twins.