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Showing posts from April, 2017

Peter Hunter, Excerpt #5: Flowers and Sparkles

Excerpt #5: Flowers and Sparkles “The idea is to let your mind settle. Think of waves on a lake. When the water’s too agitated, you can’t see to the bottom. When the mind is too busy, you can’t see your own thoughts clearly.” Peter raised an eyebrow. “Again with the water?” “The more control you have over your thoughts, the more control you’ll have over yourself and your world. In fact, there’s a story about the Buddha just before he attained enlightenment.” Sensei Rob started using his hands while he spoke. “He sat down to meditate and Mara – the head demon dude in charge of all the bad spirits – came to distract him. He assembled all his minions, thousands of demons, and they threw spears and shot arrows. But the Buddha kept his thoughts focused and the weapons turned into flowers and sparkles.” “Flowers and sparkles?” Peter asked warily. “Then Mara sent his daughters, right?” Sensei Charlie asked. “Yes.” Rob nodded. “They tried to distract the Buddha by dancin

Peter Hunter, Excerpt #4: Peter's Greatest Weakness

Excerpt #4: Peter's Greatest Weakness “What’s with the bracelet?” she asked, daring to play with his mala. Her fingertips brushed against his skin and he felt something like a shock travel up his nerves. “Uh, it’s a gift from my karate teacher,” he said as he took it off and held it up for her. “It’s supposed to be for prayers and stuff.” She took them and regarded the beads, then him. “Are you a monk-in-training or something?” she asked. “Something like that. I mean, I’m not going to be a monk,” he added quickly. “But he’s been teaching me about Buddhism.” She handed the mala back. “That’s cool,” she said. “So is that what you’re sitting here thinking about so seriously?” He wrapped the mala back around his wrist. “I was wondering what my biggest weakness is. You have any ideas?” “Biggest weakness?” She tapped her chin in thought. “You have a lot actually.” “Oh, do I?” “You’re an idiot, for starters.” “No, I’m not,” he contested. “I get B’s.” She assure

Peter Hunter Excerpt #3: Sensei is Creepy

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Excerpt #3: Sensei is Creepy “Wait, what if someone saw us?” he asked. “What do we say?” Rob chuckled. “I’ve been doing this for fifteen years, kid, and no one has ever seen me.” He thought a moment. “Or at least, they’ve never approached me about it.” Sensei started for the house in front of them with a “for sale” sign that included an additional: “price reduced!” “The asuras and devas have this confounding ability to manipulate coincidences,” Rob explained. “They can put thoughts into people’s heads and orchestrate a hundred people at once. Like right now, my deva could’ve coordinated all the people on this block to look away from their windows, get distracted by the TV or a phone call. Or maybe someone just realized they really have to go to the bathroom.” “It works like that every time?” Peter questioned. “People only see what they want or explain weird stuff away.” Peter thought of the times he had seen strange things around Sensei and dismissed it as exhaustion