Slave to Karma

Innocence

Watching as the girl quietly made her way through the temple, Mo Yuan continued his mantra which his disciples were meditating to.  He had no intention of stopping her this time, because he had already ascertained that she was no threat even though he had yet to discover how she was breaching his barrier or what she actually wanted.

Her face rose up with a smile as her small fingers lightly traced the etched designs on the pillars as if she had never actually seen a pillar before.  The wonder and innocence in her eyes was actually rather endearing,  because she seemed a little awestruck, so he left her alone as he continued the lesson.

He knew she could hear him, because now and then, her head would turn in his direction to listen, only to once again lose herself to the temples inner hall.   She moved with the grace of a swan, her feet barely touching the stone cobbled floors while admiring the paintings on the walls, the study desks, the chandelier and even the shadows cast by the candlelight.

But his voice momentarily faltered at the frown etched across her brow when she stopped to lightly run a finger over the Buddha statue to his left.

"Buddha?" her soft voice called behind her which was where he was sitting.

Not answering nor correcting her, Mo Yuan continued the mantra.  He still had another hour before his disciples completed their assisted meditation and he really did want to finish.

"Why do you have a statue of yourself in your temple?" she asked frowning at the little gold statue in confusion.   

Near bursting with laughter, Mo Yuan squeezed his eyes shut while his voice continued the words he was no longer paying attention to because she was now on her knees staring at the statue with her bunched fists squeezed tightly over her mouth.  Her eyes were wide and he could see she was deeply lost in thought at her own question.  Only the next one, had the mantra coming to an abrupt halt.

"Is this Heaven?" she whispered, her large eyes filled with wonder and reverence at the sudden epiphany.   "This must be Heaven because the angels are here." she said turning to point at his disciples who were maintaining their meditative state even without the mantra and to Mo Yuans surprise, it seemed as if she could actually see them, but for some reason, she couldn't see him.    And even more surprising, was his disciples could not see or hear her.

She had noticed the white robed men when she entered.  She couldn't see their faces or even their actually forms, but she could make out the white of their robes as if in a thick fog that had yet to lift.  In fact, the entire temple was shrouded in mist.  It wasn't scary because that soft voice kept the atmosphere calm and peaceful, only she had yet to actually see Buddha himself which she was kind of hoping she wouldn't.

She felt safe when he was just a voice.  A gentle kind voice that seemed to be compassionate towards her plight and was allowing her into his safe haven even if it was just for a short time.   And to her mind, his voice was also healing.  She felt no pain in his temple unlike her other life.   Not even her fresh bruises and open wounds were a hindrance, it felt as if she were floating in that soft fog surrounded by his gentle voice and healing her wounded soul.

Only the thought of seeing his face was frightening.  In her mind, she had already determined, that if she couldn't see him, then he couldn't see her.  And if he couldn't see her, then he wouldn't know she was a slave because slaves were not treated well.  If she saw his face, the protective bubble she felt in that temple would shatter, so she tried her very best not to look at the podium, while sneaking glances anyway just to satisfy her need for him to remain invisible.

And there was one other reason why she didn't want to see his face.  Buddha was a revered high deity, one that no one in her world was worthy enough to see.  It was what her masters had screamed at her when they had reached their house before beating her.   Her master had said, that no slaves could enter Buddhas house even though Daoshi said she could.   For her, a nothing little slave to look upon the face of such a giant personage, was a sacrilege worthy of a painful death.