The Eternal Glass Ceiling :: The Neo-Reconquista

The Mountain Monastery

[ The Outlands :: Eastern Himalyas of Asia ]

Somewhere in the far east on the Tibetan Plateau. Very high above the clouds, towering over a small village sitting adjacent to a peaceful babbling brook. There existed an ancient monastery that dwelled within the stony steep mountains of Asia. In total isolation the monastery stood in complete solitude for ages without hindrance. Kids ran through the temple full of delight playing amongst one another, while the elderly monks were busy tending to their zen gardens. Insects buzzed among the garden angelica planted outdoors, though indoors you could hear nothing but the soft gentle chants of synchronized "oms" echoing through the halls of the temple. The Potentilla Fruticosa and Anaphalis triplinervis bloomed, followed by the trees bearing succulent fruits such as mangos, apricots, avocados, lichi, guava and sapota.

Everyone tended to their daily duties which consisted of cooking, cleaning, farming, meditating, and practicing martial arts. This community was solely devoted to spiritual enlightenment, self preservation and living in perfect harmony with both nature and their fellow neighbors. Forsaken the vain values of the modern world to grow more in sync with the heavenly bodies and the universe. Ashoka was one of the more introverted monks that dedicated most of his time to martial arts. He only spoke when spoken to, but he rarely took part in prolonged conversation. The young monk followed orders as he was told, showing obedience to his elders, as well as playing a respectable role model to the younger monks around him. They admired how skilled he was in combat with his bare fist and with weaponry.

Ashoka was trusted with many assignments due to his reputation of getting the job done accurately in a timely manner. Contrary to Ashoka having a clear vision and reasonable mind. He could not decipher the meaning of the strange visions that he had been having lately. Placing himself into a lotus position as he meditated under the waterfall, he would enter a deep concentration. But it would shortly come to a premature ending. Interrupted by the visions of a mysterious beast. The vivid images of the monster would throw him out of sync every time. Despite those disturbing visions, there was another distraction that disrupted not only the young monk, but everyone in the community. Even those who lived beyond the temple in the village. It was the sound of an aircraft that flew by every now and again. This was a strange sight to see an aircraft hovering by such a remote area repeatedly because the Tibetan Himalayas had really high mountains, low oxygen and was extremely far from any international landing zone.

Oddly, around the very same time that the monks began to take notice of the aircraft's enigmatic presence, the growth of their crops began to decline. This strange dilemma had never occurred until the appearance of the aircraft. Weeks earlier the monks had protected the villagers and their temple by fighting off a unit of armed soldiers. They had no idea where these troops had came from but they defeated the soldiers with ease using grade A weapons that were delivered to them. It was believed that the aircraft was in service of the military to spy on the villagers, to assist the servicemen in devising another attack. With this in mind, the monks stayed on guard. Patrolling the town and protecting the villagers.

Troubled by his thoughts. Ashoka arose up from beneath the waterfall and leaped off of the rocky peak. He landed on the floor of the temple then walked over to the entrance and went inside. Arriving inside the temple, Ashoka went to Gautam's room. But the teacher was not there at the moment. So he continued looking around for Gautam, who was known as the Abbot [head monk] of the Monastery. He walked past the monks working in the zen garden greeting them with a formal "Namaste". Then he proceeded into the kitchen where he received a plate of tandoori fish tika, mixed veggies and some fried bread. Exiting the kitchen he went into the dining hall and sat down with his brothers for lunch.

Hari and Jai were Ashoka's favorite companions. All sharing the mutual background of being orphans before they were adopted into the monastery. They discussed the conspiracy theories that were spreading around the village like wild fire. The boys explained how the monks of the monastery and the small village of herders and farmers below, speculated that the aircraft secreted some kind of particles that fell upon the plants like morning dew, but the component were anything but natural. It contaminated the soil and stunted the plants growth of the vegetations. They explained how many people were upset about what was happening to their crops.