Order Of Zendarkin

By John Patrick

Story has adventure, nice for even middle-aged readers Benevolence is reassuring:

If you are ever lost or injured in the woods, find a Geocacher. After tending to any first aid needs you may have, their attention will turn to map data on the

• Language: English
• Publisher: Free Spirit
• Release date: May 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9789394615014

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All Rights Reserved

Published by Free Spirit

www.freespiritpublisher.com

First Edition May 2022

Cover Design by Kashif Rana, Pakistan

Book Design by Adil Ilyas, Pakistan

ISBN: 978-93-94615-01-4

Price: $22.50

BCID: 848-16552343

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© John H Patrick

Chapter One | The Order

Chapter Two | Low Priest Meets High Priest

Chapter Three | Dialectical Fugue

Chapter Four | The Hub Pivots

Chapter Five | Principle vs Practice

Chapter Six | The Media is the Message

Chapter Seven | Exchange Rates

Chapter Eight | The Powers that be

Chapter Nine | Lumen Nate

Chapter Ten | Jumping Jack Flash

Chapter Eleven | Lumen Nate Illuminates

Chapter Twelve | Hooking Up the Road

Chapter Thirteen | Message and Media Information Theory

Chapter Fourteen | The North Dakota Trio

Chapter Fifteen | Earthborn or Extraterretrial?

Chapter Sixteen | Nate’s Imaginary Numbers

Chapter Seventeen | Time Will Come

Chapter Eighteen | Earth-Base to Power

Chapter Nineteen | Configuration Management

Chapter Twenty | Family Reunion Time

Chapter Twenty-One | Z-Day

Chapter Twenty-Two | Zero Hour

Chapter Twenty-Three | Zero Plus Four Hours

Chapter One

The Order

The two husbands sat on cement benches just outside the entrance to the campus store at Cornell University. The older Jack posed a question to the slightly younger Todd.

I wonder if these people know how to process our visual image? They look curious but confused too

I don’t know… that last guy was all over himself asking how we’re doing

Well yeah, I mean think about it. Probably 95% of these people are college students; it’s obvious by their behavior and affectations. The rest look the part of faculty or staff. We’re like a total anomaly

That last guy sure seemed to think so

I think he had stick envy… They both laughed at their frequent inside joke. They each carried unusual walking sticks, handcrafted by Jack. Both wore drab outdoor clothing and heavy boots. Todd’s gray hooded sweatshirt was up over his head, while several days beard growth and tousled hair adjourned Jack. I should probably pull my hood on like yours, to complete the visual… There was agreement and more laughter as Jack pulled on his hood.

Todd made an expression of annoyance as he peered along the walkways leading to other buildings on the campus. I wonder where our wives are. They said one quick Geocache, real close by. But it’s been half an hour and I’m hungry

Before replying, Jack recalled his knowledge of Geocaching. The pastime is embodied by an odd multinational demographic that follows clues found on smartphone interfaces; in order to find small troves of trinkets hidden by other Geocachers in wooded tracts and public squares. These folks are often found hiking trails in Park Forests searching out caches using their smart phones to guide them. Traditional hikers, campers and hunters regard them as interlopers who lack the basic skills necessary for woodland recreation. They are wrong.

If you are ever lost or injured in the woods, find a Geocacher. After tending to any first aid needs you may have, their attention will turn to map data on their smart phones. They will tell you your exact latitude and longitude, along with detailed information regarding your proximity and compass bearings, for anyplace you need to find. In addition, they will show you a map with that information which also reveals the topographical characteristics of the terrain and any streams, rivers, ponds or salt water bodies you may encounter along the way; along with bridges, hazards or crossings in the path. Moreover, they will probably escort you there, as they tend to be very nice people.

Then Jack replied Well. You know…

Todd nodded Uh huh… yeah

A group of curious students came upon them while they waited. Todd took notice of them first, suggesting Maybe we should ask them for spare change

Oh that would be funny, but these walking sticks might kind of give the wrong impression. I don’t imagine Lexi would be too happy if she found us at the campus police office

What, no sense of humor? But Grace wouldn’t think too highly of it either, so OK, no spare changing

How’s it going there? The greeting was offhanded by a gregariously dispositioned constituent of the collegiate flock passing before Todd and Jack’s concrete bench.

Jack fielded the salutation; Doing OK, just resting our bones after a lot of walking, most of it uphill

This resonated with the young collegians, prompting them to nod sympathetically. The Cornell campus is perched on hilltops overlooking the town of Ithaca, NY which is itself nestled at the south end of Cayuga Lake amongst the mountain ridges and deep gorges surrounding it. The college’s many aging structures were predominately laid up with field stone masonry block, the turrets and spires of which can be seen from afar.

This prompted another question from the students;

Do you always outfit yourselves with deep woods hiking gear for a walk on campus?

Fair question replied Todd, with a self-conscious expression. We’re Geocachers and actually this is an out-of-the-ordinary location for us, but there are quite a few Geocaches on this campus

Todd then explained briefly what Geocaching is about. A couple of the students had also done it themselves and were glad to hear there were caches on campus. Then Todd continued;

A lot of the caches we go looking for are deep in the woods and sometimes they’re quite a ways off from any marked trail. It’s a good idea to be prepared for most any eventuality

At that point Jack saw an opportunity to spin a little yarn, just for the fun of it.

Aside from Geocaching, our explorations of remote natural areas are part of our devotional sessions as members of a local order of Zen priesthood

The students suspected the ruse and one of them decided to probe Jack’s assertion with a challenge question.

So maybe you could help enlighten us with some Zen wisdom you’ve absorbed along the way

Todd couldn’t resist going along with the challenge and further putting Jack on the spot.

Yes Jack, why don’t you share some of our Zen wisdom?

Well I guess I walked myself right into this one, was all Jack could think. The only Zen stuff he could bring to mind was trite and hokey, which just wouldn’t do. But… as luck would have it, he then remembered an old faux-Zen legend that might prove entertaining. And so he began;

"Many centuries ago there was a young student of Zen at an ancient temple who had struggled to reach enlightenment for many years without success. At the end of each year, he sought out the council of the high priest and said;

‘I am sorry Master, but I still cannot attain enlightenment’

In response, the Master would say nothing, but would just hold up one of his fingers as if pointing to the sky. The Master would then send his student away to meditate for another year. This went on for ten years, but on the tenth year the Master gently took one of the student’s fingers and pointed it upward just as he had done with his own for the previous nine years.

But then… the Master took hold of a meat cleaver and chopped off that one finger from the student’s hand. The Master then held up the student’s severed finger, just as he had previously held up his own.

At that very moment, the student attained enlightenment instantaneously.

With mixed expressions of puzzlement and horror, our group of young college students endeavored to process the meaning of this story. But their brief period of somber reflection was quickly turned around, owing to the eternal resilience of youth. One of them asked;

How would getting his finger chopped off make him any more enlightened?

Oh he was enlightened alright Jack answered. All you had to do was ask him

Why’s that? another asked.

Well Jack replied He wisely surmised that from that day forth, he would lose another finger for each successive year that he admitted his failure to attain enlightenment!

That seems pretty stupid another one quipped, why not just walk away from the place?

Ah… exclaimed Jack, now you’ve hit upon it… you see, the student was already in too deep. After ten years, not to mention being down a finger, he had no other marketable skills. The priesthood was about his only viable career path. Our injured student at the Zen temple came to realize all of that in this very moment and such was his enlightenment.

Not me, no way I’d go for that fired back another of their listeners.

Jack smiled and with raised brows of admiration said I am encouraged by your resilience and it fairly warms my heart to be in the company of young people pursuing higher education, especially in this day and age of anti-intellectualism. Nonetheless there is a lesson here for all of you as well. As you complete your college degrees, choose your career paths carefully or such may become your enlightenment as well

That’s not the kind of enlightenment you’re supposed to get from Zen said one. How do you get the real enlightenment?

Jack paused a moment and then answered I shouldn’t do this, but I’m going to share the sacred secret of Zen with you. There is no enlightenment; it’s just a gimmick we use to keep the young devotees in line. It also helps with raising donations, from people hoping that if they contribute to our order, we might shed some enlightenment on them too

Yeah OK, I get it and Thanks for the advice were the predominant parting shots from these representatives of the student body, albeit quite properly laced with sarcasm.

Once they had moved on, Todd said I’d have to call that the dark side of Zen and call you the high priest

After some reflection, Jack retorted with I prefer to think of myself as the low priest. I suppose we should call ourselves Zen dark… or Zendarkin

Todd nodded saying agreed

And so it was that on that day, The Order of Zendarkin Priesthood began

Chapter Two

Low Priest Meets High Priest

The events which occurred in Japan as depicted in this chapter are precisely true, with no storytelling embellishments whatsoever. Only the names are changed, out of respect for privacy.

Lexi and Jack are close friends with an American woman named Danielle and her Japanese husband Masumi, who invited them to travel together from the United States to Japan to spend a couple weeks visiting Tokyo. This is the city where Masumi was born and raised; where he is well connected with a broad spectrum of the metropolitan community.

One of Masumi’s childhood friends from Tokyo is now the highest revered Buddhist priest in Japan, who lives and ministers at the ancient historical temple in Tokyo. This temple is home to several of Japan’s national treasures; statues of the Buddha and various associated enshrinements. The treasures are locked inside ornate cabinetry that is integral to the ceremonial alter enclave inside the temple sanctuary.

The priest goes by the name of Nobu. He is much more than a lifelong friend to Masumi. Before retirement from his career in corporate executive management and ascension to the priesthood, Nobu was Masumi’s boss. For several decades they shared executive level responsibilities at a company with multiple offices in the United States, Japan and throughout the world. They spent a lot of time together in and outside of work. Their families were quite close.

During their stay in Tokyo, Lexi and Jack were invited to accompany Masumi and Danielle on a visit to the temple to see Nobu and his wife. After a tour of the temple and grounds along with the associated elementary school, they were led into the Buddhist prayer sanctuary.

When the tour concluded, Jack asked for a private audience with Nobu who hesitated, while trying not to be impolite. Masumi intervened to smooth things over, explaining that not even Nobu’s parish members would expect to be granted a private audience. Nobu however told Masumi that it was alright and he would speak privately with Jack.

Once seated in a secluded area of the sanctuary, Jack requested that Nobu interpret a Zen parable, which was actually the faux-Zen legend told to the students on the Cornell campus. This was a highly improper and impolite request to impose upon a priest of Nobu’s high position, as Jack was soon to realize; but not until after telling the tale of the severed finger. After returning to the states, Jack described the ensuing events to Todd thusly:

"At the time, I had no idea how off the charts nuts that was. This master doesn’t normally give private audiences to even his own temple flock. Masumi, our host while in Japan was the master’s childhood friend; otherwise there would have been no chance of it.

Prior to that the master had opened several cabinets and shown us the Buddha statues inside... without me realizing of course that they were national treasures; that more junior priests of the temple had never seen. The moment was tense after my goof of telling the finger parable; but the master graciously recounted a few Zen principles that were best attributable to my story.

At that point my effrontery worsened when I offered an alternative interpretation of why the student proclaimed enlightenment after losing his finger. I suggested that the ensuing enlightenment had more to do with the student wishing to keep his remaining fingers attached to his hands than with any spiritual awakening. In response to that, the master Nobu simply rose and departed from me, to get ready for going out to dinner with us.

I cannot even remotely describe how much of a jerk I felt like after my host Masumi told me of the temple background as I described it above. And it got worse. The master; this gentle devotee of inner peace was battling intense sadness over his confused and clinically depressed son, who (by the way) had sat in on my private audience in order to be afforded a learning opportunity!

I was all like... Masumi man you gotta help me. Teach me to say in Japanese how deeply I respect him and the temple and don’t be polite about it. Make me get it right and get it down cold. Masumi obliged my plea for help; with true Japanese disciplinary technique, which rather smarts...

We all met up later in Nobu’s living room in the temple residence before going out. And I bowed to Nobu... really low, until I started falling and barely caught myself, but I kept on bowing. Then I recited my speech, correctly for fear of additional admonitions from Masumi.

At first Nobu laughed quietly, but then louder, finally roaring with laughter and couldn’t stop. Then took us all to dinner; where he kept the beer flowing and made me eat strange animal parts from the tabletop grill. When I asked what parts they were, he just laughed and said it’s a secret

Later on after dinner Lexi told me that the Nobu’s wife kept asking her what on earth I was up to at our end of the table, because that was the first time in two years she had heard her husband and son laughing like that.

Then Jack pulled out his phone and showed Todd the written text below saying This is what Nobu taught me without saying it directly. I jotted it down on my phone’s note pad when we got back to our hotel room after dinner

Raise the tummy, breathing in through the nose;

Lower the tummy, breathing out through the mouth;

Rest the eyes on one view and be still.