The Dharma Revelation

Chapter 44

Vincent pushed back his plate. "That was delicious. I've never had an open-faced sandwich before. I'm not sure if it's my hunger talking, but that was one of the best meals I've ever had."

Petra smiled at him, "My father used to say, 'hunger is the best sauce.'"

Daniel watched Petra sip her coffee and wondered what she thought of Vincent's explanation of quantum physics. He had heard that the Buddhists belief system paralleled quantum physics, but he didn't know exactly how.

"What's your take on our Quantum 101 class?" Daniel asked her. "I have a lot of my own thoughts, but I'm curious as to yours."

She took another sip and put her cup down, "If I'm being honest, it is mostly too difficult for me to understand. But the duality Vincent spoke of--between the particles and the waves of energy--that is core to many of our beliefs. The Heart Sutra, which is among the most central of the our core teachings, contains one of the most important ideas of Mahayana Buddhism. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. That is somewhat similar to the insubstantial qualities Vincent spoke of."

"Mahayana—that's one of the branches of Buddhism, right?" Daniel asked. "I remember that from your book."

"Yes. It's the school that is mostly practiced in Tibet, China and Japan."

"How many different branches are there?" Vincent said.

"There are a lot now," she said. "But the main branches are Mahayana and Theravada." She looked at Daniel, "Do you remember in my book when I spoke of the split, comparable to the time when the Protestants split from the Roman Catholics in Christianity? The Buddhist split was primarily due to the issue of enlightenment. The Theravada branch believes enlightenment is only accessible by a few believers—they are much more traditional. The Mahayana believes enlightenment is accessible to all."

"Which branch are you?" Vincent asked curiously.

Petra glanced at Daniel before answering, and she hesitated as if she were unsure how to respond.

Daniel cleared his throat and said, "She's from the Petra-vada branch."

Petra laughed and slapped his arm. "That's not fair."

"No, seriously, from what I hear they are a fast-growing group," Daniel joked. "I tried getting in, but my application was rejected."

She kicked him from under the table.

"I am of the Mahayana branch," Petra said, looking at Daniel but addressing Vincent.

Vincent chuckled, "I take it you are not 100 percent behind that particular branch?"

"I can't deny that. I taught Zen at my last job, which is sort of an offshoot of Mahayana but with less stress on teaching and more stress on meditation. My actual title was 'guiding dharma teacher,' but the center I taught at was the Baltimore Zen Center, which primarily stressed Zen Buddhism."

"If I may," Daniel interjected. "She brought the Mahayana philosophies closer to the Zen, while policing the Zen philosophies, ensuring they were grounded in their Mahayana roots. That's how she got into so much trouble."

Petra looked at him, taken aback. "I did not."

"You so did," Daniel said with a smile. "It says so, right in your book. Remember when you referred to that manuscript by the guy—that scholar of the Sophia...Sophia per—"

"Sophia perennis?" she said.

"Yeah, the movement in the early 20th century."

"You mean Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy?"