The Height of Religiosity
Chapter 15
He had a magnificent, bird’s eye view of Royal Lake, the People’s Park and the entire cityscape of Yangon from his vantage point. Kris Amar stood some 100 meters above the ground at the very top of the pagoda taking in the vista below him. He was winded from climbing the many steps to the top and sat on a small bench to rest and read the pamphlet in English handed to him at the entrance to the shrine.
“Historians and archaeologists maintain that the pagoda was built by the Mon people between the 6th and 10th centuries. However, according to legend, the Shwedagon Pagoda was constructed more than 2,600 years ago, which would make it the oldest Buddhist stupa in the world. According to tradition, two merchant brothers from the north in what is currently Yangon met the Lord Gautama Buddha during his lifetime and received eight of the Buddha's hairs. The brothers returned to Burma and, with the help of the local ruler, found Singuttara Hill where relics of other Buddhas preceding Gautama Buddha had been enshrined. When the king opened the golden casket in which the brothers had carried the hairs, incredible things happened.”
Amar had read enough. He intensely disliked other religions, especially Christianity. Buddhism was less offensive to him, but a heathen religion just the same. However, the tract mentioned what Amar desired too, incredible things happening in his new quest for greater profits.
The meeting with the ship’s captain had gone well from his perspective and assumed the captain felt the same. He’d given the captain a $5,000 advance on pay so he could start the chemotherapy regimen for his wife and keep up the payments on his ship. He strongly believed that maintaining good employee relations was a sound business practice in any profession.
Kris told the captain to stick to his regularly scheduled stops in India. Wherever his legal cargo dictated, he would go. Don’t deviate from your usual ports of call so as not to alert the authorities to any changes in routine, he admonished his new employee. Unlike the State Department, Kris’s religion abhorred deviant behaviors of any type. Moreover, Puneet’s couriers could easily meet anywhere the ship docked. It wasn’t a problem. However, it was extremely important to stay with the posted schedule and not ever give a reason for the authorities to board and question his activities. The captain said he understood and would follow his orders to the letter. Capitan Aung was savvy enough to realize what would happen to him and his family if he didn’t.
They discussed secure means of communicating with one another and other logistical matters and then the meeting concluded with a firm handshake between the gentlemen and coconspirators.
Kris needed to return home as soon as possible to tend to business. Although not via the same route he used to get here. That was much too risky given the unfortunate incident at the police checkpoint. No, it would be a more circuitous one this time. There was an obvious uptick in crime these days in Myanmar and Kris didn’t want to become another victim. It was much better to give than receive and thought it a very charitable, Christian maxim in his view. Do unto others was another one he liked. Fundamentally speaking, murdering heathen infidels of any stripe was no sin in his mind or interpretation of religion.