The Worldly Desires Are Not Enough

The bomb's clock counted down. That was its nature after all, I mused, but the thought brought me little comfort - I could not take comfort in it working towards a dharma that would end my material existence. My masters at Shangri-La Intelligence would be ashamed of me, no doubt, had they not all attained Nirvana long ago.

I pulled my mind deeper into my meditations. I was chained to a massive Desire Bomb, which was counting down quickly until it detonated, giving the millions of people in the city above us an acute, all-consuming desire for survival in the fraction of a second before it sent them back to the kharmic wheel, where they would doubtless face poor reincarnations, having died in a moment of great and selfish desire. I could not let it succeed.

Deep in my mind, the voice of the Grandmaster spoke, "still your worries, Double Oh Lama. Extinguish your desire - it is not for you to save lives, but to flow harmoniously with the universe. Clearly, the universal will is now this explosion. Let go, my student."

I took a long, quiet breath. I prepared myself to release my selfish desires for survival and the success of my mission. And then, through my enlightened techniques of detachment, I let go of my master's spirit within me. "Ommmm... it is you and me, Bomb. Let us see who rules the kharmic wheel," I chanted in the ancient tradition of my order.

The bomb's clock counted down. That was its nature, I knew. A tendency rooted in the folly of many flawed existences, sinful souls who had failed deeply, and lived out their current lives as enriched Uranium. I had tried praying for them when I came in, but the bomb was outfitted with counterclockwise-spinning prayer wheels to the Yama Kings, and the souls inside could not be reached. I cast about for more options.

My enemies had done their work well. There were no visible brick walls I could gaze at to attain enlightenment, just an endless expanse of tools, money, food, big cars, and other traps of desire which could not possibly grant me the perspective I needed to stop the bomb. The answer did not lie in my surroundings, and I had stilled the voice that came from within. Truly, it was a difficult position.

Then, somewhere, a twig snapped, and I saw the solution. "The men who set you," I told the bomb, "are but men - merely misguided, not my enemies. They only think they desire the extinguishing of the kharmic wheel. Their inner spirits know the peace of Atman, and will never release it. Therefore, if they cannot release peace, they must have released me." So speaking, I walked across the room and opened the door.

On the other side, a man in a fancy suit with glasses and a dull blue tie looked up at me. "Were you in there the whole time, Double Oh Lama?" he asked me. "Did you wind up playing with the toy bomb again.

"The master rolled a ball down the hill, and when a disciple brought it back to him, said simply 'no' and threw the ball away," I answered. I could not tell him the details of my mission - such is the life of an Intelligence Monk Of Mystery!