Kumar (You Are, Therefore I Am
) neatly reworks an ancient allegory of Buddha's conversion of a bloodthirsty killer. In the northern Indian city of Savatthi, a renegade Untouchable called Angulimala murders people indiscriminately and cuts off their fingers (his name means "Wearer of a Finger Necklace"). Apprised of the danger, Buddha insists that he must also console "those who are possessed with anger and ignorance" and seeks him out. With Buddha's gentle instruction in the forest, Angulimala recognizes the futility of violence in dealing with his profound sense of abandonment and separation from loved ones. He takes the name Ahimsaka ("Nonviolent One"), becomes a monk and lives by the Four Noble Truths. The king and relatives of Angulimala's victims nevertheless cry out for vengeance. Skillfully, Kumar demonstrates the transformation necessary in the consciousness of a society bent on punishment rather than persuasion, or as the king says: "What one person, the Buddha, has achieved, my entire army could not." In a foreword, Thomas Moore draws parallels between this parable and the Gospels, the Tao De Ching and the Sufi "way of love." More a pamphlet than a novella, this short piece hits its mark with studied grace. (Sept. 1)
