Miss Buddha (83 page)

“There is, within us all, a
deep disquiet,” she said. “An emptiness, an unease. A feeling that
sometimes only surfaces just before we fall asleep, a deep
certainty that there is something missing, that there must be
something else to life, something other than what the world offers.
We
know
this.
Innately, we know this. But whenever this certainty surfaces we are
quick to disguise it, or ignore it, or to bury—usually under
something newly bought or consumed.

“There is an inner emptiness, and we try to
fill it with external goods. We see the commercials on television,
and—since it so clearly promises joy and happiness (the actors play
that part so well)—we rush out to buy, to fill the emptiness
within.

“And, for a fleeting moment we may even
convince ourselves that we are, at least for this one breath and
the next, fulfilled. We are happy. We have masked the inner lack
with something outer, and for a moment—never much longer—we don’t
feel the disquiet. But then, a second, minute, hour, day later, the
disquiet is back, urging us to acquire something else that we may
again cover up the hurt.

“For it is a pain of sorts, this disquiet,
this need to obtain, this need to add to, to grow, to become.

“It hurts, this disquiet.

“And the consumption machinery that fuels
the economies of the world knows this, and knows this very well.
The world is in the pain killer business. Not only
literally—although the pharmaceutical industry is of course one of
the cornerstones of our economy—but any way you’d care to take
it.

“We manufacture things, we provide services,
all to still the ache, to quiet the disquiet, and we, as hurting
human beings, oblige. We work two, three jobs to afford the latest
gadgets, the new car, the second, or third car, the bigger house,
the longer cruise—all to still the disquiet.

“We never succeed this way.

“Does the consumption machinery know or
care? Neither. It simply churns out new products and services to
cover up and muffle our simmering internal anguish—at whatever cost
to the health of our planet.

“And we oblige, for where else can we go?
Who else to turn to?

“Yet, the key to all
spiritual progress, to truly quieting this internal disquiet
is
Letting Go
.

“Less, not more, is the road out, the path
home.”

Here Ruth paused and surveyed the room. All
eyes were on her, and all ears well attuned. She looked at the
members of the jury, who all looked back, none averting her glance.
Yes, they understood, and they were waiting for more. Even Otto
Jones met her glance, and by eyes and body language also signaled:
I understand.

She continued:

“The unfortunate thing is that the market
economies, the purported happiness economy and true happiness are
on a collision course. The market, as we know it today, will only
survive by the Earth’s population demanding and obtaining more,
more, more.

“But the Earth’s population will only truly
survive by demanding and obtaining less, less, less.

“This is not good news for the powers that
be, for those who profit by the solution of greed. For those whose
profits are measured in the trillions of dollars. For those whose
internal disquiet screams the loudest, and so have to be quelled by
the thickest and strongest muffle conceivable: wealth and
power.

“I am on trial here for disrupting the
consumption machinery. I am accused of inciting to civil
disobedience and unrest. I am not aware of any civil unrest in this
country, or in the world for that matter. I am, however, aware of
people disobeying the consumption machinery edict to consume, to
buy more, more, more. Yes, if this is how civil disobedience is
measured, yes, then I am guilty.

“But if a man is happier at
heart, if his inner disquiet is truly soothed by
not
buying a new car, by
instead sitting down to meditate, am I then inciting to civil
disobedience? Or am I inciting to true happiness?

“Every person who has the courage to truly
look within and see what will indeed sooth his or her disquiet will
see that the answer is letting go.

“We think that a fortified ego is the path
to ultimate happiness. Fortified by food and possessions. Yet, true
happiness lies in the direction of a diminished ego, something
every meditator can experience firsthand.

“Something many a meditator has already
experienced firsthand.

“Many a much wiser human being, for what is
wisdom if not experience understood?

“Yes, I apologize to the consumption
machinery for upsetting plans, for lessening demand, but I am not
here to help the already obscenely wealthy gather more of the same.
I am here to help the average human being see his or her way to a
lasting, internal happiness.

“If that is a crime, then so be it.”

The only sound that could be heard in the
court room was a hum of the air conditioner and the occasional
traffic noise from the streets below. Ruth had finished, but the
room was not yet certain, expecting—hoping for, really—more. In the
end, when she said nothing else, Judge Moore realized that her
defendant was done defending herself and donned her judge cap once
again. Looked down at Ruth Marten, she said: “Have you finished,
Miss Marten?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“Okay, then.” The looking over at Jones,
“Any questions of the witness, Mister Jones?”

For the rest of his life, Otto Jones was to
wonder whether his answer to that question had been the correct
one. It was, he often reasoned, a matter of view, a matter of whose
interests were served.

His answer this morning was: “No, your
honor.”

“All right. And as for you, Miss Marten.
Does the defense rest?”

“Yes, your honor. It does.”

The number of private universes the
Tathagata directly addressed during this account of her side of
things was never established.

:

That evening found some of those media
voices that had made Ruth Marten’s conviction a foregone conclusion
busy hedging their bets, while others dug in and said that this
rose-colored glasses new-age fluff defense of Miss Marten’s did not
change the economic realities of the world, nor did it alter the
disastrous effect of her campaigns on the country. She had indeed
incited to civil, primarily, unrest, and if not found guilty and
punished for her crime, this trial would leave the door open for
anyone with a hippie mentality to run riot with our economy.

::
136 :: (Los Angeles Federal Court)

Otto Jones had not slept much. He was already
regretting not questioning Ruth Marten while she was on the stand,
and could, in retrospect, not for the life of him explain why he
had not.

But fact remained, he had let her off the
hook (was how he saw things in the light of a new day), and would
now have to deliver his closing argument without having punched any
holes in her side of the story.

Lara Matthews had called him late the night
before asking him the same questions he now asked himself, but had
then pointed out that while her views had been quite convincing,
tomorrow is another day and the attention span of most jurors is
like that of a goldfish. In other words: deliver a great closing
argument and the verdict would be, as most of the morning media
still maintained, a foregone conclusion.

He reviewed his closing draft while
mindlessly downing his customary grapefruit, toast, and sugarless
black coffee and then left his apartment for the Court House.

Really, there was nothing to worry about.
Not that he could see.

Meredith Simmons, however, the Biotechnical
Industry Association’s counsel, who had also called last night, did
not share his admittedly somewhat fragile confidence. She had also
expressed near shock at him not cross-examining Marten. “Why the
hell not?” had been her question.

He had refused to answer
the question head on. Instead he had summarized—as much for himself
as for Simmons—that they had built an incredible strong case
against Ruth Marten: she
had
incited to civil unrest and disobedience. There
was no doubt about that.

“Let’s hope so,” was her
not-entirely-convinced reply.

Yes, he thought to himself in the elevator
down to the parking floor, let’s hope so.

:

Lara Matthews, quite out of character,
placed her left hand upon Otto Jones’ right, and patted it twice: a
show of confidence. A reassurance. Things will be fine, you’ll
see.

Jones did not know whether to smile in her
direction or not. He was, actually, thankful for the surprising
gesture, but also annoyed that she would deem it necessary.

Oh, well. Here we go.

Jones stood up and slowly approached the
jury.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Were it
not for this woman,” he turned and, yes, pointed at Ruth Marten,
“the country’s economy would not be grinding to a standstill. This
country would not teeter on the brink of collapse.”

He had their attention.

“You have heard some of the foremost experts
of our time testify to the pernicious—the destructive—influence of
the defendant’s new-age spiritualism. You have seen the data
illustrating the unprecedented slowdown both in demand and,
subsequently, in production.

“Ladies and gentlemen, although we all still
appear to live in normal times—you were, after all, all able to
make it here this morning, your hotel did serve you breakfast—there
is nothing normal about an economy plunging at this rate.

“The defendant is charged with inciting to
civil unrest and disobedience. Officially. But her crime, the
effects of her irresponsible behavior is so much more serious.
Imagine no food on the shelves at the supermarket. Imagine your
children crying from hunger but nothing to feed them. Imagine no
gasoline for your cars, or no electricity in your sockets. There is
only one word for such a state: Chaos. Another word for chaos is
civil unrest.

“The word
inciting
basically mean
to ‘rouse towards,’ to instigate, inflame, stir up. Extreme civil
unrest—in other words, chaos—is the ultimate result of the
defendant’s behavior. The societal fabric is still holding
together, even though ruptures have begun to appear, as our
witnesses have testified to, but it will not hold together much
longer, and once it disintegrates, we will return to jungle law,
everyone for himself, or herself. The streets will flow with blood.
Children will die of starvation. Theft and murder will be the new
order of the day.

“This is not a nightmare scenario, something
I’ve cooked up to scare you into finding the defendant guilty. This
is a scenario which is approaching, and rapidly. It is just around
the corner, ladies and gentlemen.

“Unless you find the defendant guilty, and
unless she is duly sentenced and is seen to pay commensurately for
her crime, there is nothing to slow, or much less stop this
catastrophic plunge toward chaos. Only a swift conviction, and an
equally swift, and commensurate, sentence can put the brakes on
this.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Know that even
though, by law, we could, we are not seeking the death penalty in
this case. We are seeking life imprisonment without the possibility
of parole. We think that is a more compassionate sentence for we do
not believe that Ruth Marten’s ultimate intent—although her actions
seem to tell us otherwise—is to destroy our country. We believe
that she in her utter disregard for the well-being of the country
and its citizens has sought to aggrandize herself, has sought to
gain influence and power over the youth of our country, for reasons
not entirely clear to us, nor—we believe—to herself.

“That, in our view, no matter how dangerous
the potential result, is not cause for the death penalty. But miss
Marten has to be seen as the fraud she is, and she must be publicly
denounced and incarcerated in order to counteract her frivolous
message of bliss here on earth by destruction.”

A brief survey of the jurors: they were all
still with him. Ex-ce-llent.

“If you have heard anything
during this trial, if any one thing has been spelled out, it is
that the effect, ladies and gentlemen, the
effect
of the Gospel According to
Miss Marten, is societal chaos. We cannot allow this.

“You, ladies and gentlemen, cannot allow
this.

“The future of this country, of this world,
now lies in your hands.”

:

“Miss Marten,” said Judge Moore. “Do you
wish to make a closing argument?”

“Yes, your honor.” But Ruth Marten did not
rise. Instead she closed her eyes and whispered gently into the
private worlds of each of the jurors. It was a friendly whisper,
and such a natural whisper that none of the twelve men and women
thought more of it than a personal notion softly surfacing.

Then she rose, and spoke aloud what she had
just whispered. These words found resonance in her whisper and so
rang truer than true with each of the jurors: “I wish this world
and its people nothing but true happiness. You know this to be
true.”

Then she sat down.

“Miss Marten,” said the judge. “Is that
it?”

“That’s it, your honor.”

:

After the clerk had handed each of the jury
members their written instructions, Judge Moore took up each of
these points with them.

“Members of the jury. The defendant is
accused of two very severe charges: Inciting to Public Unrest, and
Inciting to Public Disobedience.

“Firstly, these are crimes which, if the
defendant is found guilty by a jury, can entail the death penalty.
In this case, however, as you have heard the prosecution stipulate,
the death penalty is not sought, and I, as judge, am confirming
this.