Himalayan Home - 4. HH Chapter 4

After a short walk, I found a place where there is a large tree and it was well away from any noises coming from around the school or the streets surrounding it, and I sat down and crossed my legs, closed my eyes and started my breathing exercises, to try and get into a good frame of mind for some peaceful meditation.

A few minutes later, I heard approaching footsteps, and I hoped that I would not have to stop my meditation session, as I listened, and when I heard the person sit and struggle to cross their legs, I smiled while keeping my eyes closed, and quietly I gave instructions on how to breath properly, and to clear their head of everything except my voice, as I gave a brief introduction to meditation.

Twenty minutes later, feeling much better from all of the stresses of today… “Now, we are going to end this meditation session tonight, keeping out thoughts on everything that is positive, the beauty of our surroundings, the birds and other wildlife that are out now looking for their daily feed, as we begin to wind down for our own sleep cycle.

Take three big breaths, in through the nose and out through the mouth… and again… let your muscles release any remaining stresses, let them float away into the night, and now your final deep breath, as you slowly become aware of your surroundings, the grass that we sit on, the trees that we sit under, and now slowly open your eyes, and take three more normal breaths and don’t forget to smile and be thankful for the peacefulness and beauty that surrounds us…”

I stopped, when I opened my eyes, and instead of seeing just one person sitting nearby, which I was guessing was Giles, instead, I found five boys and an adult around me. “Wow, now this is a real surprise,” I stated, and everyone around me chuckled.

“How did you learn this meditation techniques, Mr Hamilton?” the adult asked me, “Do you recall been issued a warning to not speak to anyone within or outside the school on a certain matter?” I asked, “Yes, but how does… oh I see, and understand now, my apologies for the question.

My name is Ms Sarah Carrington, you housemother. I came looking for some missing students and found you all here meditating, it looked so peaceful so I thought I would join you. Now if we have finished here, it is time to prepare for bed,” the lady replied.

“Yes Ms Carrington, my apologies for not notifying you of our whereabouts,” Lenn Princeton replied, and he gave me a broad smile and winked at me, “Well, since you are present at this gathering, I will overlook it this time, now off you all go now,” Ms Carrington said, and as we walked back to the boarding house, I found myself surrounded by the whole group of boys.

“It looks like you have a gathering of supporters, and you only arrived this afternoon,” Lenn whispered to me, and Giles laughed. “Do you plan to do these Meditation sessions on a regular basis, because I will definitely be attending,” Giles said to me, “That goes for me too,” Lenn said and this was agreed on by the other boys in the group.

“Well, I guess I have no choice do I… Lenn, is there any chance of finding a quiet location where we could have these meditation sessions in peace?” I asked the boarding prefect. “I will look into it and get back to you tomorrow afternoon. Have a good night’s rest Dechen,” Lenn said smiling, before he changed directions, and I was almost at the Boarding house door, when I realised that Lenn had called me by my Himalayan name, and I paused for a moment to think about it before smiling and following Giles inside and upstairs.

“What was that name that Lenn called you, earlier?” Giles asked me once the bedroom door was closed, “It is a family nick name and I wont be repeating it, as I don’t want it to get around the school, ok?” I responded, “Ok, I guess. But how did my… How did Lenn know your nickname?” Giles asked.

“How did your… what? Are you two related?” I asked Giles, who blushed and nodded his head yes. “We try and keep it as quiet as possible, and he uses Aunty Eliza’s maiden name since his parents are divorced, and he absolutely hates his father, as does most of the family, including Uncle Miles, as Lenn’s father seems to always be in some kind of strife with the law on a regular basis,” Giles replied.

After having a shower, I went to bed, knowing that it will be impossible to not to wake up early, since I have been doing it for so long now, and that it would be a good hour and a quarter before everyone else is woken up and prepares for a new day.

As predicted, I was awake at 5.45 am, and after dressing in casuals, I quietly exited our room, and out of the boarding house, after finding the front door still locked, I had to find and alternative side door, that can be opened from the inside only.

With it already been daylight, I headed for the oval across the driveway, and sat down near the centre, and began my daily meditation session, followed by a good long brisk walk around the oval a few times, returning to the boarding house just as a master was unlocking the front door.

“Hamilton, what on earth are you doing up so early and why are you outside of the boarding house?’ the duty house master asked me. “Sorry sir, but I am a practising Buddhist, which means I am up early for meditation and exercise, it is part of my daily routine that I have been following for many years now, and I don’t intend to stop doing it just because I am at a new boarding school,” I replied.

“Hmm, I see. So, what time do you usual wake up in the morning?” the Duty master asked me, “At 5.45 am each day, without fail, sir,” I replied. “Well, I guess I cant stop you from following your religious believes and traditions, I will let the senior house master know, and you are to remain on school grounds, when up that early, understood?” the duty house master said to me, ‘Yes sir, thank you,” I responded, as I entered the house and headed upstairs.

“Where have you been? I woke up half an hour ago, and there was no sign of you,” Giles asked me sounding worried, “Don’t stress mate, I was doing my morning meditation and exercise. I’ve been up since 5.45 am, like I am every day,” I replied. “Wow, you are an early riser, is that every day, no matter what the weather is like outside?” Giles asked, and I nodded my head yes.

“Christopher, I hear you have been wondering around outside even before the doors are unlocked,” Lenn said to me from the doorway of our room, “Yes Prefect, I was doing my morning meditation and exercise, like I always do,” I replied respectfully. “Hey cousin, he gets up at 5.45 am every day, that’s crazy eh,” Giles added, and Lenn frowned at his cousin.

I chuckled at this, “It’s ok he didn’t say anything, I worked it out for myself,” I said to Lenn, “Ok then, just keep it to yourself, and by the way, I am sorry about the slipup last night, as you know now, Uncle Miles has informed me of the situation, and asked me to keep an eye out for you,” Lenn responded.

“Yeah, it wasn’t until I was almost at the boarding house before I realised what you had called me, and although Giles has asked me, I haven’t told him anything, as I would prefer to keep that information to a bare minimum,” I said to Lenn.

“Understood” Lenn answered, “Aww, that’s not fair,” Giles complained, and Lenn crossed his arms across his chest and frowned at Giles, “Ok, ok, I won’t complain, but some day, I would like to know what the heck is going on,” Giles added, as Lenn disappeared from the doorway, and we heard him bellow at someone for running in the hallway.

Reappearing moments later, “I will catch you guys later, have a great day,” Lenn said before he disappeared again, and we soon heard him, telling other boys to hurry up or they will be late for breakfast.

My first day at my new school went fairly smoothly, apart from having difficulties locating some of the classrooms. Giles and I compared our class timetables, and we were in the same class for three of the main subjects, and two of the optional subjects, all until the last class of the day, as we entered the classroom, and like before, Giles and I sat next to each other.

“Hey Kent, who is your new boyfriend?” a solid looking student said as he and two of his mates entered, and the three of them laughed, while some others in the class joined in, which I was not happy about. “Did you give him a short haircut before he said he would go out with you?” a mate of the first boy added, and we were all surprised when Lenn stormed into the classroom and walked up to the three bullies.

“Matterson, Longley and Hunt, would you care to repeat what you just said to the headmaster, as I can happily arrange it for you,” Lenn said to the three lads. Realising that it was a prefect that was addressing them, they were not sure how to respond.

“I suggest you answer Mr Princeton right away boys, or I will intervene and deal with the matter,” a new voice said from the doorway, who turned out to be our teacher. “Yes sir, and no prefect, we don’t want to go before the headmaster,” the lead boy responded.

“Very well, with your teacher’s permission, I want you boys to apologise right now to Mr Kent and to Mr Hamilton for what you said, and straight after class and school has ended for the day, no matter what else you have organised, you will report to me at the Seniors quadrangle no later than 3.35 pm today, understood?” Lenn said to the three boys.

“Permission granted Mr Princeton,” the teacher responded, and Lenn nodded, and stared at the three lads, who eventually turned to face us and apologised for what they had said, before Lenn walked out of the classroom. “Right, sit down boys, lets get this lesson started, so these three can deal with their punishment,” the teacher said, which brought a short burst of laughter from our classmates.

That afternoon, a large crowd gathered at the Seniors quadrangle to watch and see what punishment the three boys would receive, but I had decided not to attend, and instead, I headed to the school library to do some research for some of the homework I had to complete.

When I returned to my room, Giles and the two boys from the room next door, Adam and Chad, were sitting on the two beds chatting, “Oh, here you are, you missed a spectacular punishment, dished out by the prefect, there must have been over fifty other students including about half of the prefects in attendance”, Adam said as I walked in.

“I think this must be the best one so far… You know the subject of the bullying that they used, well in staying with that matter, the three boys were forced to sit in a circle with their backs to each other, so facing outwards, and they were forced to hold hands for a period of thirty minutes, before they were released to go home,” Giles said to me.

“Oh, well that is not what I thought would happen, mind you it is funny what Lenn made them do for punishment,” I commented, “Yeah, even two teachers came to see what was happening, and agreed to let the punishment continue, when they were told the reason for the punishment, it was awesome,” Chad said.

For our first study prep, I was able to complete everything that I needed to do for homework, and finishing a little early, I did a bit of quiet meditation, just by closing my eyes and sitting quietly. When I eventually opened my eyes, due to the increase of noise in the room, with study prep near the end, Giles smiled and leaned a little closer.

“How do you do that, manage to zone out and look so peaceful and relaxed?” Giles whispered, “It takes many years of practice, and I also had some very good teachers,” I replied smiling.