Travel along with Lali, a dazzling young Burmese lady who is taken from from bondage in SE Asia and, through a whirlwind of quirky episodes, finds herself in a California wilderness where she is adopted by a hippie family. A treasure hunt back in Burma seals her fate.
Fast-paced novel which follows the quirky episodes of Lali, a Burmese beauty who steals away from bondage in Thailand, and later finds herself destitute in California. She's adopted by a fledgling rock group. Sill later she gets lost in a California wilderness region, then taken in by a back-to-the-land Native American wannabe’s camped in the California wilderness. With episodes in three continents, Lali’s Passage weaves from one outlandish, yet believable scenario to another, and ends with a treasure hunt under a Burmese temple.
Excerpt
The Diamond Buddha was not made of diamond any more than Thailand's Emerald Buddha was made of emerald. The latter was sculpted from green jade, whereas the Diamond Buddha was crafted from a tortoise-sized chunk of flawless clear crystal. According to legend, it first appeared at the small Mahabrahmani temple in northern India where Tilopa gained enlightenment. Tilopa, the originator of the Kagyu branch of Mahayana Buddhism, was an anomaly in that he had no guru. In other words, he had no spiritual teacher as was so common among holy men of those times. India, 800 years ago, was a land where ascetics were as common as migrating birds. Tilopa, who grew up tending cows, attained spiritual enlightenment while solemnly walking through the seven gates of the temple - a feat that comprised most of the night. The next morning, villagers found what was to become known as the 'Diamond Buddha'within the uppermost shrine room. Tilopa had left.
At various times during the ensuing centuries, sightings of the Diamond Buddha were reported. At the dawning of the fifteenth century, it was said to have found a home in central Ceylon, at an altar near the relic of Buddha's tooth. It somehow disappeared under nefarious circumstances and was believed to have been spirited to Southeast Asia by Dravidian pirates. The most reliable sighting since then was made by a wandering monk who visited the Khmer kingdom in what is now Cambodia. During his time of seclusion there, he wrote a letter dated 2105 (A.D. 1562), wherein he claimed to have seen the Diamond Buddha in a secret chamber within the Prasat Baboun temple close to the Angkhor Wat complex. When an earthquake collapsed the temple years later, no evidence of the Diamond Buddha was reported to have been found in the rubble.
Book 2 of The Commander and the Chief series finds the Chief "on the warpath" and "counting coup" with her enemies on both sides of the ocean. Meanwhile, she fights an indictment and risks losing her latest love, the Commander, as well as unleashing
Maria, raised in the Mafia and educated by the gangs of New York, is hunting the man who killed her Akalina, and she will kill anyone who gets in her way.
