When professional Buddhists come to the château, a pot of tea is brewed and earnest discussions ensue. Invariably Calculus and Manu will have their say. Manu does not disguise his outright intellectual hostility to their religion. He shows no deference whatsoever to the robed guests. He takes exception to the monks’ avowed aim to rid their minds of all manifestations of reflective actions. Calculus, blowing smoke rings with the disconcerting nonchalance of youth, is a little less trenchant in his views. He remains scrupulously polite, but simply cannot conceive of the intellect as being a trap. Calculus decided long ago, not to still the mind, wanting it rather to race and burn with thoughts.
Martha, for her part, tends to keep a tactful silence. Once, having been put on the spot, she voiced her belief that ‘the arts are not necessarily a snare.’
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Though finding many things to disagree about, Calculus unhesitatingly accedes to any monk’s request for shelter. In fact the monks get special (bed and breakfast) treatment. Requests for accommodation coming from the non-clergy are usually met with polite refusal. Auld Archie is of course the notable exception.
Restricting Kommune membership
Calculus is no advocate of the open land movement. He knows, from extensive background reading, that unrestricted membership has been the undoing of many a commune. Impromptu visitors to the château are thus limited to a select few. They are Auld Archie, stray sages, lost monks, renegade poets (that meet Martha’s exacting standards), and of course Mickey.
The château has a spare ‘guest’ yurt in which ‘floats’ the bed of banished nightmares. Auld Archie may use it whenever he wishes. Calculus, out of friendship and charity, having permanently reserved it in his friend’s name – in the hope of curing his worsening night sweats.
Auld Archie often sleeps over on full moon and solstitial nights. Using his voluminous kaftan serves as both sheet and blanket. His usual sleeping quarters is a smelly Thatcher lanes’ squat, accessed via a poorly lit spiral stone stairway.