Susan Carol Stone

The Jealous Heart Susan Carol Stone

The Jealous Heart, the second volume of The Sati Trilogy, is based on a Buddhist legend that is virtually unknown in the West. Regarded as history by countless Asians over the millennia, the legend tells of a jealous queen in the north Indian capital of Kosambi in the Buddha's time who murders a rival queen, a devout follower of the Buddha, and in turn is executed for her evil deed, along with her extended family. Amidst the legendary triumph of small-mindedness and violence unfolds the on-going story of Sati and his fellow monks at the Buddhist monastery known as Ghosita's Park. Sati and hismonastic brothers train, not always successfully, to embody the Buddha's teachings of wisdom and compassion. In The Jealous Heart, they try to salve their own wounds and weaknesses as well as those borne by the people of Kosambi, who are traumatized by the grisly royal tragedy. Sati has grown from the teen-age orphan of the first novel, The Kosambi Intrigue, to a monk in his thirties who assumes, with great trepidation, a leadership role in the monastery. For those in our time who despair over the havoc we are creating by our senseless treatment of our planet and each other, The Jealous Heart shines a light across the ages. Whether we are Buddhists or not, like the monks in Kosambi, we can strive to uncover and act upon the love that is at the heart of despair. The Jealous Heart reminds us that, although we may stumble, this intention is a golden thread shot through all the actions of our life.