Word: thera
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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CHAPTER ONE. Raymond La Scola, 61, a well-to-do Malibu pediatrician and hypnotist, in 1976 buys the Los Angeles house of Buddhist Monk Ariya Dhamma Thera, 74, and his arthritic wife Georgia, 84. Thera, whose mother was Indian and father half-Scottish, was born Benjamin Martin Marshall in Bombay, but he changed his name when he became a member of a Buddhist sect. After moving to Los Angeles, he opened the American Institute of Buddhist Studies (he translates his new name as "teacher of the noble truth"). From lectures and private lessons, he amasses a small fortune...
CHAPTER TWO. Mary Steele Kaye, 57, a disciple of Thera's since 1963, becomes worried in mid-1979 because he has disappeared. For 13 years they have been lovers. As she recalls the moment when he reached across his kitchen table to touch her for the first time, "I could feel a bolt of energy pass through my body...
With the help of Shamus Clarke Schlabach, Mary Kaye in May 1980 traces Thera to a Santa Monica nursing home, where the monk has been placed by La Scola. Says she of her former lover: "I couldn't believe what I saw. He was wearing two pairs of pants, two short-sleeved shirts and a ragged sweater. He looked demented." She takes him from the nursing home and, five days later, marries...
...Scola rushes to a Riverside County judge, charging that Mary Kaye has kidnaped Thera. The judge gives La Scola temporary custody of the monk and his money, which, according to court records, amounts to about $417,000. The monk is moved back to the nursing home...