Chapter 14 Summary

At a cafy in Ryerson, Ohio, Richard asks Shimoda if he gets even a little lonely and proceeds to talk about the experience of meeting people for mere minutes. Over tasty hamburgers covered with sesame seeds, Shimoda declares, humans are magnets, naturally able whenever they want to attract anything they want and leave all else untouched. One need not do anything, for cosmic law takes care of it - like attracting like. Simply be what one is, ask, "Is this what I really want to do?" and act only if the answer is yes. This takes imagination, not faith. When Richard asks how imagining a lovely, wise, mystical lady in Tarragon, Illinois, will affect anything, Shimoda despairs and runs through a series of sayings, too rapidly for Richard to follow. The gist is imagining does not affect reality. Why does Richard dream about...