The Buddha of Suburbia 687with Jamila or “Jammie,” the daughter of his father’s
old childhood friend Anwar and Anwar’s Pakistani
wife “Princess” Jeeta, Jamila’s husband Changez,
and Charlie, the punk-rock star son of Haroon’s
girlfriend Eva. Early in the novel, Karim discovers
that Haroon, by day a petty bureaucrat, has in the
evenings and on weekends established a parallel
existence as an Eastern philosopher and spiritual
guide to upper-middle-class suburbanites. He has
begun to image himself as a reincarnation of the
original Buddha, becoming the Buddha of suburbia,
a spiritual god-man who promises relief from all the
ills and pressures of modern life.
Hence, almost from the beginning, Kureishi
takes up the theme of spirituality in his novel, jux-
taposing different social and religious positions and
showing how the essential pacifism of Buddhism
transcends differences in its appeal to modernity’s
pursuit of the higher life. Spirituality, in a narrow
sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit,
and involves not only non-physical or abstract
concepts (or even abilities) but also contrasts these
with humankind’s fundamentally earthly (or mate-
rial and worldly) nature. Herein lies the attraction
of Haroon, otherwise a nondescript, insignificant
man, to the troubled upper-middle-class socialites
like Eva. Tiring of what they perceive to be their
worldly ambitions and excitements, they seek a new
form of stimulation and they find it in Haroon’s
partly obscure utterances. Coming from his more
pragmatic view of his father as an incompetent
homemaker and ineffectual disciplinarian, Karim
is astonished to see these socially influential people
surrender themselves before Haroon and acclaim
him as their spiritual master.
An important defining characteristic of spiritu-
ality is a perceived sense of connection of oneself
to a greater metaphysical reality, of the individual
soul to a greater entity through the medium of a
master or guide. This connection creates an emo-
tional experience of awe and reverence, leading to a
sense of release into a perfect state such as Nirvana.
Hence, spirituality relates to matters of mental san-
ity and psychological health, sometimes focusing
on mystic personal experiences through collective
activities like prayer and listening to a spiritual
discourse. This is how Haroon conducts the com-
munal meetings organized for him by Eva. To be
fair to Haroon, however, Karim acknowledges that
his father has always wished to be valued: “Beneath
all the Chinese bluster was Dad’s loneliness and
desire for internal advancement.” Marginalized in
his daytime world of British bureaucracy, and in
his cross-racial home life, spirituality is an escape
as much for Haroon as it is for his worshipful
audience.
However, among many definitions spirituality
can mean perceiving or wishing to perceive life
as “higher,” as more complex than a merely sen-
sual worldview. Many spiritual traditions, accord-
ingly, share a common concept: the “path,” “work,”
or method of subjugating one’s physical, animal
nature to the rest of existence or the cosmos to
become free from the lower ego and more fully
one’s “true” self. However much Haroon exhorts his
followers to this “Path or Way,” he does not adhere
to it himself, for Karim sees him making passion-
ate and illicit love with Eva in the garden away
from his invited audience. This sensual relationship
leads to his divorce from Margaret and moving
in with Eva. As he leaves home, his younger son
Allie shouts tearfully at Haroon, “Bugger off, you
Buddhist bastard!” The phrase reveals not only the
deeply rooted suspicion of Haroon’s philosophy in
his English wife and her relatives, but also their
feeling of betrayal by him under the guise of his
spiritual activities.
Earlier, Margaret’s brother-in-law Ted has expe-
rienced Haroon’s alleged powers when he tries to
dissuade him from continuing his “Buddhist” spiri-
tualism: “Buddhism isn’t the kind of thing she’s used
to. It’s got to stop.” Haroon responds by putting Ted
through a spiritual experience of his own, forcing
him to confront his own workaholic nature and his
fear that his wife, Jean, will leave him. Ted collapses,
almost weeping from the force of the emotions he
encounters in himself, and Haroon is able to tell his
wife happily: “I’ve released him.” The incident rein-
forces Haroon’s belief in his own spiritual abilities
and is another step in his reinvention of himself as
a suburban guru, embarking on an exploration into
the meaning of becoming fully human.
Once Eva and Haroon move to London, they
proceed to establish him more firmly as spiritual