This past summer, I visited India as a part-spiritual retreat, part-restocking-on-khakara-trip. It’s a trip the family has been making frequently with a very similar routine each time. Land in Mumbai, meet grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, second cousins, people that are close enough to be called cousins, and the fruit stand man that’s been the same… Continue reading Silver Linings

Jains recall a story of their 23rd Tirthankara Parsvanatha as follows: About 3,000 years ago, a popular monk named Kamath practiced severe penances using sacrificial fires. Parsva, a newly devout monk came to know of these fire sacrifices and the violence they caused. When he noticed a snake burning in Kamath’s fire, he intervened to… Continue reading In the Face of Adversity