The Cahanas: Keeping the Faith in the Worst of Times
Keeping the faith, as we are collectively paralyzed in dark and turbulent times, is very difficult. We are in the third year of a pandemic, marked by vast losses of lives, economic crises, homelessness, and food insecurity. The senseless genocide of people in Ukraine led and perpetrated by the Russian
LALON FAKIR, HUMANISM AND THE BAUL TRADITION
Lalon Fakir’s philosophy is relevant to all ages and times. Lalon was a mystic, social reformer, songwriter, and a Baul singer in Bengal in the late 18th to early 19th century. Baul singers are wandering minstrels who originated in the land of Bengal, which during the era of
INTERVIEW WITH ROB GENTILE: QUARK OF LIGHT (NDE)
There are numerous books on various people’s Near-Death Experiences (NDE). Rob Gentile’s book, “Quark of Light: Near Death Experience (NDE)” is a powerful, honest, and profoundly insightful account of Rob’s NDE after a series of frightening events: heart attack, heart transplant, prostate cancer, and in a coma for four days
Japanese Tea Ceremony: Path of Tea
Growing up in India during my childhood, I was exposed to tea, chai, early in life. I love drinking chai. There is chai for every occasion. Drinking with friends or alone. I can drink chai for no reason at all, except that I am taking a break from a whirling
The BLACK MADONNAS OF SPAIN
The idea for pilgrimage to see the Black Madonna at the Royal Monastery of Santa Maria in Guadalupe, Extremadura, Spain germinated after I interviewed Dr. Andrew Chesnut for a blog post on Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Dr. Chesnut discussed that Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Apparitions of the Virgin Mary have been reported in many places, such as, (Lourdes) France, (Fatima) Portugal, Kibeho (Rwanda) and Yuzawadai Akita (Japan). Our Lady of Guadalupe is a highly revered Marianne apparition that occurred in Mexico almost 500 hundred years ago and her basilica is in Mexico City. She
HEROIC HOPE: CAMPHOR TREES WHICH SURVIVED ATOMIC BOMB IN NAGASAKI.
This post is a follow up to the last blog post, "Essential Hope". In the last post, I discussed the phenomenal book by Jane Goodall, Douglas Abrams, and Gail Hudson’s (2021) “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times”. In the book, Dr. Goodall discussed the amazing resiliency