Tawang, India. I first met Kazuko Hillyer Tatsumura, OMD, at a Christie’s benefit for Tibet House at Rockefeller Center in 2010. We began to chat about Japan, where I had once studied, as well as Tibet and the many Tibetans living along the Chinese border in India. What captured my attention was that she had […]
My Pilgrimage Complete: Life Continues Like a Wheel

Bodh Gaya, India. Four years ago I wrote the most-read piece of my life: Will a Vow of Poverty Fill the Void in My Soul? One of the reasons I was interested in this pilgrimage is to meet so many people who have taken a similar vow – the hundreds of thousands of monks who have descended in Bodh […]
On the Banks of the Ganges: Reflections of a Journey in Time

Varanasi, India. I realize this is winter in northern India just like in New York, but I had thought that India would be warmer and greener. The countryside is often drab, so different from the vibrant rice fields of Bali. Here, they appear to be either dusty or muddy. I was unprepared for the cold […]