by Bethany Westphal | Jan 23, 2019 | Beth Westphal, Uncategorized
During our short stay in Tiruvannamalai, we’ve seen many things: we visited an ashram and a Shiva temple, we climbed the Arunachala mountain (believed to be Shiva, the god of creation and dissolution), and we’ve seen monkeys, traditional Dalit dances, women making...
by L. DeAne Lagerquist | Jan 3, 2019 | L. DeAne Lagerqquist, Uncategorized
Setting out on a pilgrimage requires some preparation, some planning, even some packing. But my reading about Indian sadhus and the story of a Jain nun highlights the task of divestment, equally of processions and of desire to control one’s journey. Taking to the open...
by L. DeAne Lagerquist | Dec 27, 2018 | L. DeAne Lagerqquist, Uncategorized
I am reading Nine Lives, by William Dalrymple, in anticipation of our journey and discussions of it. In it he offers portraits of nine persons “in search of the sacred” as “keyholes” into the larger religious ethos of South Asia. In the introduction ( p. Xvii) he...
by L. DeAne Lagerquist | Nov 20, 2018 | Uncategorized
Well, strictly speaking, that is not quite right since I’ve been working on planning this program/trip for months. But today. . . . I made remarkable progress. In consultation with Ben and Matt. We talked through some of the constraints as well as the goals....
