All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride

All Our Waves Are Water: Stumbling Toward Enlightenment and the Perfect Ride

<p>In this meditative memoir—a compelling fusion of <em>Barbarian Days</em> and the journals of Thomas Merton—the author of <em>Saltwater Buddha</em> reflects on his "failing toward enlightenment," his continued search to find meaning and a greater understanding of grace in the world’s oceans as well as everyday life.</p><p>Born to a family of seekers, Jaimal Yogis left home at sixteen to surf in Hawaii and join a monastery—an adventure he chronicled in <em>Saltwater Buddha</em>. Now, in his early twenties, his heart is broken and he’s lost his way. Hitting the road again, he lands in a monastery in Dharamsala, where he meets Sonam, a displaced Tibetan. </p><p>To help his friend, Jaimal makes a cockamamie attempt to reunite him with his family in Tibet by way of America. Though he does not succeed, witnessing Sonam’s spirit in the face of failure offers Jaimal a deeper understanding of faith. When the two friends part, he cannot fathom the unlikely circumstances that will reunite them. </p><p><em>All Our Waves Are Water</em> follows Jaimal’s trek from the Himalayas to Indonesia; to a Franciscan Friary in New York City to the dusty streets of Jerusalem; and finally to San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. Along his journey, Jaimal prays and surfs; mourning a lost love and seeking something that keeps eluding him.</p><p>The poet Rumi wrote, "We are not a drop in the ocean. We are the ocean in a drop." <em>All Our Waves Are Water</em> is Jaimal’s "attempt to understand the ocean in a drop, to find that one moon shining in the water everywhere"—to find the mystery that unites us.</p><p> </p>