In this meditative memoir a compelling fusion of Barbarian Days and the journals of Thomas Merton the author of Saltwater Buddha 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.
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 Saltwater Buddha. 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.
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.
All Our Waves Are Water 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.
The poet Rumi wrote, "We are not a drop in the ocean. We are the ocean in a drop." All Our Waves Are Water 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.