[…] Faith surrounded me, inspiring my poetry. But I wanted to participate: I wanted to believe in belief, the religious kind, the God kind, and find my own way into this sacred landscape. Mostly, though, I remained a stalker of other people’s devotion. The Bhutanese monks with whom I sat practicing lotus mudra 108 times, the Tamil pilgrims I followed who put skewers through their cheeks as an act of devotion to Lord Murugan. I was a religious voyeur, trying to feel a charge from other people’s worshiping currents. But faith? I didn’t have it. Faith requires no evidence, and I was still seeking. […]
I haven’t stopped believing… that the world’s sacred, nodal sites offer us flashes of transcendence. A moment for our souls to be attentive and still. But I know now that an encounter with the sublime can happen in the most ordinary of places.
I’ve come to understand as well why poets so frequently address the invisible in their poems, something or someone they do not know and cannot see. Call it God, fog, the future. It is our need for connection that makes us speak into the void. Not so much for a reply, but simply as an expression of belief that someone is there, and is listening, and may even stretch out a hand.
— Tishani Doshi, from “I Searched the World’s Holiest Places for a God” (NY Times, May 18, 2025). Doshi is a writer and dancer, is the author most recently of “A God at the Door,” a book of poems.
Photo Credit & Essay: Laurence Ellis Photo / Essay in the “Port” – “The Woman: Tishani Doshi“
I wonder if she made the Camino de Santiago journey?
Great question!
These words move me… I cannot describe it further… Just a physical feeling… A positive one…
Me too Paul.
Yes…
‘Love’ button, please
Sigh… as a pilgrim this speaks volumes. It also reminds me of Mary Magdalene and doubting Thomas. So beautiful, David.
It is. Thanks Maria.
ahhhh … what sweet beauty is this? … thank you, David, for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Yes, this is a great quote! Another book, thanks to you. From a seeker., you know.
😁. We’re all seeking something….
we are always looking, reaching, trying to connect in some way to …
Yes we are Beth…
Beautiful …
Lovely. I am reminded of His, “I have flocks of which you know not..”
Yes!