Satish Kumar was born in 1936 in India and at the age of 9 joined the brotherhood of Jain monks.
At 18 he helped with land reforms helping Gandhi with his view of a peaceful world.
He has undertaken many peace pilgrimages where he would travel vast distances with no money. His autobiography, No Destination, tells more about this journey.
He is the editor of the magazine Resurgence.
That is only a small portion of his life.
From the back cover:
This book traces the spiritual journey of Satish Kumar - child monk, peace pilgrim, ecological activist and educator. In it he traces the sources of inspiration which formed his understanding of the world as a network of multiple and diverse relationships.
You Are, Therefore I Am is in four parts. The first describes his memories of conversations with his mother, his teacher, and his Guru, all of whom were deeply religious. The second part recounts his discussions with the Indian sage Vinoba Bhave, J. Krishnamurti, Bertrand Rusell, Martin Luther King and E.F. Schumacher. These five great activists and thinkers inspired him to engage with social, ecological and political issues. In the third part Satish narrates his travels in India, which have continued to nourish his mind and reconnect him with his roots.
The fourth part brings together his world-view, which is based in relationships and the connections between all things, rather than the philosophy of dualism, division and separation which are found in Rene Descartes' famous maxim "I think, therefore, I am." Satish Kumar holds an emergent world-view, encapsulated in a fundamental Sanskrit dictum, So Hum, well known in India but not in the West, which can be translated as "You are, therefore I am". This mantra underpins all the experiences brought together in this book.
If you have a chance read this thoroughly entertaining, interesting and enlightening book.
So Hum
Pamela Nelson
http://www.plnyoga.vpweb.com/
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