Some Swamis are Fat

"Some Swamis are Fat" is an informal approach to truth-seeking. Enlightenment and truth—what and where are they? Ava Greene, a yoga instructor, bares her soul in a quest that's both light-hearted and agonizing. Her late-night rants—including lucid realizations, cosmic questions, and quirky sidetracking—lead us easily along. Yet the metaphysical "dawn" Ava yearns for remains out of reach.

(excerpt:)
"Do you really want to just hit the road and follow the winds of fate?" Greg asked.

"No...that's not what I want. I just want to be fearless. But a part of me feels too practical. It's a polarity. The practicality of fearlessness is probably what I should look into."

(excerpt:)
"Some people don't have to belabor this stuff. Like slugging the ball over the fence, their lives are those kind of homers from the start—Greek fishermen, rice growers in Indonesia, those who never miss a beat, rise with the sun, and do their day's work, cyclically as nature. They go innocently around the calendar, decade after decade, marrying, parenting, aging, then dying; they hit the ball out of the ballpark first time at bat; they walk the bases. They're neither jaded nor part of the problem. Somewhere they chose (or didn't choose) not to have too many choices. Others of us play nine long evolutionary innings and on into overtime. Singles, doubles, a lot of fouling out."

It's not until Ava helplessly admits she's getting nowhere that a naked stillness sets in... And she then stumbles upon the essence of the quest: that surrender (from our own designs) can be the more direct path, while trying too hard often leads to more of the same.

"Some Swamis are Fat" is a not-so-serious look at what is sacred. You'll both lose and find yourself in the fresh, energetic writing. Gutsy and real, it will put you at ease with your own inner voice.