Travel usually involves a lot of planning and packing and booking and backtracking. At age 70, though, there are many new ways to travel. For one thing, there is time travel, which is what I call revisiting a place that I visited long ago, just to see all the ch-ch-ch-changes, maybe even recognize somebody from the old days. I’d done this before and did it again during the pandemic, when my usual Asian haunts were locked down tighter than a you-fill-in-the-blank and so I reverted to my original routes in Latin America, which were more on the catch-as-you-can American plan—nice. But now I’d rather travel in my mind—and online—with the hope that something I write might strike somebody’s fancy and inspire them to read a story I write, most recently the story of 5th-century Buddhist pilgrim Fa Hien, who hiked from China to India just to search for the origins of Buddhist and translate the texts into Chinese.
My involvement with this project began with the completion of an MA in Buddhist Studies at the age of 65, after a long history of travel that covered some 155 countries, during which I studied language and cultures, while buying folk art. Much of that occurred at or after the age of 55 as documented in my own travel epic Hypertravel: 100 Countries in Two Years, published in 2012. After that I spent several years compiling travel guides to world hostels, again published on my own micro-imprint. As my interest in Buddhism grew, I attended retreats and spent time in temples and monasteries in Thailand and Myanmar before finally entering International Buddhist College in south Thailand as an MA candidate in 2017. I completed my MA in 2019, while studying on campus and online, with much travel in Asia.
Then came the pandemic. After a growing interest in the story of Fa Hien I finally started writing the manuscript in late 2020 in Guatemala and finished the first draft in early 2022 in Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha himself. After many rewrites and a 2023 sabbatical waiting for further inspiration, I finally finished the book with several new chapters in 2024. Upon careful consideration I decided to publish the book in India, which is the setting for much, if not most, of the book. Unlike the West, also, Fa Hien is known widely there, even if he never gained the hero status that his imitator Xuanzang did in China with the classic epic ‘Journey to the West’. I’d like to change all that and give credit where credit is due, for the sake of Buddhism and travel.
I am happy to announce that the book My Travels with Fa Hien, 5tht Century Buddhist Pilgrim, is now available in Kindle E-book at Amazon US (others soon) as well as physical copies there and at Notion Press, Flipkart, and bookstores in India. This is the true story of his 5,000 mile odyssey from central China to eastern India via what is now Pakistan and the mountains and valleys that lie between. In the course of his travels, not only does Fa Hien complete his mission to find the true origins of Buddhism, while translating its sacred texts, but his crew manage to have adventures of their own in the process. This occurs while Rome falls and Europe enters its Dark Ages on the other side of the world. It’s a travel book; it’s a dharma book; and it’s a history book, all in one. This is my tribute to Buddhism, Asia, and multiculturalism at its finest. A portion of all sales will go to charities in India. For more information and samples, please join my Fa Hien Facebook group. Enjoy. Happy Holidays!
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