Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration. (Charles Dickens)

For the next two years (and perhaps beyond), I have the privilege of calling Union Theological Seminary my school and my home. Within these walls I will discover the deepening of my calling to God, in ways that will both strengthen and shake my very foundation, for Union is a institution where the very idea of the institution is called into question. This is not to tear down the walls and foundation, but to strengthen them, and to open the doors in those walls so that everyone in this unjust and unequal world can also find their sense of home, no matter who they are and where they may be.

Over the last 175 years, Union has placed itself at the forefront of progressive and radical Christian spirituality, with courage and conviction confronting the exploitation of power and hubris that has marked the tides and swells of history. The story of Union, the journey of Union, is one that calls out to particular souls, who have a particular view of the world, who have a particular calling, and who feel particularly drawn to a profound integration and connection with God and with the world around them, a harmony of activism steeped in faith and prayer, realization and revelation.

During our orientation as new students, the call has been to us to consider the process of “Owning Your Story For The Journey,” and, humbly speaking, my story is a unique one. I can say that I never really thought about entering into seminary, and to Union in particular, until about a year ago, but once I did, there was no clearer path for me going forward.

It’s quite clear to me that my life now at Union is a clear gift from God, a lavish God who knows our most intimate yearnings and hopes, much more so than we ever might, and who is constantly arranging for us to have what we need and want. All we have to do is to become open to these arrangements, to become willing participants in God’s plans, and we will come to understand who we are and what we must to do to love and serve in this world.

I come to Union from a different space than most, having spent the last five years living as a monk in the bhakti-yoga tradition of the Vedic/Hindu tradition of India. While my monastic life came to a voluntary end earlier this year, I still identify and practice as a bhakti-yogi, and transcending all contradiction that may appear to be on the surface, Union is the perfect place for me to understand the true definition of yoga and the true life of a yogi in the world today. I was raised as a Catholic, and still identify as a Christian as well, and this sense of “double belonging” is something that can be uniquely nourished and shaped here at Union.

There is a certain adjustment for me, now being “back in the world” for the first time after five years of monastic life. While life as a monk in the bhakti tradition is not a traditionally cloistered one (especially in our asrama at The Bhakti Center in the heart of the East Village here in NYC), still to be back in school, with all the different social and communal flavors that I once knew before, know again now, and will come to know in the weeks and months ahead, leave me feeling a distinct “otherness.”

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-fici/a-hindu-at-union-theologic_b_1852586.html