As a young man, with my fabric of my life dealt a sudden and grave wound, when I most needed culture, India took me in.

But my relationship with Indian culture and myth is complicated.

I traversed story paths walked by sages for thousands of years, heard the tales sprouting from those places, found culture and community and meaning.

And there is hierarchy, racism, sexism, caste, and other violences woven in.

And it’s complicated.

And it’s beautiful.

After years of turning away from the myths and practices that once shaped my life, I was recently invited to tell a story from the Ramayan at a Bhakti festival here on Turtle Island.

This live telling moves through love, exile, and betrayal; forest hermitages and monkey kingdoms; floating bridges and secret reasons behind the prince’s banishment.

Along the way, we wonder at the villains in this story, and how they may be the story’s greatest servants.

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