Monk on Salary

I often describe myself as a monk on salary — not in jest, but in truth. My work is my calling, and my livelihood is a reflection of a deeper life’s purpose: to serve. Over the past two decades, I’ve woven together a life of study, practice, and service across education, counseling, conflict mediation, business, and contemplative traditions. Each thread has contributed to a larger tapestry — one that continues to evolve as Coherence by Design.

I created Coherence by Design as a living system of frameworks that help people and groups realign with what matters most. It’s more than a methodology — it’s a way of seeing, sensing, and shaping a coherent life and culture.

But this didn’t begin as a business.

It began as a life.

Backwards by Design

“At the moment of each transition, my life seemed like one unrelated distraction after another. But looking back, I’ve been walking a destined path — moving through vastly different contexts to build, refine, and ultimately embody my life’s work.”

My earliest memories involve rhythm and devotion. I played dholak while my father sang Bhajans — I remember being able to barely reach both sides of drum. The sanctity rhythm stayed with me. In high school, I played drums in a punk band called Broccoli Shoeshine. At UCSD, I performed in the Big Band led by the late Jimmy Cheatham. A few years later, as a jazz club owner, I performed “avant-garde free-jazz” with the Christopher Adler Trio and Afro-beat with Forward Funk.

My mother introduced me to meditation, yoga, and Sanskrit well before adolescence. She later guided me into Vedic philosophy, just as I began to question the concept of God in high school. In my early 20s, I deepened my yoga practice with the masters like the late Cathy Lee and Rev. David Carmos.

In 1999, I presented my master’s thesis, “Spirituality and Critical Pedagogy,” at the Harvard International Conference. It was a blueprint for a school that integrated mindfulness, experiential learning, and community consciousness — a design to realign the mind, body, heart, and spirit. Shortly after, I opened a fine dining vegan fusion Indian restaurant, art gallery, and jazz bar. When 14-hour days took their toll, I returned to education and spent the next two decades working as a counselor, teacher, and administrator from pre-K through community college.

I first sat with Thich Nhat Hanh at the inaugural “People of Color” retreat in 2004 and continued learning from him in the years after. I am grateful to have witnessed authentic mindfulness from a living master. In 2005, I trained in energy medicine and the Medicine Wheel with Rosalyn Bruere. I completed my first 10-day Vipassana retreat (Goenka tradition) in 2016 and have continued since. From the moment I arrived, I felt clearly guided by the spirit of Goenka. On the seventh day, I experienced the dissolution of gross reality into a jungle of colliding particles — all held together by a quiet, stable quality of love. (I’m especially grateful to my wife, Dr. Shamini Jain, who introduced me to these teachers.)

In 2018, as Director of Mindfulness at a K–12 school, I developed a framework to bring mindfulness into classrooms. I used the Four Directions of the Medicine Wheel to structure principles and lessons of Vipassana-based mindfulness for both students and staff. In 2020, I completed a 10-day sit in solitude on 300 acres during Covid-19, beginning on the day of Holi. That retreat led me to integrate nature’s elements with the essence of mindfulness, and gave rise to Third Eye Praxis — a guiding cosmology that stretched well beyond its original application.

At one point, Human Resources viewed my role as a conflict of interest — I was seen as serving staff, while they served the company.

So I asked, “What if I help you retain top talent?”
“Then we’re on the same side,” they replied.

From that moment forward, I formally integrated my work within HR as the Employee Relations Manager, focusing on recruitment and retention, conflict mediation, and social-emotional wellness.

As demand for my work beyond the school community grew, I realized my impact was limited within a single institution. I founded PRXS to expand this work across families, communities, organizations, and industries — creating space for coherence and transformation at every level of life.

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This Work is Who I Am

This work is the synthesis of a life — not just lived, but deeply examined, integrated, and offered in service.

This is not just coaching. It is cosmology in action — a way of making sense, making space, and making change.
I hold space for people to reconnect to their own inner wisdom, their shared humanity, and their greater purpose. I bring structure where there is chaos, clarity where there is confusion, and care where there is harm.

At its core, Coherence by Design is about transformation — not through force, but through remembering.
Remembering what matters. Remembering what connects us. Remembering how to live and lead from wholeness.

Even now, I sometimes feel like I lose a part of myself when I try to bring my full self into the world.
But as Mark Mincolla told me,

“When you lose one part, you gain another.”

So I offer it all again — all that I am, and all that I have.

When I breathe my second-to-last breath, I hope to say:
I became all that I intended to be.

Peace. Shanti. Amen. Om Tat Sat.