Photographed October 2003
Venice Beach, CA

Love is one of the topics Arhata says he knows most about, and he hopes to open meditation centers in Venice Beach and Eugene, Oregon, to help people have healthier relationships. He says he likes helping people "find imprisoned nature and beauty." A former stockbroker from New York City, Arhata changed his name (to one that "has a meaning in Sanskrit") and his life nine years ago when he moved to Venice Beach and began sharing his leaflets, conversation, and whiteboards covered with essays. Arhata rents a garage near the Venice Beach Boardwalk where he stores his materials. He replaces his whiteboards periodically and puts the ones people find most interesting onto sheets of colored paper that passersby can take or buy in packets. He says he's now one of the world's most read authors, owing to the constant flow of people he communicates with.

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