Talk at Boulder Bookstore on Thursday, September 12th!

August 16, 2024 Patrick DSilva

I will be giving a talk on my and Carl Ernst’s book, Breathtaking Revelations: The Science of Breath from the Fifty Kamarupa Verses to Hazrat Inayat Khan (Suluk Press, 2024) at the Boulder Bookstore on Thursday, September 12th, at 6:30 p.m. If you are in the Boulder/Denver area and want to spend some time talking about esoteric breathing techniques that circulated amongst Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, and Muslim mystics from the medieval period to the present day, then this gathering is for you!

The Boulder Bookstore website page for the event is HERE, the eventbrite ticket link is HERE, and the Boulder Bookstore Facebook page for the event is HERE

Breathtaking Revelations pre-orders available!

February 24, 2024 Patrick DSilva

The book is (almost) here!

I am so excited to share the news that Breathtaking Revelations: The Science of Breath from The Fifty Kamarupa Verses to Hazrat Inayat Khan will be published by Suluk Press this coming April. This book is a collaboration between myself and Carl Ernst, and grows out of the work that we did together while I studied under his direction for my PhD at UNC Chapel Hill. If you would like to learn more, check out the links below:

April 27th --> Author chat on Zoom (free, but registration required):

https://inayatiyya.org/event/breathtaking-revelations-author-chat/

Pre-order here:

https://sulukpress.com/books/breathtaking-revelations

Published! "Origin Stories: On Faith and (Science) Fiction"

January 29, 2024 Patrick DSilva

Why are we here? Where are we from? Who are “we”? Who are “they”? How do “we” treat “them”? Religion and science fiction both produce a variety of answers to these types of ultimate questions. In many ways, making sense of my life is only possible through examining the intersection of these two discourses.

Reflecting on the 20th anniversary of 9/11

September 10, 2021 Patrick DSilva

I published a short essay reflecting on the 20th anniversary of 9/11. This is more of a personal piece; there is great work readily available analyzing 9/11 in terms of public policy, defense strategy, efforts to deal with religious extremism, and so forth. In this essay I talk a fair amount about my personal connection to 9/11, especially in light of living through the aftermath of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya.

This essay was originally published in UCCS Communique.

Interview on Local News Talking About Afghanistan

August 27, 2021 Patrick DSilva

Today the local Colorado Springs NBC affiliate, KOAA, ran a piece on how students and educators are handling the events in Afghanistan. I was interviewed for this story, along with several UCCS students. Wonderful to see KOAA on campus, and to see our students sharing their views. I’m thankful for my many mentors who have modeled what it looks like to speak to the public on important issues.

Here is a link to the video, and here is a link to a text-only version of the story.