Corey Kilgannon: The Harun al-Rashid of the New York Times

Corey Kilgannon wanders the highways and byways of New York City for the New York Times

Like the fabled Harun al-rashid of the One Thousand and One Arabain Nights, who went out each night in the city of Baghdad to see what his people were up to, Corey Kilgannon wanders about the Big Apple to report on the ups and downs of its denizens for the New York Times. He started doing this nineteen years ago, and has never lost his relish for the offbeat and obsessive characters he runs across.

He developed this passion for probing as a young novice at Seto Ghumba, a Buddhist monastery in Nepal. He was sent there by a wealthy uncle who wanted his nephew to learn how to levitate, and still the unruly clamor of the New York City subway system.

While at the monastery Kilgannon studied the mystical techniques of Ron Hubbard and the subtle ambiguities of Adam Sandler to achieve a state of Nirvana that the older monks could only gape at in awe. The head Abbot proclaimed him आश्चर्यचकित बच्चा -- which means "The Wonder Child."

Kilgannon now runs his own Theravada Transcendental Study Group at the Fulton Fish Market, where he teaches novices the art of observation and engagement. New Yorkers, he explains, are wary of the media and will not willingly open up about their dreams and disappointments. They must first be taught to trust in the Third Eye, and then coaxed to let go of their pastrami-tainted physical self -- at which point they are ready to be interviewed, photographed, and even fingerprinted.

Kilgannon collects kugel recipes in his spare time.

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