I'm a tech person. Spent over a decade writing code. One day at an antique market, I picked up a sandalwood mala and rolled the beads between my fingers. My mind went still. It felt different from the satisfaction of writing clean code — not a sense of accomplishment, but a sense of being held by something.

Later I realized that many people overseas are drawn to mala beads, amulets, and tea culture — but what they find is either mass-produced commodity or Western brands offering a shallow take on Eastern traditions. There was no bridge built by someone who actually understands the culture and speaks modern aesthetics. So I decided to build that bridge myself. One person, one laptop, one quiet study — and that's how 一一如是 began.