The Universe on my side

Santiago, Chile.

The weeks go so fast. So much has happened. It is already Thursday.

My last post was written the day before I climbed Machu Picchu after 3 days of trekking. When I came back to my hostel in Cusco it was late and I was exhausted. On Tuesday I worked the whole day on preparations for New York and Hong Kong, on Wednesday I received an initiation from an Andean shaman that swept me of my feet for about 6 hours, today I flew from Cusco to Lima and from Lima to Santiago, Chile and that’s where I am now.

All the things mentioned above are worthy of multiple, complete posts. So many impressions and experiences come and go. I feel sorry that I don’t find the time to write and on the other side I really can’t blame myself because I really did not have the time.

The most powerful thing that is happening is the roller coaster around the upcoming workshops. Together with The Good Men Project I will give a couple of workshops in NYC. The endorsement in the network and on the website of TGMP could be really powerful. It is worth a try and it is worth postponing my arrival in Hong Kong. But it needs preparation. For example, one needs a venue. And I could not find a venue! I received rejection after rejection and meanwhile the clock is ticking. A workshop should be promoted at least 4 weeks beforehand because busy people plan their weekends long before. If I am too late everybody has other plans. I am not The Rolling Stones.

To find the venues that rejected me I am using Twitter, Facebook, email, everything. It is very cool that a few people that I have never met in the flesh are totally on it. They give me leads, contacts and links and I follow them all up (in between trekking, finding flights, making plans etc).

The initiation by the shaman was a whole other story that came in between. Basically it was a very beautiful experience. My friend Ralph referred me to a friend of his in Cusco. This man had just left the country to visit his son but he referred me to his brother. His brother had arranged a meeting with shaman. Ralph had suggested me to ask for an initiation. When the shaman feels you are ready you can receive one. I received the first initiation of three. There has to be at least a year in between so I guess I will be coming back to Peru the coming years.

The theme of the first initiation was unconditional love. An Inca seed has been planted in my heart. It will ripen and I will feel the effects when the seed is ready, or me, or both. I am not really sure but I guess both. The shaman brought me to a very beautiful place in nature and called the mountain spirits, Pacha Mama, my ancestors, the spirit of my birth place and many more. He made a beautiful offering to Pacha Mama with all kinds of symbolic things. Many seeds (corn, beans, wheat) to symbolize fertility, sweet things for the sweetness in life, money and gold powder for prosperity and much more. He said very cool things about me (I did not tell him anything nor did he ask me anything). I am blessed. I will be a leader. I will do great things. I have healing hands and my healing power will increase (didn’t know about the hands). I will give great workshops and I will inspire many in the West. At some moments I was very touched. It is already very touching to be taken into nature and to see such a man working for me with such intensity. But that he said that the whole Universe will conspire to help me really struck a chord (read: made tears flow over my cheekbones). I sometimes feel that the Universe is against me and that I am tested over and over again. For some reason I can’t believe that the Universe will back me up. But Don Basilio told me literally.

After spending a couple of hours in the mountains and after burning the offering (during which I was left alone with the fire to pray and meditate) I felt very silent and peaceful (to my surprise). Don Basilio, guide and translator Luis and me had lunch together and afterwards Don Basilio told me to go to my hostel to sleep. Indeed I was very tired when I was back at my room. I took a nap. I didn’t really sleep. I snoozed. I got up a couple of hours later.

And I felt totally crap.

I felt defeated. I felt empty. I felt black and dark. I almost felt soulless. I didn’t know what to do and what was happening to me. I walked around like a zombie, doing the things I had to do. I went to bed early with a headache. I didn’t sleep too well. Obviously I hoped to feel better in the morning. But when I woke up I felt just as bad. And when I started reading my emails I received rejection after disappointment. The hotel in Hong Kong I wanted to reserve 6 weeks in advance (!) was fully booked. That sucks so badly! It is so difficult and expensive to find a good place! No venue in New York and high expenses in Hong Kong is exactly what I don’t need. I didn’t know what to do. Meanwhile I have to pack my bags and rush to the airport.

In the plane I start working on ideas for the events that my friend Barbara likes to host at her house in Hong Kong. In my head I am puzzling for solutions, making notes in my phone. All of a sudden I see a solution for a venue in New York! I type the email to a friend in the hotel business.

When I am in Lima I receive a very kind email from a lady who runs a venue in New York. The Bhakti Center (let’s promote them immediately) can meet all my wishes and desires, including even good, mindful food. And it is affordable! And when I calculate the costs for extending my stay in NYC and postponing my flight to HK I realize it is a very feasible project. But even more than the numbers it is the tone of the email exchange that gives me a very good feeling.

On the plane to Santiago I work on the proposal. By now I am feeling really good. I arrive in a new country, take a bus, walk through a new city, see many kissing couples (is it because it is Valentine’s Day or are Chileans always all over each other?) and find a hostel (a cool one!). The editor-in-chief of The Good Men Project and me take the project to the next level. The dialogue with her is also uplifting. I am done around midnight and then I still want to write this post.

It is 2am now and I didn’t eat tonight. I am tired but full of energy. I really wonder what is going on. I really do feel a lot of love. I beg and pray that the Universe will stay on my side for as long as Don Basilio promised me. I hope that all the challenges dissolve and not that my fortune flips again.

I will succeed on this mission. Why exactly I will disclose soon.