TRAVELOGUE
A Moment of Ascetic Healing
In the modern world of many charlatans and “life coaches” allow me to explain how it works in the mighty Orient
This is probably going to be an unusual read you’ll chance upon on Medium.
To a foreigner from the Western hemisphere, a social introduction would mean saying Hello, and what rolls out would sound like a verbal resume. That’s been done for as long as modern societies can remember.
Based on that context, I will know where you live, what you do for occupation (how you spend your days and time), what you like and maybe a little about your family. Maybe.
Based on the modern invention and cultural conventions of dating (I still don’t know what that means or how it works), this approach can stretch over a few dates, a few weeks, months. Maybe years.
At the end of each meeting of two individuals, it technically boils down to this: You share what makes you feel comfortable and what you want to project to the world. How the other digests the information is a different story.
Ten things about you? You can give 100, darling. The person you shared it to would have forgotten about them in 20 seconds.
That, to me, has disclosed nothing about you.
Those with low confidence and high anxiety would say shallow and damaging things to put a protective sheet over them like, “I’m not interesting”, “I’m not creative”, “I think I’m rather boring”. For the love of merciful life, never do such things.
I am from The Orient. The mystical Orient. I am a tapestry of old stitching styles, symbols and motifs. I am also a cultural and spiritual upheaval upon meeting. And that, will be a gift from me to you.
I have a penchant for invoking and stirring the things that people hide inside them. When it comes out it feels like death. You’ll wonder why things come out to the surface. You thought you’ve hidden them well. And now you can’t and you need to address them. Whether it’s from my writing or conversations, the questions I ask, I will bring out what needs to be cleared, to be cleansed, to make you better. That is me as a healer. And if you allow me, I will heal you.
It will feel like my invisible hand reaches into your chest and grab you at your heart. I will massage it and it will be the most uncomfortable experience. But if you allow me, I can help you remove the impurities. As they say, no pain no gain. Catharsis, cleansing, they’re all natural process.
The articles on Medium alone prove this point — many are seeking some form of healing, solitude and connection to be heard, to be healed. It is part of being human. And those who scream the loudest to be bold and brave are often the most vulnerable, inside.
It is okay to not be okay, but it is important to take action into what needs to be healed. One needs to be able to look at one’s reflection and be happy with what he/she sees. And while writers can write about people, psychologists can describe the inner workings of the human mind, there are those who can read into and through people. In the Orient, this can be second nature, a blessed curse. It is in my bloodline.
From the Hindu dynasty, my ancestors worshipped the revered Lord Shiva. He stands at the top as the god of destruction and regeneration. Shiva is known as the great ascetic, the master of fertility, the master of poison and medicine, and Lord of Cattle.
In modern translation, Lord Shiva is the one people pray to to seek protection from dark forces and evil spirits, severe illnesses, for pregnancy when doctors and science have said it’s impossible.
But to seek before him, one needs to be clean and cleansed. Fasting, abstaining from eating red meat (namely beef) for a few days upon entering temples, and always upholding the best of conduct in one’s every day life.
Many Hindu worshippers are afraid of Lord Shiva because he demands discipline from your life, and have no ill will in mind and heart towards others because He can see it, sense it, and every bad intention you commit to others will be reversed.
To Shiva, it’s about you, no one else. In his temple, and when you walk into one, it is a reminder that the world isn’t to blame for anything, it’s you and only you. A reason why many feel intimidated to enter a Shiva temple.
There are Shiva temples with a cobra pit. Visiting one, it is advisable to bring offering for the snakes: milk (to wash the Shiva lingam stone), honey, flowers (for adorning the deities), a lamp fueled by ghee (to light later before leaving) and limes (for ceremonial purification).
A Shiva temple has the highest vibration compared to any other locations on earth. Temple locations are selected in dream states — when the deities visit in a recurring dream. The dreamer will know what to do, and who to inform. The entire community of devotees will work collectively to ensure that the temple remains continuously evolving and aesthetically refined. There are sculptures and stone makers dedicating their entire life to this alone. That is why a Hindu temple, its façade, is always in a state of construction.
There are auspicious days and nights within the year when a devotee has to visit the temple. But there are also occasions when one is simply moved to make a visit. That is known as a calling.
The calling is a reminder that a change is about to happen in your life, a message needs to be conveyed hence you need to be at a temple’s higher vibration to gain clarity. I would personally visit a Shiva temple now and then to reground myself, or when I feel vulnerable and need spiritual shielding and emotional strengthening.
From the Chinese zodiac I was born in the year of the Dragon. It is the year in every 12-year cycle the Chinese pray for sons, less for daughters.
The dragon throughout Asia is looked up as a mighty guardian and protector, the reason why you see them everywhere and at entrances. The dragon is the head of the entire zodiac, overlooking the rest of the eleven characters.
The dragon is said to be the thinker, the industrious, symbol of good luck, strength, health and also the male element Yang. While the Chinese depiction of dragons have what appears to be legs, the ones from the Javanese kingdoms would have none and resemble serpents.
This is important in the Orient because your zodiac connotes the time of your birth and to the enlightened monks and priests, this will enable the retrieval of your Akashic record.
In occultism, Akashic record is a compendium of pictorial records, or “memories,” of all events, actions, thoughts, and feelings that have occurred since the beginning of time. Your Book of Life. A life you have already lived. Such poetic irony.
Contrary to what’s been said or scientifically attributed to the record, it is knowledge only for selected people and guarded by monks. Our role is to live our life.
Our Akashic report will only be shown to us on the day of our death, to prove that it’s been lived as per recorded before we were born. While we are alive, every grain of wisdom gained is considered from the record. There are moments that may seem familiar we call them deja vu. It is, after all, our purpose in life to seek knowledge and gain wisdom. Not to amass 44 billion and buy a social media platform.
Anyone describing to you like it’s a retrievable book written like “The Secret” is a charlatan.
I come from a generation of healers by natural selection. I am the fourth generation. Healing comes in many forms. By touch when one is sick, by energy when one feels drained and plagued by a malady, through education as teachers, scientific medicine as doctors, by love and encouragement when one’s life needs to change for the better.
Everyone is a healer by virtue, but what we choose to do with our purpose and intentions are different matters altogether. The curse of greed, wealth and modern living are what gets in the way of people healing others. Or if they even want to.
But if you come from the Orient, that’s a different story. You can go to retreats, live in ashrams and read as many books and call yourself a life coach. These are the modern day snake oil salesmen.
A type of narcissist, the worst are the ones journeying from the West to the East, and try to usurp the role of the Orient. You will fail. You need to have the blood of the Orient. Who is your ancestry? Refer to them.
These foreign snake oil life coach wannabes would strike better luck if they looked deeper into themselves and their European ancestry. The other red flag is profiting. It is against the fundamentals. You can’t go to retreats, come out calling oneself a life coach and create programs to monetize from there. You, my dear friends, have just opened a vortex of bad luck.
And the cardinal rule of all, heal yourself from within first in silence, abstinence and high aptitude without declaring to the world through blogs and accounts of your struggles. Journal in silence. Sitting in silence is not about suffering in silence. It is to enable you to listen from within. To go within cannot be divulged or you will miss the whispers of wisdom you’re supposed to be seeking.
Advice from social media and friends will only distort your orientation. I can only say this much: Don’t be that stupid. Shut up and the do the inner work in quiet time.
No need to blab to the world how the struggle is because it only disfigures the beauty of the healing process, scare people away and Hollywood will produce more insipid books and movies like “Eat, Pray, Love”. That shit needs to stop.
But if you insist, allow me, one of ancestry of healers and blood of the Orient, a dragon and devotee of Shiva, of ascetism and sexual abstinent, to provide a teaser of a guidance.
Disclaimer: If you’ve been heavily indulging in sex, alcohol and substances, this will be a harder fall. All of these have been done to lose yourself. To find yourself is made harder if your actions pull you to the opposite direction. Please use logic and common sense where it applies.
Make a cup of hot coffee or tea.
Cleansed and properly bathed, in a warm room, sit on the floor with your derrière raised slightly with a thin cushion or folded towel. Put the hot coffee or tea in front of you.
Shoulders relaxed, allow your hands to fall on your knees wherever it needs to. Fingers too. Let them be how they want to be. Neck relaxed and enjoy a few deep breaths. Deepen and extend with each and enjoy listening to the sound of your breathing.
Have a few sips of coffee.
Before you close your eyes and listen to the music I’m sharing, bear in mind a few things: Your head will be smashed with many thoughts. You’ll recall things.
You will start thinking about the things to do, things you haven’t done, the grocery that needs to be done, the emails, the messages, etc. Let it be.
A few minutes in to the music, you will recall episodes and people from your life. Let it be.
More minutes in, you will be reminded on the things you did and said you regretted, feel embarrassed about. Let it be. Take a sip or two.
More minutes in, you will be reminded of regrets and losses. Let it be. Take a sip or two.
Some parts will make you cringe, some hurt, some amused. This is, after all, your life. A composite of what you’ve done and the choices you’ve made. Nothing to be ashamed of.
Take a sip or two.
Having read the above, listen to the gamelan music and close your eyes. Volume is set to where you can hear every piece of instrument clearly. Continue to enjoy the breathing.
At the end of each gong, you can pause and take a sip or two. Resume.
If you find you head and body slowly moving to the gamelan, allow it. Do not force anything. Allow.
Allow any thoughts to pervade your mind. Simply allow your mind and body to do what comes naturally.
Allow the gamelan to take over.
Press play.
If you’ve been fully engrossed by what I’ve written above, I’m afraid you have a very high chance of being easily duped by these thirty-year-old life coach charlatans.
For fuck sake, don’t be that gullible. It means anything and anyone can fool you with a bit of persuasion, sliver of mysteries and stories of the Unknown from a tropical setting.
This, is why social media fuck us up. If you’ve paid a deposit for a life coaching course, you may want to ask if you can get a refund.
Enjoy what’s left of that coffee / tea. It’s probably cold and taste like shit by now.
This is a public service announcement.
You’re welcome.
Dragon from The Orient,
XOXO
