“As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more mysterious.” – Albert Schweitzer

I’m in the process of formulating  and writing a number of articles that will follow on from my recent What is spirituality? post. One article is almost complete but before publishing it I decided there’s something else that needs to be said first, which is the subject of the great mystery.

What mystery? you might ask. The mystery of EVERYTHING! The mystery of the origins of life, God, consciousness, spirit, the universe and everything that’s ever come into being. It really is all a big mystery and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The question of ‘why is there anything?’ has always (and I’m sure always will) troubled the greatest philosophers. There really are no answers to that question that make a great deal of sense.

It doesn’t matter if you’re religious, spiritual, philosophical, or only a believer in science, the question of how something came from nothing is probably never going to be adequately explained (not from the average humans level of consciousness anyway).

Or perhaps there never was nothing, and maybe there’s always been something. But that doesn’t make any more or less sense either does it?

Perhaps you believe in the big bang. Fine, but what banged? And how and why did it bang? Does it make any sense at all that there was once nothing, and then that nothing banged and an entire universe came into being? I don’t think so.

If you’re a religious person then you might say that God created the universe. Well how did God first come into being? “Oh, God’s always been around!” you say. Does that make the slightest bit of sense at all? Of course not.

The trick is to agree that it’s all a great mystery and be totally comfortable with that.

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.” – Albert Einstein

One of the things that almost all mystics, spiritual adepts, shamans, yogis and enlightened masters etc agree on is that the source of everything is a mystery. They often call it the great mystery, or the unfathomable mystery.

So one of the things I want to make clear as I begin delving more deeply into the spiritual realms is that I don’t pretend I have the answers to everything. I accept the mystery for what it is.

Having said that, I definitely do believe that we as humans can certainly come to know and understand many things that current science tells us is not possible to know. That includes the reality of other worlds/dimensions, higher states of consciousness, communication with other beings/intelligences, the multi-dimensional nature of reality, the ability to heal, astral projection, telepathy, remote viewing, psychic powers and much much more.

If you think that sounds crazy then stick around, you might learn something

“The real mystery of life is not a problem to be solved, it is a reality to be experienced.” –J.J. Van der Leeuw

Until recently, it’s fair to say I’ve never been much of an early bird, but neither have I ever been the type of person who doesn’t understand the concept of mornings. Having been self employed for well over 5 years now I’ve been in the fortunate position of being able to pick and choose the time I get out of bed and start any work I have on. For most of that 5+ years my average getting up time has been around 9am give or take an hour.

I’ve also never had much of a morning routine and I’ve frequently skipped breakfast except for perhaps an apple or something simple. Mornings are usually the time of day when I feel the most awake and the most alert, and have the most energy, but I have to admit that until recently I can’t say that I usually ever felt positively great!

But now I have a new routine that I’ve stuck to for almost 3 months now. I’d say it’s almost a habit, and it’s having a really tremendous affect on my day. I often spend most of the mornings positively buzzing, and my energy levels don’t usually start dropping by mid-afternoon like they used to. It’s 9pm as I sit here finishing this article and I still feel as alert and awake as I have all day.

So what’s my secret of starting the day feeling great?

Well it’s actually two secrets.

1) The Fruit & Superfood Smoothie

Make a fresh fruit smoothie every morning. You’ll need a food blender for this, but most people have them or you can buy them cheaply if you don’t have one. You don’t need an expensive model for making a simple fruit smoothie.

It probably doesn’t matter what fruit you use, but different fruit can certainly bring different benefits so it’s good to experiment. I usually add at least 1 banana (good source of protein), 1 apple, and then whatever else I fancy. Being in Peru now I can get a whole range of exotic fruits quite cheaply, although I haven’t been all that adventurous just yet. Pineapple is a yummy fruit to add, so are pears, melons and oranges. Make sure you slice the fruit into smaller pieces before adding to the blender. You’ll also need to add some liquid. Water, soya milk or almond milk are good choices. It’s often best to avoid dairy for a variety of different reasons.

However, that’s not all. For maximum benefit you should also add a few superfood ingredients. I’ll probably write more about superfoods another time, but if you’re not familiar with the term just know that superfoods are natural foods that contain much higher than normal amounts of nutrition (usually in the form of vitamins and minerals) that often benefit a wide variety of bodily functions.

The two superfoods I like to add are Maca powder and Cacao (powder or nibs). And even though both of these are native to Peru it was actually in Canada where I first learnt about them and started to use them. Both should be available in most health food stores. Both of them bring a whole range of benefits to the body.

For example Cacao (which is 100% raw chocolate) contains over 300 chemical compounds making it the most chemically complex food known to man. It is the highest source of magnesium which is highly beneficial to both the heart and the brain and it is also the worlds number 1 anti-oxidant.

2) Yoga, Breathing and Meditation

Secondly (although I usually do this first thing when I get out of bed) is doing some yoga, breathing and meditation exercises.

Now for some reason I’ve avoided yoga for the last 10 years or so, and until very recently I’d never performed a yoga position in my life. Which is a bit weird in a way, seeing as though I’m Mr Holistic Local, fascinated by all things spiritual and holistic, and Yoga is probably THE most popular holistic discipline in the world.

So what brought me to it? Well in late February this year I did an Art of Living course in Canada which was a really wonderful experience. Art of Living is an organisation founded by an amazing Indian mystic/guru called Sri Sri Ravi Shankar with the goal of “uplifting humanity by bringing peace at the level of the individual, society, nation and the world as a whole.”

Anyway, I’ll probably write more about Art of Living another time because that’s not the purpose of this article. The point being that I learnt some Yoga (Sun Salutations) and some very powerful breathing exercises on the Art of Living course that I did.

Now I can’t say too much about what these exercises are. It’s not necessarily a secret, it’s just that the information is fairly meaningless without going through the whole process of learning them yourself.

What I will say is that one of the three breathing techniques you learn is called Sudarshan Kriya and it really does have an amazing affect you. Here’s what the Art of Living website has to say abour Sudarshan Kriya:

The masterpiece of the the Art of Living Course is a powerful breathing-based technique called Sudarshan Kriya, or the healing breath. (The practice goes by this Sanskrit name in whatever language the program is taught throughout the world.) One of the breath’s great secrets is that for every feeling or emotion there is a corresponding rhythm in the breath. Sudarshan Kriya incorporates specific natural rhythms of breath to release stress and bring the mind to the present moment.

The practice is instrumental in creating a sense of harmony in the body, mind and spirit. After the practice, participants commonly report feeling calm and centered, with a clearer vision of the world and themselves.

Several independent studies on the numerous mental and physical health benefits of Sudarshan Kriya have been published in international peer-reviewed journals and confirm what participants commonly report. (link)

This exercise really is a great thing to do every morning, and I strongly advise that you learn this for yourself. Art of Living has centres in pretty much every major country, and Art of Living courses are run in pretty much every major city in the world, so do a bit of Googling and I’m sure you’ll find something fairly close to you.

So first I do a bit of yoga, then the breathing exercises and finally I finish by meditating for 15 or 20 minutes. I’ve been trying to get into a regular meditation practice for years, and I’ve never really succeeded beyond a few weeks. The benefits of meditation are beyond doubt, with study after study after  study showing that people who meditate regularly are more relaxed, less stressed and generally just happier and healthier in so many different ways.

However, for some reason I’ve always struggled to get into a regular meditation practice, but after practising Sudarshan Kriya you’re left in a state where meditation seems like the most natural thing in the world to do. In fact it’s more difficult NOT to meditate for awhile.

So that’s my morning practice -  yoga, breathing and meditation followed by a fruit & superfood smoothie. Do all that and it really is impossible not to feel awesome and have an amazing day.

If you have your own tried and tested methods for starting the day feeling awesome then please share them below.

A musician friend of mine, Cornelius, from London (well he’s Irish actually) has come up with the slogan “Do what you love, it’s your gift to the universe“. He’s a musician/songwriter who I definitely recommend you check out, and he plays a lot of the alternative UK music festivals.

Anyway, more than I want to promote Cornelius (which I’m always happy to do – check out his blog, music site and t-shirt store), I want to promote the importance of doing what you love, because I think Cornelius is so right in what he says.

Doing what you love is just so important if you want to live a happy and fulfilling life (and I’m assuming here that doing what you love won’t harm another human being in anyway).

Not only is it important for your own wellbeing, it really is important for the whole world and even the universe. Imagine a world in which every single person was doing what they truly loved. Would there still be wars, hate, disharmony, depression, unhappiness? I don’t think so.

Consider these not so good statistics:

Major depression is the No.1 psychological disorder in the western world. (source)
In the UK, 1 in 4 people will experience some kind of mental health problem in the course of a year. (source)
In 2006/7 530,000 people in the UK suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (source)

Why is that? Why are so many people unhappy?

Well, on the surface, people get depressed or unhappy for a countless number of different reasons. But I think you could probably distill almost all those reasons to one single reason – which is that they’re not doing what they love.

So many people have jobs they hate, and even relationships they hate, but they feel hopelessly trapped in them. People growing up in the western world are conditioned from a young age to believe that they need to get good qualifications in order to get a good career, so they can live a nice comfortable life, probably get married, have the obligatory 2.4 kids, nice house (with a not so nice mortgage), nice car, and whatever else it takes to keep up with the Jones’ next door. Then if you’re lucky you’ll retire at 65 with a nice pension, and you can relax and take it easy….until you die! Woohoo! What a great fucking life that is! (if you’ll pardon my french!). No wonder everyone’s so bloody depressed!

I interupt this post with a short commercial break, put together by the makers of South Park featuring the voice of the late great Alan Watts.

The fact is most jobs and ‘good careers’ are boring as hell. They don’t fulfil you in any meaningful way, they don’t give you any meaningful recognition for the amazing being that you truly are, and they sure as shit don’t make you happy.

Here’s the problem. Most people are just too afraid to take risks, they’re too afraid of what other people think, and they’re too afraid of failure.

If you’re not already doing what you love (and my hat off to you if you are!) then I’m absolutely sure that you have a secret dream of what you’d much rather be doing other than your current boring, crappy job! But, you keep that dream a secret don’t you? And for whatever reason you probably believe it will always remain a dream, and nothing more!

Well here’s a friendly rocket up your ass! Please get over yourself, get over your fears, and most of all get over what you think everyone else might think about dreams. You can’t change your family, but if your friends won’t support you then they’re not authentic friends so get rid of them, and find friends you know will encourage and support you.

What’s the point of living an unhappy and unfulfilled life? What’s the point of having dreams if you can’t realise them (or at least try to realise them). There is no point.

Please wake up! Know that you really can create the life you want. Know that your dreams can come true. Know that you have nothing worthwhile to lose, and everything to gain by chasing your dreams  and doing what you love.

And also know that what you’ve been conditioned to believe by western culture (ie that you need to make lots of money, and have a good career, to be happy and fulfilled) is the biggest load of bullshit that’s ever been sold.

I’ll leave you with the story of the Mexican Fisherman….

The Mexican Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs…I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

“You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

“Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”

Apologies for the lack of updates of late, I’m in the process of writing several new posts and I’ve also been quite busy this last week. Anyway, it’s been awhile since I had a new picture taken of me, so here’s the latest picture taken outside my house looking over part of Cusco, with some mountains in the background.

If I were to ask you to think of a Canadian province then chances are that you would say Ontario, Quebec or British Columbia. And if I were to ask you to think of a Canadian city then first to mind would probably be Toronto, Montreal or Vancouver.

Not many people would say Nova Scotia or Halifax. It’s a fairly small part of Canada that seems hidden away on the eastern coast, a place that even most Canadians haven’t visited! It’s also where I was living for six months before I arrived in Peru.

It’s fair to say that there’s nothing flash about Nova Scotia. It doesn’t have the incredible lakes, mountains and views that you can find in Alberta and BC. And Halifax will never be quite as interesting as the likes of Montreal and Vancouver.

But what you will find is a great many warm, friendly and amazing people. And isn’t that the only thing that really matters?

I must admit I didn’t pick the best time of year to live in Canada. Canadian winters can be brutal and the one I experienced was apparently the worst in quite some time. I’ve now seen enough snow to last me a lifetime!

If you’re going to put yourself through a harsh experience like that then you definitely need to surround yourself with great people, and I was very blessed to be surround by many great people. Winter? I hardly noticed it!

So I just want to take this opportunity to thank all the amazing people I met in Nova Scotia who made me feel so welcome and at home.

That includes, but is certainly not limited to (and big apologies if I miss your name):

The great people I met in and around Wolfville – Kimberly, Beverley, Steve, Mia, Angela, Jason, Kaitlyn, Mike, Joe, Aundrea and everyone I ever played poker with, or had a beer with at Paddy’s or Joes! And not to forget Glen and Mary who were awesome landlords!

The wonderful people of The Lighthouse – Robbie, Anke, Phil, Leandra and Tim. You guys are amazing, and thanks for always providing me with a bed in Halifax when I needed one.

All the beautiful souls I met through Art of Living – Joanna, Adam, Keren, Wylie, Kira, Jane, Heather, Al, Antoine, Gwyn, Molly and many more whose names I can’t think of right now. The world definitely needs more people like you!

Other amazing people in Halifax – Navjeet, France, Michel, Strewan, D’Arcy, Angela, Eli, Robie, Selah and the other Ukeladies. Plus countless others I met at parties and events.

All the great people of the Halifax farmers market who I had the pleasure of seeing every Saturday morning, particularly Elizabeth, Rae and Megan. And the big gay guy who makes the most incredible breakfast wraps I’ve ever tasted. Without a doubt the best breakfast in the world! That alone makes Halifax worth a visit!

And last, but certainly not least, my amazing and beautiful soulmates Reynard and Chandra who I had the infinite pleasure of seeing on an almost daily basis during my whole stay in Canada, and who somehow managed to put up with me ‘not talking very much!’ for 6 months! I really hope I see you guys again soon – in Peru hopefully

Thanks again to you all. You made my stay in Canada very special and a period of my life I shall certainly never forget.

Canada rocks! Nova Scotia rocks harder! Now go pay these amazing people a visit.