Allowing the Golden Lotus to Bloom

Testimonial

I first heard about the Nagual from a friend who had studied the Dragon’s Tears series in Tenerife in August. He is someone whose opinion I trust, and all he said was: “This man is the real thing. It would be worth your while if you could go to visit him. Even if he doesn’t teach you a thing, you will learn a lot!”

I was intrigued by that enigmatic statement, and was determined to find out more about the Nagual and what he taught.

So I went to the Parallel Perception website and learned about the different kinds of training, and I was very strongly drawn to the Golden Lotus series. So, after sending an e-mail to the website, I learned that there was one place open for the Golden Lotus in November, so I grabbed it immediately, surprising even myself with the speed with which I had secured a place, found a cheap flight, and got a cheap and reasonable hotel (it took only about an hour).

Friends asked me why I was going. Well, I had been practicing Chinese martial arts, including Bagua, for many years, and wanted to improve my practice. The idea of Spiral Energetics and dragon movements was fascinating, and spoke to my heart. I also wanted to break out of the shell of the social self, shed social conditioning, and find and be the real me. I wanted to learn how to live more impeccably, with integrity.

From the moment Lujan walked into the room, there was a connection between us. He recognized me immediately, and although I can say in retrospect that I also recognized him, in that specific moment I was not aware of it at all on a conscious level. It took a few days to percolate through all the layers of social conditioning and the layers of protection I had built up around myself.

Sitting in front of the Nagual is awe-inspiring and also terrifying—for he reflected back to me my true self. I had no choice but to be confronted with my own reality. I could say and do nothing except remove the layers, take off the masks, one by one, until, after painful perseverance, I got a glimpse of who I really AM. In some ways it was like staring into a black hole; in others, it was like looking into the face of God; and in another, it was like neither of those; it was more like simply recognizing my true self, the self that society had taught me not to look at and never reveal, not even to myself.

But with his delightful humor, his gentle nature, and his accepting, non-judgmental spirit, the Nagual guided me on an incredible journey of self-discovery. It was delicious, scary as hell, exhilarating, exhausting, deflating, and yet also empowering all at once.

And the movements of the Golden Lotus series are out of this world. Really. Truly! At first I found them rather daunting, especially when it took almost one whole day just to learn the first of 16 movements (but in reality, in terms of content, it was more like six full movements plus a transition sequence, and it also laid the groundwork upon which to build). So when the two of us studying together started to feel anxious and frustrated, he gently told us that we had it down and assured us that we would finish easily and remember it all.

Just like a Buddha lessens his light so that humans are not blinded by it, the Nagual shifted his assemblage point (or more likely shifted ours!) so that we would not be overpowered by the directness of his energy. From that point on, things moved much more smoothly, as our anxiety and frustration basically dropped away. And we did learn it all and remember it, with ease. Now we will work to not just imitate the Nagual’s movements but to make them our own.

The movements instill such a sense of stillness that when practicing I sometimes found myself just stopping and standing there in silence—until I recalled what I was doing and then continued. When energetically practicing difficult moves over and over, I sometimes saw swirls of energy moving around the Nagual, as well as around me. During one practice, when we stood silent in a certain posture while our eyes were closed, I saw flashes of white light before me. And at another time, when the Nagual was doing what he calls the Witch’s Broom posture with us, his heels came up off the ground—and so did mine. We were about ready to take off!

I do not know what else to say about the Nagual and about Lo Ban Pai, specifically the Golden Lotus series, except to say that the me who came home was nothing like the me who had traveled to meet him. I am different in so many ways—physically, energetically—in every way. Am I suddenly enlightened? Not completely. Not even close. But now what I AM is ever striving to live in and from the heart, communicating the truth of my being, and for that Gift I shall be ever grateful to the Nagual for showing me how to allow the Golden Lotus in my heart to open up and blossom.

Stephen
Japan