“Do you know orange Dharma?”

“Yes. I know Dharma.”

These are the first words exchanged between two strangers. One of indigenous decent, a Peruvian man and the other is me, the owner of Chief. We are in Iquitos, Peru; a place in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, full of real deal mysticism. It is a place of dark magic, as well as sacred light work and healing.

I fled there unexpectedly for deep spiritual help. It was two and a half years into running Chief with my grand purpose to create space that would allow my beliefs to become an active place of meditation and allow Spirit to express itself through a multitude of mediums connected to such an establishment.

Well, that purpose came true, and it was killing me. That purpose was also making me. The stresses of owning and operating a business with my big buddhist heart was slowly deteriorating my insides; specifically my gut and heart. Despite this, I was still able to make it with grace, which was opening me to ideas and depths of experience I had only read about.

Now.. this Wheel.

This Wheel of me, you, them, they, he, she, and all sentient beings revolving around all of our cosmic debts created from everyday decisions; blind to the divine, which is that you have a soul and it tells you which way to go. It even holds your hand while it leads you home, which is joyous bliss and goodness for fucks sake!

How do we not know this?! How are we operating? Where are we coming from when we speak? How can we say that we really know anyone else when we fail to know our true self and haven’t the courage to look into our own true depths and motives?

I’ve read about it. That soul connection that seems only for the yogi and the buddhist, the buddhist taoist, the enlightened, but no way could that be for me. No way I’ll be able to touch that truth of understanding. It’s too woo woo, so it just will not do.