A lot of my life I had spent searching in my usual vague way, through the new age movement and eastern spiritual history, to try to find the depth of life. It is this search that was to eventually bring everything together. I had encountered many spiritual experiences on my travels, primarily in Asia where it seemed I felt most at home in the world. Maybe it was the cheap food and beer, but I could not deny it, the apparent chaos of India and the allure of Asia had left its indelible mark on my psyche. The most profound experience I had received had been on the banks of the Ganges in India and then surprisingly in an old dilapidated palm thatch beach hut at Bottle Beach in Thailand. Bottle Beach was a great and hip haunt of the backpackers in the 80’s, cheap, laid back and chilled out.
You could only get there by boat, electricity was sparse, the weather hot, very hot. The sea was clear, the sand pure, all surrounded by pure unspoilt wilderness, and best of all, the beach was patrolled by beautiful bodies, clothing optional. You couldn’t really ask for more. The food was pretty good, but out of the extensive menu, there were only usually one or two items they had the ingredients for! You basically ate what they had no matter
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what you ordered. The funny thing was, they always ran out of fish and coconuts, the only two things in copious, free abundance on a wild tropical island.
My newly acquired yoga practices from India and Nepal were exercised under the heat of the rising sun, on a flimsy balcony high above the rocks, adjoining the ocean. I would finish this all off with a splash of Thai chi I had picked up from a book in Bangkok. I felt fabulous, it just couldn’t get any better. I could eat the wonderful breakfast of condensed milk, coconut porridge, feeling like I had earned it. The ocean would glimmer and glisten in the mornings, an irresistible temptation for the first splash of the day, diving straight off the restaurant deck, to swim the hundred or so metres for a laze on the beach. Much of the day was spent oscillating back and forth, sun, food, snooze, swim, drink, and back all over again. The yoga progressed nicely, I could bend further one way, then the other, it felt like I was really achieving something. I could even stand on my head. Next I thought flying would be on the agenda or some other amazing feats. It was here that life changed. Up until then the yoga had brought calmness, a sense of achievement, much needed exercise, but it was all about to change, as I walked down the suspended palm wood walkways to the restaurant.
Our Robinson Crusoe type hut was perched high on the headland, the furthest one out, only just habitable. The owner had given us a good discount on account of the holey floor. It was a friendly hut, the best of the lot, and even had a steady stream of ants climbing up the bed to reach the ceiling, together with cockroaches, mosquitoes and a few birds and snakes. It was like a zoo, but luckily the bugs kept off the bed most of the time. Outside were iguanas and even more snakes, it was pretty wild. In the evenings, as the sun lowered it was like a jumbo jet taking off. The noise was deafening, the scrub and jungle were full of cicadas. I have not heard any noise like it since. The huts were on stilts, with raised wooden walkways precariously balanced leading to the toilets and restaurant. It was on this walkway, while I was making my way to the restaurant, I came upon a strange experience. Well call it a restaurant, there wasn’t much on the menu, just two giggling and smiling Thais who would serve you what ever they had. They seemed to find me absolutely hilarious, I’ve no idea why, but at least they were enjoying themselves. They had perfected the service of healthy junk food. All of the meals were from fresh veg, but were as morish as candy and sweets, but without the sugar hangover. Every meal had been tailored to the pleasure of your taste buds. It sounds great and it was, why I am not still there I often ask myself, but then with a brain as dysfunctional as mine it really is no wonder.
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Back to the walk. The walkway bounced a bit as you strolled, and it at first felt as if this had become a little exaggerated. I reassessed the situation and nope, all was still the same on the outside, but I was still having trouble rationalizing the situation. As seconds passed the experience deepened, it seemed like my yoga had at last succeeded, appearing to suspended me above the ground by the crown of my head by a force so strong and yet more gentle than was possible, lighter than the sun yet darker than the night. It seemed like an eternity but was probably only seconds. Its effect was profound, insignificant at first, but as time passed the significance would deepen. It was like I was suspended from the crown, gravity was absent and I was light with no weight on my feet, a feeling of bliss filled and encased my entire body and mind. It was wonderful, pure and clean, nothing like I had felt before. Then, probably only a few seconds later I arrived at the restaurant and the enticements on offer soon made me forget all about what had happened.
Over time it was this feeling which I looked back on, which I began to know more and more. Thoughts about the walkway experience knocked around my head. It was this pure and powerful feeling I had encountered, that I began to compare with the inspiration I would later chase in my business life. It was when we first began to think about moving to Spain, many years later, that I finally began to piece together the puzzle. This inspiration and the feelings I had while travelling were drawing together, and seemed like one and the same. I was coming closer to the mystery of the inspiration and hopefully this might give me more control over my life and wayward business ventures. The underlying nature of all the feelings from inspiration and travelling were spiritual in nature, they were the connection with God. The inspirational feelings which drew me unwittingly into business and travel were the draw of the spiritual path