INTRODUCTION
Just as some people are born with perfect pitch, allowing them to distinguish one musical note from another with great precision, I was born with spiritual hearing. I define "spiritual hearing" as the ability to listen to manifestations coming from the spiritual world. We could very well call these spiritual manifestations "voices," but more than voices, they are, at least in my case, ideas or knowledge that reach my mind. It's a strange sensitivity to sense events that are about to happen or to have information, sometimes very precise, about events that have already occurred, without a source in the physical world from which these insights originate.
My childhood was quite complicated, as I imagine the lives of all those who, in one way or another, are different, tend to be. My mother noticed right away that I was a much less social child than my siblings, and I saw her worried about my mental health several times. I remember her complaining because I was very absent-minded and spent too much time with too many imaginary friends. She told me that many times I would gaze into space for a long while, and then suddenly I would jump and say, "Of course..." or I would laugh or ask strange questions.
I must admit that I went through the hands of various doctors from different specialties, who, while they could never confirm that I was completely crazy, also didn't vouch for me being entirely sane.
Certain comments surely didn't help, like the ones I made to Dr. Patel, to whom, at the tender age of seven, I said that he should stop thinking so much about money and finally go visit his mother. Dr. Patel's mother lived in the heart of India, and indeed, it had been over ten years since they had seen each other. My advice was not at all reprehensible, except for the fact that the night before, Dr. Patel had had a bitter telephone conversation with one of his brothers in India, who had told him, word for word, the exact same thing I told him the next day.
During my early adolescence, I met a life teacher named Hao, who helped me find an explanation for everything that had happened to me up to that point. I understood that I wasn't a boy with developmental delays or mental issues, as my family used to fear, but rather that I had been born with uncommon abilities. This condition wasn't negative at all, and far from being an illness, it could even help the people around me if channeled correctly.
Master Hao was already an elderly man, but in his youth, he had walked the same path I was traversing at that moment. It wasn't easy to receive rejection from many people for being different and, furthermore, to have to conceal a beautiful gift so as not to disturb others. Thanks to him, every strange thing in my life found its place, its explanation, and its purpose.
I didn't fare too badly overall; in his case, due to his uniquely strong talent, Master Hao had to escape his country and leave traumatic memories behind. With time, he found peace in forgiveness, and a new life in a new land gave him the chance to start over and help many people. The clarity and depth of his words were "perfumed" by a minor limitation he couldn't help, as he spoke with a rather strong foreign accent. The Master also formed a beautiful family, whose children ended up becoming talented professionals.
This newfound understanding of myself awakened in me a strong appetite to learn about everything related to spirituality, esotericism, occult sciences, and especially something called healing. I began reading everything I could find about near-death experiences, religions, saints, shamans, and miraculous healings. Above all, I became interested in those people who called themselves mediums or spiritualists, who could communicate with the deceased.
I learned very little from all that I read, though I understood that all that was mere information. It was up to me to transform that information into genuine knowledge based on my own experiences. Ultimately, I ended up believing only those things that I could experience myself.
I never denied that there were people capable of healing serious illnesses with the simple act of placing their hands over the head of the sick person. However, until I could do the same, I regarded it as something that could be true or not. In any case, I tried to replicate the experiences of others in my own life, but if I couldn't succeed, then I took it as if that wasn't meant for me and continued researching something different.
Through learning to meditate, I managed to gain mastery over many aspects of myself, especially in terms of calming my mind, controlling my emotions, and keeping alive an innate desire to contribute to building a better world with my small efforts. My aspiration wasn't to change the world but to contribute all I could so that, when the day of my death arrives, I can be sure that I did everything possible to leave a better world than the one I encountered when I was born.
Meanwhile, I was growing up and voraciously consuming books and movies about spirituality. I was shaping my own identity, absorbing a bit of everything in that process. I didn't have a clear answer to the question of what I was going to do with my life in the future. I didn't see myself working as a doctor or engineer, nor did I see myself as a musician, athlete, or painter.
