Air, Water, Fire, Earth and Ancient Wisdom

​ Life, love, death; these are the existential questions that we all ponder about at times, sometimes all the time. But how do we do in order to reach a inner balance and peace once and for all?
We are first to perceive and understand these concepts before silencing the mind. We all hear about the precept of letting go and when we become able to apply it in our life on a regular basis, the ultimate concept becomes letting go of letting go, which is, in other words, quite close to the idea of silencing the mind when we understand that we all already have all the Answers inside, there is no need to worry about anything and we naturally rewire our conditioned neurons to shift from fear to love. Because these are the two most fundamental ass-kicking invisible forces that rule the entire universe.
Yet, it does not mean that we should completely stop thinking; it means that we should think differently considering that time is not something linear and we can just refer to the past in terms of life experience in order not to make the same mistakes over and over again, and to the future not in terms of fixed plans but in terms of a infinity of highly changeable quantum possibilities.


I would not recommend to anyone to travel the way I have journeyed for the past nearly five years, but I would definitely recommend to anyone to travel. The former part of the sentence is because each and every of us has its very own karmic Path that they need to perceive and there are many ways to achieve it, and the latter part because travelling is what gives us the opportunity to finally get out of our dear comfort zone. Then, most of us inevitably get back to it (the comfort zone, although some parts of the change will remain ingrained as part of the evolution of the person) and some eventually make radical choices and changes that take them toward ultimate freedom and independence.
Not everyone was born in a monastery in the midst of the Himalayas and one can do meditation and yoga as much as they want in order to thrive in the meantime but I am afraid that travelling is the only efficient way to get out of our comfort zone and finally see what lies beyond that smoke screen...and what lies beyond is usually very simple; our true essence. So why do we not all do that right away for it sounds so appealing? Well, it is because what seems so obvious in this world is not quite we are taught to think or do, and too few really take the time to delve into such things for they would feel socially excluded. Because our true essence is actually very different from what we think in the first place, which could be overwhelming at first, and this society is not suitable for people who think differently anyway.
At the end of the day, I do not think that travelling a lot of countries is actually necessary to get out of our comfort zone but I would definitely recommend anyone to hit the road because our soul wants to discover, explore and grasp places and concepts through all the other souls that we run into and with whom we share along the way. Because our ultimate challenge is to defy the horizon and the Unknown that lies beyond it.
It is what we are here for and to unconditionally love in the meantime in order to destroy our ego. Why shall we do such thing? Because the ego projects itself into our life as fear, control, security and stability, which is exactly the energetical opposite of what we need to free our mind and embrace the magic and the flow of the Universe.
As Carlos Castaneda wrote, it is beyond the horizon that a man stops being Man.


Why such an extended introduction for this first blog publication in a while?
First of all, because I always write an introduction for my blog publications, which is probably some remnants from a part of what I still am as a teacher, and secondly because I guess I had to justify myself (and to myself) why I have not moved so much on a geographical level this year compared to what I had thought in the first place and thirdly, and most importantly, this introduction is quite a adequate summary of what I have been experiencing on a energetical level through the last eight months (if not for the last five years).
So you might be thinking; but why is it an introduction if it summarizes what I have been doing? Should not it be a conclusion instead? Let's say that “why” is the most irrelevant question ever and yet, we all ask it all the time on different levels and degrees. Of course, it may be used for communicative, literary or introspective purpose but definitely not on a permanent basis. Because once again, we already have all the answers inside.
So I guess that the answer to this question is that considering that I have well integrated the prospect of the past, the present and the future happening all at once in the Now, why should a conclusion actually be before an introduction? It is all about conditioning again for in the end, it is always all about the intention that we put in doing just everything in life, which is interconnected with just everything else, and which will always be well perceived and understood by the people who know how to listen with their heart.
In effect, it would not make any sense not to share with you what I have learnt on my way (double negation) and how I have grown in the meantime. Everyone can talk about going places and even how they feel about it, and some people do it much better than I do. However, not everyone has the sensibility and/or possibility to write about what it feels to remain off the beaten tracks and far away from conventions for such a long time, and the drastic changes that it induces in one's life for good.
And for my part, I would not go back to what some call “normality” or “reality” for anything in the world. Do not get me wrong; I have faced challenges that have been way bigger than what I used to have before since I have changed my life, but they relate to a different perception and understanding of time, space, reality and the universe as a whole, and freeing our mind and reaching higher realms of Consciousness through this process helps us See the world and the universe as it truly is, which is something priceless and irrevocable.


In fact, this year is surely the one during which I have travelled least on a geographical level and yet, as we have already discussed the idea that the geographical aspect of the journey is just a tool (an important one though) in order to reach other realms of Consciousness, I feel that I have learnt more in the last 7 months (since I came back from the United States to Mexico last December) than in the former four years that had passed since the very beginning of this journey in September 2012.
On the other hand (if there is any), it makes complete sense considering that I have long thought that the evolution of Consciousness is something truly exponential, at least for those who decided at some point to embrace their fears and to transcend collective conventions (therefore personal limitations), in order to thrive.
When I went back to Chacahua, Mexico, last December, I was very aware that I was going to stay for a very long time, probably for months, since the idea was to finally rest properly and take some time to write and learn new things after years of either working or travelling or studying existential concepts.
It all came together as a whole on my beloved Mexican island and even though I relatively wrote a lot, I did much less than what I wanted in the first place. I believe this is most probably because at that very moment, I had forgotten that what I wanted was not quite on the same wavelength of what I truly needed. And we also tend to forget that what we truly need is generated by the universe in order to experience specific situations and learn the lessons that are affiliated with them, close cycles and transit into new ones in the short and longer term.


I eventually spent five months in Chacahua through my second six-month cycle in Mexico after that of last year. For the first time of my life, I did not have to work and generate money as a teacher so I could focus on many different things instead.
Meanwhile, the fact of not moving much on a geographical level helped me reinforce my convictions of sharing sustainable development through the local community as well as our first autonomous community in Chacahua. Indeed, apart from writing and remaining utterly alone on my local friends Ana and Leo's land for months, I still spent a substantial amount of time connecting with wonderful folks (both Mexicans and foreigners) and doing some exchange of services in terms, for instance, of giving English and French classes, and receiving macrame courses in return.
However, the main focus of the moment was, beyond gazing at the starry sky, colourful sunrises and sunsets, soulful moonrises, powerful waves, nesting turtles, playful dolphins or inspiring pelicans, all about developing the local community for I had the time, energy and means to do it. My beautiful friends and I spent a considerable amount of time helping building the place with local resources and setting up the permaculture garden, and overall showing the direction about how to implement a sustainable way of living even in a completely different culture.
Of course, I could not feel more at the “right” place at the “right” time with the “right” people, not only because everything takes place just as it should, but also and especially because I could delve even more in concepts such as astronomy, astrology, reiki, yoga, massage, runes and shamanism in the meantime, and overall because it was a very coherent continuation with regards to me establishing a sustainable community based on natural medicine and alternative education in a not-so-distant future.


It was then time to finally depart from Chacahua and Mexico in order to head towards Guatemala and pursue the course of my geographical journey.
However, the main difference with what I was used to doing is that I was no longer alone (at least on the physical plane), which makes a lot of sense according to the fact of having manifested that cycle more and more throughout the last couple of years, since I had arrived in Alaska. It is all about short and much longer term cycles and our ability to shift between them, remember?
In fact, I had never spent some much time with people on a regular basis than in the last few months, which is quite paradoxical to the idea that I had never felt so happy and complete on my own before. But all in all, it is only when we get to this point of having fought with our demons and feel utterly balanced that we encounter people in order to share our happiness and completeness, and not the contrary. And interestingly enough, this is also when we start learning and assimilating even more than before.
When I arrived in Guatemala, I quickly realised that for the very first time of my travelling life, I did not feel quite “right” in this place. Of course, the rainy season did not help much, psychologically and physiologically speaking, and I sometimes felt that I would rather wander and camp in the sunny, gorgeous, remote Yukon forests instead like I did last year, but I also realised that I had a much more important lesson to learn in central America through this process.
Not only did I not feel in synergy with the place (for example, I felt that Lake Atitlán, of which I had heard so many great things about beforehand, was beautiful but way too touristy for me) but also with the people, which was the real question mark about it since travelling is all about the people and teachers that we come across and learn from on the way. When some would recommend Lake Atitlán as a spiritual place where many courses can be taken, I have found nothing more than a “spiritual” supermarket that I have already seen too much in Asia and has never aroused my interest.


Yet, there were many wonderful, insightful highlights that took place in the meantime such as these ten days spent at the Fungi Academy, nested on the gorgeous hills above the lake (I truly hope that I will get the opportunity to write a proper post about this experience at some stage), in which people's endeavour is to develop edible and medicinal mushrooms in a sustainable community context.
Then, something truly amazing and unexpected happened; I managed to motivate my father to come and visit me, which we had been discussing for the last couple of years. He eventually came for a couple of weeks despite his reluctance about the rainy season and he, in fact, arrived just after my travel partners (Macarena -Argentina-, Simon and Lucas -France-) and I came back from the ascension of the Acatenango volcano on our own (two days, 3970m of altitude), which was a truly inspiring moment and my third time getting very close to angry giants of fire after La Fournaise (Reunion Island, 2003) and Tongariro National Park (New Zealand, Mordor, 2005). Gazing at Mount Fujiyama (Japan, 2015) or El Popocatepec (Mexico, 2016) were quite outstanding experiences as well but I did it from the distance whereas I hiked the other ones.
My father and I have quite distinct personality styles and it would not be exaggerated to say that I have taught him more to travel than the opposite (if he ever really did). In fact, before my first backpacking travel in Thailand in 2002, he never really understood why I was about to travel because he could not even conceive of exploring the world and other cultures. Well, the great side of it is that it helped me believe in the concept of reincarnation and I am overall glad that he could change his mind in the meantime and my own journey is not alien to that.


What is more, my father and I have also quite different (if not opposite) ways of travelling and I was quite concerned about meeting the “right” balance when he would come to Guatemala. Overall, I was by far the less worried of the two about his coming because I knew it would just flow the way it should, which is all about the magic of...letting go. For my part, I was taking it as a life achievement in the father-son relationship for whatever was meant to happen and it was good enough to me given that I have never been really educated as a family person.
Everything went perfectly well and I even managed to have him hitch-hike and camp for the very first time of his life. He kept on saying that he was doing it because I was with him but the most important part of it is that he truly liked the concept of it. Moreover, he got along very well with my companions in the meantime and I felt delighted that he could also share and learn with some of my other beloved people for it would not have made more sense otherwise.
The crew (we parted with Lucas in Antigua after of the descent of the Acatenango) and I went to explore the Northern part of Guatemala and its expensive but worthwhile archaeological wonders. Well, if you ever get there, please be aware that there are much more interesting and affordable sites than Tikal Again, it was a quite relevant context to see that Guatemala is one of these countries where tourists are treated like milk cows.


It is their choice and ignorance to act as such and treat travellers this way without any differentiation whatsoever. Nevertheless, of course there are exceptions like everywhere as there are morons everywhere, for everything is a matter of balance. Also, we should not forget that people become this way because some tourists give them the opportunity to do so, directly or indirectly. They would not make foreigners pay more than the locals if some foreigners had not somewhat accepted this condition before.
In the end, it is like in society; people do not take the time to think critically and independently because they would rather watch their favourite series on TV instead. So they then consume as much as they can without even pondering about the consequences of their actions. Travelling works exactly the same; people would do anything they can (and pay ten times more if needed) in order to consume the local resources regardless of consequences and get back home saying that they have done “everything” in this country, which pretty much comes to nothing if we really think about it.
Overall, everything is a matter of perspective. I remember this discussion with my father, in which he was telling me that Mexico was a very religious country. It is quite a relevant instance of what is really happening because after I asked why he thought so, he replied that it is because he was taken to a church during his tour in Mexico, where people were supposedly praying all over the place.
I said that it is just another of these nonsensical societal conditioning in a sense that Mexico is everything but a religious country. However, some people want my father (and millions of others) to go back to his country and tell his friends and relatives that Mexico is a religious country in order to make us believe that the post colonial judo-Christianity is still alive.
There are always two parts of the story for those who want to See the truth; regarding this very example, the other side of the story is that I was personally living in Mexico City when the pope came last year. There was just nobody on site (we are talking of about 10,000 people for a city of 24 millions inhabitants) and the corporate media was so desperate about it that they made a loop montage of the most crowded places in the city to make the world believe that it was huge. And they have sadly been very good at doing that throughout the massive lie of modern mainstream history.
Everything is a matter of perspective; most people consider as weird those who think and act differently, and those who think and act differently consider as weird those who are too “normal”. Yet, the world in which we are living in would not be so sick if everyone would not think and act like everyone else such as brainwashed zombies.


Then, we left Guatemala and went to Belize in order to both flee from the rain and get some scuba diving in the Caribbean This was quite unexpected in the first place as well because Belize was neither on my bucket list nor on my way, and I knew it would be an expensive country in terms of what I like to do and where I like to go. Yet, I could feel right away that the local vibe was amazing and we managed to hitch-hike a lot even being the four of us with all the gear (all the rides were obviously in pick-up trucks or trucks).
After that, the most magical part of the father-son journey took place; my father, Simon and I (Macarena went back to Mexico to travel with her friends there) randomly met the daughter-in-law of the owner of Glovers Atoll (a private island located in the middle of the Caribbean See, two hours away by boat from the mainland) and we found out that it would somehow cost us less money to stay on the atoll than to remain on the mainland for the last few days together. The decision was spontaneous and inexorable; we went to the island for five days until my father and I would have to make it back to Guatemala City for him to catch his flight back to France.
How magical it was there; I could see the centre of the Milky Way every single day for the first time in months (even the last month of my stay in Chacahua -May- was quite overcast before the beginning of the rainy season), the moon, the moonlit, deserted, small white-sanded beaches, sunrises and sunsets, the turquoise lagoon with nurse sharks and eagle rays gliding through it. I snorkelled and dived in the open see with green turtles and barracudas, I could cook everyday and get back to my daily yoga and exercising, and the list is non-exhaustive.
Unfortunately, my father could not scuba dive as we had thought in the first place but we still manage to go snorkelling and share insightful conversations together, which we had not had the opportunity to do in too many years. I guess that the point of all this is that he or I could pass away tomorrow and we would not have any regret about what we could have done and have not done together, as well as unconditionally saying “I love you” before it is too late.


My father and Simon have now both gone back to France and I hence embraced a new cycle of solitude again for my last couple of weeks spent in Antigua Guatemala. Interestingly enough, the weather was absolutely stunning when my father left and I was able to gaze at the Fuego volcano every day knowing that it was erupting like crazy with the entire mountain covered in shimmering lava rivers and the air vibrating with its fury. Even the local family I was staying with told me that they had never seen it like this before. And since I was staying with a local family and enjoying the experience very much, I guess that I was therefore back to what I love most.
Glovers Atoll was so magical that I decided to go back there for my last couple of weeks travelling in central America before going back to the USA for new adventures there.
Have I really decided that?
Well, we all have the choice to react the way we want to a specific experience given to us. However, it is scientifically proven (quantum physics) that the brain is a receptor and not a creator. I mean, even when we talk about creativity or healing, we are “just” channels of the energy that surrounds us at all times, especially available to those who have “chosen” to open new Doors of Perception.
I of course believe that I have not decided anything and that I was just meant to go to this island because my father came to visit me, and since everything is intimately interconnected, I was meant to go back there as well.
All in all, I think that given that Guatemala is relatively an expensive country, I would rather spend my time on a lone island in the middle of nowhere for almost the same price. I guess that this is the compromise I need in order to keep distant from my comfort zone as well as to know what I really need to keep feeling happy and complete.
We should all know that on our respective Paths; what makes us happy or unhappy, because at the end of the day, the positive or negative perception of an experience only exists in our mind. Our soul and heart just perceive it as an experience for what it is and for whatever lesson we have to learn in order to move forward on the Path of Universal Consciousness.
Since time is not a linear concept, the above could have been a great introduction as well finally. I leave you to think about it but please do not think too much. Keep on enjoying the privilege to be alive and able to “make decisions”. But do not forget that there is just to love and let go of letting go and nothing at all to be controlled in order to feel happy and complete.
Meanwhile, I send you a universe of love and light to keep in your heart until next time, whether this next time is on this physical plane or a more astral one.