THE UNLIKELY PILGRIM

Back Story
It is impossible to tell my story without telling the back story behind it.

It was November of 2003 when I last saw Pompet. We bumped into each other in Boracay. It was just one of those trips that I can’t forget. I tripped on shrooms for the first time and like with most first, it was an unforgettable experience. In my lucid hallucination, I saw him shrink into a child. When I sobered up, he mentioned that he feels a big change is coming for him, a rebirth perhaps.

That was the last time I saw him. People thought he was dead. I remember a story he told me about a white guy who gave up everything and sailed to Palawan via only a raft he made. My gut feeling tells me that Pompet is in a similar quest.
I finished college and went on with the daily grind. Often my thoughts would drift back to my missing professor. I hardly remember the stuff he thought me in the classroom. Though one thing that stuck with me is how he loves to use the word “empowerment!”. I and my girlfriends would call him Pompet Empowerment behind his back. It does actually have a nice rhyme into it. I remember too that he would talk about stuff like consciousness and the universe and the cosmic connection of everything. It sounded strange yet so familiar.

No news for years. In that time I found myself in plenty of situations when I wished he were around. I needed someone to tell me the relevance of those growing pains with the expansion of this universe. I needed someone to explain to me that if everything is connected then why do I feel like I don’t belong. Then a common friend called to say he saw Pompet on TV. Apparently he is now a healer in some mountain. I made a mental note to call the TV station to ask which mountain, but I seem to always lose myself in the daily grind, the self wallowing, the booze, the gigs, the smoke, I kept on delaying the call.

And then I moved to Cebu. Coming down South was a one hundred eighty degree turn for me. I was just a giggling gig girl; and then bam! I was flooded with all this information. It started when I meditated and this opened up a whole new dimension. Suddenly I was looking at this world, this life, this reality from a different perspective. It is as if a veil of illusion placed when I was growing up is slowly being lifted up. I start to remember who I am. I felt alive for the first time. A bit alone too.

That’s why in this awakening process Pompet was in my head more than ever. The things he told me years back is finally making sense. I wanted to tell him, Hey man I’m finally getting it. But I know too that I wanted look for him because I needed affirmation that I am not going insane. In this process, your old reality is so shaken up it’s not hard not to consider if you are going nuts.

A few weeks before the school term ended, I told my boyfriend that I am ready to go up that mountain to look for my friend. That night I googled his name and voila, apparently he’s been down the mountain in a while. It’s funny that what I am looking for is right before me. But now I see that there is perfect timing for everything and I have to go through that process alone. I contacted him and flew that weekend to Manila to attend my first inner dance.

Inner Dance
Seeing Pompet, or PI as he calls himself now, after all those years, I felt like I just missed him for a month. He is different but it was not really odd for me coz I guess I have always seen him that way. I have always seen the expression of his higher self.

And my first inner dance experience? I felt that I’ve hit home. I felt that I belong, that I am connected, that I am one with everything. The lights I see in my head during meditation started moving. And if inner dance is being one with your spirit, then from that experience I could tell that my spirit gyrates the whole time.

My back hurts like hell after the session. I’ve been reading on Kundalini energy and working on rasing mine. I think my first inner dance did something because I could feel this tension rising up in my spine. On the second day after the session, I was curled up in bed with this unbearable pain. And then I felt it rise up my crown and I heard a pop as if a thousand lights burst in my head. I fell asleep and woke up like a new born.

First dance and I was finally able to break away from all those old pattern that stultify me for years. In the beginning of
my awakening process, I slowly shed of the old hold I have to the material, and the dance marked my final good bye to it. Immediately after that, new opportunities just keep on coming in. It made me realize that new energy cannot come in unless you make space in your life by letting go of the old patterns that no longer serve you.

Holy Week
It was a natural choice to go down to Mindanao for the Holy Week. Weeks before my trip I’ve been raving to friends about my unlikely pilgrimage further down south. I really want to experience Mt. Makilala. Even before I found Pi, I have read the Philippine connection to Lemuria. After reading his blog where he mentioned the presence of the Seventh Pyramid in that part of the country, it really resonated with me that I have to experience the energy for myself.

Also it’s the best time of the year to be down south. Even before Christ, the time around 21st to 23rd of March has been sacred for our pagan ancestors. This is the time of the spring equinox, when the sun comes closest to the earth. In the past, it’s a time for worship for the coming harvest. Now science has proven that during equinox, earth is bombarded by powerful solar energy. And the point of the earth where this energy is strongest is at the equator. And Mindanao is the closest to the equator that you could get here in P.I.

And finally I was hoping I could grab a good story from that trip for a feature screenplay. With school over for me, it’s about time that I go out there and chase a story. It just seem natural that I write ascension films. I have already committed to my higher self that I will do this lightwork full time. Stories and films are my medium to spread healing and light.

Cosmic Connections
I arrived at Makilala without any expectations. I just want to hang out with an old friend, grab some ideas for a screenplay and chill up in the mountain. I did have a few intent that I want to work on though, I want to quit smoking and meditate a lot. I wasn’t expecting to make connections with people who are like me. Before this trip, I really thought I am strange, if not insane. This trip proved otherwise. Over breakfast table I, Pi, Troy, Angelito, Kat, Tita Bettsy and the rest of the group would talk about light work, ascension, the flower of life, DNA activation, the cosmic hierarchy of spirit, Lemuria, the Mayans, alien connection, space ship and other metaphysical and esoteric stuff like it’s the most natural thing. And it would go on the whole day in between munching on cosmic energized food, inner dance, equinox dance, full moon dance, study hall time, daily morning trek into the sacred falls and napping a lot.

This is such a profound experience for me because I really don’t have anyone to talk this with in my immediate circle of friend. My boyfriend was quite tolerant in the beginning but lately he’s been telling me that all these beliefs are not based on scientific fact and its all a bunch of B.S. In fact another intent I set out for this trip is to have strength, courage and wisdom to hold firm in my belief even if the people around me think otherwise. I want my relationships, especially my partner, to respect what I believe in the same way I respect theirs. As I see this as my work. My life.

Catharsis
The whole trip, one term that always pops up is catharsis. I thought it was some sort of a catalyst or something till I ask what it means. Apparently it’s when you get rid of an old blockage and is manifested by crying, screaming or in Kat’s case a whole lot of coughing. I told them and myself it ain’t gonna happen to me.

And then we went up to the sacred water falls further up in the mountain. It’s the closest to nature I have ever been. The water is so clear you could really feel the healing as it flows through you. The sound of the forest resonates with your whole being. The smell of the thick earth and vegetation fills you up. You feel great burst of energy that hiking up and down for an hour seems a breeze.

It was a Good Friday and I was dancing by the rocks in the falls when I found myself spinning and spinning and spinning. Then I felt something rising up from my abdomen. In my mind’s eye I saw a black sphere. I just have to let out of my system. I started screaming. After a few moments I gathered myself. I felt so good, so light, as if a big burden was lifted out of me.

Transformations
I flew back to Cebu transformed. I have a lot of things to credit from this trip. On the top of the list, I gave up cigarette, an addiction I was nursing for eight years. It was hardly my effort though, being so close to nature and being around people with such positive vibe the last thing in your mind is to want to smoke. You just want to bathe in the beauty and the love around you. It’s been two weeks now since my last cigarette and yes once in while I find myself craving for a stick. What I do is breathe in pranic energy around me and the craving is gone in a minute

When it comes to food, I have decided to go raw. Troy and Pi suggested I do it three days in a week, just fruits and fresh vegetables – all uncooked. I am in my seventh day now and I feel good, I lost 2 kg in a week, my skin looks better and though I have an occasional craving for cooked food once in a while (just an hour ago I was tempted to trade my immortal soul for corned beef with potatoes and onions and fried garlic rice) I think I might actually go raw for good. It just make sense, I think we humans are really meant to eat raw. First you save electricity because you do not have to cook. Next if everything is energy then we consume the unadulterated energy of the food. After all what you eat becomes who you are. And finally at least this is going to help me completely give up on meat. But then again, I’d still have sea foods once in a while. After all It was from the ranks of fishermen that Jesus Christ called his first Apostles.

Everyday now, I do Yoga and a bit of Inner dance when I wake up in the morning and before I sleep at night. Since I started doing Inner dance, I could really feel the need for my body to stretch. I have done a lot of work out regiments before but nothing distresses like yoga. The only downside to all this clean living is that I’m sleeping a lot lately. I found out that an hour power nap in the afternoon could give you the boost to go on the whole afternoon and night.

I always try to apply what PI said one time when he is doing inner talking: Don’t expect to get a different result by doing the same old patterns. Whenever I get a bit stressed or anxious, instead of lighting a cigarette or sulking in a corner, I try to change my pattern. I go down to the beach and do some inner writing or clean up in the kitchen or nibble on a raw carrot and everything just falls into place. It’s clear we have to let go of our old pattern and always act from the perspective of our higher self – that part of us that always brims with love and wisdom and light for everyone, for any situation, for everything.

Last weekend, I brought my boyfriend to an inner dance session here in Cebu. I introduced him to Troy and we also met some new people. He was very open about it and found everyone nice. On the sunset party that Troy threw in his aunt’s house, we feasted on vegetarian dishes, played some tribal music and talked about light work. We realized it is possible to socialize without booze or smokes and still have a great time. Though he has not verbalize it, I could feel he is now in full support of my light work.

Gratitude
Looking back now, I feel that Pompet, Pi, was not really gone all those years. Whether he is around or not, he is my constant companion in this quest for enlightenment. Before we left Mindanao, he thought me to be in a constant state of gratitude. And that’s what I am feeling now. I remember how he opened the doors for me, how he empowered me, how he showed me the path to light. I am thankful for that. And I am thankful that a lot people is now inspiring me to do this lightwork with dignity, compassion and lightness. And now it’s just natural to pass the love by the left hand side, till we all remember who we are.