Mind blown by Covid, Mooji, Steve Hardison and an Octopus in one day
On the tail end of recovering from a bout with Covid. Weird virus, man. I’ve never experienced a virus that messed with my head so much. Glad that’s over. One of the blessings, though, is this happened, and probably wouldn’t have if I hadn’t been convalescing from Covid.
Today, I stumbled into this video of spiritual teacher Moojiji walking through a guided conversation with listeners to see what's "behind the curtain." Give yourself the gift of a lifetime and take an hour to watch this with no distractions.
Warning: there might not be any going back to playing small or sweating the small stuff.
All he did was get really present and ask a few simple questions about life. Nothing magic.
But what happened to me was magic - perhaps the most profound peak experience I've ever glimpsed. I really listened - tried to absorb every sound and be totally present with what he was saying.
My body melted away and I felt really, really connected. No drugs, no techniques, just a beautiful sense of being ok. I can recall the feeling now while writing this. I vanished for awhile.
And it wasn't the words he said. I think it was the place he pointed. He pointed to an awareness that we all have that is unbreakable and timeless. He points to who we really are.
I am pretty sure I got the experience of main-line love today.
And then, still blissed out, I watched "My Octopus Teacher" later on Netflix. What a beautiful film. I loved everything about it.
I loved how this depressed middle-aged South African filmmaker returned to the spark of his youth, the wild Atlantic ocean in the Western Cape. He rediscovers on a profound level who he is by following the impulse and inspiration back to nature. Back to the ocean he loved as a kid, and the awe of studying and tracking animals he witnessed while spending time with indigenous hunters.
I love how he slowed his life down and as a metaphor, embraced and accepted the cold of the Atlantic, ceremoniously, and methodically trained himself to free dive every day for a year. I've been to Cape Town near where he filmed the movie, and that water is COLD.
I love how he found a little octopus that intrigued him, and had the impulse to study it every day. And he just became one with this little microclimate forest under the waves for a year, and this animal, in the process.
I love that he was present and patient and loving and curious enough to connect with a mollusk at the bottom of the ocean. What? That is insane...ly cool.
And I loved watching the evolving intelligence of this amazing creature ranging from its ability to grow back a limb, to instinctively blending into its environment moment to moment. So responsive, so fluid with the dance of life, such a graceful creature.
And then somehow the octopus knew exactly when to reproduce, and nurtured its eggs with the last remaining life-force of its body. It dispelled over half a million eggs into the ocean for only a handful to survive. Wild.
I think Mooji and the Octopus are pointing at the same thing. That we're all incredible beings driven by an indescribable intelligence to create.
When we tap into that space beyond words, we just connect deeply. With ourselves, other beings, and even places.
Later that day, I got a bonus - lessons from my soccer-playing Border Collie puppy, who watched the octopus film with my daughter and me.
And then later, I revisited an incredible book about Steve Hardison called The Ultimate Coach. I've heard stories about Steve for a couple of years through some of the people he's impacted, and who have deeply impacted me in turn: Steve Chandler, Karen Davis, and Ankush Jain. I could so relate to his story and journey and desire to see nothing but possibility in people.
His life story is uncanny and is an incredible example for what human beings are capable of achieving and inspiring in others.
I'm so grateful for Steve's spirit that trickled down my way. I'm thrilled and intrigued to get a chance to see him speak in London this weekend.
The ripple effect is real. His courage and insights spilled over in the form of stories, digested and demonstrated by Chandler, Jain, and Davis. I'm so lucky to have received a little taste.
They were all part of the web of goodness that showed up when I was down the proverbial hole a couple of years ago. Just like life showed up for this little octopus cornered in a cave by a shark, and the naturalist and photographer, Craig Foster, who captured it.
This same wisdom helped me regrow not a limb, but my heart.
And it's a big one. Exploding with gratitude, and ready to share the goodness of life.
Life rules.
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