Never underestimate the power of a single thought. It can take you in directions that you have never imagined, to places that you could only visit in your dreams. So do not just dream your dreams. Live your dreams.
It was the summer of 2017. I had spent my career as an international mediation lawyer and had been working on non-profit projects. I was flying between Hong Kong and Kathmandu every month for the Himalayan Consensus Institute, an environmental think-tank. We were working with other environmental organizations, social businesses under a UNDP framework to actualize solutions for glacial melt that threatened the fragile ecology of the Himalayan region.
A summer tropical storm was ripping across the region. That night, as our China Eastern plane approached Kathmandu airport, we found ourselves smack-bang in the middle of the storm. The plane was circling frantically and I knew that the pilot was trying to figure out a way to land it in this storm. I turned to the stewardess, asking about the situation, and she whispered:
“The pilot may have to try a crash landing.”
Knowing the region well from years of working in Lhasa and Kathmandu, I said to the stewardess, “Tell the pilot to get out of this storm. Fly to Dhaka, Bangladesh. That is the nearest airport and the storm blew over from the east and is moving west, so the route should be clear. Do not try to fly to Lhasa, as this is not possible at night. Given the high electromagnetic frequencies at this altitude, they will magnify at night and we won’t stand a chance. So get to Dhaka.”
She nodded and quickly slipped behind the curtain. I knew she was delivering my message.
Then suddenly, lightning struck. It struck the plane and the passengers panicked. Flashes of light were running along the body of the plane interior. We had been hit by a lightning bolt straight on. Everyone in that plane could feel it. Everyone was wondering if we would get out of this storm alive. I began reciting the heart mantra of Guru Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born Master.
Om Ah Hum Benzra Guru Pema Siddhi Hum.
Then suddenly it seemed that the plane reared backwards, like a horse in a Marlborough cigarette commercial. It seemed as if the plane was flying straight up. Sure enough, it was and we pierced through the black clouds. The sky above the storm was clear. The plan paralleled and then made a sharp turn. I breathed. The pilot had taken my advice. We were on our way to Dhaka.
When we landed in the Bangladeshi capital, there was total confusion at the airport. This was an unexpected arrival. Nobody on the plane had a Bengal visa. After and hour of seemingly endless frenetic ground staff bureaucracy, we were hustled off the plane and into a bus, sent on a long road to a hotel, where spicy curry was served and everyone given a room and told to wake up early the next morning to continue the flight on to Kathmandu.
That was when I saw him.
In my dreams, Guru Padmasambhava, the Lotus-Born Master, appeared. He first appeared in a thangka painting. Then he appeared again. . . and again . . . and again. He was trying to get some message through to me. Then, finally, he appeared, standing before me as clear and life-sized as can be. He said only a few words:
“My Eight Manifestations are eight quantum energy fields.”
Then, pointing his hand definitively at me, he instructed me: “Now go tell the world.”
Now, what would you do?
I began figuring out how to tell the world. I had been given a task, a mission. Yes, I knew the Lotus-Born Master had Eight Manifestations. During a more relaxed period, many years ago, the abbot of Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa quietly and secretively invited me to meditate alone in a hidden crypt on the second floor, which was filled with statues of the Eight Manifestations. This silent short retreat, unknown to anybody else at the time, left me with a deep impression. I felt like I had downloaded something completely new.
However, few people, even erudite lamas, actually know the legacy, practices, and deeper meaning within each manifestation. So, I was about to find out. Moreover, as a lawyer and environmentalist, this quantum physics thing was quite new to me. I was about to embark on multiple expeditions, a journey of discovery. I had a single, intrusive question. “Is it possible that the founder of Tibetan Buddhism might also be the father of quantum physics?”
But I kept asking myself: how can I tell the world?
A few weeks later, I arrived in Shanghai to meet with financial institutions to seek funding for Himalayan Consensus environmental projects. I was trying to convince very irresponsible financial institutions that environmental projects would enhance their social responsibility. Upon getting off the airplane at Hongqiao Airport, I suddenly thought about an old friend called William Lo, a Shanghai businessman who I had known from Hong Kong since the 1980s. He was a devoted follower of the Lotus-Born Master all his life. So I thought he might have some advice on how to tell the world about the Guru’s manifestations being quantum energy fields.
“Oh, you’re in Shanghai,” he laughed. “Wonderful, before your afternoon meeting, come to my apartment for coffee and then we will have lunch.”
Sure enough, Shanghai coffee has more sugar and milk in it than actual coffee. Lunch was vegetarian. William then folded his hands and asked, “So tell me about the Lotus-Born Master and what happened during your dream?”
I repeated the whole story and expressed my confusion over how to get the Lotus-Born Master’s message to the world.
William looked me straight in the eye and asked, “Didn’t you direct documentary films before, like Searching for Shangri-la? Why don’t you do a documentary film and all it Searching for the Lotus-Born Master?”
“Yes,” I responded. “But filming a documentary requires investment.”
“If you are the director, then I will be the producer,” exclaimed William, full of enthusiasm and conviction. “Stop everything you are doing and go back to directing films. I will support this project. But you must begin, tomorrow.”
From that moment, the direction of my entire life changed. Within a few years we produced and directed three major full-length documentaries about the Lotus-Born Master and the science of his Himalayan wisdom. We followed up with three science fiction movies, projecting his prophecies into the future. And there is much more to come.
In this monthly column I would like to share my creative process with its twists and turns. I will share interesting stories from the films I’ve directed, and the people we’ve met and the places we’ve shot at. and how a single thought can change the direction of one’s life, and maybe everyone else as well.
Soon I was on another airplane flying back to Kathmandu. But this time the purpose was not to attend another environmental conference. Instead, I was going to Nepal to begin Searching for the Lotus-Born Master.
Yes, the search had begun.
See more
Lotus-Born Master Decoded: Eight Manifestations of Quantum Energy – Ancient Wisdom Backed By Modern Science
Item: Padmasambhava – (Main Form) (Himalayan Art)
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