The man pictured above is named Amar Bharati. He is a Sadhu, a yogic holy man of India. He is a Saint. He has held his hand aloft for more than 40 years for world peace.
He is one of my heroes.
To me his is the pinnacle of commitment to love and wisdom. I seek refuge at his feet as an Elder who tends the flame of immense courage. He inspires me to the path of surrender completely.

I have been gifted with great Elders, we all have. Those who came before me have made my journey so much more comfortable and efficient than theirs, and the have spared me a depth of suffering when they felt it was something they ought to spare me. In this epoch it is easy not to give credit to those who came before. It is easy not to think of who wore the path that you traverse with ease. Who picked up the sharp sticks, wove back the briars in the undergrowth.  Who left the harvest go dry in the sun and gave up a yield of fresh fruit and vegetables, who gathered the seeds so that the best fruit would ripen another season.
All of these beings who co created these wonderful things had one thing in common.
Commitment.
Commitment to their journey, to the next coming season, to the next coming generation to their families, to their studies, to their austerities.
Yes, it is easy to forget these things.

I want to honour my parents and my sister, for who I am so grateful. The life that was offered me has been an extremely incredible and often challenging one and my family are instrumental in having brought me into and through this world.

Beyond the hearth I have many elders around me. Some are the elders of the trees who’ve lived a century or more, some are other teachers who walked parts of the path before me. . .  There’s elders who wrote the wisdom teachings, who kept the oral traditions, who suffered so we could find greater peace in our time on the planet. The elders who resisted oppression, the people who resisted violence. The animals who gave their milk and their bodies. The explorers who created the technologies of modernity. The rivers that cut through mountains over millennia to quench the plains. All are elders.

There are my teachers, friends and guides, the authors of the books I love and the creators of tools I craft my life with.
They have never stolen from me an initiation they felt I could handle; they never did my learning for me.
They have guided me with integrity and wisdom and offered of their experiences generously.

It is easy to forget how much we benefit.
In forgetting gratitude we are stealing from our elders.

I am sharing a list of great Elders relevant to the work I do in case you want to come into knowing them too.
I share this list in admiration and total appreciation of all they have brought forth.
Please know this list will be ever growing and incomplete!

Most of my clients and students, friends and acquaintances hear about my main teacher Demian Hayes. His influence has been a most grounding excellent and positive presence in my life. He is a wonderful alchemist, magician, teacher and incredible healer. He is an embodiment of commitment to Dharma.

Here is his website

http://www.magicvibrations.com

and here is a video of him speaking on one of his favourite topics; Miracles!

Another teacher who I am so grateful for their presence is Dani Sher, who I met in Northern India at the same time as Demian.
He is the creator of Siddha Kundalini Healing, a powerful modality which he initiated me into. Dani is also a truly committed Guru who is also living his Dharma in all the extremity of it’s expression.
https://www.siddhakundalini.com/about-dani

I studied yoga with Himalaya Yoga Valley under Brahmacharya Lalit Kumar and Lisa Fahy. Their asana instruction and guidance was incredible and inclusive. It came at a time in my life when I was almost totally disassociated from my body and was instrumental learnings in coming home to myself. The anatomy teachings of Adam Divine and the Philosophy teachings of Viriam Kaur were some of the most awakening hours of my journey.

Home

I have actively played with and learned from plant medicines since my adolescence. Indigenous mushrooms and other cubensis have been powerful teachers for me. I am grateful for the human envoys of these powerful consciousnesses.
These portals of consciousness helped me understand the world that I felt confused and alienated in and let me feel meaning in the chaos I felt I’d incarnated into.

I know at this time there is a Crisis of Elders for many people as so much indigenous wisdom dies through loss of language and the acceleration of globalisation.
I believe in Elders and finding, treasuring and respecting them in life, in experiences and in nature is a crucial in becoming an Elder in oneself as far as I can tell.

Beannachtaí