Today I signed up for a month long membership at a Virgin Active heath club in South Africa.
The membership consultant who assisted me is a young South African man with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. As we started talking, he became curious about the path to US citizenship. After I discussed the main avenues, he responded that he would like to visit the US but he must first go to Peru.
“Peru?” I assumed he intended to hike Machu Picchu.
“I want to try Ayahuasca”
“Ayahuasca? Why?”
“Because I am seeking spiritual enlightenment.”
We shared our theoretical knowledge about the mind altering effects of plants. I then asked him about meditation.
“Oh yes, I meditate but they say one Ayahuasca trip opens the mind more than a million meditations can.”
His meditation method was to clear the mind of all thoughts. I said that sounded like hard work and I prefer to observe the thoughts come and go. That was less stressful than trying not to have them. Plus they’re going to come and go as they please. You might as well just let them in. I then suggested some free meditation Apps he might explore.
It was then, with tremendous delight, that he pronounced, “you’re a hippie, just like me!”