thePlace

Met the Teacher, my sifu – the guru for my voyages of qigong and organic gardening.  Found him through the net and met him in his chicken farm the Sunday before I left KL for Bali.  Pulling into a parking place, I spotted him right away in a crowd.  I thought I knew him but can’t think of where and when we have met. Perhaps he looks like someone I knew –but nameless and faceless.

He beckoned me over and opened up my qi points.  A strange thing to do to a complete stranger but I felt completely at ease.  I was there to see if I can learn anything about organic farming and I was sure I didn’t tell him that I wanted to learn qigong.  My doctor, the shinseh in Bali, has prescribed qigong as a recommended panacea.  I have always been interested in knowing more about qigong but never had a chance.  The last couple of weeks in KL I did ask around to see if I could do an intense course.  

A coincidence - a fortuitous collaboration ascribable to the right conditions, in the right place?!!! He felt it and he knew.

An incredible farm he has.  A glorious display of richness, exotic fowls and animals – the emanation of the creator’s esoteric intelligence.   He gave me his recipes for making bio-nutrient, lactic bacillus bacteria and compost.  These became the corner stone of my organic gardening attempt.  A feverish effort to make the soil fecund in the Place, I discover new issues and problems weekly – the sudden arrival of termites, the mass attack of evil biting ants, the pile refuses to heat up, etc.  Sifu is the only advisor I have and I’m indebted for his tireless sms and emails that take me through all the challenges.

He also imparted the basic qi exercises on the same afternoon – which I began practicing since and feel the change in and around me.  He taught me more and is teaching me as he guides me via the net and the phone.

It’s been about 6 weeks now, and I’m still struggling with the composts and indefatigably practicing his updated qi instructions – inevitably hassling him with my omnipresent queries. I’m certain that Sifu keeps a busy schedule, his late night emails, early morning messages, plus the postings in his blog give the impression that he has no need of rest.

I only hope his earnest support will not give place to a dull regretful lassitude later.

I see him dancing with the qi, flowing with it, in it…he is it.  Free from unnatural trammels. 

I have only met him once – spent a few hours with him in his farm.  His face now seems at once clear and blurred as I try to recall how he looks.  All I know about him is that he owns 2 farms ( a chicken and a goat farms), he had spent part of his life in Indonesia; and that his grandfather was his sifu.  Yet it’s easy to think that he knows about most things in life, his protean knowledge exudes that.

I wrote him once jokingly, ‘karma would have it that he has only met me once before he knew that he is inescapably became a guru on my gambling attempt in life….’  He wasn’t amused and quite rightfully; he only wants to keep his role as the Teacher of my organic farming and gigong adventures, nothing superfluous.

He has also inspired this, the keeping of a blog – perhaps not exactly palatable to his idea of keeping one.  His, laconic, and this, verbose.

For all that I’m grateful, an unexpected and much needed assistance; not of my own creation or choice.