When I think of the word Earth, my sense of smell is instantly activated. I recall with joy the scent of the mischievous dusty earth under the scorching Aussie sun, and the scent of the cool ancient black soil in my back garden in Japan, in the depth of which…

When the whole covid thing blew up, my first thought was, “How interesting, ‘they’ are trying to take our breath away.” When I had the most profound ‘rapture’ experience in my life during a conscious breathwork session, I became convinced that nothing would ever shake me again from that moment…

I had my first (non-psychedelics-induced) profound spiritual experience in early October 2009. It was still summery in Okinawa, the southernmost part of Japan. My older sister, her husband and I flew in for a diving holiday to see the manta rays. …

The other morning as I meditated outside I received an inspiration to hold a fire ceremony. The feeling was getting stronger by the time I got up. As I walked in the garden, fallen branches from the ash tree snapped and crunched beneath my feet. I happened to look down…

In my view, the Japanese myths got a bit murky at several points in history. I have a sneaking suspicion that the government sanctioned ‘organic’ assimilation of mythical characters with religious icons to justify some political agenda. The interesting result of it is that there are now several versions of…

I’ve been pondering the importance of retreating into one’s own ‘cave’ for a few days now (I wonder why). …

Last night my dear friend complimented me on the phone saying that my stories were ‘medicine stories.’ A lovely and kind thought. I woke up feeling pretty happy, the words ‘medicine stories’ still reverberating in my mind. I wondered if my story about the cat was in any way a…

You do not not fall in love just because they haven’t got that long to live. I am hopelessly falling in love with a 19-year-old cat who lives at my lodging. I am a sucker for love. This morning, exactly one moon cycle after I moved in, I felt ‘it.’…

I struggled all day yesterday to get words out in a coherent manner in order to write this article. As a Japanese saying goes, I was even prepared ‘to brew someone’s nail grime and drink it.’ In plain English, I could’ve done with borrowing someone’s literary talent. I have a…