Light body courses had a major influence on me from the 1990s on. Below is an account of a very early experience in “seeing and sensing subtle energy,” excerpted from Keep This Quiet! IV. “Seeing and Sensing Subtle Energy” is the title of a course in my light body work with LuminEssence though I had not taken it yet, but I had been exposed to the concept. The “integral therapist” I was visiting in Guadelajara was Hector Kuri-Cano, an exceptional Mexican psychologist.

An unforgettable event now occurred. I had begun taking “Awakening Your Light Body” classes in Belgium in the spring of
[1992] (more on this later). In Guadalajara with Hector’s consent, I phoned a light body healer in California and—fervidly hoping to assist his cancer recovery—set up an appointment for him. But at the last minute, she seemed to disappear. She did not reconfirm. This was unlike her and I was able to “pick up” psychically the sense that something had gone wrong. What to do? I decided not to tell Hector. I would step into her place. This felt very bold. I hadn’t dared consider stepping up where cancer was concerned. But in my energy studies with Chris Van de Velde in Belgium (in “Inner Landscaping”), we learned aura healing.

So closing the door in my room, I imagined Hector in front of me. As I went toward the subtle figure to put my hands into his aura, I felt another presence “walk in.” I was absolutely sure I was being helped, though I had no idea by whom (and still don’t). With my hands in Hector’s aura, I carefully combed though it, feeling the different textures; in the area of his kidneys, I “saw” a man: a young Hector who had a dream; he cared about a project so much that, I wondered, did he, as it were, create—at least, contribute to—the life-or-death illness? I felt the discovery was valuable information for Hector.

The next day, fully under the sway of the vision of his young self, I asked Hector if he’d kept the appointment. He said yes, he had felt Om the whole time. I was so moved as he described the energy feelings I had tears. He asked why. And I fessed up. Though I’d clearly felt the assisting presence walk into the room and believed in it totally, I was so grateful and impressed that Hector took my information seriously.

I asked about the young man. If one has such a vision, it can stay with you strongly, as this one did. I hoped it was a key to Hector’s recovery. Sure enough, he recounted how in his youth, he left unfinished some writing about the feminine. He deduced that the removal of one kidney represented the unconscious necessity to shift his male/female balance. And therefore he lost the right (conscious, masculine) kidney, indicating the importance—to him on a psychic level—of this unfinished work involving the feminine, a wish that was vitally deep in his unconscious. He said it was selfish but he
wished he could convince me to stay and help him write it. This intertwining of disease with a psychic issue was well known to me through the Jung Institute, so I hoped fervently my vision would assist in his remission. It felt like his younger subpersonality had put this key into my hands.

Then the phone rang. With no further ado, the missing healer surfaced, and they rescheduled.

Hector—able to stand in his own breadth of experience—gave me the reassurance I needed. I had expected him to be unflabbergasted by the many dimensions I was encountering, and he was. He was serious, humorous, and earthy. This combination, in a spiritual and body-oriented embodiment, was just what I’d flown 1,642.75 miles to find.

Normally, one cannot go through great spiritual shocks without a teacher. Not beforehand but afterwards, in the grounding phase. I had sought Hector out. I was sure he was equal to challenges that my encounters with “the afterlife” had brought and that he would support me. He did. Not that my qualms were resolved, but I felt steadied and took away, as well, a reminder of Hector’s loving example—presence is the only fitting word.

Anytime I have found presence, my own ability to be present is more alive. It seems to catch fire. Knowing is reminded. It’s that invisible handshake that cements a step. Getting more Hector under my belt would be sustenance for a long time.