My main discovery that time was understanding that “yes, the way I live is wrong”. It occurred that there are some major rules of the world, which I was breaking by ignorance… And with my usual passion and self-commitment, I commonly put to sports and business, I dived into self-development. Just like a stranger who’s just got back from a desert, I was consuming that new knowledge thirstily and couldn’t quite quench my thirst.
I studied the rules of healthy family relationships and the rules of eating healthy. I was interested in each and every sphere of life, and I tried to check everything on my own.
I’d say that was the first time ever when I believed that despite the well-known material world, there is another, spiritual one, which is higher and purer. And that world is just as real as the matter surrounding me.
Even though I studied diverse holy texts, I couldn’t understand: how were these ancient truths be connected to my own life? I found no answers in conversations with priests.
Once my wife suggested I try yoga. I didn’t know much about that, but I agreed: anyways, that was something new and interesting! I visited a class and was impressed. For the first time in several years, I finally felt better: relaxed, calm, easy.
Later on, thanks to yoga, body and breath exercises, my physical and mental states started changing for the better. I began studying that practice deeper. And even though I didn’t understand the full depth of it, I continued.
When my friends invited me to visit the Himalayas, I agreed. By that moment it seemed I had already visited everywhere: America, many countries in Europe and Asia, but I hadn’t been to India yet.
The country looked strange to me. Everywhere was poor and dirty, but the eyes of the citizens were somehow happy. “How come?” – I thought. “How can you be happy living in such conditions?”
So, we got to Rishikesh. Got some rest and went to the mountains. We reached the height of 3,500 meters to a holy place there. And, all of a sudden, I got an awkward feeling that I was in a jelly – that the space around me was dense and tough. That’s the way a crystal purity shows itself. And that actual purity was squeezing me out of myself. I’d even say it kicked me out – that’s how hard it was to stay in that place.