My spiritual gatekeeper!

Was at a solstice gathering last night around the fire in the woods and I seen this guy I thought I recognised, turns out he was the man who steered the Viking boat I was on when I jumped off and found the Buddhist monks.

(For any of you that dont know around 7 years or so ago I rowed this Viking boat down the river Shannon for a bit of fun one day, I was still an alcoholic mess and was drunk on the boat and when my beer ran out I wanted off!

I jumped off like a maniac, knocked on a farmers house for help and a girl answered the door and said something like my God we just seen you walk out of the marshes, she brought me in and gave me a hot whisky and then someone asked me was I a Buddhist, I found this a strange thing to ask, I was bald but a drunken Buddhist jumping off a Viking boat seemed a bit of an odd to ask!

They said that there was a Buddhist monastery down the road and maybe I got lost.

For some reason something sparked in me, like I had to go there!

Her uncle give me a lift to get my bags and I went there a drunken mess and stayed with the monks for 3 days, they welcomed me in with a smile and my life changed that day!)

But this man I met last night, the steerer of the Viking longboat or a spiritual gatekeeper, he knew the whole story and what had happened to me, it was the talk of the Viking group I was part of, everyone knew I jumped ship drunk and went with the monks.

But I was intrigued to listen to this mans side of the story that day and how it all happened.

He said I was very drunk and had been wanting off for the past half hour or or so and because this man was in charge of the boat for health and safety he said he couldnt let me off but I was beginning to do his head in a bit and I was very drunk and causing a scene so he pulled the viking boat over and I jumped off.

Now if this man had of dropped me off 5 mins before or 5 mins after I would have went to a different house and never would have heard about the Buddhist monks and I would not be here writing this now, I would not be the phantom planter!

Turns out this man is a 70 year old and is a Quaker, a faith im so connected to myself which is so similar to Buddhism, he also teaches meditation and has done for over 30 years or so.

Last night he said it was all meant to be!

Are we guided by unknown forces in this life, I would say so, this man has been some sort of spiritual guide for me, the gatekeeper steering me to Buddhism, feeling the soul flicker inside writing this.

He was saying to people at the party last night I can vouch that this man is not away in the head, I was there he said.

People do find my Viking boat story hard to believe but it happened and I tell you something else that I've been looking into and learning about, where I jumped was just when we rowed into the 3 square mile Magh Slecht plain, a newly discovered Druidic site said to be the centre of Druidism in Ireland that we are just recently leaning about, I got goosebumps when I mapped all this out.

Some magical energies beyond anything we can comprehend were at play that day.

One day though I'll write a book of everything that really happened only it'll be a kids story book, my thinking is if I put it in a kids book the lunatics that run the asylum we live in might spur me the straitjacket!

"Those who dont believe in magic will never find it"

Who said this quote?

I have plans to meet up this man and plant trees, he wants to be a paramili-tree!!