A MAN NAMED HANS

Hans Sebbelov a white-haired, white-bearded Dutchman, about 75 years old, walked with a pronounced limp. A friend of the Captain of my boat, he arrived at our dock out of breath. The Captain embarrassed that he and the crew had been caught passing around a joint, invited Hans aboard anyway. It was Hans who had introduced the captain to TM (Transcendental Meditation) a year or so prior and then left for India where his doctor had sent him to find a cure for a strange disease for which no doctor had been able to offer any hope. Hans had returned from studying for months at Maharishi’s feet, with tremendous hope. Sitting with us that evening, he described these incredible powers he had been taught; he was able to travel throughout his body—through his bloodstream and into all the various organs as if he was a miniature cartoon doctor. The best thing was, he wasn’t fake. It was obvious to me—his descriptions were so vivid and real—that he was watching himself from inside while he was describing it to us.

I spent the evening walking around the harbor with Hans eager to hear everything I could about these miraculous goings on. Eventually, we took his Volkswagen bug to a coffee shop where we drank bottomless cups of coffee and smoked his Winston cigarettes. Hans seemed to be able to answer the Big Questions I had been struggling with. Or—perhaps it was not Hans at all—for his smiling round face and white beard had transformed into Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It was Maharishi talking to me. It was in the VW bug that I received a set of simple instructions for living: Learn how to meditate. Get a small apartment and live on my own. Give up women for a while. And, find a simple job like driving a truck.

Within the next few months I had accomplished all but the second. And of course, he was right about that, and that relationship ended up making me suffer miserably until I was able to escape it as well, and surrender to Pure Knowledge. But that night at the harbor was definitely a turning point for me, it was from the depths of despair that I began to climb to the heights of happiness. I went from literally living below sea level to living high in the Alps within a few years.