reading

How it Starts

It can’t be a coincidence that underneath this stout tree there is a massive wooden table covered with a cerulean table-cloth, which is neatly spread day in and day out by Daniel, the head of our house. We may be six people spending our holidays here, but there are only two chairs standing at the table; one at the long side, facing the open vista and the water, while the shorter, left side of the table is placed at such an angle that from there you can observe the other seat and the tree under which the table is standing. If the two chairs were placed across from each other, this would necessitate a dialogue but in this manner, with the second chair being placed to the side, I feel that someone is standing – or rather sitting – by my side.

I have been seeing this arrangement for two weeks, but only became conscious of it in this very moment. I have always imagined that writing a book would be like that. It has always been a desire of mine and I knew there would be a day when I would start, far from the hubbub of everyday life, nurtured by nature, by the strength of a tree and close to the water. I know, these are many desires all at once but I think that’s the way it should be.

For years, there has been something seething within myself, something constantly telling me, “Go ahead, start writing!” For years I have been postponing the starting shot with lame excuses, but now the situation which I subconsciously imagined so strongly is at hand, the situation which I just have to face. You can’t just project these ideals of being a typical writer out into the universe for years and then pretend that nothing happened once you get the huge tree at the water and the table. “Hey, Pirmin, this is your earth and you have created it for yourself.”

So I start writing and am already beginning to feel during the first lines how fulfilled I am by finally doing this. I can feel myself opening up, letting go, and everything else is losing importance. There used to be things which always seemed to be more urgent, things which I had to keep under control, things I wanted to deal with by reason. My head with its constant thinking always found a reason to postpone writing this book.“Just let me write this email, then I’ll start …” How often have I told myself lines like this without ever starting to write? Somehow I put up a resistance until my ideal became reality and I grasped it within one moment.

Now that I have become aware of it, it’s crying out within me to finally let it all out and put it down on paper. The fact that there is a second chair at the table is not surprising to me at all. I know I won’t be writing this book alone, Dani will be writing it with me. Throughout all our lives we have been connected on a very special level and since he also wanted to write this book but didn’t have enough time left to do it, he has decided to whisper these lines to me. I may not be able to hear him but I do understand him. It is just as in a merely human relationship. Quite often people don’t need to speak at all and still understand each other. That’s the way things are between Dani and myself. Fortunately, I don’t hear the voices of the dead, but I comprehend what they tell me and that’s how I am able to understand Dani. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? But it isn’t. Believe me when I say that for a long time, only those things which I could see or touch were real to me. Some profound experiences in my life by now have disabused and helped me to let go of these rigid thought-patterns. That’s how I learned to listen whenever Dani wants to tell me something. Every person has this ability and with just a little training we all can learn to listen once again.

But more on that later, after all I don’t want you to throw this book into a corner or to get the desire to burn it at the stake! But if you do, please try to make it a nice fire, then at least the paper wasn’t produced in vain. If you should decide to read on though, it might be best if you just become reconciled to the fact that certain things I will be describing may not be to the liking of your reason and it may try to baulk. But this is normal, for many of these lines haven’t been written through the use of reason and therefore may be unfamiliar, maybe even terrifying. So give your reason time to become able to accept these things, sometimes things which have been laid down in words make sense only in hindsight. But there is no pressure, time works in our favour.

But before I can further confuse you, let’s go back to Dani for a moment. He will help me with this book, sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. He doesn’t take himself that seriously after all and makes about as many silly jokes as me. Sometimes we really have to get ourselves in check, but with lots of assiduity and fun we have made it through together. Th erefore this book is also his book, so if you don’t like what you read here, please don’t blame me exclusively, Dani has been part of it from the start.

With everything that follows I will use first person perspective for the sake of reading flow. I won’t write “Dani and I” but when I say “I,” I mean us both. Furthermore, I will address you directly, like “you should” or “if you do this, it will help you!” Primarily, this serves the flow of reading, for if I were to write every time,“you have the opportunity to try this for yourself,” the book will become unnecessarily long and I don’t want to bore you or force anything on you. Much rather, it is advice for a possible attempt. In the end, you have your own earth and it is your responsibility what you will do with it. Also, for the sake of the reading flow, I am using only the male form which is not supposed to mean that I would want to exclude women from this book. I love women and was born on Women’s Day.

Before I go for it in earnest, I would like to acquaint you with the most important point of this foreword. I am neither enlightened nor a saint, nor do I believe myself to be better than you. I am worse at tennis than Roger Federer and my calculating skills are lower than those of Albert Einstein. My grades in school were never above average, I am lazy when it comes to theories and I am trying not to disappoint society, but do not always succeed.

I was born under the sign of Pisces, ascendent Aries, am extremely libertarian and will always try to break free if someone tries to hold me down. Sometimes I throw long parties and drink alcohol. I have tried different kinds of mind-altering substances and had sex with various women when I was younger, even though I had a steady partner. Last but not least: I have tattoos on different parts of my body even though I am not a pirate, so you could say that I am not your ideal son-in-law.

What else in me could be judged by the rules of society? I am sure there are quite a few things, but it’s my life and I love it. I am a completely normal young man, so I firmly claim, who wants to show you with reference to his experiences that you are the creator of your own world at all times. The great part about it is this: you don’t have to turn your life upside down or plan a trip to a highly spiritual country to make that happen. No, in fact it is beginning right now, in this very moment and all you have to do is become aware of it. Or, to put it differently: you neither have to wait for a spiritual shift of consciousness nor for a savior. No, it’s up to you, right now, to become once again the conscious creator of your own world using a few practical tricks.

What makes this book such a practical tool is, among other things, the fact that you don’t have to study or go through some sort of training to make use of its content. Everything I’ll write is basically old news and neither challenging nor novel for you. For anything you will read on the pages to come you already know, the knowledge of these things is already inside you. It has, so to speak, been put into your backpack at your birth. But over the last few years your backpack has been filled with several other things which seem to be more important than your creative knowledge and therefore superimpose over it. Now we have to go to the very bottom again to dredge it back up. Piece of cake, don’t you think? I have subdivided the book into three parts to structure the content. The division, though, was only made to facilitate the comprehension of the content. Be aware that all the topics are connected when you read it.

One more thing: I don’t presuppose that my knowledge and the words I write are relevant for everyone. But I can assure you that I have put down everything in all conscience, speaking from my personal life experience in interacting with people. I don’t rely on theories which I can’t experience myself. There are dozens of other books by now, dealing with these topics and describing them. That’s why I want to state clearly that I am conveying my life experience here and drawing my own conclusions, free from religions or communities of faith. It is well possible that you have heard about some of the theories in this book from other books, films or lectures. As I said, this knowledge is inside all of us but everyone is giving different accounts of it; you will be able to find parallels, for these are the laws of creation. Therefore, Dani didn’t feed me spiritual secrets from the afterlife but helped me to structure everything going on in my head, to put it down on paper and see things differently than I was used to.

It is always up to you what you’ll do with the content of this book. I definitely don’t want to give you the impression that I found the solution to every problem and everyone should now conform to it. Each person has their own perception of things and makes their own experiences but I am convinced – and this is the very reason I am writing this book – that each man should share his knowledge and in this way enable others to profit from it, at least from the parts they find useful. Each self-appointed master, guru or other demigod should do this, in my opinion, since creative knowledge isn’t meant exclusively for the highest ranks of masters but for every master like you and me, never perfect but perfect still. And by the way, this book isn’t perfect either, I continue to live my life and make further experiences. But one thing is sure as hell: you and I will never reach our goal since we’re already there in this very moment!

This book will be the most honest thing I can give you. I cannot do more. A pinch of humor won’t be missing from its pages though, for I love life, I love human beings and I love laughing. Most of all I love laughing together with others, for this is the most beautiful expression of life.

So, here we go!