You’ve Stumbled Across Something Not Many People Know About. Go With It. See Where It Takes You.

It was August 2016. I had just come out of 18 months of intense suffering, the kind that takes you to the edge of life itself and leaves you staring into the dark. I was surprised I found the strength to climb out of it.

A week after my 23rd birthday, I hit a crossroads. It was simple, really: keep living life in the fast lane and destroy myself or take a different path. I didn’t have the strength, the courage, or the mental clarity to do it before this time. But in a moment of rare stillness, I saw it. And I chose differently.

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was working at a well-known hardware store in Mentone, Victoria. Life had started to feel manageable again. I was optimistic for the first time in a long time.

I was chatting with my coworker and still close friend B. I told him, “I wouldn’t mind doing some landscaping work on the weekend for a bit of extra cash. What do you think?”

He laughed and told me I was way too young to be spending all my time working. “You should be heading out with your mates on the weekend,” he said, still chuckling.

We dropped the conversation, and I went off to do some work.

About 15 minutes later, a customer approached me and asked if I could help him load some turf strips into his trailer. I said no worries and followed him out. We had some casual chit chat for about 10 minutes when, without any prompting, he said:

“Mate, you look pretty big and strong do you want to do some landscaping work on the weekend?”

I froze.

The coincidence hit me like a sledgehammer. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. I stopped loading the turf and said,

“Sure that sounds great.”

But inside, I was spinning.

What the hell had just happened?

I said goodbye to him, then went to find B straight away. I asked if we could have a quick chat outside. He lit up a cigarette and looked at me, waiting.

“B... I just told you 15 minutes ago I was interested in doing landscaping work, and now this guy I helped offered me landscaping work on the weekend.”

We both just stared at each other. I broke the silence:

“What the fuck is going on here? That can’t be a coincidence.”

B took a drag from his smoke, looked me dead in the eye and said:

“You’ve stumbled across something not many people know about. Go with it. See where it takes you.”

There was something about the way he said it calm, certain, like he knew something I didn’t. It wasn’t just a throwaway comment. It was the kind of thing that makes you lean in. I had the feeling he had something deeper to share, and I was keen to find out.

I was in shock.

My whole perception of how the world worked had just been cracked open. And I thought if I could do this... what else am I capable of?

That moment changed everything. My life would never be the same again.

That was the moment my spiritual journey began, a nine-year rollercoaster that would eventually bring me home.

Not to a concept, but to a presence. A stillness that lives and breathes beneath everything.

A presence I would one day come to sit with in the shadow of Arunachala, in the town of Tiruvannamalai.

Reflecting on it now, I can see how ready I was for that moment.

It came at exactly the right time.

I was ripe and ready for it.