Unfinished experiences and lessons are then carried forward into a new life and new experiences. One of the ways we can truly evaluate the reality we live in is simply by leaving it for a while. We can retreat into nature, go to the mountains, join a retreat, or travel somewhere far away. When we disconnect from the daily influences that shape our reality, we gain something very precious — distance.

This distance is sometimes essential if we want to look at our life with clarity and honesty. When we rush through our days, life almost seems to live us. We are like a fish in water. We cannot see the ocean because we are part of it. But when we step out of it, we can finally observe it.

For me, this journey was particularly powerful because I returned to Asia after fifteen years. When I first traveled there, I was in a period of deep spiritual awakening. At that time there was also a strong belief in the West that true spirituality could mainly be found in the East. Many people said that if you wanted a genuine spiritual experience, you had to go to Asia.

And it is true — Asia holds an extraordinary spiritual tradition. Temples, rituals, centuries of meditation and prayer create a space that touches something very deep within a human being. The experiences I had there at that time were important, and they became part of the foundation upon which I later built my understanding of spirituality and the deeper structure of human consciousness.

When I returned to Asia fifteen years later, I arrived there as a different person. I came with a “house” that had already been built — with my own reality, my work, and a community of people with whom I have been exploring the spiritual path for many years.

When I stepped again onto those same places in nature — in the jungle, in temples, by the ocean — I felt the spiritual presence very strongly, in some ways even more deeply than before. Yet at the same time, looking back from this new perspective, I experienced something unexpected. Alongside all this beauty, a surprising realization emerged: the spirituality we once traveled to Asia to seek is now something we are also living at home.

Over these fifteen years, a great shift has happened here in what I would call “my world.” People have become more open, more aware, and more sensitive. When I look at the people who come to my programs, I can clearly see how much spiritual awareness has evolved. Of course, it is often said that the world you see reflects the people around you. And my world is filled with people who are exploring themselves, growing, and awakening.

Yet I feel that this is no longer just a small circle of individuals. It is part of a broader shift in consciousness that we are witnessing today, despite all the challenges our world is facing. As I once again explored sacred places and felt the ancient energy of these lands, I also felt something deeply calming within me. Spiritual truth is universal. It does not belong to one culture, one country, or one continent. It exists wherever people live it.

The spirituality we once searched for far away has, over the years, begun to grow in our own soil as well. We planted the seeds, and those seeds are already growing beautifully.

When I returned home, I met a friend who has been walking along the spiritual path with me for many years. He too had traveled through Asia with his family, even longer than I had. As we spoke about our experiences, he shared that he had felt something very similar. Together we found words for this realization.

It felt as if Asia had held up a mirror for us. And in that mirror, we saw something very beautiful: over the years we have also created a space at home where spirituality is alive. It is stunning to travel to Asia and feel its magic. But perhaps even more beautiful is the realization that what we once searched far away can now live where we are. Sometimes we need to travel very far to truly see what we have already created.

This time, Asia gave me a new gift. It held up a mirror in which the light of a quiet realization was reflected — that the awakened soul has become part of our everyday life here as well, in the world I live in.