“Mastery is the best goal because the rich can’t buy it, the impatient can’t rush it, the privileged can’t inherit it, and nobody can steal it. You can only earn it through hard work. Mastery is the ultimate status.” – Derek Sivers
The difference between a skilled practitioner and a master is something like the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire:
A billionaire is — literally — 1000x wealthier than a millionaire.
They aren’t miles apart, they’re galaxies apart.
That’s what’s been on my mind since I landed in the Amazon jungle, two days ago.
I’m here to guide a group of nine people through a two week plant medicine intensive, led by my core teacher:
An indigenous man who has been practicing for over 40 years.
Although “practicing” doesn’t quite describe what he’s done.
He has given his entire life to his craft…
Handing over his mind, body, and spirit with a commitment so total it would make David Goggins blush.
During his apprenticeship, he ran six healing ceremonies per week, working with ~30 people per night.
(Imagine playing in a high-stakes playoff game that goes into multiple overtimes. Now imagine doing it six nights per week, for over a decade.)
Then he woke up at 5 am the next morning to prepare plant medicine for the following night.
When he was finished, he would retreat into isolation to sit and practice in silence until it was time for another ceremony.
No talking. No touching. No television.
No doom scrolling.
No distractions.
His fuel:
One meal per day; a piece of fish and a dry plantain.
He continued this protocol, with short breaks, for over 12 years.
And that was just his apprenticeship.
Today, at 60 years old, he is widely considered the greatest healer of his generation.
He continues running 4-6 healing ceremonies per week, working on the front-lines of human suffering, going to battle with the darkest, most complex trauma the world has to offer, while training dozens of apprentices in the healing arts (myself included), passing down a 10,000 year old spiritual tradition that dates back to the earliest Amazonian shamans.
I love Kobe, but damn:
Three workouts per day is child’s play.
Now, to be clear:
I do not share this as a recommendation.
Most of us would die if we attempted it (that’s not an exaggeration; we would actually die).
To do something this extreme…
To give your life to your craft so totally…
To turn yourself into a pure instrument of healing, for the sole purpose of helping others…
You must be called.
You don’t choose a life like this, it chooses you.
And yet, I can’t think of a more fulfilling way to live.
Winning titles, making money, gaining followers, earning accolades and status and admiration…
…All worldly achievements feel like sandbox games in the face of a master who has given his life to his craft.
And when I see him at work, I can’t help but imagine a world where we all find the life we’re chosen for.
Where we all aim higher than the level of our eye-line, beyond the flat, well-worn path that leads to a knowable destination.
Where the call within leads us off-road, to carve our own trail towards an unknown summit high in the cloudy distance.
Where we’re not moved by our own force, but by a force of nature.
The force of spirit itself.
May we all hear that call, in our lives.
And, when it comes:
May we rise to answer it.
- T
Unsubscribe | Update your profile | 5-420 Erb St. W, Suite 433, Waterloo, ON N2L6K6