Uniting Communities In Happiness with Tibetan Sound Healer Kalden Kho

Introduction

0:00Welcome to the Exploring Healing Arts podcast, your go-to source for learning about different healing techniques and meeting exceptional healing arts practitioners from around the globe. Together we explore where the physical meets the subtle, the possibilities that exist for healing, and a diverse array of methods to try from acupuncture to gyn yoga and Reiki to family constellation therapy. My name is Elizabeth Alexander. I am the creator and curator behind

0:32this podcast, a Reiki master and energy healing practitioner. This podcast is something I have dreamed of for many, many moons, and my intention is to birth the resource I wish I had had at the start of my own healing arts journey over a decade ago. Whether you are just getting started on your own journey, or you are intentionally diving deeper into a healing arts practice, this podcast is the place for you. You will hear inspiring stories, get real life practical tips, and connect with

1:04exceptional practitioners and teachers from around the world. No two paths in healing are the same, but that does not mean you need to be alone. Join us to explore and experience healing together.

Guest Introduction

1:22Welcome to another episode of the Healing Arts Podcast. We've got a special guest today, Kaldun Koh. Originally from Eastern Tibet, Kaldun Koh brings a wealth of Tibetan culture and spiritual background to his sound worth, breath work, and astrology offerings. He became a monk at the age of five and continued his monastic studies until the age of 23, when he completed a three-year retreat. He subsequently escaped to India in the winter of 2000 and joined his Tibetan community in exile

1:55under his holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. He moved to the United States 15 years ago, and in journeying across the United States, he came to meet people from all walks of life. He discovered that people more and more are seeking connection and serenity to offset the stress and isolation of modern lifestyles. Kaldun's goal is to create a community here that will combine the best of both cultures, Tibetan and American. To this end, he has dedicated his sound work, breath work, and Tibetan astrology offerings to introducing America to the warmth and spiritual strength of traditional Tibetan culture, while

2:30working to ensure the continued robust existence of Tibetan traditions. He hopes you will join him in building this community and moving toward a more enlightened, balanced, and harmonious path. Welcome, Kaldun. Thank you. I'm so excited that we're doing this. Thanks for being here with me.

Kaldun's Ancestry

2:48You're welcome. So you've got a very, very rich history and a lot of different global experiences. Would love to dive into your journey. But first, my favorite question to ask people is, what is your ancestry? What are your roots? And how do you stay connected to them or not? I'm originally from Tibet, born and raised in Tibet, and grew up in the monastery. So I'm living in Santa Cruz, connected with the Tibetan people through internet, go back home. And there's a bunch

3:27of Tibetan people's exile and moved to US. So we, it's a holiness of birthdays and the Tibetan New Year's, so we're gathering together, having celebrations together. Wonderful. Yeah. And so you're in the Santa Cruz mountains now, and you even have Tibetan community in this area? Yes. We have about 20 people total. So we, like, pretty randomly are gathering together. And then I speak a Tibetan

3:57language, you know, more like Tibetan styles, having the rituals together. Yes. That's really fun. So you also have a rich array of offerings that you've brought with you from Tibet to the United States. But before we dive into those, can you tell us a little bit about your journey?

Monastic Life

4:19So you were born and raised in Tibet, and you were a monk at the age of five. What is it like growing up in a Tibetan monastery? Grew up in Tibetan monastery is actually wonderful. Tibetan traditionally, what they do is, I have five siblings, or five brothers, sorry, eight siblings and the three sisters. And the first boy is going to be automatically, though, almost some sort of a place for the parents and then who going to get a wife and

4:55the taking care of families, all the business together. And the rest of the boys, usually, traditionally, they're sent to a monastery, which means here in the US, when the kids are sent to you in a private school. So, you know, parents try to do the best. That's what the Tibetans do. Sending the monastery is an extremely good opportunity to able to develop all of those knowledges and the practice. So I went to Tibet monasteries, age of five, and then that's the place where I started a monk. And then

5:34went back to families, and then coming back, back and forth a few times, and then some sort of a permanently went to monastery at age of eight. And then I studied all the Buddhism, texts and books, all kinds of a philosophy. And then at some point, some sort of graduation, certain degrees. And then I went to a cave for three years. We call loxum chusum, which means

6:06very serious meditation, three-year retreatment. And then after the retreat to finish, and then now start to exile to India.

Escape to India

6:20And so that was around early 2000s, is that correct, when you went from being in Tibet to being in exile in India? Yes, that was a structure coming from the capital of Tibet in 1999. And a traveler, by feet, walk for so many days across the Himalayas in the middle of a freezing winter because that's the only way you can escape in the winter, freezing weather time. So there's not so much

6:51Chinese soldiers in the border. So the guide also knows where to hide, where to go. It's still pretty incredibly risky by the weather, freezing temperature, but also soldiers cams through helicopters randomly. So you never know what's going to happen. And then it's sometimes we cannot move in through. You just have to hide because the guide knows where the soldiers can see where they come in. So sometimes we have to just hide in the snow for days. It's a really

7:28challenge. I really, honestly, I thought a few times, I thought I'm going to die. But also there's some sort of intuitions there that I'm going to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama in this life. So there is some sort of intuitions and some sort of confidence that I have a feeling that to see him, able to see him. So that's the only hope that we all just survive and just keep walking.

Refugee Experience

7:58And yeah. Wow. So to get from where you were being persecuted in Tibet to India, you cross the Himalayas in the middle of the winter. Yes. That's the only way you can go. Because in the summer, there's more soldiers, more access around the weather temperatures. So the winter is the best. And then most Tibetan people are pretty capable for high climate. They're just meant to be that way. The bodies

8:29and the lungs, everything. So without any modern equipment. So we made through it. Wow. That's a journey. And what was it like being a part of the refugee community that was in India? Like where exactly were you? And you know, who else was there with you? It was amazing. The first time we got in Nepal and there's a Tibetan exile refugee reception center under Dalai Lama. And when we got there first time, they just welcoming us. And then the first time

9:05in the door, the gate outside when they opened, I saw a Tibetan national flag. It's almost just melting my heart. And almost we all cried. And then when I just go inside of the deception center, and we saw His Holiness Dalai Lama's picture, it's almost just, oh, it's like a dream, mind blowing. So we just feel like, oh, are we still allowed to put those here? You know, I just can't believe what we've seen. It's so happy moment. After a while, there's one actually American guy.

9:40I still hoping that I'm going to see him someday. His name is Kevin. I remember his name. And he's coming, checking us, some sort of, there's a clinical place. And he checking my nose, ears, and fingers, toes, every part of my body. So they've been worried if it is a frostbite or, you know, there's a lot of time people lost their parts of bodies because of the journey. He checked my all parts of my body. And then he said, you're good, you're alive. And you know, you're in a freedom place. And you can study whatever you want. And you're in a democracy.

10:15And I just cried and then hugged with him for a while. And that was absolutely new life and a magical moment. Wow. The impact that one person can have in a moment where you need it. Absolutely. Absolutely. Freedom is number one. Without a freedom, there's nothing left. So what was life like for you? You know, after that moment, you met Kevin, you got checked out,

10:47you had a, you know, a hug that was life changing, cried. What did your life look like after that while you were in the refugee camp? It just feels like really just overwhelming. At the same time, extremely happy. It just feels like almost just like happiest place to be because of the freedom. I just, so ever since, I just, people like him when I saw the, just the first impression. And they just,

11:17just, you know, when the Tibetan persons are translated to me, what he said things, it just hits my heart. And then just absolutely just love it. Wonderful. And it seems like that makes you want to help other people too, in the way that Kevin helped you. Absolutely. It's just amazing because you have no idea what people are just going through, especially when the same people has no freedoms, you know, taken by for like others. This is someone

11:54who is more powerful and they're just going through and that kind of a journey. Eventually, they've reached some sort of freedoms. It's just completely amazing. I'm all about to just working and supporting for, you know, people who have a struggle in like that.

Immigrating to US

12:16And then from India and from Nepal, eventually you ended up in the United States, right? You immigrated here. Yes. And what was that process like for you? After Nepal, we stayed there for, uh, three months in the refugee camp. And, um, a, once they check a physical, um, process, check everything, we're healthy enough, everything we able to go to India. And then, uh, we bus coming through the bus journey, um, and then, uh, made it to Dharamsala place where His

12:49Holiness, Dalai Lama lives in the exile community. And then that was one of the most absolutely beautiful moment and then happiest, uh, moment in my life. And, uh, His Holiness, just the idea of His Holiness is, you know, just to be the near, uh, His Holiness temples area. And I see the, um, the views of the mountains back around snow mountains, everything. It's just like having just magical place. That was in the 2000, exactly in the 2000.

13:24Wow. Did your dream of seeing the Dalai Lama come true? Yes. I had so many times a dream that, you know, He's just able to see His Holiness in Tibet. And that's just pretty much, I hear so many Tibetan people, you know, wish and hoping, um, and then always have those amazing dreams that we can share each other. And then finally, being able to make that happen in my own life is just something is just, um, incredibly priceless,

13:57uh, just happiness. Wow. And how long were you in, in India for? I was in India total, uh, eight years before I moved to the U.S. I went to a monastery, which is, uh, practice some, you know, spiritual practice. And, uh, some point I decided to go back to Dharamsala, start to learn in English. And, uh, that's really good place to study in English.

14:28There's so many international traveling who came in there for help in Tibetan refugee, uh, community. Also, same time, who is seeking for study about spiritual, yoga, meditation, Buddhism, philosophy, all kinds of Tibetan culture, um, they came in there for study. And, uh, we kind of like exchanging and helping each other to, you know, study each other. So, I, since I was there, I have to do some

15:00sort of work in the same time for the, you know, a lot of life expenses just to survive. And then, and then there's no chance for me to go really serious to school because I'm already some sort of old. And, um, I just went to some conversation class and, um, English conversation class. And then, uh, and then we started exchanging cultures, you know, with the Westerners and my first English teachers, Brandon from Ireland, and he's absolutely wonderful. He helps so many Tibetan students.

15:33And then American guy named Ken, he is also incredibly, uh, supportive. So we learn English from those guys. And then it's a funny, the Irish guy goes back to Ireland and he's bringing back to us, Irish alcohol drink daily. And then he gave us a Bailey's in the class. And, uh, and then we just thought that was some sort of a sugar drink, but they said it's alcohol. So he just gave us really small, tiny, tiny sips.

16:06Well, that's a great segue into the next question, because when you got to Nepal and then Dharamsala, you were a monk, right? And you were practicing. And then at some point, did you transition out of being a monk or are you still a monk now? Yes. Um, this is interesting. Um, what happened was after my English, so just to get a little bit like, uh, uh, communication, basic communication is good enough. And I went to the conversation class

16:38and then, um, there's a French teacher. Uh, she's incredibly helpful for young lady who is, uh, also very into Tibetan culture, traditional, everything. So her name is a Deki. So that's a Tibetan name. And, um, so somehow or like after a few class and she and I, some sort of, uh, emotional, some sort of happening right there. And one day she said that, um, after class, she said,

17:09you came over here and she said, uh, I don't think you should be a monk.

17:16Or she said, uh, you don't want to be a monk, right? Or something like that. And then I just like, how do you know? And, uh, that was a kind of a first time, honestly, interaction with a female, uh, emotionally. And she said, uh, uh, we should go hiking, uh, next week. And I said, yeah, yeah, you know, I go.

17:45Fun. So from, you know, your time in India and transitioning out of monkhood, eventually you immigrated to the United States.

Leaving Monkhood

17:55Yes. Yes. She's the one who made me D-monk. And, um, and then after a while, and then the relationship is, uh, not there longer anymore. And then I met American girl. Who's from, uh, Baltimore, Maryland. And, uh, she's, uh, graduated from UC Santa Cruz. And, um, we met in India, of course, and, uh, we spent time for a little while. And, uh, and we got married and she said that she's going to spend time with me in India the rest of her life.

18:28And I was super happy about that. And, uh, what kind of life living in India near his holiness and have a Western wife. That's the monster dream. And, um, and, uh, some point, uh, she got pregnant and then she said, I cannot have kids in India. We have to move to us. It was a little bit scary moment because, um, my English skills, I'm in level of my Western, some sort of a knowledge and, um,

19:01everything. It's a very, very basic. So I was asked about her that, and she said, no, you're totally fine. You're going to make it. And, um, she said, it's, it's, it's going to be easy. So I trusted her. And then also I trusted my intuition and, uh, we moved to New York, uh, Manhattan. After a little while, we decided to move, um, uh, our visitor, her family is, uh, Pennsylvania,

19:31Maryland, and, uh, a few different places and East Coast. And then we both agreed that East Coast is not for us. And then we moved to Seattle and then moved to Portland, Oregon, and then, uh, Idaho and then Bozy. And then I finally ended up Colorado, Boulder, Colorado. So that's place where we decided to have a baby there. Cause during the whole time when she was pregnant, it was a little stressful. Cool. And how long were you in Boulder for?

20:03I was in the Boulder for a few months and then we decided to move to Birkenridge, Colorado ski town. Uh, and, uh, we had a baby up there and we will stay there for six years. And then we have, uh, two second baby there. So we have, uh, two boys. Yeah. We were in a ski town and, uh, and unfortunately at some point relationships, uh, it didn't work out. And before that I've been traveling so many different states and the different place, even different countries. And I already know

20:36know that where I should go and then moved to Santa Cruz. And now you're here. Yes. And how long have you been in Santa Cruz for? I moved to Santa Cruz in, uh, 2014 when I got here after, you know, falling apart relationships and the families, it's a little bit challenging to stay in a new place. I decided to go back to India, Nepal, Tibet for two years and, um, just to kind of a relapse and then just say,

21:08you know, go back for, spend time there for a little while and then move back in 2000, end of 2016. And ever since I decided to stay in this beautiful place. And now I'm calling, this is my home. Oh, lovely. The redwoods, the ocean, lots of cool and interesting people.

Sound Work

21:31Yes. Well, I'm sure I love your offerings because you offer

21:36sound work, you offer breath work, you offer Tibetan astrology offerings. So can you tell us a little bit about your Tibetan sound work? Yeah, absolutely. So I decided to offer sound meditation. The reason was that when I traveled through this beautiful country, different states and the different parts of the country, uh, I noticed that this is one of the most developed nations on the planet, just many ways, especially a physical world. But, uh, there's something missing about this culture,

22:11which is, um, what I'm recognizing is everybody has so much. And, uh, so people just automatically developing a destination that is not very necessarily healthy, which means, uh, uh, once they have so much and they decided to say, Hey, this is my property. This is my fence. This is my kitchen. This is my bedroom. This is my area. This is your area. So everybody needs privacy, privacy, privacy,

22:41and then it's a little bit too far. And, uh, this is, uh, this is, in my opinion, this is a very dangerous direction, which is, I call loneliness direction. And I found lots of loneliness people in this modern developed country, everywhere, every parts of the country. I think loneliness is extremely dangerous. And then it's a very, very unpleasant place to be. And, uh, I thought, um, offering sound meditation and maybe some sort of a community because, uh, Tibetan community is usually extremely gathering

23:19together, sharing together, they're helping each other. They're almost just literally sitting just next to each other, almost too close, you know, for Americans. Um, so that's kind of a lifestyle because we're mentally, emotionally, uh, physically, we all same. And, um, we social animal, we mean to be, to, to attach each other, to, you know, connected to, to each other. So we're like, we mean to be

23:51together, we happiness and sadness is everything that depends on each other. We can help each other. We also can make a suffering each other. So we're completely, uh, has to be, uh, some sort of a social circle. We have to able to handle it because this is a, how life's, uh, supposed to be. So if you stay out of, uh, that kind of a social circle and, um, human is not emotionally, unless you're like a

24:23super meditative living and able to be in a cave, some sort of a, uh, serious, uh, uh, spiritual develop, then that's totally different case. But if you're not that kind of a practitioner, then it's, uh, important to be around in a social community. And so your sound offerings are an opportunity for people to come in community? Absolutely. And, uh, so they just bring together and then I do the meditation together, having experience with the sound together. And then

24:59afterward, I, my goal is always, I wanted to offer our teas and then people just to share the experience and then just asking names each other to just connect to each other and then founding new friends to each other in the same place in the same community. And then why not we just, you know, uh, say hello to each other and then sharing the stories. Life is too short. Life is extremely precious and, um, uh, we need to have good times and a good life. Um, so happiness is,

25:32it depends on each other. We know how to make a happy each other and we just have to open mind and the heart to express to each other. Yeah. I love that. I know when I went to the sound bath, you invited me to and big, sir, it was like, we went for a walk together. Then you had all your instruments. We did the sound bath, meditated together. And then I think it was even, uh, people stuck around afterwards and shared food and shared conversations and got to know each other in the community aspect of it really, um, came through and was beautiful. Absolutely. Absolutely.

26:08That's, that's all we need. So tell us a little bit about some of the other community members, your instruments that you bring with you. Yes. Um, I mostly do, um, Land of Medicine Buddha, especially before the pandemic, uh, twice a week I'm offered there. It's just for community and extremely helpful for, for, for, you know, just to bring the community together and then also offer lots of different places all the way go, uh, um, what's called the, uh, some sort of a

26:43mountain Shasta area. Uh, what's the county? Lake County? No, it's a little closer than that. County name that, and then what's the next one? I'm challenging my California geography. We'll have to, we'll have to make a note of it in the show notes. We'll look it up afterwards.

27:05Yes. Yeah. It's a kind of like a Mendocino area and a little bit more further than north of there, there's a few festivals I went there and then the communities. And then also I did a lot of, uh, uh, places in the Marin Berkeley and the Oakland and San Jose, uh, uh, Las Gettas and, uh, and then the Santa Cruz, of course. And then I went down in, uh, Southern California and then also goes to, and then this giant, uh, big festivals called the lightning in a bottle. Um, never been anything

27:40like that in my life. It was absolutely incredible. Uh, there's a book called Gang Sanctuary and, um, it, it just amazing. It's about like, uh, over 50,000 people. And, uh, there's a music stages everywhere. And, uh, there's so many people just having fun, all kinds of things they're doing and, uh, music and everything. And, uh, when I walk through that and then I keep in saying God bless America. And, um, and then my friend is, uh, finally asking me, why are you keeping saying

28:15God bless America? And, uh, I said, um, well, I didn't even notice, but that's just happening because of, uh, you know, what my journey is here now. So the reason I'm saying this because of, um, yeah, you know, festivals everywhere in the world, India, everywhere, but like the sound qualities here, probably the better than I have ever seen. And, and plus the people doing here, like, you know, some people are just maybe weed or whatever are doing, but everybody's having a

28:50good time and enjoy it. There's electricity to build mushrooms in the sky and then absolutely just a fascinating place. And then I just say, and God bless America because of the freedom here, that they can do everything they want. As long as you're not hurting others and you can enjoy the parties and the lives, everything, the best of the best music, the sound qualities, everything. So just a freedom is a matter and, uh, he is the freedom. So I just want to make sure everybody enjoy and appreciate the freedom.

29:21So when you travel, whether it's to these, you know, festivals that bring together thousands of people or into someone's home, do you play different instruments or what, what does, yeah, what does the sound bath entail? Yeah. Uh, sound bath, the Tibetan, uh, sound bath is a uniquely is, um, a very unique or special, I would say, because, um, there's, um, prayers say, which means by the virtue of sound, may all sinching beings be liberated from the suffering.

30:00That's just the goal. And traditionally, uh, guns and the singing bowls, uh, been around in, uh, Tibetan, especially in the monasteries, especially the early Buddhism, which means the Bombo lineage, uh, been around many thousand years. And, um, so guns and the singing bowls and the chimes and, um, the rock tones, and then it sounds like didgeridoo, it's kind of very similar. And there's so many instruments that I'm offering and related with the culture and then many different spiritual purpose,

30:37some like, uh, anniversary ceremony pujas or like original soul meditative state or sending the prayers and the thoughts and, uh, just, you know, good energies ascending to the, um, all the sentient beings that who's living in the suffering realms, uh, all kinds of positive wishes. So basically, uh, just, uh, this instrument that I'm offering here is really brings in the memories and the energies brings

31:10authentic Tibetan traditional culture. And then plus I'm offering Tibetan chanting, Tharata chanting. It's a really fascinating, uh, Tharata chanting is one of the number one sound on the planet that brings your peace and harmonious, um, uh, relaxation, the nervous, parasympathetic nervous system. And, uh, and then the guns and the singing bowls and the second, and then there's so many those

31:41instruments that can help and the people. Yes. Your question, um, lots of a private place, it depends on the space. If it is not, uh, outdoor, indoor, then I do, uh, maybe one gong. It's just so huge and then allowed. So it's donated to three. Um, otherwise the outdoor, uh, places I go with the gongs and then three gongs and then, uh, all the instruments. That's really cool. So it's

32:12bowls, gongs, uh, the Tibetan, as you're doing, use your throat. You use your own body and your mind as instruments as well. Absolutely. Uh, this is something I saw as a fascinating, uh, back in, uh, uh, 1967, uh, American professor, Houston Smith, uh, went back to India and he recorded some Tibetan monks, Tharata chanting, and then bring back that report and they give to MIT sound engineers.

32:44And, uh, uh, this found something absolutely blowing mind stuff that something they beyond the day thinking, uh, you know, the sound of frequency, like really, uh, base and a lower frequency that humans even can't hear. Like, uh, you know, like the elephant, the sound like a hundred miles, they can communication that that's through the sound that humans cannot hear. And, uh, kind of a similar way, but at the human, there's just a hazard, but is the singing voice and the sounds,

33:20all kinds of things, instrument by the way the monks, they hitting the level of the frequencies. It's, uh, just like absolutely blows my mind. That's the only way you can hit the throat chanting. That actually extremely helps that brain nervous system and anxiety, stress, um, and it's sort of a, uh, some sort of a suffering and then actually potential have to, you know, like really come in and a peace when that happens, uh, automatically, uh, you know, body's a healing because your lower

33:55blood pressure is, uh, you know, blood, lower blood pressure is getting better and a, um, memory is getting better. Uh, focusing is getting better. There's so many health wise benefits. So yeah, so it's absolutely something we all should, because this is a natural, which is organic and we can just practice that we have our own and we can heal ourself. But it has this natural, intelligent, and the

34:27gift is on our, uh, self. Love that. I love all of what you just said. And something that I want to ask you is related. You talk about the prayer that you're doing during the sound bath to help liberate all beings from suffering. What is the meaning of life to you? The meaning of life is we can talk spiritually and, uh, physically and materially. So meaning of life is, uh, to me, since we were born

35:04here, the death has already exist. But the problem is a lot of people don't even want to think about it. And then almost they kind of like wanted to forget about it. There's no death to exist. What they're doing and the actions of the works, everything, it's almost there's no death to come in. You know, it's just, uh, like they are going to be stay here forever. That's kind of the attitude. So the truth is life is extremely short and, uh, we will come in here for, with nothing,

35:35with, uh, materially, and then we will live with nothing. So we have to remember that daily life. So that way we can be more relaxed and calm and peace and less attachment, less desire and, uh, less jealous, less competition. There's so many benefits about that. So life is impermanent. And, uh, you never know once you're going, but there's a short enough that the longest is going to be a hundred years and, uh, could be a lot shorter than that. So we need to remind and enjoy the life.

36:12And then elemental waves, like we were coming with the element and we were living with the element and then we will, uh, live with the element. So just, you know, bodies now belong to us and then everything else is now belongs to us. And this is a, almost like a dream and illusion. So, you know, sometimes it's important to see that kind of a perspective once in a while, once we get it too intense or, or, um, some sort of a superficial lifestyle. And then, uh, spiritually, uh, we're coming with the

36:47karma. Uh, whatever you've done in the past, it still impacts your life. That's why we have a lot of sufferings. That's why we have a lot of a challenge. And then something, we don't want to be angry person, but you can't help it because there's a deep karma imprint in your life. You cannot get rid of it, but you have this human intelligence and you can try to work in on the clarify those things. And then, you know, the, you can preparation this and you can build a very good positive karma. So you

37:23can take with you, you're coming with the karma and you will live with a goal with the karma. So karma is taken with you, nothing else. No, with your house, no, your car, no, with your financial, no, with your loved ones, no, with your own, your even physical body, you're going to leave every single thing behind except the karma. Remember, just focus on sometimes a little bit more deeper level and at least use a human intelligence and wisdom preparation a little bit because matters

37:59of a time. We have to go there at some point. Always nice to have some preparations for them, a more deeper level. If you do something good, it's all good for next life for sure, but even good for this life too. If you've been nice and kind and respect, just been helpful to your friends and then you have a good life and you are much more be happier, more surrounded with the happy people, with someone

38:30at least who really likes you or like who doesn't want to hurt you at least. So yes, and that's the, just to be happy and then, you know, successful is the happiness. If you're able to live a happy and be a kindness, that's the meaning of life.

Meaning of Life

38:51If you're able to be happy and live in kindness, that's the meaning of life. Yes.

38:58I'm curious, what are some of the ways you come from a Tibetan background, Tibetan ancestry, so you can see from, you know, the Tibetan perspective, Western culture? What are some ways that you think Western culture could do better at being happy and living kindly? Yes. It's a very rich of information in the Western culture. Like a very intellectual society

39:33has lots of information through the online internet. Everybody read about it. Everybody saw about it. But we need to be a little bit more better, actually, a practitioner. Once you saw what is the kindnesses are beneficial, we actually try to be a kind person deeply. And what is angry is harmful. It just, you know, angry makes the wrong decisions, the wrong path, even like high blood pressures,

40:04you know, go bad. And even like anger is eating constantly in your immune systems. There's lots of bad about, you know, the negative part. And so we just be more like, we don't need to tell them, like as a, uh, as a Westerners doesn't need to information. They already know, but it just need to be more practitioners, a reminder, be more practice, more, you know, promise. Every day you wake up early in the morning, you just, you know, make your bed clean. And then just at the same time,

40:39thank you so much. I'm in life. And thank you, you know, in serving me this wonderful time. And then I'm coming back here. And then with being kind to everybody today, much as I can, at least I'm not going to be hurt or mean to any anyone. So that kind of a sort of a practice of like a daily routine stuff. And then over time, you were able to shift your personalities and develop the quality. So

41:11that kind of a system is, uh, able to build your inner strength and peace and, you know, self-empowerment, more healthier, mentally, emotionally, and physically. So if you could go back and tell a younger version of Calden, a younger version of yourself, anything, what would you want to say to him? Oh, interesting. Um, I am been through a lot, uh,

41:43extremely difficult to challenge or things that happened in my life. There is a few times that I'm going to be no longer alive. Uh, just some of the situations are very rough. It doesn't matter. You didn't do anything wrong. It's still, you know, things can happen to you. That's something I always believe that related with the, you know, past karma. So, um, and then everything happens for the purpose, for the reason. So I'm here now, honestly, everything was, um, very awakening,

42:18um, very interesting journey. If it is a very challenging and difficult, I'm actually right now as I'm very enjoyed that I've been through that. Um, and then sometimes your decision is, it doesn't seem like a, the right decision, but it's a meant to be. And, um, I'm actually really happy with, uh, everything. There's nothing really necessarily. I just wish I'd done differently, anything. So, you know, everything is meant to be. And, um, I'm just looking forward,

42:49just to continuing through this journey.

Rapid Fire Questions

42:53Oh, lovely.

42:57So we're going to head into some rapid fire questions. These are just short, sweet answers. So the first one is where is your favorite place in nature to be? Oh, Lord. Um, I, uh, generally, um, I love, uh, mountains, which is a Himalaya and a Rocky mountain generally, but right now specifically, I absolutely in love with the Big Sur. And, and then, uh, obviously Yosemite, Legatow just go on and on. It just, um, yes, endless.

43:33Yes. What is your beverage of choice, your favorite drink right now? I love herb teas and then absolutely my favorite is, uh, fresh water. Fresh water. Do you have a favorite herbal tea? Oh, yes. I, uh, I have some, uh, herbal teas. Honestly, I don't remember that. Yes. Um, I know the label. I just got it. And then I know the taste is like, and then I just, yeah, uh, it's just a Tibetan.

44:06What is your top tip for good energy hygiene? Good energy hygiene. Just when you wake up early in the morning, a, uh, just, uh, you know, I have a ritual, a little bit meditation and a prayer. And then also a thinking process about like, uh, you know, ritual stuff, a positive stuff, which is a very, very helpful for my mind as a sharper and a capable in early in the morning. The reason is, uh, just to wake up means, uh, or so my mind is a wake up, but my three poison is some sort of a still sleep. And I can always make a very

44:40good decision in that moment. And then some sort of, uh, not necessarily promising, but a kind of, uh, commit to what I'm going to do today. So just to whatever is, and, uh, just, uh, you know, and the follow flow. I love that. I have a segue question. You said, you know, your three, some things are still asleep. What are those? Oh, three poison, which means a desire and a jealousy and ignorance.

45:10Is that Buddhist? Tibetan Buddhism? Yes. Tibetan Buddhism. Yes, absolutely. And, uh, those are weird. Literally, uh, humans are drunk by those, especially ignorance. Um, it's the, probably everybody needed to get out of the ignorance. Because ignorance brings lots of, uh, desire, lots of a jealous. And that's the circle that we suffer so much for no reason. If you don't have those things, and then you're like, most luckily able

45:43to be a happier person. So, yes. Um, so we kind of needed to control our mind that not some sort of a drunk by those things because of a, it directly relates with your health because of a mind is a control in your emotional system. And the emotional system is a control in your brain system. And the brain system is a control in a nervous system. And the nervous system is a control in your muscles and the muscles and the physical bones. Of course, everything is just completely connected. So,

46:20if your mind is completely not stable, like just angry, jealous, all kinds of do is the kind of things happened. And then your emotions became absolutely just kind of a tornado chaos. And it not just makes your brain and nervous system is absolutely chaos. So, if a nervous system isn't like, um, um, not, uh, functioning parasympathetic or sympathetic nervous system, both are not functioning. That's part of the nervous system by vagus, nervous, everything doesn't work really

46:52well with your body. That's why our body is sometimes confusing. The nervous system is messed up. That's why even like our intestine system, sometimes they leak in the, you know, process stuff. That's why their body think, oh, there's an antigen, or there's, oh, no, they're sending the army, they're fighting together. And then there's an illness coming. And then there's all kinds of suffering happening in your physical body, because of your actually mentally, you're not healthy. And that's everything is related with it. It's just fascinating. In the Western world,

47:28a lot of people want to talk about the brain. There's a new brain, new brain. Yes, brain is absolutely kin of the, all the controls. But who controls the brain? It's, uh, the brain is controlled by a nervous system. And the nervous system, um, the, uh, sorry, uh, brain is controlled by the emotion system. The emotion system is controlled by your mind. Mind is controlled by mind over mind. When you meditative, when you're focusing on your mind, and then everything is going to be healthier and more

48:01functioning. And then it's a much more better place to be. So take a little bit of time every morning to get your mind, right? Absolutely. Yes. Cool. And then how do you define or see healing? I see, uh, healing is just helping to stay out of suffering. Beautiful. All right. So Calden, this has been amazing for people that are really appreciating your story. That may be curious about

48:34sound work. They want to find you and connect with you. Where should they go? Right now? Yeah. I've just been in American modern life. I don't have so much information, so, but I built a tiny bit website, which is a caldencola.com. My probably biggest one so far is the Instagram. I'm using it just to put, yeah, just posing some, just the photos. That's it right now, honestly, but that will be calden.co. Cool. And we'll link to both of those in the show notes. So those of you that are curious

49:08about connecting with Calden, learning more about his offerings and where to find him, um, there'll be links below to both the Calden Co. website and Calden Co. Instagram. Wonderful. Well, thank you so much, Calden. It's such an honor to get to hear and get to share your story here on the podcast. I really appreciate you sharing it and also just sharing your wisdom about healing and the importance of connection and kindness and how that can really lead us to being happy. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It was wonderful.

49:41Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast. I hope that our words, our stories, and the wisdom shared on today's episode inspire you and support you in feeling connected. If you loved this episode, please leave us a five-star review so we can reach more people. And as a thank you for listening, join me for a mini course on energy hygiene. You get three simple practices you can do anywhere, anytime to support you in feeling more

50:13grounded, connected to yourself, and confident in your energetic boundaries. Sign up at energyhealingelizabeth.com slash energy hygiene. Thanks for being here today. And I look forward to being with you again soon. The primary purpose of the Exploring Healing Arts podcast is to inspire and educate. As a reminder, the information and opinions shared on this podcast are not intended to be a substitute for professional

50:46advice, diagnosis, or treatment. We encourage you to speak with your doctor for professional medical advice or treatment. Opinions offered on this podcast are just that, opinions.