In this episode, I tell the story of my pilgrimage to Arunachala, the great Shiva mountain in southern India. While circling the conical peak while chanting Om Namah Shivaya, I encounter the ego-destroying god Shiva. And I come closer to what I've been seeking for decades. I get a glimpse of my true self. Moreover, I realize that I have far more faith than I imagined. The lesson I learned? Faith is not belief in a concept. Faith is a verb. To have faith is to trust in one's own experience. For more info about Brad Wetzler, visit www.bradwetzler.com
Brad Wetzler is the author of the new memoir INTO THE SOUL OF THE WORLD: MY JOURNEY TO HEALING (Hachette Go). You can buy the book on Amazon here: www.amazon.com/Into-Soul-Worl...
This powerful memoir shares an adventure journalist’s story of a decade-long, round-the-world quest to overcome his drug addiction and to understand and heal from past traumas.
Suffering from PTSD and severe depression from past trauma, battling an addiction to overprescribed psychiatric medication, and at the rock bottom of his career, journalist Brad Wetzler had nowhere to go. So he set out on a journey to wander and hopefully find himself-and the world-again.
Into the Soul of the World is Wetzler’s thrilling, impactful, and heartrending memoir of healing-physically, emotionally, and spiritually. An adventure journalist at heart, Wetzler mixes travelogue with empowering insights about his inner journey to better care for his own mental health. Journey with him as he travels across Israel and the West Bank, before moving on to India, a candle-lit cave on a mountaintop in the Himalayan foothills, and a life-changing encounter with a 100-year-old yogi.
Wetzler's writing is full of the poignant, amusing, and occasionally heart‑breaking situations that unfold when we finally decide to confront depression (or any mental health struggle) and declare ourselves ready to heal: How do we heal our past and thrive again? What does it mean to live a good life? How can we transform our suffering and serve others? His answer: live to tell the story and find the humility and courage to be the best human you can be.
Music credit: "sun of the most high" by ketsa