Kapleau, DeCluitt, and An Alternate Education

It was also at Rio Caliente that I met and worked with that great personal growth team, Charlotte Selver and Charles Brooks; Dr. Jack Pessin, a chiropractor and an expert in Concept Therapy; Indra Devi, Roshi Philip Kapleau, author of The Three Pillars of Zen, who often came to Rio Caliente to write; Isabel Hickey, author of Minerva or Pluto, who wrote extensively at Rio and with whom I spent a good many weeks over the years discussing her rather specialized field; Bonnie Driscoll, a charming facilitator who had worked with Pierre De Gaulle on the 2000th birthday celebration for the city of Paris, France, and who, in a way, was; the memorable Lilly Jaffe of the Cold Mountain Institute of Canada, and, Mart Rhea DeCluitt , a fantastic yoga and exercise instructor who is a positive master of water and shines like a City of Light in her own right --- I know of no person who has gone to greater lengths to be of service to others than Marti or Mart May as she is known in some circles.

And, I cannot fail to mention my “nephew by design” Noah Israel, MD --- now a nationally prominent heart specialist --- who was resident at Rio for an extended time along with several other doctors, all of whom were a great help and inspiration in a variety of ways. There were, of course many, many other world spanning personalities who contributed greatly to my alternate education on the banks of the hot river in old Mexico and I regret that it is not practical to mention all of them.

At Rio Caliente, I found myself in a situation in which I was an engineer who, in order to work in that environment, needed to become an alchemist. I found the transition hard and I thank those who took the trouble to pound me long enough for me to “get it.” I am grateful also, to the many guests who arrived at Rio seeking chance to renew and regenerate, because, out of their needs slowly grew my ideas for skin care formulas that finally became the HMS Crown line.

Respecting and Honoring all Life

No matter what your background, when you have the opportunity to work with highly trained Naturopaths, with the Curanderos, or with the medicine men and women --- herbalists --- of the Huicholi, you cannot help but come away with a different perspective on medicine, on working with plants and herbs, and with a new and larger view of the way all things should be treated and how those things are meant to interact with their users. In the plant world, as in any science, one can quickly learn that the observer definitely affects the result.

While it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to prove, I believe that any product, whether a fresh garden salad for your lunch or a moisturizer for your skin, is only as effective or as good or as nutritious as the respect with which the plants and other ingredients used to make it are considered and treated. In fact one of my earliest practical experiences in regard to this idea came not from the expertise of herbalists nor local Indian curanderos but from one of the cooks on the Rio Caliente spa staff, a gracious lady by the name of Angelina, who told me on more than one occasion that she had to send an assistant out of the kitchen because “when there is anger in the kitchen, the food is not delicious.”

One inescapable feeling that arises naturally is that all things are alive and, in my own perspective, I came away from those experiences feeling that animated life, detectable intelligence, perceivable emotion, and feeling are characteristic of all life whether fish, fowl, animal, mineral, or plant; and, inescapably, it is essential to honor that which sacrifices its essence for our nourishment and our well being.

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