This morning, when I left my body, I found myself immersed in a starlit night, I couldn’t see a thing, but it felt good to see a sky so full of life.

  Then I saw a very faint light on my right that was flickering, and I went towards it; it was the entrance to a small cave and I went in.

  Inside there was a Buddhist monk with a strong complexion. He was a little fat, he had very short hair and he would be about fifty years old.  He gestured that I should sit on a kind of straw mattress. I looked around the place and there was nothing; no images, no clothes, nothing. He had a mala (a Tibetan rosary) in his right hand, and a well-used book in his left. 

  He sat opposite me and started to pray; it was the Kalachakra mantra. I joined him in his prayers and we prayed together for around twenty minutes. Then he stopped, closed his eyes, and an absolute silence fell; not one sound could be heard in the night… There was a flash, and I found that I had been changed into an eagle with enormous wings that was soaring over Shambala. I could see the buildings and the gardens.  White clouds were all around me and I felt the rush of wind caressing my feathers.  The place reminded me a lot of the Himalayas; there was the clarity of seeing the world from afar and floating above it…  

The gold that floods everything
From transparent wings
To the crown of a glorious maestro
In a reverential silence
We hear the unhurried beat
Of an illuminated being...
 
Tap - Tap...  Tap - Tap
And in its harmonious rhythm
We find the voice of the Father
And the obedience of the Son
 
Tap - Tap… Tap - Tap
The doors are opened
So that light may enter
With purified oxygen
 
Look at yourself slowly and love yourself
Feel yourself a little and love yourself
Listen to yourself calmly and accept youself
Open your heart to the sound
Of the singing of the holy angel
Who calls you from on high
 
Tap - Tap… Tap – Tap…
I am the one who comes to seek you
I am the one who loves you truly
It is you who receives me openly
It is you who gives youself to me...
And we fly together in the heavens
That open at our passing... 

  Another flash, and I was back in the cave again. I was getting used to these sudden changes that happen in Shambala. The cave was lit by a single candle.
  Then the lama got up from his seat, and made a sign with both hands, as if he was carefully catching an animal in the air and as if he was holding it to his breast to protect it in his heart. 
  Then he recited:

We must care for the heart
Love it as if it were a baby
With love, with that care
For something delicate and valuable
That shines like gold in your hands
Shutting your eyes and receiving it
In the silence of blessed love.

  The lama had a golden light between his hands that illuminated his face. Then he made a sign and spread his arms as if he were releasing a bird from his hands, and he recited:

And when it is strong enough
Cast it into the air
And let it fly free
Among the universes created from light
Messenger of the highest vibrations
And a friend also of the smallest... 

  The monk made as if he caught the heart in the air and put it back in its place once again. All his movements were full of wisdom and he always had a humble smile on his face.
  He came towards me, he helped me up and he accompanied me to the entrance of the cave and he said goodbye with a reverence. I returned it and I went home feeling that I had met a very humble maestro who was full of love. The path was still full of stars...