My First Meeting With Master Sha

In 1999, I became more and more convinced that my life was not going the right direction. I communicated with God through the I Ching and asked: Is this where you want me to be now to help people? The answer was 'no.' My next question was: Should I leave and go somewhere else to help people? God said again 'no,' so I stayed in my job. Eight months later, still not satisfied and restless, I asked these questions again. It was the summer of 2000. This time, God said 'yes, you should leave now.' Then, I asked whether I seek a spiritual master to lead me to enlightenment and the answer was again 'yes.' I began a frantic search for a master again. I tried many times before, but the Divine never approved any of the teachers I had in mind. When I lived in Toronto, the I Ching confirmed that my teacher was there but how could I find him in such a huge city, preoccupied as I was with my studies? I didn't search very diligently at all. But in 2000, I really wanted to find my true teacher. I knew that I would not be able to go though the barriers ahead of me alone. I had progressed on my spiritual journey, but I got stuck. I must have repeating some mistake in my practice which I did not understand. For sure, I knew that I was not progressing any more. I needed a high-level master to tell me what I was doing wrong, and to guide me as to how to proceed further. At that time, I was studying Taoism and read a book about a renowned Taoist qigong teacher in China. I decided that I really wanted to study with him. My wife and I searched everywhere, using the Internet and through friends and other contacts. I even wrote to the Chinese embassy in Canada, but I couldn't get anywhere. Finally, my wife chanced upon a young film director from Toronto, Francesco Garripolli, who suggested that I study with Master Zhi Gang Sha. He told my wife that Master Sha was a young doctor who had just gone from Canada to San Francisco. He felt this could be a very good opportunity for two doctors to talk together and maybe discover a common bond. Francesco gave us Master Sha's phone number and I called in September. I spoke briefly with his assistant Allan and shortly thereafter I spoke with Master Sha himself. He invited me to join him in San Francisco for a private workshop with starting on October 15. October 15 is a very special day in my life, I was going to meet Master Sha.
With great anticipation, I took a flight to San Francisco.

To be continued …

Peter