Health & Wellness
WORLD WONDERS
Two decades ago , while on a work assignment in Rayong province , engineer Jin Nua had an awakening . It came during a time of personal struggle — as these experiences often do . And though those difficulties are now long behind him , the lessons learned and observations made during that transformative time have had a lasting impression on the American .
by ANNALIESE WATKINS
It was 1998 . For Missourian expat Jin Nua , a routine walk along the beach near his apartment in Rayong ’ s Ban Chang district was about to put him on a path that would change the course of his life forever .
It began with a gust of wind pointing him in the direction of an approaching storm cloud over the horizon . Any other day , and he might have viewed the looming clouds as isolated objects . But today , the wind at his back convinced him that the two were connected in a larger way , that the dark sky above him lay at the heart of a much larger organism encompassing miles of atmospheric air converging from all directions .
The silhouetted trees in the foreground struck him next , the merging of smaller branches into larger ones , each spiraling inward toward the main trunk — much like the lightning bolts that would soon strike the sea ahead .
In that moment , Jin realized that he was part of something much greater . He could see the powerful , underlying , center-oriented pattern of the storm and , all around him , the same repeating designs that form the world . He walked home determined to better understand what he had seen and the significance of these patterns .
Such was the impact of this experience , that Jin Nua went on to delve deeper into his spiritual side , undergoing long spells of studying and essay writing to further understand the world around him . Nature , he discovered , plays a far greater role in our lives than he had ever imagined .
“ After my transformative experience in Rayong , all my old self , conventions and beliefs fell away ,” says Jin . “ I started over from a new , more innocent base . Refreshingly , I also realized I didn ’ t know much of anything on a deep level .”
He began to examine everything with fresh eyes , stopping to ask himself : Why is this person that way ? Why does this plant grow this way ? Why are things the way that they are ? It was an interrogation of all , but he found that the more questions he asked , the more questions he had . Though his background in engineering and old college science textbooks helped him to understand the scientific reasons , he sought more and soon found answers just by looking closely at the world around him .
THE POWER OF NATURE
Through walks on Thailand ’ s beaches , and later through Singapore ’ s Botanical Gardens , and even amongst nature back in the States , Jin Nua discovered something that would influence the choices he made
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