Jump to the Sun

By Fu-Ding Cheng

In 1994, fifteen people, including my wife, Linda, and I, gathered at a West Hollywood apartment to listen to a Toltec shaman from Mexico with long brown hair who spoke in a very gentle voice. Having studied briefly with Carlos Castaneda in the nineties — whom I loved as an author, but not as a teacher because his path was so fear-driven — I was ready for a second opinion about Mesoamerican shamans.

As I listened with the others, he spoke about waking up from “the dream of the planet,” the “art of stalking,” the “angel of death,” and much more. Unwittingly, I began to compare his startlingly simple manner of speech with Castaneda’s more scholarly eloquence. But then, I caught myself: “There I go again, stuck in my head, judging everything.” I breathed into my heart to short-circuit my mind chatter, and received a flash of insight: His words, eloquent or not, were but a ploy to keep our minds occupied and bodies present while he filled the room with a higher vibration to open our hearts!

Wow, how impressive! But, wait, did I just imagine that? Was that for real? Whoops… back in my head again. But I knew from years of meditation and spiritual study: don’t doubt your experiences; trust your own knowing. In that case, what this shaman did was masterful. Who is he, because whoever he is, he’s certainly worth another meeting. Thus, I had my first encounter with Don Miguel Ruiz.

Shortly thereafter, Linda and I committed to be among his apprentices. Before we knew it, we were involved with weekend sessions… special monthly meetings… all-night dreaming practices… spontaneous trips to other cities for workshops on auspicious holidays … “Power Journeys” to Mexico.

After our first year of increasingly intense shamanic practice, Linda and I had a moment of concern: this work has taken over our lives. Is this right? Soon enough, though, we remembered how lucky we were to be in direct contact with someone of this stature. Thankfully, we trusted our intuition because within three years, don Miguel no longer took on new one-on-one apprentices. Once his book, The Four Agreements, became a worldwide phenomena in 1997, he was in constant demand, and he belonged to the world.

Power Journey

don Miguel Ruiz and Fu-Ding Cheng atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan in Mexico.

In 1995, after the first intense year of studying with don Miguel, I went on my first Power Journey with him in Teotihuacan, Mexico (Teo, for short). Sixty of us, all his apprentices, sat cross-legged in a large circle on the Sacrificial Altar, a large masonry platform before the Pyramid of the Moon. As don Miguel set up the protocol for the ritual, “Jump to the Sun,” explanations were sparse. We knew only that the Sacrificial Altar had a special vortex of energy that “connected the earth with the sun.” Finally, don Miguel gave his instructions:

“Everyone in the circle, direct energy from your hearts to the two in the center. The two in the middle will redirect the energy to the sun. Fu-Ding and Gabi… go to the center.”

I was honored to be chosen, but also apprehensive in the face of the unknown, What am I supposed to do? Will I blow it? Moving to the middle with Gabi, a woman with short blonde hair in her late thirties, we sat back to back in the middle of the circle. “Everyone, shut your eyes,” don Miguel ordered. Patiently, confidently, I awaited for his further instructions. Sure enough, I heard him walk up to me, and whisper, “Let yourself go,” and then he walked off. That was it, my only instruction? “All right,” he announced, “everybody begin.”
 

A “Jump to the Sun”

	"Jump to the Sun," watercolor and mixed media, Fu-Ding Cheng, 2003

God, I really hope I don’t blow it, especially with all these people around... Whoops, in my head again. Stop… breathe…. I breathed into my heart, and stopped my mind chatter. Immediately, I saw laser beams of a reddish-gold shooting from everyone on the circle toward Gabi and me. Energy filled my torso. My body jolted upright. I got to my feet. I felt that my heart would explode. Bent over backwards with arms raised, I shot energy to the sun from out of my chest. Bend your knees or you’ll keel over. I bent my knees. Involuntary cries with the force of rapid-fire Kung-Fu shouts burst from my lips...

The ring finger on my right hand began to twitch sideways involuntarily. My anxieties disappeared: I’ve done my job; I could never move my finger like this unless I’ve “let myself go,” as don Miguel had instructed. With all the energy coursing through me, a doubt flitted by: This isn’t love, sweet, smooth, and gentle... But like a post-it note blasted from the end of a fire hose, this thought was blown away, to be replaced by a profound knowing that made me shudder to my core: This is the power of love. The most potent force in the universe. Connecting electron to proton, man to woman, heaven to earth… I had become a flesh-and-bone conduit connecting heaven and earth. I surrendered… free of myself…beyond time… unknown forces took over….
 

"Portal," watercolor and mixed media, Fu-Ding Cheng, 2003

It would take months to assimilate what had happened to me during that ritual. But gradually, a profound lightness of being come over me that remained constant in spite of the ups and downs of life. Gone was my grim determination to succeed, to reach goals, to “be enlightened.” Instead, increasingly, I relaxed and rejoiced in the moment. Free of judgments, opinions, and attachments. I had woken up from “the dream of the planet,” and had become free! For months, I would wake up in utter euphoria that would last for hours.

Since then, in gratitude, I’ve dedicated myself to share “shamanic tools for self-fulfillment” to the widest number of people. My segment in the Shamanism Global Summit will be aired at Noon Pacific on Tuesday, July 10, It’s free.

From years of experience in Eastern as well as Western spiritual practices, Fu-Ding has become one of the best Toltec teachers I know. He is a nagual, a Master. So study these maps, follow the guidance, and you will find yourself enjoying your journey towards self-fulfillment.
— Don Miguel Ruiz, Author of The Four Agreements

Fu-Ding Cheng began his career as a practicing architect, but has since focused his attention on art, books, films, and spirituality. His multi-faceted career includes a prize-winning series of films, Zen-Tales for the Urban Explorer (presented as a special retrospective at the Hammer Museum); album covers (Heart’s Dog and Butterfly; Chicago’s Live at Carnegie Hall); and a children’s book, Dream-House (published by Hampton Roads). While teaching Film Directing at the North Carolina School of the Arts, he created an unprecedented (and highly popular) curriculum, “Shamanic Tools for the Filmmaker.”

However, his first priority over all vocational pursuits has been his lifelong devotion to the spiritual quest, which led him to journeys East (meditation in the Himalayas, Chinese Kung-Fu), and to journeys West (spiritual-psychology, Mesoamerican shamanic practice). In 1995, after breakthrough experiences working with world-renowned shaman don Miguel Ruiz (author of The Four Agreements), he woke up to a “reality beyond illusions”… and found a life filled with joy and peace.

Since then, through books, films, paintings, and seminars, Fu-Ding has been inspired to share practical pathways to personal freedom for everyone. His latest book is Map of Desire, a Blueprint for Self-Fulfillment; a groundbreaking approach devoted to spreading the deepest wisdom to the widest number of people.

For more information on Fu-Ding’s books, art, workshops, and private shamanic counseling, please visit his website, or email him, or find him on Facebook.