I returned to Peru in June 2009, in order to find a real teacher and study Spiritual healing. Shortly after arriving, I realized that finding a teacher was not as easy as I imagined. Most healers were not interested in sharing their knowledge, and were not taking students. Others had schools but did not seem exactly right for me.

I actually met Javier on my first day in Iquitos, but I didn’t think that he could become my teacher – mostly because he looked incredibly busy. He was healing people all day long and already had a number of students. “When is he going to find time for me?”, I wondered. In fact, for a while I was sure he was not my teacher.

For one month, I searched, drinking with many different healers. That month, I was severely tested – I was robbed, I got very sick, and I was disappointed with Peru, with the people, the healers, and everything else. Sitting in a hospital one day, I contemplated going back to Canada and forgetting the whole idea. In retrospect, I believe at least some of my misfortunes that month were because I drank ayahuasca with shamans who had evil intentions (while pretending to be good)

I saw Javier next at the Shamanism Conference. He recognized me, called me over, and immediately asked me where I had been for the last month. I told him that I was drinking with different healers. “What did you learn?”, he asked. I admitted that I didn’t learn all that much. “If you stayed with me, you would have already been moving forward, but you just wasted a month of your time”, he told me. “But you are so busy. Do you really have the time to teach me?”, I asked. “I will make time, you just tell me when you need me and I’ll find the time”, he replied.

That week, I drank with him 3 times, and each ceremony was the most intense event of my life. It is simply impossible to describe how powerful they were. In one of the ceremonies, Javier read my mind and answered aloud to a thought I was having. I then wondered how he was able to do that. “I want to learn that”, I thought. Reading my mind again, Javier asked me if I really wanted to learn. I told him that I did, and that is when he became my teacher.

Since then, I have thought many times that Javier is the best Maestro one could ever hope for. This thought, along with love and appreciation entered my mind almost every ceremony. With Javier, I feel totally safe and protected, and I know that he deeply cares about the wellbeing and comfort of every person that comes to him.

Andrew Osta