It was some time after 2012 that I learned that I used to be a Buddhist monk in the past. This monk lived around the time of Muhammed and has been manifested from Buddha as Shantideva and his text is available as The Way of the Boddhisattva. I have always lived my life with these ideals in mind and search for Enlightenment which was obtained in 2013 when Krishna showed me the nature of the mind.

I was a young man when I cleared the word “Yoga” in the English dictionary as meaning “one with God”. Since then I have striven to embody this path. I have practiced Iyengar Yoga for 2 years and Ashtanga Yoga for about the same time but the yoga I strive to do is spiritual and mental – balancing the various paths to God for equanimity and harmony to see God in the best possible light.

This path reminds me of previous torchbearers who held a lamp to the world and I site my mental health difficulties in a parallel universe to their own as well as other writers and indeed other people who have struggled with mental health.

In his collection ‘Leaves of Grass’ Walt Whitman described himself as a “sweaty toothed madman” as he described feeling one with all life.

Khalil Gibran struggled with his sense of identity and even thought himself to be the reincarnation of William Blake.

The poet William Blake is believe to have struggled with mental health problems as he dealt with religious themes in his work.