He replied, "Bhuta ia, dewa ia."

"What does that mean?"

"Man is a demon¹, man is a god. Both true."

This was a familiar idea to me. It's very Indian, very Yogic. The notion is that human beings are born, as my Guru has explained many times, with the equivalent potential for both contraction² and expansion. The ingredients of both darkness and light are equally present in all of us, and then it's up to the individual (or the family, or the society) to decide what will be brought forth--the virtues³ or the malevolence⁴. The madness of this planet is largely a result of the human being's difficulty in coming into virtuous⁵ balance with himself. Lunacy (both collective and individual) results.

"So what can we do about the craziness of the world?"

"Nothing." Ketut laughed, but with a dose of kindness. "This is nature of world. This is destiny. Worry about your craziness only--make you in peace."

"But how should we find peace within ourselves?" I asked Ketut.

"Meditation⁶," he said. "Purpose of meditation is only happiness and peace--very easy. Today I will teach a new meditation, make you even better person. Is called Four Brothers Meditation."

Ketut went on to explain that the Balinese believe we are each accompanied at birth by four invisible brothers, who come into the world with us and protect us throughout our lives. When the child is in the womb, her four siblings⁷ are even there with her--they are represented by the placenta, the amniotic fluid, the umbilical cord and the yellow waxy⁸ substance that protects an unborn baby's skin. When the baby is born, the parents collect as much of these

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