The horse boy
How far would you go to heal someone you love? Poonam Jain brings us the touching story of a father who travels the ends of the earth to bring sunshine into his autistic son's life and who, in the process, finds enrichment.
Spiritual? Me? I think you've got the wrong guy! I'm just a dad who loves his kid," says Rupert Isaacson as he charts his son's journey into autism, shamanism and adventure. In this personal odyssey, the family finds healing opportunities in the unlikeliest of places.
Rupert Isaacson's spiritual journey is one that traces his quest to enhance the quality of life for his child, Rowan. It is also the story of Rowan, whose autism, rather than spelling the end of adventure in his parents' life, became the catalyst for the greatest adventure they would begin. The story begins with Rupert and his wife Kristin Neff, both professionals, struggling to make sense of their child's autism.
Navigating neurological firestorms and tantrums, Rowan turns six and Rupert takes a decision. They will travel halfway across the world, trekking for days by truck and horse, to meet 'Ghoste'- the most powerful of Mongolia's shamans. Why Mongolia? "Betsy, Rowan's favourite horse back home was the first to affect him the most strongly. I asked myself if there was a place on the planet that combined horse and healing. I did some research and figured the country where the horse was first domesticated was also the country where shamanism - healing in its rawest form - is the state religion."
No high expectations
A writer and a former horse trainer, Rupert had witnessed Bushmen healing. From the time spent with Bushmen, he authored the book The Healing Land and therefore was not entirely new to the idea of esoteric healing methods. "I had no high expectations from the trip I undertook with my wife and son to Mongolia. It was more a thirst for adventure and a love of each other and of life." They document their journey in the film The Horse Boy.
In the documentary, Ghoste, the shaman, believes that Rowan would one day become a shaman, too. "Interestingly, in India many adult autists end up as sadhus - and perhaps intentionally, perhaps unintentionally, Indian culture has a traditional place and role for its adult autists - more so than the West, despite the many harshness of Indian culture compared to Western culture." Ghoste was himself an autist.
Although their son's autism has severely restricted their romantic and social life, Rupert and Kristin continue to display amazing courage and creativity everyday. "I think that it's always worth remembering that whatever you are going through in life - it is an adventure. So why not make it the most amazing adventure it can be? And why not use that as an excuse to go beyond 'seeking peace' and make a radical life change to fulfil those secret dreams you've always had?"
Rupert believed that the horse and shamanic intervention transformed his son to a great degree. And because he wanted others to benefit from his experience he started the Horseboy Foundation. "The repetitive, rhythmic pattern of horse riding seems to open up the learning receptors in the brain and the fact that the families can be close to nature help autistic children." He, however, claims no recovery by the horse boy method.
"Horses often have a remarkable effect on autistic children, calming their sensory system and helping their language skills to emerge. Horses are also just plain cool, and offer a way for the whole family to have fun and to do that among people for whom autism is a normal part of life."
Who is a genuine healer?
How far have they come with Rowan turning nine this year? "I still write and make films too - we are working on a follow up to the Horse Boy book, telling the story of how things have gone since Mongolia - the other amazing healing journeys we've made and the work with horses and kids. Kristin and I also manage to go out for dinner. Also Rowan has his own new project where he is behind the camera now called Endangerous -which looks at endangered and dangerous animals and our changing planet through the eyes of children."
How did Rupert know the difference between fraudster exorcists and genuine healers? "Anyone who sees an exorcist or medium is bound to end up being abused. There is a big difference between a good tribal shaman living in, say, the deep forests of Orissa, and the kind of fraudsters one encounters every day in city streets. A good professional combines knowledge of natural medicines with intuition. Most good shamans also know plant medicine very well," he says.
No claim to miracles
According to him, a good shaman or healer promises no miracles but do their best to ameliorate negative symptoms. "I have spent many years living and working among the Bushmen hunter-gatherer tribes of the Kalahari in southern Africa and I have also spent a year in India in 1995. I met many fraudsters there, but I also met tribal healers deep in the Western Ghats who were very effective.
When asked how much credit he would give to shamans for his son's progress, Rupert says: "A lot. We go to shamans every year - in Africa, the Native American reservations of the USA and Australia. Ghoste, the shaman of the reindeer people in Mongolia, who got such amazing results with Rowan, told us that we should go every year for three years after seeing him. Each year we have seen a huge leap forward. However, we also use western therapies and medicine to good effect too. We believe in both. Rowan has become more cognitive, able to swim in our world and conversations. He is with animals and nature every day; autistic people who live in sensorily harsh environments like cities suffer from much more stress and tend to retreat into themselves."
Has Rowan's autism helped make his parents evolve as individuals? Says Rupert, "It made me much more patient, much more observant, and now I take nothing for granted. It also made me better at life because one has to be endlessly flexible and inventive and this, by extension, carries over into other areas of life. I'm also less easily stressed or freaked out, can keep a cooler head, and have a better sense of my own intuition. Sounds like a spiritual practice, doesn't it?"
Evolving away from ego
Discussing his attempts to reach out to healers, Rupert admits that he did suspect that his ego played a large role in the decisions he took. So he plans to go next year to a shaman to come to better grips with his ego. "I'm a little tired of how much control it has over me. This makes me like every other non-austistic human on the planet - I just want to do something about it!" he says. "When we consciously evolve away from ego and back to spirit, that might stop us killing our own environment in our endless search for wealth and power."
poonam.jain1@timesgroup.com
Spiritual? Me? I think you've got the wrong guy! I'm just a dad who loves his kid," says Rupert Isaacson as he charts his son's journey into autism, shamanism and adventure. In this personal odyssey, the family finds healing opportunities in the unlikeliest of places.
Rupert Isaacson's spiritual journey is one that traces his quest to enhance the quality of life for his child, Rowan. It is also the story of Rowan, whose autism, rather than spelling the end of adventure in his parents' life, became the catalyst for the greatest adventure they would begin. The story begins with Rupert and his wife Kristin Neff, both professionals, struggling to make sense of their child's autism.
Navigating neurological firestorms and tantrums, Rowan turns six and Rupert takes a decision. They will travel halfway across the world, trekking for days by truck and horse, to meet 'Ghoste'- the most powerful of Mongolia's shamans. Why Mongolia? "Betsy, Rowan's favourite horse back home was the first to affect him the most strongly. I asked myself if there was a place on the planet that combined horse and healing. I did some research and figured the country where the horse was first domesticated was also the country where shamanism - healing in its rawest form - is the state religion."
No high expectations
A writer and a former horse trainer, Rupert had witnessed Bushmen healing. From the time spent with Bushmen, he authored the book The Healing Land and therefore was not entirely new to the idea of esoteric healing methods. "I had no high expectations from the trip I undertook with my wife and son to Mongolia. It was more a thirst for adventure and a love of each other and of life." They document their journey in the film The Horse Boy.
In the documentary, Ghoste, the shaman, believes that Rowan would one day become a shaman, too. "Interestingly, in India many adult autists end up as sadhus - and perhaps intentionally, perhaps unintentionally, Indian culture has a traditional place and role for its adult autists - more so than the West, despite the many harshness of Indian culture compared to Western culture." Ghoste was himself an autist.
Although their son's autism has severely restricted their romantic and social life, Rupert and Kristin continue to display amazing courage and creativity everyday. "I think that it's always worth remembering that whatever you are going through in life - it is an adventure. So why not make it the most amazing adventure it can be? And why not use that as an excuse to go beyond 'seeking peace' and make a radical life change to fulfil those secret dreams you've always had?"
Rupert believed that the horse and shamanic intervention transformed his son to a great degree. And because he wanted others to benefit from his experience he started the Horseboy Foundation. "The repetitive, rhythmic pattern of horse riding seems to open up the learning receptors in the brain and the fact that the families can be close to nature help autistic children." He, however, claims no recovery by the horse boy method.
"Horses often have a remarkable effect on autistic children, calming their sensory system and helping their language skills to emerge. Horses are also just plain cool, and offer a way for the whole family to have fun and to do that among people for whom autism is a normal part of life."
Who is a genuine healer?
How far have they come with Rowan turning nine this year? "I still write and make films too - we are working on a follow up to the Horse Boy book, telling the story of how things have gone since Mongolia - the other amazing healing journeys we've made and the work with horses and kids. Kristin and I also manage to go out for dinner. Also Rowan has his own new project where he is behind the camera now called Endangerous -which looks at endangered and dangerous animals and our changing planet through the eyes of children."
How did Rupert know the difference between fraudster exorcists and genuine healers? "Anyone who sees an exorcist or medium is bound to end up being abused. There is a big difference between a good tribal shaman living in, say, the deep forests of Orissa, and the kind of fraudsters one encounters every day in city streets. A good professional combines knowledge of natural medicines with intuition. Most good shamans also know plant medicine very well," he says.
No claim to miracles
According to him, a good shaman or healer promises no miracles but do their best to ameliorate negative symptoms. "I have spent many years living and working among the Bushmen hunter-gatherer tribes of the Kalahari in southern Africa and I have also spent a year in India in 1995. I met many fraudsters there, but I also met tribal healers deep in the Western Ghats who were very effective.
When asked how much credit he would give to shamans for his son's progress, Rupert says: "A lot. We go to shamans every year - in Africa, the Native American reservations of the USA and Australia. Ghoste, the shaman of the reindeer people in Mongolia, who got such amazing results with Rowan, told us that we should go every year for three years after seeing him. Each year we have seen a huge leap forward. However, we also use western therapies and medicine to good effect too. We believe in both. Rowan has become more cognitive, able to swim in our world and conversations. He is with animals and nature every day; autistic people who live in sensorily harsh environments like cities suffer from much more stress and tend to retreat into themselves."
Has Rowan's autism helped make his parents evolve as individuals? Says Rupert, "It made me much more patient, much more observant, and now I take nothing for granted. It also made me better at life because one has to be endlessly flexible and inventive and this, by extension, carries over into other areas of life. I'm also less easily stressed or freaked out, can keep a cooler head, and have a better sense of my own intuition. Sounds like a spiritual practice, doesn't it?"
Evolving away from ego
Discussing his attempts to reach out to healers, Rupert admits that he did suspect that his ego played a large role in the decisions he took. So he plans to go next year to a shaman to come to better grips with his ego. "I'm a little tired of how much control it has over me. This makes me like every other non-austistic human on the planet - I just want to do something about it!" he says. "When we consciously evolve away from ego and back to spirit, that might stop us killing our own environment in our endless search for wealth and power."
poonam.jain1@timesgroup.com
Comments
Post a Comment