(Yellow Bamboo is a Balinese White Magic type of Martial Art and Spiritual practice that are becoming more well known in the West the last couple of years. This article by Dr Alvin G. Donovan III, a Yellow Bamboo Master, gives a personal first-hand report about how he first got to know about this system)
I must admit I have always been a sceptic when it comes to
magic or the supernatural. When I was in graduate school getting my 2 Doctorate
degrees in counselling psychology and hypnotherapy I was trained to look at all
such phenomenon in a scientific way. At the time I believed that it all came
down to some kind of power of suggestion or hypnotic trance. Since retiring to
The reason for me retiring to
I found out about Yellow Bamboo or Bambu Kuning as it is known to Balinese from another expat in our village. She told me stories of people being
knocked down from over 10 meters away in the classes and also developing
mystical spiritual powers of healing and protection. When I discovered there
are more than 30,000 practitioners here in
Once I asked around to a few of my local friends I was amazed to learn that
several of them were already practitioners. When I asked them why they never
told me about it they simply replied "You never asked me!" Makes me
wonder what else I am missing out on by not asking.
Eventually I was introduced to the local master of Yellow Bamboo in our village
by the name of Pak Nyoman. It was kind of funny because I had seen Pak Nyoman
around before and he seemed a very powerful being. He exuded a power I just
could not put my finger on. The first time I had a private meeting with Pak Nyoman I had to have my friend Wayan
there as translator as I spoke almost no Indonesian at the time.
Pak Nyoman explained that Yellow Bamboo is the key to
all success in life and that the powers you develop must be used only for good
for yourself and others. He then gave me an article which was printed in the
British magazine "Kindred Spirit" and also a video documentary about
Yellow Bamboo.
When I first watched the video with some friends and saw Yellow Bamboo
practitioners knocking down attackers from a distance I really did not believe
it. It seemed impossible to believe but I was hooked. I had to learn this magic
for myself to see if I could do it or not. You can now see these videos on the
www.yellowbamboo.com website free.
Imagine being able to knock down others from a distance! What tremendous
personal power.
So then I went back to Pak Nyoman and told him I was
ready to give it a try and would become a really serious student. We agreed to
go to the next full moon initiation ceremony to be held at the Yellow Bamboo
headquarters in Singaraja on the north coast of
When we arrived to the headquarters of the Yellow Bamboo the first thing I
noticed was I was the only foreigner there out of the hundreds of people there.
Pak Nyoman explained that most foreigners do not
really believe in magic and very few have been interested to join.
The first order of business was a personal consultation with the founder of
Yellow Bamboo Pak Nyoman Serengen.
I found Pak Serengen to be a very real, genuine and
loving individual. We went into his small Balinese style consultation room with
the customary canang sari and incense. I am not sure
how to describe the encounter except to say I really felt for the first time to
be in the presence of a real sage.
Pak Serengen asked me a few questions such as
"How long have you lived in
Once Pak Serengen made the decision to let me join he
then put his hand on my back for a few minutes. I felt an amazing vibration
never before felt. Then he sprinkled me with holy water and the consult was
over. Pak Nyoman looked relieved and happy that I was
deemed worthy to join.
The next step was I had to take my passport photocopy to the main office and
fill out the registration forms. At this time I was issued my uniform, some
Yellow Bamboo stickers and a keychain. Also included was the level 1
instruction sheet. It was at this time I learned there are 13 levels in the
Yellow Bamboo and you must attain level 5 before you can apply to become a
certified teacher.
Today I am level 12 and the only westerner to be a certified teacher but I
digress. Now comes the initiation ceremony. There were
several hundred people there. We all sat in front of or to the side of a raised
altar. On the altar was Pak Serengen
and 4 other priests. The ceremony began with Pak Serengen
giving about a 30 minute lecture on Yellow Bamboo and what one should do during
the initiation and the practice thereafter.
Next the initiation began with all of us singing the Gyatri
mantram. The entire atmosphere changed dramatically
once this happened. Next one of the priest began
chanting special mantrams and at this stage I felt a
white energy coming into the top of my head in waves of pure energy. This was
the first time I have ever felt such a powerful pure energy. Once the chanting
was over we all took off our t shirts, except for the ladies.
We then approached the altar for the holy water and rice. The priest pours holy
water onto your hands. The first time you put the water onto the top of your
head. Second you put the water on your forehead. Third you drink the water and
last you put it all over your body. Then you are given 5 kinds of rice to eat
and before you know it you are done.
The next day is a day for fasting. You are allowed to eat only white rice and
drink plain water. Before eating the rice you ask God to give you nourishment
from the rice. The day is spent in quiet contemplation of the power of God.
Then in the evening you begin the first of your daily mantra repetition and
breathing exercises. Having done yoga and meditation before I
was familiar with the concept of mantra repetition and breathing exercises.
The Yellow Bamboo mantra and breathing are however very different from any I
have ever done before.
In fact I can say that I have practiced yoga and meditation for over 20 years
and after just the first month I experienced more spiritual development and
experiences of the superconscious state (samadhi) than in all the years of doing yoga and
meditation.
The next day I began the physical exercises of Yellow Bamboo. They are the most
different and strenuous exercises I have ever done in my life. You can see them
on the Yellowbamboo.com website for yourself. Every Sunday at 5PM on the beach
in front of Petitinget temple next to La Luciola restaurant there is a free class for YellowBamboo. I suggest you go there to see for yourself.
I asked Pak Nyoman how many classes would I have to attend before I was ready to knock down
attackers. He gave me the typical Balinese answer "Up to you". After
each class we end with what is called a "test of personal power"
which lets you and your teacher know how much power you have developed. After 3
classes I felt ready to defend. After the third class I stood about 20 meters
away from 4 men who would try to hurt me mortally. I must confess I was
confident and scared to death at the same time but felt ready to give it a go.
To prepare myself I silently said my level 1 mantra, breathed in and then Pak Nyoman gave the signal to attack. As I saw them coming my
automatic reflexes took over. Before I knew it, the 4 men were writhing on the
ground in pain! See the videos at Yellowbamboo.com for yourself.
I can only say that if I had not done it myself I never would have believed it
possible to accomplish. Now, I must say that Pak Nyoman,
my personal teacher has been a very excellent teacher and serious about my
development and diligent. He has helped me every step of the way and even has
done some "on the job" training in healings.
He first taught me the 4 steps of Yellow Bamboo healing. Step one is to pray to
God to heal the person, either in front of you or from a distance. The next
step is to physically or in your imagination to put
your hand on the afflicted part of the person you are healing and to burn the
poison for a minimum of 5 minutes. Then you pull out the poison from the person
and put it into the ground. Follow-up by putting a protection
energy on the person.
I had been practicing healings for about one month when I got the chance to do
it seriously. At about 10PM one night Pak Nyoman
called me and said "Come quick and bring your video camera" When I
arrived there was a man there who had been bitten on the foot by a deadly
snake. Talk about on the job training! I followed Pak Nyomans
instructions and after about 20 minutes, the man who had been carried in was
now able to walk out on his own. You can see the video of this at
Yellowbamboo.com.
Yellow Bamboo is for those who are interested in healing and protecting
themselves of others and for those who are interested in a rapid and cohesive
spiritual development.
Over the past years I have graduated to higher and higher levels and each level
has been more mysterious and wonderful than the last. Now I am a certified
teacher at level 12 and will graduate to level 13 at the next full moon
ceremony. Maybe you would like to join me there?
Dr Alvin G. Donovan III is the author of the best selling self help book
"Make More Money NOW" and has served on the faculty of most of the
largest management institutes all over the world