Week 1- Natalie Velazquez

During the last three years I've had a couple of spiritual experiences in my life, all connecting to buddhism. One day I was walking around in Berkeley, passing by jewelry stands and I was drawn to a necklace. The necklace was a tiny buddha head, I had no knowledge of Buddhism as I grew up Christian. However, something about that necklace made me feel safe and I felt a connection to it the moment I held it in my hand. That night I fell half asleep on the car ride back to Davis. I experienced a dream where I was half awake and half asleep. During the dream all the buildings looked 3D and I remember the car going through a tunnel. As it went through the tunnel everything turned into different colorful shapes and an image of an Elephant head occurred. It resembled royalty and I felt like it was trying to guide me into another dimension as it's energy felt powerful. However, I grew afraid because I wasn't sure if I could return if I did follow it. I then fully woke myself up. For months I was confused as to why I saw an elephant head until a year later when I began looking into Buddhism and was able to tie the elephant in my dream to Ganesha as it looked exactly like it in my dream.

  This last year I gained a love for crystals and I believe in their healing powers. I recently purchased a Rose Quartz orb, and one day I had it in my bag as I went for a walk along the Arboretum. During my walk, I stumbled across a tree trunk which was cut down coincidently resembling a shape of a heart. Rose Quartz is the crystal of unconditional love. I pulled out my Crystal and took a picture of it over the trunk. As I was taking pictures I noticed something white inside the trunk, which I thought was a piece of trash. Not wanting to stick my hands in it to remove the trash I avoided it. I then left the spot but continued walking by it, passing by the trunk at least three other times. As I was ready to head back home something in my gut told me to return to the spot one last time. As I returned this time I saw that object to which I thought was trash to be a statue of Buddha. It stood out to me the minute I looked at the trunk. I remember even jumping as the statue startled me. It just sat there inside the trunk as I felt it was calling out to me.