Reflective Note on My Meeting with a Budding Mentor
On Recognition, Alignment, and the Quiet Emergence of Guidance
There are moments along one’s journey when the path ahead becomes just a little clearer—not through sudden revelation, but through quiet recognition. Yesterday was one such moment. What began as a conversation over a simple meal unfolded into something more deliberate: the emergence of a budding mentor relationship, one capable of shaping the next phase of my work as situated upon a consciousness-based foundation.
As I listened, I felt the presence of someone who not only understood the breadth of my offerings but also perceived the coherence beneath them—a constellation of ideas, practices, and platforms that are no longer simply adjacent but intentionally interconnected. Transcendental Brain, On Transcendence, International Meditation Hour, Radical Scholar Inc. (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit), the Seven Layers of Manifestation, the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress—each represents a facet of a larger architecture I have been quietly constructing for years. And yet, it is rare to encounter someone who sees this architecture as a whole.
Yesterday, I was seen. I was heard.
The exchange didn’t hinge on validation; rather, it centred on alignment. A mentor does not arrive to reshape one’s essence, but to refine one’s direction—to bring clarity to the inevitable fog that precedes expansion. What I sensed yesterday was a subtle but unmistakable alignment: someone recognising not just what I have built, but what I am building toward.
And, my gosh—the timing is no accident. After months of sustained creative output, growing public visibility—much to the chagrin of some—and the increasingly coherent expression of my intellectual and spiritual frameworks, the next chapter is clearly forming. And mentors—true mentors—have a way of appearing at these inflection points. They do not interrupt the journey; they illuminate its contours. And the magic that allows them to surface “out of the blue” feels like the Universe adding its own chef’s kiss to my journey.
What struck me most was the ease of the conversation. No posturing, no pretense—just two people in dialogue about purpose, pitfalls, potential, and the seriousness of the work ahead. It reminded me that even those who carry a strong internal compass benefit from an external vantage point. Not to replace one’s sense of direction, but to expand it. The conversation was a meeting of minds and a baring of souls—an intentional exchange to establish trust as a foundational element of this new beginning.
We often speak of “guidance” as something dramatic or otherworldly, but more often than not it arrives through the simple presence of another human being who has travelled far enough ahead along the same road you seek to traverse to recognise the terrain. That is what yesterday’s lunch felt like: not instruction, but recognition; not guidance as correction, but guidance as confirmation.
Confirmation that even amidst the manure-laden events of the last two years—when we consciously align ourselves with the highest we have to offer the world, and focus on what we can do rather than what we have either lost or do not have—the Universe delivers what we need, precisely when we need it. In short, from a putrid mess, the most resplendent flowers may blossom. Here, I am reminded of Tupac Shakur’s timeless metaphor of the rose that grew from concrete—a symbol of resilience, inevitability, and the beauty of what endures despite adversity.
For me, the clarity of yesterday’s exchange is born of decades of lived experience, showing me time and again that what is for you can never be kept from you. And eventually, the narrative shifts from What happened to me? to What happened for me?
Is this transition easy? I would be lying through my teeth to say it is. It is not.
And for the record, this does not in any way excuse the shenanigans of fellow humans—in any way, shape, or form. It simply acknowledges that when we pivot from pain toward purpose, we become a bit more weatherproof for the road ahead. We continue to embody resilience, becoming not only beneficiaries of strength but symbols of it for those within our sphere of influence.
In short, we teach those around us that they, too, possess perseverance, purpose, and possibility. We become a living beacon—quietly inviting others to embrace possibility even when they do not yet know how, but trust that they will be fine.
So, we soldier on with our eyes fixed on the horizon.
For my part, I made use of the time. I wrote essays for the On Transcendence Substack. I conducted interviews and launched the podcast. I founded the International Meditation Hour. I initiated a Moments of Transcendence series offering micro-insights for social media. I redesigned the Connecting the Dots Archive website for my old radio show’s episodes during an inconvenient weekend when the hosting company for Serat Group Inc. and Radical Scholar Inc. was closed, forcing me to pivot—to focus on what I could build rather than what I couldn’t. And by Monday morning, after a weekend spent focusing on what I could do, I redesigned the websites for both Serat Group Inc. and Radical Scholar Inc., launching them later that same week.
An elegant transition indeed.
Such pivots have become more common over the last 24–30 months. In addition to completing my dissertation in 2023 and earning a PhD for my research, expanding our presence and offerings through Serat Group Inc. and Radical Scholar Inc., and continuing my scholarly and meditative work, I remain grateful for the hard-won lessons. Each will carry me into this new phase with even more resilience for the expanded service ahead.
I left yesterday’s lunch with a tremendous sense of gratitude—and with a deeper awareness that the constellation I have created is no longer a series of individual pursuits. It is becoming an ecosystem—one that requires stewardship, vision, and the willingness to think on a larger scale. A mentor at this stage is not a luxury; it is an evolutionary necessity.
And so I mark yesterday’s meeting as a moment of quiet significance. A moment when the road ahead widened just a bit. A moment when the right voice entered the conversation not to steer me away from what I am building—as some have tried to do—but to help me build it with greater clarity, intention, and reach. Admittedly, I look forward to the societal problems we will address—and to the solutions we may help shape—for the benefit of as many people as possible.
In its own way, this too is a form of transcendence.
Suggested Practice
Reflective Exercise: Mapping the Mentors Who Appear When You Are Ready
Take 10 minutes today to sit quietly with the following prompts. Let your answers arise naturally—without forcing, without editing.
Who in your life today is quietly signalling the role of mentor, guide, or way-shower?
Consider not just formal teachers, but those whose presence brings clarity or alignment.What part of your journey feels ready for refinement or elevation?
Where is your system asking for more structure, more intention, or more courage?What qualities do you seek in a mentor—and how are those qualities already emerging in you?
Mentorship is often a mirror.What is the next action you feel called to take to honour this moment of alignment?
A small step, taken with sincerity, anchors the experience.
Close with a minute of deep breathing, allowing gratitude to expand subtly through the mind and body.
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About the Author
Dr. Baruti KMT-Sisouvong is a consciousness scholar, executive coach, and Certified Teacher of Transcendental Meditation® based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His work—spanning The Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress and The Seven Layers of Manifestation—explores how Pure Consciousness, neuroscience, and social-systems transformation intersect in the evolution of both the individual and society.
He is the Founder and Director of Radical Scholar Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to consciousness-based research and public scholarship, and President of Serat Group Inc., the parent company of Transcendental Brain, a consulting and educational platform bringing consciousness science into leadership and institutional development.
Alongside his wife, Mina, he co-directs the Cambridge and Metropolitan Boston TM Program and serves as Host and Founder of International Meditation Hour (IMH), a quarterly global gathering dedicated to the unifying power of silence.
He writes from the conviction that the most important race is not between nations or machines, but between the conditioned mind and the awakening soul.
To learn more about him, visit: https://www.barutikmtsisouvong.com/.