Episode Transcript
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That's join-o-c-h-i.com with promo
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we awaken the power
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and create more vitality
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health strength peace abundance
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and love in our
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lives I am your host, Kimberly
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Snyder, New York Times best-selling
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author, founder of Saluna, creator
1:58
of the research-based Hard Alliance.
2:00
meditation, wellness expert, nutritionist,
2:03
and international speaker.
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I am passionate
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about supporting you
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on your unique
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heart and wellness journey.
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Let's get started. Hi
2:16
everyone and welcome back
2:18
to our Monday interview
2:21
show. I could not
2:23
be more excited for
2:25
our very special guests
2:27
here with us today.
2:29
I have Billy Asad
2:31
and his amazing children,
2:33
Ella and Nikki, who
2:35
are literally the saviors
2:37
of Lake Shrine from
2:39
this recent palisades fire.
2:41
They rushed into the
2:44
fire when everyone else
2:46
was evacuating. They have
2:48
an incredible story of courage
2:50
and love and overcoming fear
2:52
and selfless service. And we'll
2:54
get into the show today
2:57
how I really felt so
2:59
strongly in my heart to
3:01
connect with this amazing family
3:03
and how organically we all...
3:05
came connected. And so here
3:07
we are in person recording
3:10
and I couldn't be more
3:12
honored to have them here
3:14
on our show. Billy also
3:16
is the founder and owner
3:18
of WDA Fire Protection. He
3:20
knows so much about fires
3:22
and all the incredible intelligence
3:24
it takes to really keep
3:26
us safe as a society.
3:29
And so we're going to talk a
3:31
little bit about that today as well.
3:33
So first of all, Billy, thank you
3:35
so much for coming here and being
3:38
here with us today. Thank you so
3:40
much for having us and the opportunity,
3:42
like you said, to spread a little
3:45
bit of service and wellness, you know,
3:47
to our community in times of people
3:49
are really suffering and in trauma, you
3:51
know, with the fires and, you know,
3:54
I think our main thing is to
3:56
really share, you know, that Lake Shrine
3:58
is such a sanctuary. and to us
4:01
and everyone is welcome there. And
4:03
I'm so happy that it's still
4:05
standing and it's there for people
4:07
to come and retreat and to
4:09
heal and to have a moment,
4:11
you know, in this really challenging
4:13
time. So thank you so much
4:15
for having me. Yeah, it's an
4:17
honor. Well. So let's, you know, let's
4:19
reinforce that it was this incredible, Lake
4:22
Try is a spiritual center for anyone
4:24
knew to know about it in Los
4:26
Angeles. You guys have heard me talk
4:29
about Yogananda so many times. You are
4:31
more than you think you are, is
4:33
based on Yogananda's teachings. And it's really
4:36
this, it's this lake, it's the center,
4:38
right in palisades. And if you look
4:40
at the burn map, it's pretty much.
4:43
the only thing standing. It's
4:45
very close. Yeah, there's a few
4:47
scattered properties and homes, you know,
4:49
some in the village and whatnot,
4:52
but around the whole neighborhood it
4:54
is pretty much, you know, destroyed.
4:56
And it is in the center.
4:58
It was in the center. I
5:01
mean, there were, it's right around
5:03
Sunset Boulevard, it loops around and.
5:05
They were at least maybe 1015
5:07
cars right next to the fence
5:10
of Lake Shrine that were melted
5:12
to the ground. You know, 20,
5:14
30 cars abandoned, people running out from
5:16
the fires that were that close on
5:19
fire, the trees. all around Lake Shrine.
5:21
So it was it was there, it
5:23
was going. It was right there. It
5:25
was there, it was right there. And
5:27
a lot of what maybe get into
5:29
this, you know, in a little while,
5:32
but a lot of the structures that
5:34
were in Lake Shrine are older legacy
5:36
structures built in the 50s. Oh, yeah.
5:38
So no clay tile roofs, snow, like
5:40
old dry wood roofs. Yeah. Well,
5:42
and also. You know, we share
5:44
the spiritual path of Yogananda and
5:47
Yoga, but Lakeshrine is really a
5:49
sanctuary for everyone. I think they
5:51
get hundreds of thousands, if not
5:53
millions of visitors a year. There's
5:56
this part which houses some of
5:58
Gandhi's ashes, a peace memorial. There's
6:00
something called the Court of
6:02
All Religions, which has, you
6:04
know, for the five major
6:06
world religions, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism,
6:08
Buddhism, and Christianity. It's really
6:10
the center of really just
6:12
celebrating the oneness and the
6:14
love and the universality. And
6:16
it is so, I'm getting
6:18
goosebumps just thinking about it.
6:20
It's such a powerful. place,
6:22
like this epicenter for everyone,
6:24
of any faith, of anyone
6:26
to come, spiritual or not,
6:28
religious or not, to come and
6:31
feel peace. And it's actually one of
6:33
the reasons that I moved to the
6:35
area. And both of my children have
6:37
been baptized there. My mother's memorial
6:39
was there. And I know that
6:42
your children have also. We're baptized
6:44
in the Windmill Chapel as well. Yeah,
6:46
yeah, yeah, it's pretty amazing. So to
6:49
say how priceless it is, is sort
6:51
of, there's no words. Yeah, like,
6:53
you know, I mentioned before, you
6:55
know, when you first look at
6:57
it, the gardens are breathtaking the
6:59
numerous amounts of plants and vegetations
7:02
and trees and rare plants, rare
7:04
flowers and the lake and the
7:06
swans and the waterfalls and everything
7:08
besides just the beauty of the
7:10
beauty of it. energy of the
7:13
like the vortex of like I
7:15
said this vortex of of healing
7:17
and serenity and peace and harmony in
7:19
the lake is just so so special.
7:22
I mean, as you know, you know,
7:24
there are so many places in the
7:26
world that are so special that have
7:29
this, that hold an energy, that hold
7:31
a vibration. And this is one of
7:33
them. If you've never been there and
7:35
you can make it up there,
7:37
please. Oh, now we can't because
7:40
of you guys. So having been
7:42
to India, we were talking about
7:44
how I did this pilgrimage to
7:46
India. some sacred spots, but to
7:48
me, truly, lately trying has
7:50
that energy. And many people won't
7:52
make it to India, but Masters,
7:55
you know, sometimes people are like,
7:57
oh, calling a master of himself.
7:59
is why we say that he
8:01
was a master of his emotions
8:03
and his humanness. He was able
8:05
to really feel this divine energy coming
8:08
through and radiate it. That's right.
8:10
Because he was at Lake Shrine so
8:12
much, because he lived on that houseboat
8:14
for several days, because he was
8:16
there, he left this incredible gift of
8:19
that energy. So, and I'm getting
8:21
goosebumps again. And before I'd love
8:23
to hear more about the WDA,
8:25
just like the really granular information,
8:28
which I think is really interesting
8:30
to a lot of people. But
8:32
there's also these soul qualities that
8:35
Garuji taught. And I feel
8:37
like you and your kids really
8:39
embody. And it's just so inspiring.
8:41
I think it's inspiring to all
8:43
of humanity. The first one I
8:45
want to bring up is intuition. So
8:47
Garuji talked a lot about
8:49
getting out of the... headiness
8:51
and going into the heart into
8:54
the true self and really feeling
8:56
when there's divine messages. So I'd
8:58
like to go back to the moment
9:00
when the fire first hit and you
9:03
guys are not in palisades,
9:05
you're elsewhere. And when you
9:07
started feeling, hey, you know, God and
9:09
Guru, or like there's some, I
9:11
have to help, like they're, they're
9:13
working through me or they're calling
9:16
me in. Can you talk a
9:18
little bit about? that intuition. Absolutely.
9:20
And I'll back up a little
9:22
bit before that. Yeah. So I started
9:25
doing and I don't know, viewers
9:27
know about the lessons. Yes. Please
9:29
explain again. Yeah. So it's the
9:31
lessons from from master Paramhasi Yoga
9:33
Nanda. And basically it's lessons to
9:35
get initiated to Kria Yoga, which
9:37
is, you know, direct highway to
9:40
self realization, which is a knowing
9:42
of what we call God in
9:44
us, a peace, a light, a
9:46
love, whatever that may be. And
9:48
there's lessons that have been passed
9:50
down from the sages, from thousands
9:52
and thousands of years. And for
9:55
many thousands of years, these sacred lessons
9:57
were held for the higher yogi, if
9:59
you will. and you know, master's
10:01
reincarnation, partner's reincarnation was to
10:03
bring these teachings to the
10:05
West and to share Kria
10:08
yoga with, you know, the masses. And
10:10
that's what he did. That was his
10:12
mission. His main mission is to bring
10:14
Kria to the, you know, the teachings
10:16
of Kria here. And so. to touch on
10:18
that I already read the lessons years
10:20
ago probably 20 years ago but then
10:22
they redid the lessons and I started
10:25
reading the lessons about three months before
10:27
the fire really getting into the lessons
10:29
again again so there was this mass
10:31
there was this area and part of
10:33
the lessons about being of service and
10:35
how important it is and like you
10:37
said getting out of self and and
10:39
I, the little self, yeah, and getting
10:41
into the big eye and what's important,
10:44
the soul and eternity and everything else
10:46
that was with it. And so I
10:48
was just immersed in this and I,
10:50
daily, day, day, I would, in my
10:53
prayers and meditations, master, please use me,
10:55
use me as a tool, use me
10:57
as an instrument to channel something. And
10:59
what called you back to the
11:01
lessons? Was it just, I just wanted
11:04
to redo them and really, really, really,
11:06
in this. Minds eye where I'm
11:08
at now in my life reread them
11:10
and you know, Sfadyayas, you know, self-tuddy
11:13
of spiritual scriptures, you know, and that's
11:15
where I was. And I started reading
11:17
the lessons again and diving in really
11:20
deep and then all of a sudden
11:22
the fires happen and I had my
11:24
opportunity to jump to action. So you
11:26
have this background, you know, I think
11:28
you mentioned one of the other interviews I
11:31
watched or listened to, like your father was
11:33
in fire fighting and so that's, you
11:35
know, that's right. My father was a
11:37
fireman for 30 years and I grew
11:39
up in, I grew up in the
11:41
Midwest. Ohio. And so I grew up
11:44
in the backyard putting out fires, you
11:46
know, fire trucks, hoses, nozzles, wild land
11:48
fires, how they burn. Like, I mean,
11:50
we went through everything. Evacuation scenario with
11:52
the family, you know, what windows to
11:55
go out of my whole life. So
11:57
he loved that he was, that was
11:59
his life, is. fighting fires. And so
12:01
I grew up with that. Yeah. I
12:03
mean, I started to get
12:05
goosebumps again when we think
12:08
about, you know, karma and
12:10
soul journey and to even
12:12
think that everything in your
12:14
life prepared you for
12:17
this moment of profound
12:19
service. And it's like, you know,
12:21
like. I don't know. It's kind of
12:23
crazy. I'm sure you guys have all
12:25
contemplated. It's funny that you say
12:27
that because Brother Chittendana, the president
12:29
of SRF right now, he said
12:31
the same thing. He said this
12:33
was when we went and met
12:35
with him afterwards privately, Gabriel and
12:37
Nikki and myself went and met
12:39
with Brother Chittendanda. He said exactly
12:41
what you just said. He said
12:43
your whole life was was this one
12:46
point. Everything that came together was
12:48
for this, this moment. And you
12:50
know, that was... getting into WDA
12:52
fire protection, that's what I do.
12:54
I've been studying wildfires and how
12:56
to fight them and the behavior
12:58
of them and which way they
13:01
burn and, you know, studying with
13:03
some great organizations like NFPA and
13:05
Cal Fire. Years and years. So
13:07
tell me about the moment when you
13:09
found out there's a brush fire
13:11
in palisades and oh my gosh,
13:13
it's right near a lake shrine. And
13:15
tell me just, you know, where the
13:17
decision came. to take your kids and
13:20
get in the car and go there.
13:22
Sure, sure. So that, the fire started
13:24
on a Tuesday morning, yeah, mid-morning,
13:27
and then I was talking, which
13:29
is very divine as well,
13:31
with Brother Tiyaggananda. Oh yeah, I love
13:33
him. Yeah, from Italy. He's great, right? Yeah.
13:36
So Brother Tiyagnai and I were just texting
13:38
each other because it's... He was going, we
13:40
were trying to set up a little pilgrimage
13:42
with some of the monks. Oh, separate to
13:45
the fire. Separate to the fires. On that
13:47
same day. Same day. Oh my gosh. So
13:49
him and I were texting each other. We
13:51
live on a boat in Marina del Rey
13:54
and I'm a captain as well, but I'd
13:56
like to take people out. So we were
13:58
trying to put together. a little pilgrimage
14:00
for a few of the monks to
14:02
come and take a boat ride, just
14:04
private, right? So we were trying to
14:07
organize that and he goes, standby Billy,
14:09
there's, I think there's an emergency happening.
14:11
This is via text. And I'm like,
14:13
what's going on there? Then I'm, you
14:15
know. back and forth with him. And
14:17
then about a half hour later, he's
14:19
like, I think we need to, I
14:21
think there's a fire up in the
14:23
mountains. I'm like, what? And I'm looking
14:26
and there's nothing on the news yet,
14:28
you know, it's kind of just getting
14:30
going. And then so he goes, Billy,
14:32
we got to evacuate. There's a fire
14:34
we're going to have to talk later
14:37
in the week. And I'm thinking a
14:39
fire like, you know, the iconic Pacific
14:41
Palisades is pretty much wiped
14:44
out. Yeah, 48 hours. I mean, it was
14:46
7,000 homes, 25,000 acres. I mean, I,
14:48
our kids go to school or went
14:50
to school right near Lake Shrine. And
14:52
so I remember being down here where
14:55
we're speaking and getting a call from
14:57
the school and I can't see the
14:59
sky. And I remember, they were like,
15:01
oh, there's ash, I ran upstairs and
15:03
it was like the whole, it was
15:06
like World War Three. Yeah. And so
15:08
we grabbed the kids, but it was
15:10
like one of those moments that,
15:12
you know, You can't really plan for
15:14
it except to head, this is where
15:16
we really call on our spiritual practices.
15:18
But so amazing that you were actually
15:20
talking to Brother Tiyagananda. He's one
15:22
of the head months there. Oh my
15:24
gosh. There's so many little things that were
15:27
happening, like that divine plan that were happening
15:29
this entire time. So then what happened? So
15:31
then he's like, we gotta go, we gotta
15:33
evacuate, so I'm like, oh, there might be
15:36
a fire coming down, maybe I should start
15:38
getting prepared. From a job that I was
15:40
working on I actually had like 20 or
15:42
30 extra fire extinguishers in my storage unit
15:44
that would never be there So I threw
15:46
those all in the back of my truck
15:48
I threw some PPE gear, which is personal
15:50
protection equipment gloves goggles glasses masks everything in
15:53
the truck We kind of got ready. We
15:55
waited to see what was going on and
15:57
then it happened. We ended up leaving the
15:59
next morning when day morning picked up the
16:01
kids went up through the lake shrine
16:03
went up through the palisades but there
16:05
was bare cake you know there was
16:07
blocks everywhere showed my credentials we got
16:09
in and there was still so scattered
16:11
you know, fire crews, then it felt
16:13
like it was empty. The whole place
16:15
felt like it was empty. No, it
16:17
was, it was so overwhelming that when
16:19
we were driving down sunset, there was
16:21
50 hundred foot flames on both side
16:24
of us. Oh my gosh. Cops is
16:26
burning, telephone poles falling in front of
16:28
us. So what made you decide to go
16:30
Wednesday morning? We just, was there an
16:32
intuition inside? Oh, 100% like this,
16:34
you need to help. This needs,
16:36
we need to do this. This
16:39
is what we're, we're ready for
16:41
and what we're, you know, and
16:43
made for. And not only that,
16:45
I service all the fire extinguishers
16:47
for all of us, or F. Mother
16:49
Center, Lake Fry, Lake Fry, and
16:52
Sineas, yeah, for years. So I
16:54
take care of all their fighters.
16:56
So what did you say to
16:58
your kids? Yes, yes, no hesitation. Yes,
17:00
so if anyone knows how when
17:02
you're coming into Lake Shrine on
17:04
sunset, not from PCH, but from
17:06
sunset, like from the village, you
17:09
can see Lake Shrine, the temple,
17:11
the top temple, right, about 100
17:13
feet from us, we could even
17:15
make it there on sunset because
17:17
homes were falling and telephone poles,
17:19
so we had to reverse. back
17:21
it up, go down Beller Bay
17:23
Club out through PCH and down
17:25
that way around through burning neighborhoods.
17:27
And it was really intense, but
17:29
like my son said earlier, you
17:32
know, he said, not one time
17:34
that I feel any fear or
17:36
I was, we knew we were
17:38
protected in the prayers of so
17:40
many people from around the world,
17:43
we could feel that energy happening
17:45
to us. We knew we were
17:47
protected. I don't even know what
17:49
to say. I mean, it's just,
17:51
you know, I don't have
17:54
words because when I saw
17:56
the fire in the distance,
17:58
my instinct was. run.
18:00
And it's, you know, miles away. You
18:03
guys are right in it. Talk to
18:05
me about this other quality that
18:07
Guruji talks about, which
18:09
is the fearlessness, right? There's,
18:12
you know, this physical, like
18:14
I think there's this instinct
18:17
as humans of, you know, there's
18:19
a tiger, there's, you know, a
18:21
lion. We go into a fight
18:23
or flight. Our nervous systems are
18:25
sort of, you geared to keep
18:28
us. safe. So there's literally fire.
18:30
How does it even feel like
18:32
what were you praying like what's
18:34
going on? Sure, sure, it's
18:37
hard for me to even
18:39
imagine that you're going into
18:41
like, which seems like sheer
18:43
terror and danger absolutely and
18:45
with your kids. Yeah, and
18:47
with my kids as well. So
18:50
of course. Like I said, this, you
18:52
know, to repeat is, you know, it's
18:54
like been a, it's been a buildup
18:56
for my whole life. So I don't
18:58
think someone who wasn't exposed from a
19:01
young child with fires and their badata
19:03
firefighter and then in the fire industry
19:05
and everything else, what was going on
19:07
that, you know, we could have made
19:09
it up there because it was, it
19:12
was fearful. It was scary. It was
19:14
scary. And then there's, you know, there's
19:16
that line, obviously, between putting your family
19:18
at risk and fearlessness. And I had
19:20
to really, you know, keep my wits about me and
19:23
say, you know, am I putting my kids in danger right
19:25
now? And how bad is this? And where, you know, so.
19:27
And your son works with you. Yeah, my son works with
19:29
me and they've been trained in how to use fire extinguishers
19:31
with, you know, the pass acronym and put out live fires
19:33
and and we had our, you know, gear, it wasn't, it
19:35
wasn't, we weren't just being. Right, you have all this experience.
19:38
Exactly, we weren't just being, you know, exactly, we weren't just
19:40
being, you know, reckless, you know, and we did what we had to
19:42
do and we got up there and we had everything ready and we had everything ready
19:44
and we had everything ready and we got to and we got to and
19:46
we got to the lake and we got to the lake and we got
19:48
to the lake and we got to the lake and we got to the
19:50
lake and we got to the lake and we got to the lake and
19:52
we got to the lake and we got to the lake and we got
19:54
to the lake and we got to the lake and we got to the
19:56
lake and we got to the lake and we got to the lake. Okay,
19:58
yeah, I mean I just I'm just
20:00
trying to imagine in my
20:03
mind how intense it
20:05
must have been. Smoke,
20:07
I mean unpredictability.
20:09
Well, add it all, put it all
20:11
to, yeah, then you can document all
20:14
you like of war zones with pictures
20:16
and videos, but when you're there and
20:18
you have all the elements, all the
20:20
smell, taste, sight, sound, we had masks,
20:22
you know, we had masks, you know,
20:24
we had masks, but we had, I
20:26
mean, when you're at 50, 60 mile
20:28
an hour winds, warm winds, the sun
20:30
is blotted out, deep orange, you
20:32
can barely see with the smoke. You
20:35
can smell the smoke, you can smell
20:37
the fires, you can hear the crackling
20:39
of the fire, and then you just
20:41
hear these distant sirens and no one
20:44
around, it's... life changing. It's something
20:46
that we'll never see again,
20:48
you know, in our lives. Wait, so you
20:50
get there and there's no fire,
20:52
other firemen, firefighters. Well, there was,
20:55
but they weren't fighting there. So
20:57
we get to the lake, we're
20:59
at lake level, now we're at the
21:01
lake shrine, we're on sunset lake shrine, right?
21:04
And did they try to stop you getting
21:06
in there? No, there was, but they weren't
21:08
fighting there, so we get to the lake,
21:10
we're at the lake, basically got to action
21:12
from there. We just unloaded the truck. Other
21:14
things like this, there is a landscaping cart
21:17
that we have that that SRF owns, that
21:19
Lake Trent owns. It had the keys in
21:21
it in the parking lot. What was it?
21:23
A landscaping? Yeah, like a like a little
21:25
landscaping car like a rideable car that you
21:27
drive around the lake had the keys in
21:30
it. Well, they would, they just, when
21:32
they left, they left the keys
21:34
in there. So we had all
21:37
that to put all the fire
21:39
extinguishers on the cart to drive
21:41
her on the lake and drop
21:44
them all off at the spots.
21:46
My daughter, Gabriella, who you'll hear
21:48
from, you know, she works in
21:51
the, she volunteers at the garden
21:53
department. So she knew where all
21:55
the hose bibs were that were
21:58
hidden in the trees. they installed
22:00
a fire pump on the barge. Would
22:02
ease a fire pump? Is it like a
22:04
high powered hose? Yeah, it's a temporary,
22:06
so it's a engine basically, it's a
22:08
generator engine and it sucks water from
22:11
a water source through a three inch
22:13
suction hose and it puts it into
22:15
a one and a half inch fire
22:17
hose. So it does like 300 g
22:19
p.m.m. It's called gallons per mime and
22:21
125 PSI which is stronger than a
22:23
fire hydrant. So we had the lake
22:25
water. So we jumped on that, we
22:27
started that up, and then later they
22:29
said, how did you guys know how
22:31
to work then? I said, well, we
22:34
captain boats, my son works with me,
22:36
is the exact can. We knew that,
22:38
we knew how boats handle and how
22:40
an outboard engine works and how
22:42
fire homes work. So if you didn't
22:44
know how to do the boat, probably
22:46
never. So on top of the fire
22:48
skills, there's boating skills. Is this
22:50
not insane? It's beyond what, again,
22:52
again, this is the, when you
22:55
go into. energy sure and when
22:57
you go beyond the physical I
22:59
mean there's there's a miracle right
23:01
with the linear mind could never
23:03
comprehends right this couldn't you couldn't
23:05
plan for this now only spirit yeah
23:07
and you know that's one thing I
23:09
wanted to add to is you know
23:11
Like my father was a first responder,
23:13
firefighter, you know, and mad respect, mad
23:16
respect for everyone who did what they
23:18
could. They were just overwhelming. So, you
23:20
know, this wasn't just us. This was
23:22
like a divine intervention. This was this
23:24
was prayers and energy and doing what
23:26
we had to do, you know, to
23:28
help. And like something that Brother Shinananda
23:30
said that was very important is you
23:32
know, our heart goes out to everyone
23:34
who has lost their homes. Yes, of
23:36
course. And it's not just like, oh,
23:38
look at us, we're still standing, you know,
23:41
there's a reason. And like I said earlier,
23:43
that reason hopefully is for people to have
23:45
somewhere to go in times like this and
23:47
to retreat and to see something that's still
23:49
here. Right, of course. You know, that's very
23:51
important for us to say, you know, you
23:54
know, yes, it was, you know, you know,
23:56
definitely part of the message of the message
23:58
of the message of SRF, of SRF, So
24:00
much better
24:02
or special.
24:04
But because
24:06
it is
24:08
a sanctuary,
24:10
as you know,
24:13
like truly this
24:15
place for everyone
24:18
to come and
24:21
gather and to
24:23
feel peace, you know,
24:26
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24:30
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24:32
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24:34
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25:47
what was the play? Yeah, yeah, so when you
25:49
get there and chaos war zone I mean,
25:51
how did you guys even make a plan
25:53
like the the lake is pretty big for
25:55
anyone who hasn't been there It was like
25:58
what at least a half a mile Oh
26:00
yeah, at least, it's big. So there's
26:02
three of you, there's no firefighters? No,
26:04
no. I mean I saw some of
26:07
the footage from the L.A. Times, like
26:09
behind the Gandhi Memorial, there was spot
26:11
fires near Windmill Chapel. Like what the
26:13
heck? How he seems over, then there's
26:16
beyond the fear, there's this overwhelm of
26:18
what do we do when there's such
26:20
a vast area and it's all sacred?
26:22
Well that's right. And so we walk
26:25
into the lake, we walk into the
26:27
lake, we're there. We walk into the
26:29
quarter religions like you mentioned earlier in
26:31
the quarter religions for those who don't
26:34
know as soon as you walk into
26:36
the quarter religions is the first. big
26:38
view of the entire property. So you
26:40
can see the entire property and the
26:43
homes up above it around sunset. Then
26:45
you see the whole property, all the
26:47
trees, the lake, the swans, the windmill
26:49
chapel, the visitor center, the museum, God's
26:52
Memorial, you see everything, the go. You
26:54
get the lay of the land. Yeah,
26:56
everything. So you see it. And that's
26:58
when it hit us. We all walked
27:01
in and the three of us just
27:03
stood there and like frozen. for at
27:05
least at least 30 seconds it felt
27:07
like to a minute we were frozen
27:10
because that's all we saw is what
27:12
I explained earlier the wind is blowing
27:14
through the fires all throughout the lake
27:16
you know spot fires on trees and
27:19
stuff burning and smouldering the distant sound
27:21
of sirens happening the wind cutting through
27:23
the warm wind looking at the white
27:25
swans in the lake covered with soot.
27:28
They were still there? Oh yeah, they
27:30
were still there in the lake. Oh
27:32
my God, those days would take off.
27:34
They were still there in the lake.
27:37
They were like, we're not abandoning our
27:39
home. Oh my goodness. So right there
27:41
is that's where we stopped and we
27:43
just jumped to action. We just were
27:46
like, okay, what do we need to
27:48
do? First thing we need to do,
27:50
let's grab the extinguishers. Let's put them
27:52
around the whole lake where we can.
27:55
Let's get the extra hoses. center. Nicki
27:57
jumped up on the the windmill chapel.
27:59
I lived to him up there. He
28:01
jumped up on the windmill chapel. He
28:04
started watering the women's chapel. We're looking
28:06
up in the in the air. You
28:08
can see Ash, you know, lit ash
28:10
smoldering down on the windmill. Well, you
28:13
can see it all over. Just, that's
28:15
how most, 95% of most wildfires start
28:17
other homes is by the roof. It
28:19
doesn't just engulf it from the size.
28:22
It's the embers. The embers can travel
28:24
for miles. Litt miles. Litt embers can
28:26
travel. They land on the, on the,
28:28
on the roof, and they ignite a
28:31
nest grass. They get in the eaves
28:33
of the roof, and then that's how
28:35
ignition happens. So Billy, hold on your
28:37
story. You know that in the in
28:40
the Mahabharata, the story of Hanuman. Oh
28:42
yeah, jumped over the lake. Well, there's
28:44
this whole, I mean, we tell the
28:46
story all the time. My younger son's
28:49
middle name is Hanuman. And I just
28:51
was so inspired by the story where
28:53
Sita was abducted by demon Ravana and
28:55
dropped her bracelet and then, you know,
28:58
Lakshma and Rama were getting food or
29:00
they were far away. So Hanumanuman scampers
29:02
to Lankaa. where Demon Robin is holding
29:04
her in the castle. And then he
29:07
pauses and there's like 300. I always
29:09
imagined it in my mind. I almost
29:11
like Star Wars. You know, when you
29:13
get to, he's like, you know, these
29:16
stormtroopers. And he pauses and he says,
29:18
I'm just a monkey. And then he
29:20
doesn't do anything for a while. He
29:22
kind of pauses. And then his father,
29:25
the king of the wing, like God,
29:27
starts to sing to him the Hanuman
29:29
Chalissa Lisa, which is in the word
29:31
in Sanskrit in Sanskrit. It says wake.
29:34
Remember, you're not just a monkey. You
29:36
have the divine inspiration inside of you.
29:38
That was that moment. And it was
29:40
a moment. And he lights his tail
29:43
on fire. This time he wanted to
29:45
start the fire and he goes around
29:47
and everything smoky and then he pulls
29:49
Sita out. I mean, this moment, Billy,
29:52
when you guys are staring at the
29:54
lake and then the divine inspiration that
29:56
came in. You know, you know, the
29:58
swan's names are Sita and Shante. No,
30:01
I never knew their names. I was
30:03
all these years. I never knew their
30:05
names. You were saying, save Cicita, save
30:07
Chante. But this moment where, I mean,
30:10
it's like, it's a mix of things,
30:12
right? There's. the transcendence of the human.
30:14
Because what you guys did was you
30:16
had to transcend the limited humanness and
30:19
the tirelessness, the energy that came through
30:21
you. And even now, post, because we're
30:23
human, I mean, even which is another
30:25
conversation, how the ego to not come
30:28
in and be like. Look at me,
30:30
I saved this place, right? Which, you
30:32
know, for many, the Western sort of
30:34
hero stories, is I have the power
30:37
versus with all the spiritual training that
30:39
you guys have so close to this
30:41
source is actually the power is moving
30:43
through me. It's through me. It's not
30:46
me. That's right. Channels were tools like,
30:48
you know, but to stay so humble,
30:50
Billy. Yeah. Well, and I'll touch on
30:52
that a little bit if you don't
30:55
mind. Yeah. I'll bring up Master with
30:57
that as, you know, when Master first
30:59
came here in the 20s and, you
31:01
know, all his spiritual power, like you
31:04
said, for a while he started performing,
31:06
you know, stopping it, slowing his heart
31:08
down, you know, having men, strong men,
31:10
pushing on one move, throwing him back.
31:13
Well, he stopped all that because he
31:15
didn't want to attract, he wanted to
31:17
attract souls that were really looking for
31:20
that path, not just because of a
31:22
circus or performance. Exactly. So the more
31:24
famous, if you will, that... that master
31:26
got the more popular got the more
31:29
humble he got and the more he
31:31
sort of retreated the more he started
31:33
retreating the more we did this completely
31:35
100% from our hearts and for the
31:38
love of of what means so dear
31:40
and so much to us so this
31:42
duality if you will of recognition and
31:44
and you know and like wow you
31:47
guys are so you know it's it's
31:49
it's it's great and it's beautiful but
31:51
at the same time it's it's challenging
31:53
because you know We want to stay
31:56
in that humble space. Right. But they
31:58
think, oh, I feel it so strongly
32:00
when I see you. your kids, you
32:02
know, the one thing that never lies
32:05
is people's eyes and their energy and
32:07
what's really going on in someone's soul
32:09
and just the pureness, the kindness. And
32:11
I felt it, like I could see
32:14
it in all the press and all
32:16
the videos, I was seeing you guys,
32:18
like what you didn't get tainted. And
32:20
not just like in the public eye,
32:23
but also, you know, sometimes it's, I
32:25
could be easy to say, well, I'm
32:27
the chosen one. You know what I
32:29
mean, and people sort of get these
32:32
ideas, It's true, like you were the
32:34
chosen one, but then there's also this,
32:36
you know, and this is, you know,
32:38
this is part of the journey of
32:41
us humans to also stay so clear
32:43
that all souls are equal, but we
32:45
all have a different role to play,
32:47
and, you know, not better than less
32:50
than, but the mind in the world
32:52
we live in with my and delusion,
32:54
it's so tricky, isn't it? We live
32:56
in a world that, you know, if
32:59
you have a lot of followers, or
33:01
you're some big... you know, YouTube or
33:03
actor, like people like place people on
33:05
pedestals all the time. That's right. And
33:08
we know on the spiritual journey that
33:10
that's not the truth, but to actually
33:12
really embody that I think is challenging
33:14
100% I mean, and that's like you
33:17
said, that's, you know, as soon as
33:19
we're born, we're born into a world
33:21
of duality and so we're constantly fighting
33:23
that Maya and that delusion, you know,
33:26
the you know, the world lead ways
33:28
to the, you know, to the, the
33:30
godly ways, you know, the small eye,
33:32
the big eye, you know, the small
33:35
eye and then the big eye, the
33:37
soul and what's everlasting, ever new joy,
33:39
you know, ever new bliss, like, you
33:41
know, master said, you know, and, you
33:44
know, this is so dramatic, you know,
33:46
active, heroicism and service. And then also,
33:48
oh, I have to stay humble and
33:50
that's on spiritual, I mean, it's almost,
33:53
I mean, there's so many parts of
33:55
your story and the fear and the
33:57
fire. I mean, it's just such a.
33:59
big like experience. Pretty cool stuff. I
34:02
mean, you know, I mean, you know,
34:04
I mean, it's extraordinary. Yeah, there's no
34:06
other way to describe it. I mean,
34:08
I want to get back to the
34:11
fire. It would have been gone. But
34:13
yeah, the lake would just to be
34:15
very factual. It would have been gone.
34:17
So I saw the footage with the
34:20
fire coming behind the Gandhi memorial. So,
34:22
so just, you know, to explain to
34:24
people that aren't aware, Guru, he had
34:26
initiated Gandhi when he was in India
34:29
into Korea yoga. So when Mahatma Gandhi
34:31
passed, they sent part of his ashes
34:33
and they're held at Lake Shrine into
34:35
this beautiful, you know, Gandhi Peace Memorial.
34:38
And so I saw the footage and
34:40
it was Nikki, all of you was
34:42
fighting the fire. And I was like,
34:44
oh my gosh, it's burned right there.
34:47
So from there, it was gonna burn,
34:49
you know, the rest of the temple
34:51
and then. I mean, I don't know
34:53
how the, yeah, just go all around
34:56
the lake. That's how it starts. You
34:58
know, it starts with the bases of
35:00
trees, eucalyptus trees that are very flammable,
35:02
you know, because of the oil and
35:05
the eucalyptus run fire, the bases of
35:07
trees, embers falling on dry leaves, falling
35:09
on dry leaves, falling on dry leaves,
35:11
dry leaves, it's falling on dry leaves,
35:14
it's dry leaves, you know. Wait, so
35:16
go back to the moment for a
35:18
second, the Hanuman moment, we'll call it.
35:20
Okay, you guys are staring at the
35:23
late. Oh, yeah. Let me go back
35:25
to the Hanuman moment. Yeah, sure. 30
35:27
seconds, and you're like, okay. Frozen. Was
35:29
there fear we won't be able to
35:32
save it, or it's too big, or
35:34
there's just three of us, like the
35:36
human doubt, did that commit? Well, you
35:38
know, I, you know, I, for some.
35:41
Once again, divine reason, I decided to
35:43
bring out my cell phone at that
35:45
moment and get the kids basically running
35:47
away to what after we said, Nick,
35:50
you get over there, Gabriella, get on
35:52
the roof, start watering this. And I
35:54
brought up the phone just to start
35:56
documenting real quick what it looks like.
35:59
And I would, in the moment of
36:01
like that, I was, when I think
36:03
back, like, why would I be bringing
36:05
out my phone for that just to,
36:08
you know, to document? And as soon
36:10
as I did it, I started looking
36:12
at. how severe it was, I went
36:14
into, I got so emotional, you can
36:17
hear me crying on the video, and
36:19
I'm saying, master, please protect us, please
36:21
protect us, please protect this. And then
36:23
I just put it away and did
36:26
what we had to do. So it
36:28
was just that, it was just, yeah,
36:30
it was boom and go. And back
36:32
to the intuition when you created
36:35
the plan. Was it not thinking
36:37
too much? It was more like,
36:39
okay, Nikki, go there, like you
36:41
could just feel the areas that
36:43
needed to be addressed. Yes, exactly,
36:45
first. I mean, we spent the
36:48
first day, we were there, I
36:50
mean, a solid 12, 13 hours,
36:52
solid, solid, 13 hours, solid,
36:54
straight. Without eating. Well, it's
36:56
funny, you brought that up, but
36:58
I can't believe you bring that
37:00
up, and bring that up, so.
37:02
In one. half-eaten banana cream
37:05
pie from one of the monks who's
37:07
an amazing chef. Oh my gosh. So
37:09
he made, so we survived off of
37:12
that banana cream pie for the whole
37:14
time we were there the first, that's
37:16
all we had. When Nikki and I
37:19
went out to Hidden Valley, which is
37:21
a part of SRF, it's the ashramal
37:23
bean pie. The monks made us six
37:26
of those banana cream pies. Wow.
37:28
Yeah. Well, so I remember the first day
37:30
when the, I mean, it was just so
37:32
crazy, but you know, just remember here
37:35
and I couldn't even watch it, but
37:37
John Pissani, who you talked to, who
37:39
was like, you know, dear friend and
37:41
business partner, he was watching the, I
37:43
couldn't watch the news. It was just
37:45
too emotional for me and he was
37:47
like, you know, they're finding it or
37:49
on the streets and I had the
37:51
feeling, you know, I'd love to go
37:53
down there and help, but I'd be
37:55
more of a hindrance. I couldn't really help.
37:57
You guys are the ones who could actually...
38:00
help. You know what I mean? It's just
38:02
the whole thing is just amazing again. Like
38:04
I could have, you know, I would have
38:06
loved to support. I mean, it's just like
38:08
this helplessness, like, can I bring food? Like,
38:10
can I do something? But you guys had
38:12
everything, the lifetimes, probably of
38:15
experience, that came into this Hanuman
38:17
moment. That's right. That's right. And
38:19
I know, and building on that.
38:21
So here we are at the
38:23
lake, right. We're putting out the
38:25
spot fires, we're climbing the hills,
38:27
the dirt. So physical. Yeah, so
38:29
physical, I mean, exhausting. Exhausting, dirt
38:32
under our nail, I mean, oh,
38:34
it was exhausting. Oh my God,
38:36
you know, what about water? It's
38:38
off to the fire, you know,
38:40
the true fire departments and things
38:42
like that. And then water, we
38:44
just, we basically, the hoses started
38:46
running weak because there was so
38:48
much water being used in the area.
38:50
Oh, and you know, water for you guys
38:52
to drink too. Oh, I threw some in
38:55
the track. We have to get up to
38:57
the temple to make sure the temple is
38:59
okay. So we start climbing up the stairwell,
39:01
you know, the 108 stairs to get up
39:04
to the temple. We get up to the
39:06
temple. We do a quick evaluation. The temple
39:08
is good. Smoke everywhere, you know, thick, see
39:10
the fire, you know, thick. See the fire
39:12
coming up the hill on the sides, little
39:15
spot fires around, you know, coming towards the
39:17
temple off to the side from down from
39:19
the parking lot, right. But we walk
39:21
over what was really challenging to us.
39:24
to the retreat center where Nikki used
39:26
to be a chef there at the
39:28
retreat center. He cooked for all the
39:30
monks there and all the retreat, he
39:32
was there for a year, his first
39:35
job out of high school. So we
39:37
walked to the retreat wall, but we
39:39
look over and that's where we can
39:41
see Waldorf School and Sennes Cannon
39:43
where half the monks lived on
39:46
fire, full blaze, you know, and
39:48
it just crushed us. It put
39:50
us in our seats right there.
39:52
We had to sit down. because
39:54
we knew the extent of what
39:56
was in the monks you know
39:58
quarters there I'm not necessarily material
40:00
but memories of stuff that you
40:02
know they've had for years and
40:04
no breast blessed diaries and hard
40:07
drives of stuff that they'll never
40:09
ever get back we're all in
40:11
that in that quarters there like
40:13
like a lot of people you
40:15
know who lost their homes you
40:17
know just memories and that's my
40:19
tagline for my company is WDA
40:21
fire protection protecting memories wow
40:23
what's WDA oh your name yeah
40:26
yeah it's that it's wildfire defense
40:28
armor Wow. And so you help
40:30
outfit private homes, which, you know, by
40:32
the way, we will definitely 100%
40:34
be client. So putting sprinklers on
40:36
roofs. Everything. It's a fire
40:38
mitigation plan. Yeah, real quick. It's
40:40
everything from tapping into the irrigation
40:42
system, putting sprinklers on the roof,
40:44
a temporary fire pump like Lake
40:46
Shrine had that you can use
40:48
an outside source of water if
40:50
we run out like a pool
40:53
or a... you know, a lake
40:55
or even a, if we've got
40:57
a water storage tank, the proper
40:59
landscaping, fire ready plants, you know,
41:01
getting ready bushes, putting in like
41:03
succulents, things like that, training for
41:05
the family. So we come and
41:07
we train you and the kids,
41:09
how to use a fire extinguisher,
41:11
evac situations, how to evacuate the
41:13
house, where to meet, you get
41:15
a little certificate when you're done
41:18
that you went through a fire
41:20
training, you know, and safety plans.
41:22
Yeah. It's important. Anyone, I think
41:24
any of this is a big
41:26
wake-up call for a lot of
41:28
people. And you service all of
41:30
California? Yeah, all of California. Amazing.
41:32
Yeah. So needed now more than ever.
41:35
It really is. It really is. And
41:37
we're doing something good for people out
41:39
there too, you know. Oh gosh. It's
41:41
amazing. Yeah. Sure, sure.
41:43
Because it's almost exactly
41:45
like the story because he
41:47
runs Chalanka, right? You guys
41:49
got in the car and
41:51
you went to the fire.
41:53
But there's still that moment
41:55
where you're like, oh, and here we
41:58
are. Right. And nothing can... prepare
42:00
you for that? No, no, no. You have
42:02
to just like find your, your center, find
42:04
your breath, look at it, and just be
42:06
like, okay, what do we need to do
42:08
right now? We cannot, like Gabriella, you know,
42:10
she saw the swans, those are her favorite,
42:12
you know, and the koi fish. The turtles,
42:14
the swans, the whole lake was covered in
42:16
soot, the swans were white. And I had
42:18
to like literally like, come on Gabrielle, let's
42:20
go, let's get on this, like we got
42:22
to move, we got to move. And she
42:24
was crushed. I mean, we were all just
42:26
standing there, like you said, that Hanuman would
42:29
just, like where do we do, what do
42:31
we, what do we even start with this massive
42:33
undertaking? What do we do to three of us?
42:35
Three of us, three of us, yeah. Incredible.
42:37
I mean, just to transcend the humanness
42:39
in the moment because you're being called,
42:42
you know, just to, because I think
42:44
as humans, you know, we always feel
42:46
this lack, or a lot of times
42:49
we feel the lack, except for when
42:51
we're in the meditation, right, and we
42:53
start to go into living more from
42:56
what Guru talks about, the self-realization, or
42:58
so much more than we think we
43:00
are. How is that moment changed
43:03
you? How's life
43:05
now post saving life?
43:07
Well, you know, it really
43:09
taught me about the true
43:11
meaning of humbleness
43:14
and how to really be
43:16
of service without wanting
43:18
recognition for anything, you know,
43:21
without wanting recognition to do
43:23
something truly. from your heart
43:26
and from your soul and
43:28
something that means so much
43:31
to you. And just to
43:33
give, just to constantly give
43:36
back without recognition, without needing
43:38
something back to unconditionally give
43:41
and not need anything in
43:43
return. And because of that,
43:45
it's come tenfold for us
43:48
with prayers and people from around
43:50
the world writing us letters. We
43:52
get... constantly from
43:54
Mother Center I get
43:56
an envelope with with
43:58
kids program. that have made
44:01
their whole hour of their
44:03
program. Thank you letters for
44:05
saving, like, trying with little
44:07
drawings and letters and, you know,
44:09
and besides the people writing to
44:11
you, I mean, it's just felt
44:14
so strongly we were, we were
44:16
at a community event and, you
44:18
know, you guys were what everybody
44:20
was talking about. Wow. So it's
44:22
inspirational. and you don't want the
44:24
recognition, but at the same time,
44:27
it's like that, you know, it's
44:29
like, so the end of the
44:31
Hanuman story for anyone who doesn't
44:33
know the Ramayana is, you know,
44:35
after 13 years of being in
44:37
the forest, Sita and Ram, decided
44:39
after this whole abduction by Ravana
44:41
to come back to the palace,
44:44
and that's what, you know, Davali
44:46
is, really, they've really thousands of
44:48
candles. So anyways, they come back
44:50
to the court, and then they have this
44:52
big, you know, you know, And it's
44:54
like the ultimate recognition, you know,
44:56
the most beautiful stone in ancient
44:59
India. And then he looks at the
45:01
ring and he bites it. And everybody's
45:03
like looking at each other like, what's
45:06
the matter? Hanamani don't like your ring.
45:08
And so that's like, you know, where
45:10
the Western story ends, like you get
45:12
celebrated. So then he takes his monkey
45:15
claws in front of the whole court.
45:17
He peels open his chest and he
45:19
opens up his heart. And, you know,
45:21
two depictions, one. There's actually like Ram
45:24
and Sita as a picture inside. And
45:26
I've also seen in Sanskrit Ram, Ram,
45:28
Ram, Ram, Ram. So the message was,
45:31
I don't do this for recognition. I'm
45:33
here to serve. I'm in service
45:35
to the divine. I'm also part of
45:37
the divine, right? It's that like kind
45:39
of that dichotomy. But it was like
45:41
that's the end of the end of
45:43
the story. Like that's it. Like I'm
45:46
here to serve. So it's like. But
45:48
you know, it's just an amazing, like
45:50
to sit here with you guys and
45:52
to really just feel this openness
45:54
and just the love and the
45:56
prayers and the blessings and it
45:58
just feels like. You guys are
46:01
really truly blessed. Even such
46:03
a big service, but also
46:05
just this. love that's surrounding
46:08
you. You're like, you know,
46:10
like Linus and Charlie Brown,
46:13
he's walking around with a
46:15
cloud of, you guys are like
46:17
walking around like a cloud of
46:19
blessings. Well, you know, thank you
46:22
and thank you for saying that
46:24
and recognizing and not only that,
46:26
you know, back at you, you
46:28
know, it takes one to no
46:31
one and thank you for what
46:33
you do. well. I mean, that
46:35
means a lot. And if there
46:37
was just more, you know, people
46:39
in the world that would do that
46:42
in these times and try to give
46:44
without getting back and really think of
46:46
others, you know, constantly, thinking of others,
46:48
thinking of others, thinking of others, what
46:51
can I do? You know, it doesn't
46:53
have to be this big either. It
46:55
can be anything. Just the smallest little
46:57
gesture of kindness, yeah, of kindness and
47:00
giving back is it goes a long
47:02
way. It's huge, you know, you know,
47:04
and that's, You know, that's that's the
47:06
teachings, right? It's the teachings, right?
47:09
Just to stay here moment
47:11
to moment. And I think
47:13
as well, the more we keep. you
47:15
know, simplicity, more silence and stillness. The
47:17
more we can hear the messages, because
47:19
I moved out here to LA Billy
47:21
with clients, and there was like a
47:24
fork in the road in my life,
47:26
and I could keep going down and
47:28
working with only big celebrities, doing all
47:30
these red carpet moments, and it really
47:32
was this call of God and Grugi
47:35
inside of me, he said, you know,
47:37
this isn't going to be your whole life,
47:39
like it can be, but you can also
47:41
go this way, and you can start. writing
47:43
books that can reach more people. It was
47:45
like the, you know, so many people were
47:48
like, oh, I can't believe you gave that
47:50
up. I still work with some of them,
47:52
but it was just, I was like, this
47:54
isn't really my life's past. It's your
47:56
hard call, you know. Yeah, you can't
47:59
really explain it. But all we
48:01
do is, so what would
48:03
you say to anyone that's
48:05
like, oh my gosh, this
48:08
intuition, this fearlessness,
48:10
someone, you know, just in
48:12
their daily life thing, you
48:15
know, Billy, I do feel a lot
48:17
of fear. I, you know, and
48:19
yourself, you know, you did this
48:21
big thing, like, how can I
48:23
be more fearless? Little
48:25
by little. Meditate.
48:29
I know you're gonna see!
48:31
That's what I was gonna
48:33
say too! That's the only
48:35
way. Because this world, if
48:38
you're attuned to this, I
48:40
mean it's scary. Find meditation
48:43
and like the SRF teachings,
48:45
you know, it doesn't matter
48:48
if it's our path or...
48:51
Hindu or Buddhism, Christianity, whatever
48:53
path that is that leads to
48:55
that center, to that center light,
48:58
that center divine light, that moment
49:00
of peace, the altar of peace, where
49:02
you can find on that altar of
49:04
peace, conversations with God, the whisper of
49:07
God's voice, you know, God is shy, you
49:09
know, he wants us to find him, you
49:11
know, it's not just going to be there
49:13
for our taking, you know, we've got to
49:15
go in and to meditation and to that,
49:18
to that, um... you know, to that ashram
49:20
of peace and withdrawal from the senses,
49:22
the world senses, and you're going to
49:24
find so much of your life's mission
49:26
in that. You're going to find out
49:29
what you need to do, like how
49:31
you did, how you found that path,
49:33
that right or left. And you might
49:35
be in something that you realize you
49:37
had no idea, why am I in
49:39
this? If it's a job, if it's
49:41
a relationship, if it's whatever you're in,
49:44
and all of a sudden you start
49:46
meditatingating and deep and finding that truth,
49:48
All of a sudden the answers start
49:50
coming. Yeah, the guidance. Yeah, asking
49:52
we shall receive. It's so simple.
49:54
So incredible. Is there anything Billy I
49:57
didn't ask you or you want to
49:59
share with? anyone? No, I
50:01
just really want to once
50:03
again just express
50:06
our love and our gratitude
50:08
and our and our what
50:10
we received from the blessings
50:12
and the comments from around
50:14
the world of people reaching
50:16
out and emails and and
50:18
social media, everything that we
50:20
couldn't answer, but we heard
50:22
it and we saw it
50:24
and it means so much
50:26
to us and it means
50:28
so much to the community
50:30
and, you know, just don't
50:32
give up, don't give up
50:34
God first, God first, God
50:37
first. Beautiful. Thank you, I mean,
50:39
there's no words to thank you
50:41
enough for everything. Thank you.
50:44
All right, we're continuing
50:46
our interview today with
50:48
the rest of the
50:50
amazing Assad family
50:53
Nikki and Ella Wow, thank
50:55
you. First of all, we're coming
50:57
here and I just am so
50:59
I just feel so grateful that
51:01
we're all here in the same
51:03
space. And just like I was
51:05
saying to your dad, I literally
51:07
heard this story. I read it
51:09
in the LA Times. I saw
51:12
some of the footage and I
51:14
just immediately felt so connected
51:16
to your hearts and this
51:18
incredible inspiration. And you guys
51:21
are so selfless and humble,
51:23
but just how inspiring the
51:25
story was. So first of all, I
51:27
just want to say to both of
51:29
you, thank you so much for saving
51:32
Lake Shri, literally. Thank you
51:34
for having us. Yeah, thank you so
51:36
much for having us. We're happy
51:38
to share our story. Yeah. So tell
51:41
me about what I was talking about
51:43
with your dad a little bit, what
51:45
I was calling this Hanuman moment. If
51:47
we could go back in time. It's
51:49
like one of those moments in LA
51:52
especially the west side you remember where
51:54
you were I remember where I was
51:56
when I heard the fire you guys
51:58
had a little bit you know,
52:00
almost pre-information because
52:03
Billy was talking
52:05
to brother Tiagandanda.
52:07
When you first heard, okay, we
52:09
might be going down to the
52:11
lake, when you first heard that
52:13
call, what was that like for you
52:15
guys? Yeah, I mean, for me, a
52:18
little closer love. Like you, like
52:20
you asked my dad if it
52:22
was a feeling of fear or
52:24
was it scary or... Dow or we
52:26
can do it or get it.
52:28
Yeah, or mix of things. It
52:30
wasn't actually at all. It was
52:32
more such a feeling of wanting
52:34
to be so of service
52:37
and be of help and
52:39
do everything that we possibly
52:41
can. And I didn't feel scared
52:43
being there, going there, or have
52:45
any doubt about getting there.
52:47
Not even for a minute. No,
52:50
I was more emotional about...
52:52
the lake itself because it's
52:54
such a sacred space to
52:57
us and to so many
52:59
people. It's such a sense
53:02
of home and love and
53:04
openness and so, so
53:06
sacred. So it was
53:09
really more emotional and
53:11
more of a strong
53:13
drive to be there, even
53:15
to see it, to be near
53:17
it. was the biggest feeling,
53:19
the desire to be there and
53:21
be so of help and service.
53:24
I've thought about you guys so
53:26
many times, and I have to tell
53:28
you, you can ask my kids
53:30
and my husband and friends,
53:32
every time I talk about you
53:35
guys, every time I think that
53:37
there was a possibility that the
53:39
lake would be gone, I mean,
53:41
I've cried a million times. The
53:43
depth of what... It's not
53:46
just a place, it's a
53:48
sanctuary, it's a portal of
53:50
energy and peace
53:53
and universal unconditional
53:55
love. So it's just amazing.
53:57
Yeah. Yeah, like you said. Like
54:00
he said, my dad, you know, it's
54:02
home to us. We've been going there
54:04
since we can remember through Sunday school.
54:07
And when we heard that the
54:09
Palisades was burning, our first thoughts
54:11
were on Lake Shrine. What's going
54:13
to happen? Can we do anything?
54:16
What's going to happen? And then
54:18
that morning, we decided we have
54:20
to go. We were keeping up
54:22
on the news and we realized
54:25
areas are getting abandoned. because the
54:27
fire was so severe and Lake Tran
54:29
was one of those areas. The firefighters
54:31
were trying to catch up and catch
54:33
up, but the fire was jumping all
54:35
over the place and they had to,
54:37
they were low on resources and fire
54:40
companies and we had to go to
54:42
the lake, we knew it because it
54:44
was abandoned. It was just a
54:46
clarity in your heart. Yeah, we knew we
54:48
had to be there and we knew we
54:51
had the credentials and we knew we would
54:53
be safe and we asked, you know.
54:55
asking master for guidance, you know,
54:57
protection. Did you pray? Yes,
54:59
before you went. Yes, the whole
55:02
time going through the fires, we
55:04
knew we were protected. Amazing. And
55:06
that's where Ella's saying, there's
55:08
no fear, we all are saying this,
55:11
we didn't, it wasn't there, we knew
55:13
we were, it wasn't there, we knew
55:15
we were, it was scary, you know,
55:17
there's 50 foot flames all around
55:19
us, but when we were about to
55:21
get to the lake on
55:23
Sunset Boulevard. a big house was
55:26
about to crumble right onto the
55:28
road in front of us and
55:30
a telephone pole fell right in
55:32
front of us. That's when we
55:34
had to take a different route around
55:36
to PCH. Even before you got to
55:38
the lake. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Just south
55:41
of the lake on on Sunset
55:43
Boulevard. Right on the corner, there's
55:45
a big, big building where sometimes
55:47
a lot of people will go
55:50
to park in the neighborhood. Kind
55:52
of by it closer to. Momessori
55:54
and Marquez up that way and
55:56
this big building there on the
55:59
corner. flames was yeah we had
56:01
to fall every it was burning all
56:03
around us and you know you can't
56:05
help but think how's the lake doing
56:07
you know if this is all burning
56:09
around us every moment we see how
56:12
is the lake even standing right now
56:14
and sure enough we got there and
56:16
we open the gates and it's it made
56:18
it up until the time we
56:20
got there and we came at
56:22
obviously the perfect time and the
56:24
divine timing and there's one other
56:26
fire truck putting out an apartment
56:29
building And then we got to
56:31
work and we had our
56:33
moment of evaluating and of,
56:35
you know, being emotional, but then
56:38
we had to get to work
56:40
and and there was no thinking,
56:43
but just just doing and
56:45
putting out spot fires all around
56:47
the lake. Wow. Yeah, it was just
56:50
hours of work. Yeah. This
56:52
tireless energy I was wondering
56:54
about when I listened to
56:56
the story and. You know, as
56:58
humans, we sort of have these
57:01
ceilings we put on our abilities,
57:03
on our energy, on what we
57:05
think we can do. And Yogananda
57:07
has always taught about, you know,
57:10
there's so much more that we
57:12
can tap into. I can't even imagine
57:14
the physicality. I saw some of
57:16
the footage of, you know, there
57:18
was one piece of you scrambling
57:20
on this hill and you were
57:22
like with some hose on the
57:24
root. I mean, just... and breathing
57:26
in that smoke, did you feel
57:28
this, it's like, what did it feel
57:31
like this limitless sort of energy
57:33
moving through you? 100% it
57:35
was limitless. Yeah, we kept going
57:37
for hours and hours and I
57:40
think that's where the prayers and
57:42
the energy that was being sent
57:44
to us was. The blessings. Oh
57:46
yeah, it was definitely felt. You
57:48
felt it coursing through you. 100% yeah.
57:50
Yeah, definitely. It seems
57:52
like we had, you
57:54
know, this infinite energy
57:56
we could run up and
57:58
down these hills. just for
58:00
anyone listening are hard just
58:03
doing one time without any
58:05
sort of equipment or you
58:07
know I mean it's amazing
58:09
it was intense but it
58:11
wasn't it was you know it was
58:13
the it was the energy that
58:15
was being sent to us through
58:18
prayer and meditation you
58:20
know that that's where the credit
58:22
should go to. Did you feel
58:24
Garuji with you or did you
58:26
feel general like the energy? When
58:29
you go to the lake you can feel the
58:31
energy. So when we were there, as sad as
58:33
it was, you can still feel that. And
58:35
when we opened those gate doors, I
58:37
was surprised it wasn't worse. How did
58:39
you get the gate open, by the way?
58:41
The gate was open. Yeah, because the
58:43
firefighters had broken it open to work
58:46
on the apartment building. Got it. And
58:48
the gate was open, and we just
58:50
got to it. Yeah. You
58:52
know sometimes in light there's a
58:55
lot of fear right we think
58:57
that we're in control and But
58:59
we can control things and when
59:02
something like this happens it makes
59:04
you realize that anything can
59:06
happen at any time And
59:08
so it's almost like we can
59:10
walk through life with this
59:13
more this realization of this
59:15
real safety that you guys
59:17
felt or we can walk
59:19
around in fear How has
59:21
this very dramatic experience? shifted
59:23
your daily life. I mean,
59:25
you're probably still digesting it
59:27
and processing it was about
59:29
a month ago, once a
59:31
half ago. Yeah. What do
59:33
you feel now? I definitely
59:36
am still processing it. Yeah,
59:38
maybe processing you for years
59:41
to be honest. Yeah, more
59:43
so just the overall community
59:45
of the Palisades and also,
59:48
um, altadena and the other
59:50
areas that have gotten. burnt
59:52
very badly as well, but I
59:54
think in the general sense of
59:57
community, I think I am
59:59
still probably. accessing it all and
1:00:01
seeing it, kind of like my
1:00:04
dad said, being there in
1:00:06
person and seeing it and
1:00:08
being in it and having
1:00:10
fire all around you and
1:00:12
really being there in the
1:00:14
moment, not just behind the
1:00:17
TV is very so unexplainable.
1:00:19
So I think taking
1:00:21
that with me is
1:00:23
something that I'll never forget
1:00:26
for the rest of my life.
1:00:28
in such a way so, so
1:00:30
thankful and feeling so blessed that
1:00:32
we were able to get there,
1:00:34
to get into Lake Shrine,
1:00:36
to help, to be of service
1:00:39
is the biggest blessing. The biggest
1:00:41
gift out of all of this
1:00:44
was just to be able to
1:00:46
be there and to help and
1:00:48
do everything we could. Yeah, and
1:00:50
you can, a learning lesson
1:00:52
from this is, you know, the
1:00:54
masters and God is always protecting
1:00:56
us, you know, and you can,
1:00:59
and that we felt that for
1:01:01
sure. Wow. From all the prayers
1:01:03
and from our own prayers, it was
1:01:05
just so evident that we
1:01:07
were, we were protected in that,
1:01:10
in that area, you know, going
1:01:12
through the palisades burning and making
1:01:14
it to the lake. It's just
1:01:16
mind blowing and I've only seen
1:01:19
a little bit of your footage.
1:01:21
We'll be sharing more on Instagram
1:01:23
of. you know, some of this
1:01:26
more intense footage that not
1:01:28
flinching, not flinching
1:01:30
even once. I mean, you
1:01:32
guys, I'm sorry, I had
1:01:35
to comment on how, you
1:01:37
know, Guruji talks about one
1:01:39
of the most important
1:01:41
soul qualities of
1:01:43
the divine for humans
1:01:45
is humility. Right, and
1:01:47
you know, there's all the, you know,
1:01:50
the sayings in the Bible, you know,
1:01:52
about passing through, you know, I'm paraphrasing
1:01:54
here, like, it's like the eye of
1:01:56
the needle, right, the meek and the
1:01:58
humble. It's very rare. Today, especially
1:02:01
in the world of
1:02:03
social media, everyone is
1:02:05
sort of their own
1:02:07
celebrity within their life.
1:02:09
There's so much just pure
1:02:11
humility and pure and
1:02:14
just humbleness here.
1:02:16
I think everybody's so
1:02:18
obvious. Everyone's going to
1:02:20
feel that. I mean, maintaining
1:02:23
that without having this
1:02:25
thought, this very human
1:02:27
egoic thought. I was the chosen
1:02:29
one, I'm the hero, I save the
1:02:31
lake. How does that, how do you
1:02:33
guys stay untainted? Well, it's
1:02:35
just maybe just the truth
1:02:38
of your soul and your nature
1:02:40
and this is maybe why
1:02:42
you were chosen to embody
1:02:44
this. We were just instruments
1:02:46
of the teachings, you know, and of
1:02:48
master that. you know, we're just honored
1:02:50
if anything to be those instruments at
1:02:52
that time and that we were capable
1:02:55
to make it up there and that
1:02:57
we were protected. It's just pure honor
1:02:59
and I'm grateful that I was, you know,
1:03:01
that we were able to do that and
1:03:03
we had the credentials and we were safe
1:03:06
about it. It's just gratitude, you know. Yeah.
1:03:08
entirely. So, so much gratitude and
1:03:10
honor. Yeah, I'm so honored to
1:03:13
do that. Well, how have your
1:03:15
meditations changed since then? What are
1:03:17
you feeling these days? You can
1:03:19
still feel the, the blessings, you
1:03:21
know, it's like, you'll never leave.
1:03:23
No, yeah. You know, even we
1:03:26
see on social media or messages
1:03:28
or letters, people sending
1:03:30
their gratitude to us and part
1:03:32
of, like, I don't want to, you
1:03:35
know, you don't want that. but it's
1:03:37
it's that's the blessing right there is
1:03:39
is um you know feeling that gratitude
1:03:41
of everyone and seeing people come
1:03:43
up to you and say thank you I
1:03:46
mean that means so much you know we'll
1:03:48
start crying when we when we
1:03:50
see these sweet messages that people
1:03:52
right that we saved you know the lake
1:03:54
that they grew up in or there are
1:03:57
no words I mean I just think about
1:03:59
the impact on my life, one
1:04:01
of literally hundreds of thousands,
1:04:03
if not millions of people,
1:04:05
that that lake means so
1:04:08
much in our life, losing
1:04:10
the lake would have been
1:04:12
far more devastating than losing
1:04:14
our home. It's irreplaceable.
1:04:17
That's exactly how we felt. For
1:04:19
me, I'm sure, you know, all
1:04:21
of us, it just, it couldn't
1:04:23
happen. We, I was... As
1:04:25
dramatic as it sounds, I was ready
1:04:27
to sacrifice anything to be there at least
1:04:29
and be in the lake and do whatever
1:04:32
I could because I knew that area was
1:04:34
abandoned and I was telling Ella like, I'm
1:04:36
going, I have to go up there. I
1:04:38
was going to go alone in the middle of
1:04:40
the night. And you know, I did, we all
1:04:42
went together. But it's home beyond
1:04:45
anything to us, you know, because
1:04:47
we grew up there and we've
1:04:49
had Yeah, I'm probably seeing
1:04:52
you guys there. Probably. Yeah,
1:04:54
it is interesting. Yeah, but
1:04:56
since we could remember it's our
1:04:59
in a way like Inner yes,
1:05:01
yeah for so many people for
1:05:03
so many people. It's a it's
1:05:06
like a portal. It is so
1:05:08
so such a sacred place and
1:05:10
the energy and It's more than
1:05:12
home, it's just the feeling. Yeah,
1:05:15
it's like home with a capital
1:05:17
OS. Well, then everything like we
1:05:19
were talking about with your dad,
1:05:22
all these aspects which led to
1:05:24
this moment, you had worked in
1:05:26
the gardening department, you knew where
1:05:29
all the equipment was, and Nikki,
1:05:31
you also had a boating license
1:05:34
and you know how to work
1:05:36
a boat with a fire pump,
1:05:38
you knew all these very... specific
1:05:41
skills which most everyone
1:05:43
else doesn't have. I mean,
1:05:45
this is the kind of miracle
1:05:47
that wakes us up to
1:05:50
the divine really being so
1:05:52
here. You know, Guru used to
1:05:55
say he's not so high in
1:05:57
this sky like far away. It's
1:05:59
right. here, this orchestration
1:06:01
of higher intelligence. And
1:06:04
I mean, it's just to feel that
1:06:06
you were being used in
1:06:08
this divine plan and this
1:06:10
energy running through you guys.
1:06:12
I mean, it's pretty wild. So
1:06:15
I need to just think about
1:06:17
it. Yeah, it's like our prayers
1:06:19
and, you know, meditations were
1:06:21
answered right there. We're constantly
1:06:24
asking just be a service,
1:06:26
let's be a service. And
1:06:28
there it was, you know, we got to
1:06:30
do a great, a great thing. And were
1:06:32
you praying like that with your, like
1:06:35
when your dad too? I really was, yeah.
1:06:37
Wow, before the fires. Before the
1:06:39
fires, I felt, yeah, you know, kind of
1:06:41
a desire to pray and in my meditations
1:06:44
think about, you know, I really have
1:06:46
an urge to be a service to
1:06:48
you master and help me just, let
1:06:50
me be a service, you know, just
1:06:52
for something and sure enough. two or
1:06:55
three weeks later these fires happened
1:06:57
and we got to do, you
1:06:59
know, something great and we're so honored
1:07:01
that we could do that, you know.
1:07:03
Also I think as a family too,
1:07:05
I think if my dad would have
1:07:07
went or maybe just my dad and
1:07:10
Nikki would have went and I
1:07:12
stayed home or whatever the case
1:07:14
was, another major blessing is that
1:07:16
the three of us were able to
1:07:18
go and all be together in it
1:07:20
and really be together in it as
1:07:23
a family. So special
1:07:25
too. I mean, it's an, it's
1:07:27
an, I mean, it's
1:07:29
an amazing embodiment of
1:07:32
so many powerful qualities,
1:07:34
the fearlessness, the intuition,
1:07:36
the selfless service, the
1:07:38
tireless work, the, I
1:07:40
mean, and just so
1:07:43
many levels. And, you know,
1:07:45
one of the things that Guru
1:07:47
talks about is these, you know,
1:07:49
soul families that come
1:07:52
together for purpose. And
1:07:54
it really, I mean, everything
1:07:56
that you guys embody all
1:07:59
your practice. skills and your
1:08:01
hearts. I mean, you know,
1:08:03
thank you so much for
1:08:05
being this incredible embodiment
1:08:07
and inspiration because
1:08:09
I really think that's what
1:08:11
the world needs today is
1:08:14
not just people walking around
1:08:16
talking about stuff, but being
1:08:19
it. Because that's a vibration
1:08:21
that it brings, you know, embodiment.
1:08:24
You're bringing these divine
1:08:26
qualities to earth. And then
1:08:28
other people can feel them
1:08:31
and know, oh, you know, that's,
1:08:33
that's really a possibility. Yeah.
1:08:35
Yeah. It's all thanks to
1:08:37
the teachings for me, you
1:08:40
know. Yeah. My whole life,
1:08:42
you know, I've been around SRF,
1:08:44
so all my gratitude goes
1:08:46
to, you know, Guurji
1:08:48
and God for, for, um,
1:08:50
for bringing that onto us,
1:08:53
you know, and I think
1:08:55
another thing was all. all of
1:08:57
the prayers and I mean the
1:08:59
letters some of the letters we
1:09:01
received just so beyond words
1:09:04
of gratefulness and appreciation
1:09:06
and feeling so much
1:09:08
love and that was an incredibly
1:09:11
large part of this all too
1:09:13
and like Nikki said we really
1:09:15
felt that not just that day
1:09:18
but for the rest of the
1:09:20
week especially me I felt it so
1:09:22
much. at work, at home,
1:09:25
doing whatever tasks the rest
1:09:27
of the week. I mean,
1:09:29
that week and the weeks
1:09:31
of going forward felt so
1:09:34
odd and so displaced
1:09:36
with so much destruction
1:09:38
around us and so
1:09:40
many people with no homes.
1:09:42
I really felt the sense
1:09:44
of love and gratefulness
1:09:47
and honor and blessings
1:09:49
to be a part of
1:09:51
it. And yeah, feeling all of
1:09:53
the, the love and fears that
1:09:55
were, that were sent to the
1:09:57
lake was incredible.
1:10:00
help. This won't be forgotten you
1:10:02
know these these no one would
1:10:04
think that the palisades would burn
1:10:06
down. No. And that's why also
1:10:08
the divine timing like we're talking
1:10:10
about I've been working with my
1:10:12
dad for the past you know
1:10:14
three four years from our fire
1:10:17
protection company and you know now
1:10:19
we can be a service once
1:10:21
again and do a job, a
1:10:24
service that will protect people's homes
1:10:26
in these fire zones. Oh gosh,
1:10:28
it's so important. Yeah, it is.
1:10:30
And the fact that we were
1:10:33
training for this, you know, we
1:10:35
started this company in 2019,
1:10:37
he did, and now here we
1:10:39
are really getting going. It's awesome
1:10:42
how we could start by
1:10:44
protecting the lake and that was
1:10:46
our first. job in a way.
1:10:48
How can people get in
1:10:50
touch with your company if
1:10:52
they're interested? What's your website?
1:10:54
WDA fire protection.com. Okay,
1:10:57
we'll link to it directly in the
1:10:59
show notes. Yeah, and you know, it'll
1:11:01
lead us to, you can contact me
1:11:03
or my dad and we'll give
1:11:05
you the information and we do
1:11:07
full evaluation of homes and
1:11:09
businesses and get your property ready,
1:11:12
you know, for a wildfire. Well,
1:11:14
I can't wait to get it
1:11:16
for our home and I'll. I'll
1:11:18
document it because honestly after this
1:11:20
fire, you know, there's like the
1:11:22
practical aspect. We saw some of
1:11:24
our neighbors and we live here
1:11:26
in the mountains around Malibu did
1:11:28
have that and we said 100%
1:11:30
if you're in one of these
1:11:33
wildfire prone areas. You know, it's
1:11:35
pretty essential and we've been here
1:11:37
for a couple years and we
1:11:39
never encountered a fire, you know,
1:11:41
live from the East Coast. So
1:11:43
I'll definitely be using. you guys and
1:11:45
I cannot wait. Oh like nice let's
1:11:48
do it next week. Yeah. Well what
1:11:50
we notice is we you know
1:11:52
we've been up in the palisades
1:11:54
even after the fire still helping
1:11:56
and being at the lake almost
1:11:58
every day lately. Yeah, we've been there
1:12:01
almost every day. I didn't know anybody
1:12:03
was allowed in there. The lake looks
1:12:05
great. I mean, since the floods happened,
1:12:07
it's, you know, a bunch of debris
1:12:09
has gotten in the lake and then
1:12:11
we're doing more work to sweep it
1:12:13
out and stuff like that. We've just
1:12:15
been constantly trying to help. Oh my
1:12:17
God. I didn't know that. We've been
1:12:19
there almost every day. I didn't know anybody
1:12:21
was allowed in there. Well, well, they're,
1:12:23
yeah, well, you guys have your
1:12:25
credentials. We have our credentials and,
1:12:27
I mean, I know, obviously, there's, there's,
1:12:29
what do you call it, the EPA
1:12:32
workers cleaning up some other things. Exactly. Now
1:12:34
it's a cleanup phase of it all. Yeah.
1:12:36
What I was gonna say was we see
1:12:38
how, we've seen people who lost their
1:12:40
homes and their reaction is, they don't
1:12:43
care so much about the home, but
1:12:45
the memories, the photos, the video tapes,
1:12:47
the videotapes, that's, that's what they, that's
1:12:50
what they, That's what they want the
1:12:52
most, you know, and that's what they're
1:12:54
really crying about. Not so much the
1:12:57
home, but the memories that were
1:12:59
in there. And that's, you know,
1:13:01
our slogan is, Protecting Memories.
1:13:03
So beautiful. That's the
1:13:05
goal of our company. Wow. Yeah.
1:13:08
So beautiful. Is there anything else
1:13:10
that you guys want to share
1:13:12
with anyone that I didn't ask?
1:13:14
Well, just a hope is, you know,
1:13:17
once the Palisades reopens
1:13:19
reopens is... that people can,
1:13:21
like Brother Chidonanda said, use
1:13:23
Lake Shrine as a sanctuary
1:13:26
because that's what it is.
1:13:28
Anytime you're there, you can feel
1:13:30
the energy and it's such a
1:13:32
powerful place and hopefully could,
1:13:35
you know, bring some sanctuary to
1:13:37
people who've lost their homes
1:13:39
or who need that space or,
1:13:41
yeah, need to feel home again, you
1:13:44
know, that's how the lake feels
1:13:46
for us. Yeah. Yeah, and like
1:13:48
you said. spiritual or not religious
1:13:51
or not it's the energy there
1:13:53
is so you feel it when
1:13:55
you're there when you're not there
1:13:58
it's it's such peace and and
1:14:00
love and openness
1:14:02
and welcoming and
1:14:05
beauty that you can
1:14:07
feel in your heart and
1:14:09
in your soul. It
1:14:11
stays with you. It's
1:14:14
so welcoming. And like
1:14:16
Nikki said, home for
1:14:18
those who don't have or
1:14:21
have lost their home or
1:14:23
need a place of retreat
1:14:26
and sanctuary and
1:14:28
peace. and
1:14:30
reset from within.
1:14:32
So that's, I would
1:14:35
say too, that's definitely
1:14:37
our hope. It's so
1:14:39
beautiful to have that
1:14:41
space still for everyone,
1:14:44
to enjoy and being.
1:14:46
Well, I know that this is
1:14:48
a podcast and so we're
1:14:50
talking, but I just,
1:14:53
you know, for me, the
1:14:55
greatest gift is just
1:14:57
to be. around an embodiment
1:15:00
of like really truly
1:15:02
fearless hearts. So thank you
1:15:05
so much. I mean there
1:15:07
are no words. Thank you.
1:15:09
Thank you for being on
1:15:11
the show and for rushing
1:15:14
into a fire with 50
1:15:16
foot flames and saving
1:15:18
like shrine for the
1:15:21
entire community. Yeah. Thank
1:15:23
you. I speak for many.
1:15:25
Yeah. Yeah. And we're also so
1:15:27
grateful too just to touch again
1:15:30
on all of the gratitude
1:15:32
from all everyone else
1:15:34
around the world and
1:15:36
other devotees and followers
1:15:38
and everyone else on the path
1:15:41
that that was sent to the
1:15:43
lake and people who were
1:15:45
praying for the lake and kept
1:15:48
that in their hearts. That's
1:15:50
also is the most powerful
1:15:52
thing. So we're so thankful
1:15:54
for that as well. you know, any
1:15:56
time to respond back, but thank you
1:15:58
to everyone who's sharp. their gratitude and
1:16:00
sending their prayers and keeping us in
1:16:03
their meditations, you know, that's what got
1:16:05
us through all that. And now we're
1:16:07
so honored that we could do it.
1:16:10
It's such a great gift to be
1:16:12
able to be of service, to master
1:16:14
at any time. The biggest gift. Thank
1:16:16
you so much for having us. Thank
1:16:19
you guys. I mean, I just, I
1:16:21
feel so much love and connection to
1:16:23
you guys. And again, I can't say
1:16:25
it enough. Thank you. Thank
1:16:27
you for having this. Oh,
1:16:29
and thank you everyone for
1:16:32
tuning into this extra extra
1:16:34
special interview. We will be
1:16:36
putting direct links on the
1:16:39
show notes once again at
1:16:41
my saluna.com to WDA. Fire
1:16:43
protection.com where you can get
1:16:45
more information on Billy and
1:16:48
Nikki's Amazing Company. We will
1:16:50
also link if you're interested
1:16:52
in seeing the LA Times
1:16:55
article on them, our own
1:16:57
post and real that we're going
1:16:59
to have with some of those
1:17:01
incredible and shocking I will say
1:17:03
footage about what was really going
1:17:05
on during those crazy fires and
1:17:07
you know we could talk about
1:17:09
it in this really calm clear
1:17:12
space but it was like a
1:17:14
war zone and you know something
1:17:16
most of us will never experience.
1:17:18
So thank you again so much
1:17:20
for tuning in thank you amazing
1:17:22
family for being here with us
1:17:24
today. It's a true honor again
1:17:26
to be around embodiments of like
1:17:28
fearless loving hearts, humble. Fearless hearts.
1:17:31
And that is not a combination
1:17:33
you see very often in the
1:17:35
world today. It is very, very
1:17:37
rare souls. So thank you again
1:17:40
so much for joining us. We'll
1:17:42
be back here Thursday as always
1:17:44
for our next Q&A show. Until
1:17:47
then, take great care and sending
1:17:49
you all so much love.
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