I first met Narayan Singh at a men’s workshop taught by Yogi Bhajan. These rare men-only events were great opportunities to learn more about being a yogi and a man. After being introduced, Narayan Singh described the patterns nearly every man carried, that limited the expression of his true self. He was brilliant, funny, confronting, vulnerable, and best of all, accurate in how he described who we were as men.
Not long after this event in Los Angles, Narayan Singh was invited to come to teach at the ashram in Espanola, where I was living. The coed theme was Face Reading. Over the next days, he showed the techniques he learned and developed to read a person’s face. Through this practice, a person’s past, present condition, and future possibilities can all be seen by decoding the lines, shapes, expressions, and other details on a person’s face.
During the next few days, everyone got their face read, and we practiced reading faces. Narayan made it clear from the beginning and repeated often the needed skills to read someone’s face. He stressed the actual technique was 10% of properly reading a face, the other 90% was learning to speak with a loving heart. This statement impressed me. He explained that the powerful effect of reading someone’s face has the power to heal or harm.
He returned 3-4 times a year for the next few years. I attended every workshop and became his unofficial assistant. We had many discussions about his work and some of the more subtle aspects of reading a face. I began practicing with others and reporting back to Narayan for feedback. He was always a gifted, supporting, and inspiring mentor.
One truly remarkable day, Narayan was showing slides on a large screen. About 30 people were sitting as he led discussions on different faces. One face looked very troubled and as he lovingly talked about the past drama. Someone from the audience spoke of the pain and struggle he saw in the face. Narayan then spoke with such a loving description of how this soul can heal its past. As everyone in the room looked on, we witnessed the face on the screen change. It showed the healing Narayan spoke of. Remember this is a photo of a person, and yet, we saw the photo change. Slowly at first, we began looking at each other to confirm what we saw was real. And eventually, most of the people confirmed seeing the same impossible change. Such was the power of speaking from the heart, that it can bend reality.
After a few years, I got permission from Narayan Singh to teach the basic face reading course. I have only done this a few times, but hope to have more opportunities in the future.
On on trip a few of us went to Santa Fe for breakfast. Narayan wore slippers. His favorite slippers, shaped like large green dinosaur feet complete with dangerous-looking nails. But the best part was how the feet roared with each step he took. Imagine walking through a restaurant with dinosaur feet, roaring along with each step. It was hilarious, embarrassing, crazy, fun, and totally Narayan. Both his work and his life were unconventional.
The last time we met was at the summer gathering in New Mexico. He was giving private sessions, blowing people’s minds, with an extra dose of loving-kindness. Standing at his car, he was pouring a gallon of water over his head to rehydrate. New Mexico is a high-desert climate and he suffered from dry skin. Pouring water over the top of his head, fully clothed, made sense to him.
He has written dozens of books, and other material that anyone with an interest, can read about interpreting the hidden world. Not just your face. He also wrote about the meaning of your body shape, and health challenges. He wrote a book about the hidden meaning of what each problem with your car can mean. And other unusual but accurate interpretations. He used his birth name on these publications, Michael J. Lincoln Ph.D.
He was a special teacher for many, but for me, he showed me the template for being intuitive, funny, authentic, and most of all, doing everything from a loving heart. I continue to develop this loving heart quality. It seems to be an endless project. It is not necessary to learn face reading to expand the capacity for expressing ourselves with love, but for me, it was a profound experience.
Photo of a pair of actual dinosaur slippers that roar with each step. Would you walk into a restaurant wearing these?
