Alvin left the Ivory Coast for Paris to visit his Aunty and cousins on his way home to New Jersey.

His cousin told him "We are both Muslims, right? But I have been chanting a Buddhist chant and I want you to try it also."

His cousin taught him how to chant, but Alvin did not think much about it. It was just great to see his cousin and Aunty again.

On the flight to New York, Alvin started to worry that the plane might crash, so he started to chant. He chanted all the way from Paris to New York. The plane did not crash and he felt great when his feet were back on terra firma.

But something strange was going on. Everyone was being nice to him. This had never happened before. Even when he got back to his neighborhood in New Jersey, his neighbors were friendly. He became frightened. He thought that the chanting must be some kind of magic or something, so he decided to stop chanting.

Within a day or so everything was back to New Jersey normal.

Alvin was the top salesperson in a highly competitive job environment. His co-workers were given to sabotaging his work — taking his customer files and things like that. He liked being a salesman but he was concerned that his co-workers messing up his job. He shared his concerns with his cousin in Paris.

His cousin asked, "Are you still chanting?" Alvin explained what happened after he got off the plane, how everyone changed, and why he stopped. His cousin told him, "It was you who had changed — those people were just responding to your high life condition. Instead of worrying about your job situation, why don't you chant and overcome it?"

Alvin remembered how chanting made him feel much better on the plane so he started chanting again that night.

When he went back to work the next day, everything had changed. His co-workers were friendly to him. They even gave him leads.

Alvin felt that they must be up to something, so he quit his job.

He has now started his own business.

[This experience was given by a guest at a recent Introductory Meeting. It was his first meeting.]