Eat, Pray, Love

four virtues a person needs in order to be safe and happy in life: intelligence, friendship,
strength and (I love this one) poetry. The brothers can be called upon in any critical situation
for rescue and assistance. When you die, your four spirit brothers collect your soul and bring
you to heaven.
Today Ketut told me that he’s never taught any Westerner the Four Brothers Meditation
yet, but he thinks I am ready for it. First, he taught me the names of my invisible sib-
lings—Ango Patih, Maragio Patih, Banus Patih and Banus Patih Ragio. He instructed me to
memorize these names and to ask for the help of my brothers throughout my life, whenever I
need them. He says I don’t have to be formal when I speak to them, the way we are formal
when we pray to God. I’m allowed to speak to my brothers with familiar affection, because “It
just your family!” He tells me to say their names as I’m washing myself in the morning, and
they will join me. Say their names again every time before I eat, and I will include my brothers
in the enjoyment of the meal. Call on them before I go to sleep, saying, “I am sleeping now,
so you must stay awake and protect me,” and my brothers will shield me through the night,
stop demons and nightmares.
“That’s good,” I told him, “because I have a problem sometimes with nightmares.”
“What nightmares?”
I explained to the medicine man that I’ve been having the same horrible nightmare since
childhood, namely that there is a man with a knife standing next to my bed. This nightmare is
so vivid, the man is so real, that it sometimes makes me scream out in fear. It leaves my heart
pounding every time (and has never been fun for those who share my bed, either). I’ve been
having this nightmare every few weeks for as long as I can remember.
I told this to Ketut, and he told me I had been misunderstanding the vision for years. The
man with the knife in my bedroom is not an enemy; he’s just one of my four brothers. He’s the
spirit brother who represents strength. He’s not there to attack me, but to guard me while I
sleep. I’m probably waking up because I’m sensing the commotion of my spirit brother fighting
away some demon who might be trying to hurt me. It is not a knife my brother is carrying, but
a kris—a small, powerful dagger. I don’t have to be afraid. I can go back to sleep, knowing I
am protected.
“You lucky,” Ketut said. “Lucky you can see him. Sometimes I see my brothers in medita-
tion, but very rare for regular person to see like this. I think you have big spiritual power. I
hope maybe someday you become medicine woman.”
“OK,” I said, laughing, “but only if I can have my own TV series.”
He laughed with me, not getting the joke, of course, but loving the idea that people make
jokes. Ketut then instructed me that whenever I speak to my four spirit brothers, I must tell
them who I am, so they can recognize me. I must use the secret nickname they have for me. I