Above all else GMW is a mystic. That is to say from his early youth onwards GMW has been driven by a deep incessant need to return to an unknown source, and original true nature and to realise deeper truths. GMW lived in temples both in the Himalayas and remote mountains of China, then after decades of sacrifice, searching and sitting at length with awakened persons including the Dalai Lama, Jiddu Krisnamurti and Master Ni Ching Hua to name a few, GMW was awakened whilst in private discussion with enlightened Zen Master Yamahata Daido Hogen San, born 1935.