Engineer, healer, teacher, martial arts instructor ... call Del Pe what you want, but don't call him ordinary. He tells Nilima Pathak how he uses a blend of Eastern and Western wisdom to teach values to business people.
Hailing from the remote village of Cervantes in the northern Philippines, Del Pe is a teacher and mentor to presidents, diplomats and executives of some Fortune 500 companies.
A martial arts instructor and expert in yoga, meditation, energy healing and other alternate sciences, he has taught more than 40,000 people in 60 countries and established more than 15 health, educational and spiritual development organisations in Saudi Arabia, India, the United States, Europe, South and Central America and the Philippines.
Del Pe is the author of titles such as From Success to Fulfilment, Inner Powers to Maximize Your Performance and Hidden Dangers of Meditation and Yoga.
His forthcoming works include 8 Types of Leaders Every Leader Should Know and The 5 Intelligences of Highly-Developed People.
Having consulted several South American presidents (whose identities he does not wish to reveal, for professional reasons), Del Pe teaches his clients "practical strategies, wisdom solutions, enlightened global models, corporate health diagnostic profiling tools and business intuitive perspective".
His programmes focus on helping leaders to achieve success but, at the same time, promote the pursuit of self-fulfilment for themselves and their staff. He derives this approach from his mix of Eastern wisdom and Western experience.
A Filipino of Chinese descent, Del Pe was born on August 29, 1958 and raised in the rural village of Cervantes, North Luzon. As a child, he had no toys - so he made them himself. And he never watched television until high school.
"At one time I used to say God had punished me because I was bereft of all the facilities of modern-day living," he says.
The infrastructure in Cervantes was basic, with no mains electricity.
"But today I realise this remote village seemed to be a great place to grow up (in) because through my schooling with (Roman Catholic) European missionaries, I learned about the European way of life - structured, disciplined and orderly," Del Pe says.
"Cervantes is a place where missionaries came to work. Since I was educated under the tutelage of the Europeans, we used English as a medium and I was able to learn according to the European standard."
Del Pe received his elementary education at St Agnes School in Cervantes and then went to St Louis University in Bagiuo City, Luzon, which was run by Europeans. In 1979, he graduated with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering.
From 1979-1980 he worked as a design and sales engineer with J. Grass Enterprises in the Philippines. "I was the eldest of eight siblings and helped pay for almost 80 per cent of their education," he says.
In 1980, Del Pe moved to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a drilling and exploration engineer with the Saudi Arabian oil company, Aramco.
He spent almost 10 years in Saudi Arabia and in addition to his work, he taught martial arts, as he was trained in karate in the Philippines.
In his homeland and in Saudi Arabia, he studied other styles, including Japanese karate, kenpo, tae kwan do and Indonesian (pencak) silat.
While in Saudi Arabia he mixed with a range of nationalities including Arab nationals, Indians, Pakistanis and Europeans. He says this experience taught him to adapt to other religions and get along with people from different cultural backgrounds.
"I achieved a lot of things very quickly; it was like whatever I touched became gold. I have always been a very focused person and had both financial and professional stability.
"I also worked part-time as a fireman. In the oilfields, there was a need for technical assistance and I was often chosen for that work," he says.
In addition to being an engineer, a fireman and a martial arts instructor, he also started coaching business people in Saudi Arabia. But after a decade, Del Pe returned to the Philippines where, despite his achievements, he says he experienced a feeling of emptiness.
"It hurt me to know that there were thousands of poor people in the Philippines who died because they could not afford medical treatment. I had the desire to get into the healing arts and get trained by a healing master," he says.
This healer, Master CKS (who, as with his other mentors, Del Pe declines to disclose fully), later became his mentor. He specialises in energy healing, the chakra system and yoga.
And with him, Del Pe co-founded the World Pranic Healing Foundation to spread the healing system around the world. (Pranic healing aims to influence the body's natural lifeforce or energy to bring about health.)
To educate himself in the healing sciences, Del Pe went to various schools of crystal science, esoteric science and became a member of philosophical and esoteric groups. Soon he became a senior member of the World Pranic Health Foundation.
In 1990, he went to India to teach healing science and energy medicine in a hospital in Bihar and to Reiki groups in Hyderabad and Mumbai. He also addressed public seminars in Kerala, Delhi, Chennai, Bhopal and Bangalore. He quickly became more proficient in the field of healing.
In 1993, he went to New York and conducted an AIDS research programme to probe the effects of healing science on AIDS patients.
"That's one of my targets - to prove to the world that there exists a healing science. The research was successful and I thought if I continue to work and research and could prove that healing science could work on AIDS and cancer, I would get more funds and (would be better equipped to) assist the Third World countries."
"My next step was to (establish) a non-profit organisation - the Centre for Pranic Healing - to assist American students in New York. I visited South America and later Europe (to spread my teachings)."
In his work and travels, Del Pe has come across three other mentors - Master MCN is an expert in esoteric science, whom he met in the Philippines in 1989. Another is Master SHJ, a Korean he met in the Nepalese Himalayas in 1990, who has expertise in seven oriental arts, including Chinese medicine and yoga.
In 1996, Del Pe met another mentor, Master TB, in Badrinath, Uttaranchal, in the Indian Himalayas. He climbed to Tapowan at about 18,000 feet and also to Gomukh and Gangotri, where he was exposed to the ascetic way of life.
It was then Del Pe realised there were several projects waiting to be explored in India and other countries and he decided to do fundraising activities to support these projects worldwide.
In 1999, he was inspired to launch his own companies (GLOCEN and ESOCEN) to spread his 'new wave' learning techniques.
The turning point came when he was teaching in Colombia. A student came to him with a workbook that gave tips on business management.
"I was surprised to notice one of the principles: 'How to destroy your enemies in business fast'," he says.
"This certainly was not my school of thought. And I explained this was not the right approach to teaching business people. The positive approach would be, 'How to do business with conscience'.
"From then on, I developed workshops on values for leaders and executives in terms of developing spiritual growth, employing Eastern wisdom with Western practicality in many top Fortune 500 companies, including Sony, IBM and many pharmaceutical companies such as Abbott Laboratories, Baxter, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Tyco Healthcare," he says.
In 1999, he launched GLOCEN, a Texas-based company that conducts seminars and programmes to help leaders, executives and professionals worldwide to balance their lives and maximise their performance.
In the same year he founded another business, ESOCEN, to promote "holistic education, energy medicine and family transformation". This business aims help people revitalise their minds and bodies and live more balanced lives.
Recently in India, Del Pe stresses the importance of a student engaging with a teacher.
"To unfold the truth, you have to question teachers. I (always) questioned (my teachers) and sometimes the teachers would say they did not (understand) certain things. And one must accept the fact that teachers are not infallible - they are human."
I
I have classified things in my life into three categories - want to do, must do and should do. The most urgent and important things fall in the 'should do' slot and every week I work towards contributing to it.
All human beings - including me - tend to do too many things, so I try to shift as many 'want to do' things into the 'must do' and 'should do' categories.
I am optimistic there is always a chance to grow, to live healthily and work smartly in life.
I perceive real beauty in serving others and unfolding truth and wisdom. I teach people to transform their lives and people around them.
I get confused by a cluttered environment. I (feel the) need to organise the environment and remove the hurdles. I feel it is my duty to get things structured - whether in an organisation or a group.
I worry about delays to my projects, for which I have (prepared) timelines and a timetable. Also, when I get delayed for a meeting - but that I think is more of performance anxiety.
I give credit for my success to my mentors, my teams and my family. I feel I (can) move from 'good' to 'great'.
And that is probably the reason why I (have) travelled to more than 60 countries to experience different cultures and traditions. I do not waste my time on trivial things that do not help in the progress and evolution of humankind.
ME
Me and my parents:
Both my parents, Patrocinio Pe and Natividad Pe, live in Cervantes, North Luzon. Although I live away from them near Houston, Texas, in the US, I try to visit them often. They are retired, but are still active in community service, including healing people with afflictions using my healing science method.
Me and my family:
My wife, Carolyn, is an American. We got married in 1995. She helps me in all my work and manages my multimedia production company, MDP Global Resources, which handles the production of books and products such as CDs and DVDs. She designs all of the packaging and (the) presentation of my books, CDs and DVDs.
She is also a healer and an artist. We have two children - Heidi, 15, and Deanna, 11.
Me and my friends:
I have many friends in the US, the Philippines, India and around the world and am fortunate that I attract good people wherever I go. A lot of students and clients in the business world become my friends.
In the business field, people call me a management guru or a performance mentor. And as I help them with their lives, we become closer and most of them refer to me by my name. They see me as another person who (can) help them in their lives.
MYSELF
Why does something we already know seem more logical when we hear it explained by others?
The basic aspect is that if you have logic all around, you do not seem to be in a hurry to imbibe it. If you observe things from the outside, you (are unbiased).
When I talk about pranayam (the yogic science of controlling the body's inflow and outflow of energy, or prana), most Indians would have heard of it, but when I say it helps in stress management and relieves back pain, one tends to say, "Oh, that seems logical."
It's just an interesting way of putting it. Bridging this Eastern wisdom with Western science makes (the concept seem) logical. Some people do not trust their (general) knowledge. They need confirmation of what they know.
Who would you say is rich - a person who is smart or one who is prosperous?
There are many (forms) of prosperity. If it means financially, Bill Gates is a billionaire and he is learning to be prosperous and generous by sharing his money with the Indians and the Africans by way of his foundation.
There is also the prosperity of the mind. People think big, not because they want to make money, but to (empower and satisfy) the mind. You can be prosperous by being smart, which does not just mean hard-working, but also working intelligently.
Which intention is better - one that is right in itself or one that has a good intention?
There is always a calibration of truth - from good to great, from excellent to superb ... to perfect. So it depends on who's listening.
For me, if I talk to (normal people), good is enough. But if I talk to a (sage) I have to be excellent. Good intention is not enough, it has to be expressed rightly.
Intelligence is different from emotional perception. In cases where the mind is in conflict (between) three options that are equally right, you don't know which one to choose. So what we use is feelings and emotions. There are times when one (experiences) conflict (between) mental and emotional correctness.
And there are times when intelligent correctness does not feel right - for example, when deciding on business proposals. Intelligence has so many varied levels that people have to adjust how they interact and connect with others to get the best part of truth.
With freedom comes responsibility. But why do people love freedom but not responsibility?
It is mediocre minds and mediocre people who love freedom but not responsibility. They want freedom at no (price), but freedom always comes at a cost. Freedom is based on the reality of existence within borders. There's no true freedom without boundaries and responsibilities.
In life, what is real?
The 'real' ... is calibrated by time frames. What is real now will not be real 20 years from now. For example, if you don't work on a good idea now, 10 years later it will be a sour idea because it was not done in time. The right idea done at the right time will result in immediate success.
I believe that even ageless wisdom does age. I challenge a lot of knowedgeable people on that. A great idea becomes bad when it is done at the wrong time, just like a ripe mango is left too long and spoils.
An excellent idea becomes bad when not done on time. So ideas, realities and rightness are all dependent on time frames.
