Tom Suhalim: JP/J. ADIGUNA

Tom Suhalim believes recurring coincidences are a sign he is on the right path in his life. And Tom's series of life coincidences includes The Jakarta Post.

When he accepted the call from the Post, he sounded like he was talking to a long-lost friend - brimming with a warm welcome. Later, when he met with the Post, Tom's spirit of reunion was even more plain.

"I was very surprised to receive a call from The Jakarta Post . because I was amazed how this takes me back to the path I took 10 years ago," Tom said.

"It all started when I wrote on flower therapy in The Jakarta Post and after that, other media outlets started to ask me to write for them. And that's all it took to make me known as who I am right now."

Now, people know Tom as more than just a flower essence therapist and naturopath. He's a highly respected feng shui and aura expert, having appeared in several magazines and newspapers and on radio and television stations. And now, Tom is back where it began.

"Recurring coincidences are what I always believe happen if we're on the right track in our lives," he said. "No matter what, if the life path you take is the right one, you'll encounter so many coincidences that will make you stay there."

Tom gave the example of his current professional life, which began in 1998.

"I never thought my life would turn out this way. Flower essences, aura, feng shui, reiki and stuff like that were just my hobbies; I loved to play with them," said Tom, whose original degree was in computer science. "I never meant to make a living out of them."

He devoted himself to his hobbies in 1998, when the company he worked for went bankrupt because of the financial crisis. He had to leave his job as a systems analyst, which he had held for years.

"At that time, I was thinking that I should have gone after things that I love to avoid stress."

One day after that, a friend called him from Malaysia. The friend, a herbalist, said he had a new area of knowledge for him: Bach Flower Therapy, simply known as flower essence therapy.

"This friend of mine said he had long had a problem with his wife. The flower essence therapy helped him to keep his cool under pressure and to control his other emotional disturbances."

His interest piqued, Tom began to try flower essence therapy on his own.

"I was amazed by how it could cure my chronic bronchitis, and I thought Indonesians should benefit from this therapy," said Tom, who later founded the Vibrational Flower Energy Users Society Jakarta.

His first experiences with using flower essence therapy led him to travels to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom to study the treatment. In the UK, Tom obtained a diploma in phytobiophysics.

"Ever since, my life started to revolve around alternative healing. My life path has taken me to other people with similar interests - I made friends with medical doctors, practitioners of reiki, prana and other meditation groups," Tom said.

These friendships, he said, led him to another new sphere of knowledge: Aura. His deep passion for auras united him with several other enthusiasts in bringing a technological miracle to Indonesia for the first time: The Aura Video Station. The equipment allows someone to see his or her aura live on the monitor - the way its color changes and how the energy flows around the body. It also provides a detailed aura analysis.

"It was in 2000 and we were the first to buy this equipment in the Asia-Pacific region," Tom said, adding the equipment cost around US$25,000 at the time.

Now, Tom's daily routine includes taking the video station from one place to another, at the request of clients and patients, who come back and forth to ProV Clinic and Nirmala Clinic, where he's listed as one of the therapists.

But unlike other aura practitioners, "I don't sell crystals. I'm not into that, but more into educating my clients," he said, smiling.

He focuses on aura, feng shui and flower essence therapy because of the strong connections between them: "The three are interrelated so I often combine them when taking care of my patients."

Tom, a proud father of three sons, is continuing the spread the word about flower essence therapy, including by training medical doctors, whom he hopes will make the use of flower essences popular among Indonesians.

His first flower essence patient was not Indonesian, but an expatriate. "Ever since, more patients have come, but most of them are also foreigners who worked in embassies," Tom said. "Maybe it'll take more time for this kind of therapy to be popular among Indonesians, but that's fine."

Much is fine, for Tom it seems, who appears to throw all his passion and patience into what he believes in, and it looks like he enjoys it.

"Well, never get worried about anything; let your life flow," he said with a smile. "If anything should be yours, then it will be."

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