How to Surrender to Transformation: Kute Blackson's Journey of Purpose and Calling

[00:00:00] This was not the book I wanted to write. Jesus, Buddha, Mother Therese, Gend, Muhammad Ali. The will question is a bigger question. We need visionary leaders. Wow.

[00:00:12] Hey everyone, welcome to the Sound of Accra Podcast. This is the A Conversation Series, the standalone series where we explore the life's journey and celebrate the success of individuals from a Ghanaian heritage with interest in short and sweet episodes.

[00:00:27] Today I've got a very special guest for you guys. I've got Kute Blacksons. He's a beloved inspirational speaker and the transformational teacher, and he's the author of the national best-selling book, You Are The One and The Magic of Surrender.

[00:00:40] He's also widely considered the next generation leader in the field of personal development. Kute, I've been watching your stuff on Instagram, your inspiration. Thank you very much for coming on the show. How are you doing today?

[00:00:53] Thanks for having me.

[00:00:55] Likewise, likewise, likewise. Great.

[00:00:58] So, tell us where you're tuning in from and what have you been up to recently?

[00:01:05] Well, I live in Los Angeles, California. I just got back from an event in Denver. We had 700 people live, 120 beautiful online.

[00:01:14] So, you know, my mission is to transform people and from the inside out. That's what I've done for the last 22 years. And it's my mission, it's my passion and my vision.

[00:01:24] Yeah. I mean, you do have the, you've got the fire for personal development.

[00:01:29] And we are going to get into that in just a moment. But before we get into that, for those of the audience that don't know who you are, could you give us a quick elevator pitch about who Kute Blackson is so we can dive in deeper?

[00:01:42] Look, I was born in Ghana, West Africa. My father's from Ghana. My mother's Japanese. I grew up in London. I live in the US and part of Waxaco. So, I grew up in Kumasi. I was born in Kumasi.

[00:01:55] My godfather was the president of Ghana, Ignatius Kutu Achampon Blackson. So, I was named after the president before the one right before Lord Rawlings took over.

[00:02:09] And so, my family, we had to leave Ghana because of the political coup. My father was the spiritual teacher and guide to the president, Ignatius Kutu Achampon. When they got rid of him, so to speak, they were looking for my father. And my father happened to be in London and was unable to come back to the country.

[00:02:31] So, my mother and I, we had to sort of sneak out of Ghana, ended up in London. And that's how we ended up in London, in a kind of political asylum situation. But, you know, for me, Ghana holds a very special place in my heart.

[00:02:45] My first memories as a young boy was seeing a crippled woman crawling on the floor. She picks up the gravel that this man walks on, wipes it on her face and stands up. And so, week after week, I grew up seeing this man who was my father.

[00:02:57] And my father built 300 churches in Ghana, West Africa in the 60s, 70s, 80s, you know, maybe even 90s. His congregation was massive, hundreds of thousands of people throughout Ghana, 300 churches.

[00:03:12] He was an icon, you know, the minister and teacher to many presidents. Kufour, President John Kufour also.

[00:03:22] President John Kufour met with my father for a week before he ran for elections, came to London to fast and pray with my father.

[00:03:29] And my father fasted and prayed for him. And my father, the last time he saw Kufour, he said, next time I see you, you're going to be president.

[00:03:35] And the guy's like, really? He goes, mark my words. And so, my father was also the spiritual guide to Asantehini, Otumfa Asantehini.

[00:03:45] Not the current one, the previous one, but also the current one. So, I have a rich tradition in the Ghanaian culture. It's part of my heritage.

[00:03:52] And so, I grew up seeing miracles my whole life. Blind people seeing, deaf people hearing, people standing up at wheelchairs.

[00:03:58] My father would look at these people in a wheelchair and he would say, why are you sitting down in this wheelchair? Stand up, you'll heal.

[00:04:04] And they would stand up. And so, for me, the miraculous and miracles were really, they were normal to me.

[00:04:11] I didn't think anything special. Sometimes people say, ah, it's a scam. Everything is just, don't be naive.

[00:04:18] It's like, to be honest, before social media, before YouTube, before Instagram, I grew up seeing this stuff literally every day right in front of me.

[00:04:27] And I think it was a blessing because I grew up with the sense that anything was possible.

[00:04:33] I grew up with the sense of any limitations.

[00:04:35] You know, I grew up with the sense of knowing that there is a capacity and intelligence that we have within us.

[00:04:42] Call it the infinite intelligence. Call it the divine.

[00:04:44] And so, at age eight, my father had a huge church in London, too.

[00:04:49] At the height, probably 4,000 to 5,000 people every Sunday.

[00:04:53] In London, the mega church was in Wandsworth.

[00:04:57] Wandsworth High Street next to the town hall.

[00:04:59] We took over the bingo hall where there are 5,000 seats.

[00:05:03] In the 80s, it was like massive.

[00:05:05] Then we moved to Brixton.

[00:05:06] Then we moved to Peckham.

[00:05:07] So, I grew up in Peckham, Brixton, Uri's, you know, Thornton Heath.

[00:05:11] And when I was age eight, I started speaking in my father's church.

[00:05:15] He's age 14.

[00:05:15] I was ordained as a minister.

[00:05:17] Age 18, I left everything behind.

[00:05:19] And I wanted to come to the U.S.

[00:05:21] I felt my soul calling me to come to America, specifically Los Angeles.

[00:05:25] Because as a young boy, I would sneak into my father's office.

[00:05:28] And on his bookshelf were literally 1,000 books in the field of personal growth and spirituality and transformation.

[00:05:34] Everyone from the motivational icons, people like Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohn,

[00:05:40] to Marianne Willinson, Louise Hay, Wayne Dyer, to the Eastern mystics of Osho and Christian Merti.

[00:05:45] And so, as a young boy in South London, I would go to school and I would come home, do my homework.

[00:05:51] And I would meditate and read books for two, three, four hours a night.

[00:05:55] And this was my life.

[00:05:56] And so, age eight, I started speaking in my father's churches.

[00:05:58] Age 14, I was ordained a minister.

[00:06:01] Age 18, I retired.

[00:06:02] Age 14, I was ordained a minister.

[00:06:03] And it was as though my soul told me to go to the U.S.

[00:06:07] My soul told me to go to California.

[00:06:09] And I think sometimes what your soul guides you to do doesn't always make sense to your mind.

[00:06:16] What your soul guides you to do doesn't always make sense to your logic.

[00:06:19] But I have found through my own lived experience, not from theory, not from reading a book, from my life experiences,

[00:06:25] that whenever you listen to your soul, whenever you listen to the true inner guidance of your own being,

[00:06:32] whenever you listen to that voice of God, the voice of the divine, when you follow what is true,

[00:06:38] you will always end up in the right place at the right time with the right people,

[00:06:42] even though the path that you take may not be the one that you most expect.

[00:06:45] And so I have really endeavored to follow my soul more than anything without compromise,

[00:06:50] not for fame, not for fortune, not for money, not for anything.

[00:06:54] And so that led me to leaving my father's church.

[00:06:58] And so I had a conversation with my father.

[00:07:02] But look, you know, man, sound of a cry.

[00:07:05] My father is an old school Ghanaian, old school, born in the mid-1930s, African man.

[00:07:13] And, you know, it's kind of like, it's my way or is my way, son?

[00:07:17] You choose which way you would like it to be.

[00:07:20] And so when I told my father, I'm not taking over your churches, he said, are you sure?

[00:07:25] I said, yes, we didn't speak for two years.

[00:07:28] Two years, we didn't speak.

[00:07:30] It was devastating and it broke my heart.

[00:07:32] And so I felt very abandoned by my father.

[00:07:35] I felt very betrayed by my father.

[00:07:37] I felt very alone.

[00:07:39] I felt very resentful.

[00:07:40] I felt very angry, but I knew that I had a calling that was bigger than myself.

[00:07:43] And there might be some people listening in the sound of a cry that you have a dream and

[00:07:47] you have a vision.

[00:07:48] You have a calling.

[00:07:49] You know, deep down that you have been put on the planet for a purpose bigger than yourself.

[00:07:53] And maybe everybody thinks you're crazy.

[00:07:55] Maybe your parents think you're crazy.

[00:07:57] Maybe the world thinks you're crazy.

[00:07:58] Maybe you think you're crazy.

[00:08:00] But what I want everyone to understand is that your vision and your dream,

[00:08:04] whatever that vision and dream that you have to impact the world,

[00:08:08] to start a podcast, to launch a business, to be a gazillionaire,

[00:08:11] whatever it is, that dream has been given to you.

[00:08:14] That dream has chosen you.

[00:08:16] God has chosen you.

[00:08:18] Life has chosen you.

[00:08:19] The universe has chosen you because you are the perfect person to fulfill that dream and the vision.

[00:08:24] Everything you have gone through, everything you have lived,

[00:08:26] every pain, every trauma, every dysfunction, every bullying,

[00:08:30] everything you dealt with from child, everything is part of how God has been preparing you to be the

[00:08:36] person who's capable of fulfilling the vision.

[00:08:38] And so when I left my father's church at 18, angry and upset and disappointed and feeling betrayed,

[00:08:44] I said a prayer because I knew that I was on the right path.

[00:08:48] Excuse me.

[00:08:50] I said a prayer.

[00:08:51] And my prayer was, God, if this vision is real, if this vision is true,

[00:08:55] you need to guide me now.

[00:08:57] And long story short, I ended up winning a green card.

[00:09:02] Let me repeat how I ended up winning a green card in the green card lottery.

[00:09:07] And that's what enabled me to come to the U.S. as an 18-year-old young man,

[00:09:13] you know, naive and innocent.

[00:09:14] And like, I'm thinking back to 18 now.

[00:09:17] Like, what the hell was I thinking?

[00:09:19] I mean, the thing was, I wasn't thinking, you know.

[00:09:21] And two suitcases, $800 in my pocket, knew no one in Los Angeles, just following a dream.

[00:09:28] And I wanted to go into this field of transforming lives, this field of inspiring people.

[00:09:33] For me, it was never a business.

[00:09:35] It was a calling.

[00:09:36] I felt called to impact and inspire people.

[00:09:39] I would sneak into my father's church when I grew up in Peckham, South Peckham near Queens

[00:09:46] Road.

[00:09:47] I would, I don't know if you know that area, right?

[00:09:50] But I would, when I grew up there, let me tell you, it was gangster.

[00:09:53] It was not the hip place it is today.

[00:09:57] I would sneak into my father's church in the middle of the night with the lights off, no one around.

[00:10:05] And an 11-year-old chubby little fat coob.

[00:10:08] I would give speeches.

[00:10:11] I would give seminars to the empty chairs, imagining souls, people, thousands of people in a room being inspired.

[00:10:20] And I would give seminars for two, three hours a night, two, three hours on a weekend.

[00:10:26] And that was my calling.

[00:10:27] And so when I came to the U.S., I was just living my dream.

[00:10:30] And I went and found teachers and mentors and many people I read about, studied with some of them, ended up traveling, ended up traveling to Israel, studying with rabbis, ended up going to Thailand, studying with monks, ended up in Bali, ended up in India.

[00:10:42] And it was really my time in India that gave me kind of a spiritual awakening.

[00:10:47] And that was very, very powerful and profound.

[00:10:50] And that's when I came back 22 years ago in my early 20s and started coaching people.

[00:10:56] This is before coaching was a thing.

[00:10:57] This is before coaching was popular, you know.

[00:11:00] And, you know, to be honest, as a person of color, you know, in the field of personal growth, in the field of spirituality, as a young man, as a person of color, I think in many ways I defied the odds.

[00:11:14] And God used me to transform the lives of millions of people online, thousands of clients.

[00:11:21] And it's been a real privilege over the last 20-some years in back lives around the world.

[00:11:26] So that's the short version of my story.

[00:11:27] So, is that the short version?

[00:11:29] Then the long version, we're in for a treat.

[00:11:31] Wow.

[00:11:32] Completely blown away, Kuti, by your story.

[00:11:34] Show we've only just scratched the surface.

[00:11:36] I mean, there's so many different directions that this conversation can go away.

[00:11:40] Oh, boy.

[00:11:41] You have a heck of a life you've lived.

[00:11:44] Wow.

[00:11:44] It's incredible.

[00:11:45] And it makes sense now why, of course, you speak to millions of people, you know, around the world.

[00:11:52] I mean, you've got this unique blend of, you know, personal development experience.

[00:11:56] You know, you have this unique experience of being exposed to church life and being under your father who ran 300 churches.

[00:12:03] And then all of these experiences you've probably experienced right up to this very day.

[00:12:07] Wow.

[00:12:08] I mean, I'm just so blown away by your life.

[00:12:10] And it makes sense why you do what you do and how successful you are.

[00:12:14] Because of those two or three days, you know, two or three books a day, you know, all of those priests into those empty chairs.

[00:12:20] Kind of reminds me of Ezekiel 37 in the Bible where God told the guy to speak to the dry bones to make them resurrect.

[00:12:28] It was just incredible.

[00:12:29] You've lived an incredible, incredible life.

[00:12:32] Right.

[00:12:33] So moving on.

[00:12:35] Moving on.

[00:12:36] So tell us a bit more about the magic of surrender.

[00:12:40] I think this is kind of all kind of led to where we are going in a conversation now.

[00:12:45] Tell us about...

[00:12:46] Man, the magic of surrender, man, is my latest book, which was a bestseller.

[00:12:56] Honest confession.

[00:12:57] This was not the book I wanted to write.

[00:13:00] This was not the book I planned to write.

[00:13:03] I tried to write every book but this book.

[00:13:06] And I tried.

[00:13:08] And I think when we resist life, right?

[00:13:11] And we all, you know, sometimes we have an idea of what something should be, right?

[00:13:14] An idea of who we should be and what we should do.

[00:13:17] But sometimes God has other plans and life has other plans.

[00:13:21] And I think when we resist the flow for our life, we spiritually constipate ourselves.

[00:13:28] It's a constipation, right?

[00:13:30] We're blocking the flow of life.

[00:13:32] When we are physically constipated, man, it's not pleasant.

[00:13:35] So most of us don't realize that we are spiritually, energetically constipating our blessing because we're saying no to what is seeking to happen.

[00:13:45] And so I tried to write every other book than this.

[00:13:49] I had a whiteboard.

[00:13:52] I wrote down 75 different ideas.

[00:13:54] And I wanted to do one of them.

[00:13:56] But none of us felt real.

[00:13:57] The only word that I really felt true...

[00:13:59] Yeah, this was before ChatGPT, right?

[00:14:02] No, the only word that felt true was the word surrender.

[00:14:06] And I knew I had to surrender to the book about surrender.

[00:14:11] And I realized that there was a soul of a book that was seeking to be written.

[00:14:17] And when I surrendered to it and everything unfolded, everything emerged, everything just flowed.

[00:14:24] And so I think, you know, also, I'll say how the book came about, I would say, was an interesting way.

[00:14:33] In 2017, 16, my mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

[00:14:39] 2017 was the most difficult year of my life.

[00:14:41] I was living in LA.

[00:14:42] My mother lives in London.

[00:14:44] I would fly back and forth from Los Angeles to London literally every month for one week at a time to be with my mother in her chemo sessions.

[00:14:52] Wow.

[00:14:52] And I would hold her hand in chemo and we would just talk about life.

[00:14:56] What started out as the worst year of my life became the best year of my life, to be honest.

[00:15:01] Because I got to just be with my mother.

[00:15:02] You know, it's in moments like that that you remember what's really important.

[00:15:06] It's in moments like that that you remember that none of the stuff that we're chasing we take with us.

[00:15:10] It's in moments like that that you realize that none of them really matters other than the loving.

[00:15:14] And I love my mother so much.

[00:15:17] And it was so difficult because the doctors, in about seven months into the process, the doctors finally said,

[00:15:23] Look, there's nothing else that we can do for you.

[00:15:27] You're going to die.

[00:15:29] Wow.

[00:15:29] So get your affairs in order.

[00:15:31] Basically what they said.

[00:15:33] And it devastated me, man, because my mother was the person.

[00:15:36] My mother raised me single-handedly, basically.

[00:15:38] You know, my father was, he was just doing what he does, you know, and busy traveling and doing his thing.

[00:15:49] And so it was me and my mother growing up.

[00:15:50] And she is the reason I would say I know love.

[00:15:53] I know love because of this woman.

[00:15:57] And when they told me this, I was devastated.

[00:16:01] And I looked my mother in the eye and I asked her two questions.

[00:16:05] The first question that I asked my mother was, are you afraid?

[00:16:12] And my mother, she looked at me, she said, no, I'm not afraid because I know I'm not this body.

[00:16:18] This body is a temporary vehicle for my soul.

[00:16:22] Everybody will die and my body will die.

[00:16:24] But what I am, a soul, is eternal.

[00:16:28] It is beyond death.

[00:16:29] It is beyond birth.

[00:16:32] It is eternal.

[00:16:32] I will be guiding you from the other side.

[00:16:36] And then I looked at my mother because I felt as you know, like I was a bad son, you know.

[00:16:41] I was busy traveling the world trying to inspire people.

[00:16:45] And I realized, if I was honest, that the only regret I had in my life was not spending more time with my mom.

[00:16:51] I wish I had taken time for Christmas.

[00:16:53] I wish I had taken time for her birthdays.

[00:16:55] I wish I had made this stuff important.

[00:16:57] But I was like, no, no, I don't have time.

[00:16:58] I'll do it down the road.

[00:17:00] And you know what?

[00:17:01] When she was dying, I realized none of that stuff really mattered.

[00:17:04] Like I could have, I didn't have to sacrifice my life.

[00:17:07] But I could have taken a few days here and a few days there and made memories.

[00:17:13] And I realized that my mother's never going to meet my children.

[00:17:17] My mother's never going to meet her grandchildren.

[00:17:19] My mother's never going to meet my wife.

[00:17:21] And it was just, I was so full of regret, man.

[00:17:24] And it humbled me because it just, it just showed me a lot.

[00:17:29] And I asked my mother, mom, I want to be a good son.

[00:17:32] What can I do for you in your final days?

[00:17:34] What can I do for you?

[00:17:35] Where do you need to go?

[00:17:36] What do you need?

[00:17:36] What do you want?

[00:17:38] Where can I take you?

[00:17:39] What can I buy you?

[00:17:40] And my mother looked me in the eyes and she said, there's nothing that I need.

[00:17:45] And there's nothing that I want.

[00:17:47] The only thing I want for my life is what God wants for my life.

[00:17:52] And that's when I knew, wow.

[00:17:53] Wow.

[00:17:54] She was free.

[00:17:56] My mother was not attached to living.

[00:17:59] My mother was not attached to dying.

[00:18:01] My mother was free.

[00:18:05] She was committed to the highest unfolding for her soul's destiny.

[00:18:10] And that's it.

[00:18:12] That was the real essence of surrender.

[00:18:15] And that's when I knew she was living surrender.

[00:18:19] She was, she was, that's when the seed of the book was clomping, right?

[00:18:23] And everything about my life began to make sense about her, about my father, about how

[00:18:28] they met, about how she lived.

[00:18:29] That's when I saw the real power of surrender because we can talk about surrender.

[00:18:33] Like, yeah, when, when we have a zillion dollars in the bank, when we get the girl, get the

[00:18:37] car, get the house, when we, when everything goes on, well, yeah, yeah, I'll surrender.

[00:18:41] But like, what about when you're facing your death and all life falls apart?

[00:18:46] Can you surrender then?

[00:18:48] Right?

[00:18:48] That's when it's hardest.

[00:18:49] What about when you really want something and can you surrender then?

[00:18:52] And, and so that's when I saw that the truly great ones, the great ones that came before us,

[00:18:58] Jesus, Buddha, Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Muhammad Ali, Mandela, right?

[00:19:06] Martin Luther King, Bruce Lee in his own way, right?

[00:19:09] Childhood hero of mine.

[00:19:10] At some point, all of these great ones, they all surrendered themselves.

[00:19:16] To life.

[00:19:18] They all in their own way, surrendered themselves to God, surrendered themselves to the universe,

[00:19:24] surrendered themselves to the divine.

[00:19:26] At some point, they all surrendered themselves.

[00:19:31] And in that surrender, they transcended their human capacity, their human limitations.

[00:19:39] In that surrender, they transcended their human limitations and they tapped into another

[00:19:44] dimension of life.

[00:19:46] And that's when life began to use them.

[00:19:49] That's when God began to use them.

[00:19:51] That's when the universe began to manifest through them in ways that were beyond their

[00:19:56] own limited human personal power.

[00:19:58] So for me, what God can do through you and what life can do through you and what this infinite

[00:20:03] intelligence, whatever people believe, you know, this infinite intelligence, what, what,

[00:20:07] what, what God and life can do through us is more than we can do on our own.

[00:20:11] And so to me, this is what the great ones demonstrated and the great ones lived, you know?

[00:20:16] And so the challenge is in our culture today, we have this misconception, this misconception

[00:20:23] that surrender is weak.

[00:20:25] Surrender is passive.

[00:20:26] That surrender is giving up.

[00:20:28] That surrender is waving the white flag.

[00:20:30] That if you surrender, you're going to be a doormat.

[00:20:32] You're going to be left behind.

[00:20:33] That you won't manifest your goals.

[00:20:35] That if you surrender, you're going to be let, you're going to get less in life.

[00:20:38] Who the hell wants that?

[00:20:39] And so for me, I'm actually saying, no, if you really understand the true essence of real

[00:20:44] surrender, what if you didn't get less in life?

[00:20:47] But what if you got more, more than you could have planned, more than you could have intended,

[00:20:52] more than you could have imagined, more than you could have manufactured with the limitation

[00:20:56] of your human brain.

[00:20:58] And in so many ways as human beings, we're attached to an idea of what we think we want.

[00:21:05] Like I want this peanut.

[00:21:06] Give me this peanut.

[00:21:07] When the truth is God is trying to give us a buffet.

[00:21:11] The universe is trying to give you a buffet.

[00:21:13] They're like, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:21:13] I want this peanut.

[00:21:14] It's like, okay.

[00:21:15] But there's no room for the buffet, right?

[00:21:19] So we don't realize that in so many ways as human beings, we are limit.

[00:21:23] We are the ones limiting life.

[00:21:25] We are the ones blocking our blessing.

[00:21:28] We are the ones limiting the divine.

[00:21:30] You can't limit the divine because the divine is unlimited.

[00:21:32] But if your door is closed, you can't receive the blessings of God in your life.

[00:21:37] And so surrender is a letting go of control.

[00:21:41] Well, surrender, I would say, is a letting go of the illusion that you were even in control

[00:21:45] in the first place.

[00:21:46] You know, we think we're in control, but I mean, come on.

[00:21:48] Life just does what it does, right?

[00:21:50] To render is when we stop trying to force life to fit your limited idea of how you think

[00:21:55] you should be and who you think you should be so that you can be open and available and receptive

[00:22:06] to allow life to show you.

[00:22:09] So to me, the old paradigm, right, in personal growth is I call it the ego-based model of living life,

[00:22:16] which is all about what do I want?

[00:22:18] You know, if you read all the self-help books, which I've read 800 of them, right?

[00:22:23] Get clear on what you want.

[00:22:24] You got to know what you want, right?

[00:22:26] But if everyone here, if you're honest, if you look at the best things in your life that have happened,

[00:22:32] the best things, meeting your loved one, meeting your love of your life, me meeting my wife,

[00:22:37] most of it we didn't plan.

[00:22:39] It just kind of happened in the process of living.

[00:22:43] Very, no one said, you know what, I'm going to go to the coffee shop at 8 a.m. today and my wife,

[00:22:50] my soulmate is going to be sitting there in a green dress at 8.05.

[00:22:56] It doesn't happen that way.

[00:22:58] We can't plan grace.

[00:23:00] We can't plan miracles.

[00:23:02] We can't plan those blessings, right?

[00:23:04] We can prepare ourselves.

[00:23:05] We can do our mental, emotional, spiritual, therapeutic, psychological healing

[00:23:09] so that we can clear ourselves of our traumas so that we can be more receptive.

[00:23:14] But the rest is life.

[00:23:16] And so the old paradigm is the ego-based model for creating life.

[00:23:21] What do you want?

[00:23:22] What do you want?

[00:23:23] What do you want?

[00:23:23] What do you want?

[00:23:24] Get clear on what you want.

[00:23:26] The thing is, maybe you've had this experience where you achieve what you thought you wanted

[00:23:32] only to realize once you got it, is this it?

[00:23:35] Then when you realize that what you thought you wanted was not what you really wanted,

[00:23:38] it was just what you thought you wanted based on who you thought you were.

[00:23:41] And many times your goals can be projections of unmet needs.

[00:23:46] Oh, I was bullied at school.

[00:23:48] Mom and dad weren't there.

[00:23:50] I didn't feel lovable.

[00:23:50] I didn't feel worthy.

[00:23:51] I didn't feel enough.

[00:23:52] I didn't feel beautiful.

[00:23:53] So if I can just be famous, if I can just drive that Lamborghini, if I can just get that house,

[00:23:59] that car, the status, then I'm going to be enough and I can prove everyone wrong.

[00:24:04] But it never really fulfills you.

[00:24:06] Right?

[00:24:07] And so for me, the real question is not simply, what do I want?

[00:24:11] You can manifest that way, but it will be limited.

[00:24:13] The real question is a bigger question.

[00:24:16] A question that opens you to infinite possibilities.

[00:24:19] And that question is, what is it that life is seeking to express through me?

[00:24:24] What is it that the universe is seeking to manifest through me?

[00:24:27] What is it that the divine intelligence is seeking to express through me?

[00:24:31] What is it that God is seeking to reveal through me?

[00:24:34] What is it that my soul is seeking to express, which may not always be what you think it is

[00:24:39] with your mind.

[00:24:40] It might surprise you.

[00:24:41] And so when we can feel, catch that truth, catch the vision, catch the impulse of what is true,

[00:24:49] then we can align our personality and our ego and our mind.

[00:24:53] Then we can set goals and bring ourselves into alignment with the flow.

[00:24:57] So now we're working in harmony with nature.

[00:25:00] Now we're working in harmony with our soul.

[00:25:02] Now we're working in harmony with divine intelligence.

[00:25:04] And that's where the magic happened.

[00:25:06] I call the book the magic of surrender, not the power of surrender, not the gift of surrender.

[00:25:11] The magic is that which is beyond your mental capacity to even imagine what's possible.

[00:25:19] You can't even imagine that.

[00:25:21] You can't.

[00:25:22] So I'm saying if you really surrender, what if you got more, more than you could have even imagined?

[00:25:28] It's like, wow, I didn't even imagine it was going to be this good.

[00:25:31] I didn't even imagine.

[00:25:32] Like I didn't even imagine.

[00:25:33] It superseded my expectations, right?

[00:25:35] When we quit from the ego, we are limited to the past because the ego is conditioned by past experiences.

[00:25:44] The challenge is most of us, we all say, yeah, I want more magic.

[00:25:49] But we're not willing to surrender.

[00:25:52] We want more magic, but we want to hold on to who we were.

[00:25:56] We want to hold on to the comfort zone.

[00:25:58] We want to hold on to what we know.

[00:25:59] We want to hold on to that toxic relationship that we know is not working.

[00:26:03] Meanwhile, we pray to God saying, God, please bring me my love.

[00:26:06] God is like, hey, hey, stop praying.

[00:26:07] Stop praying to me.

[00:26:08] Let go of that relationship and make space because when we hold on to the old, there's no room for the new.

[00:26:15] I can relate.

[00:26:16] The next level of your life requires the next level of you.

[00:26:20] And the next level of you requires that you let go of what is no longer aligned.

[00:26:26] But when we hold on, we block our blessing.

[00:26:28] You can't manifest the new being the old.

[00:26:31] And so when you let go, that is surrender.

[00:26:33] It's a letting go.

[00:26:34] It's a releasing what is not aligned.

[00:26:36] Then you can make space.

[00:26:38] So I would ask everyone to sit with what is no longer aligned.

[00:26:41] What is no longer a vibrational match?

[00:26:43] Who is no longer alive?

[00:26:45] Who in your life you need to let go of?

[00:26:47] What do you need to release in your life?

[00:26:49] What's no longer serving you?

[00:26:50] When you make space, when you let go, you make space.

[00:26:53] When you make space, you're open to the next level.

[00:26:56] You're open to the magic.

[00:26:58] Wow.

[00:26:58] That is mind-blowing stuff.

[00:27:01] Kuzi, wow.

[00:27:01] I'm just completely blown away.

[00:27:03] Everything that you shared, I feel like I need to go and take stock of my life right now.

[00:27:06] This is incredible, Kute.

[00:27:08] Your energy is really infectious.

[00:27:10] You've definitely been in this game for a long, long time.

[00:27:15] And you definitely know exactly what you're doing.

[00:27:17] But yeah, I mean, I think this magic of surrender business, I think it makes so much sense.

[00:27:23] I think usually it's the point of letting go where you really start to see some magic happen.

[00:27:27] And when people tend to kind of humble themselves to a higher power, then they start to see the magic happen.

[00:27:34] And I've experienced that in my life in terms of the answers to Christ and things like that.

[00:27:39] But yeah, everything you've said is spot on.

[00:27:41] Spot on.

[00:27:42] Beautiful.

[00:27:42] Yeah.

[00:27:43] And before we kind of move on to the kind of closing section, just wanted to ask you as well, in terms of surrendering,

[00:27:53] do you feel that your, did your father ever surrender to kind of what he was doing?

[00:28:00] And then did you guys kind of reconnect?

[00:28:01] As you mentioned, there was two years where you weren't talking to each other?

[00:28:05] Or was that?

[00:28:06] Yeah, we didn't speak for two years.

[00:28:08] I would say the reconnection, the reconnection happened.

[00:28:12] About two years of being in the US, I was mad, I was angry, and I was sad.

[00:28:19] Because I felt abandoned by my father.

[00:28:21] You know, I felt like my father didn't see me.

[00:28:23] I felt like my father didn't really, wasn't there for me, basically.

[00:28:28] And one day I was meditating, you know, and I was angry with my dad.

[00:28:34] And I heard like this voice that said, your parents owe you nothing.

[00:28:42] They've given you everything already.

[00:28:44] So you can hold on and give away your power.

[00:28:50] Or you could take responsibility and let go.

[00:28:53] Nobody owes you nothing.

[00:28:55] And that was, I don't know, it hit me.

[00:28:58] It was very freeing.

[00:28:59] And in a nutshell, I went through a deep process.

[00:29:04] It took me some months to really forgive my father.

[00:29:08] To really forgive him for the ways I thought he wasn't there.

[00:29:12] To really forgive him for feeling like he abandoned me, you know.

[00:29:15] The way, I had to really forgive him.

[00:29:18] And I went through a process of really forgiving him and acknowledging, you know.

[00:29:22] I love him.

[00:29:23] I love my dad.

[00:29:25] Sure, he is what he is.

[00:29:26] But he grew up without a father in an old African, Ghanaian culture.

[00:29:30] His father wasn't around.

[00:29:32] And his grandfather's grandfather wasn't around.

[00:29:34] So it's not his fault.

[00:29:37] You know, he doesn't know any other way.

[00:29:38] And he grew up in a different time.

[00:29:39] And so when I really got to the point of true forgiveness, I remember the day I was in a men's retreat.

[00:29:47] And I really just forgave my dad.

[00:29:51] And within days, he called me.

[00:29:54] Wow.

[00:29:55] Out of the blue.

[00:29:56] Out of the blue.

[00:29:59] Out of the blue.

[00:29:59] And he said, I think we need to speak.

[00:30:02] And that's why I always tell people.

[00:30:05] Forgiveness is an inner process.

[00:30:08] Forgiveness is something you do for yourself, not even for the other person.

[00:30:12] And when you forgive, that's an act of you taking your power back.

[00:30:17] And that's an act of you freeing yourself.

[00:30:21] And so I would invite everyone, if you're holding on to pain, if you're holding on to resentment, if you're holding on to hurt, if you're holding on, set yourself free.

[00:30:33] Free yourself.

[00:30:35] To really get complete with somebody has nothing to do with them.

[00:30:39] Many times we're holding on to grudges because we're like, well, my mom did this and my dad did this and they owe me an apology.

[00:30:46] And I'm not going to forgive them until they apologize.

[00:30:48] But we don't realize that we're just killing ourselves.

[00:30:51] We're just damaging our own peace and nothing and no one is worth your peace.

[00:30:56] And you don't need, if you're waiting for someone else to help you get complete, you're giving your power away.

[00:31:04] The true completion is with that person within yourself.

[00:31:09] Let me repeat, with that person within yourself.

[00:31:12] And when you make peace with that person within yourself, you unhook yourself from them.

[00:31:17] They have no control of you anymore.

[00:31:18] And that's when you're free.

[00:31:20] Wow.

[00:31:21] So I had to forgive my father.

[00:31:22] And we began a slow, a slow journey to rebuilding a relationship, which took many, many, many, many, many years.

[00:31:30] Even after my mother passed away.

[00:31:32] I was already, you know, relatively at peace with my father, but it took a few more years to just.

[00:31:38] When my mother passed away, it's interesting.

[00:31:41] I asked, I prayed to my mother in the spiritual realm.

[00:31:45] And I said, mom, why did you go first?

[00:31:47] You're 10 years younger than the man.

[00:31:48] Why did you go first?

[00:31:49] And my mother's soul said to me, I died first to gift you the complete healing to your father.

[00:31:59] And so I'm huge at work.

[00:32:00] I had to do with my father.

[00:32:01] I decided.

[00:32:04] To completely love my father and honor his soul.

[00:32:07] And I decided I will call my father every day for the rest of his life until he died.

[00:32:12] Now, bear in mind, my father and I didn't speak for two, three months at a time.

[00:32:15] You know, he's old school.

[00:32:16] He's like, you know, my son should call me.

[00:32:18] I'm like, well, you should call me.

[00:32:20] You're my dad.

[00:32:20] You know, so it was kind of like that.

[00:32:23] And even though I wasn't angry at him, it was kind of like, you know, two masculine guys.

[00:32:27] Like you call me.

[00:32:28] Well, you call me.

[00:32:29] Well, you're my son.

[00:32:30] Well, you're my dad.

[00:32:31] You know, it's like not going anywhere.

[00:32:33] And I said, you know, none of that matters anymore.

[00:32:36] I love my dad and I'm going to love him.

[00:32:38] And he can do whatever he wants.

[00:32:39] At the end of his life, I will have peace in my heart.

[00:32:42] And I called him every day.

[00:32:44] Every single day until he died for almost six years, I called my father.

[00:32:48] Wow.

[00:32:48] I picked up the phone, called Ghana.

[00:32:51] Plus, I flew to Ghana.

[00:32:53] You know how far Accra is from L.A.

[00:32:56] I flew to Ghana three to four times a year to sit with my father in Kumasi.

[00:33:01] For four to five days in his bedroom and not leave.

[00:33:05] Wow.

[00:33:05] And this was my way of loving and serving my father's soul.

[00:33:08] And there was such a healing that happened between us.

[00:33:11] You know, I didn't wait for him.

[00:33:13] There was such a healing that happened between us that I think he realized certain things.

[00:33:18] And the relationship healed and transformed.

[00:33:21] And my father passed away 2022 in November when I felt as though the karma between us was complete.

[00:33:29] You know, we were complete.

[00:33:33] And I told my father.

[00:33:36] One of the last conversations I had with my father was I told my father that he was going to be a grandfather.

[00:33:41] That I was going to have a son with my wife.

[00:33:44] And he smiled and he just said I had a feeling.

[00:33:47] Then I told my mother, my wife the next day.

[00:33:50] I don't think my father will be alive to see the boy.

[00:33:54] Well.

[00:33:55] And sure enough, my father passed a month later.

[00:33:57] Wow.

[00:33:57] But I felt as though the healing was complete in my father.

[00:34:04] That's incredible.

[00:34:05] Wow.

[00:34:06] QT.

[00:34:06] This has been not only a powerful conversation.

[00:34:09] Yeah, but I think it's also been maybe a therapeutic conversation for some of the listeners out there who can relate to these kind of scenarios in terms of parents and, you know, having a disconnect with parents and close members of the family.

[00:34:23] I'm sure a lot of members out there can relate, especially in the black community as well.

[00:34:28] It's a whole conversation.

[00:34:29] But thank you for coming on the show and, you know, sharing your wisdom and knowledge.

[00:34:33] But I'm aware you've got some things coming up.

[00:34:36] Yeah.

[00:34:37] Retreat to Bali.

[00:34:38] Is that correct?

[00:34:38] Yeah.

[00:34:38] I would love to share.

[00:34:40] Yeah.

[00:34:41] Look, my life is about transforming people from the inside out very, very deeply and very profoundly.

[00:34:47] And this is what I've dedicated my life to, you know, 24-7 for the last 22 years every day.

[00:34:57] I work with people from all walks of life, man.

[00:34:59] Every walk of life imaginable.

[00:35:01] Black, white, green, short, tall.

[00:35:03] You name it, men, women.

[00:35:05] This is what I live for.

[00:35:07] And so if you're listening right now and you feel as though you're in the point of your life where you're ready for a breakthrough, you're ready for healing, you're ready to transform, or you feel you've been put on the planet for a purpose that is bigger than yourself.

[00:35:22] And you know that it is your time.

[00:35:25] It is your time.

[00:35:50] It is your time.

[00:35:53] It is your time.

[00:36:00] It's your time.

[00:36:05] And I would say 98% of people say it's probably the most profound singular experience of their

[00:36:12] entire life.

[00:36:13] And so if you're listening and you feel moved, I was told when I first created the journey 12,

[00:36:19] 13 years ago that there were souls that were destined to do this journey.

[00:36:23] And when they heard about it, they would know.

[00:36:26] And last year was going to be the last year I do this journey.

[00:36:29] But 2024 is the final year I do this journey.

[00:36:32] And so this July the 20th through the 31st will be the 23rd event I do in Bali.

[00:36:40] And so if you're someone you feel ready, you can go to the website, www.boundlessblissbali.com.

[00:36:46] That's boundlessblissbali.com.

[00:36:49] Go to the website, watch the video, apply for an interview, and we'll do everything we can to support you on the way.

[00:36:57] So that's the Bali event, July the 20th through the 31st.

[00:37:00] If you feel it, don't hesitate.

[00:37:03] My book, The Magic of Surrender, get it on Amazon, the paperback version.

[00:37:08] My website, my name, Koo Blackson.

[00:37:11] Yeah, Instagram, Koo Blackson.

[00:37:13] Say hi.

[00:37:13] Of course.

[00:37:14] Can't forget Instagram and Facebook.

[00:37:16] Huge following over there.

[00:37:17] Can't forget that.

[00:37:18] Kootay, it's been an enlightening, awakening, incredible conversation.

[00:37:22] We can talk for ages and I'm really conscious of your time and I'm really grateful for you to come on the show.

[00:37:27] So I will make sure all the links, guys, as Kootay shared, will be in the description below on the podcast player or on YouTube.

[00:37:33] So make sure you guys go check that out.

[00:37:35] And Kootay, one last question before you, before we head out.

[00:37:40] Well, you did say it's your final event.

[00:37:42] So I was going to say, would you ever consider doing something in Ghana of some shape or form?

[00:37:50] Yeah.

[00:37:51] You know, I actually did an event in Ghana.

[00:37:55] Typically, I do this event.

[00:37:58] I have a nine-month apprenticeship program, right?

[00:38:01] It's three modules.

[00:38:02] I teach people everything I know about how to transform people.

[00:38:05] People, you have to go to Bali first, then you have access to this event.

[00:38:10] And we did two modules in LA.

[00:38:11] LA for five days, LA for five days again, in February, in June.

[00:38:16] The third module is usually in India.

[00:38:17] Now, during COVID, India was closed.

[00:38:20] Hell no.

[00:38:21] And so we were scrambling to find a place to do the event.

[00:38:25] So we postponed the event by two months.

[00:38:27] So instead of being in October, in January, we ended up doing the event in Ghana.

[00:38:33] Oh, wow.

[00:38:33] In Temasi and Accra.

[00:38:35] But that was a one-off.

[00:38:38] But at some point, maybe again in the future, we'll do something in Ghana again.

[00:38:41] And I would love to do more in Ghana.

[00:38:43] I love Ghana.

[00:38:45] Ghana is the heartbeat of Africa, you know.

[00:38:48] And I feel is a future country, is a future nation that will lead the world in so many ways.

[00:38:58] But what we need in Africa, you know, what we need is leadership.

[00:39:02] And there is no leadership because we have resources.

[00:39:04] In Ghana, we have resources.

[00:39:06] We have timber.

[00:39:07] We have oil.

[00:39:08] We have cocoa.

[00:39:09] We have so much.

[00:39:11] But we need visionary leaders that can elevate the good for the good of all the people, right?

[00:39:21] Because now if you have the young people that are so talented, but they go to university and there's no jobs, we need jobs.

[00:39:28] We need economy.

[00:39:28] We need empowerment, right?

[00:39:30] And so part of what I want to do more in Ghana is there is no true change or revolution unless there's a change in consciousness, unless there's a change in the inner psychology.

[00:39:47] And that's what I do.

[00:39:48] And I want to come and see how I can support and serve more of my community in Ghana at some point.

[00:39:55] Brilliant.

[00:39:56] Well, it's going to be an interesting year.

[00:39:58] We've got 2024 elections this year in Ghana.

[00:40:01] And we have young leaders, including Freedom Jacob Caesar.

[00:40:04] One of my dear friends is running for the election.

[00:40:09] Yeah, Freedom.

[00:40:10] Yeah, he's right.

[00:40:12] Very interesting.

[00:40:12] And I think he has a one Africa vision like Kweli and Groma.

[00:40:15] So it'll be interesting climax to the whole race.

[00:40:18] Kuti, thank you so much.

[00:40:19] We'll have all the links, guys, once again in the description below.

[00:40:22] And please go get that book and apply for his retreat.

[00:40:28] One of you will be very special to go on there.

[00:40:30] Thank you so much, Kuti, for coming on the show.

[00:40:33] Thanks, guys.

[00:40:34] Let's go.