There are some street people you know right off you want to avoid. Most of them, in fact. But every now and then - every very great now and then, in my case - there are street people you know you must meet. So it was recently when in downtown Seattle I espied a guy carrying a sign that said, "Six-Foot-Seven Jew Will Freestyle Rap 4 U."

Te'Devan R. Wacha Kurzweil, 26, formerly Jeremy Kurzweil, says he was raised in Shore Hills, New Jersey; the son of a lawyer and comercial real estate broker; and graduated from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with a B.A. in psychology. He describes himself as a non-Trustafarian spiritual wanderer, rapper, meditator and healer drawing on the ancient Chinese muscle movements known as Qi Gong, which form the basis for Tai Chi.

The freestyle rap routine goes like this: you suggest a word or theme, and he busts some on-topic rhymes for a few bucks. I suggested the interplay between salmon recovery and economic development in Puget Sound, and he actually delivered some pretty styling, coherent verse. I didn't go for a healing session, and can't offer any endorsement of Te'Devan's healing skills. Generally speaking, I don't buy that stuff.

However, traditional modern medicine is not the be-all and end-all. I hate the way doctors reach for the prescription pads so quickly, and the extent to which we have become a nation dependent on pharmaceuticals for health. The Qi Gong movements, and the individual practice of Tai Chi certainly can have significant health benefits. One central aspect of Qi Gong is breathing. It is to me in no way Fruit-Loopy to remember how important it is to breathe properly - deeply and slowly, exhaling through your nose, not mouth.

I will say this about Te'Devan: the guy is extremely fit, and struck me as bright, positive, funny, sober and centered, to boot. He is breathing life in, deeply.

For crash space on his continuing journey, Te'Devan relies on hosts from couchsurfing.com, one of several social networking sites for free lodgings in people's homes. More about Te'Devan at his couchsurfing.com profile page.

He hopes to get his own reality TV series, but he's not seeking any meetings. It'll come to him, he figures. And it might. He's already been on the Rikki Lake Show, doing some stand-up and some rhymes; and on Blind Date.

On the road constantly, meeting new people daily in his spiritual quest is like running a "metaphysical confession booth," Te'Devan tells me. He explains that people who are too skittish in normal circumstances to discuss spirituality, faith, healing and alternative medicine freely reveal their experiences and openness to these topics, in conversations with him.

Te'Devan is a devout non-materialist. He hopes and expects that one day, with the money earned from his reality TV series, he'll be able to open a series of welcoming residence houses in different locations where "people on unique paths" - meditators, healers and non-toxic activists, for instance - can reside.

Perhaps Te'Devan will land his reality series, maybe on The Travel Channel. If you see him on-screen, remember, you read about him first at Rosenblog.

TO COMMENT: The regular comment feature is not in operation now. However, you can e-mail me your comments on this post, at the address accessed under "Contact," at the top of my "Main" page. I'll add them, here.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at August 22, 2005 12:22 PM