Having no money to buy the mountain, following the advice given by his father in a meditation, Michel talked with Fernando Senderos, hill’s owner and one of the biggest land businessmen, who have among multiple development Bosques de las Lomas and Punta Mita. Senderos heard carefully his ideas and at the end granted him a one year term to pay the mountain. The first little miracle has happened, but difficulties just begun.

Consequently to urbanization problems in Valle de Bravo, the governor from Estado de México at that moment, Ignacio Pichardo Pagaza, had stopped construction licenses until design a development plan to the zone. To start the mountain settlement was near impossible.

However, Michel went to see the governor to talk about his project. He meet him and after listen quietly, he asked if his commitment was really to nature and human being or it was just a settlement to make money: “If the project will really develop as you present it, I will pass it to the Cámara de Diputados to see if they authorize the change to the uso del suelo (ground destination)”. One year later, in 1994, the chamber authorized the project, Michel’s debt kept growing and nobody imagined the economic depression the country would face.

Mountain’s spirit

“At the beginning, when I told my story, people told I was completely insane, He even speaks to his father! Until now a lot of my acquaintances keep saying that I am crazy, but think that my craziness is extraordinary because the economic outcome is good. The land has been appraised and those who bought three or four years ago won already because their share worth five more times than then”.

But that was not the insight when, after three successful events where we achieve to sale 60% of the first stage, economic depression started after the president, Ernesto Zedillo decided to devalue the peso on december of 1994. Then El Santuario turned into a millionaire debt in dollars, just when nobody wanted to buy and those who had bought were waiting the bankruptcy statement.

However, one buyer got close to Michel and told him that he was starting to build his home because he has faith on the project. It was Jaime Mijares, Michel’s childhood friend, who achieve to spread trust among the other partners with his action.

Diggings kept on, the hill was shaped to win land, and a very spiritual friend told him that the mountain was angry because of everything that has being done to her. Michel understood that he has to retrieve the harm done and reconcile whit the mother earth's spirit: the Pacha Mama received from twelve tibetans monks several gifts, dances and healing rituals, reconcile ceremony concluded with 200 thousand trees' sow.

Reason vs. intuition

“In order to make decisions businessmen usually act on analytic and rational fashion, using the left side of their brains and following no intuition, the instinct from brain’s right side. I do the opposite. When there were no important establishments at Presidente Masarik, I had the feeling that the zone would shift into a very important commerce avenue, therefore I propose the counsel to buy a place. Luckily, they listened to me and we opened our first store. Afterwards, big marks arrived and of course, when Masaryk evolved in what is nowadays, nobody could believe it”.

About El Santuario, Domit followed again his right hemisphere when, in order to stop mountain digging, he decided to take on the project’s architectural direction. In several meditation sessions with his team members, designed the club house, build 18 meters above the lake, disposed to make the roof fulfill mountain’s cliff. Besides they schemed an energetic center, where now are the water pond and all the structure flows. Finally, the three floored hotel would arrive, including the SPA, low floor and two basements.

Among several challenges, Domit has to face how to finance the project and keep going with El Santuario. At the beginning, as he admits, he felt afraid and ashamed when visited skeptic businessmen, but project’s coherence, his ecologic proposal, environment’s beauty and land’s worth on a zone as Valle de Bravo, where enough argument to persuade the must mistrustful. Even at hardest moments, there is always a new partner or an interested buyer. These are the little miracles the he persistently refers to.

Along the walked path, people has contributed with their talent to make possible El Santuario´s success, we can mention the great artist Narcissus Quagliata, whom pope Juan Pablo II commissioned the dome of Santa María de Los Ángeles basilica at Rome. Quagliata is the author of the dome at Buda’s space at El Santuario, a place dedicated to retreat and meditation.

Among others, Orlando Hidalgo, Spa’s director, whom this place “is a soul’s hospital, where you left with less luggage than you brought”, and the engineer Jorge Ortega, who made all building’s structural calculations and as a great expert of I ching, when the 64 rooms at the hotel where ready, mentioned that sixty four where also the hexagrams of that piece. Due to this “coincidence”, each room is marked with a figure from this chinese holy book, as a way to welcome guests.

Dreams´ realization

“I devoted over 30 years of my life to build Michel Domit´s name. I dreamed about display my mark all over the world. I did not enjoy a store opening because I was thinking on the next one. I became a very ambitious man, who can’t be satisfied. Until one day, at a wonderful seminar, in the middle of a meditation, I felt someone told me: “This is the time when you stop working for your name and make your name work for you”. From that moment, I dedicated all my energy to accomplish my spiritual mission and let go the Domit enterprise, to delegate, to trust more on my team”.

The 29 of october of 2003, Michel make true his father’s bidding. That day gathered at El Santuario, to attend to the opening of the Biarritz forum, almost one thousand people, there were Latin-American presidents and ex presidents, European government deputies, state’s functionaries, Mexican governors and over 40 world TV companies.

The Estado de México governor at that moment, Arturo Montiel, obtained for Mexico the settle of this international event and chooses El Santuario as harbor, though the hotel didn’t exist yet. The challenge to Michel was to build it within eight months. Over 1,300 men worked daily on harsh shifts to build 64 rooms, business center and multi functional hall.

“Listening president Vicente Fox´s speech at the event’s closure and see so many important people from the entire world gather, time seemed to stop and I felt how the talents, the power and the universe converged in the same space to achieve something I would never get if I thought only with my left hemisphere”.

“I choose to be an awakener, someone that proposes to change paradigms. I enjoy very much this mission, which also involves making business, then; it’s a great pleasure to make them. Businessman that don’t enjoy 100% what they do and are there only to have more, they are misplaced because they don’t understand that money is only a mean given to you in order to change the world”

Michel Domit breaks all prior ideas about businessman. The current president and CEO from Grupo Domit has achieved to combine his successful career on business world with his spiritual mission. A lifestyle that merge, facing conflicts, his filmmaker and artist nature whit his practical dimension.

At the first contact, Michel hugs strong and warmly, letting his hart to touch yours. Forty seconds communion. Immediately, invites to a group meditation. After almost one hour, completely relaxed and tuned, he tells his history.
He tells with calmed voice from the start, when with 20 years has to take control over the Grupo Domit to rescue it from bankruptcy, to the breakthrough that started 15 years ago, when he devoted all his effort and energy to accomplish a spiritual mission: El Santuario.

Claudia Herrán. Colombian communicator naturalized Mexican. She was magazine publisher for Cien Días(Bogotá) and Membership Reward (México) and books publisher with Escribanía. Collaborated at newspapers Siglo 21 and Público.

Laura Cohen. Mexican, Photographer 25 years ago. Specialized on portraits. Art and traveling fan, seeks always images that remains on people psyche.

Andrés Cortina Landa. Mexican photographer, ComLand´s CEO. Professional photographer eight years ago specialized in architecture, aerial and artistic photography.