Shaolin Master REVEALS The Secret To SELF MASTERY | Shi Heng Yi & Lewis Howes

I'm so excited that you're here because I feel like the modern world is lacking self-discipline self-knowledge and they're lacking connection to their authentic selves as human beings and I've been there in my life where I've lacked these things as well and it's a constant process of learning staying accountable and disciplined to these teachings that you have so I'm very excited that you're here and I want to I want to make this a very special long format episode in the interview and I want to ask you first about the five hindrances that you've talked about online before these hindrances that hold people back from mastering themselves and their inner world I'm curious if you can talk about what those five are first yes so when it comes to developing something about yourself it doesn't matter what it is if it is just following up in becoming great in any type of sport or even if you want to build up like a small community or something for yourself it's about if you want to go somewhere if you have a goal and want to go somewhere along this way you will meet different type of hindrances that we call that will sometimes make it difficult for you to let's say reach the goal where you would like to go and to very easily explain it one way for example is if you are too easily being caught by positive emotions which type of positive emotions all types that is Raising something inside of you that you are relating to that feels really good now but it takes you out of your ordinary so that means you have a goal on the mind what you want to achieve you start walking you start doing your your jobs and your obligations but along this way you are meeting a distraction which is giving you a lot of positive emotions because you are in that average state of the mind that overall um let's say normal state of the mind now if it takes you out of the average of being positive it's very easy for us that we get attached to these type of feelings so what ultimately means you're going to lose track of your goal because you would prefer right now to spend more time with all of these things that give you positive emotions can you give example of one of these positive emotions or a situation that someone might have positive emotions for example let's take a very nice one Fame yes you have a goal in the mind what you want to achieve but along this way you feel there is that word of Fame and so what does it mean it means you are getting the views you're getting the sight of different people and now you are encountering something that you haven't planned about it before but now that you meet it and now that you feel it that it's this type of Fame that you could get from the people well now the question still is if you can stick to your initial plan or not or is the fame going to move in front of all of this and it's not your mission anymore that was important to you but now suddenly you are replacing your initial goal with something that gave you positive emotions along this way right so the positive emotion is that the first thing that could be a hindrance for you I definitely think it is something that you need to consider as a human if you walk through this lifetime and want to build something which is out of the ordinary you 100 going to meet various positive emotions and one of them is just that example that I brought right now but it can also be very simple things that your eyes are catching the attraction too quickly about things that look beautiful about things around you that taste too great that smell too good so that means it's very easy especially nowadays with all of the advertising being around to lose your awareness in the outside in the outside distractions like this so I think is this what you call sensual desire is this like having too much sensual desire these positive emotions around the senses yes that could distract you for example and why is it called a sensory desires because those desires are based on our five senses for example because just think about it in very simple terms everything in this world where you say I like it or I dislike it those things happen only on five different levels either you see something that you start to judge you smell something that you start to judge you taste something you hear something or you feel something so it's the five senses actually that are the that are building the bridge between what we regard as the outside impacts yeah and what you internally are then afterwards reacting to and this is not to say that sensory desire is good or bad it's really important to understand I'm not talking about good or bad I'm talking about if you have a specific goal on your mind there are things that can happen to you which will be useful to have and there are other things that are going to hinder you along this way hindrances yeah hindrances and so right now it's not about good or bad it's about a hindrance if you have a goal just take care that these things are existing the positive emotions just like the negative emotions negative emotions meaning you have a goal you're already preparing yourself to go there but now things are becoming difficult your daily schedule is not going according to plan how you wrote it down in your schedule things are coming in that you didn't expect because you didn't expect it and maybe are not prepared for it it can easily happen that you are getting stressed out by so many different impacts so that means there are now events coming along this way that are giving you that are raising negative emotions inside of you and so what does it also mean it means that the chances at this type of mental States it's easy right now to find an argument and give up and stop the journey and this is exactly it's the five hindrances of the mind what I'm talking about is mental States beware of your mental state no sometimes in different Traditions you hear it already we have the body and the mind sometimes you also have traditions where we talk about the body your thoughts and your emotions so now you suddenly have three areas you can make as many areas as you would like because these are just Concepts they are there to help us humans just get into the right direction that you can work with and now the reason why very often we are only in our tradition say there's the body and the mind and are not separating anymore into the feelings is simply because of this feeling and mindset mental state and the way how you feel I think they are very very close related to each other and what you can try to just observe about yourself is the feeling no matter what it is very very often is just the postponed let's say the postponed reaction of what way before that was already implemented inside or cultivated Inside the Mind can you give an example of that yes you go to any type of meeting where you have persons that you maybe meet for the first time just choose any of them before you talk to this person sit somewhere in the corner always observe the person and pay attention to everything that you can criticize so that means consciously educate the mind to always find the mistakes in that person yeah look how he dresses he looked loud how he's talking yeah look how he's behaving so and just make this project this idea always over and over again towards this person a judgment a judgment before you even go to that person so before that just use it as an experiment and then after some time really go to that person even without talking to him or her and just feel what is it what type of feeling do you have when you are standing now next to this person and it is my yes it is my belief that you can either choose how you judge the the people you can continuously pre-condition your mind that your feelings are going to follow in this direction or you precondition your mind in general towards people around you towards this world in a completely different way as well in an empowering way a positive way a way that supports you in building a relationship or a connection right for example so what I'm saying is the way how you feel meeting people getting into a situation and then saying see I told you it's going to be like this no it's like this because you before that decided already is going to be like this right it's interesting because when I meet people like for today when you were coming here I just said to myself I'm excited to to connect with you I'm excited to learn I'm excited too learn about your lifestyle and their lessons and that excitement when you walked in I was excited and I enforced that belief of thinking that prejudgment of excitement to learn so hopefully you felt that excitement right as opposed to uh who's this guy you know this Sheldon master and now what does he know and you know I didn't come in with that belief system is that correct yes thank you very much yeah so that's a that's a good example so I love this feeling and mindset conversation um which influences the other is it the thinking that influences the feelings or the feelings which reinforce and influence the thinking I'm sure that this could definitely lead to any type of scientific discussion uh-huh what I'm saying is the easiest way to test for yourself without trying out too much reading too much is just like this next time you go into this situation or you have a feeling coming up inside no matter which one it is just ask yourself where is the root of that feeling right now could it be that the way how you feel right now in regards to that situation what is your relation what did you thought about this type of situation let's say weeks before months before in the past when was the last time you had such a type of situation is it the first time you go into this situation and actually you just heard from your friends from your parents from your teacher this type of situations exists and then you need to be careful of this and that so where is that feeling um rooted in and this you can do with many many things and what we call in our language or in what we're doing nowadays this idea of why is it called self mastering hmm because it is something you need to discover about yourself it is not something other people are going to discover about you it is you take the time and watch yourself this is the this is the path to go sometimes we call it also turn the view inwards because you see there's this nice picture as always something goes wrong and then it's always easy to digest because of you you and you it's always easy that one the hard part in this world is this one it's the hard part and it is the one that opens the greatest doors I'm curious what have you been looking inward at yourself uh over the last few months that you've been able to you know see in a different perspective that is opening up for you personally whether as a a master teacher or as a human being or a friend or what are you seeing and learning about yourself at this season of life so it's not just in the last month let's say I do think that it is a progress the general idea is that from time to time it absolutely makes sense to take that conscious decision okay I have a family I have friends I need to take care of them I need to take care also of my job so that means you're investing a lot of your lifetime trying to support trying to build up try to establish something let's say outside of you at the same time what we then have is that teaching of Yin and Yang everybody knows that symbol okay what does it mean inside and outside up and down black and white hot and cold success and failure Outside Inside Belong Together and so besides the time that you spend outwardly oriented I think it is normal and it's necessary there is I think there is no choice to decide from time to time for yourself that you take your personal Breakout your personal timeout you can take care of course but you also need to take care of yourself in the first place so reason for that until I come back to the question you're responsible for your team you're responsible for your employees you're responsible for your family you're responsible for your children responsibility what is it essentially is it the way how you behave or is the behavior which comes out of a responsible feeling what we're talking about so that means how can you be responsible for something around you if inside of yourself your body in the world of your feelings you don't know how does responsibility feel so that means we're talking about it's a Feeling just like you love the world how can you love the world if inside of you you do not carry the feeling of love why is it important to respect your parents to be thankful and grateful towards your parents because if the people that granted you this life right now you are not even grateful for to who else you want to be grateful in this world then interesting and these let's say feelings that I mentioned sometimes we also call them these are qualities of the heart because the heart we know it's like it goes very deep yes because it's related to how you feel so the point is whatever you would like to express into the outside world number one is you need to have it so this is the Baseline this is the main idea so if you want to express love to the outside world you must have love within you yes but if you don't if you have anger within you it's going to be hard to express it to your friends your family or the world yes but that's way easier because anger is something people are sure how this anger feels nowadays with the other attributes they are not so easy because Anger from its quality it's a quality that naturally starts to separate things actions out of anger sorts out of anger what is their nature the nature is you are separating stuff you're protecting yourself is that right yes loving it's not the way of separating loving if you carry love inside you always let's say understand you me in a way we come from different mothers we come from different areas but there's still something that's connecting us and so that means even if you have been mean to me acting out of love or acting out of the feeling no matter what still we are connected it's different and so this is what I regard as being really important to cultivate first of all before we let's say do two two big stuff on the outside world and this is the point where it comes back again to this personal Retreat to the time where you watch inside yourself what do you have inside of yourself um what is your yeah take off your clothes take off the jewelry take off the tattoos you have on the body look into the mirror and then just see who is standing there if you take off everything that let's say artificially came on top of your being take everything away and then what is it that you see in the mirror do you see there is the loving heart inside there is the strength or The Willpower inside this body there is the discipline inside this body there is a loyal person standing there is pride inside of this and these are all things how do I put my pride here on the table how do I put my discipline here on the table this is the area now where we talk about these are things they are just don't belong to the world of forms nevertheless these are things that make the human being like human so and this is the special part that meanwhile they are just methods where such attributes such virtues can be developed right one of the other things you talked about that I've seen you talk about online about mastering the inner self and the things that hold people back is ill will and I think you know it's like if you look in the mirror and you say oh there's anger inside of me there's judgment inside of me is that also associated with ill will is it towards yourself towards others to the world what does that mean ill will to the mental state whatever triggers it is pretty irrelevant mm-hmm no it's sometimes also just think about it when we were young and we didn't get what we wanted we became angry as a teenager somebody took something away from you you got angry nowadays 21st century somebody takes something away from you you're angry the reasons why this anger came up always different the anger is always the same the anger you feel today is the same anger that you felt in when you were in young ages so that means there might be the feeling that outside circumstances are triggering something inside of you yes it's triggering something but what eventually comes up is what you have not been able to adjust in proper way yet and the seems like ill will ill will is a state of the mind it's not just doesn't matter if it's towards yourself towards another person towards an animal towards your colleagues it's always the same ill will it is something inside of you which if you don't pay attention to is is going to be a hindrance along your way of walking how do we heal or integrate ill will so that it's no longer inside of us how do we reevaluate it mend it heal it go beyond it go beyond it I think is the more proper expression because this is not really playing with the words but it's still important because we don't try to get rid of all of these things you don't want to get rid of the body that it's never going to be inside of your body anymore you don't want to get rid of your jealousy when it comes up you don't want to get rid of the joy that you feel you don't want to get rid of your feelings you want to have a very great variety of different feelings that you can tap into the only thing which makes the difference is if you are tapping into this world of feelings consciously or if that world of feelings is just unconsciously imploding inside of you this makes the difference and so to overcome it means to realize it is there yeah but now like sometimes what to do you need to find something a state of your the state of level on which you are coordinating which means you have to stand above you learn to get into a perspective where you are standing above you which means this is not about you at the moment this is not about you stand above it it is about you see okay you you see that person at the moment has an issue how would you as somebody watching at you help him how would you coach God how would you coach yourself guide yourself to the better version and this is what it only means to sometimes yeah de-identify yourself with this one yes if you are caught inside here I think it becomes difficult there's a there's some Neuroscience that uh talks about that you know we're really good at being a negative or a critical coach to ourselves and putting ourselves down in those situations as opposed to stepping aside and coaching from a different perspective to ourselves and there's Neuroscience that backs the importance of that as a tool to go beyond it as well so I think it's really important how do you how often do you feel these emotions or feelings of ill will anger jealousy frustration how often do you feel them and how do you teach or coach yourself Beyond them if I want to I can tap inside of it right away and my whole day is filled with it no matter where I watch around on the street there's no problem at all for me to generate the feeling that ill will start to dominate really yes at any moment you could go there yes yeah is just an is but then I just asked feeling that you are in if you does it feel good no you know and then the point is just like I said it doesn't even feel good to be in it you know so if we would say ill will if at least it would give you something by staying inside that state of the mind at least then I would understand but if you watch at it there is nothing positive zero there is no benefit to yourself and there is especially no benefit to the people around you that this ill will is going to cause that means what is the first thing that I do when I realize let's say I have this feeling first of all I need to know from what does it come what is it at moment that triggers it so I try to identify very quickly what is at the moment the source that is triggering it what is usually the source for you in a situation that triggers ill will is it Injustice is it someone treating someone poorly is it someone with a lot of money that triggers you like what's the the root trigger actually this is now a question where for example I say it's so super helpful if you already have let's say some type of concept some type of teachings they tell you already where it comes from very simply and this ill will to a hundred percent in all its different variation that it comes in this world mainly from three reasons oh what are these either from greed greed of not getting more than you want hate or jealousy of not getting what you want and sometimes it's called yeah let's say ignorance or not knowing greed hate ignorance and especially ill will easily fall into one of these categories or sometimes a combination of these things so ill will can be yeah why does he why does he get it I deserve it you know why you deserve it because you think about yourself you are the more hard-working person in this room so what is that combination in that combination it is like yes unfairness from your subjective view your unfairness jealousy no respect towards yourself so which then also can maybe mean a low level of self-esteem self-con self-confidence a lack of it so it's very often like a variety of these um attributes I think yeah but ultimately broken down I think that's it greed hate not knowing when does ill will enter your emotions for you personally like what it what is it that you see where you feel it for a moment obviously it sounds like you know how to sketch it and go beyond it pretty quickly but when it happens to you what do you struggle with I would say then when it is like a very subjective I have to say yes that because this is the reason why I always catch myself back and why then afterwards is not so bad anymore but subjective unfairness unfairness unfairness in the fairness in the world or is it some like a jealousy unfairness like oh they have something no it's not that about they have something it's about they project something upon you not knowing the full truth ah so unfairness towards you for example yeah yeah maybe someone's judging you or has an opinion or criticism that they don't have the full story or the wisdom or the they don't know you right and so that's so when that happens when you feel judged or criticized or there's an unfairness about you personally they don't know better how do you not let it ruin your day or stay in the emotions of anger frustration or unfairness how do you go beyond it personally I breathe in deeply and I breathe out and this sounds super ridiculous but if you really ask me how do I cope with such situation this is meanwhile what I do I am very aware that I have it right now and I combine my breath meaning something is getting out of me together with my deep intention and with my deep connection of the Mind together with the breath first of all they don't know better if they would have more information available they would maybe see me differently and together with that physical aspect this is what what I do this is the first and it's like a valve before you start imploding before something starts to rise too much and the pressure builds up first of all get rid of that steam get rid of that air out and that's why it sounds very ridiculous sometimes to really say just Breeze out but it's not about the Press only it's about how serious are you living different type of teachings and methods and if you are able to learn to combine the breath with an intention work with intention more consciously then I think it's very very possible get into an area where breast becomes everything to you yeah I'm a big believer in breathing meditation strategies whatever meditation and breathing strategies work for you but having some type of breathing practice where you slow down the breath I feel like benefits all human beings and there's lots of different strategies and styles of breathing but I think focusing on the intention and the breathing combined like you said is extremely powerful I'm curious if someone is feeling anger unfairness or any emotion around ill will about something that's happened to them and they feel this is unfair and they have this anger or defensiveness you talked about the breathing what is the intention that they can think of during those moments 60 seconds 10 minutes however long it takes to go beyond it what is the intentional thought while they're in that that's stressful the hardest pounding I don't like this I want to break free of this what can they think or say internally along with the breath to help them go beyond this is sometimes what people then refer to as a mantra can be yes helpful so especially in such moments you have something you always tell to yourself continuously repeat and now this can be different things you merge together the sword they don't know better together with the cultivation of a hard quality of compassion inside of you then I think even this sword together with that hard quality and the breast has a very powerful impact wow and this is why initially I said about there are hard qualities hard qualities hard qualities yes yeah so that means this is why it's helpful um to to Really from time to time make clear to yourself again so the greatest love you have ever felt in this lifetime how did it feel how does it feel so if somebody would ask you nowadays so when was the moment you really felt love well first of all you can't make it on the go second of all even probably people nowadays are ashamed of even getting into this state of of being while other peoples are watching around this is why you need to do these practices alone where nobody is watching you and where are you assure you are only with yourself and they are what you do you start to travel into the world of your memories and travel into everything that you are still able to recall in your mind that has happened in the past when somebody hug you your father your mother your grand father your first girlfriend your first boyfriend it doesn't matter we call the situation where you think this was the greatest feeling I have ever felt when I hear about that word love so then at least in the 21st century you are at least recalling it again and now no maybe how it feels and after you have this feeling now you ask yourself if something like this is existing and you would have the chance that the people in this world can choose in which state of being would you yourself personally would like to live and what would you wish the others to live in WoW I think you will only if you're intelligent you will only come up with one answer which is for all of them and this is the reason why out of that Loving Feeling arises then what we call Compassion which means I know how great this feeling is so that's why maybe I know in which direction I would like to guide my life to finally have this feeling let's say more in my life and now you walk around and then you see people that are obviously sad that are obviously having issues day in day out and busy with their mind and you see how they are suffering and because you see it and now have this direct comparison to yourself This is why it becomes so much easier now that you are not going to act anymore out of ill will so the ill will is only there because you are not at that level yet where you can stand above it easily said yeah feel the love and the compassion for yourself and others at the same time it's really hard to do though right when you feel like someone is against you attacking you hurting you hurting someone you care about saying mean things about you nasty lies about you judging you it's hard to have the feeling of love and compassion in those moments because you feel like this is unfair this is not right this is not just why don't they just stop it yes exactly in that moment that's why if you feel like moments are too overwhelming for you number one is get out of the situation if we get into a big argument right now and you feel like no this is too overwhelming I would not really start get out of the room number one so something very practical yes if something is too overwhelming then we say get distance first of all get distance now this is a nice part for example that our Abbott for example in the monastery also teach us he always said you need to be able to adjust room and time you need to be able to learn and adjust base and time sounds very philosophical but space and time means if we're in an argument a big one I want space first of all so that means I have distance to observe that is the space and I want time because time lets me think more clearly if I'm not under pressure if you have someone that you really don't like then vice versa you also know exactly what to do then if he's a friend he or she is a friend you always give room and time yeah if you want to make enemies if you steal room and space you don't let them move and you don't give them time to react this is how you treat enemies wow you pressure them you pressure them you lock them in you can find them yeah because this is what it is wow what arises out of that situation if you put people under pressure is something that is overwhelming them and overwhelming means your emotions are not under that's your own control which makes you vulnerable right that is like the the point behind this so another thing to just keep in mind no matter what type of emotion it is that we are sometimes feeling is you don't take decisions while you are emotional next one don't make this don't make decisions while you're emotional no yeah and you know I understand sometimes people in in certain areas fast-paced areas where like time is money yeah I don't have time to think about yeah and so meanwhile we really have this culture where like somebody walks in gives me a question and expects the answer right away and I'm always asking myself why can't you just to some to some questions just say let me think about it I'm going to come back to it tomorrow right so that means sometimes there are questions you are being asked by people where you feel it puts you under pressure but maybe think about it why do you want to answer it right away what's the point to give the answer right away if some especially if it's an important answer I personally would prefer if I would come up to you with a really important question I would even prefer for you to tell me okay that is something I cannot just decide on the spot let me think about it and tomorrow we're gonna talk about it right and then also for me I have no problem to say okay let's talk tomorrow and this is also something where nowadays it's yeah a lot of pressure is coming from from these type of things that unconsciously you just give answers for the sake of giving answers whereas it would be better to just wait wait on it yeah think about it speaking of you mentioned enemies for a second ago what is the Shaolin philosophy around enemies when you're not in a actual physical War when you're not in combat when you're not fighting for your life but there is a potential enemy psychologically business relationship whatever family friend who's feeling like an enemy what is the philosophy of the Shaolin way on how to approach an enemy when it's not a physical attack if we're really not talking about physical attack then I think it's very easily expressed that we are right now in the field of Buddhist teachings or of Chen Chan or Zen teachings which means it is about the mind we are only talking right now about psychological aspects and every confrontation that you are feeling inside the mind for me personally what it means is something is resonating and is still triggering me mentally and therefore also emotionally the only thing it means is that is one of the next areas I need to learn to adjust this is my initial I don't know what else to say that's a lesson it's more adjusting within you not them no no the reason why they are there is to show you your weakness what was your biggest weakness that you had to overcome as you started to grow up you know studying martial arts living in the modern world and then becoming you know a teacher a student in the the temple what was the biggest inner enemy that you faced and overcame or you're still in the practice of overcoming seriously is still the five hindrances because it is just something common yeah you know so for example one of the next hindrances is laziness yes very easily the lack of energy meaning you have great ideas you have great plans all of this but the spark to put you under Fire it's just not there why do so many people lack the spark to act to launch to build momentum to be consistent why do so many people lack that energy desire and stay lazy or dull I think it's a combination of the way of life people have lived before and the lack of vision what lies in front of them so both of these things you know so what I mean by that is not always it's just like a let's say the physical appearance of that laziness of that dullness of that heaviness it's apparent but why is it there and this has so many different variations now when you look into the past it can really be because of the food that you're eating because the lack of movement that you're having because of your habits whatever type of habits it is that cause you to now end up in that body which is at the moment pretty inefficient yes uh to generate fire you know I have to say sometimes in my in my spare time I I like to build engines really yeah I build engines I build race engines and there for me if I look at it I really like that similarity you want that engine to perform well one of the things that then normally needs to be optimized is number one airflow the intake and then also the amount of the air that gets in there the quality of it that's why on the engine we filter it so but now it comes to us what are you breeding in how is it with your lung capacity how much of your lung capacity are you able to really use how clean are you inside of it because what is it eventually that with that oxygen that we are taking in what is it that you are burning and try to make into energy now there are a lot of things that you can eat and try to burn but the quality of this energy is very little there is other food they have very very high amount of energy once you burn them so that means of course these things the diet has an effect also on the dullness of the body this is the one thing yeah and now looking into the future well if you are expecting fast results this is you know looking out into the world what comes first goes fast and especially something that is changing the Status Quo of your life your lifestyle let's say something that is changing it too quickly it is like let's just say you know at the moment I visit you I see you like this in one month I come back and you might have 30 kilograms more on muscles I know whatever you did it was not good it was too fast yeah because all these quick changes also when we look outside sometimes I mean let's just take the earthquake or the tsunamis or a lightning strike anything like this the Natural Forces yeah they don't tell you one month before that they are coming the problem is when they come they very often have this destructive character not always but often and when it comes now to creating our way of life when it comes to the transformation of ourselves at least in my world view I take this into consideration meaning I don't even expect myself to make huge jumps um quickly really quickly because I just feel like okay that might just not be sustainable that might not just be something that is helpful on the long run and therefore to take pressure away from you make small steps yeah and this is what I mean by how far is your view on your future vision of what you want to achieve there how far should we be thinking out in terms of our vision or our mission is it based on the season of life we're in you know for 18 years old and we're going to school we should just be thinking out you know the next four years or should we be thinking out 5 10 20 years because so much can change so quickly in life and situations and okay I can only talk about myself yes and I have to say I'm a dreamer yeah yeah I'm a dreamer and a visionist a visionnaire probably I don't know how you call it Visionary visionary my dream my way of seeing this world where I am embedding in is super huge [Music] that's why of course you can always say yeah but this is just your imagination yeah yes which is your most powerful source your ability to put something into your own mind where nobody else has impact on and only you know the day in day out you just still walk this path and feel for yourself how it's getting real because it's Unbroken because there's nobody who can interfere it's all small things and probably I can just say that maybe to try it out okay of course you should not like dream too big which is like unrealistic let's say like this of course not but a vision that there is something you can bring out about yourself that this world has not seen yet this is something which is quite appealing to me and is therefore also something that I also let's say [Music] um continuously practice and keep on the mind and now comes the button whatever vision and dream you have on upon yourself that you are projecting upon yourself I do think that you need to have at the same time a commitment and first on for example the commitment and what are you going to do with that identity of yours if you're gonna get there so you mean a commitment of like the daily actions you're going to take that you're committed to or once you're there what are you gonna do with it the commitment now very clearly you are creating because you want to help to serve yes to help others yes you are not creating any identity of yours in order to harm because I think if this is what your initial intention is then I think um the penalty will come what if you're in you're in intention is to only Serve Yourself is to look good to make money for you to get famous for you to buy things for you because you want to be successful but you're not including doing it in the service of other people as well what happens when it's only about me you might reach it in this lifetime but if you bring this one to the to an end or if you continuously go there not and in my vision not only in this lifetime yes you're going to be lonely you're gonna have everything you want you're gonna have everything that blinks you have all the reputation it's all great everything you ever dreamed of you have it what you don't have is something that gives you real stability something that gives you real value in this life what is that I think it is something that can't be taken off from you I think it is the it is the connection to other fellows it's a connection to people humans to animals to this world and ultimately the connection of this life and what happens with this person if he only lives this way of life he's going to repeat himself um why repeat or what do I mean by repeating no now I jump a little bit but sometimes this life seems to me it's like a video game and if you are at level 1 and continuously fail at level one you're never gonna move up to level two and and get into touch with the next challenges of life so if somebody is still stuck on the material Level of wanting this and that's a really materialistic so this is really the basic plane this is a very very basic plane this is like level one sometimes it's necessary you need to have it first and then your relationship towards these things starts to shift and suddenly you find yourself that now it's not these things anymore that start to matter to you now suddenly since you're in level two now you're starting to ask yourself okay now it's not material things anymore but I love my wife I love my husband I love my children I love my dog I love the jobs I love my employees but they are getting sick they are starting to die away this is now starting in level two to trouble you um so now it's the time figure out a way how do you walk through this lifetime figuring out these challenges of life that our ancestors lost people our future Generations are going to lose beloved people it's nothing new how do you learn despite the fact of death is existing how can you still find something about yourself to still keep going stay strong and still keep going and supporting and helping despite of these things and then maybe level two you managed to fight for a way for yourself and then you're going to be exposed to the next type of challenges that this life is giving to you so what I'm talking about is that I'm not sure if life is getting easier I just think that you are becoming more mature you are becoming more skillful in order to tackle the challenges of life I think this is what ultimately for me at least seems to me like this yeah it's it's learning to become a better leader for yourself it's developing these skills overcoming the challenges so that I think I heard you say like life doesn't get easier you just get stronger and you can manage it with more peace and Grace as these challenges and Pains come to you right when do you think is the easiest time in life when you're younger or when you're older when you're younger out of just the fact that you have not learned yet and have not been exposed yet to all of these adult ideas of what you are supposed to do with your life how do you how do you manage the level that you're at now I'm not sure what what level you're in in the video game is it level 7 or 28 right now for you but how do you manage this level where you're stepping into New Seasons new decade you know of the material number of the world you're in the new the platform that you're building around the world globally how do you step into that um and master it I think before we talked about it already a little bit that within the last three years four years uh I could really witness in a way how like these type of teachings or let's say my name was really spread out into the world and more and more people starting to also participate in listening to what is it that uh is being shared out for example and at the same time I can also feel that everything I have to say everything that I like shared the reason why I could share all of these things is because the first 35 years before that I was not the talker at all there couldn't be any more quiet person than me you know so I was really yes until when when do you start using your voice I think it happened in the moment where people asked me to explain what I'm doing yeah so and then I just said look I'm I'm not just doing like my punch this is not punching for me so in the martial art for example I started to explain for example the punch is not just for me something let's say physical it has also something to do what are you doing to prepare inside of you before you throw out that punch because if you throw out something if something moves outwards the question for me is where does it get in because if you throw out punches 500 punches every day you just throw them out where do you get the energy from to throw 500 things out and now different ways how you can express it but for me coming from this field of martial arts where the yin yang symbol does matter and also does matter why it is around means for me I started to explain if you wanna throw a punch there are different ways how to throw it if you have a lot of mess already on yourself you probably can just use straight line movements no issue at all but if you look at me a small Asian I have to compensate for the lack of mess somehow and therefore I need to use another method I need to use different methods to compensate for the lack of mess that I have in comparison to other people so and suddenly out of a question how do you punch starts the talking discussion and honestly I think this is where the beginning lies where then people found it interesting that apparently there's a whole philosophy just behind like a punch and I said yes how did you I can resonate with the fact that you know you were shy most of your life right you didn't he didn't speak that much I've been use your voice as much you were more introverted with your voice is that correct yes so how did you have the confidence and learn that skill of confidence to use your voice when you really didn't use it that much beforehand were you fearful were you nervous were you afraid or how did you step into that I just had to level right now because I just imagine in my mind there were very often also now in school time already of course my my uh my friends they were standing in the break time everybody having discussions and I was always quiet yeah but internally I could already like feel like I knew what I would say if I would open my mouth it's just that I didn't why not because ultimately I just thought that it's it's pointless um it's pointless because sometimes just sometimes the topics are just right it's superficial or whatever yeah yeah it doesn't bring benefit to anything yeah it's just meaning maybe that you are like profiling yourself but that was it yeah so that's why I kept it for myself but internally observing people watching just listening inside of me the language was always speaking I always knew like what would be my answer if somebody speak to me like sure and so ultimately I really think it was for me not difficult at all to then when I was asked to just let it out say it yeah because I already had it inside I just had to let's say allow my my mouse to speak it out and yeah that's beautiful so you had the confidence because you had the inner wisdom the inner answers to what you would say already you just didn't say them before as much um probably yeah probably but of course um to sometimes use proper vocabulary to use proper rhetorical ways of course this I also had to learn but like in general when it comes to if I was fearful to speak out normally not no because I only let out what I anyway already have inside of me so that means you know this is something important maybe I don't know if there are public speakers or so sometimes listening but I concentrate on just I can only talk about stuff I have inside yes that's why very rarely I try to come up with new ideas or anything like this uh which doesn't come from me then I don't feel comfortable and it's an authentic yeah it's not authentic you mentioned about having you know I don't know how much you weigh in pounds you know pounds pounds I can tell in kilograms I think it's like 65 at the moment so it's probably like you're pretty tiny in terms of weight right I mean you're like compared to me I'm a big guy I'm 245 pounds I don't know what that is in kilograms I think it's almost half so you're you're like I think you're probably like 140 pounds okay I don't know somewhere around there yes so I'm 100 pounds more than you right I would I would say roughly um how do you prepare I'm not trained in martial arts like you so I don't even think I could punch through uh whatever without the proper training but with my mass I can do certain things physically just with mass alone but I couldn't do certain things without the right method intention and training how would you or how do you prepare for a punch let's say in this situation with what is the intention and the process before punching when you know you need more than just physical Mass to break through what you're punching what does that process look like sometimes it's about giving and sometimes it's about taking this is the balance sometimes you need to give sometimes you need to take and so that means the training is also in a way up exactly like this you have of course training methods in order for you to practice your body mechanics your mind in order to express to give but at the same time you also need for it that it is like complete a complete system you also need all of these methods where you are learning to take it's not about you now giving something it's about you getting the impact what does that look like to receive something before the punch that is like typically what we regard as its so-called hardening training so hardening training which means all the areas that are vulnerable on your body there are ways to develop it that at least they are not so easily to be penetrated right not as weak anymore not as weak anymore of course it all has a certain limit but the limits can be quite High yeah what are the places on the body that are most vulnerable that you train to harden and strengthen I think as a martial artist especially all of the areas of your limbs that normally have the first contact with your counterpart the shin which means it's the forearm for low the forearm on top it's in our case it's the wrist and that wrist is look at your wrist if you bend it man look at that that's hardened yeah yeah so it's the forearms it's the elbows sometimes it's for the shoulder then it's Denise of course it's the shin bones and it is the chest but this is not to to give it is for you to take because sometimes people punch still on the chest so okay how do you harden all these places it's just a matter of striking repeatedly until you break something like right before breaking it or just Harding it little by little and going stronger so now it really comes into a whole and this is this is the nice part why still after 35 years I'm still like diving even in into this area and why this Shaolin arts for me is just giving me so many answers because for example the way how this way of hardening was taught to me follows a very specific structure so and this structure for example is called you start with the wooden level afterwards you still have four other elements which are in the Chinese traditional medicine or the traditional Chinese medicine or in the field of Chinese ancient knowledge we have not just yin and yang we have also the five transformation faces but fire metal Earth and water yes so I said number one is wooden level you want to develop something about yourself you start with wood wood yeah now why would because I'm not now many people misconfuse for example now if we talk about those five transformation phases they often let's say think about the real element meaning the piece of wood fire that's burning okay but if you go another Step Beyond it we talk about the qualities of these elements and what do you have in Buddha for example means it is still on the verge of growing so that means inside of wood you still have Uprising we call it energy yeah because the wood is still in the process of developing something it's growing it's growing yeah you see and this is why sometimes we also say yeah this is where you start the day because sleeping is for us winter time you're stagnating your your inside of yourself everything is calm everything is quiet winter time no birds outside not many people outside it's cold you are at retreat and after winter comes spring so spring and winter time how to do they differ for example just by the feeling of you standing in front of your house standing there in winter time and then comparing it just to the feeling now spring is there you know the grass already started slowly growing the birds maybe already start singing more people come out of the house a little bit more smiling than usual so you feel something is rising so and it is this type of energy this type of feeling that we need to get used in our body first because we want to develop something I want something inside of me to develop because you just you know you just touch it's not just that it looks like this but you can feel underneath it that the structure has changed yeah of all of it yes so that means you want to develop something after a week comparison and this is why you need proper methods repetition is key knowing the right methods and at the same time also important even if it's not well known it's important to have not just the methods and internal knowledge about these things but at the same time I can also only say you need medicine what type one that helps you recover quicker than other things because if you are starting to do something like this to grow something about yourself um Beyond normal abilities that means you are also need a regeneration which is beyond natural and therefore you need some supportive medicine what type of medicines are used very often it is herbs it is a mixture of herbs like that you drink with a tea at night or you eat internal medicine is mostly taken just with a glass of warm water internal medicine and external medicine is one that you are treating all the injuries that you have after your training wow and this type of training also is not just a one-time practice it is something you do on a regular basis so and back to the question what what do I what do I prepare when we go into a confrontation on that day I prepare nothing anymore I hope that I have prepared in the previous years just good enough to just face you however you are sure because to change something on the day never happened yeah you know that's why sometimes people say you just fight how you train or you train how you fight that's the thing it's not just like you reinvent yourself on the day where you have a competition no on the day of the competition what you can do is just put and express what you have if you didn't have it on that day it's not going to come because you do something about it about that day and so there also goes now this idea about we don't know what this lifetime is going to throw at us is going to what type of challenges we're going to face but therefore it's always nice and me personally it also gives me a a good sense of being prepared if I just know that I went through a lot of things already where sometimes you ask but why do you do it how often will it happen in lifetime it doesn't matter even if it happens one time I better be prepared this is how what I prefer right right you've been training for essentially 35 years of your life in some different form whether it be physical training mental training emotional training but specifically for the last 15 years you've really been having a a disciplined life at the temple and you've been practicing martial arts on those at five days a week or seven days a week physically mentally emotionally in that discipline and in that practice the the fourth hindrance that you talked about that I've seen is restlessness can you talk about what is restlessness and do you ever face it yourself in this practice and in this discipline so the restlessness there is a nice picture you can always think about we say it's the monkey mind monkey mind meaning there's always one you're jumping from one sword to another from one branch to another what it means is that you are Maybe having contact with a lot of branches but it's very difficult to really focus and concentrate on one thing specifically now why would I say that it is important to learn and concentrate on one thing specifically because this is the pure expression of what the Buddhist teaching or also the Shaolin teachings are about you can spend your time traveling this whole world always visiting different lakes and oceans but the way how you are visiting Douglas you drive on the on the on the coastline of it watch over it say okay that's the ocean and then you keep on driving to the next one which means what you do is you keep traveling the world watching at the surface of each of these lakes and oceans I do think that if you just stay with the Pacific Ocean and start diving down into it you will never ever again need to visit another lake or ocean in order to make discoveries so the point is that it is about going deeper going deeper means it is going to give you an insight and so what is Buddhist teaching about to give you insights into what sometimes into your body sometimes into your mind so what's the problem with the restlessness you don't gain insight because the monkey all the time is jumping too much and staying too much on that surface area and now translated it just means that on the average day whatever job you are doing you do it under your possible potential and also what it means is it's like you can't really you can't really Embrace what you actually have there you know it's like you were at work you are supposed to concentrate and work write down your emails but all the time you're already like jumping around making plans for the weekend who to call or that you are hungry or that you are thirsty what movie to watch this is how you behave when you're at work then afterwards you drive home and maybe the family is waiting for you and now it's a good example but the children or your wife or your husband want to spend time with you but they can see very clearly your body is there your mind is not there you're not present yeah you're just not present so then then sometimes the question this is why do we have the wife and the husband if you don't pay them the necessary respect and attention that they let's say deserve or also towards your children and if it's a conscious decision why you don't pay attention to them well there's something different then it's really the question why do you have one family then but that restlessness can also mean it happens unconsciously yeah yeah and maybe for you yourself you don't realize it but people around you they realize very quickly if you are with them or not right and I just think that this is hindering you now in that picture of of reaching that mountain or reaching that goal it's hindering you because whatever you do you don't do it properly mm-hmm you jump from one to another you maybe have you maybe have touched many different surfaces but none of them you can really you don't really have an Insight yet even delving deep into it yeah the fifth one you talk about hindrance that holds people back is skeptical doubt what is what is skeptical doubt and why do we have it okay why do we have it I don't know I really I really don't know what it means therefore or what it still means is you need to trust in what you do um once you have put something into your mind don't let anyone else stop it anymore [Music] um no I have to be careful how I say this of course sometimes you can see here but come on this is now really a really stupid idea it's really stupid so like obviously stupid but what I'm talking about is that if you continuously develop yourself educate yourself train yourself seriously observe yourself try to be honest with yourself listen to the opinions of other people and after all of this you finally come up with a plan this one now don't talk anymore the plan that before that you have well thought of that you have taken time to establish it where you spend weeks and months of figuring out should you really do it it is this type of plan we are skeptical doubt is not necessary you don't need it anymore yeah no if you are still in the field or in that area of you are unsure don't start the journey yeah so if you're still in the field of uh that mountain is so high do you really think I can reach the top but it looks dangerous if you're still in that state don't even start all right that if that this evaluation of your wrists and shoot you and your benefits and all of this you make that before you make that in the moment where you still have time and space to to look for yourself is it really what you want and make a plan this is what's happening in in those we call it 99 you stay calm you stay relaxed spend 99 of your lifetime relax but that one percent is the other way 99 I'm a very peaceful person very peaceful I'm a very easy going person I think and as long as I stay in the 99 percent stays like this right but if somebody forces you into the one percent then at least it is my attitude which is like this one percent is one percent inside the one percent there is no compromise of jumping back into the 99 anymore that's why the 99 is so big because you have time to really think about what are you willing to do what are you willing to sacrifice what is it worse for you fighting for this is the 99 percent and the one percent there is the no compromise you decide you walk the path then here we go and this is what I relate to personally to this idea of that skeptical doubt you shouldn't have it anymore once you're clear once you've got the game plan once you've assessed the risk all that stuff yes yes you have this four-step method you call Rain to help you clear your mind and overcome these hindrances uh can you share with these four-step method is so for example once you are once you know or have understood about yourself what type of mental States these hindrances for example represent yeah the way how we just try to explain to them every time one of these mental States pops up into your mind which means positive emotion negative emotion ill will you feel depressed you feel weak you feel that lack of power you have this restlessness inside of you or you have um what was the last one oh the skeptical doubt or or the skeptical doubt coming up so most important is you need to realize it realize that it is just there sometimes you realize it sometimes you recognize it this is the idea why it's a very very nice simile to remember those four methods later on what we regard as rain r-a-i-n and we are at the moment with the r meaning you recognize and you realize that apparently at this moment in time you are finding yourself in one of these mental states which are representing hindrances okay now the next step what are you doing after you have recognized that you are in it now starts the point where it becomes very helpful if we start to analyze and analyzing meaning you do everything that is in your possibilities to just ask questions about why did it come up mm-hmm what what did it trigger when did it exactly come up how actually did this feeling in the first place get into yourself when was for example the first time that you realized that you are having this type of mental state so what analyzing means is you try to look into your past also yeah is it something related to the education of your parents is it something related to an idea that you caught up from I don't know from where so analyzing means that you make an investigation investigation means this time you go deeper this is where we are at the eye already oh yeah third one yeah I is investigation a I'm sorry I said the analyze analyze no it's accept it's accept sorry you're good accept it accept it accept it acknowledge it the difference is when you acknowledge something and accept something it is that you're not pushing it away um you're not resisting it you're not resisting it you know and the reason for that is as long as something is not accepted or not acknowledged it can't be changed because it is still outside of you see so if I have like a mental state anything like this and I say yes it's there but but I want to have it gone then what you're trying to do in this approach is you're separating you're trying to separate it but this is not the way this method is expressing if this method tells you it is there why is it there it's because something inside of you already is resonating with it so it's a matter of you it's your business so now what you're doing is I accept the business I take it I understand okay it's my business that is the acknowledgment the acceptance that you are saying okay I'm going to take care of it this is like that A Part why it is important if you reject it if you don't embrace it it can't be changed and then now in the third step now comes the investigation this is where you ask the questions so that means where you try to find out more you want to become familiar you want to take that feeling into your family make him become part of you and make you become friend of you understanding it is a part of you but maybe it's just a misunderstanding of the way how you saw it before this is like the either the investigation of asking questions yeah finding out more about it where does it come from who implemented it into your way of seeing the world and ultimately the last step after this type of process is what we call non-identification now non-identification is quite similar to what I try to express before that you sometimes need to stand above you and see from that perspective how can you support yourself how can you support that person to get into [Music] the next development stage yeah for example yeah this is one one type of non-identification but at the same time also means nothing stays as it is nothing stays as it is just as sometimes things are so overwhelming entering into your life it can happen the other way around as well and I mean you just need to everybody just look back into your personal life how many bad moments did you have in the past how many times did you suffer in the past how often we were already thinking like this is the end of the world girlfriend left you boyfriend left you know different different occasions yeah but none of them stayed yeah that is like also the other the other Truths Behind it you know and the great part like I also said already in our conversation is the way how you are able to use either the imagination or just like the abilities of the mind yeah because you can turn it both ways either you see it as why did it come so suddenly before you see the opposite yeah it's going to leave right right so I mean that's the other side of course in this world we are living that um we human we we humans and the society I think it's more more easily being torn towards the positive or towards a very certain side let's say but this is because of I think the developments of our 21st century where there are certain values being propagated there is no propaganda in learn how to be poor learn how to deal with failure learn how to not be successful learn how to accept the way how you are not how to make yourself more beautiful and try to stay beautiful there is a different agenda going on in the 21st century and based on that I do think that the mindset also has shifted therefore in trying to fulfill the expectations what is present in our nowadays world but it's your personal decision it's really important for me to really say this again and again I'm not here to judge whether something is good or whether something is bad but I'm just saying that if you have placed something upon your mind that right now you are trying with your lifetime to make it become real but this is what you're trying to put into this life it's not even an idea that comes from you I just uh want to express that I think it can go very wrong to one day find out that you have lived a life and invested your lifetime following up on a vision on an expectation or anything like this which first of all was never something initially coming from yourself and afterwards even if you followed up on it and achieved it afterwards realize it doesn't give you what you were looking for in this lifetime yeah then that's just how it is yeah this has been about the five hindrances that hold people back from mastering their inner selves and really feeling more abundance peace love and joy I'm loving everything we're talking about and I want to ask you now I want to transition into a new topic about how to manifest your dream future and how you think we can step into this if someone has a vision a dream that they want to manifest something where do you think we should begin in this process of dreaming and manifesting the future and I know you've talked about Heaven man Earth concept that's helped you manifest a vision is this something that we should think about and if so what's this concept can you explain it so this sentence Heaven man Earth Heaven above us men in the center earth below us it's just expressing from the same let's say family of teaching the same that also we find in the area of the yin and yang symbol it's just a little bit more detailed meaning there is something inside of us humans which we say has some Heavenly connection at the same time there is something about us humans which has a very uh strong Foundation rooted in the earth so let's start with the Earthly aspects about ourselves so Earth means for me first of all I can see it if I fly on the plane no matter where if I look down I know where to look to see the Earth right so what does it mean it means there is something to see our whole world is based on seeing what is it that you can see you can only see something that has a shape something without a shape you can't see but talking about you can see it talking about it has a shape what is the nature of a shape a nature of a shape separating it's separating what is inside the shape and what is outside of the shape it's separated so one quality of the earth is it's based already from the let's say from the natural Side based upon separation based upon this is life and this is death this is growth and this is decay and now our body our physical body how come when we were born we maybe had our like three kilograms four kilograms baby and now look at how huge we have become not me you look how much like we have we have grown yes so where all of this come from right they're very easily set from the food from the nutrition from everything that we have taken and give our body to eat or to drink even if it is meanwhile some products are created in a laboratory but even the resources for that ultimately everything comes just from the Earth so if you know just follow up on that thought our body is created upon let's say individual aspects from this Earth that by Nature already are limited in a way limiting inside and outside so limiting that means our body automatically is limited it is what we call nowadays lifetime so simply set sorry for the long explanation sure but that is what it means for me it is no doubt about it I don't need to philosophy around it I can see it this is out of question it's gonna go that is the Earth part about ourself at the same time giving me insights you want to change something about that what is it to take care of everything that comes from the earth very easily which means food drinks depressed yeah yeah so that is like how I would use now this concept to in my daily life to just understand okay this body comes from there so the better the quality of the ingredients I put into this the more quality this can generate that is the Earth's aspect and in comparison now to that Earth we have that heaven aspect Heaven aspect called like this because looking up into the sky it's really difficult to tell where does the sky end meaning heaven stands for something which is borderless there are no borders in the sky and so what is it inside of us humans that I sink we have something similar like this that is for me the way of how you are able to use your mind because sometimes you can use the mind and create something you have never seen in this world you're creating something in the mind you have never seen it in person why because it's not existing yet yet you can see it here this can mean a fear also a fear what's going to happen tomorrow a fear what will happen to my children if I will not be able to take care of them anymore so there is something you're projecting already that is not here yet it's not real you are projected inside of you and the feelings based upon that way of thinking still makes it real to you even though it's not in the world yet yes so this is what how you need to be careful what you're creating on the mind this is the reason why it's the so important to know what are you placing Inside the Mind because it's so powerful yes but now assuming that we all do not want to create our own descent or Decay anything like this let's say this is not what we want but we want to have something that we would like to create yeah let's say so the I the question right now is how do I get something from what at the moment is only in my mind into something that it becomes what we would call real when is something real it's real when it's here when also other people can see it not just you in the mind then it's real you know because like you can imagine you have like some beautiful women as a girlfriend yeah but no one else sees it but nobody else sees it yeah it's only real if there's another witness who sees you and that girl walking together then it's real so and how do we make this now happen it is on the one side of course you need to plan you need a small step-by-step plan and I really think that meanwhile uh especially like in modern businesses of is very similar like when you make project management you break your ideas of course down into walkable steps so that's why I think I don't need to say so much to it but along this plan along this way of let's say trying to make it become real this can also mean you need to find more and more ways how does something so fine like your thoughts start to shape into a form so it is about find ways to give it expression can you explain yes write it down on paper it's one way of giving thoughts and expression speaking about it speaking it out to your friends more people know about it writing it onto your fridge something where the sword starts to enter into your visible world this is the small steps that just support you on this mission these are small things The Next Step would be whatever you would like to achieve there what skills are necessary do you have the skills now a little bit more a little bit more nicely drawn it means you want to go on a mission but at the moment you don't know yet in which direction you have to move so that means the first thing in order for you to answer this question which direction to move is you need to know your location and this now translated into so what is it I'm supposed to do who are you at the moment what your what are your abilities at this very moment what do you have available time wise yeah Financial wise it doesn't matter what in which situation are you right now so we need to see where is our actual location so and from there now it starts at least now you have a hint if you want to go there but at the moment you don't know yet where are you located if you're located here you know you need to walk here East if you are located here it's not East because then you're going to make a long way so that it really depends on where are you located and this is why it's from person to person it's different and I cannot always tell to the same person so you want to go there go east you want to go there too you also go east no because they are not starting from the same position yeah some people have already some education and some experience previously that will immensely help them to already like start from a different uh point so but where have we been skilled and now this is the part we are also jumping back into what is Shaolin also known for known for abilities of the practitioners which are normally above average human abilities yeah and this doesn't come because um we bought it somewhere you practice it yes but there is a very specific type now of practice and this is maybe also interesting what actually is that original meaning of uh David Carradine Kung Fu kung fu this kung fu Kung Fu meaning it's attaining a skill through hard work [Music] that is important attaining a skill through hard work why is only this one what we call Kung Fu because this kung fu is not about fighting at the moment it is about something that you have for example also developed you also have Kung Fu it is something that you have you can do you got and if somebody else in this room would like to have the same ability like you you cannot buy it um he cannot just like wish to have it there's only one way how a person would ever get to the same skill set like you have he needs to go through the same training effort sweating suffering consistently yeah like you and this is what we regard as these are the skills we are looking for I'm not looking for a skill that I can Outsource I'm looking for skills I have done and nobody else in this world can copy if you want a copy well then you need to train you need to do the same right and so that means along this way you also realize in developing those skills right now actually this is a way to make something unique about you [Music] and this uniqueness goes hand in hand with unbroken willpower that you put into it and with that vision of yourself that this is what you want and this is what you're gonna do and so it is a combination it is a combination of you need to work for it but also at the same time have the mindset also that backs up your battle plan yeah and why do you think most people fail to manifest what they want is it because they don't have the discipline The Willpower the consistency is it because they're not strong enough or willing to develop the strength why do they fail at manifesting I think it is a question of time [Music] in my word people are repeating the same mistakes over and over again because they haven't overcome them yet they're still level one you're gonna keep failing at level one yes they haven't they haven't beaten that level yet yes master the level yes but it's out of question for me that they will why is that because you can touch three times on the hot heat plate and it hurts three times you touch the fourth time it still hurts fifth time still hurts there will come the day they say ah no more no no more no more yeah it might take a while I expressed it maybe like in a funny way but it's true though it is even set like this in the teachings yeah you cannot teach someone not willing to be taught don't waste your time on people or to teach people that are not having the willingness to learn don't waste this is also the reason why this what I try to present right now we don't have missionaries going out like saying look we have the answers to your problems we don't do that stuff because if people aren't receptive to it it's not going to work exactly if people are becoming ready how how do they know they become ready it's because they start to ask different questions right and once you start to ask the question soon or later in this lifetime let's just say what happens after death let's just assume this one this question only we can ask people that are right now Starving in the world they are not asking what happens after death people that are feeling too good they're also not coming up with this type of question so that means whoever is asking this question already is at a certain level in his life in his development of the Mind yeah and and this is like why I appreciate this type of teaching so much because for every person there is the right time there's nothing to hurry there's nothing to worry it's in each individual hands so why do they fail at the moment I could say because they haven't failed enough yet in order to make the next step or because they were didn't take that didn't see the lesson yet from that failure I don't know I don't know there are so many different reasons why people then do not continue but it's just a question of time until they will right I've made many mistakes over and over and over again until finally I said oh wait it's not what I want anymore let me really take a step back and reevaluate why this keeps happening why I'm at the source of all these mistakes happening over and over again for 15 20 years and let me start to look at it differently and approach it differently and it wasn't until I experienced so much pain and suffering where I was like okay no more I'm done with this way of acting being experiencing relationships whatever it might be and I'm going to redefine what I want and step and act accordingly and it took a lot of pain to get there I was the one that touched the hot pan you know 100 times probably right until I finally said okay this doesn't work but I think that's what we get each one of us gets to be on our own timing and learn the lesson the way we need to whereas other things in my life I learned very quickly you know I make one mistake and okay I don't want to do that and let me learn it you know let me improve um I'm curious in your life where's the lesson that you feel like you haven't fully learned yet you keep touching the hot plate just a little bit is there any area that still causes pain or that still you haven't something I it's a observed about myself also in the way how I grew up and also like afterwards now watching what type of let's say uh Hobbies I spent my time in there is something I witnessed about myself which is always I cannot leave the things as they are I always have the urge to optimize so that means optimize the bike is the car optimize the engine optimize myself optimize the body optimize the Mind optimize the life so at the moment my biggest journey I still have to say is really yeah at the end these are all just like optimized this life itself is for me the uh the area we've just discovered yeah so the thing is I don't know where this journey is going uh yeah and this is maybe something also so you don't have to always optimize is what you're saying yes maybe just let it be and just experience it and just sit with it yes inefficient inefficient sometimes yeah to find that balance yeah okay you know many years now already I have spent in optimizing striving for goals also like also like training wise yeah so people always maybe misconfuse a misconfuse a little bit so how could I have reached all these graduation for example or reach any type of position in the field of martial arts because that is a difference inside the field of martial arts you are not being measured by how much you can talk in the field of martial arts you are being measured by does it work or doesn't it work is it a factor or ineffective for example yeah and so that means of course there is some fire inside of me in order to push through a lot of these hardships when it comes to the training so that means it is still related to I want something but now to purely taken the Buddhist teaching Buddhist teaching is not about what you want Buddhist teaching is about what can we take away from you until it is uncovered again what you really are you know so we have this world nowadays on the one side where it is about in the picture speaking you're feeling not complete that's why first of all you go to the school until you get your college degree but even with that college degree you are not completed so that means you make a further education even with the University degree you are not complete because you need a job one job is not complete second job okay second job there's still something missing in your life you need a family now now you need a car but actually the second car wouldn't be so bad so you get the point there is something about you never enough wherever in which position you are located in your lifetime apparently you are never enough there's always something more to add that is the One Direction and what we nowadays know as the Buddhist teachings doesn't have this approach the Buddhist teaching says you come to this world as an empty cup then your parents put their drop inside of you the teachers put their knowledge inside of you the advertising the government the schools your friends the parents of your friends so a lot of different influences ideas Concepts what you are supposed to do in this life is starting to fill up your cup now really simply said what Buddha is teaching now is is to say look all of that stuff inside there it's not coming from you um so that means spend some time and learn to empty the car make that cup empty then you will realize who you really are what your essence is the way how you came to this earth previous to the question when you ask when was life let's say easier as a child or as an adult like I said I think as a child because that cup as a child is not so full yet it's empty not completely empty but more empty than now as an adult now you have the burden to cover the expectations to fulfill the role you have to play this is why I think it's more difficult now yeah and so that means you have these two approaches learning to get rid learning to let go is one area learning to attain is the second and the balance of this I think this is the biggest challenge wow I love that you're I love your your thoughts around mindset and your thoughts around how we can think in a certain way that can either impact us and be useful or hurt us and be ineffective and pull us backwards from manifesting the future that we really Envision the dream future I'm curious what are the daily thoughts that people should should generate to keep focused on their vision and not fall back into pains or problems of the past no that what came flying before when I said you need a you need a commitment I didn't mean commitment you need an affirmation affirmation is the word for your goal that you set into your life for whatever you want to develop yourself in you need to connect it with the personal affirmation that is something that that fuels it this is what fuels actions yeah just similar like I say before in the Kung Fu training for example you are learning techniques you are learning body mechanics yeah but that is something you learn on the outside it's the form it's the shape that you are supposed to take in why you make let's say this movement you need it yes but there's something more that you need you need something that is going to fuel that movement you need something that fills up that form so and now just to to explain to you you have no real drive to fight you don't want to win you don't care know how to do it against somebody who needs to do it because it's about an existential question no matter what type okay there is a different Spirit behind it if you meet those two people somebody who has nothing to lose and puts everything on one card because you have no choice either you make it now or your family suffer you fight differently so that means not always the technique the form that you see on the outside that is so impactful what is it that fuels your actions your daily actions what fuels when you walk to the office prepared to do the work what fuels you to invite other people waking up every day even if it's hard even sometimes you're sick you still go to the office and do the work and that fuel I think is very very essential and yes and I can only imagine even if maybe you don't call it like this or people are not officially expressing it like this I cannot imagine there is one person existing in this world who in some way has achieved something without an affirmation I think it doesn't exist well what's your affirmation I think we are all connected [Music] on the one side I really love this life so as long as I can I would like to experience the variety of everything that is existing here but at the same time I've also see it as part of my obligation that if I have a possibility to do something that supports other people along the way this is what I do yeah I just think this is this is what you do in a family I'm curious about your thoughts on the actions people should take in order to manifest and it seems to me like they're that the world there's a lot of weakness in the world people don't have in general a lot of people don't have the discipline the actions that create good habits that support them in being consistent you know having the right thoughts the right actions all those things and I and I wanted to ask you about how can we you know you train the body right you're training the limbs the weaknesses your your callusing the bones and all these things to take on more Force more stress how do we Harden certain things in us but all while also keeping our hearts open loving compassionate giving how do we do both in this process always when there is something consisting of two aspects at least or both like you mentioned the answer is always balanced so so now the practical ways what I would suggest okay you need a healthy body you need a healthy body that means choose any type of physical activity it really doesn't matter it only matters that you understand all your wishes all your dreams all the goals that you are putting to yourself what you want to achieve in this lifetimes they all are not going to matter anymore if your body is not going to be on the earth to witness these things right you got to take care of it simply said but what we're talking about right now greatness means you want to bring something out of yourself which is not average this is not what the mess is able to do if the if it is something that the messes are not able to do which means your body yourself the way how you're sinking the way how your training can't be average [Music] so in our field keep the body not just healthy but watch out for methods to make your body really performant performant for that specific area where you may be later want to find yourself in because let's just say if I want to become a truck driver I could never do it because my mind and my body probably is just not made for so long distances and this type of concentration which is needed well you know so I have definitely a lot of respect of all the truck drivers but I can feel it is something I couldn't do there is a performance necessary in these type of areas that I have not developed in myself it's like I can also watch back in my past I uh I had a lot of ill will when it came to running around the track the track sprinting never a problem I enjoyed you have long distances yeah so that means short burst of energy a lot of energy in a short period this is what I really feel like what that body is made for with long distance which is draining this is draining me yeah yeah so but we were at the body which means just physicality activity Vitality yoga many things you can do but there should be something yeah and when when we lack confidence when we lack the belief in ourselves the esteem the self-esteem how do we learn to overcome the things that we that we doubt about ourselves and gain more confidence not just in the material skill acquiring world but in the spiritual world how do we gain more confidence yeah I think we're entering into an area that for me personally matters a lot why I think look um it seems like at the moment 21st century everything is about everybody can do what he wants we are free to express there's no hierarchy because we're all humans there's no hierarchy between all of us seeing as a human being there is no hierarchy I agree but if you want to learn something there is a hierarchy and the hierarchy is there are people who already possess what you want to learn and there are people who don't possess what is possible to be learned so if I want to develop myself and I want to learn something attain a skill at the moment I would just look out in the world first of all to see who possesses that skill because it might be that you think about something but there's nobody else in the world who at the moment possesses it so it maybe is a little bit unrealistic that it even exists but if you want to have something first of all look for the places or the persons that have it very easily and very often that means you are meeting in our tradition now you are meeting Masters you are meeting a person who has already mastered a certain ability because you see it and then you say yes he has it and then the next question is how does now either the knowledge or the skill is being transmitted how does it come to you now and like I said from my tradition there's only one way you need to get into a student Master relationship a master student relationship and a master student relationship there is no democracy right that's what the master says you do and I do think that in the field of where we are talking right now as well sometimes you need a mentor sometimes you need to surround yourself with people that are already standing at a certain point where you maybe would like to go to these are the people with experience these are the people that walk the past already that you right now would like to walk so I think there is a difference in a way of how then you talk to these people how then you also see yourself in regards to these people and this is what opens up doors which means you are regarding yourself as a student this is what it means in our tradition if you think you are equal to the rest of the world you are equal this is a type of wrong Pride I have to say [Music] because it absolutely stops you from further development and learning really what you would like to learn so getting surrounded searching for people that are already in that area where you would like to move to is also one of the next steps for example I would look for yeah so it is about with what type of people are you surrounded one side how are you taking care of your body other side so now taking care of the Mind how do you do this in order to know what is important to you it's necessary to also know unimportant things unimportant thing unimportant things it's not necessary from seven days a week to only do important things because ultimately importance is a question which is also very subjective yeah importance for this life nothing is too important yeah what I mean is you need balance you consciously sometimes need to do something where you really feel this is really unimportant yeah just doing whatever yeah because it keeps something inside of you open if you only do the important things only be focused you can only be focused because there's another state inside of you which is you're open-minded you are open-minded you are um you're able to receive um Focus there is no receiving anymore there is all there's already that guided intention of yours so switching the state of mind putting yourself consciously into different states of mind I think this belongs to the category of Mind development and they are different ways how you can put this into practice and I can now maybe share the way what we use in the monastery please I think it is super helpful if you are learning to work in Cycles Cycles Cycles so for example when it comes to you need a new skill you want to develop something you need to learn how to program you need to learn how to use a new software program you need to learn accounting I don't know you need to learn to do the web page something about you need to you want to develop something new about you I think the most effective way is to cut off yourself for a certain period of time and do nothing else in between for that period for that cycle can you give me an example yes this is a really simple example but it involves something more if you want to change something about the appearance of your skin you're not satisfied with your skin so the good message is it probably is the quickest to to do something about it the quickest why because because it lies right on the surface because it's right on the outside of the body so it's easily treatable so which means to a seven day treatment where you take care of the body seven days long going to the sonar cream yourself what seven days after seven days I'm sure if you do it it looks different now we go a layer deeper you want to change something about your muscles the muscles are lying underneath the skin meaning not so easy accessible anymore which automatically means the cycle needs to become longer seven days muscle training no it's not gonna be enough so let's say 30 days yes maybe not visibly but feelable definitely go even more deeper into the area of your tendons your sinews your fascia 30 days is not enough because this is changing a very this is going even deeper into your system try to change something there so the Cycles become longer right so the deeper within the field of martial arts we get into our body until the bone the longer these Cycles become that you need to dedicate your time in practicing and similar I would say it is like now when it comes to the training of skills that modern people nowadays want to develop you need to ask yourself how much of a of a software hack is it that you're trying to put upon yourself how deep is it embedded the deeper it is the more time those Cycles need the more often you need to repeat those Cycles but the main point is that I don't think it is senseful and a good method within a 30-day month to like spread it apart to have too many things at the same time here you make that skill here you make that here you make another one I think it's not effective go all in on one thing for a cycle yes now maybe of course people say yeah but I can't concentrate on one well concentrate on three better on three than on ten yeah yeah this is the main point what I mean sure because it's not just physically that we are transforming it is it is mental changes it is emotional changes it is physical changes and they just don't go so quickly if you jump too much right right and also they don't penetrate deep enough they don't penetrate deep enough for you to have a lasting impression of what it is that you're trying to develop there yeah which means also before when we said mind training or how do I react to to ill will towards other people I talked about the hard qualities hard qualities you make one a week which means let's just say we take the hard quality of gratefulness gratefulness means you go to your clothes room you close your eyes if you want to put some music on but normally you better try without music and then you recall all the moments in your lifetime where you think gratefulness was apparent in those these moments the gratefulness that you felt because you know uh like yeah Lewis so thank you very much for this interview and for that cup of water you know this is like talking gratefulness has never been about talking um either you have it or you don't have it it's feeling it experiencing gratitude yes so this is why in order to get to that feeling again every human had it in his lifetime just sometimes it has been too much in the past and it has been forgotten yeah that's why we need to dig it out and therefore recall the moments where you sink yes towards that person I really felt that gratefulness then then it's like a small flame pops up and you there it is it's not clear defined yet but you feel there is something and now for example what we use is you breathe into the feeling and try use also like your mind to make that grow right okay maybe it's a little bit more feelable it feels maybe strange to many people but since you are asking me how do the ancient Traditions look like what are the messes this is the way how we do it okay you realize there's something you want it to grow means you need to put energy into it how do you put energy into it by using your intention in going there and so like this on day one it becomes like a small pellet of gratefulness of you know that you feel but now you stay one week long on the second day it's already easier to identify than this already and you stay one week long cultivating cultivating until it's very easy for you now to identify especially to identify if people who who apparently seem to be grateful towardsu if they really are because the good part is that now that you know how it feels you just you don't only know it how it feels inside of you but you can detect it in other people yeah this is that special part why um why all this development always starts with yourself because I know how my body is aligned I know how your body is aligned because I know the weak points of my body I know the weak points of your body and this is that idea that sometimes you can't change people around you you can't look into the heads of other people but what you can do at all times every day is to do something about what is in your own hands yourself this is why this idea of turn the finger around do something about yourself develop yourself invest in yourself you grow as a human being you grow in skills all of these things they will naturally just follow because in the moment where you are starting to express something that people nowadays are not seeing often anymore you just become the magnet this is how it is why because people are are used already to average every day they see average yeah but now they start to see something different they start to see somebody another attitude towards life and so this Fields I think very like a magnet and so all of this you don't even need to probably go there it's going to come to you everything you want to create starts to come to you only if you work on yourself yeah how often do you embody gratitude and practice it on a daily basis are you we have therefore our Ceremonies for example yes our ceremonies in the monastery which always evening time nine o'clock and there we have parts of this type of cultivation integrated in the ceremony really do you think we can manifest a beautiful life without gratitude no no it might feel like it it might seem like it But ultimately no way relative it's the key to abundance it's a key to being a magnet to drawing in the things you truly want they create a beautiful life I've got a few final questions for you this has been a fascinating uh before I ask those questions I want to make sure people follow you online because your content is amazing you also have a 12 month course a program that people can follow if they want more of this mental training the philosophies that you've provided the things that you've learned that you teach to others it'll help people in their life improve their life but also physical a lot yeah physical stuff as well in there um so they can get this 12-month course at Shaolin Dot online for all the information there plus information about the temple the practices the teaching your work uh speaking and other things as you do some speaking I'm not sure how much you'll be doing in the future but every now and then you'll be doing some also people need to follow you on social media Instagram at Xiaolin Dot online for that and if you look up Sheldon Temple dot Europe on Facebook you'll see it there as well and if they look up your name they'll see lots of great content loss of great TED Talks you've done videos we'll have a lot of this linked up in the show notes but I just wanted to say I'm grateful for you for being here and I've got a couple of final questions I have so many more things I want to ask you but you'll have to come back on another time save your voice for the next time but this is a question I ask everyone towards the end of my conversations it's a hypothetical question so imagine you live as long as you want to live in this physical three-dimensional space-time reality I think I heard you say 108 108 years another day it sounds good right yeah so imagine you're 108 right and you get to live the life you envision everything you want to do it happens you create it you overcome you've learned you master all these different areas of life and you serve and impact the world through your teachings but for whatever reason this hypothetical scenario at 108 years old um you have to take all of your content and message with you so this conversation goes to the next place all the TED Talks all the interviews you've ever done for whatever reason they're not here in this physical world anymore hypothetical scenario but you get to leave behind three lessons with the world three lessons from all of your teachings and all your learnings and this is for whatever reason all you could share these truths that I like to say what would be those three truths for you if you could only Share three you know that this is a really super hard question I know I gotta get you to think a little harder you know sounds super funny especially if I'm not going to talk about it but one message is just a flower if you want a flower in a pot it doesn't matter the first message one I don't even need to speak about it slower in the bottle this number one what does that mean a flower in a pot he means everything there is a history behind it the future of that flower in a ways in your hand the care is integrated the nature is integrated no words to be speaking sometimes you don't need to speak about it it's feelable what needs to be done okay no so this is one message let's say okay that's number one number two keep community it's not necessary to always be right it's more important to also have backup if you're not right that feels better and the third I gotta challenge you you know I gotta yeah I got a challenge already you do already number three is it's repeating it's repeating it's repeating everything just as I said it it's repeating this is what's now kind of Matrix stuff yes it's the Inception I love it um Master Hong Yi I want to acknowledge you for the gift you are in this world for being um a symbol of inspiration for a lot of people and for dedicating Decades of your life to mastering certain skills and philosophies practicing them and teaching them to others I want to acknowledge you for for showing up here present open loving giving vulnerable wise and giving us his time and this energy from again you're near 40 years of existence and lessons I really appreciate how you show up in your level of discipline your level of commitment to your message to your community that you have into the world so I really appreciate your time here um again I want people to go and follow you I want them to get your course Shaolin Dot online channelline on social media um well I'll link up a lot of the TED talks and all the other information that you guys can learn more about the temple in Europe and I recommend people seeing if they can get to your temple too I know you guys host certain Retreats there for people to to study to practice for shorter periods of time so they can see and experience smaller groups so you can go to the website learn more about that if you feel called to learning more then go to the website for that is there any other way that we can support and serve you right now besides sending people there and following your message online not really the only thing that since I started sharing out all of these methods what gave me super much confidence also of why I also came here now I can tell you I also did some search here where actually it's Lewis house come from and it makes me so happy to Meanwhile have that chance that I met so many people who from nothing built up so huge things um and what does it show me it means there is something that you can get but you also need to give something back you need to develop something about yourself in order to be able to receive these gifts from the world and if you are selfish you're not gonna get it this affirmation for your mission I really think this is something to keep in the mind and at the end no one in this world is like your master I appreciate it very much if people call me master but what is it that I'm trying to spread to the world I'm spreading self-mastery you are your master you take your life into the hands and decide in which direction you want to take it it's just that you need the right methods and the right tools sometimes to go in the right direction and that's what it is about learning from different people learning from people that already had experience before you But ultimately you are the one who needs to put it into practice and this is that greatness of this whole path that if you are open to it things gonna come yeah and so therefore I think everything that you have said thank you also very much Luis you really greatly appreciate it yeah I appreciate it man I've got one final question for you then okay what is your definition of greatness to impact to be able to impact on the one side something Beyond yourself in all different types of areas which means this is not about your own wealth anymore it has become the wealth of the world it is not just about your own personal peace your matters are the Peace of the world this is not about you are Beyond yourself you're greater than yourself that is very close related I think to what greatness means if everything is you your intelligence is a bone your competence is a bone are you is a what your intelligence your competence your capabilities everything is a gift to the world right but if your identity is small all the wonderful things that human being has becomes a curse

Channel: Lewis Howes

Views: 619,229

Keywords: Lewis Howes, Lewis Howes interview, school of greatness, self help, self improvement, self development, personal development, success habits, success, wealth, motivation, inspiration, inspirational video, motivational video, success principles, millionaire success habits, how to become successful, success motivation

Id: 7hIIKxEQrmg

Length: 158min 22sec (9502 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 05 2023