STRENGTH OF CHARACTER - Shaolin Masters Shi Heng Yi talks Marcus Aurelius

so I'd like to talk about Marx Aurelius who was the emperor of Rome he's considered the last great emperor of Rome and um he was at the time the most powerful man alive and many people say that power corrupts so with ultimate power that corrupts ultimately but he kept his true character using his philosophy but they also say that weakness corrupts in that year a victim to certain circumstances I'd like to know how you would keep true to your character and not allow weakness or power to corrupt you the everyday Stark today's video was made possible with your support at theeverdaster.com I hope you enjoy power corrupts how do you call it the yeah it probably might be that in the moment where your power whatever that in the moment where your power increases and now let's say the definition what is power in the way how I right now understand it if I want something to be done and I have power then it means I maybe have the possibility that other people do it for me I can maybe talk to these people because I have the power so these people are going to help me of what I want it can only mean I have so much power I do it by myself so simplified if I hear power it only means I have an idea I want it to be done and it will be done so just having this definition so far right now power corrupts I don't know but if you tell me to possess this type of a power that what you want will be done and then it merges together with a weakness of character then I can very well understand if then you would say having power a lack of character then the chances are higher that this power can corrupt you then I would say it's definitely like this yeah but at the same time at least from the people that I am surrounded with I know both cases but I know both of them I know people that are very very aware of the power that they have they are also aware of when they are maybe starting to misuse it but they don't do it because they already are standing above them they know exactly when that moment is coming when it's getting let's say dangerous in terms of no you need to be careful to not overuse this power because you're starting to lose your mission why initially someone gave you this power and this is now actually a very very nice introduction also to what is it that here in this ancient Traditions why meanwhile there are so many um let's say videos also available of sometimes ancient cultures that are sharing out some type of knowledge because people understand that knowledge is a type of power it's true like this first you need to get the knowledge give them the knowledge you even put into practice then you automatically start to become powerful your body becomes powerful and your mind becomes powerful so knowledge in a way I would say has a huge potential of giving you exactly that you want something to be done and you know what needs to be triggered right now that it is done this is what in our tradition we do when it comes to the martial arts we are trying to gain knowledge about ourselves first if I understand my body how it is functioning I know how your body is functioning because we have the same human body so if I have invested that knowledge in understanding myself I'm going to understand how your body is functioning because I know which joint was or is developed for which function I also know that joint is not made for another function and so automatically from that knowledge you know the weak points and you know the strong points about someone and now I'm not sure if I mention it in one of our conversations before already but you know the jetty the Jedis yeah the Jedis have power and Darth Vader also has power they have the same power but something is different about them and in a in the ancient but at the same time Modern Way what makes the difference between them is that one possesses power and at the same time has an ethical conduct an ethical codex that goes hand in hand with the power and the other one probably always also has his codex but it's a different one yeah and I think this is what makes the difference power itself is not wrong it's the question what is the person possessing this power using it for and this is why here in our organization in our community there is that part where you are learning about the martial arts and there is the other part where you are staying in front of plastics that you and put your head on the ground because this is the part where now literally we are saying stop dreaming too much stay on the ground and now bow in front of the plastic statue we all know it's a plastic statue we know that but still it is it is our honest way of behaving to still sometimes humble yourself yeah and this is one part of like a small ritual that you actually find in many many different layers within for example this community I mean you see meanwhile in those days when you were here for example I might have some uh different ropes with different colors but the cut or the let's say the design of all of them is always the same all looks the same there's no brand on it no nothing all our disciples let's say have the same uniform because this is also one way how we are trying inside this monastery to get rid of this jealousy the type of jealous you are low-key is like nice Adidas shoes but I don't have nice Adidas I only have a Reebok or Nike and stuff like this same also sometimes for the hair so everybody shaved the head finished first of all it saves water in the morning second of all you don't need to get the the gel to to style yourself yeah so this is sometimes really like the functional reason why uniform yeah because this uniform also always reminds you again yes you are special but also not yeah because if you are only special from beginning growing up always special everybody regards you special especially so then I think it's dangerous then I think it's dangerous to then when you feel you have power to become overwhelmed by it yeah and so what is it that let's say I personally do in order to prevent this I reconnect just always over and over again and try to see okay where are you standing at this moment what are you doing what is it at the moment that I'm actually doing what is my intention why I'm doing these things yeah and if there's something that after reconsidering I say no this is not it's not it's not the pure and wholesome intention I change it yeah it sometimes of course can happen it can happen that sometimes you are doing or doing and you are like you think you're in the flow but then actually you're already drifted apart a little bit like from your initial idea that's why I say from time to time you need testing either testing are you still on the right track or looking at yourself where are you standing right now so but that all also means that once you see that you are off track you also need to acknowledge it and once again only someone whose character is well established I think will be willing to acknowledge when you have made a mistake so that means staying true with the power that you have not misusing it goes hand in hand with a steady and established character that's it so I found interesting in this talk with shihangi today was that there is a popular Stoke principle of seeking truth Max Australia spoke about seeking the truth there was a a huge impression on the truth the importance of the truth and shihangi claims that he doesn't know much about stoicism as he's he follows a different philosophy in his life but his answers lined up so well with stoicism he talks about following the truth and staying true to your character and another thing he said is that um weakness of character this lack of character is what allows us to be corrupted by power and I just thought that was a really insightful look into this perspective this talk was made possible with your support at the everydaystoke.com where the shirt I'm wearing in the video my favorite shirt the amorphatic t-shirt is available on the website you know we traveled all the way to Germany to The Shaolin Temple Europe we spent quite some time at the temple um they welcomed us they were incredible hosts like always but it like I say it's made possible because of your sports so I really appreciate your sport thank you for watching today's video I really appreciate your support as channel members or subscribers or even those who follow me on Instagram at the everyday sterk because many of you I mean there's almost 400 000 joining in in The Stoke Community where we share this love of a philosophy and our ideas based around the themes of stoicism so thank you very much and there is many more videos coming out with shihenge I did a very long talk with them spoke about many subjects such as evictetus Seneca eudaimonia Memento Mori amorphate dichotomy of control all these great topics I'm sure many of you will want to hear the answer about so subscribe click that notification Bell and stick around thank you for watching

Channel: Everyday Stoic

Views: 234,413

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Id: DzB_7R18VtY

Length: 13min 50sec (830 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 14 2022