0:01

You said to me the

0:03

key to breaking this brick

0:05

isn't strength necessarily It's the

0:07

ability to really really focus.

0:10

So can you show me you

0:12

smashing this brick? He uses

0:14

his decades of knowledge and

0:16

techniques to help people control

0:19

their minds and overcome

0:21

society's biggest problems

0:23

This world is filled with so much

0:25

choice that it's difficult to take a

0:28

decision which direction will go what is

0:30

right to do. And so there is

0:32

a lot of suffering with the skills

0:34

that you are developing through thankful training

0:36

involves methods and practices that give you

0:38

the ability to do this. But there

0:40

are five hindrances that make it difficult

0:43

for you to still keep your goal

0:45

in the mind. There is sensory desires,

0:47

ill will, dullness, restlessness and then self-down.

0:49

And to overcome the five hindrances, you

0:51

recommend the full-step, rain method. and Whitley's

0:53

making super simple. So many of us

0:55

live in the same cycles of unhappiness

0:57

and suffering. I witnessed it in my

0:59

life as well, because I felt I

1:01

was never enough. My father and mother

1:03

put a lot of pressure in terms

1:05

of you need to prove yourself. And

1:07

so I did all these type of practices

1:10

and methods that made it possible to

1:12

be where I am right now. I

1:14

wanted to recognition by my father, but

1:16

it didn't happen. Because your father passed

1:18

away from cancer. How

1:24

does one let go of that and

1:26

therefore break the pattern? I will show

1:28

you some practices. Number one. I

1:31

find it incredibly fascinating that when we look

1:33

at the back end of Spotify and Apple

1:35

and our audio channels, the majority of people

1:37

that watch this podcast haven't yet hit the

1:40

follow button or the subscribe button, wherever you're

1:42

listening to this, I would like to make

1:44

a deal with this, I would like to

1:46

make a deal with you, if you could

1:49

do me a huge favour and hit that

1:51

subscribe button, I will work tirelessly from now

1:53

until forever to make the show better

1:55

and better and better and better. I

1:57

can't tell you how much that helps

1:59

when you want to see. and continue

2:01

to do in this thing we love.

2:03

If you could do me that small

2:05

favour and hit the follow button, wherever

2:07

you're listening to this, that would mean

2:09

the world to me. That is the only

2:12

favour I will ever ask you. Thank you

2:14

so much for your time. Master Shuhang

2:16

Yi. Based on everything that's happening

2:19

in the world right now and

2:21

the work that you've committed

2:23

your life to, what is the mission that

2:25

you are on and why is it so

2:27

important right now? I do think

2:29

that in this world there have

2:31

always been different streams,

2:34

different forces. One of

2:36

them leading to the

2:38

betterment of humanity, one

2:40

of them leading to

2:42

the destruction of humanity.

2:44

And I do think that

2:47

there are types of wisdom

2:49

and knowledge existing out there

2:52

that very easily without any

2:54

additional help for anything else.

2:56

can be very useful for

2:59

the people nowadays. You don't

3:01

need to go anywhere. The only thing

3:03

you need to do is take a

3:06

moment, contemplate about yourself,

3:08

go into yourself, and find

3:11

the answers there, and then

3:13

decide for yourself which part

3:15

and what type of contribution

3:17

would you like to give

3:19

to the world that you're

3:21

living in? I ultimately think

3:23

this is what I'm doing. And

3:26

what is it that you see

3:28

people struggling with? Because so many

3:30

people write to you, they send

3:32

messages to you, they come and see you. What

3:35

is it that you hear they're struggling

3:37

with at a fundamental level?

3:39

I would say it's diversity and

3:41

choice. This world is filled with

3:43

so much choice, meanwhile, that it's

3:45

difficult in a way to take

3:47

a decision, which direction will go,

3:49

what is right to do, but

3:51

ultimately it's only yourself who knows

3:54

the answer, which means... It comes

3:56

to the essential point.

3:58

Learn more. about yourself.

4:01

This is where it starts, because

4:03

if you have the wrong perspective of

4:05

who you are, what you are,

4:07

everything else in this lifetime, you

4:09

base your decisions on, it's just

4:11

not going to be placed in

4:13

the right direction. And what are the

4:16

other things that you hear people

4:18

suffering with on a daily basis

4:20

in the modern world, with the

4:22

way that the world is now,

4:24

it's digitalized or lonely than ever,

4:27

mental health seems to be? surging.

4:29

What are the like fundamental things

4:31

they say to you or that

4:33

you infer through what they're saying

4:35

that they are actually struggling with?

4:37

So choice, an overload of choice

4:40

and an inability to make a

4:42

clear decision. Number one. So

4:44

being perfectly honest, I usually do

4:46

not very much rely on what

4:48

the people tell me what they think,

4:51

what problem they have. It's just

4:53

that I look and I can see what

4:55

I think what I think. You need.

4:57

And foremost, one of

5:00

these, and it's very simple.

5:02

Non-religious, nothing about

5:05

believing, it simply is

5:07

the fact you don't use

5:09

your body as it is intended

5:12

to be. Very simple.

5:14

You sit, many people, sit

5:17

too much during the day.

5:19

The body is not active

5:21

at all. A lot of

5:23

work, a lot of energy. Investment

5:25

is done with the mind. Less

5:28

energy investment is done really

5:30

with the body. And that

5:32

simply means, for me, I

5:34

can see there's a disbalance.

5:36

Whoever created us, he did

5:38

not create us, to sit with our

5:41

butt on one place and do sinking

5:43

work the whole time. I do think

5:45

a part of why we have been

5:47

created is to get out on

5:50

the field and just do something

5:52

out there. And what is

5:54

the cost of not utilizing our

5:56

body in the way that it was

5:58

meant to be utilized? unbalanced

6:01

energies that can

6:03

translate into anxiety,

6:05

that can translate

6:07

into dissatisfaction, that

6:09

can translate into

6:11

continuously searching and

6:13

never being satisfied,

6:15

and the most

6:17

common thing, not

6:19

realizing how precious

6:21

the moments are

6:23

that you have.

6:26

And instead of replacing them

6:28

with illusions and dreams and

6:30

assumptions, which are just not

6:33

real. Meaning, everybody is not

6:35

even Buddhist, is not Shaolin,

6:37

it is common understanding. We

6:39

don't know if we wake

6:41

up tomorrow. It is like

6:43

this. Yeah, but our plans

6:45

go, we have five years

6:47

plans, ten years plans. We

6:49

have short-term, mid-term plans. Yeah,

6:51

the truth is. We don't

6:53

know if we wake up

6:55

tomorrow. So of course,

6:58

I don't want to make

7:00

it like sound negative. So

7:02

just live in the present

7:05

moment without planning. This is

7:07

not what I'm saying. But

7:09

this is the challenge nowadays.

7:11

How do you balance out

7:14

vision? Vision? With reality. Real.

7:16

The only thing real right

7:18

now is this. That's real

7:20

fast. I can feel it.

7:23

You can hear it, you

7:25

can sense it. This is

7:27

real. You nearly broke my

7:30

table. I was concerned because

7:32

later on you will be

7:34

proving to me that you

7:36

can break this brick using

7:39

your mind and the physical

7:41

preparation that you've done, which

7:43

I find really, really interesting

7:45

because I tried to smash

7:48

this brick on the floor

7:50

and I couldn't. So all

7:52

of the things you talk

7:55

about, understanding one's physical mind

7:57

and mastering it, but also

7:59

understanding one's physical body, will...

8:01

find out if you can

8:04

smash through this brick. I

8:06

wanted to talk about an

8:08

adjacent subject, which is really

8:10

like purpose, what to do

8:13

with one's life. And if

8:15

we're spending a little bit

8:17

too much time thinking off

8:20

into the future, and not

8:22

enough time thinking in the

8:24

present moment, I'm wondering how

8:26

purpose and having a big

8:29

dream for one's life fits

8:31

into this equation, and if

8:33

we should have a purpose,

8:35

and if so, how do

8:38

we find our purpose? So

8:40

absolutely, there is the field

8:42

of becoming conscious. consciousness is

8:44

a big field. Then we

8:47

have science is another very

8:49

very big field. So some

8:51

say okay is it that

8:54

consciousness creates matter or is

8:56

it the other way around?

8:58

Which one is which one

9:00

is the fundamental basis? What

9:03

is the basis of our

9:05

interaction? So the truth is

9:07

the fact right now is

9:09

regardless of science, no science,

9:12

how our evolution developed, right

9:14

now we are here. Your

9:16

body, my body, we are

9:19

here. This is what we

9:21

are having right now at

9:23

the same time in the

9:25

way of how this lifestyle

9:28

at the moment is. We

9:30

won't have more than 50

9:32

more years to go in

9:34

that body. So very simple.

9:37

Without believing... without any religious

9:39

aspect, once again. The truth

9:41

is, the lifetime of what

9:44

you carry right now, and

9:46

what I carry right now,

9:48

it's limited. And now just

9:50

imagine, you would be, let's

9:53

say, the director of your

9:55

own movie, to jump out

9:57

of the body and watch

9:59

yourself right now, you were

10:02

sitting like what? She hung

10:04

ye, we sit on the

10:06

same table, and you were

10:09

writing your story. How do

10:11

you want to write the

10:13

story? How do you want

10:15

to write the story? You

10:18

want to afterwards after this

10:20

podcast you want to like

10:22

feel uncomfortable feel unsafe feel

10:24

unloved, feel like being just

10:27

unsatisfied with the whole life,

10:29

cry or anything like this?

10:31

Or how do you imagine

10:33

what is a really nice

10:36

way of living for you

10:38

the next 50 years? So,

10:40

and based on that, purpose

10:43

can be different. You say,

10:45

I do like the travel,

10:47

I do like to invest.

10:49

this lifetime in this body

10:52

to have the feeling at

10:54

least that I can contribute

10:56

something to all the fellow

10:58

brothers and sisters that are

11:01

around it. It makes me

11:03

like I wake up, I

11:05

like to do it, it

11:08

gives me purpose. So it

11:10

is something very very personal

11:12

and which also means that

11:14

in a way speaking in

11:17

these terms right now. I

11:19

do not believe that every

11:21

human being has the same

11:23

purpose when it comes to

11:26

this type of purpose. But

11:28

now there's another type of

11:30

purpose, which is more or

11:33

less personally for me, why

11:35

do I think that in

11:37

the first place we have

11:39

been put with all these

11:42

possibilities? It is a blessing

11:44

being able to just experience.

11:46

It's a blessing that we

11:48

have been granted the possibility

11:51

of simply experiencing what this

11:53

existence is capable of creating,

11:55

including everything. including the joy,

11:57

including the happiness, including the

12:00

tears, including the heart breaks,

12:02

all of this, without the

12:04

separation, whether you prefer one

12:07

area or not. The one

12:09

sometimes... The one goes with

12:11

the other. But the purpose

12:13

in a way is just

12:16

be and experience. The only

12:18

thing that happens, and which

12:20

is a big part nowadays,

12:22

is if you take your

12:25

current existence to serious, if

12:27

you completely base your identity,

12:29

your being on. what you

12:32

think you are. But like

12:34

I said, it's just a

12:36

picture right now, yes? But

12:38

just sometimes, make it very

12:41

simple, jump out of yourself

12:43

and be the director. Be

12:45

the director of this avatar.

12:47

And then it just opens

12:50

another perspective. Because in that

12:52

moment, you just realize it's

12:54

like a movie. Not everything

12:57

is always positive. But in

12:59

the moment where there are

13:01

times of struggle, still, not

13:03

being caught inside your own

13:06

creation. Identity. Identity, illusion of

13:08

the self, different expressions for

13:10

that. It's a very helpful

13:12

way of thinking. Let's put

13:15

it like this. Because there's

13:17

so many people that say

13:19

they are struggling to find

13:22

meaning in their life or

13:24

they feel purposelessness. people all

13:26

over the world saying that

13:28

they, saying things like, is

13:31

this it? Is this all

13:33

my life is? So this

13:35

is literally, also one point

13:37

that you just mentioned is

13:40

that it isn't there more,

13:42

that has always been a

13:44

part that followed me along

13:46

the way. Yeah, especially now

13:49

in the last three, four

13:51

years. after social

13:53

media, the algorithm of

13:56

social media really started

13:58

also pushing us. out

14:00

there, more requests were

14:02

coming, of doing workshops,

14:04

of doing podcasts, of teaching

14:07

here, of teaching there,

14:09

of making television show,

14:11

of participating in movies,

14:14

and of course, all

14:16

together with this, doors

14:18

start to open, different

14:20

things start to come

14:23

in, but at some point... I

14:27

just couldn't believe that

14:29

this is supposed

14:31

to be the purpose. Because

14:33

it all still had

14:36

to do with doing.

14:38

The constant doing. And

14:40

there I felt in my

14:42

life now looking at this,

14:44

this couldn't be it. So

14:47

I looked for alternatives.

14:49

Always and always again.

14:51

Especially feeling that along

14:53

the way of what

14:55

you would say achieving

14:57

something, being recognized at

14:59

something, yeah. But there's

15:01

another side that goes

15:03

hand in hand with it,

15:05

that the public doesn't see.

15:07

There were times I could simply

15:09

be surrounded with like

15:11

thousands, thousands of people,

15:13

but still feel lonely. It's

15:15

not what you're surrounded with.

15:18

It's with what you are

15:20

connected. And there

15:22

I felt like there is always again

15:24

this type of force. What is it

15:27

that drives you on? Going outwards, going

15:29

outwards, going outwards, you lose

15:31

yourself. But this self is the

15:33

only thing that can give you connection

15:36

in this life. And what do you

15:38

need to be connected to then? You

15:40

talked about being surrounded by

15:43

thousands of being lonely and it's

15:45

really about what you're connected to.

15:48

What does one need to be

15:50

connected to? Maybe before I answer

15:52

you this question, there's one thing

15:55

that I maybe want to

15:57

like mention beforehand. So when

15:59

I... went to elementary school

16:01

and also during my school

16:04

time I actually for example

16:06

joined Christian Christian lesson yeah

16:09

so by my parents I

16:11

grew up with Buddhist tradition

16:13

let's say from the martial

16:16

art training I also got

16:18

introduced into so-called Zen Buddhism

16:20

because my father always told

16:23

me look son we are

16:25

here in a foreign country

16:27

you're a foreigner It's always

16:30

better to have friends than

16:32

to have enemies. That's why

16:35

I made always friends with

16:37

everyone. Meaning I had a

16:39

lot of Russian friends, I

16:42

had a lot of Arabic

16:44

friends, I had a lot

16:46

of Turkish friends, multicultural. Also

16:49

meaning, at some point I

16:51

also got like introduced into

16:53

Islam. Bottom line is, taking

16:56

all of this knowledge from

16:58

the past into my mind,

17:01

no matter from which... angle

17:03

I'm watching right now. I

17:05

do believe that we all

17:08

have a source. There is

17:10

a source. So whether you

17:12

call that source is the

17:15

universe. Whether you call the

17:17

source, it is the God.

17:20

Whether this source is the

17:22

infinite energy. There's so many

17:24

different expressions to it. But

17:27

when I look at all

17:30

these teachings, all are always

17:32

pointing at one and the

17:34

same thing. Let's just take

17:37

the expression of Yin and

17:39

Yang. Yes? The symbol everybody

17:41

knows in the world. And

17:44

there is that nice saying,

17:46

Yin and Yang have a

17:48

mother. The mother sometimes simply

17:51

being illustrated as one circle.

17:53

Yin and Yang as the

17:55

expression from duality. polarity existence

17:58

of number two. Where do

18:00

the... who come from, they

18:03

must come from one. So,

18:05

simple like in our way,

18:07

you are there, I am

18:10

here, one, two, where do

18:12

we come from? There must

18:14

be something that we have

18:17

as a common denominator. And

18:19

this source is the only

18:21

thing that can connect us.

18:24

Because it's not your family,

18:26

it's not my family. They're

18:28

still different. That is not

18:31

enough. going just looking at

18:33

we are humans. Animals saying.

18:35

Whatever and whoever gave us

18:38

the possibility to be here

18:40

is the same who gave

18:42

you the permission and the

18:45

blessing. And this is what

18:47

I think. This is the

18:49

level of mind. This is

18:52

the level of connection that

18:54

never leaves you lonely. This

18:57

is the one that I mean.

18:59

Being connected to the source. Yes.

19:02

Now for someone that is listening

19:04

to this and is confused at

19:06

this juncture and they're asking themselves,

19:08

what is that source? You've described

19:10

it in many potential ways, but

19:12

it's the, my attempt at describing

19:15

it is, it is ultimately where

19:17

we came from. That is the

19:19

source. Is there a better way

19:21

of describing it for people that

19:23

might be unfamiliar with the concept?

19:26

First of all, I cannot

19:28

speak without it and it

19:30

would make sense to everyone.

19:32

That's already the first very

19:34

very difficult part. That's why

19:36

my intention is never to

19:38

say what is it? The

19:40

only thing I can do

19:42

is to like give pointers.

19:44

But ultimately there's only one

19:46

person who will be able

19:48

to find it out and

19:50

it's not me finding it

19:52

out for somebody else. Everybody

19:54

will find out for himself.

19:56

or herself. So every human

19:58

being. I do think

20:01

is at a different level

20:03

of his growth, of his

20:05

development, and everybody gets what

20:07

he needs exactly in the

20:09

moment where he is in,

20:11

which is why I think

20:13

everybody at this moment in

20:16

time is exactly where he

20:18

needs to be, for the

20:20

next elevation to take place.

20:22

The only thing you need

20:24

to do is look at

20:26

yourself right now. And just

20:28

find out, what is it

20:30

that makes you unhappy? What

20:32

exactly is it that at

20:35

this moment in your life

20:37

is binding you and restricting

20:39

you from moving on? And

20:41

this is the same question

20:43

for everyone. But what you

20:45

ultimately need to tackle is

20:47

different. In the past, I

20:49

sometimes played Super Mario in

20:52

Luigi. And it's the same

20:54

if you don't manage level

20:56

number one. You won't see

20:58

level number two. The challenges

21:00

for number two won't come.

21:02

The end boss from number

21:04

two is not going to

21:06

come. First you finish level

21:08

one. But once number one

21:11

is finished, you won't face

21:13

the same stuff anymore. And

21:15

there is something along this

21:17

line where it sometimes is

21:19

like a game at the

21:21

same time. Don't take it

21:23

so serious. Helps. were all

21:25

struggling with something based on

21:27

the levels we're at. If

21:30

you had to try and

21:32

summarize what the common answer

21:34

is to what people are

21:36

struggling with, what do you

21:38

think that might be? I

21:40

was thinking about my best

21:42

friends because sometimes it's easier

21:44

to step outside of oneself

21:46

and look at others when

21:49

I was reflecting on the

21:51

conversations I've had with them

21:53

over the last couple of

21:55

weeks about things they're struggling

21:57

with. And I would define

21:59

a lot of it as

22:01

wanting. So wanting to improve

22:03

their businesses wanting to improve

22:06

maybe their romantic situations and

22:08

find love. I would say

22:10

the essence of it, the

22:12

suffering seems to be striving

22:14

for something that they're unable

22:16

to grab. But I wondered

22:18

if you had a different

22:20

perspective on that. Two things

22:22

that right now would come

22:25

to my mind. There is

22:27

always the struggle between doing

22:29

and being. Doing, I would

22:31

ask. Why are you doing?

22:33

So why? Why do you

22:35

want to go into action?

22:37

Mostly, there is a goal.

22:39

The goal, why do you

22:41

have that goal? Because you're

22:44

aiming at receiving something that

22:46

in the moment where you

22:48

have it, apparently you are

22:50

lacking. So that means this

22:52

type of goal setting. In

22:55

my perspective, I would automatically

22:57

refer to it already, that

23:00

your goal setting already comes

23:02

from a space of lack.

23:05

You feel like you're lacking

23:07

something. That's why you need

23:09

to do. You feel like

23:12

you're lacking something. That's why

23:14

you need to educate yourself.

23:17

Okay? So this is the

23:19

one direction. Now coming back,

23:22

maybe sounds, again, too philosophical.

23:24

connected with the source. There's

23:27

nothing to add and there's

23:29

nothing to take away from

23:31

you. So apparently when somebody

23:34

has this very very high

23:36

ambition of doing something, achieving

23:39

something, then most likely the

23:41

chances are there, this is

23:44

not coming from a connection

23:46

to the source. It

23:49

is coming from the idea

23:51

of wanting to nourish or

23:54

create an identity, an identity

23:56

that represents something. that you

23:58

think you want to represent.

24:01

So this is the one

24:03

area. The doing versus the

24:06

being. And then the second

24:08

thing is that ultimately goes

24:11

hand in hand with this

24:13

way of living your life

24:15

is that you forget that

24:18

one thing is being forgotten

24:20

along the along the line.

24:23

whoever and whatever you are

24:25

creating and are intending to

24:28

create and are intending to

24:30

gather now and starting to

24:33

attain things. Your attainment maximum

24:35

is going to last 100

24:37

years. That is the other

24:40

truth. So, and I do

24:42

believe people understand exactly what

24:45

I said. But there comes

24:47

the fight now again. But

24:50

there comes the fight now

24:52

again. But there comes the

24:54

fight now again. The fight

24:57

between, yes, between this very

24:59

strong identity that wants to

25:02

just maintain itself and the

25:04

other side of just forget

25:07

about your identity. B as

25:09

you are, that's it. No

25:12

matter what you're going to

25:14

attain, you have it for

25:16

100 years after what is

25:19

gone. So, just B. Don't

25:21

stress yourself too much with

25:24

what you don't have. Well,

25:26

unfortunately, and this is always

25:29

going to continue like this.

25:31

Unfortunately, there are always three

25:33

ways how you're going to

25:36

learn this. Sometimes people just

25:38

need to have the experience

25:41

to realize, okay, I did

25:43

it, I got it, now

25:46

I realize I don't need

25:48

it. But in the first

25:51

place you need to have

25:53

it. First way of learning.

25:55

Second way of learning. You

25:58

do trust a certain teacher.

26:00

You do trust a certain

26:03

guide or a mentor. You

26:05

just copy the way how he's living

26:08

his life. So your approach is

26:10

you just copy because you see,

26:12

oh apparently the person lives a

26:15

good life. So you just copy

26:17

a second way of learning. And

26:20

the third way of learning is

26:22

you maybe have like a teacher

26:24

or a master, he tells you

26:27

some wise words, you contemplate about

26:29

it, you think about it, and

26:32

because you were thinking about

26:34

it, it already puts you

26:36

on the alternative part

26:38

without you needing to try

26:40

it for yourself. And there

26:43

will always be people in

26:45

this world in these three

26:48

categories. put your hand in the fire.

26:50

They're still going to do it. But

26:52

latest when they do it, like two times,

26:54

three times, then it's done. But a

26:56

lot of people never get the thing

26:58

that they're pursuing. So, you know, someone

27:00

might say, I want to be

27:03

a millionaire or I want to

27:05

have this Lamborghini sports car. The

27:07

majority of people who aspire to

27:10

that statistically won't ever reach it,

27:12

so they'll spend their whole life.

27:14

just in pursuit, they'll never get

27:16

the lesson of part one where

27:19

you try it and you

27:21

realise that. But maybe

27:23

that is also already

27:25

the lesson involved in

27:28

this person's life. You

27:30

have this goal in

27:32

the mind, you put

27:34

all your energy, all

27:36

your effort. into trying

27:38

to achieve that. You're

27:40

20 years old. You're

27:42

trying. You're 30 years

27:44

old. You're trying. 40

27:46

years already. You're still

27:48

trying. 50 years. You still

27:51

haven't let go of the idea.

27:53

Well, at some point,

27:55

hopefully, you see exactly

27:57

that senseless approach. of

28:00

how you personally already

28:02

wasted 30 years of

28:04

following a goal with

28:06

the conclusion of two

28:08

things. Number one, you

28:10

haven't achieved it yet

28:12

or number two, you didn't

28:14

have the right way of

28:16

achieving it. But the bottom

28:18

line is you have two ways

28:20

now what to do. Let go of

28:23

the idea that you need it

28:25

and redirect your life.

28:27

of how you still want

28:29

to achieve that goal if you

28:31

don't want to let go of

28:34

it. But apparently one of

28:36

these two things is not right.

28:38

And the more you want your

28:40

life now, let's say, in the

28:42

future to be quite different than

28:45

what you're used to, the

28:47

more you need to be able to

28:49

let go. Let go

28:51

of patterns, let go of the

28:53

way of sorts that you had

28:55

in the last years and months.

28:57

Now if nothing changes about

28:59

that, they will not come in

29:01

your life. So many of us

29:03

live in patterns, the same cycles.

29:06

We end up getting the same results

29:08

and those results result in

29:10

unhappiness and suffering and are

29:13

speaking to a friend over

29:15

the weekend about how one

29:17

of our other friends... has lived

29:19

in a bit of a pattern and

29:22

they've been unable to unable to find

29:24

love and companionship because of some things

29:26

that happened when they were younger, I

29:28

think they were bullied, so they have

29:30

this sort of deeper sense of having

29:33

to prove themselves in insecurity and this

29:35

shows up all the time because when

29:37

they meet someone they present a facade

29:39

which might not necessarily be accurate and

29:42

then very quickly the relationship

29:44

ends because it was never real in the

29:46

first place but this person's now aware of

29:48

it. But it's still happening over and over

29:51

again. They're still living out the same pattern

29:53

in their life and still getting the same

29:55

results and dissatisfaction. So when we think about

29:57

trauma at an early age, that results in...

30:00

this sort of cyclical

30:02

pattern of getting, same

30:04

behaviour, same results. I

30:06

wondered if you had

30:09

a perspective on how one

30:11

can let go of that and

30:13

therefore break the pattern.

30:16

And so let me draw you

30:18

a picture. I was a

30:20

four-year-old boy having father

30:23

and mother, Asian origin,

30:25

being refugees. from

30:27

Vietnam Laos, meaning

30:29

they ran away from the war,

30:32

coming to Europe, coming

30:34

to Germany with the idea

30:36

that for the children to

30:39

have a better security on

30:41

the one side, you are

30:43

feeling more safe in Germany

30:45

without the instability that they

30:48

witnessed in their own country.

30:50

And so of course, father

30:52

and mother with this idea

30:55

put a lot of... pressure in

30:57

early ages already in terms of

30:59

you need to be good at school,

31:01

you need to achieve, you need

31:03

to prove yourself. So this is

31:05

the education from father and mother.

31:08

At the same time with the

31:10

age of four I went into

31:12

a Chaulin Kung Fu school learning

31:14

martial arts and every martial artist

31:17

practitioner probably knows teachers

31:19

and masters usually are not

31:21

the ones telling you. Oh

31:23

yes, you did that very

31:25

good. Yes, very well. No,

31:27

they just say, okay, more,

31:29

deeper, faster, harder. So

31:32

bottom line is from the

31:34

age of four growing up,

31:36

the only thing that in the

31:38

way I felt was, actually,

31:40

you're never enough. No

31:43

matter what I brought home in

31:45

terms of grades, if it was a

31:47

B, Why was it not a?

31:49

If it was a, why is it

31:52

not a plus? If I did already

31:54

100 push-ups, question is why don't you

31:56

make 150? If I was fast

31:58

already, it was still not fast enough.

32:01

constantly this type of never enough.

32:03

Ultimately meaning, and this

32:06

is all now, I can just

32:08

tell you 40 years later,

32:10

but now I can see

32:12

it, ultimately meaning that at

32:15

some point this little boy

32:17

started simply to build

32:19

up a shield, build up such

32:21

a shield, to be less

32:23

dependent anymore on what

32:26

other people think about

32:28

me. Meaning, I just

32:30

started to rely everything in

32:33

my life purely on what

32:35

I think, at the

32:37

same time building up

32:39

emotional blockages and emotional

32:41

walls, nothing to penetrate

32:43

and at the same

32:45

time also nothing to

32:47

express to the outside. So

32:49

now, having entered into like

32:51

a very new circumstance in

32:54

my life where... I need

32:56

to take into consideration the

32:59

opinion and the emotional state

33:01

of my beloved, of my

33:04

partner, of my son. I can

33:06

feel how my old patterns

33:08

sometimes are still trying to

33:10

sneak in. And so the

33:13

only thing to do is what

33:15

to do to break patterns.

33:17

Number one, you need to see

33:20

you have one. And number

33:22

two. you need to replace

33:24

all patterns, which ultimately mean

33:27

patterns, its habitual behavior, its

33:29

habits, how do you build

33:32

habits by continuous behavioral patterns

33:34

that you continuously do. So

33:37

there is something about consistency

33:39

and continuity that ultimately builds

33:42

a pattern. So, and this

33:44

is now where, for example, in

33:47

this field of martial arts,

33:49

that's exactly what it's about.

33:52

consistency

33:54

of having a

33:57

training regimen every

33:59

day. It's not helpful to

34:01

like six days per week,

34:03

do nothing, and then you

34:05

go one day to the gym

34:08

and give your everything. It's better

34:10

you have some type

34:12

of consistency throughout the

34:14

whole day. This is what

34:16

builds patterns, healthy patterns.

34:18

And so similar like this,

34:21

I would describe now, what

34:23

is somebody supposed to

34:25

do? Number one, look at

34:27

yourself. and see yourself. We

34:29

are all not perfect. But

34:32

according to the

34:34

circumstances that you are facing

34:36

right now today, what type of

34:38

character do you think? With

34:40

what do you want to equip

34:43

your character? That he is able

34:45

to go through this current times

34:47

in the best possible manner.

34:49

What is not useful for

34:52

you anymore? Try to get rid

34:54

of it and get your new

34:56

skills in. and then train

34:58

those. And then train, of course. Those

35:00

new patterns. We don't often think

35:03

about training some of the virtues

35:05

that we want to acquire and the

35:07

patterns we want to have. We kind

35:09

of think that we have to select

35:11

them and then we'll do our best to

35:13

live them, but the idea that I might

35:16

have to train certain new behaviors is

35:18

a really compelling one, because

35:20

you're right, in the context

35:22

of any physical development, I

35:24

have to do my repetitions to build

35:26

that. thing, that strength. But I

35:29

was just thinking about creating a

35:31

training regimen for certain behaviors and

35:33

new patterns that I want in

35:36

my life and trying to make

35:38

sure I do them every day,

35:40

which is not something that I've

35:43

ever considered. Three months ago you

35:45

became a dad to a young boy,

35:47

to a young son. Yes. So you're

35:49

now in the process of raising a

35:51

man yourself. And there's a lot of dialogue

35:53

at the moment in the UK, but also just

35:55

broadly in the Western world around what it is

35:57

to be a man and how to raise men.

35:59

I think much of this dialogue

36:01

has been sparked by some shocking

36:04

statistics that show young men are

36:06

struggling now more than ever in

36:08

various ways. I think the single

36:10

biggest killer of men under the

36:12

age of 45 is themselves. And

36:14

also there's just an overarching sense

36:16

of I think purposeless meaninglessness that

36:19

they're struggling in school more so

36:21

than women are. Some forecasts predict

36:23

that for every two women that

36:25

graduate university or college, only one

36:27

man will graduate in the near

36:29

future. And it's pretty shocking. So

36:31

when I think about the way

36:34

that you're intent on raising your

36:36

young man, but also what it

36:38

is that young men in particular

36:40

are missing in their lives, I

36:42

wondered if you had had an

36:44

answer. From this moment, there's one

36:46

thing I can tell by myself

36:49

what I would absolutely prevent when

36:51

it would come, let's say, to

36:53

the education or what I share

36:55

with my son. Like

36:58

I said, I felt I

37:00

was never enough. There was

37:02

always something that additionally needed

37:05

to be done. So, which

37:07

literally means for me, for

37:10

my son, there is nothing

37:12

to be done. There is

37:15

nothing he has to achieve.

37:17

If there would be something,

37:20

it is, stay connected. So

37:22

in terms of... I don't

37:25

see myself as somebody who

37:27

is now having the responsibility

37:29

to shape my son. No,

37:32

I only provide the framework.

37:34

I try to provide the

37:37

most safe framework for my

37:39

son. He can try out

37:42

whatever he wants. If he

37:44

fails, he will learn by

37:47

himself to get up again

37:49

and keep trying. So, you

37:52

know, to fail and then

37:54

to continue. I just want

37:56

to build up this framework

37:59

as good as I can

38:01

to make him feel safe.

38:04

But trial and error is

38:06

what I do believe is

38:09

the way how you find

38:11

yourself. So definitely not being

38:14

spoiled, but at the same

38:16

time also not like keeping

38:19

something away from him, where

38:21

I make him feel like

38:23

he's not enough. So ultimately

38:26

I do think in the

38:28

modern way of how to

38:31

express it in all these

38:33

attachment theories. Very simple. Of

38:36

course it's the secure way

38:38

of being... a stable, own-built,

38:41

self-made, self-sufficient individual who knows

38:43

his own value. Why? Because

38:46

he failed and got up.

38:48

Why do you think so

38:51

many young men are struggling?

38:53

shows up right now at

38:55

this moment. Yeah, 2025. It

38:58

didn't start in 2025. Whatever

39:00

appears right now, sometimes it's

39:03

the result of how things

39:05

have been handled, how the

39:08

education has been from previous

39:10

years, whether it's the last

39:13

10 years, where that's the

39:15

last 20 years. So it's

39:18

not necessarily what did the

39:20

generation right now did wrong,

39:22

let's say. No, it's also

39:25

the question of... what did

39:27

the previous generation missed to

39:30

keep passing on that ultimately

39:32

let do the result that

39:35

we have nowadays? So, and

39:37

this is the question where,

39:40

where do think it's multi-layered.

39:42

You gave a TED Talk

39:45

in 2020, almost five years

39:47

ago now, about the five

39:49

hindrances. five hindrances. You describe

39:52

them as five mental states

39:54

that are holding. a spark.

39:57

Let's put the context first.

39:59

Take a symbol. Just you

40:02

have a goal setting. You

40:04

set yourself whatever goal it

40:07

is. You have your goal.

40:09

So your mind is set

40:12

on the goal. Normally. The

40:14

five hindrances now simply describe

40:16

there are five mental states

40:19

that would actually... make it

40:21

difficult for you to still

40:24

keep your goal in the

40:26

mind. Whatever goal that is.

40:29

The number one, for example,

40:31

is called sensual desire. Sensual

40:34

desire means you are too

40:36

receptive for any type of

40:39

pleasurable feeling in regards to

40:41

your five senses. You are

40:43

being too quickly attracted when

40:46

you see something beautiful. You

40:48

are too quickly attracted if

40:51

you smell something tasty. You

40:53

are too quickly distracted when

40:56

you have physical touch. So

40:58

the first hindrance means you

41:01

are losing the goal already

41:03

because in the moment something

41:06

pleasurable is being presented to

41:08

you. Your mind has shifted

41:10

already. So that means that

41:13

first mental state only means...

41:15

Be aware of what is

41:18

it that you are very

41:20

easily attracted to. It doesn't

41:23

say it's bad, it doesn't

41:25

say it's good, it just

41:28

says in the context of

41:30

you want to reach your

41:33

goal, how to reach the

41:35

goal the quickest, be focused

41:37

with your energy. Meaning, be

41:40

focused with the mind. Don't

41:42

lose the goal from the

41:45

mind. Whatever you do from

41:47

the moment of waking up

41:50

until the evening, whatever you

41:52

do, keep the goal in

41:55

the mind. This is the

41:57

quickest way of making this

42:00

goal become real. two. Simply

42:02

said you don't like discomfort.

42:04

You don't like challenges. You

42:07

don't like hardship. In that

42:09

TEDx talk I described it

42:12

like you're like walking along

42:14

the past and then suddenly

42:17

it starts to rain but

42:19

you don't like rain. So

42:22

instead of you just continue

42:24

follow the past you are

42:27

starting to make your mind

42:29

busy about what you don't

42:31

like. Yeah, and already that

42:34

means the mind starts to

42:36

shift again losing the focus

42:39

of the goal So this

42:41

idea The hindrance number one

42:44

hindrance number two actually you

42:46

can easily say like this

42:49

This is the goal two

42:51

things not to do Spend

42:54

your time enjoying Don't do

42:56

this or Spend your time

42:58

rejecting that things are

43:01

not the way how you imagine

43:03

them to be. Both of these

43:05

things, one is you follow pleasure

43:08

and the other thing you're rejecting

43:10

any challenges. Both of these things

43:12

is something to be aware of

43:15

when it comes to stay focused

43:17

along the path. When we think

43:19

about this first hindrance of central

43:22

desire, is this where discipline comes

43:24

into play? the idea of discipline

43:26

because that word is often used

43:29

but it's often lacking a clear

43:31

definition but also a clear understanding

43:33

of how one attains and exhibits

43:36

discipline because when I think about

43:38

the things that require me to

43:40

have discipline it is these desires

43:43

it is the five gates it

43:45

is something I want to eat

43:47

it is maybe some kind of

43:50

touch that I want to have

43:52

etc etc etc etc. So is

43:54

this where discipline is important? even

43:57

for example like in the book

43:59

or even now Now when we

44:01

talk about we have the five

44:04

hindrances, we have the 14 virtues,

44:06

we have the eight rules, we

44:08

have the four here and the

44:11

certain here and the six. It's

44:13

a very good guideline because it

44:15

makes it easy for us humans

44:18

to have something like really structured.

44:20

There are four steps, there are

44:22

six steps, there are five steps

44:25

whatsoever. What I want to say

44:27

is. Just in

44:29

this way, it's also that only

44:32

discipline wouldn't be helpful if in

44:34

the first place you do not

44:36

possess the ability to see it,

44:39

to realize it, to be aware

44:41

of it. Meaning you have discipline,

44:43

but you are never aware, actually,

44:46

when is the moment, when is

44:48

the moment, when is the moment,

44:51

when is the moment, when is

44:53

the moment, when is the moment,

44:55

when is the moment, when is

44:58

the moment, when is the moment,

45:00

when is the moment appearing, that

45:02

this sensory desire is hitting in.

45:05

You're not aware of it. So

45:07

the discipline wouldn't help you if

45:09

you don't have this awareness. So

45:12

always meaning, I do think that

45:14

there are different qualities of the

45:17

mind that come into play for

45:19

you to adjust yourself properly. I

45:21

was thinking about my friend when

45:24

you mentioned awareness there, the friend

45:26

I described earlier, who exhibits the

45:28

same pattern. And although they might

45:31

be aware of the pattern, they

45:33

might say, you know, I have

45:36

this pattern, I don't believe they're

45:38

aware of the moment where that

45:40

pattern begins, like this singular trigger,

45:43

which sends them in that loop.

45:45

So I was thinking the same

45:47

about myself. I was like, there's

45:50

some behaviors that I have that

45:52

I don't like. And although I'm

45:54

aware of them. In the moment

45:57

when it happens, I might not

45:59

be conscious that it's the path.

46:02

has begun. Someone has said something,

46:04

something has happened and then you

46:06

go on that pattern or you

46:09

reach into the refrigerator at 1am

46:11

in the morning and grab the

46:13

thing or you end up being

46:16

triggered by something. So I wondered

46:18

if there's a practice at all

46:21

to become increase our awareness of

46:23

the trigger moment. Yes. This is

46:25

for example where I very much

46:28

appreciate so many different... teachings that

46:30

are meanwhile existing are freely available

46:32

for example to the social media,

46:35

including breastwork, including yoga practices. All

46:37

of them, if you have a

46:39

proper teacher, I'm very sure that

46:42

this is exactly what is starting

46:44

to raise your awareness for something

46:47

that in this field when you're

46:49

spending some time, we refer to

46:51

as energy. If you're not aware

46:54

of your own... inner

46:56

layer, let's say like this.

46:58

And somebody insults you. It

47:00

can happen that like somebody

47:02

insulted me and then I

47:04

just started exploding. Yeah, but

47:06

the fact is before something

47:08

explodes, before I explode, first

47:10

of all, something must be

47:12

lit. Already the small little

47:14

flame already must have been

47:16

lit. So when I already

47:19

knew who is it that

47:21

I'm going to meet, who

47:23

is it that I'm going

47:25

to meet. Maybe that

47:27

already, knowing the name from

47:29

him, already was, ah, was

47:32

already the starting point of

47:34

a potential explosion to happen.

47:37

So then, ah, this was

47:39

where when this little flame

47:42

already started being there, and

47:44

then you literally can feel

47:47

things like this. You can

47:49

feel when something has been

47:52

injected, let's say, into you

47:54

when something starts to arise.

47:57

Because when the fire is

47:59

already too big, when the

48:02

whole house is burning, you're

48:04

not gonna... you're not gonna...

48:06

put down that fire in

48:09

any way. You can only

48:11

put down all of these

48:14

fires before things come too

48:16

big. Meaning, we must find

48:19

a way to be directly

48:21

grabbing the root, grabbing the

48:24

core, or grabbing the source

48:26

of the explosion. And the

48:29

only way that I know

48:31

is you need to become

48:34

more sensitive. for everything that

48:36

goes on in your body,

48:39

in your surrounding, in everything.

48:41

This is where for me

48:43

awareness does play a role.

48:46

And yes, and especially when

48:48

it comes to becoming aware

48:51

of your emotional states, this

48:53

is absolutely inner work. This

48:56

is absolutely inner work. This

48:58

is It's inner work. How

49:01

does one begin the journey

49:03

of doing that inner work?

49:06

You give trust in the

49:08

vision that when you are

49:11

investing your time right now

49:13

to become more aware of

49:16

yourself, of your emotional state,

49:18

that this is going to

49:20

benefit your life. That's the

49:23

starting point. You believe in

49:25

it. You believe in it.

49:28

So you don't do it

49:30

because somebody tells you you're

49:33

supposed to do it. You

49:35

do it because you genuinely

49:38

believe this is the way.

49:40

I want to know more

49:43

about myself. I want to

49:45

really understand what is it

49:48

that I made out of.

49:50

You want to figure out,

49:53

is there something inside of

49:55

myself? I tried to look

49:57

away for many years, but

50:00

I know it's still there

50:02

and was afraid to look

50:05

at it. all of these

50:07

things. only one where you

50:10

do make yourself free. You

50:12

need to become transparent. If

50:15

there are spots inside of

50:17

ourselves where there's no light

50:20

yet, it can't be. It

50:22

can't be. Bringing light to

50:25

everything that has been in

50:27

the dark. This

50:29

is another area of the

50:32

past, which at some point

50:34

everybody will face. And even

50:36

though that is, even though

50:39

that this is not just

50:41

like a saying, but just

50:43

the idea. Whatever you're doing,

50:46

whatever you're thinking, whether people

50:48

are around you or you're

50:50

alone, just imagine. Just imagine.

50:53

who always sees what you're

50:55

doing. So live your life

50:57

based on that. And that

51:00

person is you? Also? Who

51:02

else is it? It's the

51:04

elevated version of you, but

51:07

it's true. It's you and

51:09

you. Once I've shone a

51:11

light on that area of

51:13

me, so I have greater

51:16

awareness of its existence and

51:18

it's now transparent. Is it

51:20

a case then of what

51:23

is the work I then

51:25

have to do to make

51:27

a change in that in

51:30

that context? So we're talking

51:32

here about managing one's emotions

51:34

and getting a grip of

51:37

one's emotions so you can

51:39

avoid being triggered or perpetrating

51:41

the same patterns in your

51:44

life that have led you

51:46

to the same outcomes? First,

51:48

you believe that it's possible

51:51

to change. You gain a

51:53

greater awareness of the parts

51:55

of yourself that have you've

51:58

kept in the dark that

52:00

you might want to change

52:02

and then what does one

52:05

do from there? Because I

52:07

came let's say from this

52:09

martial art field yes also

52:12

meaning the Tao is teaching

52:14

or the principles of Yin

52:16

and Yang have always been

52:18

the part in there let

52:21

me put it like this

52:23

whatever you are sinking saying

52:25

or doing has

52:30

a consequence. So this

52:32

consequence that you have

52:34

created or that you

52:36

are intending to create,

52:38

as yourself, what is

52:40

that consequence actually? Does

52:43

it make yourself, does

52:45

it make your being,

52:47

your interaction with people?

52:49

Does it make it

52:51

feel more light? More

52:53

pleasurable? more enjoying, more

52:56

free, more nourishing, or

52:58

is the result that

53:00

you are about to

53:02

create going in the

53:04

other direction, meaning your

53:06

nourishing conflict, your nourishing

53:09

aggression. feeling like you

53:11

are carrying the suffering

53:13

of the world on

53:15

your shoulder, feeling like

53:17

there's a burden on

53:19

you, feeling like there's

53:22

a stone on your

53:24

heart, feeling like you

53:26

being put under pressure.

53:28

See, all of these

53:30

expressions have something to

53:32

do with density, have

53:35

something to do with

53:37

pressure. Yeah, but then

53:39

when we look at,

53:41

no matter which tradition

53:43

it is Buddhism, liberation,

53:46

elevation, no matter what

53:48

it is. You see,

53:50

it is just two

53:52

forces in the world.

53:54

Two forces in the

53:56

world, one aiming for

53:58

limited... and the other

54:00

one aiming for restricting

54:02

and very clear boundaries.

54:04

These are the two

54:07

forces. And this is

54:09

exactly now turning the

54:11

view upon yourself. What

54:13

are you made out

54:15

of? Your patterns. The

54:17

emotional states that follow

54:19

you within a week.

54:21

Within a week. Looking

54:23

back the last week.

54:25

What was the most

54:27

dominating? emotion you felt

54:29

inside yourself? Was it

54:31

one that had the

54:33

character of limiting yourself

54:35

in a way? Or

54:37

were you in an

54:40

emotional state like through

54:42

the week? This was

54:44

light, it was calm,

54:46

liberated, free, uplifting, joyful,

54:48

joyful, which of these?

54:50

So, and this simply

54:52

gives you exactly from

54:54

what to what, do

54:56

I think you need

54:58

to transform yourself? If

55:00

you want this, if

55:02

you want this, so,

55:04

and why do I

55:06

think that this is

55:08

the goal? Lightness. Let's

55:10

just imagine after this

55:13

conversation, your best friend

55:15

or your best girlfriend

55:17

going to ask you,

55:19

so how was this

55:21

conversation? And even so

55:23

that we are maybe

55:25

just talking three hours,

55:27

four hours, four hours,

55:29

even if you spend...

55:31

Two days long, explaining

55:33

to your best friend

55:35

how this conversation was,

55:37

is not the truth.

55:39

It is not the

55:41

truth. How is this

55:43

conversation? How is this

55:46

conversation? Even right now,

55:48

we cannot even speak

55:50

about it. I tell

55:52

you how this conversation

55:54

right now really is.

56:00

How you want to describe

56:02

this? You will be the only

56:05

one ever knowing how this

56:07

is. It doesn't matter

56:09

who's going to ask you

56:12

afterwards, what you're

56:14

going to tell them. You

56:16

want to feel it? You

56:18

need to experience

56:21

it. There is no other way.

56:23

And this is the nature

56:25

of words. This is why

56:27

these ancient stories come. For

56:30

example, one master and his

56:32

student walk up on the

56:34

mountain early in the morning,

56:36

then the sun rises up,

56:38

and then the student says,

56:40

oh master, what a beautiful

56:42

sunrise. And then like the

56:44

master, like, slaps him and

56:47

never takes him to a walk anymore.

56:49

They use him. Why was the

56:51

teacher so hard to him? Because

56:53

in the moment... where

56:56

you give something that

56:58

you experience

57:01

a word, you limit

57:03

its nature. So how

57:06

does this now

57:08

translate into what

57:10

we can do with

57:13

this knowledge? Whatever

57:15

is being dense

57:17

and it's limiting,

57:20

I don't think

57:22

it's the way. I

57:27

think everything for us

57:30

to practice is

57:32

look beyond limitations.

57:35

Look beyond the

57:37

words. Look beyond the

57:39

shape. Practice to

57:42

look beyond the

57:45

superficiality of things. This

57:48

is where the meaning

57:50

lies. Or this is where

57:52

part of the realization

57:56

lies. I think in my

57:58

life I want to be lying. but

58:00

the way that my life tends

58:02

to operate is I might aspire

58:04

for that but then I fall

58:07

into almost a bit of an

58:09

auto pilot and I run

58:11

the same pattern throughout the

58:13

week and the same I

58:16

respond in the same ways

58:18

to the same external stimulus

58:20

so although might one might

58:22

aspire to be freer and to

58:24

be less agitated or to be

58:27

you know all those things I

58:29

quickly fall back into my old path, my

58:31

old auto pilot, because life does seem to

58:33

come at me pretty quickly. If I look

58:35

at my calendar, it's just full every day.

58:38

So I wake up and like I woke up

58:40

this morning and I'm like with one

58:42

eye open looking at my phone schedule

58:44

to figure out like what day it

58:46

is and what that means and what

58:49

I have to do and what's just

58:51

happened and all the podcast has gone

58:53

out and I've got this email from

58:55

this person and there's my calendar or

58:57

when I'm late by 20 minutes. Although

58:59

I might have the day before said

59:01

to myself that this week we're going

59:04

to be joyful and light and free,

59:06

it feels like the week hits me

59:08

like a truck and then boom,

59:10

autopilot. So our goal is set

59:12

in a way and now comes the

59:14

next realization just because your

59:17

goal is set. Doesn't mean this

59:19

life is going to give

59:21

you exactly what you're looking

59:23

for. Meaning you really must

59:25

make sure... How important is

59:28

that goal really for you?

59:31

Because, you know, I witness

59:33

it in my life as well.

59:35

So at some point, you

59:37

know, when it started to

59:39

become a lot public, you

59:42

know, the calendar went full.

59:44

And at some point, I

59:47

said to myself, okay, now it's

59:49

becoming too full, let's start to

59:51

settle down a bit. Let's start

59:53

to stay a little bit more

59:55

in the background here, but then

59:58

still like requests coming in. in

1:00:00

still and then you would

1:00:02

think, ah, come this one

1:00:04

still. Yeah, but ultimately it's

1:00:07

really up to you. How

1:00:09

much do you really want

1:00:11

it? And it's going

1:00:13

to continue like this

1:00:15

until you will ultimately

1:00:18

come to the point and

1:00:20

it's going to come quickly,

1:00:23

I do think. Yeah. Where

1:00:25

you realize for yourself

1:00:27

that it's an infinite.

1:00:30

That is an infinite

1:00:32

direction of possibilities. They

1:00:34

will never run out.

1:00:36

But you will still have to

1:00:38

figure out what is it

1:00:40

that you really want from

1:00:42

your life. People will say, well,

1:00:45

I want to have a mansion

1:00:47

and I would like to have

1:00:49

a private chair and I

1:00:52

would like to have a

1:00:54

beautiful partner or I'd like to

1:00:56

have a trophy. Valet. Absolutely

1:00:59

understandable as

1:01:01

well. But I do think

1:01:03

that this universe is going

1:01:05

to let you realize your

1:01:07

lesson in the way how you

1:01:09

need it. You're going to

1:01:11

have your mention, you're

1:01:14

going to have your

1:01:16

beautiful, beautiful wife, you're

1:01:18

going to have it all. There

1:01:21

is something that's going to

1:01:23

put you back on track.

1:01:26

There is something

1:01:29

that's going to

1:01:31

put you back on

1:01:34

track telling you

1:01:36

you need to

1:01:38

readjust. It's why, why,

1:01:41

why, why? Because it

1:01:43

has always been

1:01:46

like this. We come

1:01:48

with nothing. We

1:01:51

go with nothing.

1:01:53

What does it mean?

1:01:55

with nothing, which means

1:01:57

at some point before

1:01:59

it's time for you to

1:02:01

go. You will be faced with

1:02:04

the fact of learning the necessity

1:02:06

of letting go of what

1:02:08

you have pertained in this

1:02:10

lifetime. And if you have

1:02:13

not learned and have not

1:02:15

understood that this is going

1:02:17

to come, then I think it's

1:02:19

a very very hard

1:02:21

awakening. It's a very painful

1:02:24

awakening. to

1:02:26

realize, to have

1:02:28

this realization that

1:02:31

you have spent

1:02:33

70 years, 80 years

1:02:35

following your goal, and

1:02:38

now there is no

1:02:40

other choice. You have

1:02:42

to let go. So, yeah,

1:02:45

it's not my invention.

1:02:48

It's just my

1:02:50

observation. And this

1:02:53

is why in now. Maybe

1:02:55

let's jump a little bit.

1:02:57

There are literally in the

1:03:00

ancient traditions, in the

1:03:02

text of Chan Buddhism,

1:03:04

Zen Buddhism, is very

1:03:06

simply said like this.

1:03:08

How do you know

1:03:11

that you have practiced

1:03:13

this past, this tradition

1:03:15

in a decent manner? It

1:03:18

is simply by feeling

1:03:20

inside yourself, how... Easy,

1:03:22

how willing are you

1:03:24

actually to let go of

1:03:26

what you have? If you feel

1:03:29

that you are mentally

1:03:31

attached to still things

1:03:33

still, mentally attached

1:03:36

to possession, you're far

1:03:38

away from the state

1:03:40

of being what this

1:03:42

Chan Buddhism, what this

1:03:44

Chan teaching is wanting

1:03:47

to like reveal to

1:03:49

you. What

1:03:51

it also means is if you

1:03:53

have the possibility of attaining

1:03:55

everything that you were

1:03:58

speaking about, You

1:04:00

are absolutely happy to do

1:04:02

so. You can own everything.

1:04:04

It's never about promoting to

1:04:06

have this is not good.

1:04:08

No. But to have attachment,

1:04:10

at least in this type

1:04:12

of tradition, will have consequence.

1:04:14

So it's not about what

1:04:17

is it that you possess.

1:04:19

It's about what of these

1:04:21

possessions are possessing you. That's

1:04:23

it. And therefore is it

1:04:25

possible to possess things and

1:04:27

to pursue the possession of

1:04:29

things while also having a

1:04:31

relationship with them where they

1:04:33

don't possess you? Can I

1:04:35

go in pursuit of getting

1:04:38

a, what's something that one

1:04:40

might want, a sports car?

1:04:42

And is it possible to

1:04:44

then have the sports car

1:04:46

and pursue it without it

1:04:48

possessing me and therefore me

1:04:50

avoiding the consequences that come

1:04:52

with that come with that?

1:04:54

unhealthy relationship to possession. Because

1:04:56

in your life there must

1:04:59

be things that you're pursuing

1:05:01

and you get those things

1:05:03

so your book sells a

1:05:05

million copies, your YouTube channel

1:05:07

does exceptionally well, you pursued

1:05:09

those things. Let's start with

1:05:11

a sports car. It depends

1:05:13

on the rest of the

1:05:15

circumstances. So let me put

1:05:17

it like this. If the

1:05:19

salary that you have for

1:05:22

example... is just as much

1:05:24

that you can pay your

1:05:26

rent. Nevertheless, you want to

1:05:28

have that sports car, therefore

1:05:30

take a loan, then buy

1:05:32

the sports car. It's very

1:05:34

probable you're going to be

1:05:36

very attached to the car.

1:05:38

Simply because out of the

1:05:40

situation you bought it from

1:05:43

a position of abundance. So

1:05:45

this is already not a

1:05:47

good starting point to afford

1:05:49

something that you actually cannot

1:05:51

afford. So differently it is.

1:05:53

when you have the possibilities

1:05:55

and you just spend the

1:05:57

time and spend also the

1:05:59

money on the sports car

1:06:01

and see it what it

1:06:04

is and realistically see it

1:06:06

what how much time you

1:06:08

let's say spent with it

1:06:10

I do think the excitement

1:06:12

in the beginning is there

1:06:14

for a week maybe a

1:06:16

month that's already long but

1:06:18

it's fading And at some

1:06:20

point, there will even be

1:06:22

a day, you don't even

1:06:25

see it, because you're busy.

1:06:27

Then there would be a

1:06:29

week when you see the

1:06:31

car once standing around somewhere.

1:06:33

And then there would be

1:06:35

a month passing by where

1:06:37

you were traveling the world

1:06:39

and you're not even sure

1:06:41

anymore, when was it the

1:06:43

last time that you were

1:06:46

riding it? And these are

1:06:48

things, like, when you observed

1:06:50

them, and actually realized, yeah,

1:06:52

it's the truth. This is

1:06:54

how the development of things

1:06:56

with possessions is. In the

1:06:58

beginning, it's always like you

1:07:00

want to have, you want

1:07:02

to have, and then they

1:07:04

fade. So, and diving into

1:07:06

this type of mentality of

1:07:09

really under setting. One thing,

1:07:11

one thing is the one

1:07:13

part, and then realizing how

1:07:15

is life really, do you

1:07:17

need it, is it necessary,

1:07:19

can you afford it? is

1:07:21

the second part, it just

1:07:23

opens another perspective. And then

1:07:25

you just decide for yourself.

1:07:27

But so, whether something is

1:07:30

possessing you or you can

1:07:32

possess something without being attached

1:07:34

to it, very much is

1:07:36

linked to all of this.

1:07:38

From which position did you

1:07:40

buy it from? Did you

1:07:42

attain it from? And then

1:07:44

the second thing is, how

1:07:46

much time do you literally

1:07:48

really spent with it? The

1:07:51

second of the five hindrances

1:07:53

is... ill will a negative

1:07:55

emotion such as dislike stops

1:07:57

you from chasing a goal.

1:07:59

Can you give me some

1:08:01

context on this one? What

1:08:03

do you mean by ill?

1:08:05

Well, I make it super

1:08:07

simple when it comes to

1:08:09

the five hindrances. Literally, it's

1:08:12

like this. Whatever appears in

1:08:14

our life, if I have

1:08:16

my goal set right now,

1:08:18

what you are not supposed

1:08:20

to do is to witness

1:08:22

something. And now if you

1:08:24

have like the number one,

1:08:26

sensual desire. sensory desire. What

1:08:28

we tend to do is

1:08:30

we like start to pull

1:08:32

things towards us. That's number

1:08:35

one. The second thing, what

1:08:37

not to do, this is

1:08:39

what it all belongs to

1:08:41

that family of non-judgment, is

1:08:43

like when ill will, something

1:08:45

appears in your life, something

1:08:47

you witness, you meet a

1:08:49

person you don't want to

1:08:51

meet, you don't want to

1:08:53

read that message, whatever it

1:08:56

is, and you try to

1:08:58

avoid it. by doing actions

1:09:00

in order to push it

1:09:02

away from you. So what

1:09:04

it ultimately means is don't

1:09:06

do any of them because

1:09:08

whatever you try to hold

1:09:10

on to the nature of

1:09:12

thing is that this is

1:09:14

happening. Swinging away. It's going

1:09:17

to move away from you.

1:09:19

But whatever you try to

1:09:21

avoid and push away from

1:09:23

you is just a question

1:09:25

of time until it's going

1:09:27

to move like pretty close

1:09:29

towards you. going to come

1:09:31

towards you. It's going to

1:09:33

come towards you, okay? So

1:09:35

that means, also in the

1:09:38

way of how it's expressed,

1:09:40

don't touch the water. If

1:09:42

you don't want to have

1:09:44

a life that is too

1:09:46

shaky, don't touch the water.

1:09:48

Because in the moment you

1:09:50

touch, your touch is the

1:09:52

initiation for the ripples to

1:09:54

appear. Same way,

1:09:57

you wanna follow that go? You

1:09:59

want to have it easy along

1:10:01

that goal. Don't touch any additional

1:10:04

water along your goal. Don't touch

1:10:06

it because you like something and

1:10:08

don't touch it because you dislike

1:10:10

something. Because when you walk towards

1:10:13

a go and you do here

1:10:15

and here and here, you're just

1:10:17

going to ripple your whole surroundings,

1:10:20

which ultimately means your energy is

1:10:22

being just drawn away from your

1:10:24

initial goal. That's how I would

1:10:27

say it is. And ill will

1:10:29

is one of these expressions of

1:10:31

you don't like something and then

1:10:34

you invest the energy there. You

1:10:36

like something and it draws your

1:10:38

energy back to there. And ill

1:10:40

will is similar in this category

1:10:43

belonging to this idea of don't

1:10:45

push, don't pull. As you've become...

1:10:47

more popular and you've got millions

1:10:50

and millions of views across the

1:10:52

internet. Your TED Talk I think

1:10:54

from the link, one of the

1:10:57

links that I saw had some

1:10:59

20 million views and it probably

1:11:01

has tens of more millions of

1:11:04

views all over the internet. There's

1:11:06

going to be more and more

1:11:08

people sending you messages, interacting with

1:11:10

you and saying amazing things, saying

1:11:13

not so amazing things. We experienced

1:11:15

this obviously as a podcast. You

1:11:17

just, you receive all kinds of

1:11:20

feedback from everybody. When you think

1:11:22

about how you manage that and

1:11:24

you manage other people's opinion of

1:11:27

you, does this tie into ill

1:11:29

will? And I guess the ultimate

1:11:31

question is, do you care what

1:11:34

people think about you? So there

1:11:36

was a time I cared a

1:11:38

lot, a lot, a lot, a

1:11:40

lot, a lot, very much. But

1:11:43

within the last five, six years,

1:11:45

I really had my heart lessons

1:11:47

being perfectly honest. Number one thing

1:11:50

I need to learn is also...

1:11:52

to really not take things too

1:11:54

deep into consideration, especially from people

1:11:57

that I've never met in my

1:11:59

life. Number one. That is the...

1:12:01

first area I needed to learn,

1:12:04

which means all the everything that's

1:12:06

on social media, everything that is

1:12:08

publicly available, this is one thing.

1:12:10

Why? Because what they judge or

1:12:13

if they judge or what they

1:12:15

comment, they can only comment on

1:12:17

the character that is actually being

1:12:20

available to them, which is ultimately

1:12:22

what, which is for example

1:12:24

also, let's say that person,

1:12:27

Shuhang-Y, yeah. named She hung

1:12:29

ye on that cover. Always

1:12:32

like having a good uniform

1:12:35

in a way

1:12:37

representing something, yes. But

1:12:39

I'm simply not limited

1:12:42

to only this

1:12:44

type of representation.

1:12:46

And this is

1:12:48

something really, really

1:12:50

important in general now

1:12:52

to bring out there to

1:12:55

the world. It is not. It

1:12:57

is not good. It is

1:13:00

not helpful. If this

1:13:02

idea of putting

1:13:04

people on, on how you

1:13:07

call it, on higher

1:13:09

pedestal or podest,

1:13:12

is not a good

1:13:14

idea. The idea of raising

1:13:17

somebody up to

1:13:19

be our guru, raising

1:13:21

somebody up to be

1:13:23

our master. Raising somebody

1:13:25

up, oh yes, he

1:13:28

is the special one.

1:13:30

All of these things

1:13:32

are doing exactly

1:13:34

the opposite of what

1:13:36

I'm trying to bring

1:13:39

into the world, of

1:13:41

what I do believe

1:13:43

is the key, especially

1:13:45

in this times right

1:13:47

now, worldwide. It is

1:13:49

to become aware

1:13:51

of the real and the

1:13:53

fake. This is the... current

1:13:55

situation that we're in, that

1:13:57

the threshold, that the line

1:13:59

between whether something is real

1:14:01

or whether something is artificial

1:14:03

or not real, it's becoming

1:14:06

so incredibly slim, that line.

1:14:08

This is why at the

1:14:10

moment, our world seems so

1:14:12

fractured. There are the ones

1:14:14

which are completely about, let's

1:14:17

go into the nature, and

1:14:19

there's the other fraction, which

1:14:21

is all about going into

1:14:23

the technology, into everything that's

1:14:25

available nowadays. where ultimately meaning

1:14:28

at some point you will

1:14:30

be able to just spend

1:14:32

your whole life in your

1:14:34

living room because everything you

1:14:36

want to see and want

1:14:39

to partially experience you just

1:14:41

call it into your living

1:14:43

room. It's going to be

1:14:45

possible at some point in

1:14:47

time. So why, how do

1:14:50

we get to the point?

1:14:52

Yeah, exactly because of this.

1:14:54

It's not good if people

1:14:56

raise you up and make

1:14:58

you unhuman. And

1:15:00

this is what is being

1:15:03

attacked. So this is number

1:15:05

one that takes a little

1:15:07

bit the pressure off from

1:15:09

me to take it too

1:15:11

seriously. Because I just know

1:15:14

they are seeing something, but

1:15:16

it's a fraction of what

1:15:18

I am. This number one.

1:15:20

Second realization at the same

1:15:23

time was... not helpful or

1:15:25

wasn't helpful and let's say

1:15:27

was also a lesson for

1:15:29

me. Even the close people,

1:15:31

even the very close people

1:15:34

in my surrounding that stayed

1:15:36

with me for eight nine

1:15:38

years. Sometimes even such close

1:15:40

people don't know who you

1:15:43

are. Can also happen. Hurt

1:15:45

stubble as much as people

1:15:47

saying something about you that

1:15:49

don't know you. Now you

1:15:51

have people that you sought

1:15:54

know you and still they

1:15:56

didn't get you. Also very

1:15:58

painful. So

1:16:00

ultimately leading only to one

1:16:03

thing, it only leads to

1:16:05

one thing. You would have

1:16:08

right now the impression of,

1:16:10

so what's the only way?

1:16:13

Just go your way, regardless

1:16:15

of what people think, in

1:16:18

a way, yes, but have

1:16:20

understanding for them. And no

1:16:22

ill will against them. Have

1:16:25

empathy for their lack of

1:16:27

understanding. Yes. That

1:16:31

is ultimately the only

1:16:33

thing that me as

1:16:35

a result for the

1:16:37

current state of being

1:16:40

The That I took

1:16:42

as my consequence Yes,

1:16:44

so be careful. Be

1:16:46

very aware. Who are

1:16:48

you letting into your

1:16:50

circle and ultimately rely

1:16:53

on yourself and maintain

1:16:55

your? Sorry to say

1:16:57

but it's the heart

1:17:01

maintain the purity of your intention.

1:17:03

One of the things that I've

1:17:05

noticed in your work is that

1:17:07

you have this huge emphasis on

1:17:09

being able to focus oneself. And

1:17:12

when I talked to you about

1:17:14

this brick, I think just before

1:17:16

we started recording, you said to

1:17:18

me that the average person on

1:17:20

the street might not be able

1:17:23

to break it. But if someone

1:17:25

was really, really strong... they might

1:17:27

be able to break it. However,

1:17:29

the key to breaking this brick

1:17:31

isn't strength necessarily. It's the ability

1:17:34

to really, really focus. And when

1:17:36

we talked about the five hindrances,

1:17:38

they will sway us from focus.

1:17:40

It will distract us from that

1:17:42

ability to focus. So you've cultivated

1:17:45

that ability to focus, which culminates

1:17:47

in you being able to smash

1:17:49

this brick with your hand. And

1:17:51

it's not necessarily a strength thing,

1:17:53

you're saying. It is this connection

1:17:56

between mind and body focused at

1:17:58

a particular moment. Yes. So can

1:18:00

you show me. You smashing this

1:18:02

brick? Absolutely. Do you put the

1:18:04

brick in the middle of the

1:18:07

blocks or do you just put

1:18:09

it there? like this oh see

1:18:11

okay I can see I just

1:18:13

drop it down on one side

1:18:15

do you have another brick yes

1:18:18

there's another one here you gonna

1:18:20

pick your brick So

1:18:36

what were you doing then

1:18:38

in the lead up to

1:18:40

that? We just have your

1:18:42

hands like here to the

1:18:44

front. If I touch you

1:18:46

here to the front. If

1:18:48

I touch you like this

1:18:50

to the front. If I

1:18:52

touch you like this and

1:18:54

only to here, yeah. See

1:18:56

this. I don't have a

1:18:58

good feeling. I don't have

1:19:00

a good feeling. feeling for

1:19:02

your body. Yeah, because it's

1:19:04

like, it's superficial right now.

1:19:06

What I do is like

1:19:08

when I touch you, you

1:19:10

know, so it's not this

1:19:12

type of touching you. When

1:19:14

I touch you, I literally

1:19:16

try to sentence your body

1:19:18

structure. I feel like inside

1:19:20

you, where is the tension,

1:19:22

where is the relaxation inside

1:19:24

the body. So it's like

1:19:26

we call it. I'm reading

1:19:28

your body. I'm reading your

1:19:30

body. How is it? Where

1:19:32

is the energy locked? Where

1:19:34

is it dense? Where is

1:19:36

it loose? So the same

1:19:38

I do with the stone.

1:19:40

When I touch the stone,

1:19:42

I least feel inside, like,

1:19:44

sounds funny, but I feel

1:19:46

inside the structure of the

1:19:48

stone. I feel the density

1:19:50

of the stone in my

1:19:52

fingers. And then I just,

1:19:54

boom, do it. That's it.

1:19:56

I know how the energy

1:19:58

is going to come down.

1:20:00

I know how the energy

1:20:02

is going to come down.

1:20:04

And then I just like,

1:20:06

see how does it fit

1:20:08

together? So on the one

1:20:10

side, I feel the structure

1:20:12

of the stone. On the

1:20:14

other side, I know what

1:20:17

type of energy is going

1:20:19

to come in. Those two

1:20:21

I combine. And then I

1:20:23

just, boom, do it. That's

1:20:25

it. And how does that

1:20:27

translate to life generally? Good

1:20:30

question. Because we're, you know,

1:20:32

it's not a problem I

1:20:34

have day to day, but

1:20:36

that ability to understand the

1:20:38

energy of something and the

1:20:40

structure of something and then

1:20:42

really understand, be able to

1:20:44

cultivate your own focused energy

1:20:46

when you need it. Do

1:20:48

you need to have this

1:20:50

ability to live a proper

1:20:52

life? I don't think so,

1:20:54

but somebody who is able

1:20:56

to break the stone like

1:20:58

this. definitely possesses some type

1:21:00

of skill set, raises the

1:21:02

probability that you can do

1:21:04

something with that mindset in

1:21:06

your daily life. Which means

1:21:08

already, the only way to

1:21:10

do this is you know

1:21:12

what consistency means. You know

1:21:14

what patience means. You also

1:21:16

know what like endurance means

1:21:18

or like training means. So

1:21:20

in all of these character

1:21:22

attributes that make it possible

1:21:24

to break the stone, just

1:21:26

also build the foundation, I

1:21:28

would say, to integrate this

1:21:30

now into other areas of

1:21:32

life, yeah? So it's not

1:21:34

about the breaking of the

1:21:36

stone, but at the same

1:21:38

time, it's also an expression

1:21:40

of, look, the human, your

1:21:42

body is capable of doing

1:21:44

a lot of things. Yeah,

1:21:46

and this is just one

1:21:48

of them. There are so

1:21:50

many. extra ordinary abilities that

1:21:52

people can do nowadays, but

1:21:55

all of them have one

1:21:57

thing in common. You have

1:21:59

a vision. you find a

1:22:01

proper way how to knowledge

1:22:03

that vision, that the vision

1:22:05

becomes real. Similar like

1:22:07

this. So this is a

1:22:09

consequence of a long journey of

1:22:12

several character traits and

1:22:14

attributes, which you've cultivated

1:22:17

over a long period of

1:22:19

time, and this is just

1:22:21

a symptom or a consequence

1:22:24

of those things? You know,

1:22:26

that's exactly the thing. Nowadays

1:22:28

you look at any type

1:22:31

of competition sports, the event

1:22:33

itself, the competition

1:22:36

is being recorded, that

1:22:38

one-minute performance.

1:22:40

Or that nine rings, or

1:22:42

that three minutes, yeah. But everything

1:22:45

that makes it possible for

1:22:47

them to perform in that

1:22:50

one minute on that show,

1:22:52

nobody sees what is lying

1:22:54

in front of there. Similar like

1:22:56

this. It's with less than

1:22:58

one second, the stone is

1:23:00

broken. Yeah, but took like a few

1:23:02

years to be able to do that

1:23:04

one second. And how long would

1:23:07

it take me to learn how to

1:23:09

do two bricks like you just did

1:23:11

then? How long do you think you

1:23:13

would have to spend training me?

1:23:16

You're looking at my hand.

1:23:18

Because it's important, because it's

1:23:20

literally not only about, it's

1:23:23

not just about the focus

1:23:25

of the mind, it literally

1:23:27

is also about building the

1:23:30

density, now physically speaking, the

1:23:32

density of the bone structure. So I

1:23:34

can just give you, if you like,

1:23:37

a little example. What we do

1:23:39

is, this part and this part

1:23:41

of the arm, we just smash it

1:23:43

like this. Oh my gosh. This

1:23:45

is like a... So like

1:23:48

this. Okay. You just try,

1:23:50

like, one, just got

1:23:53

a couple really. Oh

1:23:55

my God. Your yours

1:23:57

is like steel. Yeah.

1:24:00

And this is what it is, yeah? So

1:24:03

it is changing you, if you want, you

1:24:05

can like touch, you can feel it. Yeah,

1:24:07

it's like steel. Mine's

1:24:10

like polystyrene. It

1:24:13

can be embarrassing to that. Well, it

1:24:16

just feels like steel. It felt like

1:24:18

I was hitting a bar or something.

1:24:21

Okay, so you've got to build up

1:24:23

the strength here. But still to

1:24:25

answer the question, I do think three

1:24:27

months, but dedicated training, yeah? And

1:24:29

what would that training look like? So

1:24:32

right now, as I explained

1:24:35

before, this is why I also

1:24:37

like in the book, I

1:24:39

mentioned one of the grandmasters that

1:24:41

I also learned a lot

1:24:43

of the methods from. This is

1:24:45

now, let's say a stone,

1:24:47

yeah? Stone belonging to the family

1:24:49

of earth, because okay, earth.

1:24:51

Now in Asian tradition, we have

1:24:53

like the five elements or

1:24:55

the five transition phases. Wood, earth,

1:24:57

metal, fire, water, like these

1:25:00

five elements. So the proper training

1:25:02

starts with the so -called wood

1:25:04

training. Okay. So we are

1:25:06

using a lot of wooden material

1:25:08

to actually condition our body.

1:25:10

So you're not gonna break stones,

1:25:12

you break like first of

1:25:14

all, wooden things. After wood is

1:25:16

no problem for you, then

1:25:18

we go to the next layer,

1:25:20

which is gonna be stone, you

1:25:24

know? This was this one, for example.

1:25:26

After stone comes metal. And

1:25:28

so like this, we go

1:25:30

through all the layers until

1:25:32

your body has increased in

1:25:34

its abilities. You know the

1:25:36

frequency of wood, you know

1:25:38

the frequency of stone, you

1:25:40

know the frequency and vibration

1:25:42

of metal. And

1:25:44

this is how we increase our

1:25:46

ability to just be able to

1:25:49

actually maintain our strength in the

1:25:51

field of all five elements. You

1:25:53

can break metal, or you can

1:25:55

hit metal. You can hit metal.

1:25:57

You can hit metal, okay. You

1:25:59

can hit metal. Thank you.

1:26:01

Fascinating. Thank you. Thank you so

1:26:03

much. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. A

1:26:06

business is only as good as the people

1:26:08

inside it. So how do you make sure

1:26:10

you're hiring the best? Our sponsor LinkedIn can

1:26:13

help you find these applicants quickly. I believe

1:26:15

in taking time to hire slowly. But I

1:26:17

also understand that once you've decided to hire,

1:26:19

you want to get the ball rolling and

1:26:22

get the best candidates in front of you

1:26:24

to start interviewing. And that's where paying to

1:26:26

promote your role on LinkedIn makes all the

1:26:28

difference. Because you'll get applicants seven times faster

1:26:31

than if you post your job for free.

1:26:33

And even though slower, more considered hiring is

1:26:35

important, you never want your hiring platforms

1:26:38

to be what's holding you back.

1:26:40

LinkedIn keeps pace. It takes care

1:26:42

of the heavy lifting, sending you

1:26:44

highly skilled candidates that you wouldn't

1:26:47

find anywhere else. So when the

1:26:49

time comes to make your next

1:26:51

hire, make it count and promote

1:26:53

your job on LinkedIn. Head to

1:26:56

linkedin.com/DOAC and terms and conditions apply.

1:26:58

I was really thinking a lot about

1:27:00

these... Virtues. In Shalon

1:27:02

tradition, virtues are a guiding

1:27:04

system in both martial arts

1:27:07

and daily life. A Shalon

1:27:09

warrior practices, thinking deliberately and

1:27:11

mindfully about the virtues of

1:27:14

everyday life for his or

1:27:16

her life. And there are

1:27:18

two categories of virtues.

1:27:20

The virtues to be expected

1:27:23

and the virtues to be learnt.

1:27:25

What are these virtues that you

1:27:27

speak about in the Shalon

1:27:29

tradition? Prior

1:27:32

to somebody entering now,

1:27:34

let's say, into the

1:27:37

temple and wants to learn

1:27:39

from there, first of all,

1:27:41

we also as teachers want

1:27:43

to find out what does the

1:27:46

character of that

1:27:48

personality already possesses.

1:27:50

And these are, for

1:27:52

example, what we are looking

1:27:55

for are ultimately the virtues

1:27:57

to be expected.

1:28:00

Virtues to be expected are,

1:28:02

for example, self-control. A certain

1:28:04

amount of self-control. A certain

1:28:06

amount of discipline. So self-control,

1:28:08

what does that mean in

1:28:10

this context? If I'm self-controlled,

1:28:12

what am I? You don't

1:28:14

let your emotions run over

1:28:16

you. You don't... Even if

1:28:19

something makes you angry, but

1:28:21

in this context is not

1:28:23

honorable. It's not respectful to

1:28:25

now shout out. You shouldn't

1:28:27

do it. You shouldn't do

1:28:29

it. Okay. You should, like,

1:28:31

be able to maintain your

1:28:33

emotional states, maintain your temper,

1:28:35

let's say, also, at least

1:28:38

to a certain extent. This

1:28:40

is where I would say

1:28:42

it comes to self-control. And

1:28:44

the second one you said

1:28:46

was discipline. So, discipline meaning,

1:28:48

you have, like I said,

1:28:50

even if it's called, the

1:28:52

virtues to be expected, they

1:28:54

should be visible somehow. but

1:28:57

not to the fullest extent

1:28:59

to what people are capable

1:29:01

of. Discipline just meaning this

1:29:03

understanding that if you come

1:29:05

to the temple life, you

1:29:07

know it's going to be

1:29:09

difficult to wake up every

1:29:11

day at the same time

1:29:13

and then start to go

1:29:16

through the daily structure. So

1:29:18

it needs some type of

1:29:20

commitment, let's say. It needs

1:29:22

some type of... I know

1:29:24

it's hard but I'm willing

1:29:26

to do it, this type

1:29:28

of discipline. This is also,

1:29:30

in a way, expected. And

1:29:32

then another one is simply

1:29:34

to be benevolent as well.

1:29:37

So that's kindness and compassion

1:29:39

for your present sisters? Kind

1:29:41

of. It goes, yeah, the

1:29:43

virtue sometimes swim into each

1:29:45

other, but this idea of

1:29:47

why do we have these

1:29:49

virtues in the first place?

1:29:54

And again, it's like in

1:29:56

Star Wars. The force, what

1:29:58

you're learning. the cultivation

1:30:00

of energy, the skills that

1:30:03

you are learning. These are

1:30:05

very, very powerful things. Yeah.

1:30:07

But what does, what makes

1:30:09

the difference between somebody possessing

1:30:12

this power and using it

1:30:14

for the sake of humanity

1:30:16

or somebody using it for

1:30:19

the not betterment of humanity?

1:30:21

It's the character. The power

1:30:23

is the same. It's the

1:30:25

character. It's the same. It's

1:30:28

the character. It's the carrier

1:30:30

of the power. It's the

1:30:32

one who is responsible to

1:30:34

hold this power, to maintain

1:30:37

this power. That one must

1:30:39

be trained as well. And

1:30:41

this is where the virtues

1:30:44

hit in. The virtues are

1:30:46

building the framework of the

1:30:48

character of the avatar, ultimately,

1:30:50

that is then receiving all

1:30:53

different types of training, skill

1:30:55

training, that we, that at

1:30:57

least in the Shaolin tradition,

1:30:59

we would say, is good

1:31:02

to know them. Same in

1:31:04

business really. I looked at

1:31:06

a lot of these virtues

1:31:08

and I thought they're all

1:31:11

the kinds of things that

1:31:13

we're looking for in a

1:31:15

good team member. So discipline,

1:31:18

self-control, modesty, benevolence, humility, trust,

1:31:20

loyalty, willpower, perseverance, persistence, courage

1:31:22

and patience. So ultimately, like

1:31:24

I said before, in the

1:31:27

Shaolin traditional text is broken

1:31:29

down into 14 different virtues.

1:31:31

There are four of them

1:31:33

to be expected, another five

1:31:36

virtues of action, another five

1:31:38

virtues of the mind. Just

1:31:40

simply when you will later

1:31:42

on fly through it again,

1:31:45

the virtues of action. What

1:31:47

does it mean, virtues of

1:31:49

action? It is, how should

1:31:52

you behave? Behave in a

1:31:54

loyal way. Behave in a

1:31:56

trustful way. behave

1:31:58

in a response respectful

1:32:00

way, behave in a

1:32:03

courageous way. So this

1:32:05

is the, how should

1:32:07

you do something? And

1:32:09

the virtues of mind,

1:32:12

for example, they say,

1:32:14

what is it that

1:32:16

nourishes the way for

1:32:18

you to put the

1:32:21

virtues of action into

1:32:23

practice? How can you

1:32:25

be? How can you

1:32:27

learn to behave respectfully?

1:32:30

Because naturally, if people

1:32:32

like insulting you, you

1:32:34

don't behave respectfully towards

1:32:37

them. So how can

1:32:39

you still behave respectfully,

1:32:41

still be loyal to

1:32:43

people? How do you

1:32:46

do it? Well, then

1:32:48

this is where it

1:32:50

then comes to the

1:32:52

virtues of the mind.

1:32:55

to really learn, to be

1:32:57

patient, to really know what

1:32:59

does it mean, to be

1:33:02

persistent, to persevere during your

1:33:04

training. And this is ultimately

1:33:06

how I would describe it

1:33:08

to easily understand. Do you

1:33:10

believe in a God or

1:33:12

do you believe in a

1:33:14

religion? If someone asked you

1:33:16

which religion do you follow,

1:33:19

what would your answer be?

1:33:21

I would call it the

1:33:23

religion of oneness. the

1:33:25

religion of one's, the religion

1:33:28

of, I do believe that

1:33:30

we are connected at some

1:33:32

way. And it is my

1:33:34

journey, I don't want to

1:33:36

just intellectualize it. I do

1:33:39

think it isn't, it is

1:33:41

a, the past is to...

1:33:43

lay out and remove all

1:33:45

the friction and all the

1:33:47

obstacles to just realize that

1:33:49

it is like this. Yeah,

1:33:52

this is maybe also like

1:33:54

an... a very essential point

1:33:56

along the complete line whether

1:33:58

somebody reads the book or

1:34:00

whether somebody watches all these

1:34:03

type of YouTube channels. I

1:34:05

myself always screw up in

1:34:07

the need to attain something,

1:34:09

to add something up on

1:34:11

top of my life. This

1:34:14

tradition, the whole tradition I'm

1:34:16

talking about top of my

1:34:18

life. This tradition, the whole

1:34:20

tradition I'm talking about is

1:34:22

actually quite the opposite. That's

1:34:24

why in the latest, in

1:34:27

the latest videos or publications,

1:34:29

for example, I often mention

1:34:31

that actually there is nothing

1:34:33

I can give to anyone.

1:34:35

It's not that you miss

1:34:38

something in your life. I

1:34:40

remember you're not in a

1:34:42

leg, but in the moment

1:34:44

where it feels like we

1:34:46

are meeting and I give

1:34:48

you something, when you even

1:34:51

think that I'm giving you

1:34:53

something, then you are a...

1:34:55

about to receive something that's

1:34:57

not the right state of

1:34:59

mind already. I have nothing

1:35:02

to give you. The only

1:35:04

thing that I really try

1:35:06

to do is take stuff

1:35:08

away from you, take things

1:35:10

away from you that are

1:35:13

covering that you see that

1:35:15

you are complete. What things

1:35:17

tend to cover us that

1:35:19

need to be taken away?

1:35:21

Everything that builds up identity.

1:35:26

Everything that builds up a

1:35:28

stronger and stronger identity. Everything

1:35:30

that you keep from the

1:35:32

past in your mind. The

1:35:34

more that you keep the

1:35:36

past in the mind, the

1:35:38

stronger your identity is. I

1:35:40

do think this is one

1:35:42

correlation that also goes hand

1:35:44

in end. The more you

1:35:46

keep past elements inside your

1:35:48

mind, the less likely you

1:35:50

will be able to break

1:35:52

free into the future future

1:35:54

future. and open

1:35:57