5 Things Holding You Back From Achieving Your Dreams w/ Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi EP 1428

https://lewishowes.com/mindset - Order a copy of my new book The Greatness Mindset today! Shi Heng Yi is the headmaster of the Shaolin Temple Europe. In this function he is responsible for the mental and physical development and training of the novices, disciples and master students of the monastery in Otterberg / Germany. Despite it’s traditional history of over 1528 years since the establishment of the famous Shaolin Temple in China, less is being known about the underlying aspects of psychological and mental practices that go along with the hardship of physically demanding training and conditioning, known as Shaolin Kung Fu. His goal and endeavor is not only to explain and convey theoretical principles in an understandable way, but above all to make this knowledge practical and tangible for our contemporary modern world. Being a martial artist for more then 36 years, Master Shi Heng Yi has spend decades of practice and research in the field of Shaolin Kung Fu and Qi Gong. He has an academic background and does not consider himself as a Monk. His strength is the ability to combine his knowledge with ancient Shaolin methods to unlock the potential that lies in the unification of body and mind aspects. He's released a 12 Month Self-Master course that's now available - https://www.shihengyi.online/self-mastery-trainingIn this episode you will learn,Various training methods of the Shaolin Arts. How to use your imagination and the power of your mind to manifest and create positive change in your life. The power of affirmations in obtaining great results. The virtue of balance. The five hindrances that hold people back. The importance of finding balance between obtaining and letting go throughout your life. For more information go to:www.lewishowes.com/1428Listen to part one of Shi Heng Yi's interview:https://link.chtbl.com/1418-pod Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:02Lewis Howes?

  I firmly believe that taking charge of your mindset allows you to be in the driver's seat of your life and unlock your potential. And that's why I'm thrilled to share that my new book is out right now. It's called The Greatness Mindset. In it, you'll learn how to build a plan for greatness through powerful exercises and toolkits designed to propel your life forward. This is the book that I wish I had 20 years ago. It's everything I've learned in the last decade with the research and the science to help you unlock your mind. Make sure to go to LewisHowes.com/2023Mindset to pick up your copy of my book, The Greatness Mindset, today.

• 0:40Speaker 01

  Sometimes you can't change people around you. You can't look into the heads of other people. But what you can do at all times, every day, is to do something about what is in your own.

• 0:56Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 1:20Lewis Howes?

  When do you think is the easiest time in life? When you're younger or when you're older?

• 1:26Speaker 01

  When you're younger. Out of just the fact that you have not learned yet and have not been exposed yet to all of these adult ideas of what you're supposed to do with your life.

• 1:41Lewis Howes?

  How do you manage the level that you're at now? I'm not sure what level you're in in the video game. Is it level seven or 28 right now for you? But how do you manage this level where you're stepping into new seasons, new decade, you know, of the material number of the world you're in? The platform that you're building around the world globally? How do you step into that and master it?

• 2:12Speaker 01

  I think before we talked about it already a little bit,

• 2:18Speaker 01

  that within the last three years, four years,

• 2:23Speaker 01

  I could really witness in a way how like this type of teachings, or let's say my name was really spread out into the world and more and more people starting to also participate in listening to what is it that is being shared out, for example.

• 2:41Speaker 01

  And at the same time, I can also feel that

• 2:47Speaker 01

  everything I have to say, everything that I like shared, the reason why I could share all of these things is because the first thirty-five years before that, I was not the talker at all. There couldn't be any more quiet person than me. So I was very... Really? Yes. Until when? When did you start using your voice?

• 3:11Speaker 01

  I think it happened in the moment where people asked me to explain what I'm doing.

• 3:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, so, and then I just said, "Look, I'm not just doing like my punch. This is not punching for me," so in the martial arts, for example. I started to explain, for example. The punch is not just for me something, let's say, physical. It has also something to do, what are you doing to prepare inside of you before you throw out that punch? Because if you throw out something, if something moves outwards, the question for me is, where does it get in? Because if you throw out punches, five hundred punches every day, you just throw them out, where do you get the energy from to throw five hundred things out? And now, different ways how you can express it.

• 4:00Speaker 01

  But for me, coming from this field of martial arts, where the yin yang symbol does matter and also does matter why it is around,

• 4:11Speaker 01

  means for me I started to explain.

• 4:14Speaker 01

  If you wanna throw a punch, there are different ways how to throw it. If you have a lot of mess already on yourself, you probably can just use straight line movements. No issue at all. But if you look at me, small Asian, I have to compensate for the lack of mess somehow. And therefore, I need to use another method. I need to use different methods to compensate for the lack of mess that I have in comparison to other people. So, and suddenly, out of a question, how do you punch? Starts the talking discussion.

• 4:53Speaker 01

  And honestly, I think this is where the beginning lies, where then people found it interesting that apparently there's a whole philosophy just behind like a punch. And I said, yes.

• 5:06Lewis Howes?

  How did you? I can resonate with the fact that, you know, you were shy most of your life, right? You didn't speak that much up, you didn't use your voice as much. You were more introverted with your voice, is that correct?

• 5:18Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 5:19Lewis Howes?

  So, how did you have the confidence and learn that skill of confidence to use your voice when you really didn't use it that much beforehand? Were you fearful? Were you nervous? Were you afraid? Or how did you step into that?

• 5:36Speaker 01

  I just had to laugh right now. Because I just imagine in my mind, there were very often, also now in school time already. Of course, my friends, they were standing in the break time, everybody having discussions. And I was always quiet.

• 5:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 5:53Speaker 01

  But internally, I could already like feel like I knew what I would say if I would open my mouth. It's just that I didn't.

• 6:03Lewis Howes?

  Why that?

• 6:05Speaker 01

  Because ultimately, I just thought that it's pointless.

• 6:11Speaker 01

  It's pointless because sometimes, just sometimes, the topics are just.

• 6:14Lewis Howes?

  Right, it's superficial or whatever, yeah.

• 6:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, it doesn't bring benefit to anything. It's just meaning maybe that you are like profiling yourself, but that was it. Yeah, so that's why I kept it for myself. But internally, observing people, watching, just listening. Inside of me, the language was always speaking. I always knew, like, what would be my answer if somebody speak to me like this.

• 6:42Lewis Howes?

  Sure, sure.

• 6:43Speaker 01

  And so ultimately, I really think it was for me not difficult at all to then, when I was asked, to just let it out.

• 6:51Lewis Howes?

  Say it, yeah.

• 6:53Speaker 01

  Because I already had it inside. I just had to, let's say, allow my mouth to speak it out. And, yeah.

• 7:01Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful. So you had the confidence because you had the inner wisdom, the inner answers to what you would say already. You just didn't say them before as much.

• 7:12Speaker 01

  Probably, probably, but of course, to sometimes

• 7:19Speaker 01

  use proper vocabulary, to use proper rhetorical ways. Of course, this I also had to learn. But like in general, when it comes to if I was fearful to speak out, normally not.

• 7:36Lewis Howes?

  No.

• 7:36Speaker 01

  Because I only let out what I anyway already have inside of me. So that means, yeah, this is something important, maybe. I don't know if they are public speakers or so, sometimes listening, but I concentrate on just, I can only talk about stuff I have inside.

• 7:53Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 7:53Speaker 01

  That's why very rarely I try to come up with new ideas or anything like this, which doesn't come from me. Then I don't feel comfortable. And.

• 8:04Lewis Howes?

  It's inauthentic, yeah, it's not authentic. You've been training for essentially thirty-five years of your life in some different form, whether it be physical training, mental training, emotional training. But specifically for the last fifteen years, you've really been having a disciplined life at the temple. And you've been practicing martial arts. I don't know, is it five days a week or seven days a week? Physically, mentally, emotionally, in that discipline and in that practice. The the fourth hindrance that you talked about that I've seen is restlessness. Can you talk about what is restlessness? And do you ever face it yourself in this practice and in this discipline?

• 8:48Speaker 01

  So restlessness, there is a nice picture you can always think about. We say it's the monkey mind.

• 8:57Speaker 01

  Monkey mind, meaning there's always one, you're jumping from one sword to another, from one branch to another.

• 9:10Speaker 01

  What it means is that you are maybe having contact with a lot of branches, but it's very difficult to really focus and concentrate

• 9:24Speaker 01

  on one thing specifically.

• 9:28Speaker 01

  Now, why would I say that it is important to learn and concentrate on one thing specifically? Because this is the pure expression of what the Buddhist teachings or also the Shaolin teachings are about.

• 9:49Speaker 01

  You can spend your time traveling this whole world, always visiting different lakes and oceans. But the way how you are visiting them is you drive on the on the on the coastline of it, watch over it, say, okay, that's the ocean, and then you keep on driving to the next one. Which means what you do is you keep traveling the world, watching at the surface of each of these lakes and oceans.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  I do think that if you just stay with the Pacific Ocean and start diving down into it, you will never ever again need to visit another lake or ocean in order to make discoveries.

• 10:36Speaker 01

  So the point is that it is about going deeper.

• 10:43Speaker 01

  Going deeper means it is going to give you an insight. And so what is Buddhist teaching about? To give you insights into what? Sometimes into your body, sometimes into your mind. So what's the problem with the restlessness? You don't gain insight. Because the monkey all the time is jumping too much and staying too much on that surface area. And now translated, it just means

• 11:22Speaker 01

  that on average day, whatever job you are doing, you do it under your possible potential. And also what it means is, it's like you can't really, you can't really embrace what you actually have there. It's like you were at work. You are supposed to concentrate and work, write down your emails. But all the time you're already like jumping around, making plans for the weekend, who to call, or that you are hungry, or that you are thirsty, what movie to watch.

• 12:05Speaker 01

  This is how you behave when you're at work. Then afterwards you drive home and maybe the family is waiting for you. And now, it's a good example, but the children or your wife or your husband want to spend time with you. But they can see very clearly, your body is there, your mind is not there. You're not present. You're just not present. So then, then sometimes the question this is, why do you have the wife and the husband if you don't pay them the necessary respect and attention that they, let's say, deserve? Or also towards your children?

• 12:42Speaker 01

  And if it's a conscious decision, why you don't pay attention to them? Well, there's something different, then it's really the question, why do you have one family then? But that restlessness can also mean it happens unconsciously.

• 12:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 12:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, and maybe for you yourself, you don't realize it. But people around you, they realize very quickly if you are with them or not.

• 13:07Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 13:08Speaker 01

  And I just think that this is hindering you. Now, in that picture of of reaching that mountain or reaching that goal, it's hindering you because whatever you do, you don't do it properly.

• 13:25Speaker 01

  You jump from one to another, you maybe have you maybe have touched many different surfaces, but none of them, you can really, you don't really have an insight into them.

• 13:38Lewis Howes?

  You've been delving deep into it, yeah.

• 13:42Lewis Howes?

  The fifth one you talk about, hindrance that holds people back, is skeptical doubt. What is what is skeptical doubt? And why do we have it?

• 13:52Speaker 01

  Why do we have it? I don't know. I really, I really don't know.

• 14:00Speaker 01

  What it means therefore, or what it still means is you need to trust in what you do.

• 14:11Speaker 01

  Once you have put something into your mind,

• 14:17Speaker 01

  don't let anyone else stop it anymore.

• 14:23Speaker 01

  Now, I have to be careful how I say this. Of course, sometimes you can see, yeah, but come on, this is now really, a really stupid idea. It's really stupid, so like obviously stupid. But

• 14:41Speaker 01

  what I'm talking about this.

• 14:44Speaker 01

  That if you continuously develop yourself, educate yourself, train yourself, seriously observe yourself, try to be honest with yourself, listen to the opinions of other people. Uh huh. And after all of this, you finally come up with a plan.

• 15:05Speaker 01

  This one now, don't doubt anymore. Uh huh. The plan that before that you have well thought of, that you have taken time to establish it, where you spent weeks and months of figuring out, should you really do it?

• 15:25Speaker 01

  It is this type of plan where skeptical doubt is not necessary. You don't need it anymore, yeah. No. If you're still in the field or in that area of you are unsure, don't start the journey. Hmm. Yeah, so if you're still in the field of, ah, that mountain is so high, do you really think I can reach the top, but it looks dangerous? If you're still in that state, don't even start. Right. That, that this evaluation of your risks and should you and benefits and all of this, you make that before. You make that in the moment where you still have time and space

• 16:09Speaker 01

  to, to look for yourself, is it really what you want? And make a plan. This is what's happening in, in those. We call it ninety-nine, ninety-nine percent, you stay calm, you stay relaxed. Spend ninety-nine percent of your lifetime relaxed. Uh huh. But that one percent is the other way. Uh huh. Ninety-nine percent, I'm a very peaceful person.

• 16:42Speaker 01

  Very peaceful. I'm a very easygoing person, I think.

• 16:48Speaker 01

  And as long as I stay in the ninety-nine percent, it stays like this.

• 16:53Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 16:54Speaker 01

  But if somebody forces you into the one percent, then at least it is my attitude which is like this, one percent is one percent. Inside the one percent, there is no compromise of jumping back into the ninety-nine anymore. That's why the ninety-nine is so big. Because you have time to really think about what are you willing to do? What are you willing to sacrifice? What is it worth for you fighting for? This is the ninety-nine percent. And the one percent, there is the no compromise. You decide, you walk the path, then here we go.

• 17:38Speaker 01

  And this is what I relate to personally, to this idea of that skeptical doubt. You shouldn't have it anymore.

• 17:47Lewis Howes?

  Once you're clear, once you've got the game plan, once you've assessed the risks, all that stuff.

• 17:52Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 17:53Lewis Howes?

  You have this four-step method you call RAIN, to help you clear your mind and overcome these hindrances.

• 18:02Lewis Howes?

  Can you share what this four-step method is?

• 18:04Speaker 01

  So for example, once you are, once you know or have understood about yourself, what type of mental states these hindrances, for example, represent? The way how we just try to explain to them. Every time, one of these mental states pops up into your mind, which means positive emotion, negative emotion, ill will. You feel depressed, you feel weak, you feel that lack of power. You have this restlessness inside of you, or you have,

• 18:47Speaker 01

  what was the last one?

• 18:49Lewis Howes?

  The skeptical doubt.

• 18:50Speaker 01

  Or the skeptical doubt coming up.

• 18:54Speaker 01

  Most important is, you need to realize it.

• 18:59Speaker 01

  Realize that it is just there.

• 19:05Speaker 01

  Sometimes you realize it, sometimes you recognize it. This is the idea why it's a very, very nice simile to remember those four methods later on, what we regard as rain. R A I N. And we are at the moment with the R, meaning you recognize and you realize that apparently at this moment in time, you are finding yourself in one of these mental states which are representing hindrances. Okay.

• 19:44Speaker 01

  Now, the next step, what are you doing after you have recognized that you're in it? Now starts the point where it becomes very helpful if we start to analyze. And analyzing meaning you do everything that is in your possibilities to just ask questions about, why did it come up?

• 20:10Speaker 01

  What? What did it trigger?

• 20:17Speaker 01

  When did it exactly come up?

• 20:21Speaker 01

  How actually did this feeling in the first place get into yourself? When was, for example, the first time that you realized that you are having this type of mental state? So what analyzing means is you try to look into your past also. Is it something related to the education of your parents?

• 20:49Speaker 01

  Is it something related to an idea that you caught up from, I don't know, from where? So analyzing means that you make an investigation.

• 21:02Speaker 01

  Investigation means this time you go deeper. This is where we are at the I already. I want the third one, yeah. I is investigation. A, I'm sorry, I said. Analyze? Analyze, no, it's accept, it's accept, sorry. You're good, accept it. Accept it, accept it, acknowledge it. The difference is when you acknowledge something and accept something.

• 21:32Speaker 01

  It is that you're not pushing it away. Hmm, you're not resisting it. You're not resisting it, you know, and the reason for that is, as long as something is not accepted or not acknowledged, it can't be changed.

• 21:48Speaker 01

  Because it is still outside of you.

• 21:53Speaker 01

  See, so if I have like a mental state, anything like this, and I say, yes, it's there, but, but I want to have it gone. Mm hmm. Then what you're trying to do in this approach is you're separating. You're trying to separate it. But this is not the way this method is expressing. This method tells you, it is there. Why is it there? It's because something inside of you already is resonating with it. So it's a matter of you. It's your business. So now what you're doing is, I accept the business. I take it, I understand, okay, it's my business. That is the acknowledgement, the acceptance that you are saying, okay, I'm gonna take care of it. This is like that A part, why it is important.

• 22:39Speaker 01

  If you reject it, if you don't embrace it, it can't be changed. Hmm. And then now, in the third step, now comes the investigation. Mm hmm. This is where you ask the questions. So that means where you try to find out more. You want to become familiar. You want to take that feeling into your family.

• 23:05Speaker 01

  Make him become part of you and make him become friend of you. Hmm. Understanding, it is a part of you,

• 23:13Speaker 01

  but maybe it's just a misunderstanding of the way how you saw it before. Hmm hmm. This is like the, I did the investigation of asking questions. Yeah. Finding out more about it. Where does it come from? Who implemented it into your way of seeing the world?

• 23:35Speaker 01

  And ultimately, the last step after this type of process is what we call non-identification.

• 23:45Speaker 01

  Now, non-identification is quite similar to what I tried to express before, that you sometimes need to stand above you.

• 23:56Speaker 01

  And see from that perspective, how can you support yourself? How can you support that person to get into

• 24:07Speaker 01

  the next

• 24:10Speaker 01

  development stage? Yeah. For example, yeah. This is one type of non-identification. But at the same time, also means

• 24:23Speaker 01

  nothing stays as it is.

• 24:27Speaker 01

  Nothing stays as it is. Just as sometimes things are so overwhelming entering into your life, it can happen the other way around as well.

• 24:39Speaker 01

  And I mean, you just need to, everybody just look back into your personal life. How many bad moments did you have in the past? How many times did you suffer in the past? How often we were already thinking like this is the end of the world? Girlfriend left you, boyfriend left you, you know, different, read different occasions, yeah? But none of them stayed. That is like also the other, the other truths behind it. You know, and the great part, like I also said already in our conversation is the way how you are able to use either the imagination

• 25:25Speaker 01

  or just like the abilities of the mind. Yeah. Because you can turn it both ways. Either you see it as why did it come so suddenly? Or you see the opposite. Yeah. It's go to leave. Right, right. I mean, that's the other side. Of course, in this world we are living that we humans, we, we humans and this society, I think, is more, more easily being torn towards the positive or towards a very certain side, let's say. But this is because

• 26:08Speaker 01

  of, I think, the developments of our 21st century, where there are certain values being propagated.

• 26:20Speaker 01

  There is no propaganda in learn how to be poor.

• 26:28Speaker 01

  Learn how to deal with failure.

• 26:32Speaker 01

  Learn how to not be successful.

• 26:36Speaker 01

  Learn how to accept the way how you are, not how to make yourself more beautiful and try to stay beautiful. There is a different agenda going on in the 21st century. And based on that, I do think that the mindset also has shifted therefore in trying to fulfill the expectations what is present in our nowadays world.

• 27:04Speaker 01

  But it's your personal decision.

• 27:07Speaker 01

  It's really important for me to really say this again and again. I'm not here to judge whether something is good or whether something is bad. But I'm just saying that if you have placed something upon your mind

• 27:25Speaker 01

  that right now you are trying with your lifetime to make it become real. But this is what you're trying to put into this life. It's not even an idea that comes from you.

• 27:40Speaker 01

  I just want to express that I think it can go very wrong to one day find out that you have lived a life and invested your lifetime following up on a vision, on an expectation or anything like this, which first of all was never something initially coming from yourself. And afterwards, even if you followed up on it and achieved it, afterwards realize it doesn't give you what you were looking for in this lifetime. And that's just how it is.

• 28:22Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. This has been about the five hindrances that hold people back from mastering their inner selves and really feeling more abundance, peace, love and joy. I'm loving everything we're talking about. And I want to ask you now, I want to transition into...

• 28:44Lewis Howes?

  A new topic about how to manifest your dream future. And how you think we can step into this? If someone has a vision, a dream, that they want to manifest something. Where do you think we should begin in this process of dreaming and manifesting the future? And I know you've talked about heaven, man, earth concept that's helped you manifest a vision. Is this something that we should think about? And if so, what's this concept? Can you explain it?

• 29:17Speaker 01

  So, this sentence, heaven, man, earth. Heaven above us, man in the center, earth below us.

• 29:30Speaker 01

  It's just expressing from the same, let's say, family of teaching. The same that also we find in the area of the yin and yang symbol. It's just a little bit more detailed. Meaning, there is something inside of us humans,

• 29:50Speaker 01

  which we say has some heavenly connection. At the same time, there is something about us humans, which has a very strong foundation rooted in the earth. So, let's start with the earthly aspects about ourselves. So, earth means for me, first of all, I can see it.

• 30:17Speaker 01

  If I fly on the plane, no matter where, if I look down, I know where to look to see the earth.

• 30:22Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 30:23Speaker 01

  So, what does it mean? It means, there is something to see. Our whole world is based on seeing.

• 30:34Speaker 01

  What is it that you can see? You can only see something that has a shape.

• 30:39Speaker 01

  Something without a shape, you can't see. But talking about, you can see it. Talking about it has a shape. What is the nature of a shape?

• 30:54Speaker 01

  The nature of a shape is separating. It's separating what is inside the shape and what is outside of the shape. It's separating. So, one quality of the earth is, it's based already from the, let's say, from the natural side, based upon separation.

• 31:20Speaker 01

  Based upon, this is life and this is death. This is growth and this is decay.

• 31:29Speaker 01

  And now, our body, our physical body.

• 31:35Speaker 01

  How come when we were born, we maybe had our like, three kilograms, four kilograms baby? And now look at how huge we have become, not me, you.

• 31:47Speaker 01

  Look how much like we have, we have grown. Yes. So where all of this come from? Right. Very, very easily said, from the food, from the nutrition, from everything that we have taken and give our body to eat or to drink. Even if it is meanwhile, some products are created in a laboratory, but even the resources for that, ultimately, everything comes just from the earth.

• 32:16Speaker 01

  So if you know, just follow up on that thought. Our body is created upon, let's say,

• 32:27Speaker 01

  individual aspects from this earth that by nature already are limited in a way, limiting inside and outside. So limiting, that means our body automatically is limited. It is what we call nowadays, lifetime. So simply said, sorry for the long explanation. Sure. But that is what it means for me.

• 32:54Speaker 01

  It is no doubt about it. I don't need to philosophize around it. I can see it. This is out of question. It's gonna go. That is the earth part about ourself. At the same time, giving me insights. You wanna change something about that? What is it to take care of? Everything that comes from the earth, very easily. Which means, food, drinks, the breast. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that is like how I would use now this concept to, in my daily life. To just understand, okay, this body comes from there. So the better the quality of the ingredients I put into this,

• 33:37Speaker 01

  the more quality this can generate. That is the earth aspect. And in comparison now, to that earth, we have that heaven aspect. Heaven aspect called like this. Because looking up into the sky, it's really difficult to tell where does the sky end. Meaning? Heaven stands for something which is borderless. There are no borders in the sky.

• 34:10Speaker 01

  And so what is it inside of us humans that I think we have something similar like this?

• 34:20Speaker 01

  That is for me, the way of how you are able to use your mind.

• 34:30Speaker 01

  Because sometimes,

• 34:33Speaker 01

  you can use the mind and create something you have never seen in this world. You're creating something in the mind. You have never seen it in person. Why? Because it's not existing yet. Yet you can see it here. This can mean a fear also. A fear what's gonna happen tomorrow. A fear what will happen to my children if I will not be able to take care of them anymore. So there is something you're projecting already that is not here yet. It's not real. You're projecting it inside of you and the feelings based upon that way of thinking still makes it real to you. Even though it's not in the world yet. Yes.

• 35:19Speaker 01

  So this is how you need to be careful what you're creating on the mind.

• 35:27Speaker 01

  This is the reason why it's the so important to know what are you placing inside the mind.

• 35:39Speaker 01

  Because it's so powerful. Yes. But now assuming that we all do not want to create our own descent or decay, anything like this. Let's say this is not what we want, but we want to have something that we would like to create. Yeah. Let's say. So the question right now is, how do I get something from what at the moment is only in my mind into something that it becomes what we would call real? When is something real? It's real when it's here.

• 36:20Speaker 01

  When also other people can see it, not just you in the mind, then it's real. Because like you can imagine, you have like some beautiful woman as a girlfriend, yeah? But no one else sees it. Nobody else sees it, yeah? It's only real if there's another witness who sees you and that girl walking together, then it's real. So, and how do we make this now happen? It is on the one side, of course, you need a plan.

• 36:53Speaker 01

  You need a small step-by-step plan. And I really think that meanwhile, especially like in modern businesses of it's very similar like when you make project management. You break your ideas, of course, down into walkable steps. So that's why I think I don't need to say so much to it.

• 37:16Speaker 01

  But along this plan,

• 37:20Speaker 01

  along this way of, let's say, trying to make it become real. This can also mean you need to find more and more ways. How does something so fine like your thoughts start to shape into a form? So it is about find ways to give it expression.

• 37:44Lewis Howes?

  Can you explain?

• 37:47Speaker 01

  Yes, write it down on paper. It's one way of giving thoughts an expression.

• 37:53Lewis Howes?

  Speaking about it.

• 37:55Speaker 01

  Speaking it out to your friends. More people know about it. Writing it onto your fridge. Something where the thought starts to enter into your visible world. This is the small steps that just support you on this mission. These are small things.

• 38:17Speaker 01

  The next step would be,

• 38:20Speaker 01

  whatever you would like to achieve there, what skills are necessary?

• 38:28Speaker 01

  Do you have the skills?

• 38:34Speaker 01

  Now, a little bit more,

• 38:38Speaker 01

  a little bit more nicely drawn, it means,

• 38:44Speaker 01

  you wanna go on a mission, but at the moment, you don't know yet in which direction you have to move.

• 38:54Speaker 01

  So that means the first thing in order for you to answer this question, which direction to move, is you need to know your location.

• 39:05Speaker 01

  And this now translated into, so what is it I'm supposed to do?

• 39:11Speaker 01

  Who are you at the moment? What are your abilities at this very moment?

• 39:21Speaker 01

  What do you have available time-wise?

• 39:27Speaker 01

  Financial-wise, it doesn't matter. What, in which situation are you right now? So we need to see where is our actual location.

• 39:38Speaker 01

  And from there now, it starts. At least now, you have a hint. If you wanna go there, but at the moment you don't know yet. Where are you located? If you're located here, you know you need to walk here.

• 39:55Speaker 01

  East. If you are located here, it's not east. Because then you're gonna make a long way. So that it really depends on where are you located. And this is why it's from person to person. It's different and I cannot always tell to the same person. So you wanna go there, go east. You wanna go there too, you also go east. No. Because they are not starting from the same position. Some people have already some education and some experience previously that will immensely help them to already like start from a different point.

• 40:38Speaker 01

  So, but where have we been? Skills. And now, this is the part where also jumping back into what is Shaolin also known for. Known for abilities of the practitioners, which are normally above average human abilities. Yeah, and this doesn't come because we bought it somewhere. You practice it.

• 41:09Speaker 01

  Yes, but there is a very specific type now of practice. And this is maybe also interesting. What actually is that original meaning of David Carradine Kung Fu? Kung Fu, this Kung Fu. Kung Fu meaning it's attaining a skill through hard work.

• 41:37Speaker 01

  That is important. Attaining a skill through hard work.

• 41:43Speaker 01

  Why is only this one what we call Kung Fu?

• 41:48Speaker 01

  Because this Kung Fu is not about fighting at the moment. It is about something that you have, for example, also developed. You also have Kung Fu. It is something that you have, you can do, you got. And if somebody else in this room would like to have the same ability like you. He cannot buy it.

• 42:15Speaker 01

  Um, he cannot just like wish to have it. There's only one way. How a person would ever get to the same skill set like you have. He needs to go through the same training, effort, sweating, suffering. Consistently, yeah. Like you. And this is what we regard as these are the skills we are looking for. I'm not looking for a skill that I can outsource. I'm looking for skills, I have them.

• 42:51Speaker 01

  And nobody else in this world can copy. If you wanna copy, well, then you need to train. You need to do the same. Right. And so that means along this way, you also realize in developing those skills right now. Actually, this is a way to make something unique about you.

• 43:12Speaker 01

  And this uniqueness goes hand in hand.

• 43:18Speaker 01

  With the unbroken willpower that you put into it. And with that vision of yourself that this is what you want. And this is what you're gonna do.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  And...

• 43:34Speaker 01

  So it is a combination. It is a combination of you need to work for it. But also at the same time have the mindset also that backs up your battle plan.

• 43:45Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. And what do you think most people fail to manifest what they want? Is it because they don't have the discipline, the willpower, the consistency? Is it because they're not strong enough or willing to develop the strength? Why do they fail at manifesting?

• 44:01Speaker 01

  I think it is a question of time.

• 44:05Speaker 01

  In my world, people are repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Because they haven't overcome them yet.

• 44:16Lewis Howes?

  They're still level one. They keep failing at level one. They haven't beaten that level yet.

• 44:22Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 44:23Lewis Howes?

  Master the level.

• 44:24Speaker 01

  But it's out of question for me that they will. Why is that? Because you can touch three times on the hot heat plate and it hurts three times. You touch the fourth time, it still hurts. Fifth time, still hurts. There will come the day.

• 44:41Lewis Howes?

  They say, "Ah, no more."

• 44:44Speaker 01

  Now no more.

• 44:45Lewis Howes?

  No more, yeah. It might take a while.

• 44:48Speaker 01

  I express it maybe like in a funny way, but...

• 44:51Lewis Howes?

  It's true though.

• 44:51Speaker 01

  It is even said like this in the teachings, yeah?

• 44:57Speaker 01

  You cannot teach someone who is not willing to be taught. Don't waste your time on people or to teach people that are not having the willingness to learn. Don't waste. This is also the reason why this, what I try to present right now. We don't have missionaries going out like saying, "Look, we have the answers to your problems." We don't do that stuff.

• 45:26Lewis Howes?

  Because if people aren't receptive to it, it's not gonna work.

• 45:29Speaker 01

  Exactly. If people are...

• 45:33Speaker 01

  Becoming ready. How do they know they become ready? It's because they start to ask different questions.

• 45:41Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 45:42Speaker 01

  And once you start to ask the questions, soon or later in this lifetime. Let's just say, what happens after death? Let's just assume this one. This question only we can ask. People that are right now starving in the world, they are not asking what happens after death. People that are feeling too good, they're also not coming up with this type of question. So that means whoever is asking this question already is at a certain level in his life, in his development of the mind.

• 46:23Speaker 01

  And this is like why I appreciate this type of teaching so much. Because for every person, there's the right time. There's nothing to hurry. There's nothing to worry. It's in each individual hands. So why do they fail at the moment? I could say because they haven't failed enough yet in order to make the next step. Or because they didn't take... They didn't see the lesson yet from that failure. I don't know. I don't know.

• 47:05Speaker 01

  There are so many different reasons why people then do not continue. But it's just a question of time until they will.

• 47:13Lewis Howes?

  Right. I've made many mistakes over and over and over again. Until finally I said, oh, wait. It's not what I want anymore. Let me really take a step back and reevaluate why this keeps happening. Why I'm at the source of all these mistakes happening over and over again for fifteen, twenty years? And let me start to look at it differently and approach it differently. And it wasn't until I experienced so much pain and suffering where I was like, okay, no more. I'm done with this way of acting, being, experiencing, relationships, whatever it might be. And I'm going to redefine what I want and step and act accordingly.

• 47:59Lewis Howes?

  And it took a lot of pain to get there. I was the one that touched the hot pan, you know, a hundred times probably, right? Until I finally said, okay, this doesn't work. But I think that's what we get. Each one of us gets to be on our own timing and learn the lesson the way we need to. Whereas other things in my life, I learned very quickly. You know, I make one mistake and okay, I don't want to do that. Let me learn, you know, let me improve. I'm curious, in your life, where's the lesson that you feel like you haven't fully learned yet? You keep touching the hot plate, just a little bit. Is there any area that still causes pain or that still you haven't?

• 48:42Speaker 01

  Something I, let's say, observed about myself also in the way how I grew up. And also like afterwards now watching what type of, let's say, hobbies I spent my time in. There is something I witnessed about myself, which is always, I cannot leave the things as they are. I always have the urge to optimize. So that means optimize the bike, optimize the car, optimize the engine, optimize myself, optimize the body, optimize the mind, optimize the life.

• 49:21Speaker 01

  So at the moment, my biggest journey, I still have to say, is really... Yeah, at the end, these are all just like optimized. This life itself is for me the area to just discover. So the thing is, I don't know where this journey is going. Yeah, and this is maybe something also.

• 49:51Lewis Howes?

  So you don't have to always optimize, is what you're saying?

• 49:54Speaker 01

  Yes, maybe.

• 49:55Lewis Howes?

  You can just let it be and just experience it and just sit with it.

• 49:59Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 50:00Lewis Howes?

  Efficient, inefficient sometimes, yeah.

• 50:03Speaker 01

  To find that balance.

• 50:04Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, okay.

• 50:05Speaker 01

  You know, many years now already, I have spent optimizing, striving for goals, also like, also like training wise, yeah? So people always maybe misconfuse, misconfuse a little bit. So how could I have reached all these graduations, for example? Or reach any type of position in the field of martial arts? Because that is the difference. Inside the field of martial arts, you're not being measured by how much you can talk.

• 50:37Speaker 01

  In the field of martial arts, you are being measured by does it work or doesn't it work? Is it effective or ineffective? For example. Yeah, and so that means, of course, there is some fire inside of me in order to push through a lot of these hardships when it comes to the training. So that means it is still related to I want something.

• 51:01Speaker 01

  But now to purely taking the Buddhist teaching, Buddhist teaching is not about what you want.

• 51:10Speaker 01

  Buddhist teaching is about what can we take away from you until it is uncovered again, what you really are. You know, so we have this world nowadays on the one side, where it is about, in the picture speaking, you're feeling not complete. That's why, first of all, you go to the school until you get your college degree. But even with that college degree, you are not complete yet. So that means you make a further education. Even with that university degree, you are not complete because you need a job. One job is not complete, second job. Okay, second job, there's still something missing in your life.

• 51:55Speaker 01

  You need a family now. Now you need a car, but actually the second car wouldn't be so bad. So you get the point. There is something about you're never enough, wherever in which position you are located in your life. Apparently, you're never enough. There's always something more to add. That is the one direction.

• 52:18Speaker 01

  And what we nowadays know as the Buddhist teachings doesn't have this approach. The Buddhist teaching says.

• 52:29Speaker 01

  You come to this world as an empty cup. Then your parents put their drop inside of you. The teachers put their knowledge inside of you. The advertising, the government, the schools, your friends, the parents of your friends. So a lot of different influences, ideas, concepts. What you're supposed to do in this life is starting to fill up your cup. Now, really simply said, what Buddhist teaching now is, is to say, look, all of that stuff inside there, it's not coming from you. So that means spend some time and

• 53:14Speaker 01

  learn to empty the cup.

• 53:17Speaker 01

  Make that cup empty. Then you will realize who you really are, what your essence is, the way how you came to this earth. And previous to the question, when you asked, when was life, let's say, easier? As a child or as an adult? Like I said, I think as a child. Because that cup as a child is not so full yet.

• 53:40Lewis Howes?

  It's empty.

• 53:42Speaker 01

  Not completely empty, but more empty than now as an adult. Now you have the burden to cover. The expectations to fulfill, the role you have to play. This is why I think it's more difficult now. Yeah, and so that means you have these two approaches. Learning to get rid, learning to let go is one area. Learning to attain is the second. And the balance of this, I think this is the biggest challenge.

• 54:17Lewis Howes?

  I love your, I love your, your thoughts around mindset and your thoughts around how we can think in a certain way that can either impact us and be useful or hurt us and be ineffective and pull us backwards from manifesting the future that we really envision, the dream future. I'm curious, what are the daily thoughts that people should, should generate? To keep focused on their vision and not fall back into pains or problems of the past?

• 54:53Speaker 01

  Now, that word came flying before when I said you need a you need a commitment. I didn't mean commitment, you need an affirmation. Affirmation. That is the word. For your goal that you set into your life, for whatever you want to develop yourself in, you need to connect it with a personal affirmation. That is something that fuels it. This is what fuels actions.

• 55:22Speaker 01

  Just similar, like I said before, in the Kung Fu training, for example, you are learning techniques, you are learning body mechanics. Yeah, but that is something you learn on the outside. It's the form, it's the shape that you are supposed to take in while you make, let's say, this movement. You need it, yes, but there is something more that you need. You need something that is going to fuel that movement. You need something that fills up that form. And now, just to explain to you,

• 56:06Speaker 01

  you have no real drive to fight.

• 56:10Speaker 01

  You don't want to win, you don't care, you know how to do it against somebody who

• 56:22Speaker 01

  needs to do it because it's about an existential question, no matter what type. Okay, there is a different spirit behind it if you meet those two people. Somebody who has nothing to lose and puts everything on one cart because you have no choice. Either you make it now or

• 56:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, all your family suffer. You fight differently.

• 56:51Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 56:52Speaker 01

  So that means it's not always the technique, the form that you see on the outside that is so impactful. What is it that fuels your actions, your daily actions? What fuels when you walk to the office, prepared to do the work? What fuels you to invite other people? Waking up every day, even if it's hard, even sometimes you're sick, you still go to the office and do the work? And that fuel, I think, is very, very essential.

• 57:29Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 57:30Speaker 01

  And, yes. And I can only imagine, even if maybe you don't call it like this, or people are not officially expressing it like this. I cannot imagine there is one person existing in this world who in some way has achieved something without an affirmation. I think it doesn't exist.

• 57:54Lewis Howes?

  Wow. What's your affirmation?

• 57:56Speaker 01

  I think we are all connected.

• 57:58Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 58:01Speaker 01

  On the one side, I really love this life. So as long as I can, I would like to experience the variety of everything that is existing here.

• 58:12Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh.

• 58:12Speaker 01

  But at the same time, I also see it as part of my obligation that if I have a possibility to do something that supports other people along the way, this is what I do.

• 58:28Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 58:30Speaker 01

  I just think this is, this is what you do in a family.

• 58:33Lewis Howes?

  Uh huh. I'm curious about your thoughts on... The actions people should take in order to manifest. And it seems to me like there that the world, there's a lot of weakness in the world. People don't have, in general, a lot of people don't have the discipline, the actions that create good habits to support them in being consistent, you know, having the right thoughts, the right actions, all those things. And I wanted to ask you about, how can we, you know, you train the body, right? You're training the limbs, the weaknesses, you're callusing the bones

• 59:15Lewis Howes?

  and all these things to take on more force, more stress. How do we harden certain things in us, but while also keeping our hearts open, loving, compassionate, giving? How do we do both in this process?

• 59:35Speaker 01

  Always when there's something consisting of two aspects, at least, or both, like you mentioned, the answer is always balance. So now, the practical ways, what I would suggest, okay? You need a healthy body. You need a healthy body. That means choose any type of physical activity. It really doesn't matter. It only matters that you understand all your wishes, all your dreams, all the goals

• 1:00:19Speaker 01

  that you are putting to yourself, what you want to achieve in this lifetimes. They all are not going to matter anymore if your body is not going to be on the earth to witness these things.

• 1:00:31Lewis Howes?

  Right. You gotta take care of it.

• 1:00:33Speaker 01

  Simply said. But what we're talking about right now.

• 1:00:40Speaker 01

  Greatness means you want to bring something out of yourself, which is not average.

• 1:00:48Speaker 01

  This is not what the mess is able to do. If it is something that the messes are not able to do, which means your body, yourself, the way how you're sinking, the way how you're training can't be average.

• 1:01:08Speaker 01

  So in our field, keep the body not just healthy, but watch out for methods to make your body really performant.

• 1:01:24Speaker 01

  Performant for that specific area where you maybe later want to find yourself in. Because let's just say, if I want to become a truck driver, I could never do it.

• 1:01:37Speaker 01

  Because my mind and my body probably is just not made for so long distances and this type of concentration which is needed. So I have definitely a lot of respect of all the truck drivers, but I can feel it is something I couldn't do. There is a performance necessary in these type of areas that I have not developed in myself. It's like I can also watch back in my past.

• 1:02:08Speaker 01

  I had a lot of ill will when it came to running around the

• 1:02:12Lewis Howes?

  The track.

• 1:02:12Speaker 01

  The track. Sprinting, never a problem, I enjoyed.

• 1:02:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, but long distances.

• 1:02:19Speaker 01

  So that means short burst of energy, a lot of energy in a short period. This is what I really feel like what that body is made for. But long distance, which is draining, this is draining me.

• 1:02:34Speaker 01

  So, but we were at the body, which means just physicality, activity, vitality, yoga, many things you can do. But there should be something.

• 1:02:46Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. And when, when we lack confidence, when we lack the belief in ourselves.

• 1:02:56Lewis Howes?

  The esteem, the self-esteem. How do we learn to overcome the things that we doubt about ourselves? And gain more confidence? Not just in the material skill-acquiring world, but in the spiritual world? How do we gain more confidence?

• 1:03:16Speaker 01

  Here, I think we're entering into an area that for me personally matters a lot. Why, I think? Look, it seems like at the moment 21st century, everything is about everybody can do what he wants. We are free to express. There's no hierarchy, because we're all humans. There's no hierarchy between all of us. Seeing as a human being, there is no hierarchy. I agree. But if you want to learn something, there is a hierarchy. And the hierarchy is there are people

• 1:03:58Speaker 01

  who already possess what you want to learn. And there are people who don't possess what is possible to be learned. So if I want to develop myself and I want to learn something, attain a skill, at the moment, I would just look out in the world, first of all, to see who possesses that skill. Because it might be that you think about something, but there's nobody else in the world who at the moment possesses it. So it may be it's a little bit unrealistic that it even exists. But if you want to have something,

• 1:04:39Speaker 01

  first of all, look for the places or the persons that have it. Very easily. And very often, that means you are meeting, in our tradition now, you are meeting masters. You are meeting a person who has already mastered a certain ability because you see it and then you say, "Yes, he has it."

• 1:05:07Speaker 01

  And then the next question is, how does now either the knowledge or the skill is being transmitted? How does it come to you now?

• 1:05:18Speaker 01

  And like I said, from my tradition, there's only one way. You need to get into a student-master relationship, a master-student relationship. And a master-student relationship, there is no democracy. Right. What the master says, you do.

• 1:05:38Speaker 01

  And I do think that in the field of

• 1:05:44Speaker 01

  where we are talking right now as well, sometimes you need a mentor.

• 1:05:51Speaker 01

  Sometimes you need to surround yourself with people that are already standing at a certain point where you maybe would like to go to. These are the people with experience. These are the people that walked the path already that you right now would like to walk. So I think there is a difference in a way of how then you talk to these people, how then you also see yourself in regards to these people. And this is what opens up doors,

• 1:06:33Speaker 01

  which means you are regarding yourself as a student. This is what it means in our tradition. If you think you are equal to the rest of the world, you are equal, this is a type of wrong pride, I have to say.

• 1:06:52Speaker 01

  Because it absolutely stops you from further development and learning really what you would like to learn. So getting surrounded, searching for people that are already in that area where you would like to move to is also one of the next steps, for example, I would look for.

• 1:07:16Speaker 01

  So it is about with what type of people are you surrounded? One side. How are you taking care of your body? Other side. So now, taking care of the mind.

• 1:07:32Speaker 01

  How do you do this?

• 1:07:36Speaker 01

  In order to know what is important to you, it's necessary to also know unimportant things. Unimportant things. Unimportant things.

• 1:07:50Speaker 01

  It's not necessary from seven days a week to only do important things.

• 1:08:01Speaker 01

  Because ultimately, importance is a question which is also very subjective. Yeah. Importance for this life, nothing is too important. Yeah. What I mean is, you need balance. You consciously sometimes need to do something where you really feel this is really unimportant. Yeah, just doing whatever. Yeah, because it keeps something inside of you open.

• 1:08:32Speaker 01

  If you only do the important things, only be focused, you can only be focused because there's another state inside of you, which is you're open-minded.

• 1:08:45Speaker 01

  You're open-minded, you are,

• 1:08:49Speaker 01

  you're able to receive.

• 1:08:52Speaker 01

  Focus, there is no receiving anymore. There is already that guided intention of yours.

• 1:09:02Speaker 01

  So, switching the states of mind, putting yourself consciously into different states of mind. I think this belongs to the category of mind development.

• 1:09:16Speaker 01

  And there are different ways how you can put this into practice. And I can now maybe share the way what we use in the monastery. Please. I think it is super helpful if you are learning to work in cycles. Cycles. Cycles.

• 1:09:43Speaker 01

  So for example, when it comes to you need a new skill. You want to develop something, you need to learn how to program. You need to learn how to use a new software program. You need to learn accounting, I don't know, you need to learn to do the webpage. Something about you need to, you want to develop something new about you. I think the most effective way is to cut off yourself for a certain period of time.

• 1:10:15Speaker 01

  And do nothing else.

• 1:10:19Speaker 01

  In between, for that period, for that cycle.

• 1:10:25Lewis Howes?

  Can you give me an example?

• 1:10:27Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 1:10:29Speaker 01

  Now, this is really simple example, but it.

• 1:10:34Speaker 01

  Involves something more.

• 1:10:37Speaker 01

  If you want to change something about the appearance of your skin, you're not satisfied with your skin. So the good message is. It probably is the quickest to. To do something about it. The quickest, why? Because it lies right on the surface, because it's right on the outside of the body. So it's easily treatable. So which means do a seven day treatment. Where you take care of the body, seven days long, go into the sauna, cream yourself, what, seven days? After seven days, I'm sure if you do it, it looks different. Now we go a layer deeper.

• 1:11:22Speaker 01

  You want to change something about your muscles. The muscles are lying underneath the skin, meaning not so easy accessible anymore. Which automatically means the cycle needs to become longer, seven days muscle training. No, it's not gonna be enough. So let's say thirty days. Yes, maybe not visibly, but feelable, definitely.

• 1:11:50Speaker 01

  Go even more deeper into the area of your tendons.

• 1:11:57Speaker 01

  Your sinews. Your fascia. Thirty days is not enough. Because this is changing a very, this is.

• 1:12:09Speaker 01

  Going even deeper into your system, trying to change something there. So the cycles become longer. Right. So the deeper within the field of martial arts, we get into our body until the bone, the longer these cycles become that you need to dedicate your time in practicing. And similar, I would say, it is like now when it comes to the training of skills that modern people nowadays want to develop. You need to ask yourself, how much of a of a software hack is it that you're trying to put upon yourself? How deep is it embedded?

• 1:12:54Speaker 01

  The deeper it is, the more time those cycles need, the more often you need to repeat those cycles.

• 1:13:03Speaker 01

  But the main point is that I don't think it is sensible and a good method within a thirty day month to like spread it apart, to have too many things at the same time. Here you make that skill, here you make that, here you make another one. I think it's not effective. Go all in on one thing for a cycle? Yes. Now, maybe, of course, people say, yeah, but I can't concentrate on one. Well, concentrate on three, better on three than on ten. Right. This is the main point, what I mean. Sure. Because it's not just physically that we are transforming.

• 1:13:48Speaker 01

  It is it is mental changes, it is emotional changes, it is physical changes, and they just don't go so quickly if you jump too much. Right, right. And also, they don't penetrate deep enough. They don't penetrate deep enough for you to have a lasting impression of what it is that you're trying to develop there. Yeah. Which means also, before, when we said mind training, or how do I react to to ill will towards other people, I talked about the hard qualities.

• 1:14:26Speaker 01

  Hard qualities, you make one a week. Which means, let's just say we take the hard quality of gratefulness, just as an example. Gratefulness means, you go to your clothes room, you close your eyes, if you want, you put some music on, but normally you better try without music. And then you recall all the moments in your lifetime, where you think gratefulness was apparent in those, these moments.

• 1:14:59Speaker 01

  The gratefulness that you felt. Because, you know, like, yeah, Louis, so, thank you very much for this interview and for that cup of water.

• 1:15:13Speaker 01

  You know, this is like talking. Gratefulness has never been about talking. Either you have it, or you don't have it.

• 1:15:21Lewis Howes?

  It's feeling it, experiencing gratitude.

• 1:15:23Speaker 01

  Yes. So this is why, in order to get to that feeling again, every human had it in his lifetime. Just sometimes it has been too much in the past, and it has been forgotten. That's why we need to dig it out. And therefore, recall the moments where you think, yes, towards that person, I really felt that gratefulness. Then, then it's like a small flame pops up. And you, there it is. It's not clear defined yet, but you feel there is something. And now, for example, what we use is, you breathe into the feeling and try, use also like your mind to make that grow. Okay?

• 1:16:07Speaker 01

  Maybe it's a little bit more feelable. It feels maybe strange to many people, but since you're asking me, how do the ancient traditions look like, what are the methods? This is the way, how we do it. Okay? You realize there's something, you want it to grow, means you need to put energy into it. How do you put energy into it? By using your intention in going there. And so like this, on day one, it becomes like a small pellet of gratefulness, of, that you feel. But now you stay one week long. On the second day, it's already easier to identify, there it is already.

• 1:16:52Speaker 01

  And you stay one week long cultivating, cultivating, until it's very easy for you now to identify, especially to identify if people who, who apparently seem to be grateful towards you, if they really are.

• 1:17:11Speaker 01

  Because the good part is that now that you know how it feels,

• 1:17:17Speaker 01

  you just, you don't only know it how it feels inside of you, but you can detect it in other people. Yeah. This is that special part, why, uh, why all this development always starts with yourself?

• 1:17:35Speaker 01

  Because I know how my body is aligned. I know how your body is aligned. Because I know the weak points of my body. I know the weak points of your body. And this is that idea that sometimes you can't change people around you. You can't look into the heads of other people. But what you can do at all times, every day, is to do something about what is in your own hands. Yourself. This is why this idea of turn the finger around, do something about yourself, develop yourself,

• 1:18:19Speaker 01

  invest in yourself.

• 1:18:23Speaker 01

  You grow as a human being, you grow in skills, all of these things, they will naturally just follow. Because in the moment where you are starting to express something

• 1:18:38Speaker 01

  that people nowadays are not seeing often anymore, you just become the magnet.

• 1:18:47Speaker 01

  This is how it is.

• 1:18:50Speaker 01

  Why? Because people are used already to average. Every day they see average. Yeah, but now they start to see something different. They start to see somebody,

• 1:19:04Speaker 01

  another attitude towards life. And so this feels, I think, very like a magnet. And so all of this, you don't even need to probably go there. It's gonna come to you.

• 1:19:21Lewis Howes?

  Everything you wanna create starts to come to you.

• 1:19:26Speaker 01

  Only if you work on yourself.

• 1:19:27Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. How often do you embody gratitude and practice it on a daily basis? Are you?

• 1:19:35Speaker 01

  We have therefore our ceremonies, for example. Yes. Our ceremonies in the monastery, which always evening time, nine o'clock. And there we have parts of this type of cultivation integrated in the ceremony.

• 1:19:49Lewis Howes?

  Really? Do you think we can manifest a beautiful life without gratitude?

• 1:19:57Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:19:59Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:20:01Speaker 01

  It might feel like it. It might seem like it. But ultimately, no way.

• 1:20:09Lewis Howes?

  Gratitude. It's the key to abundance. It's the key to being a magnet, to drawing in the things you truly want. They create a beautiful life. I've got a few fun questions for you. This has been fascinating. Before I ask those questions, I wanna make sure people follow you online, because your content is amazing. You also have a 12-month course, a program that people can follow if they want more of this mental training, the philosophies that you've provided, the things that you've learned and that you teach to others. It'll help people in their life improve their life.

• 1:20:43Speaker 01

  But also physical a lot, yeah?

• 1:20:45Lewis Howes?

  Physical stuff as well in there.

• 1:20:48Lewis Howes?

  So they can get this 12-month course at xiaolin.online for all the information there, plus information about the temple, the practices, the teaching, your work, speaking and other things. As you do some speaking, I'm not sure how much you'll be doing in the future, but every now and then you'll be doing some. Also, people need to follow you on social media, Instagram, @xiaolin.online for that. And if you look up Shaolin temple dot Europe on Facebook, you'll see it there as well. And if they look up your name, they'll see lots of great content, lots of great TED Talks you've done, videos. We'll have a lot of this linked up in the show notes.

• 1:21:33Lewis Howes?

  But I just wanted to say I'm grateful for you for being here. And I've got a couple of final questions. I have so many more things I want to ask you, but you'll have to come back on another time. Save your voice for the next time. But this is a question I ask everyone towards the end of my conversations. It's a hypothetical question. So imagine you live as long as you want to live in this physical, three-dimensional space-time reality. I think I heard you say 108, 108?

• 1:22:03Speaker 01

  108, yeah.

• 1:22:03Lewis Howes?

  108, it sounds good, right? Yeah. So imagine you're 108, right? And you get to live the life you envision. Everything you want to do, it happens. You create it, you overcome, you learn, you master all these different areas of life. And you serve and impact the world through your teachings. But for whatever reason, in this hypothetical scenario, at 108 years old, you have to take all of your content and message with you. So this conversation goes to the next place. All the TED Talks, all the interviews you've ever done, for whatever reason, they're not here in this physical world anymore. Hypothetical scenario. But you get to leave behind three lessons with the world.

• 1:22:47Lewis Howes?

  Three lessons from all of your teachings and all your learnings. And this is, for whatever reason, all you could share, these truths that I like to say. What would be those three truths for you? If you could only share three?

• 1:23:02Speaker 01

  You know that this is a really super hard question.

• 1:23:05Lewis Howes?

  I know. I gotta get you to think a little harder, you know?

• 1:23:08Speaker 01

  Okay. Sounds super funny, especially if I'm not going to talk about it. But...

• 1:23:18Speaker 01

  One message is just a flower.

• 1:23:23Speaker 01

  If you want a flower in a pot, doesn't matter.

• 1:23:27Speaker 01

  The first message, one, I don't even need to speak about it.

• 1:23:31Speaker 01

  It's just a flower in the pot. This is number one.

• 1:23:38Lewis Howes?

  What does that mean, flower in a pot?

• 1:23:41Speaker 01

  It means everything.

• 1:23:45Speaker 01

  There is a history behind it. The future of that flower in a way is in your hand. The care is

• 1:23:53Speaker 01

  integrated. The nature is integrated. No words to be spoken.

• 1:24:02Speaker 01

  Sometimes

• 1:24:05Speaker 01

  you don't need to speak about it. It's feelable, what needs to be done.

• 1:24:09Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, okay.

• 1:24:12Speaker 01

  So this is one message, let's say.

• 1:24:14Lewis Howes?

  Okay, that's number one. Number two?

• 1:24:18Speaker 01

  Keep community.

• 1:24:23Speaker 01

  It's not necessary to always be right. It's more important to also have backup if you're not right. That feels better.

• 1:24:36Lewis Howes?

  And the third?

• 1:24:44Lewis Howes?

  I gotta challenge you, you know, I gotta

• 1:24:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, you do already. You do already.

• 1:24:54Speaker 01

  Number three is

• 1:24:57Speaker 01

  it's repeating.

• 1:24:59Lewis Howes?

  It's repeating?

• 1:25:00Speaker 01

  It's repeating.

• 1:25:03Lewis Howes?

  Everything?

• 1:25:05Speaker 01

  Just as I said it.

• 1:25:06Lewis Howes?

  It's repeating.

• 1:25:10Speaker 01

  This was no kind of Matrix stuff.

• 1:25:14Lewis Howes?

  Yes, it's the inception. I love it. Master Shao Hung Yi, I want to acknowledge you for the gift you are in this world, for being a symbol of inspiration for a lot of people, and for dedicating decades of your life to mastering certain skills and philosophies, practicing them, and teaching them to others. I want to acknowledge you for showing up here, present, open, loving, giving, vulnerable, wise, and giving us his time and his energy from, again, your near 40 years of existence and lessons.

• 1:26:00Lewis Howes?

  I really appreciate how you show up, and your level of discipline, your level of commitment to your message, to your community that you have into the world. So I really appreciate your time here. Again, I want people to go and follow you. I want them to get your course, xiaolin.online, xiaolin.online on social media.

• 1:26:24Lewis Howes?

  Well, I'll link up a lot of the TED Talks and all the other information that you guys can learn more about the temple in Europe. And I recommend people seeing if they can get to your temple too. I know you guys host certain retreats there for people to study, to practice for shorter periods of time, so they can see and experience smaller groups. So you can go to the website, learn more about that. If you feel called to learning more, then go to the website for that. Is there any other way that we can support and serve you right now, besides sending people there and following your message online?

• 1:27:04Speaker 01

  Not really. The only thing that since I started sharing out all of these methods, what gave me super much confidence also of why I also came here. Now I can tell you, I also did some search, okay, where actually is Louis' house come from?

• 1:27:27Speaker 01

  And it makes me so happy to meanwhile have the chance that I met so many people who from nothing built up so huge things.

• 1:27:43Speaker 01

  And what does it show me? It means there is something that you can get,

• 1:27:50Speaker 01

  but you also need to give something back.

• 1:27:56Speaker 01

  You need to develop something about yourself in order to be able to receive these gifts from the world. And if you are selfish, you're not gonna get it.

• 1:28:08Speaker 01

  This affirmation for your mission. I really think this is something to keep in the mind. And at the end, no one in this world is like your master.

• 1:28:24Speaker 01

  I appreciate it very much if people call me master. But what is it that I'm trying to spread to the world? I'm spreading self mastery. You are your master. You take your life into the hands and decide in which direction you wanna take it. It's just that you need the right methods and the right tools sometimes to go in the right direction. And that's what it is about. Learning from different people. Learning from people that already had experience before you.

• 1:29:05Speaker 01

  But ultimately, you are the one who needs to put it into practice. And this is that greatness of this whole path. That if you are open to it, things are gonna come.

• 1:29:18Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:29:20Speaker 01

  And so therefore, I think everything that you have said, thank you also very much, Lewis. Really greatly appreciated.

• 1:29:29Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I appreciate it, man. I've got one final question for you then.

• 1:29:32Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:29:33Lewis Howes?

  What is your definition of greatness?

• 1:29:36Speaker 01

  To impact, to be able to impact on the one side, something beyond yourself in all different types of areas. Which means this is not about your own wealth anymore. It has become the wealth of the world. It is not just about your own personal peace. Your matters are the peace of the world.

• 1:30:00Speaker 01

  This is not about you are beyond yourself. You're greater than yourself.

• 1:30:09Speaker 01

  That is very closely related, I think, to what greatness means.

• 1:30:13Lewis Howes?

  I hope today's episode inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a rundown of today's show with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me as well as ad-free listening experience, make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel on Apple Podcasts. If you enjoyed this, please share it with a friend over on social media or text a friend. Leave us a review over on Apple Podcasts and let me know what you learned over on our social media channels @lewishouse. I really love hearing the feedback from you and it helps us continue to make the show better. And if you want more inspiration from our world-class guests and content to learn how to improve the quality of your life, then make sure to sign up for the Greatness Newsletter

• 1:30:56Lewis Howes?

  and get it delivered right to your inbox over at greatness.com/newsletter. And if no one has told you today, I want to remind you that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.