Ilchi Lee's Blog, page 10

Face Challenges and Ignite Creativity with the Energy of the Dragon

[Based on Calligraphic Meditation for Everyday Happiness by Ilchi Lee. Courtesy of Best Life Media.]

Take risks with the passion and energy of the dragon.

Great creation is impossible without risk. If we want security, we can forget about doing new things or taking great strides into the unknown. Nothing is won without risk and challenge. Many of the world’s great creations were realized amid occasionally life-threatening risks.

The things we think are limitations to our dream and creations are often, in fact, illusions. There’s no need to imprison ourselves within pre-set limits. Our limits are not absolute unless we make them so.

Inside us, we all hold the energy of the soaring dragon. That fiery energy is made in our hearts and inflames our bellies, fueling us with passion and power. With the energy of the dragon, we can rise to new heights.

But, first, we need to allow it. We need to set that dragon energy free by opening the iris of our consciousness wide and expanding our mind and imagination. That starts with the will to challenge ourselves and encounter a new world. Only when we challenge ourselves and crash against obstacles can we awaken the energy of infinite creation hidden within us.

Call forth dragon energy with the power of your mind. You have nothing to fear, no reason to hesitate. No worldly tempest can block the dragon’s rise. Create to your heart’s content, riding the whirling energy of the dragon.

Editor’s Note: Based on Ilchi Lee’s book, Calligraphic Meditation for Everyday Happiness. The calligraphy in the blog image is of a dragon, or dragon energy. It is a colored version of a brush calligraphy in black ink made by Ilchi Lee.

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Four Ways to Be a Good Listener without Losing Yourself

[Photo by ckstockphoto via Envato Elements]

Manage your energy so you can stay open yet centered as you give a speaker your full attention and empathy.

Many of us like to be listened to, but in our eagerness to speak, we may not be as good at listening. Yet truly hearing and understanding what another person is saying not only helps them but enriches our own lives. We come to know the world better by listening and gain new perspectives. Listening has also proven crucial for working together with others effectively.

When we listen well, we create a space and time for another person’s true being to expand and express itself. It allows the other person to feel more present, heard, and valued. This gives our true self more space as well. With each other’s help, we start to interact at a more profound level, a level at which we can reorient the aspects of ourselves that do not align with our essential self—the part of us that never stops existing.

Pitfalls of Listening Well

Those of us who train to become more open hearted and/or open minded—such as through energy practices like yoga, qigong, and meditation—may end up feeling a little too open. Our empathy becomes enhanced, and we may get lost in another person’s emotions and thoughts. In an endeavor to connect to someone authentically, we may lose too much of our connection to ourselves.

And while we may be anxious to listen well, we may also want to contribute to the conversation. If we become too absorbed in the other person or the world around us, we may negate our own part. We may even forget what we want to say!

So how can we be open to the world and experience the wonders of active listening without losing ourselves in them? Here are four important aspects to listening while staying true to ourselves:

Know ourselves. To not lose ourselves when listening to others, we need to listen to ourselves first. I suggest a daily practice of listening to our hearts and our bodies, giving them our full attention. Check in with them when you wake up and before you go to sleep, and even in quiet moments throughout your day. When we know ourselves, it’s easier to accept and relate to others. We’ll have so much practice listening to ourselves that we will be able to do it more quickly and easily at any time.Stay centered as we listen. In our center, the chatter of our minds is quiet, our hearts are calm, and we feel rooted in our physical form. In a centered state, we feel open and embracing but unshaken by the information and energy around us. Even more, we process what we hear more clearly and compassionately.Build up our energy. Our bodies are vessels of life energy that transmit energy as well. We take in energy through the food we eat and the air we breathe. We also take it in through energy exercises that gather the energy that’s always all around us into our bodies. These exercises combine holding static postures, mental focus, and steady abdominal breathing. They particularly accumulate qi energy in our energetic core (lower dahnjon in Korean) in our lower abdomen (between our hips). Having strong energy helps us process and purify the energy we encounter in our environment, leaving us less affected by it. In this way, and since it involves strengthening our energy centers, it helps us stay centered.Refrain from speaking until the other person is finished. We may be tempted to interject when another person is speaking because we may have a thought that seems important to share. However, truly listening means putting that important thought aside and fully focusing on what the speaker is trying to communicate. Once we completely receive their message, we can formulate what we want to say in a clearer, more respectful, more useful, and more loving way. We have the time to consider our response instead of reacting from an un-centered perspective.How to Listen from Your Center

If we want to be able to listen in a centered state, we first need to develop one. That takes practice. It’s not a state of being we naturally find in the world or that we were taught in school. It’s a state in which the three main energy centers in our bodies are full and balanced and in which our minds are at least partially focused inside ourselves, especially on our lower energy center.

The Korean Sundo tradition teaches about these three main energy centers: the one I mentioned in the lower abdomen (like the sacral or second chakra), one in the center of the chest (like the heart or fourth chakra), and one in the center of the brain (third eye or sixth chakra). The lower energy center affects our physical aspects while the middle energy center influences our emotional aspects. It’s also what the Sundo tradition refers to as the seat of the soul. The upper energy center, on the other hand, is the seat of our divinity. It’s related to our mental and spiritual aspects. Combined, the three energy centers help regulate our whole being.

[Illustration courtesy of Best Life Media]

Energy can run in a line through these three energy centers. In fact, a toroidal shape of energy is centered on this line. We can think of it like the eye of a hurricane. Everything swirls around it while it stays clear and calm. If we keep our awareness on this center line and hold it straight, our physical body, emotions, and thoughts remain centered as well.

[Illlustration from Healing Chakras courtesy of Best Life Media]

Energy exercises, such as the ones I developed based on the Sundo tradition, gather energy in these centers and keep them clear and bright—their ideal state. We feel most calm and powerful when we have a strong central energy line.

The following qigong flow is one set of exercises can help activate each of our energy centers:

We can go through life accepting all that happens while remaining true to ourselves if we practice exercises such as these consistently. Having a strong energy line transforms our experience of listening, and of life.

Editor’s Note: For more instruction on Ilchi Lee’s Brain Education energy exercises, check out Ilchi Lee’s book, Water Up Fire Down: An Energy Principle for Creating Calmness, Clarity, and a Lifetime of Health or visit the Brain Education TV YouTube channel or a Body & Brain Yoga Tai Chi center near you.

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Light Up Your Consciousness: Ilchi Lee’s Chant for Harmony and Peace

[Photo by StudioVK via Envato Elemenats]

Make yourself feel brighter and lighter with words that call for harmony inside and out.

Words and sounds contain and transmit energy. Because of this, they affect our consciousness and even our body. They can affect the world around us as well. That’s why the words we say, and especially the intentions with which we say them, matter.

Sometimes words come to me in meditation that uplift and inspire me. They come from my higher consciousness. I share them when I think they will help others as well.

One day last October, a set of words came to me, and I realized that they can help people make their energy lighter and brighter. Having light and bright energy makes our bodies and minds healthier, happier, and more productive. I want to share them with you now because their meaning reflect a desire for a more peaceful, harmonious existence and a peaceful, harmonious earth.

I think the world really needs words like these right now. I believe that saying them out load, chanting them, can help strengthen our deeply held desire for such a world. And it can help strengthen our ability to create it by changing our energy and consciousness in that direction.

Coexistence Chant

The words that came to me were naturally in Korean, my native tongue. Just as one might chant in Sanskrit, I hope you try these Korean words out. As I mentioned above, both the sound and the meaning of the words carry energy. But if the Korean is too difficult or cumbersome for you, even with practice, you can use the English translation instead.

Repeat the chant below over and over in a way that feels right for you. Listen to the sound of your voice as you do it, and let the sound help bring your mind into a meditative state. You can chant for as long as you like. Try out different lengths of time, and see how you feel.

Ilhwa Sangsaeng, Ilyu Pyunghwa
(Harmonious Coexistence, World Peace)

Jigu Gyungyoung, Sowon Sungchui
(Earth Management, Fulfillment of Wishes)

Ilhwa Segye, Mugoong Johwa
(One harmonious world, Infinite Creation)

This message caused my soul to tremble. I hope it speaks to your heart, too.

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Ten Values to Live By for Everyday Enlightenment

[Photo by Envato Elements]

Use these simple ways to cultivate your spiritual side and create a more fulfilling life.

Occasionally, I have heard people say “fake it ‘til you make it” about the process of finding success in the world. The phrase suggests that it is best to act, dress, and behave like a successful person, even if you aren’t yet. There is some wisdom in that for creating a success mindset, and I think the same might apply to the process of spiritual growth.

Just like you can act with the confidence of a successful person even when you are not there yet, spiritual seekers can behave in an enlightened way, even when they have a long way to go toward true enlightenment. The journey toward spiritual enlightenment is not always an easy one, and it has many blind spots along the way. But, if you understand the basic principles of spiritual growth, you can begin behaving in a more enlightened way right now, and you will probably arrive at your goal of enlightenment faster, too.

Here are ten simple values you can use in your life today:Choose positivity. The world will present you with many depressing, frustrating situations, but responding with sadness or anger will not help you change anything. Even if you can’t help feeling down inside, smile anyway. Neuroscience has shown that smiling, even a fake smile, helps to release hormones associated with peace and happiness. If you feel wronged by someone, do what you can to change the situation, but forgive as quickly as you can and move on rather than lingering in resentment and anger.Embrace challenges. Humans naturally want to delay or avoid facing obstacles. However, those difficulties were given to you by heaven for your own growth, so the quicker you face them and solve them, the sooner you will see their benefit. Every hardship you face is like a weight added to the barbell of a champion weightlifter. The more you overcome, the stronger your soul will grow.Nurture your own growth. Establishing a growth-oriented mindset is the best way to live a meaningful life. Don’t just let growth opportunities come to you, though. Actively seek to improve yourself day by day—physically, mentally, and spiritually—through a continuous process of self-examination and self-discipline.Pursue lofty goals. Don’t just look for goals with guaranteed results and clear payoffs. Ask yourself what you would be is there were no obstacles and no financial motivation, and ask yourself what you could do in this world that would give you great and lasting joy. Then, plan your path to that goal and move toward that steadily.Assume abundance. Financial constraints often cause people to hold themselves back, or they cause people endless worry about the future. The universe, though, is infinitely abundant, and it will provide you with what you need to become who you are meant to be. Step boldly forward toward your goals with the confidence that all will be provided for, and you will likely see unexpected opportunities for abundance.Acknowledge your own power. I teach my students to say an important phrase to themselves: “My mind is not me but mine.” This is important because too often people imagine that their thoughts and emotions are out of their control. In fact, you are the one in charge of your own life, and you are the one who has the power to change it.Trust your own brain. Most people do not come anywhere near to using the full potential of their brains. And you don’t have to be a “genius” to do amazing things. Every new creation and every solution to every problem in the human world started with brains that could think in new ways, so, if you want something new or different in your life, ask your brain to find the answer.Take good care of your body. Sometimes, spiritual people imagine that the physical body is not of much importance, that only the spiritual world really matters. That is not the case. Your physical body was given to you as your vehicle on this spiritual journey, so, just as you would change the oil in your car and give it high-quality gas to keep going, be sure to give your body the food, exercise, and rest that it needs to keep on top shape.Envision your best you. Don’t be satisfied with the “just doing okay” version of you. Yes, the world will accept this version, so long as you show up for work and pay your bills. On the outside, everything is fine with this, but inside you will not be satisfied. So, really think about who you would like to be and what you would really like to do in this world. In the long run, only that version of you will be enough.Live for the good of all. In Korea’s Tao tradition, we have a guiding philosophy called Hongik, which means that we should live for “wide benefit” if we want to live in the best way possible. This means seeing everything from the broadest possible perspective, not just from our individual, selfish perspectives. A Western equivalent might be having a “service mindset,” but its reach and intention are more global than that. If you take on this broad mindset, you will tap into a wellspring of motivation because you are now living for all humanity and for the earth, too, not just for yourself. And this is most important: all the previous values can only grow well if they grow from the root of hongik. So, start each day by asking, “What can I do to be widely beneficial for all humanity?”

These ten values are about establishing a habit of enlightened living in your daily experience. Enlightenment is useless if it is only something we talk about or if it is only something monks experience in some mountain hideaway. What the world really needs is a culture of enlightenment, a culture that cultivates and nurtures the best in the human mind and soul. Of course, in most places in the world this is not at all a priority. But all cultures begin with what goes on in the hearts and minds of individual people. Creating your own enlightened “culture of one” might just lead to a more enlightened world culture sometime in the future.

You can learn more ways to cultivate enlightened living in my book Living Tao: Timeless Principles for Everyday Enlightenment.

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A New Story for a New Year

[Photo by simonapilolla via Envato Elements]

Let’s create our most brilliant story this year.

A new year has dawned, and it’s filled me with hope. I think each year is a new opportunity to give birth to a new self. How do you picture yourself at the end of this year? What story do you want to create?

Each of us is so powerful . . . we are brilliant stars. We hold the ability to create a new history for ourselves with every choice we make. Choice by choice, we rewrite our lifestyles and our characters. We mold who we are . . . and the world around us. By acting with sincerity, as well as honesty and kindness, we can become the most beautiful version of ourselves, the version that shines brightly our hearts.

We can make the world shine brightly as well. If many of us gather together and choose this version of ourselves, the best version, a “new humanity,” I’m confident that we can change the earth’s story. We can create a world in which we peacefully coexist with ourselves, each other, the planet, and all its creatures.

I hope we choose the story of a new humanity this year.

I send you energy and my best wishes for the great story you will write this year.

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2024: A New Year, A New Humanity

This year gives us a new opportunity to recreate ourselves and give birth to a new humanity.

Dear Friends,

As the clock passed midnight where I am in Sedona, Arizona, USA, I sent loving energy and infinite blessings to the many people who have walked beside me toward a dream of a new humanity and a peaceful, harmonious world. I felt that a new year of a New Humanity had dawned, and I declared to myself, “I give birth to a new me!”

For more than 40 years, I’ve constantly had to renew myself with each new project I’ve taken on and each new challenge I’ve had to overcome. I appreciate all we’ve accomplished together, yet I recognize that it’s time to begin again.

It’s time to imagine new stories we want to write. In 2024, our new stories will be written by our choices. If we listen to our hearts, we will know what to choose. With each choice we make, our souls will become more alive. Our brains will be restructured and our lifestyle reshaped. Then, we can stand tall in front of ourselves and look at what we’ve created with gladness.

With the stories we create in 2024, we will not only make a new history for ourselves, but we will determine the destiny of humanity. I hope we can all choose a story of a new humanity based on love and harmonious coexistence with ourselves, each other, and the earth.

For all our sakes, we need to come together with a clear dream and vision of a new humanity. Then, if we give birth to ourselves in the exact story we want with honesty, sincerity, and kindness, our vision will be achieved.

Each and every one of us is a brilliant star. Let’s all shine brightly this year!

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Poem: One Love

[Photo by javi_indy via Envato Elements]

Oceans open wide
Sails crossing their horizons;
Sea flowers sway in the beating waves
As seagulls cry to the rhythm of the wind
And fishes move in search of prey.

Creation begins from imagination
So do greed and misfortune;
Truth and effort may increase human worth
But they are not enough to make us whole;
Only love can complete us.

Life without love
Is as night without day;
Let love lead you to heaven
To a grand love
That is one love.

Love of the one
In the midst of which
You will become whole;
For in one
You and I are one . . .
All of life is one.

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Ilchi Lee’s Qigong for Boosting Energy and Transcending Stress Every Day

[Photo from Dahnhak Kigong by Ilchi Lee]

Eating and sleeping well are not enough to replenish your energy. Build up your internal energy, your qi, through practices such as qigong.

If you’re familiar with the basic concepts and principles of traditional Asian medicine, you’ve heard that we have this subtle bioenergy, or qi (chi/ki), that runs through channels in the body called meridians.

The energy enters and leaves through specific points, the ones worked on in acupuncture and acupressure. It also gathers and swirls in specific places called chakras yet exists in our muscles, bones, and every cell as well.

You may have also heard that we are born with a certain amount of energy and that we acquire energy through eating and breathing. Our bodies process the food and air we take in and transform them into energy it can use.

In the natural course of living, this energy gets spent. There are also circumstances and activities that drain our energy even more. An immune response to pathogens uses a lot of energy, and so does excessive emotional changes due to passion or greed. Rampant, powerful emotions exhaust the energy we get from food and air and spoil the energy we were born with. Mental stress, overwork, and stress in general, hallmarks of a modern lifestyle removed from nature, also use up a lot of energy, ruining our bodies and minds in the process.

To refill our energy and be resilient against stressors and disease, eating and sleeping well and building our muscles are not enough, though they are very beneficial. We need to build up our internal qi with exercises that train the energy flowing in our bodies, like qigong. Qigong combines movements that enable energy in the body to build and flow (body control) with breathing (breath control) and concentration (mind control).

First, Feel Energy

Sensing energy with our minds boosts our ability to gather and develop the energy in our bodies. The following qigong exercise from my book Dahnhak Kigong: Using the Body to Enlighten the Mind helps you do this by focusing your mind and energy on your fingertips.

If you are not used to feeling energy, you may not sense much at first. It can take time. The important thing is to keep an open mind and relax while resting your concentration on your body.

Qigong for Feeling Internal Energy

Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and parallel with each other while bending your knees a little. Extend your fingers with both arms hanging comfortably at your sides. Concentrate on the tips of your fingers. Over time, you will feel them getting warmer, even becoming hot. You may even feel your pulse.Spread your fingers out like a fan while you continue to focus on them. You may feel a pressure about to burst from each tip, and your hands may feel like they are growing larger. At some point, the energy traveling into your hands may feel like it is pouring out of your fingertips.Then, turn your legs and knees inward so you toes face toward each other. Extend your arms so your fingertips point toward the ground. Keep your palms faced toward the sides of your body with your thumbs facing the front and your hands spread like fans with your fingers extended. Focus on the feeling in your fingers.In this posture, take a breath and hold it, continuing to focus on the ends of your fingers. Along with the sense of pressure about to burst from your fingertips, feel the heat spreading to your entire body.Exhaling to a count of three, straighten your legs and send energy forcefully to your fingertips with your mind. Breathe in and then do it again as you breathe out. Repeat about ten times. You can also concentrate the energy with a yell when you exhale to a count of three.

Afterward, slowly raise both hands above your head as you bend your knees when you inhale.Holding your breathe, slowly lower your hands with your fingers extended forcefully like spears pointing toward the ground. Now feel your body’s energy gathering in your fingers.Exhaling, straighten your legs while extending your fingers forcefully, as if they are spears you are thrusting into the ground. As you do this, gather as much energy as possible and send it out through your fingers. At this time, you can count to three and then further focus your energy with a yell.

Building Up Energy through Tension and Relaxation

Use the following qigong flow from Dahnhak Kigong to develop your internal energy. Some important things to keep in mind as you practice the form are:

Keep your lower body solid while your upper body is relaxed.Keep your pelvis tucked in so that your buttocks do not stick out. If the lower back is curved and your buttocks stick out, then tension leaves the lower body and energy leaks out of it instead of gathering there.Keep your feet solid on the ground and parallel like the number “11”.Qigong for Gathering Internal Energy

Starting posture: feet flat on the floor and parallel to each other, knees slightly bent, back and neck straight, tailbone tucked in, both hands held at the lower dahnjon with palms up. A dahnjon is an energy center in the body. The lower dahnjon is two inches below the navel.Inhale while you raise your hands to chest height, keeping your palms facing the sky. Exhale and lower your hands to your dahnjon, with your palms facing the ground. Repeat this up-and-down motion three times.

Spread your arms up and out to the side to chest height. Point the palms of your hands downward, straighten your fingers, and relax your shoulders.Independent of your breathing, slowly move your arms together toward the front, bending your elbows slightly. Bend your knees at the same time until your legs form a 90 degree angle.Then, return to the starting posture. Repeat this sequence of movements several times until your energy feels stronger.

With constant daily practice of these qigong forms, we will develop unshakable physical and mental stability and cultivate hardy physical and mental strength.

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5 Daily Actions for Total Transformation

[Photo by YuriArcursPeopleimages via Envato Elements]

Make your life dynamic and creative with small positive actions you take every day.

Time constantly passes by, and the end of the year marks a good time for stopping and reflecting on our lives. Looking at ourselves, are we simply getting old while trying to maintain what we have? Or are we constantly growing and changing, metamorphosing into a new being each year?

Staying busy and keeping all the balls we’re juggling in the air can be easier than even thinking about change. What we have is familiar, and we may be using all our energy just to survive, overwhelmed by the stresses of living life. It may feel impossible to do more than we do now.

But is that really living? If we had a chance to feel vibrantly alive and creative, would we take it?

Despite any stress or overwhelm we may feel, despite any lack of inspiration or motivation to live differently, and despite not knowing the new direction in which we should head, change is easier than it may seem. A single moment of choice opens a new path and creation occurs. If we take actions for change every day, even small ones, and prioritize them, we will gradually give birth to a new self. These daily actions can restructure our minds and energy fields until they invite more abundance, reflect positivity, and express our inner selves.

This transformation is important, not only for our own lives, but for all of humanity and the earth. By becoming people who actively recreate themselves, we can evolve into the purest version of ourselves. This version, what I usually call our true selves, embodies empathy, compassion, wisdom, and more—the most valued qualities of humankind. As our true selves, we can build a new world on a foundation of harmonious coexistence.

Take Transformative Action

The most important thing for change is to take action. Ideas come from action, and it is only through action that we can recognize ourselves. The self that exists in thought is not our real self. But through action, we can see ourselves clearly in reality and adjust our course.

For real change, our actions need to be consistent and positive. If we keep marching forward with a daily practice, our heavy steps will become light and our arms will become wings—like the wings of a butterfly. We have to keep going until we make it. The new birth of a new humanity and a new earth are created through the accumulation of the positive daily routines that we choose and practice.

Positivity Is Important

We may already recognize that having a positive mindset leads to better results. A positive mind brings positive change. A mind that continuously chooses victimization becomes a hindrance to everything that comes its way, but a mind that chooses affirmation becomes an environment in which all information helps us. But partial positivity is not enough. We need 100 percent positivity. Without 100 percent positivity, human history would not have been created. However, if you only have 99 percent negativity, it is the 1 percent of possibility and hope that has created a new humanity.

Having 100 percent positivity and the courage not to avoid what we need to do awakens our ability to see reality and strategies to open new paths come out. It is true and natural that a path opens to those who say they can do it. Instead of twisting our minds around the simplest truths, we just need to do it. The answer lies in action. Experience that truth. Come out of your shell. Even if we tend to be negative without realizing it, we will notice changes in ourselves once we communicate with 100 percent positive words for a while.

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Five Daily Actions

I’ve been recommending these five daily practices to everyone lately. These actions help you naturally move into a new awareness. You can adjust them to fit your situation:

Have a morning and evening meditation practice. Include reading positive and inspirational messages in your practice.Get up and dance (or move around freely) whenever you feel sad, stuck, or low on energy—at least once a day.Proactively reach out to the people around you with a open heart and share positive words with them.Observe your thoughts and emotions, then choose to be 100 percent positive.Check in with yourself with sincerity and integrity. Are you completing your daily actions? Are you challenging yourself? What kind of changes are you seeing?

Now is an important time when the universe is definitely responding to any small effort we make. Our actions have an even bigger impact than before. Whatever we do, we can do it with 100 percent positivity, sincerity, responsibility, kindness, and love.

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Worry Big

[Photo by friends_stock via Envato Elements]

True peace and joy come not from comfort but from heading toward a great goal.

I help people resolve their worries, but I also give them bigger things to worry about. The little worries people have are taken care of when they meet me. Instead, they are left with greater worries, concerns for achieving a vision of Hongik Ingan Ihwa Segye: a world full of people benefitting each other and coexisting harmoniously.

“Don’t try to rest,” I tell them. “Don’t seek comfort.” The path of true peace is heading toward a grand vision we’ve set, giving it everything we’ve got. Nothing is more comfortable, more peaceful than that. No fate is happier than dying while doing our work. Living only for our own safety, we’ll find it difficult to escape from personal anguish and conflict. Most people live out their lives that way.

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I can guide someone toward peace of mind, enlightenment, and great freedom. There is but one way for them to actually obtain these, though: the path toward a great vision. We will come to know what true peace and true freedom are only after we’ve accumulated merit. The joys of rest are redoubled only after hard work.

Leaving your little concerns behind, worry big. Introspection and practice are righteous worrying. Your mixed bag of small worries vanish when you encounter something big to worry about. You can obtain complete freedom when your big worries are redirected, converted into something greater.

Those worries reflect aspirations, the power of intention for a great purpose. They are the worries of your true self rather than your small self. You can establish great intentions, one by one. I hope we all establish intentions we can pass on to the next generation, a desire to help ourselves, each other, and the world.

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