Ilchi Lee's Blog, page 15

The Beginning of Love

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What is the beginning of love?

Love begins with taking an interest in your own body.

Please look at your hands quietly. Say loving words to your hands such as, “My hands are working hard these days. My hands are so pretty.” See your hands with a loving heart.

Wherever you look, your energy gathers. Just by paying attention and focusing them, your hands will feel happy.

Pay attention to your fingers, your toes . . . all parts of your body.

Love is never far. You can find it by paying attention to your body.

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How We Improve Our Health with Sound Vibration

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Vibrations from sound influence our body’s vibration and energy. When our energy changes, we change our health.

Sounds are all around us. They are part of our daily lives, and while we often take noise for granted, the vibrations of those sounds can help us live healthier, happier, and more grounded lives. The benefits are not just a perceived impact that’s only in our heads—scientific studies confirm the effectiveness of sound vibrations upon our health.

What Is Sound Vibration?

Sound is made of vibrating particles that knock into other particles and make them vibrate, creating a wave. When these vibrations hit our ear drums, signals are sent to our brains, which interpret the signals as sounds.

Vibrations are also the reason we can make sounds from our vocal cords. The vibrations in our vocal cords are produced when air from our lungs pushes our vocal cords to open and close. It’s amazing when you think about it. Without this principle of sound vibration, we wouldn’t be able to speak or sing.

Sound waves already have a solid place in medicine. For instance, it’s sound waves that allow ultrasounds to be used as a diagnostic tool. But we don’t need sophisticated equipment to unlock the full potential of this powerful medicine. Because of the effects of sound on our brains and bodies, we can use sound vibrations ourselves to maintain and improve our health.

How Sound Vibration and Meditation Can Help Us

Sound and the energy of its vibrations have the power to enable us to get out of our own heads. Those little nagging worries in our day-to-day lives can create too much chatter in our minds, preventing us from relaxing and truly being in the moment. When we’re focusing on sound, though, we can quiet that chatter. Immersing ourselves in sound vibrations, or sound bathing as it is sometimes called, has been found to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression, tension, fatigue, and anger in those who use it.

As amazing as it sounds, sound vibrations cannot just solely be heard—they can also be felt. Those feelings can bring down stress levels, alter brainwave patterns, and slow down respiratory rates.

Alleviating stress and tension benefits more than our moods. Scientists have long known that chronic stress can lead to other diseases by creating excessive inflammation in the body.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to harness the energy of sound vibrations as a way to prevent certain diseases? How many of us could cut back on medications and skip the heartache of a shocking diagnosis if we stayed better in tune with the energy around and in our bodies? Could we replace some of our medications with tuning forks, Tibetan bowls, and drums? It’s a real and exciting possibility.

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How We Can Use Sound Vibration

Sound vibration can come from any instrument or even our own body through our voice or through tapping our body like a drum. It’s often easiest to start with simple musical instruments such as bells, singing bowls, or drums.

If we focus on the sound and feel its vibrations, our minds and bodies will start to relax. In that state of relaxation and inner focus, we can feel more connected to ourselves. As that connection deepens, we may then feel connected to others such as people, plants, animals, and even the planet itself.

We can make the sounds ourselves or simply listen to someone else’s music. Let your mind feel your body, noticing what happens inside without judgment. Allow whatever you notice to pass through your mind without holding onto it. Once your mind has settled into your inner landscape, let yourself flow with the energy around you. The boundary between your inner self and the outer world may dissolve as you become immersed in the feeling of the sound.

We can also use sound meditation to release stuck energy from our bodies. With your imagination, direct the sounds you make or hear to places of tension, pain, or emotional upset. These symptoms indicate where energy is stuck, and the combination of your focus on them and the sound vibrations will break up and flush out the energy blockages.

As our energy moves and becomes clearer, we’ll be able to feel our spirits and mood lightening, our hearts opening, and our bodies filling with energy and a sense of wonder. Sound vibration provides a way for us to let go of our cares, be in the moment, and experience music or noises that help us to feel and release strong emotions. We can feel joy, love, and a connection to the world around us, all because of sound.

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A Love Beyond Passion

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Let the steady flame of unconditional love burn bright in all your relationships.

Everyone wants to love and be loved. It’s a natural and normal impulse, and having loving people around us is necessary for our happiness. Researchers have even found that positive relationships are important for health and longevity. Love is more than just a desire; it is a need.

Yet, so many people struggle with relationships and many people these days find themselves isolated and alone. Much of our popular culture focuses on people finding happiness through romantic relationships and creating strong family relationships, but more and more, this is not our reality.

When Love Becomes Mature

So what is the missing piece? Why are we surrounded by other humans but find it hard to create stable intimate relationships? I think the problem lies in the kind of love that we allow ourselves to feel. When we fall in love with someone, it feels very intense, and in the moment, we believe that it will never end and that we will “live happily ever after,” like in a fairytale. But almost always, that intense infatuation diminishes to some degree over time.

You may have, however, occasionally met an older couple who have been married for forty or fifty years and still seem very happy and loving toward each other. Their words and actions are in sync, and they demonstrate true respect and gratitude toward each other. This is beautiful, but you can be certain that it is not exactly the same as it was when they were twenty-something. So what is the difference between this relationship and the one that ends in divorce or in a lifetime of uncomfortable tension?

Everything in the physical world changes. No relationship can stay in the head-over-heals romantic stage because it is like a roaring fire—it will eventually die down. But unlike a fire, we don’t have to be left with nothing but ash. With the right mindset, we can be left with something even more rare and precious than before. The secret is unconditional love.

Romantic love is often based on physical attraction, mutual flattery, and alignment of personal agendas. As the initial passion subsides, the relationship may continue to be loving if the couple’s intentions remain similar—focusing on kids, buying a house, pursuing mutually supportive careers, sharing similar social goals. But all this is tested if something goes wrong. Relationships are made up of individuals, and everyone has their own process of growth and maturation. So, it is not unexpected that two people could “grow apart” as the years pass.

Love that can change as conditions change cannot, by definition, be unconditional. But our romantic relationships can bloom into steady partnerships filled with love long after the passion subsides if we infuse them with unconditional love, or what we could call Tao love or agape love.

Tao love comes from the recognition and real experience that all life is intertwined and connected. In fact, all life is the same essential existence in many temporary forms. It is always morphing and changing on the outside, but at its root, it remains the same.

As one of those forms of Tao, when we become strongly rooted in our center, we can experience the energy and consciousness of Tao. With this awareness, we feel love, gratitude, and forgiveness toward all without conditions. These are powerful tools through which we can forge strong and lasting relationships.

A Love Born of Tao

Maybe you’ve caught a glimpse of Tao love as you’ve gazed down from the top of a mountain, laughed with a baby, gone into deep meditation, been completely accepted by someone, or been swept away by a cheering crowd. You felt free and boundless. You loved everyone, and you felt the differences between you and everything else fall away.

But it’s not so simple to maintain this feeling every day. Our point of view on anything is naturally self-centered. Despite our capacity for empathy, we know and feel our own wants and needs more clearly and directly than anyone else’s. Does this mean that we cannot have good relationships? No, not at all. In fact, a relationship can become a very good impetus for self-directed growth, if we take the right attitude toward it.

Even when we cannot achieve true unconditional love right at this moment, we can always reach for it, and our relationships will be much better if we do. This requires being willing to step out of our ego’s small perspective and into the greater perspective of our true selves—our Tao selves. Our true selves are not attached to any particular outcome and do not expect anything in return for love that is given. Guided by this pure and foundational part of us, we can continue to love someone even when they give no love in return, and we won’t stop loving someone because their appearance, behavior, or goals no longer meet our expectations.

Stripping Away the Outer Shell

The unconditional love of our true selves lies in the deepest part of our hearts. Surrounding it, we find emotional attachments, expectations, desires, and trauma that restrict us from fully experiencing it. We need to peel these away if we want to bring unconditional love out into our lives.

Trust in the necessity of this process and in the beauty and power of Tao love helps us face the pain that often comes with the removal of each layer. Trust is an important tool in the journey to our center, our true selves.

Like building a muscle, the more moments we accumulate in a state of unconditional love, the more easily we can return to that state and the longer the periods become that we spend there. If we really want to develop it, we can bring it into every situation, not only our romantic relationships.

Our greatest tests come from loving those whom in the past we have deemed unworthy of love or whom have behaved badly toward us. This will take careful observation of the self to achieve, along with unwavering honesty about what lies in the darker parts of our character. But if we are brave enough to face ourselves, the rewards are limitless.

Ultimately, the only way to receive more love is to give more love. This is the Law of Love. If we grasp for love from others, we find ourselves plagued with jealousy, anxiety, and insecurity. If we give love freely without expecting anything in return, on the other hand, we feel nothing but sheer joy. And as we do this more and more, our capacity to love grows beyond measure.

I like to think of the human heart as a golden rose that is awaiting its moment to blossom. Every time we drop a resentment or make a gesture of love toward someone who we might have otherwise treated with contempt, it’s like a petal opening on that flower. In time, it will be a glowing flower in full bloom, sharing its beauty with all the world.

Having this love exude from our every pore until we are glowing like the sun is how we can be our most authentic selves, how everything within and around us is healed, and how we gain the peace and insight to develop harmonious, loving relationships in every part of our lives.

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10 Simple Tips for Better Relationships Now

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Building good relationships takes time, and repairing broken relationships takes even more time. But, there are things we can do right now to start improving the way we relate to others, whether the relationship is with a romantic partner, an old friend, or just a casual acquaintance.

Everyone we meet is important and worthy of mindful attention and basic respect. Also, every person we encounter, even if we only meet them for a moment at the grocery checkout or passing them by on the street, is there for our growth, serving as a mirror that reflects something back to us about ourselves.

The more we learn to cultivate love and respect for everyone, the more we grow. Most relationships, however, are burdened by negative assumptions and habits.

Here’s how you can turn that around today:

1. Look for assets, not flaws.
Relationships start to crumble when people focus on weaknesses they see in other people rather than on strengths. This way of thinking can make us blind to the many good traits others possess. The person’s negative habit then becomes his or her total identity (i.e., “He is a liar,” “She is overly emotional”), which is never completely true. So, even if you notice some glaring character flaws, be sure to look for the good ones, too.

2. Acknowledge the perfection of each of us.
Never forget that every human on this planet is on a journey of growth during this lifetime. Our essential nature is pure and flawless, regardless of what masks we may wear. When people wrong or annoy you, never forget their pure nature inside, even if hidden from view.

3. Distinguish interpretation from fact.
Be careful not to project negative intent onto people where it may not exist. Language is imperfect, so when we hear something that offends us, it’s better to remember that it may not be intended the way we assume. The same goes for people’s actions. If we don’t take either personally, we leave room to discover their real intentions and to let their better nature come out.

4. Watch your own defensiveness.
Sometimes, it’s tempting to return others’ words or deeds if we’ve been hurt. If they say something mean, for example, we naturally want to retort with an even more biting insult. This is the ego defending itself, trying to win a never-ending game of one-upmanship. This can lead to an endless cycle of people hurting and hating one another. If we want to live by our true, essential selves rather than by our ego, we can watch ourselves closely and break egoic habits of this sort.

5. Express gratitude.
Gratitude is a foundation of loving relationships with ourselves and others, and we can extend it to anyone in our lives. Instead of taking people for granted, we can remind them of their value by expressing our appreciation regularly.

6. Give without expectation.
Generosity is a gift to yourself since it lifts your spirit and gives your life a sense of purpose. After all, our lives have little meaning if we only live for ourselves. Avoid the tendency to expect something more from what you give, such as recognition or pay-back from others. When you help someone else, it is nice if they reciprocate, but it is best to give without expecting anything in return.

7. Drop your need to compare.
We cannot relate to each other well if we are eternally caught up in a better-than/less-than dynamic. Unfortunately, our societies are often obsessed with this form of duality, constantly creating ways to rank people according to their comparative status. The ways we rank and compare are practically limitless, ranging from financial status to fashion choices to political persuasion. Not only does this lead us to downgrade others, we downgrade ourselves, as well, since it’s impossible to always end up on top of the heap. Instead, we can realize that every situation has value. Whether we are rich or poor or fat or thin, everything is there for our growth.

8. Seek happiness through yourself, not through others.
Sometimes, people think that being in the right in-crowd or meeting the perfect partner is the key to happiness. While others can bring richness and enjoyment to our lives, ultimately only we can make our own happiness. If we expect a mate or a friend to do something to make us happy, we are bound to struggle in our relationships since true happiness can only be found within ourselves.

9. Communicate mindfully.
Caring about others means caring about how our words affect them. It also means being as honest and straightforward as possible while choosing our words carefully. If there is misunderstanding, we can find another way to communicate more completely and clearly to clear it up. It helps to be fully present with someone when you communicate with them to understand to most loving and clear way to interact with them.

10. Forgive quickly.
Building walls against other people will never right any wrong that has been done. If we’re hurt by someone’s words or deeds, we can express our feelings in a mindful way, which will help us not to linger in resentment about it, even if they do not acknowledge the wrong. We can walk away if the injury continues, but do our best to avoid striking back since that only perpetuates the harm being done.

Relationships are a means for growth ever-available in our daily lives. Meditation, yoga, prayer, contemplation, and workshops do little if we don’t apply what we awaken to. Through our daily, one-on-one interactions, individual consciousness can be lifted a little bit, and from there, communities, nations, and even the world can be lifted up, too.

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Ilchi Lee’s Short Chant for Making Positive Vibes Anytime

[Aloha from Hawai’i, where I spent the Lunar New Year holiday]

Turn around your negativity with a chant inspired by the bright energy of the new year.

Early in the morning last weekend, on Lunar New Year’s Day, I sat thinking of all the people who have been working tirelessly for the good of all. I prayed for them, and as I did, I got an inspiration.

It came to me in the form of words, and the energy behind it guided my hand into this calligraphy I drew on my palm with sunscreen.

The words were two lines from the Chun Bu Kyung, an ancient Korean scripture.

Myo Yeon Mahn Wang Mahn Rae
Il Jong Mu Jong Il

They mean:
All things come and go at all times
One is the end of all,
and there is no ending to the one.

All thoughts, words, emotions, and forms are energy. Energy is circulating all the time, infinitely. Whatever we put forth will return to us. Anger, resentment, and regret become the seeds of greater sadness, and love and faith in ourselves come back to us as great blessings.

The timeless words of the Chun Bu Kyung that came to me and this spontaneous picture I drew are filled with energy that can help clear away your heaviness and negativity. Look at the picture, then say the words several times, and notice how you feel inside. Can you feel a difference?

Through changing your energy, your thoughts, words, and actions will change. And any sadness, pain, aches, loneliness, and fear you have will circulate and transform into blessings and good fortune.

You are nature. Everything you do will turn into nature and the universe. What you say and do is important. Believe in yourself.

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The Ultimate Healing Medicine: Finding Forgiveness After Conflict

[Photo by PerfectWave003 via Envato Elements]

Forgiving heals our emotional wounds and brings us closer to our true selves.

For most of us in the first world, we’re surrounded by many conveniences and luxuries. We no longer have to face the harsh conditions and the threats to survival that our ancestors once did, and we spend most of our time in comfortable, safe environments. Yet, life still seems hard. We experience a lot of stress, and the world around us can seem full of conflict and struggle. Although we’ve largely solved our hardships with nature, we still haven’t perfected how to solve our hardships with each other. In other words, we human beings hurt each other—both intentionally and not—through our words, actions, and attitudes. Sometimes, these things are small and easy to forget; other times they linger with us, damaging our self-esteem and leaving us mired in negative emotions. So how does one heal from such experiences? There is only one way that really works—forgiveness.

The Healing Time Machine

In a way, forgiveness is a time machine. When we’re wrapped up in anger and resentment over conflicts we’ve had, we are essentially living in the past. Some large portion of our energy is going toward feeding them and keeping them alive. They remain lodged there in our minds, and thus in our energy systems, making it difficult to experience the goodness life has to offer. Also, we block ourselves from moving on to the next lesson in life, whatever that may be.

Forgiveness places us back in the present moment. Whatever happened in the past is placed, through forgiveness, where it should be—in the past. The past is already gone, so focusing on it is a futile waste of energy. The present is the only place from which we can move on toward our goals and dreams. The present is also the only place from which we can love others unconditionally. If we hang on to the shortcomings demonstrated by people in the past, we will never see our true selves shining through the eyes of others in the present. Since everyone demonstrates imperfection at one time or another, forgiveness is the only path to genuine love.

A Self-Administered Medicine

Forgiveness is like a medicine that heals the hurts of the past, but it is a self-administered medicine. Only we can truly forgive another person. It is sometimes easy to say, “I forgive you,” but only we can know how genuine that statement really is. Usually, like any medicine, it takes many doses before healing is really complete. We may feel that we have completely forgiven, only to find that resentments later bubble up to the surface from somewhere deep inside. If that’s the case, we must return again and again to give it another dose of forgiveness medicine.

Because it is a self-administered medicine, forgiveness does not rely on anything external. It cannot be dependent on receiving an apology from someone else, and it is not something someone else can demand from us. Often, people are blithely unaware of the damage they do to others, and while we can express how we feel, it is not up to us to fix them or to make them sorry for their actions. Their spiritual processes, including their own processes of forgiveness, are up to them, not us. Although it might help them heal if we offer forgiveness, forgiveness is ultimately something we do for ourselves, not for them.

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A View for Growth

It is very important to understand why we struggle and why conflicts arise. It’s not because the universe is randomly cruel or that human beings simply have a bad nature. Rather, there is a grand design behind everything that happens, both positive and negative.

If we were all perfectly aligned with our true selves, we would have no conflicts and no hurt. But this is not a journey of experiencing perfection; rather, it is a journey of learning, of moving toward growth and completion. Every meeting we have, negative or positive, is orchestrated for our spiritual growth and is, therefore, a sacred meeting.

The conflicts we experience are perhaps the most sacred meetings of all, for these are the ones in which we must make the decision to love or hate, and to forgive or resent. So, we can use them for gaining a better perspective on our trials and tribulations; know that whatever it is, no matter how hard it is, it is all there for us and our growth. Forgiveness, then, becomes the quickest path back to alignment with our highest selves, the quickest path back to peace and harmony, and the quickest path back to love.

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7 Ways to Make Your Energy More Positive

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Being positive is a simple way to a healthier body and brain.

Everyone faces difficulties in life, but truly wise people see the silver lining in every cloud and know how to be happy anyway. I believe that happiness is really just a matter of choice, but too often we choose otherwise, perhaps because we don’t even know we have the power to do so. With a positive mind, we can see that everything is a blessing and that even our darkest moments are here for our own growth.

By taking a positive perspective on life, we are doing something very important for our energetic health. In fact, it’s the key to living a healthier, happier life. The quality of the energy circulating in our body is determined by the quality of our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Thus, negative thoughts and emotions disrupt our body’s energy system, especially when they become habitual. On the other hand, positive thoughts and emotions assist our energy system, allowing our mind, body, and spirit to function optimally.

If you find that your mind and spirit are dragged down by negativity more often than you would like, don’t worry. It’s surprisingly easy to break that habit and to develop a positive viewpoint on life. Here are seven simple things you can do to develop the habit of positivity:

1. Move your body.

Any sort of exercise helps to relieve stress and anxiety, and it contributes to your overall vitality. Researchers have found that exercise has numerous benefits, including better sleep and better concentration. It also does wonderful things for your brain, such as releasing endorphins, or “happiness hormones,” in your brain. They have also found that people who exercise daily are more capable of handling difficult situations than people who don’t exercise. So, take a walk, do some yoga, play a little tennis—whatever you want. If you are looking for a new, fun way to move your body, check out my Belly Button Healing and Brain Wave Vibration methods. Anything you do to move your body will also move your mind in a positive direction.

2. Dump your emotional garbage.

Don’t let your negative emotions pile up like trash in an over-filled dumpster. People too often hold on to traumatic emotional memories from the past, and these memories can distort our view of the present, becoming part of our worldview. According to brain scientists, negative emotions shrink the overall mass of the brain and interfere with memory and learning. Whenever you experience something that evokes negative emotions, release those emotions as soon as they are no longer useful. Your brain will be a lot happier for it.

3. Decide to smile.

Don’t wait for other people to make you happy. Instead, choose to be happy. If your day is not going as well as you’d hoped, smile anyway; your smile will make you happy. This may seem like nonsense at first, but it is rooted in the physiological reality of your brain. When you smile, even when it is a forced smile, biochemicals associated with happiness are automatically released in the brain. Also, smiling is contagious. When you smile at other people, very few will be able to resist the urge to smile back.

4. Cultivate gratitude.

It’s easy to take many blessings in our lives for granted. As they say, you don’t really appreciate anything until you lose it. But don’t wait to lose what you have; look around and start counting your blessings. Gratitude is a healthy habit that you must develop like good nutrition and regular exercise. Every day, take two or three minutes to give thanks for whomever or for whatever you’re grateful. After a while, you’ll feel grateful for everything in your life, including all its difficulties and limitations.

5. Commune with nature.

The outdoors provides one of the most powerful energy boosters available. The beauty of the world reminds us of the beauty within ourselves and of the preciousness of life itself. Get out into nature more often and find a special place that resonates with your soul. In that place, you will be able to easily reconnect to your true self as you nurture and support your own well-being.

6. Talk positively.

Use positive words and share positive information in your speech and your thoughts. If you’re constantly telling yourself negative things, you might start to believe them! For example, if you say, “I can’t do this,” you might convince yourself that indeed you can’t. Use words that give you confidence and support positive feelings. Use expressions that make you feel strong, happy, and inspired. Consciously focus on these words, rather than on those that make you feel like you are unworthy.

7. Meditate often.

Meditative practice of any sort will help you cultivate and grow your positive energy. If a negative thought or emotion is haunting you, find a few minutes to be silent and rest your busy mind through the use of meditation. Basically, meditation disrupts your habitual thought patterns and helps you break free of your negative preconceptions. Also, it boosts your creativity, clearing your mind and making room for new inspiration and creative solutions.

Making our energy positive never has to be complicated. Once we know we can do it, we can shake off a negative mindset and remind ourselves of the good parts of ourselves and our lives that are always there. We have the power to make ourselves get bright.

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Ilchi Lee’s Message for 2023

A great energy of bright light and absolute love is coming down now. Let’s empty ourselves, make ourselves fresh, and welcome it with infinite gratitude.

The earth has been welcoming a new era.

It’s an era of harmonious coexistence in which not one, not two, but many people step into the role of leaders and heroes. No one person can do it. Only a legion of ordinary people whose brains have awakened can save themselves and save the world from destruction.

A person with an awakened brain has a bright brain. You could say that he or she is enlightened.

An enlightened person knows the value and purpose of their existence. They know their essential energy is neither created nor destroyed, but changes form. They know this because they have become conscious of the divinity that resides in their brain. They trust that divinity and use its power for the good of the earth and all its citizens.

We all have this divine aspect and power. We have everything we need already. All we have to do is choose our purpose and start moving toward it right now. When times become more difficult and challenging, it is the best moment to choose our divinity and choose coexistence.

You can decide to be an Earth Citizen—someone who takes responsibility for the earth. And you can decide to be a leading figure in creating coexistence on earth. Making such a great choice will bring you great and boundless energy.

Our brain is a space of infinite creation. Now is the time to use that power of the brain. Let’s start by training our bodies and making ourselves stronger. Starting with our personal changes, collective changes will come and a world of peaceful coexistence will unfold.

Take back your brain! Let your brain awaken to the divinity already inside, and become someone shining like starlight who creates a harmonious world. Together we can turn what could be an age of despair into an age of hope.

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The Way of Water

[Image credit: 20th Century Fox]

Realizing our interconnectedness is the only way we will all thrive.

Recently, I had the pleasure of watching the newly released Avatar: The Way of Water. I had been impressed with the original film, and the second film in the series did not disappoint me. I was so excited to see the messages I so desperately want to share with the world displayed before me in wondrous beauty on the big screen.

Like the first film, this Avatar contrasted the lifestyle and beliefs of the native Na’vi on the planet Pandora with those of humans from the planet Earth. The Na’vi very much live in the harmony and flow of nature whereas the humans come to conquer, use, and abuse it.

Avatar makes this contrast in an obvious way, showing a beautiful world destroyed by fire and trampled by machines. It uses two different species and two different planets to demonstrate what is going on in our own hearts and minds on our own planet. We can see these two species within ourselves: we have an ego that clings to distinction and control as a means of survival, and we have what I call our true selves, which are whole and everlasting.

Develop a Sense of Flow

The new film uses water to demonstrate how interconnected all life is. Plants and animals are mostly made of water, and the water we ingest eventually gets released back to the planet. Water circulates inside us and all around us in its solid, liquid, and gas forms.

We can learn to feel the buoyancy of water when we float in it. We learn to sense it, flow with it, and trust it. In a similar way, we can develop a sense of our true selves. Feeling that part of us lets us feel the oneness that characterizes our true selves.

Having this sense leads us to live in a state of coexistence with ourselves, with others, and with the planet. Without it, it’s hard not to be in conflict—a conflict that leads to co-destruction.

Embrace Our Natural Bonds

Although the Na’vi in Avatar need to fight humans to save their home, they also join with sympathetic humans who support their fight. They are also joined by other land, air, and water creatures in symbiotic relationships that go beyond physical needs to spiritual and emotional bonding. Various types of different Na’vi that have adapted to different ecosystems such as forests and water also learned to work together. They all realize that they can only be successful when all life comes together for a common goal. One person, or hero, cannot do it alone.

I believe recognizing our true nature and its character of harmony and coexistence is essential in this time. And I think people are becoming more and more aware of this need, this consciousness. Of course, people have talked about “world peace” for a long time, but a new level of cooperation and awareness seems to be opening up. It’s offering up an opportunity. It’s asking us to more fully embody who we really are by embracing coexistence in every part of our lives.

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Build Confidence One Day at a Time: Join the 100-Day Challenge

Self-confidence can only come from our own efforts, but those efforts don’t have to be grand to have a great effect on us. Start with one movement and build from there.

We’re almost at the end of 2022. How was your year? I hope you had many things that went well, but there may have been setbacks that were difficult. Setbacks that come from our own actions, mistakes, or limitations can lead to our losing confidence in ourselves.

We may attribute our mistakes to parts of ourselves that seem to have always been there. They may seem so immovable and unchangeable that we don’t have much hope that we could ever be different. We may feel doomed to repeat the same patterns and hit the same roadblocks for the rest of our lives.

I’ve hit those roadblocks as well. Growing up, I had difficulty sitting still and paying attention in school. I preferred moving and only focusing on the things that I liked—such as comic books. I think if I was in school today, I would be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Eventually, after three tries, however, I passed the college entrance exam and went on to graduate with my Bachelor’s degree. I was able to buckle down and study once I gained more confidence in myself and felt my own worth.

For me, that confidence came from seeing a problem—food waste that had piled up under a bridge in my town—and creating a solution by carrying that waste up a nearby mountain and using it as fertilizer to grow pumpkins. After hauling that waste on my back over many trips up the mountain and painstakingly growing those pumpkins, I felt great pride and happiness in sharing them with my neighbors. I felt useful, and that experience stayed with me for the rest of my life.

Take on Your Own Challenge

I was reminded again of the power of simple physical actions we can take for a tangible goal when I recently saw a video of children in Japan who practice the Brain Education method I developed. Each child showed their progress as they went from not being able to do a push-up, sit-up, or handstand to doing many. Anyone could see their accomplishment—especially themselves.

So if you feel as if your confidence needs a boost, I would suggest breaking your habitual patterns and negative self-talk by doing something similar:

Choose a simple physical goal that is challenging for you. For example, 100 situps.Practice and take action for that goal every day for 100 days.Record your progress and your awakenings. You can do this in a written, audio, and/or video format.At the end, look back and admire how much you achieved.Enjoy Ilchi Lee’s blog posts?

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The Benefits of Choosing a Simple Physical Goal

Working toward a physical goal will help you not only by making your progress obvious but by making your body stronger. Having more physical strength naturally gives us more confidence. We can literally feel it in our bodies. And, according to the principles of life energy, the development of a whole person begins with building up physical energy.

This doesn’t mean that only people with big muscles can be whole and complete, however. A person with huge biceps can have low physical energy, even though physical energy is related to our physical strength, the food we eat, and our breath. We can use these to accumulate physical energy in our body, especially in the center for physical energy in our lower abdomen. As energy accumulates there, the emotional energy in the energy center in our chest becomes purified and expansive. You could say it “matures,” and we become more open-hearted and loving while becoming less needy (emotionally secure). Once that happens, the spiritual energy in the energy center in our brains brightens. Having a bright spirit means our consciousness is clear, positive, and creative. In this way, all aspects of ourselves become fully developed and complete.

Having a simple, visible goal also helps us stick with it. There are less factors involved in starting it or carrying it out. That means there’s less thinking involved, too. Choosing a goal for which you don’t need special equipment and doesn’t cost anything, for example, can put less blocks in your way.

I’m confident you can do it.

Please believe in yourself, too. I hope you attempt this 100-day challenge and that through it, you gain more confidence and power for handling the more complex, intangible parts of your life.

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