Ilchi Lee's Blog, page 32

6 Tips for Making Each Moment Matter

We never know what’s really going to happen even an hour from now. How does that change how we live in each moment?

Last week I traveled for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began—I returned to my home in Sedona, Arizona in the United States. On the way here, I had to face a 24-hour flight delay because one of the employees who had been preparing in-flight food tested positive for COVID-19. I felt lucky that a dangerous situation in which all of the passengers on the plane could have been infected was avoided.

I feel many things every time I cross national borders, but this time, traveling brought me even more awakenings, and I wanted to share them with you.

In such an uncertain situation, I realized once again that we never know what will happen to us tomorrow, or even an hour from now. We are living in flashes of time; we can only be in the here and now. Faced with the brilliant forces of life flowing around me, I feel humble and grateful and conscious of the time that is passing me by.

Knowing that at any time everything may change, I want to live with my head held high that I did all I could, that I used all of my energy, to achieve my dreams of making the earth brighter and helping everyone coexist peacefully within themselves, with other people, and with nature. While I am alive, while I can move, while I can love and share, I want to do at least one more good deed for the world.

While this vision sounds big and grand, accomplishing it simply involves small actions I take moment by moment. Each moment adds up to a full life.

I’d like to share with you some of the small things I do every day to satisfy my desire to live fully, humbly, and gratefully for the wishes that brighten my heart.Keep a journal.
I write in a journal every day. I keep a record of what I did, what messages I received from the universe during meditation, who my intuition told me to help or keep in touch with, and what I realized as I went about my work. Reporting to myself this way helps me realize where I am and where I need to go.Just dance.
Have you noticed how good you feel when you take some time to get up and move? I always find ways to move, even when I have many appointments in one day. Putting on some music or just singing to myself, I move in whatever way my body feels happy. Not only does this keep my body relaxed and loose, it also keeps my mind clear, focused and creative. Most importantly, it puts a smile on my face that I can share. Problems are usually solved more easily with a positive outlook.Ask for feedback.
We may have our own way of doing things and like to carry out our own ideas. But it’s difficult for one person to see everything from every angle. It’s especially difficult to see everything about ourselves, even when we’re observing ourselves carefully. So I like to ask the people around me for feedback. I ask them honestly about what I could improve or how I could work with them better. I also question experts about projects I’m working on better in order to get the best results.Strengthen muscles.
In order to keep going strong, I do my best to maintain my physical health. Besides eating and sleeping well, doing meditation, and staying limber with yoga and qigong, I do strength training to keep my muscles from weakening. One of my favorite exercises is push-ups, either on the floor or handstand push-ups against a wall. I can do these anywhere I stay, and they don’t require any equipment.Start the day with a positive message.
Our first thoughts of the day can be very powerful. I give myself a message when I first wake up in the morning that encourages me and reflects the values and goals i want to live out during the day. Some suggestions are giving thanks for another day, telling yourself how powerful you are, or even saying, “I’m happy!” I often use simple words like, “Bright light!” or “Peaceful coexistence!” to call into being what I wish to bring into the world.Do good deeds.
As I go about my day, I try to take the needs of others into consideration. I think of my family, the people I work with, and people around the world. As actions come to mind that would help them, I do them as soon as possible. Doing at least one considerate and helpful act a day can keep your heart open and and your energy circulating more fluidly and widely. It can give each moment meaning and bring you closer to any goal you’ve set.

These six simple actions help me make every moment of my life bright, productive, and meaningful. I hope you use the ones that resonate with you to make the most out of the time you have.

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Meditation for Overcoming Loneliness and Fear

[Photo by zelmabrezinska via Twenty20]

It’s natural to feel lonely or afraid, but if we realize the value and nature of our soul, we can transcend loneliness, fear, and other emotions.

As we go through life, there are times when we feel lonely, sad, or afraid. We’ve all had them. Many people have the misconception that if they become enlightened, emotions such as these will disappear. But no matter how much meditation or yoga we do, it’s normal to be hungry if we don’t eat, feel sad if someone we love passes away, or get angry if our cheek is slapped for no reason.

Although we cannot completely get rid of our emotions, we can change them. When we’re feeling unhappy, we can change that into happiness—that’s the true power of the mind. This power of the mind is none other than the power of the soul. Practices such as meditation and yoga can be used to develop this power. They allow us to feel and connect with our soul.

Those who have awakened to their souls, can transcend loneliness, for the soul is never lonely. It can commune with nature and use the body to play, even when we’re alone. Through our soul in our heart and consciousness in our brain, we can connect with all that is. And our soul is always with us; it’s the one thing that we take with us when we leave this world.

What Is the Soul?

The soul as I talk about it is the pure energy in our hearts. It’s our identity, our answer concerning who we are. It is the stillness inside amid the ever-changing universe. Although we feel love when we feel our soul, our soul is not the emotion of love. Emotions are not the soul, because feelings can change with time; they are not eternal. Instead, they are like clouds. Clouds become rain, which rises again as water vapor, becoming clouds once more. Clouds and rain cycle endlessly, and our emotions are the same.

Our soul is eternal, so it gives each of us infinite value. If we feel fearful or alone, though, it’s hard to feel that value. Often these emotions come from comparing ourselves to others, looking outside of ourselves for our worth, or not trusting ourselves to be able to handle whatever changes or challenges life will bring us. In other words, they come from not paying attention to our soul. And they hide our value.

Building a Valuable Life

Living without knowing our value is a sad thing. No matter where we are or what we’re doing, we should do our best not lose that value, for it is everything. That entails feeling our soul, listening to our soul, and acting on its wishes. And it is living for our deep inner joy and peace.

When we do this, the energy of our soul grows stronger and brighter; it becomes “healthy.” I believe living for the health of our soul is a human being’s purpose for coming to the earth.

Just believing isn’t enough for this, however. We can feel our purpose ourselves when we connect with our soul. But just feeling this isn’t enough either. It requires daily practice and action. Just as we can’t learn a language on faith, we can’t live for our soul on faith. It’s up to us to listen and act for our soul every day. We have to keep at it. Our striving and staying with it is very beautiful.

The more we embody the bright energy of our soul, the more we create love and happiness for ourselves and those around us, and the more that fear and loneliness disappear. Such emotions are chased away by the light of our soul. It shines more brightly than the energy of negative emotions. And we also don’t have space or time for such emotions when we are so busy giving our energy and attention to our soul and its wishes.

The wishes of our soul normally extend beyond our own self-interest. Being connected to all things, the soul loves and cares for all things. So when we live for our soul, we end up being Hongik, or “widely benefitting” others. A Hongik life is a soulful life. But it’s not a forced life or a burden when it’s powered by the energy of our soul.

Meditation for Feeling the Soul

There are many mind-body-spirit exercises that can help us feel and listen to our soul. I invite you to try this energy meditation I describe in my book Connect: How to Find Clarity and Expand Your Consciousness with Pineal Gland Meditation. This meditation shows you how to feel the energy of the body, clear the energy of thoughts and emotions, and then feel and grow the energy of the soul.

First, relax your body as much as you can with some gentle stretching.Slowly sit in a chair or on the floor in a meditation posture. Straighten your lower back and place your hands on your knees. Close your eyes and steady your breathing.When your breathing is calm and stable, tap your fingertips together about fifty times. Then, rub your palms rapidly together for about ten to twenty seconds. Afterward, hold your hands about an inch apart, palms facing each other.

 

FEELING ENERGY IN YOUR HANDS
We are very sensitive to the sensations in our hands, so they are the best place to start feeling our body’s energy. They also connect to the chest via the arms, making a direct line from hands to soul.

Gently close your eyes and focus on the feelings in your hands. To keep your mind there, think to yourself, “Hands . . . hands . . . hands.” As you focus, you may feel sensations such as heat, tingling, magnetism or itching. Those are sensations of energy.Now spread your palms a little further apart, breathing in, and then bring them close together again, breathing out. Repeat this motion, immersing yourself in the feelings in your hands. Imagining a ball of energy between your hands, slowly roll it between your palms. Picture it gradually growing larger and stronger.

 

CLEARING EMOTIONS IN YOUR CHEST

Then face your palms toward your chest with two inches between your palms and your chest. Imagine the energy you felt being emitted from your palms flowing into your chest. Concentrate on trying to feel your chest.

What sensations do you detect? Does your chest feel blocked and stuffy or comfortable and open? The more blocked your chest feels, the more emotional energy is predominating and the energy of your soul is contracting. Sending warm, pure energy from your palms into your chest to your soul. Imagine it clearing away the energy around your heart and making your soul brighter.

 

SPEAKING SINCERELY TO YOUR SOUL

Then as you concentrate on the center of your chest, repeat to yourself, “My soul . . . my soul . . . my soul.”When you feel a sense of connection inside, tell your soul, “I love you.”Then with utmost sincerity, offer it an apology for ignoring it so far. As you say this, you may feel the stress and trauma you have been carrying with you move in your chest. It may feel hot or cold or as if pressure is being lifted from your chest. You may even shed tears as the energy covering your soul fades away. Relax and exhale strongly through your mouth to release this old, stagnant emotional energy.Continue talking to your soul, telling it everything you want to say.As your soul revives, its energy will fill your chest and then your whole body.Slowly lower your hands onto your knees, take a deep breath, and exhale as you open your eyes.

What did you feel through this meditation? Was the feeling gentle, soft, and peaceful? That is the feeling of your soul. If you have trouble finding this feeling the first time, don’t worry. Keep trying to connect with your soul, and you will soon feel it. Some days it may be more difficult than others, but your soul will answer your sincerity in the end.

Whenever you feel lonely or afraid, use this meditation to visit your comforting and loving soul.

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[Video] What Are LifeParticles?

Subatomic particles are the smallest units in the material world. I call them LifeParticles. Why would I add the word “life” in front of particle? Because I recognize that the smallest units of life are not only matter, but information and energy. Although LifeParticles cannot be seen, they can be felt. Feeling LifeParticles is truly a miracle and a great discovery.

In this video, I explain what LifeParticles are with more detail and why they are important.

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6 Key Perspectives for Moving through Obstacles to Achieve Your Goals

[Photo by @danograyson via Twenty20]

To achieve a goal, you may experience frustration and failure several times. It’s normal for obstacles to appear in the process of moving forward. Though it seems hard and unlikely at first, it’ll all work out when the time is right if you keep going.

So don’t worry about it too much; there’s always hope.

A way will start to open up for you if you:Do what you can, one thing at a time, keeping at it.
Instead of waiting for all elements of a master plan to fall into place, leaving you languishing in inaction and losing momentum and energy, do what you can now. Take whatever action possible. This will lead to another opportunity opening up or new insight into how to achieve your goal. Keep going until you reach the finish line, step by step.Do your best with humility and passion in every moment so that you have no regrets.
Every moment is precious. And each moment is an opportunity to take another step toward your goal. Each step adds energy to produce a result. So give yourself to your goal in each moment while accepting the consequences, even as you keep moving forward. Rather than being attached to how your journey unfolds, allow it to happen while you keep your gaze focused on your destination.Keep your dreams big, and your actions slow and steady.
Big dreams bring big energy and bring out the greatness that lies within all of us. But even when our dreams are big, we can only work toward them one step at a time. If we steadily take those steps, we can reach any dream.Say goodbye to everything superficial, all rote formalities.
Unexamined routine numbs our minds and hearts and produces the same old results. Refresh your brain and your energy by moving your body and getting your blood and energy flowing. Then whenever you do something, make sure it’s in alignment with your goal instead of simply an item on an outdated to-do list.Guard against overthinking and limiting preconceptions.
Staying too much in our head thinking about all the things that could go wrong or all the reasons why we haven’t been successful can block us from taking action or seeing the possibilities in front of us. Of course, we need to evaluate our actions effectively in order to stay on course to achieve our goals, but it’s best to do that with a clear, unbiased perspective.Practice a Hongik lifestyle—having compassion and consideration for all.
All goals work best when they benefit others widely and when we work with a win-win attitude. Rather than slowing us down, having compassion and consideration speeds us toward our goal. It opens up the energy of our true essence, which is love and light itself, and grows and circulates it widely. That energy is the true power that makes dreams a reality. Acting in a Hongik way also makes connections to people that may help our cause in some way, if not directly, then by paying it forward.

Have hope. Take action. Keep going. And you will eventually reach your goal.
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I’ve been working on my own dream this way for the past 40 years. Beginning in a park, I created the academic discipline of Brain Education, set up centers in Korea and around the world, connected with the United Nations to change education in poor areas, and now I’m making the Earth Farm and Earth Village in New Zealand. I’ve been able to get this far because the power to create is in everyone’s brain. It’s in having a humble, compassionate perspective and never giving up.

Many people mistakenly believe that they can only do exceptional deeds if they receive some great revelation or great energy. Rather all they need is their choice and conviction, coming out of their insight and courage as they look upon the world without self-interest. This steadfast choice can eventually move mountains.

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[Video] What Is the Earth Citizen Movement?

Have you heard of the term Earth Citizen? An Earth Citizen is someone who lives on earth. That means everyone on earth is an Earth Citizen. An Earth Citizen is someone who loves and cares for the Earth, and this act of benevolence is called the Earth Citizen Movement. Do you want to know more about the Earth Citizen Movement? Then please watch the video.

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Hope Is a Fishhook for Catching Happiness

[Photo by @bodan via Twenty20]

A look at human history shows that there has never been a time free of difficulties. However, we become great and grow when we continue to create hope and overcome the trials and difficulties we face.

Why will your destiny be great if you choose and make your own hope? Because you created it yourself. I hope everyone awakens to the truth that we create our own happiness, that we design our own happiness.

Hope comes when we choose it. Hope is extremely proud, so it comes to us only if we invite it. It passes by us unless we choose it.

Despair, though, is not like that. We don’t invite it, yet despair often comes to fill the place left empty by hope. Despair just comes in the instant we abandon hope.

Happiness doesn’t come unless we choose hope, and we can know that happiness and hope come together in this way. Regardless of our circumstances, we can choose hope.

Occasionally, hope comes to us even though we don’t choose it. That hope doesn’t last long, however. Happiness obtained for free and without effort stays with us only a short while before moving on. When it leaves, it goes without a word. That is a principle of the world.

The way to create and keep hope is to live giving help and hope to ourselves and others. The principles of this world are simple. Giving hope brings hope; causing unhappiness brings unhappiness.

We keep our own happiness alive by creating our own hope. Hope is a fishhook for catching happiness.

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5 Steps to Having More Empathy

In a time when there’s much conflict between people, empathy can be our hope. “Empathy” is feeling another person’s condition. When we truly have empathy, we don’t view another person as the Other. The other person’s pain or happiness feels like our own. And, when we have empathy for the whole, we see the pain of the world as our pain.

When we feel the difficulty of another person’s situation, we automatically develop an understanding and desire to help them. We cheer for their successes without jealousy, and we make choices that are beneficial to both.

Our empathy drops precipitously, however, when we’re mired in emotion. When we get consumed by emotion, we’re only thinking of our own feelings because they seem the most important. We may then blame all of our problems on the people and situations around us, and may develop anger and resentment while losing gratitude.

In a competition-oriented society, emotion grows fiercer, which weakens our empathy considerably. Even members of one family living in the same home may think and see things differently, and the emotions that result may clash with each other. So families and societies become unhappy through such confrontations between emotions. Getting caught up in our emotions and forgetting empathy is the clear answer to the question, “Why does society have problems?”

It’s hard to escape from our emotions once we’re stuck in them though. Emotions are self-centered. For example, when a person is angry, he can’t properly read the minds and emotions of others because his own emotions are dominant.

The good news is that we can break free of our emotions and have more empathy. Empathy can actually be developed and practiced until we find ourselves having it all the time.

Try these five steps for developing more empathy:Clear your emotions.
Emotions are energy and can be cleared with energy changing exercises. When our thoughts and emotions are calmer, it’s easier for our heart and mind to be open.Become sensitive to energy.
Everything is made of energy, and we have an innate ability to sense the energy in ourselves and the world around us. By using relaxed focus to feel the energy in our bodies, we not only help our emotions to clear, we also feel connected to nature and life itself.Restore your connection to yourself.
Feeling disconnected with others often stems from feeling disconnected with our true selves. When we can feel our deep, inner self, we become less entranced by our emotions, and our natural qualities of love, oneness, joy, gratitude, and forgiveness can be experienced.Have sympathy for yourself.
Once you are connected with yourself, look at everything inside you and accept all of it.Feel that you and others are the same—one.
This is not simply the knowledge that everyone is one with each other, but the genuine feeling of oneness that occurs when our thoughts and emotions are calmer and we can be our true self in the moment.

Two exercises that can help us with these steps: Belly Button Healing and Jigam (Energy Meditation). They can clear emotions, sensitize us to energy, and restore our connection to ourselves.

Energetically, emotions are held in the organs of our chest and abdomen. The health of our intestines also affects our emotional health. Belly Button Healing relaxes the chest and abdomen and facilitates energy and blood circulation throughout the body. It brings our attention inside us and helps us feel and strengthen our inner core. It also can clear our mind and make it more positive so it can feel energy and empathy more easily.

Learn how to do Belly Button Healing here.

Jigam, which means, “stop emotion,” uses sensing energy with the hands to calm the mind. It also clears emotional energy from around your heart. With this exercise, we can more easily feel the oneness of our true selves with all life.

Learn how to do Jigam here.

As our empathy grows through these exercises, we’ll naturally become happier and more peaceful. Love and trust will flow freely because we feel that we are one with all people. This is the heart of peace and the hope for humanity.

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[Video] You Are Perfect as You Are

Nature is perfect and complete. And we are part of nature. That means we are perfect and complete as we are, too.

You can feel this when you feel the energy of life flowing through and around you.

This video explains more.

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Join the Building Authentic Relationships Email Course

I hope you can join me for my upcoming email course, “Building Authentic Relationships,” from February 8–14. I made this course because even and especially in a time of social distancing, relationships are our biggest sources of joy and pain.

What’s important in having healthy and fulfilling relationships is being authentic with ourselves and other people. Regardless of the type of relationship, there are fundamental principles we can apply to coexist harmoniously and productively with others. We can help each other while still being self-reliant, and we can give to others while still satisfying ourselves.

What’s often forgotten in having good relationships are the energetic interactions between people. In this course, I touch upon the energy flow that’s important in relationships and how you can support it.

If you are signed up for my newsletter, you’ll get the course sent to you daily and receive insight into:

what it means to have a truly authentic relationshipwhat behaviors support authentic relationshipswhat kind of energy we need to have authentic relationships

The insight and tips you’ll get from this course will carry you through remote relationships into a time when we can gather together more widely and intimately. With authentic relationships, everything you do can be filled with meaning and purpose.

Click Here to Sign Up for the Course

Let Nature Be Our Hope to Get through a Greater Pandemic

[Photo by twenty20photos via Envato Elements]

The world is still very much in a state of chaos and uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic. However, there’s hope that with the development of vaccines, the seriousness of the pandemic may begin to end. Yet there’s an even bigger “pandemic” that humankind has been experiencing. Unlike the coronavirus pandemic, hope of this “pandemic” coming to an end soon has not yet come to light. It is the one of nature and the earth being destroyed.

Plastics and all manner of garbage that were made for the comfort of humans are now covering the heavens, the earth, and the oceans. It’s said that in a few decades, there will be more plastic than fish in the sea. If we keep going like this, a million species of life forms will disappear from the earth in a few years. The earth grows hotter by the day, and humans and other life forms are suffering a great deal from climate change.

We Have a Choice

The issues of environmental pollution and climate change that lie before us are a matter of co-destruction or coexistence. Many environmental experts agree. We are facing a fork in the road of humanity at which we have a choice. We can either choose to coexist peacefully with each other and nature, or we can continue to take actions that ensure our mutual destruction.

In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, humankind demonstrated incredible adaptability. We’ve been creating a new culture, and we’ve confirmed for ourselves that if we choose it, there’s nothing we can’t do. In the same way that we started wearing masks and socializing more using technology, we have the capacity to change our culture and habits so that all species have clean air, clean water, and enough food to eat.

But to start such a change in culture, we first need a change in the consciousness of humankind. Although many people may want to coexist with each other and with the earth in theory, it may be difficult for us to put it into practice. Our current habits, philosophies, and civilization still add up to destruction and conflict, whether we like it or not. To help us change them, I propose a change in mindset that puts peaceful coexistence (part of what I call Earth Citizenship) as the basis of all our decisions. This means choosing harmony, peace, and sustainability in everything we do. By using “coexistence” as the cornerstone of all of our choices, every aspect of our lives and the world will gradually bend toward it.

The opposite of this mindset is the drive to possess, control, and compete without regard for the health, happiness, and peace of others. A convenience-first mindset and lifestyle also make it harder to choose coexisting well. It’s difficult to do things that are uncomfortable or take additional steps that may be better for everyone in the long run when our usual way is more convenient. “Fast” and “easy” typically drive the actions of a modern, first-world society.

Let Nature Be Our Guide

Then where can we find the hope and strength for a new choice? We can find it in nature itself. For example, think of the sun. The sun is always shining brightly, giving warmth and energy to all without judgment or payment. It doesn’t need anything outside of it to shine; it produces light on its own.

Nature, especially our true inner nature, can show us how to coexist with each other and the earth peacefully and sustainably.
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Recognize we are nature
Just like the sun, human beings are also nature; we’re not artificial or manmade. We can be like the sun and have a bright consciousness in any situation. We have the capacity to make health, happiness, and peace within us. And we are inherently valuable, regardless of our wealth or popularity.

Having all of this already inside ourselves, we don’t need to look for it outside or fight others for it. And when we do look inside, we find a natural desire for harmony, balance, sustainability, and peaceful coexistence. Realizing we are nature—just like the sun, plants, and animals—makes living a “coexisting lifestyle” natural and intuitive.

Develop our natural tendencies
Living such a lifestyle includes using our inherent capacity for health, happiness, and peace to develop a strong body and positive mind. Becoming more natural in this sense, especially by using natural methods, increases our capacity to make tough choices.

It’s more difficult to be generous or to consider others when we feel weak or a sense of lack. To live a coexisting lifestyle, we can start small and slowly expand our ability to make choices that not only benefit ourselves or that are convenient, but that benefit others and the planet as well. And as we do it, we’ll come to realize that when we care for others, we end up caring for ourselves as well.

Commune with nature
To help people be inspired by nature and feel as one with nature, I’ve been developing the Earth Village on the North Island of New Zealand. By meditating in nature and working in sustainable ways there or wherever we are, our mind and energy resonates with nature’s energy. Paying attention to nature, we almost can’t help but feel as one with it. Our consciousness changes, and we naturally want to coexist sustainably with nature. By communing with nature, we can strengthen our resolve to keep peaceful coexistence at the forefront of our decisions.

If we all work together, we can make coexistence a priority in our lives and our communities. Both the hope and the destruction of the human race lies in each of us. If we choose it, it will happen.

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