Life is too short for being afraid. What are the things that you are most afraid of, most hopeful for?

If I think that the world never revolved for me, it never danced for me, am I right? The world always goes on and makes its own pattern. If you wish it were beautiful, it turns out ugly or upside down. You can wish someone say you’re sexy but they say you’re ugly. Can you change the world? I can change my world! You cannot change the world until you are able to change yourself because the world always follows its own way.

Are you being faithful and truthful as you consider what’s really in your heart about your fears and hopes? You have to feel your own personal existence when you face your worst fears. Face the reality not the illusion of the fear. Feel your body – the most important gift that you have. Bring awareness into your body – bite your finger, feel pain, take a breath, still breathing, jiggle your butt, feel that you are alive! This is our most important gift. Feel that you are a living being. You can feel yourself, feel your heart beating, feel your comfort zone. Once you feel that then everything becomes simple. This is real – all the feelings outside are unreal. Take care of what is immediately real. At least bite your finger, take a breath. We talk about life and death being two sides of the coin – this is an illusional concept. In reality think we are always living, but in fact we live in so many dimensions, illusions of mind, or material mind thinks this is life, when the body dissolves we think that is death. Truly we have no life or death concept. We have one journey – life, death, etc. This is a journey – this life. We hope that the next journey is more beautiful. The highest achievement is when we don’t have to return, that we become immortal and go to our true home.

Where is your true home? Most determine where home is by emotion: heart, everywhere, the concept is very blurry. You have a limited ability to see and identify home. You get lost – you are lost sheep.

What does spirituality mean to you? Many people think if they do yoga, eat healthy, behave compassionately, do good works, etc. they are spiritual. But that’s not really it. Truly its about living in accordance with your true essence. In everyday life, what have you seen that someone thinks is spiritual but it’s not? Church goers who don’t practice a really good life; abuse of power by religious leaders; always giving but never receiving.

If you pretend then you are the biggest victim. You are creating and growing spiritual cancer cells that will bring you closer to death faster: un-virtuous gain of one penny will bring you one inch closer to the coffin. Pretending to be a master or a spiritual person when the motions that you take in your life are not masterful will take you closer to death. True spirituality is 24 hours per day maintain the same conscience, mercy and forgiveness – 3 treasures of the Tao. Can someone be truly spiritual if they don’t know about cultivation? Yes.

Spirituality has different kinds of quality – human vs. saint vs. immortal. We’re all different. Ordinary people are also different between them. As long as all human – our measurement of development is the degrees of mercy, conscience and forgiveness. Are you faithful to the 3 treasures or do you just pretend? Are you different with different people? Sometimes people will reveal that they are inconsistent. If it is intellectual, it is not truly spiritual.

If no longer human, the Three Treasures are still the measure. One of the Buddhas would say – if I don’t go to hell first, who will go? Why would Buddha go to hell first? He has great passion for the people in hell so that he can empty it out. The quality of Three Treasures defines spiritual level. Human spiritual level and immortal spiritual level are different. First we are in the mud and we are human. We must walk in this path first and be the best human first. However spiritual we feel today it is in the human realm of spiritual. Understand then what conscience means, mercy means and forgiveness means. When we become the best human, only then can we become immortal. Don’t fantasize – be real – don’t judge the world around you. Be in it.

The most important relationship is to the self. If you don’t love yourself how can you love any other? If you say “I Love You”, what do you really mean? If you don’t know yourself truly, with loving compassion, how can you say “I love you”. If you don’t know how/what love is for yourself. So the next time you say “I love you” to your honey make sure you truly know what you mean. Bring out this joy and happiness from the bottom of your heart and share it.

What about saying “I forgive you”? Do you truly mean it? Or are you doing a favor? Can you really forgive? Do you forgive yourself? Most people can’t truly forgive. Our ego is too strong.

What about family relationship? When you try to fit in with others you lose yourself. You lose your dignity and self-respect. If you lose yourself you get depressed, angry, you lose your balance. When you lose yourself, you lose the connection between material “I” and “dashed I” (Shen) and then the mystery cannot unfold. This is most important: your relationship with yourself. Why can’t you be merciful to yourself? Your Self needs your compassion the most.

First win in your own head that you are not a victim. Don’t suffer a situation because you are the only victim. There is no such thing as a dead-end. Only you create a dead-end. Bow to your opponent. If life gives you a lot of stress, say “Thank-you” for the obstacles because it makes life more fun. The obstacles make life more interesting. Obstacles are your master. Without an opponent you don’t have a fight. Respect your enemy and love your opponent. Successful people are those who don’t see a dead-end.

Do nothing and leave nothing undone.

The five senses are the five thieves that steal your Jing or basic life force, basic material. When Jing and Qi deteriorate then Shen deteriorates. For a happy fish (Shen) you need enough clean water and food (water = Jing and Qi). If the Jing and Qi quality are bad then the quality of the spirit is not so good. Luck knocks on the door of those who have good Qi. Qi is a free buffet. If you don’t have the motivation to get off the couch, then you can only blame yourself. If your Shen level is decreased then you can’t recognize when luck knocks on your door. You must take the first step to build up the level of your Jing and Qi. Your 6th, 7th, and 8th senses will save you, allow you to recognize the mystery beyond the obvious. You must trust the unknown. Confusion is good.

Without students there is no teacher – it is a two way street. Concepts are formed through comparison, judgment, and then we search through intelligence and compare. Sometimes we do this critically, sometimes not. We tend to be comfortable with the known and afraid of the unknown.

The Shen or spirit is our higher consciousness – the “dashed I”. Then there is the material “I” the “solid I”, the one we call “I”. We get so busy being entertained by our material life that we only see the material “I”, it’s hard to see the spiritual “dashed I”. So the spiritual “dashed I” is often depressed and imprisoned. The “dashed I” is the Master Within. We tend to only see the reality of the material “I” – the very obvious “I”.

The five senses fool our wisdom and intimidate our ego. They make us defend our ego, our glory. Or they make us take the offense – the best defense. Both make us so real. “I” doing defense and offense – either way the material “I” exists. If you have a target then an arrow will be used. (refer to the Dao De Jing Chapter 50). If there is a target then you are crystal clear as a target and you live in fear. Therefore the first job is to learn how to let go and minimize the five senses.

What makes the two “I”’s negotiate? What makes them fight? What makes them age and the Qi run down? What is the relationship between these two? The material life continues to pull the two farther apart. The secret to Tai Chi, to healing is in the line between the yin and the yang. Locked into what we perceive with the five senses creates separation between material “I” and “dashed I” or Shen. You must empty out the obvious to make room. You must be willing to let go to make space for learning. You must undo in order to do. Surrender yourself and then you will go to the “dashed I”. The boundary opens up. Give yourself a little mind opening and then you will come out fine. Unlock it and let the Master Within come out.

Grow, change, beyond the material world and limits and expand your awareness and vision. Come into your heart feeling to understand what is there for you, what do you get. Discover what is your potential, your spiritual potential as well as your material potential. Your willingness to risk versus your comfort zone establishes your horizon.

Why is your vision short? Why can you not see beyond the horizon? Are you ready to explore the “unknown world”? Full potential is sweet like chocolate but what will it take to get you off the couch? Do you believe that you are really the one to succeed?

What is your vision? Each one is different. Your character should be unknown and exciting. Don’t limit you self to one character, you should have multiple and have no cap. Don’t pre-program yourself to just one role. People tend to associate themselves with what they are most comfortable with – this is very limiting. To enlarge your vision you must undo what you have done – not just by talking but by taking action!

In any situation be flexible like a dragon, yielding between heaven and earth. Allow your human nature to unfold. Sleep above the fire; get out of your comfort zone! First you must undo what you know, you must go beyond your knowledge and comfort, let go of shame, and the concept of who you are.

Nobody can defeat you but yourself. But, if you can defeat yourself first, then you are always a winner! That is, if you can detach from your comfort zone and let go of what Mommy and Daddy said. Stop pushing responsibility to someone else or pointing the finger, take responsibility. Form a comfort zone about your situation. Forgive!

Leave the possibilities of who “I am” in the hands of God. God knows. Why do we take only one thing that God gave us instead of all things that God gave us?

If we cannot laugh or smile we are depressed spiritually and emotionally. Listen to your inner voice, your spiritual voice, don’t ignore it! We must pull out the needles, but when and how is purely personal. Leave yourself flexibility. To embrace God your spirit must be pure and your heart must be open. God is very positive, so you must release the negative to be close to God. When we pull out the needle is strictly a personal choice! When you hear the voice, open the door completely, God is so big.

When inner wisdom calls you, get off the couch, open the door, accept the wisdom. If you decide to disobey the inner voice, you are the first victim. The Tao is a selfish Tao. The Tao teaches you to take care of your body, mind, and spirit first, before you can take care of others. To be a champion, see yourself as a champion on the podium now!

First Question: What is your vision? What do you want to be? Most often you’ll have multiple visions; all of them are your vision. Do not limit your vision, be brave, full of potential. You must be willing to take the risk. Dare to Be! Say “I can do it!”

Spirit, mind and body become one unit. Spiritual and material go hand in hand. You must undo and detach from greed. Care about the effort and not about the result. Don’t attach to the result. The goal is virtue and loving. You cannot change the world but you can change yourself.

Live in your dream. If you don’t dare to dream then you can never achieve. Challenge yourself often to go outside of your boundaries. We can always play the blaming game, but always know that it is an excuse every day.

One side of you is structured, one side of you is unlimited potential; unlimited possibility! Believe and trust! Take action.