November 20, 2021 by Brian Weiner No CommentsChanging The World One Thought At A Time., Lessons From The Mountain

More difficult is really to decide… how committed are you to really do something about your life?

It’s not knowledge which is the problem, it’s not inspiration, which is the problem. The problem is… after you have all this inspiration, how are you going to transform it? How are you going to integrate it into your twenty four hour day?

My dear friend, Tim, sent me the video below and it really resonated with me. It is from a Shaolin headmaster who is articulating the journey from being exposed to these philosophies to which I am attracted, and the personal pain and discipline required to readily learn and adopt their methodologies.

In his analogy, he speaks of the mental and physical pain of becoming a master of martial arts, and transposes that journey onto our daily journey in order that he may find his way of trying to understand others, and communicate information of value and importance.

That was the flash moment for me in his speech.

We are quick to presume that others are equipped with the resources required to adopt any philosophy, life value and other transformative approach. The reality is that it is much more related to: When the student is ready, the master appears.

You can assimilate all sorts of knowledge, but it does not permeate. Rumi says “The wound is the place where the light enters you.” In many cases, we are just not ready to take on some of the greatest of all lessons. We are trying to learn with our minds, but our hearts and soul have not made the commitment. It is intellectual knowledge, but it does not become visceral until we hit a moment in life, where we need this knowledge more than anything, and it is imperative that we absorb it for our own personal survival.

Is it possible to learn things of this magnitude without being in that stage of life? I feel that on an intellectual basis, you can argue, absolutely that it is. But on a practical basis, it is no more valuable than the survival kit you keep in your home in fear of an earthquake.

That kit has massive value on the day you need it, while it remains relatively innocuous along the way. So it is with philosophical tools. I believe we are wise to study them, see them as a code from which we cherry pick those that resonate most with us and incorporate them into our working arsenal.

I am going to let Headmaster Shi Heng Yi communicate this in his video below. His approach is most eloquent.

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SHI HENG YI

Written by Brian Weiner

When I was 5 years old, I discovered that the lemon tree in the backyard + dixie cups + water and sugar and I was in business. I have been hooked on that ever since. In 1979, I borrowed $14,000 to create a brand new product... photographic greeting cards with no text on the inside, called Paradise Photography. That was the start of The Illusion Factory. Since then, The Illusion Factory has been entrusted by all of the major studios and broadcasters with the advertising and marketing of over $7 billion in filmed, live, broadcast, gaming, AR, VR and regulated gaming forms of entertainment, generating more than $100 Billion in revenue and 265 awards for creativity and technology for our clients. When I took a break from film school at UCLA to move to Hawaii, my mother did not lecture me. Instead, she took 150 of her favorite aphorisms and in her beautiful calligraphy, wrote them artistically throughout a blank journal. That is the origin of the Lessons from the Mountain series. Since then, on my journeys to the top of a mountain to watch the sunrise, I have spent countless hours contemplating words of wisdom from the sages of all races, genders and political persuasions, constantly accumulating the thoughts to guide me on my life path. I hope you enjoy my books. Please let me know your thoughts, as I highly value your feedback!