June 2025 TAT Forum

The way he talked about learning through experimentation and failure resonated with me. Other than that, I didn’t hear anything that spoke to me. After that, I started at the beginning of the video, going to “What’s Your Mission?”, “Why Are We Suffering?”, and “How Do We Find Our Purpose?” I liked that he saw self-definition (knowing who and what you are) as fundamental. Not just because that’s what I hear people say in TAT, but because he gave a good reason: if you don’t know yourself, how can you make the choices that are right for you? As he went on, I was initially interested when he said that he doesn’t pay a lot of attention to what people say their problems are, but listens to see what he thinks their problems actually are. I liked that, because it points to the fact that some people don’t see themselves clearly. But I was kind of unimpressed when the next thing he said was that people sit too much at work. Sure, that’s a problem, even one I can relate to, but is that why we have existential angst? The people who come to him with problems, are they just sitting too much? If so, we should really change how we structure TAT meetings 😉

For all we know we are reincarnated over and over again and you get a completely new set of egos every time with completely new personality and likes and dislikes, talents, gender, ethnicity, etc. Maybe you’ve had thousands or infinite amounts already. Probably you’ve been around for eternity and will be around for eternity, just enjoy the current game as much as possible, this isn’t your one shot at life as some like to say it is. And possibly the ending of the story has already been written, and we don’t have freewill anyway. You are GOD, for gods sake, just relax.

“People need to live more in the present, you never know if you won’t wake up tomorrow.” I agree. This reminds me of some of the young motivated career people on TikTok. They spend their 20s grinding very long hours and working away their youth it makes me feel sad for them. They tell their followers to not date until you are in your 30s, to spend your 20s grinding and making money instead. That is missing the whole point of life. In my opinion a top 5 experience of life is dating while young, it’s exhilarating and a ton of fun and a very short window. As well as spending time with friends, family, and participating in community events. Not crunching numbers, and making sales, dealing with bosses and employees you don’t even like being around. Of course some people are built that way, billionaires are built this way. Making money is the most enjoyable thing in the world for them and for them that’s the right path.

This quote also applies to young people that waste their youth depressed. Or any age really. People who aren’t depressed will say “why don’t you just stop being depressed?” And the depressed person’s response is “we can’t, its not our choice!” It is your choice. I’ve had very serious manic depression since I was a pre-teen, and it wasn’t until the bigger picture I learned from TAT and ego work techniques I learned from Tripp Maxwell that I was able to 90% fix my own depression in just a few months. If you wake up thinking “I can’t stand this planet, I can’t believe I need to do another day here!” take ten minutes and watch some funny videos, think of a few things you are thankful about your life, visualize some things you want to happen coming true, give yourself a compliment. And see how much better you feel in just a few short minutes. You can manipulate your hormones with your thinking to feel better. Don’t indulge intrusive negative thoughts, it’s only going to make life worse.

This also applies to people middle age and older looking back with regrets on their life. Listen to TAT, you are God. This isn’t your only life. Cut these thoughts off when they appear, your thoughts are not you, replace them with positive thoughts, and just enjoy your day as much as you can and remember you are in a fake dream anyway that you yourself created.

“I’ve had times where I’ve been surrounded by a thousand people and still felt lonely.” I’ve experienced that big time. Actually I don’t ever get lonely by myself. I could seriously live in a cave in the mountains the rest of my life and not get lonely. The loneliest moments of my life where I felt it intensely was when I was surrounded by hundreds of people. It’s these moments that reconfirm for me that I am not built like a normal human. I don’t feel at home here, and I look forward to the day I can go to my true home or rather true state of being. People say I’m very friendly and even sometimes funny, but it’s a character I’m playing like an actor. I’ve always felt this way.

“Everybody gets what they need exactly in the moment they are in.” I think this is only true after ego work and the ability to not be negative. I believe the quantum physics people that even as a human you still do have some access to your God powers, and your thoughts and emotions affect your reality. If you’ve become the master of your ego, then I think yes life will go much more smoothly and more often things will just fall in place like magic. There’s many people who really study manifesting things they desire such as wealth, but you don’t need to do that. Take care of your thoughts and emotions and the universe will take care of you. But if you let the ego be your master, then there’s an endless bottom of suffering you can be brought into which will affect your reality and compound the suffering. Then you find things aren’t often working out magically in your favor. You’re surrounded by the wrong kind of people, in the wrong kind of job, eating the wrong kind of food, addicted to the wrong kinds of things, and in worst case scenarios you’ve lost everything. Family, friends, your health, a place to live, and hope. But then again maybe for some what was needed was for years or even decades of suffering, who knows. So they can seek answers, find solutions, and then when they get their life right it will be ten times sweeter knowing they climbed out of hell. Like anyone that’s ever been on a zero sugar diet, the first time they try ice cream again it is 10 times better tasting than before. Of course often this doesn’t happen. Many continue in tragedy until their last breath, I’m not sure why a being would need to be tortured like that. Possibly for others to see them and learn from their mistakes. Our egos like to hope there is a reason for it, and wants answers it can’t possibly have.

“Goal setting comes from a space of lack. You feel like you are lacking something, that’s why you need to do.” I didn’t realize this until Tripp Maxwell pointed this out to me with my own thoughts. That my thoughts always shame me when I’m not doing something productive. Which is ego. This quote though did confuse me as this man seemed like he was all about setting goals and not getting distracted by sensual pleasure when trying to achieve them. So he’s saying to stay focused on your goals but also goals are ego, which is confusing. Maybe he means to strive towards goals that are of the spirit and not of the ego. When you have a higher calling, to stay focused on it.

“If you want a new life you need to let go of patterns and beliefs. Otherwise there will be no new life.” It all starts in your head. Whenever you catch yourself saying “I can’t do that”, “that won’t work out” cut the thought off and replace it with “I can do that”, “It will work out”. Even if you don’t initially believe it, say it to yourself anyway. Brainwash yourself in a positive direction. Give yourself a compliment a few times a day to build confidence. Look back at things you’ve achieved so you can say to yourself “see, I can achieve difficult things. I’ve done it before.”

“One of the most important things I can teach my son is when you fail to get back up.” If you fail, don’t indulge the negative thoughts. Continue to think positive, continue to tell yourself that you believe in yourself, give yourself a compliment on what you’ve done well in the past to build your confidence, and try again. It’s a mind game and it takes effort and practice. Be the master of your ego, don’t let the ego be your master because the ego is a cruel master.

“You have to put out the fires in your mind before they get too big.” Yes, I notice this. If I indulge an angry thought then every minute I indulge it, it becomes ten times harder to dissipate the thought. The ego gets a tighter and tighter grip of control over me. Like jiu jitsu, don’t ever let the ego pass your guard or else it’s going to be ten times harder to get back to your guard again. And before I know it I could be consumed silently by anger for hours. It’s good to train yourself to notice undesirable thoughts and the hormone reactions it is causing in your body as quickly as possible, and to cut it off. Good practice for this is for a few weeks every time there’s a negative thought to notice it and replace it with a positive thought. It’s exhausting, not fun, and is difficult and some may have to do this a thousand times a day, but it is excellent training to catch undesirable thoughts and to realize how thoughts both positive and negative affect your hormones and how you feel. And to better notice when you are below neutral so you can take a few minutes and bring yourself back up to neutral or better. Then this practice can be dropped after a few weeks.

“You need to shine light on the spots inside you that you don’t want to look at.” My brain my whole life does this automatically like a thousand times a day. I know Rose recommends this exercise but I really don’t think I need this one. I don’t need to search for these dark spots as they are already forced front and center constantly by my brain. Maybe it’s my brain saying “okay you are way too big of an idiot I’m going to need to drag you kicking and screaming through these memories all day everyday of you being an idiot, so maybe you stop being an idiot”. But yeah ego is very tricky and it likes to not get caught in its tricks. This is why taking time everyday to meditate is important, to separate yourself from your ego for some time. And to carry these meditation skills into your normal life. If you are having a panic attack worrying about if Trump/Biden/Putin/China/Zuckerberg/whoever has plans to put you in a concentration camp, stop yourself and use your meditation skill to get your mind off that and onto the present moment. You’ll realize how silly you were being to worry about things out of your control. And it’s important to also have a good teacher who you can trust that will point out your ego tricks to you, and for you to be open to the fact that he might be correct.

“Don’t become too attached to outcomes, things, and what you possess. Although having things and goals and abundance is perfectly okay.” You don’t want to be dependent on anything outside of yourself for your contentment. Material things, success, relationships, etc. It’s okay to want things, that’s the joy of being a human. But if you don’t get those things, and you are sad about it, then you need to think about some things that you are thankful for that you do have to get your mind back in balance. Then you’ll realize there’s nothing to be sad about, that you feel okay, and that you’ll be okay. And be proud you have control of your ego, and not the other way around.

The name of the podcast also generated some immediate antipathy within me. The title stirs up some distrust. What are these guys trying to sell me?

Then I did a YouTube search Shi Heng Li and was overwhelmed with the amount of content I discovered. I was very distrustful because of the volume of videos. Is this another egomaniac selling himself and his own personal unique brand of salvation for fame and profit?

I determined to lay aside my prejudice and give the video a shot. I was immediately impressed by his humility. His talk was very grounded in traditional Buddhist practices.

I was drawn to the section of the talk on the 5 hindrances and the RAIN method.

Shi Heng Li laid out the 5 hindrances or mental obstacles that can disrupt meditation or daily life:
1. Sensual desire (craving pleasure)
2. Ill Will (aversion, resentment, hatred)
3. Sloth or torpor
4. Restlessness (worry or anxiety)
5. Self-doubt (indecisiveness)

Shi Heng Li suggested the RAIN Method as the antidote:
1. Recognize
2. Acknowledgement, Acceptance, Allowing things to be as they
3. Investigate
4. Non-identification (What I am not…the mind…the body…these emotions)

In the investigation step, self-inquiry is applied. What led me here? What am I believing? The RAIN Method could be applied to retreating from untruth.

Shi Heng Li spoke strongly of each finding their own path to clarity. Only the individual could see the view by climbing to the top on their own power. He did not espouse a guru as the end but only as a guide. The driving desire and curiosity must come from within.

He seemed to exemplify results quite well with his own strong body and sharp mind, and he also made subtle hints of other possibilities. I’d like to discuss the route of transformation apart from transcending in pursuing those greater possibilities.

We are ensconced in a dream of easy living fed with a promise by science, technology and internet story-lines of convenient solutions to any problem we could possibly face. Master Shi Heng Yi, Headmaster of Shaolin Temple Europe, pointed to this diversity and choice in modern living as also diffusing our ability to focus, and defining our society’s core problem as not learning, according to him, about one’s self as the necessary and primary lesson.

The purpose of the interview seems to be to demonstrate both his mental and physical stature as an example and to introduce a common sense blueprint to presumably, entice people to follow the Kung Fu path. Mystics East and West, Richard Rose and Gurdjieff are examples who advocate a possible change or evolution to become more than what we appear to be. But all suggest we could only become something more if only we chose a lifestyle and the ways and means that would accommodate change. Mr Shi summarizes his message as to not outsource your well-being to anything you cannot control, and that the only things you can work with are the mind and body that you directly control. Without using the term ‘spiritual’, he advises both mental and physical discipline as necessary for a specific lifestyle dedicated to developing character, ‘being’ and essence and the necessity to find “the self” as one’s only true Master to be ultimately trusted. He advocates experiencing and accepting physical pain during training, and at a mental level, a constant vigil to identify any stimulus that triggers a reaction such as a learned emotional pattern that might block progress. In both, personal discipline is essential. He is personally an example of the mental and physical stature that can result and therefore appeals to those who want to be transformed through mastery of both mental and physical skill sets as demonstrated in martial arts, yet in the interview he was surprisingly philosophical. So the mental and physical transformation is apparent, but this Kung Fu Master did not openly suggest that there was more being offered, although there may have been hints.

He was born Vietnamese, moved to the West very young and began Kung Fu training at age 4, and attributes understanding others to being influenced through studying Christianity, Buddhism and Zen. Curiously, combined body-mind development and control are not congruent with any of these three religions, yet I couldn’t help but feel he was also describing a simple transformation indirectly resulting from disciplining the mind-body, a discovery of peacefulness that those religions all too often unsuccessfully offer. Perhaps the difference seems to be working on different levels simultaneously, especially to start with what is directly in front of us to work with—a body and a mind. So could taking both a mental and physical approach be either or both potential advantages and/or short-comings of his formula for transformation? I assume it to be the standard Kung Fu teaching but essentially it represents becoming something you already are not.

The body represents the initial challenge to all new comers to Kung Fu, yet they may mistaken its mastery as the single end desired result. Shi advocates that physical development occurs only through discipline that results in levels of pain that still remain throughout one’s journey, but over time only changes as to how it feels. I was reminded of Gurdjieff’s claim that “effort is worthless, only extra effort is worthwhile.” Shi says that we need to look beyond limits (hence the need for role models in a teacher or school) to inspire the tolerance of pain. Although mastery of Kung Fu is essentially mastery of both mind and body, it seems initial exercises with the body demonstrates the need for discipline to progress, and that the most obvious results are discovered on this physical level, and hence motivation and inspiration for us to go on. The significance of this is echoed in what Rose termed the first steps, to getting one’s house in order. Shi likewise said that one needs to be determined and to make an effort to discipline and to put one’s self in order, but not when it is already burning down. The self-discipline of both mind and body are therefore a common effort, one reinforcing the other. It begs to wonder: why have we ever separated the two?

The mind seems to be the transforming agent in religious and spiritual movements, but Shi seems to place its importance and progress along side and in balance with the body. Mind is also the gateway through which emotional and identity patterns arise to thwart physical efforts. His system places the mind ever on alert as to when an emotion or identity gets triggered, to see how it handicaps whatever our effort is at that moment and as a result of observing and acknowledging what it actually is, the habit pattern as a blockage begins to dissolve. He seemed to indicate that it is actually such pain and extra effort that makes our adversity so obvious as it rises up from both inside and outside against our effort, which triggers distinct responses more easily recognized.

I found it an interesting strategy that to study the mind, one could more easily see it in action as its influence on the body, and vice versa. Likewise, to recognize one’s ability, one needs to focus upon one’s adversity when developing mental and physical abilities. But again, to what end? He suggested to build character, but also in passing, ‘being’ and essence. But why did he not go further down that road in discussing such transformation?

To me, something in the presentation seemed to be missing, something incomplete. He relented that he was driven by his father’s expectations for him, never praised, but always pushed to achieve. This drove him to become more than what he would have been otherwise, but that he later recognized as an inner urge it also had become a detrimental emotional blocking pattern. What was necessary became realized as a detriment, and he did not point to this duality of asset and adversity integral to any effort or technique, a paradox of damned if you don’t, yet damned if you do. There is an adroitness or maturing perhaps after the initial benefits that the shortcomings of any practice are seen which also need to be addressed. Does that maturing also recognize that all forces have both the potential to be either beneficial or detrimental as utilized by the user? Rose suggested that the railroad tracks could only take you so far until there are none, and similarly I felt Shi dropped some references but kept a higher teaching veiled from the public’s view, where the identity with mind and body discipline could only take you so far. For example, Shi mentioned preserving one’s energy, heart, and love only in passing. And also that after becoming free of all emotional detriments, he could only “be sweet.” That philosophically makes no sense, except it resonated—with a smile. Only much later in life, he worked to release himself from the pain of expectations of his father which also transformed him. Yet he still exhibited pain when he remembered his father’s passing. A valid question might be, as to what he found, could he not explain let alone share?

A master or school might be necessary to not only be driven, to assure momentum and to learn, but also for one to be inspired. However, there may be an innate desire to drive us to become more, and it might be that inner drive which seeks out others to assist in the task of being simply recognized. Although he never mentioned it, I think he gave three rules to live by that may best reveal a hidden drive—if there is one present: to persist, proceed by trial and error, and to observe what patterns as blockages get triggered. To push oneself through extra effort might best uncover otherwise hidden and subtle motivations and intention, although by accident. Progressing through trial and error allows a dithering through which the unexpected can present itself, as either guidance or resistance. And observation or watching, in the final analysis, may be the only free choice we have to do, and that may be to see.

His minimal references to outcomes other than mind and body transformation suggested something else was held back in reserve, that was available to only those who “had ears to hear” a hearing if not already present could only be found during the Kung Fu process of transformation.

Shi never mentioned ego, something that seems to me to be endemic with those who pursue martial arts. But it may be necessary for the first steps in any journey, an ego that says “I can accomplish” until it is no longer needed. The Catholic mystic Bernadette Roberts believed that ego was the first to be abandoned as a ‘lesser spiritual experience’ while the ‘self’ was preserved only to be sacrificed in some later ultimate finding. So that mental and physical transformations that Shi exemplified and discussed may have seemed magical to those who have not yet experienced them for themselves, but findings which transcend mental or physical could not be heard and seem equally as magical without “ears to hear.” Rose suggested that the rational only operates in the realm of the rational, and that magical only operates in the realm of the magical. So is full or partial development of the lesser realms requisite to eventually gain the ability to hear, or do some have the innate ability and some do not? Gurdjieff on the other hand, taught that the lower realms need be developed first, that physical, emotional and mental realms need to evolve so that a fourth level combining the three could function effectively before one could evolve to levels five, six or above. So there seems to be a fallacy in the desire to convince or to prove anything beyond to someone at a lower level at which they may reside, unless a teacher hopes for an ‘accident’ for someone to catch a mere hint or glimpse of some possibility within consciousness of a higher nature. So to teach, talk or write seems a long shot with an audience except for a few. Even Christ was purported to have a hundred disciples, but only a dozen apostles. Those few could hear, therefore they were the only ones that could perform miracles, the greatest of which is to transcend.

But Rose also warned that paradox permeates all. So in some esoteric teachings, Christ’s greatest miracle was to elevate his own body and blood to be a universal bond available for all mankind. So the lowest realm of the physical became the highest.

So what can a teacher do? Can he or she “raise-up” seekers through development of the lower realms, or simply inspire what may already be innate, or go for a direct transmission? Or could it be that everything is already perfect, that everyone is exactly where they belong, and could not be at any “other place”? And that the best a teacher could opt for is to be genuine to their role of being a teacher and nothing more, to have both the patience and the wisdom to simply teach what they have found, and to let the rest just unfold either through them or without them. Transcendentalism must always be mysterious, out of reach to those who reach, and unexplainable to those who require understanding. Maybe Kung Fu over the millenniums of it’s teachings has evolved and works at different levels, and only obvious to those within Kung Fu who have evolved to those elevated levels. And Master Shi had nothing to sell, no desire to convince, and has no option except to be a Kung Fu teacher.

If you feel that it is not present or is flagging, this video may serve as a reminder to ask again what you want, and to rededicate yourself to that purpose.

The video does not so much touch on self-realization or enlightenment in the explicit and direct way that some of us may be used to hearing, and I did not especially get the feeling that Master Shi Heng Yi is realized. However, what is presented here is meant to be applied universally for success in any field, and a seeker may benefit from listening to this man’s very honest discussion of himself and his experience, as well as from the wisdom he has gained from both life and his training.

To be clear, “loss of ego,” “loss of I,” and the like are passingly mentioned, and there is an emphasis on psychic investment in identities as the root of suffering. However, as far as the direction and substance of recommended purpose, it pretty much ends there, at the edge of self-improvement and spiritual action. Thus, I would not recommend this video as one that would ignite the pilot light for someone not already seeking, nor will it particularly fan the flames of those who are. What it does have the potential to do is help channel those fires into focused action.

An example of practical advice is found in Master Shi Heng Yi’s discussion of “the five hindrances” and their antidote, what he calls the “RAIN method.” When one has a goal—whatever goal—one is hindered when one is susceptible to five mind states: sensual pleasure or desire; aversion, rejection of discomfort, “ill-will”; dullness, or despondency, “lack of motivation to move forward in life”; “restlessness: unable to focus on the present moment”; and “indecisiveness/self-doubt .” His advice for counteracting the five hindrances is the four-part RAIN method:

1. Recognize your mental state;
2. Acknowledge it—accept it;
3 Investigate it—”what led to this state?”; and,
4. Non-identification: try not to identify too much with body or mind or the state that you investigated.

Master Shi Heng Yi emphasized from the outset that there is no moral evaluation of any of the “hindrances” behaviors: it is simply that, in the context of pursuing a goal, these susceptibilities hinder progress. It is common-sense advice, and moreover something with which anyone engaged in spiritual work is no doubt familiar, and yet it feels refreshing and reinvigorating to hear it laid out in this way. The simplification and clarification of the five hindrances seems in itself to undermine their stickiness and to empower oneself merely by observing them. A provisional meta-goal: “Keep your goal in mind at all times.”

The five hindrances and the RAIN method are discussed in full at the “What is the RAIN Method?” timestamp. When the interviewer, Steve, first brings up the five hindrances, they do not get past listing the second hindrance (“aversion, ill-will”) before they get sidetracked into a wider discussion about discipline. I found this to be almost as valuable for reflection—if not more so—than the neatly packaged bits of wisdom, and it touches on something that I have wondered about since my early days on the path: discipline “in itself” is worthless; one must see the sensory pleasure, one must be aware of the movement to reject, etc., for discipline to have any benefit. Adding my thoughts on the matter: if it is merely discipline for discipline’s sake, it veers into building a “seeker ego” and/or it becomes moralistic and self-denying, and so one is no longer connected with their purpose. Discipline itself becomes a distraction, and potentially a destructive one at that.

So how does one become aware? What does it mean to become aware? In this context, awareness is not thought—”I know that I have this susceptibility,” “I know that I am triggered by this”—though it may be a start. Master Shi Heng Yi says this is where “energy” comes into play: we must be aware of “energy,” which means the body: the real-time awareness of the real-time movement of reactions to triggers. He points to many practices that nurture such awareness: breath work, yoga, meditation, etc. All of these are intended to increase sensitivity to what happens in one’s body.

I’ll briefly touch on a few more points that I found especially compelling or at least worthy of further consideration.

When asked what his one message would be—in the hypothetical form of “A Final Message to His Son”—, Master Shi Heng Yi said: “Concepts are concepts. Theories are theories. Be careful, be aware of what you are keeping and nourishing in the mind. Never restrict yourself to any concept. Never restrict yourself to any identity. Never restrict yourself to any type of role. What you create: you create. And you can create quite a lot of things.”

In a similar spirit, at the “What is Self-Mastery?” timestamp, Steven brings up Master Shi Heng Yi’s book, Shaolin Spirit. I was struck by Yi’s expression of the core message of his book, and his description of who would benefit most from reading it. In short, it is all about becoming one’s own authority in one’s life. It is about realizing that no one else can live your life or tell you how to live yours. You can train with and learn skills from great teachers and masters, but at the end of the day it is up to you “to bring out the best version, the best refined potential, about what you believe you are capable of—meaning: the master is already sitting inside of each individual, but we do not nourish it enough.” Who is the book for? The book is for anyone who feels that their well-being in anyway is dependent on others and external factors in general.

Of course, this fits squarely into self-help, self-improvement sentiments. However, for whatever reason, I heard it differently for myself, and I would suggest that it may be of benefit to those who are already on a spiritual path. I would wager that, for anyone who wants truth and who is guided by a deep and powerful yearning, the call to be the best version of oneself, to realize one’s most refined potential, to aspire to one’s highest ideal, to live one’s highest realization—these do not evoke shallow forms of self-improvement. Indeed, for a seeker like this, the sense of the “Master” already within us likely brings with it a solemnity and poignancy.

Finally, at 2:21:50, Yi gives a very powerful suggestion addressing “What do I do now? What do I do today?” I will paraphrase. Ask yourself, what has disturbed you the most over the last week in your inner life? You could add to this: what has been the predominant hindering emotional state of the last month? Then investigate: what brought up that state? What triggered it? Is it a person? A situation? A thought pattern? Boil it down and isolate it: “I want to move forward in my life, but this is the obstacle. It blocks me, it takes my energy, etc. This is the one thing.” Finally: invest all of your energy into figuring out the solution for that obstacle.

Again, simple and rather obvious advice, but I found it very compelling in his expression of it, as though it made straightforward and concrete the steps that seemed so abstract and obscure.

While not explicitly spiritual in the way some of us may be used to, the subject matter of this interview is not entirely your average self-improvement philosophy either. Moreover, I think it can absolutely be of benefit to serious seekers to hear what Master Shi Heng Yi has to share and to reflect on it for their own purposes. There is a great deal about which to think, to consider employing, and in which to find inspiration. As always, one may find it of use to them or not, helpful or unhelpful, resonant or lifeless to them. Master Yi has apparently become a bit of a YouTube celebrity, and I find many of the titles to his videos eye-roll-inducing. While it will be very difficult for anyone who gains attention on social media to not be branded and marketed in rather superficial and inauthentic ways, I feel strongly that Master Shi Heng Yi is a thoroughly sincere person who takes his discipline and what he shares very seriously.

I have two final thoughts that I want to share very briefly, despite the first being very serious and the second a bit tangential.

As contradictory as this may be, it is not “despite” what I have said above but “in addition to” what I have said above that I think it is very possible that self-development gurus, Master Yi included, oversimplify certain aspects of the human conundrum, and actually may set people up for failure. There is perhaps a fine line between simplifying in an elegant and clarifying way and oversimplifying in a way that dismisses an individual’s complex experience with psychological suffering. Master Yi comes out of a tradition that was ignorant of the unconscious mind, and it is of course appealing to have a perspective that nicely positions the messiness of life into slight distractions that, were one to keep their goal in mind, they could easily identify and zap away. If only it were that easy. They reference in this interview that the number one killer of men 45 and under is “themselves”—an absolutely heartbreaking and sobering statistic. No doubt, meaninglessness and purposelessness play a great role in this, but is it so easy to determine meaning and purpose? Is it so easy to “get in touch with oneself” to this end? Is it actually so easy to navigate the five hindrances without getting ensnared and sidetracked for years or decades? On the one hand, it feels helpful, refreshing, empowering, and inspiring to hear obvious and ageless wisdom laid out in simple and clear terms. On the other hand, these points seem familiar because they are: “I have been trying these for a long time, but I am still stuck.” Hindrances three and four—”dullness” and “anxiousness”—sound an awful lot like depression and anxiety. I question whether in all cases they are so simply addressed and cleared up as suggested here. Indeed, suicide is not merely motivated by meaninglessness and purposelessness: it is very often motivated by hopelessness in the face of unsuccessful interventions and unyielding suffering.

As I said, that is a comment to add to the discussion and increase reflection on this interview—not undermine or preempt it.

The final thing is simply another recommendation. I had never heard of this YouTube channel, “The Diary Of A CEO.” I know nothing about it, but I gather that it is about CEOs. The enmeshment of the world of corporatism, self-styling, wealth and acquisition, with that of self-development has long been alive and well, and these two worlds are seemingly indistinguishable at this point. In the same way that self-development principles may be of use to a seeker, so too may business principles. It is a very different angle, but this interview with Master Shi Heng Yi nonetheless reminded me of a talk that Shawn Nevins gave many years ago at a TAT weekend. This was in 2008 and the name of the talk was “The Business of Seeking.” I highly recommend it—another angle through which to approach things and reflect on what you’re doing. The audio is on the TAT website here, as is a related TAT Forum article here.

Steven asks, “So how does one begin the journey to inner work?”

And the Master replies, “There is one who always sees what you’re doing, so live your life based on that.”
Steven blinks and says, “And that person is you?”
The Master answers, “Also.”
Caught off guard, Steven presses, “Who else is it?”—and the Master lands the line: “It’s the elevated version of you… but it’s true. It’s you and you.”

If you’ve been circling the drain of self-inquiry for a while, you’ll recognize this style of pointing. It’s the kind that doesn’t try to sell you an answer. It just nudges you. Awkwardly. Toward a mirror you weren’t planning to look into today.

I couldn’t help but laugh and relate to Steven’s “Who else is it?”—then replay the moment a few times just to soak in his expression. It’s perfect. I’ve been there too many times. That moment where the ground seems to slip beneath you. Where something deeper gets stirred. That question may very well be the start of Steven’s inner work—the kind that begins with a quiet suspicion.

The video cuts to the next section right after the Master’s response. I kind of wish it didn’t. I wonder if something lingered—maybe a pause, a moment of silence, a quiet sense of the One who always sees—before they both slipped back into their roles and the rhythm of the interview.

I think if you’re at a point in your journey where you’re seriously turning inward, this kind of moment matters. It can be the crack that opens the door—not to answers, but to real questions. It’s when you begin looking. Really looking. And gathering the courage to follow it, even when the path is unclear. Trusting that the One who sees is still there. Has always been there.

Is, in fact, you.

Of course he does sometimes use different terminology than TAT teachers but the principles are often the same or similar.

An example I especially liked was his description of gradually doing harder things to grow which looks like a gradually increasing comfort zone in which the hard things become easier. And facing the uncertainty of doing hard things means stepping outside one’s comfort zone. At first I could not reconcile this with Art’s point that such a path of increasing certainty (of intuition] could be problematic in a path of increasing uncertainty which as I understand it is a subtractive path, retreating from untruth, or becoming what I am not by questioning my beliefs. But an increasing uncertainty seems to contradict his description of a comfort zone of increasing certainty. That was until I realized that increasing the comfort zone simultaneously expands the perimeter where one encounters those increasing uncertainties. But yes, analogies do have their limits.

There were two questions I have, however, about his teaching. First It seems to be a numbers game for him that may be geared toward reaching millions of people. I guess I’ll never understand what his goal is in spreading himself so thin. What’s the point? And a related question concerns what seems to be his focus of mainly helping others to become better ‘doers’ and living with a sense of purpose and integrity in their lives. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that, but judging by this video interview alone, there is an imbalance and a lack of focus upon going farther to become the Absolute Truth, God, or whatever you wish to call it.

Maybe I simply missed it in this 2 hour 25 minute video or that’s part of his teaching reserved for more serious people who contact him. He could be worth another look for me.

My openness and acuteness in listening certainly were influenced because it came through Art and Tess and hasn’t been just only suggested by the algorithm. They offer a certain type of guarantee. I probably would have listened to this cooking spaghetti and only picking up one tenth otherwise.

Shi Heng Yi offers a whole system of teaching. I wouldn’t want to pick up on the RAIN method or The 5 hindrances, as I don’t want to over-complicate the path, but I will lay out the few particular ideas that gave me something here.

The idea of purpose, which lies not so much in “doing something” but more in finding the self, aligns with my search, especially after having read Castañeda and Don Juan’s ridicule of the modern world always wanting to, and identifying with, “doing something”. The Shaolin master lays out the importance of the goal, though. Even though we chase a spiritual thing, you must know the goal and find out what acts as a hindrance.

A big misunderstanding in my spiritual life came from withdrawing from a performance and achievement oriented society into spirituality, and then thinking that spirituality doesn’t require hardcore application. I thought it was absolutely justified to relax and laugh about the efforts of the rat race. Our Shaolin master smashing bricks and explaining how it takes years of dedicated training to do so, smashed that misunderstanding too. He says Shaolin Kung Fu literally means going through a valley of pain and discovering a new relationship to it. That seems useful for awakening.

I have also found the idea of the Super Mario levels intriguing, where you have to deal with what is in the level you are currently at. Shi Heng Yi recommends to approach what is in front of you and make that a spiritual practice. “Invest all energy to unblock what is currently in the way”. His idea of becoming more sensitive to what is happening in you as a strategy feeds into that.

There are two particular ideas that resonated for days ever since I’ve heard the talk:

One is the ripples of the mind idea. He says “not to touch things”, because that causes ripples and then you create waves. That’s the way of non-reactivity. Similarly, the best way to stop a fire is to extinguish it when it breaks out. In my daily life I could relate. Countless times I may have thought, “ah, I can just quickly consume those Facebook reels” and then get back to my current mind state, but it don’t work! Once you cause ripples you must deal with them, or even with waves.

The biggest hit came from how Shi Heng Yi responded to the question of what to do with fear. I expected something like “you will have to face your fears”, or “you will have to do what you fear most”, but what he actually said was, the only way I can think of is to wake up from the dream. This answer hit a bell and every time fear comes up, I see now how it is embedded in the dream, in the personal dream of existence. The root of the fear is taken out by taking a higher viewpoint.

I found the man great in terms of his teaching but also relatable having grown up in Southern Germany, when I am from Austria and I loved how he spoke about his father and how he didn’t cry at first, that was oh-so-parallel to me losing my father and being the only one in the family to keep composure.

A challenge for him may be the big scope of the audience. In terms of ladder work, it is difficult to not overchallenge the lower rungs and not bore the upper rungs at the same time. This is the difficulty of a big show like “Diary of a CEO” for sure. Anyway, a great recommendation to all. Listen attentively. 😀

Here are a few things that stood out to me from the video:

Purpose, doing, and Source:

They spoke about purpose, relative purpose and what might be considered absolute purpose. Relative purpose was defined, in essence, as following one’s wishes, values, etc. Whereas absolute purpose would be something closer to “just be, and experience.” This was expanded later, though, to highlight that many of us are not actually able to “just be, and experience” because of a disconnect from Source and the resultant “doing” that comes from this disconnect. The “doing” being a way to nourish various identities in an attempt to fill the void left by not knowing our Source. This all rang true to me, both the non-doing truth behind the path, and the path to non-doing because those still seeking aren’t there yet.

Don’t take yourself too seriously:

There’s a quote from Rose in the Forum every month that says the same thing. “One thing you must be able to do in the midst of any experience is laugh. And experience should show you that it isn’t real, that it’s a movie. Life doesn’t take you seriously, so why should you take it seriously?” The interview discussed this ability to interact with life as though it’s a movie as well. It can all be so captivating, so full of wants, fears, ideas of right and wrong. It does feel more true, more open, closer to Source somehow, to not take things so seriously. To me that doesn’t mean abandon an earnest search if that feels true, it just means don’t be as attached to outcome, and view it all from a higher vantage point. Not all rose buds on the rose bush bloom, I’ve heard Bob Cergol say.

From dust to dust, 100 years then nothing:

The above point struck me as all the more so true when it comes to anything relative in life, as opposed to some absolute aim. In the interview they spoke about how the highest achievements, wealth, and grandest experiences would exist at most for about 100 years. Then they’re gone forever. So why do I spend time worrying about them, trying to hold them together, building this sand castle higher before the tide comes in? It was a reminder for how insane this is while also provoking the feeling of longing for something more, something Eternal. It’s good, though poignant, to step back and remember life’s transience.

Stay connected to and through Source:

They also spoke about staying connected, and how this is different than simply being surrounded by others. Connection was defined as connecting through Source, the Source in me connecting to the Source in thee, which doesn’t seem possible if I’m not connected to Source myself. This reminded me of a topic of inquiry I explored for a long time myself, one that I may write more about one day. In short, it was the question “what is connection?” that took me down a rabbit hole. Things that I found can make me feel connected included: affirmation from others whose affirmation I value, shared values and value systems (another form of affirmation), a perceived sharing of emotional states in a moment, vulnerability and feeling like a deep part of me is “seen”, etc. All of these things are related to my ego-identity, though, which is transient and not felt as most deeply “me.” How this has played out in my life is that the feeling of connection I’m looking for is never sufficient, never deep enough, lasting enough, etc. The separation is never healed. To know one’s Source, however, and to know this as the same Source in Everything, I imagine that would be the Connection I long for and reminds me of the well known line by Rumi – “When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.”

Two forces, boundaries and Freedom:

I’ve had this idea for some time now, that as individuals and cultures we swing like a pendulum. On one end of the pendulum is definition, and by extension, relative meaning. On the other end of the pendulum is Freedom. One of the tensions I feel myself and see in society is the tension between these two poles. I want to be free, unbound, and infinite, while also wanting meaning and definition. There’s a title of a book on my bookshelf that I’ve yet to read and probably should, but the title itself sums this up well – Fear of Freedom. True Freedom, to my relative, defined, self, with all its values and stories of meaning, feels like a free fall, it feels like nonexistence. Maybe Freedom is the hound of heaven I run from. The interview talked about similar points, two poles of experience, a pole that restricts and places boundaries, and a pole of freedom. This topic on the whole reminded me of this tension and how I’ve seen it play out in myself, in others, and in swings of culture/society over the years. The pendulum swings left towards freedom, but at some point this feels devoid of order and meaning, it then swings right towards definition and the meaning that comes from it, until that pole feels too restricting and false, and back again towards freedom. Another Rose quote comes to mind here – “Nothing is judged, nothing is known, nothing is meaningful, everything is Perfect.”

Don’t push, don’t pull:

They spoke about “just being” in a space that doesn’t push or pull (resist or cling). To me this relates back to the points about doing, and the koan of Wu Wei, or action-less action. This also rings true to me, though it took my intellect some time to catch up. As I understand it and experience this space, it’s not about no action, that’s impossible, it’s about there being no “second dart” as Buddhism sometimes refers to the first dart of pain and the second dart of suffering. It’s natural and non-doing to respond to what arises in a moment, it’s “doing” (perhaps) for action to occur as a result of striving for something more than the moment. It’s hard to put into words. I don’t think Wu Wei is something you can practice, I think it’s the outcome of insight, and just like the points noted earlier, the practice is closer to recognizing Wu Wei and recognizing what (seemingly, at least) gets in its way. Why is it that I can’t “just be?”

It’s a nearly 2.5-hour interview with many interesting topics. First one I listened to was “How do we find our purpose?”

Venerable Shi Ming Yi (“monk of firm determination”; birth name Shangi according to a YouTube video) was born in Germany to parents who were Vietnamese refugees who had lived in a refugee camp in Laos, per Google AI Overview. I’ll refer to him as Shangi. The closest I came to what I think he means by purpose was determining how we want to write our unfolding life story.

He also mentioned two overall fields—consciousness and science, and the current question of which is primary—consciousness or matter, but didn’t state his opinion on that.

The second topic I checked was “What’s your mission?” His bottom line seems to be to find answers inside yourself (perfect in my opinion :-).

Next was “What is self-mastery?” Become your own master (in determining how to run your own life). Again perfect in my opinion although aimed at too low of a purpose.

I also recall a conversation (but don’t remember in what part of the video) where Shangi said that each of us comes from a common source. The interviewer, Steven Bartlett, asked what is that source? Shangi’s reply was that we must find out for oneself. That could be an avoidance of admitting he doesn’t know, but it’s also an accurate statement in my opinion.

BTW, Google’s AI Overview also said: “Master Shi Heng Yi learned Shaolin Kung Fu at the Shaolin Temple. He began practicing martial arts there since the age of four. Later, he focused on the Shaolin Temple’s training for self-exploration, self-discovery, and monastic practices. In 2004, he became the first non-Chinese novice disciple at the Shaolin Temple, spending three years as a monk.” It must have some contradictory information in its database.

All in all, it might be a helpful video for “self-improvement” if that’s your goal. I’m looking forward to seeing other people’s impressions.

a) Abiding and non-abiding awakening (i.e., knowledge of the Self/Truth vs. abiding as the Self/Truth)

The Self—what we are at the core of our being—knows itself. The little-s self’s awakening is the conscious seeing and recognition of it’s Real, True state of being. Consciousness was not animating (projecting?) the body when that occurred for me/Art. When consciousness returned to (resumed producing?) the body, it had access to its memory of Self-Realization and a felt connection to it.

b) Are “Who (or what are you), whence (where did you come from), and whither (where are you going)?” fundamental questions for a seeker?

A complete recognition of our identity includes all three aspects.

c) Bliss

I think of bliss as a perfect emotional state of happiness or joy, which is an oxymoron. The closest I may have experienced to bliss was a euphoric experience of “walking on air” after meeting Richard Rose.

d) Doing vs. not doing

When we’re experiencing activity in body or mind, our interpretation of agency—if we’re doing it or not doing it—depends on the paradigm, or set of hypotheses, the interpretation is based on.

e) Enlightenment (Buddhahood, Christ-consciousness)

I assume those terms all point at Self-Realization—recognizing our Real identity, becoming the Truth.

f) Hypnosis (influencing another person mind-to-mind)

I’ve witnessed it being done intentionally and assume that we often operate under hypnotic influence. One memorable demonstration showed a stage hypnotist waking an apparently hypnotized subject except for one of his arms, which was raised above his head. When the hypnotist carried on a conversation with the almost-awakened subject, the subject made no mention of his raised arm. When the hypnotist then awakened him fully, the arm went down, and the hypnotist asked if he’d been aware of his arm in the air. The subject said yes, and he’d felt he could have lowered it if he had wanted to. That conviction-state may be a common symptom of hypnosis. The master hypnotist Santanelli, “the most talked about man of the day” per a Nov. 1895 Ann Arbor, MI, newspaper article, referred to hypnosis as the law of suggestion.

g) Identity

We are generally identified with/as what we’re experiencing, what we love, what’s important to our believed-in sense of self.

h) Individual consciousness of awareness

By the time we’re 4 or 5, we start to experience “self-consciousness”—becoming conscious of “being here” at seemingly random times. Consciousness arises from something that doesn’t come and go but that we may not have experienced. Richard Rose used the term “awareness” for it, and he labeled individual consciousness of awareness as the final jumping-off point to Absolute Awareness on his Jacob’s Ladder diagram.

i) Meditation

My meditation practice during a quarter-century of seeking was an hour-long period first thing in the morning starting with a reminder that my objective was to become the Truth, that I would watch the mind, preferring no thoughts to irrelevant thoughts, and turn my inner head away from thoughts that seemed irrelevant, watching for the next thought-stream to occur. As I sat down to meditate, I would often remember to feel the longing that was pulling me Home.

j) No-self

The basic data that the mind-machinery has to work with is the sense of self, of being here. Along with that are the fears and desires that we’re born with or that develop, and convictions resulting from accumulated experience. When we look to find that self, we can look back toward where we were just looking out from, but we don’t see or hear or otherwise sense with our mental senses anything there … and instantly that phantom self has jumped behind us again. No direct evidence to support our conviction of being a separate something does not prove anything, though.

This convincingly separate body-mind exists (“existence” comes from Latin ‘ex-’ and ‘sistere’, to stand outside of), but it’s not our real identity. If/when we eventually see something that breaks our identification with the body-mind, that may be the opening for finding/becoming what we truly are.

k) No-thought

I used to think that meant no mind-movement, consciousness without an object … maybe like all the senses being inactive: seeing nothing, hearing nothing, etc. It’s not something I ever experienced. Until I found myself Home, where consciousness was still functioning but was being informed by its source, an absolute state of Is-ness and Self-Awareness.

l) Rapport (contacting another person mind-to-mind)

In deep rapport with another person, it’s as if two minds become one—an infinite regression of facing mirrors. An amazing example where I think we you can see it at work is when the autistic savant Leslie Lemke mirrored a professional pianist playing something, which Leslie had never heard before, by playing along with the pianist on a separate piano. Extraordinary Variations of the Human Mind: Darold Treffert: The Incredible Savant Syndrome (minute 8:00)

m) Reality

What’s Real is our true identity—unchanging, absolute awareness, which projects spacetime and the cosmos of things.

n) Self-Realization (peeling away fabricated layers of one’s own personality to understand the true self and hence the true nature of reality)

I can’t prove it, but my life-experience leads me to conclude that our faulty self-beliefs, which come about from experience, have to be loosened by experience in order for conscious-us to discover/become our true identity.

o) Silence

I don’t really know what condition people are talking about with silence related to meditation. I don’t think that sound was ever a problem. Similarly, if they’re referring to thought, I look at thought as experience that could be relevant or irrelevant to whatever we’re looking for at any time. Perhaps they’re referring to troubling, repetitive thoughts that they don’t feel they can control. I think the solution to that is learning to turn our inner head away from thoughts we feel aren’t relevant to what we’re looking for, which is just a procrastination technique and may be the only control we have over thoughts.

p) Tension

It makes sense to me that tension and learning have some connection. Learning could be defined as absorbing new experience so that it improves our conclusions and convictions. Productive tension may facilitate the procrastination of distractions and entertainments.

q) Transmission

I feel if conditions are right, I could help someone in the loosening of the keystone in their arch of faulty self-beliefs.

r) Truth

Truth, relatively speaking, is about something. Capital-t Truth is about what we are, about what is real, which is not a thing.

s) What can we know for sure: What we are? What we aren’t? Other?

Beliefs about what we are or what we’re not or other stuff depend on hypotheses, on uncertainty. The only certainty is what knows itself absolutely.

t) What is your certainty based on?

A type of knowing that I’d never experienced. Knowing identity by being—consciously becoming—the self-knowing is-ness.

u) What prevents a seeker from knowing the truth?

I suspect it’s having self-beliefs that allow the consciousness to stay hypnotized by spacetime.

v) “You are aware prior to birth and aware after you die, so you begin with awareness, but you are not conscious of awareness.” ~ Richard Rose, The Direct-Mind Experience

I think it’s one of the all-time brilliant and confrontational statements for seekers that Rose put together.

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