Self Integration

This month I would like to continue the idea from my previous blog, but from a different perspective – that of self integration.

Let's face it - we do not always feel like coming to training. Especially in winter when it's cold and all we want is to wrap ourselves in a blanket with a cup of hot tea or coffee and relax. But it is important for me to say to those who are still undecided that it is worth the effort, big time, because beyond all the obvious things practice benefits us (and I wrote of that in my previous blog), there is one important factor I did not mention, which influences our lives a great deal and we should know about - developing our true nature.

"Inner strength" training (that which teaches us to use our inner strength - to develop the mind, mental energy and not only muscle and body-based) allow us to uncover and discover our true nature. Thus, it allows us to believe in ourselves and develop in us the ability to love ourselves despite the funny conditions and opinions of society. It can be difficult to go "up the stream" and sometimes not worth it, but the Tao teaches us that those who do not believe in themselves, it would be difficult for others to believe in them. It teaches that self-image becomes fate (freely rephrased): He who goes the way of Tao - virtue will greet him ... And he who sticks to the bad - it will happily open its door to him.

The enlightened person, constructed by tireless training, is like a sprouting seed which begins at this point to eat the fruit inside the shell. This is an internal process in which energy is saved in what populates it. The energy, earned through inner training, allows the formation of deep internal processes and thoughts. As long as the seed does not depend on an external environment, it is able to show much independence. On the surface everything seems very quiet but beneath the surface the person develops, grows, changes and concepts are shifting and forming.

In this way we can build ourselves as powerful characters, with a sense of authority on the one hand and sensitivity on the other. Such a character knows itself and knows the light of its own truth, which has been gained by considerable effort. Whether we are poor or rich, the enlightened is truly an emperor, because he broke the chains of conventions that limited him. Not because he was struggling with something but because he found the strength to hold his own, take responsibility for who he really is and live his truth while contributing to the society in which he lives.

A depth training is one in which you investigate yourself through it. It is where you can experience and know something new about your inner self. Through it we can feel confident and strong enough to love ourselves in full recognition and acceptance of our limits and weaknesses. When we strengthen ourselves enough to operate without being restricted by other opinions, but also without rejecting or ignoring them, when we can get better and still respect the others' needs - then we are truly free.

This "halo", which may develop by long training, allows freedom in action on the one hand, and responsibility, consideration, toward people on the other. Its' charisma, that acquirable magnetism, may remove those who wish for it from the "traditional prison" of "common belief" and thus make the people who are not enslaved to their fate the creators of their own fate. And if that is not worth the effort then what is?