The Art Of Self Mastery - Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi - #945

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Where did the moustache go? You grew a moustache for a while, and it's been banished.

**Shi Heng Yi** (0:06)
It is true, I rarely had a moustache. It's just that time when I appeared somewhere, still having quite something on there, I just felt like, okay, let nature do its course and see how it feels.

**Chris Williamson** (0:23)
Okay.

**Shi Heng Yi** (0:24)
But I do feel like, like this is maybe at the moment is more proper.

**Chris Williamson** (0:30)
Okay, okay. What do you mean when you talk about self mastery? What are you referring to?

**Shi Heng Yi** (0:41)
Literally, let's talk about a little bit in the modern language, maybe. We are getting into some type of position, and then we are supposed to manage people. But I do think in order to manage people, it makes sense to actually know how to manage yourself in the first place. And this idea of we talk about mastering kung fu, mastering any type of art, mastering any type of sport even. But prior to that, I do think you carry yourself along throughout this lifetime since the beginning. And there are so many areas about ourself, let's say, body related or also mentally or emotionally related, that I just feel like many people haven't gotten to the point yet to really understand that just like we train our muscles and go to the gym to achieve something, there are also areas about us human beings, let's say, that also need to be trained. And all of this taken together, I refer to as self mastery, because no matter, you might change your job one day, you might change the location where you are living, the surrounding is going to change, the people that you are dealing with is going to change, but there's always one thing that always remains the same, which is you always carry yourself along the way.
So, you can't escape yourself, you can't escape your dark sides, you can't escape your pain and your suffering, and everything that in a way is triggering you also. And this is where I feel like to have this, let's say concept at the moment, to really invest time in bringing out, understanding yourself better and then build yourself up in all layers that nowadays we can dive into.

**Chris Williamson** (3:01)
What are the areas that you think people are neglecting the most when it comes to their self-mastery?

**Shi Heng Yi** (3:10)
Let's start simple off.
I think everybody knows the story of Frankenstein, yes? So, meaning you literally put together everything that is physical, everything that is biological, you glue it all together, but that body still doesn't come alive. So, I think in the story of the Frankenstein, there is still one missing element, which sometimes you could refer to as electricity, or the spark, or the fire. And this in the ancient traditions, if I read them and in my interpretation, for the sake of understanding, I would say it is the mind. This is why in ancient traditions, you oftentimes have body and mind. So, already by just looking at ancient traditions, what are they observing? What are we made out of? Body and mind. And so, I think about myself, okay, good. We do know nowadays all the possibilities of training the body. But what is it actually how to train the mind? And how can you understand? What do you mean by training the mind? And therefore, it's like, really, simply speaking, you know, we have arrived at the point in our society, people have become aware that your diet does have an effect on your overall well-being. So, you buy the most biological food, you invest a lot of time maybe only buying the best quality vegetables. Some people decide they only go vegan. So, your diet matters. What you give your body to eat matters. And I do think in the same way, are you also paying so much attention and emphasis in actually paying attention, what is it that we are on a daily basis giving our mind to eat? So what type of thoughts are you aware of that, let's say, pop up right away when you wake up in the morning? What is it you are nourishing? Are you nourishing right from the beginning competitive thoughts? Are you nourishing right from the beginning of waking up, like you need to do, there's always something to do? So, and these things, I do believe they matter, because they also play into ultimately what is it that you are carrying along this world and in your daily life. You carry the quality of the body and you carry the quality of your mind, and both of them taken together is what makes you literally you, in this earth at least.