Good morning, good evening, good afternoon to everyone. May these sharings bring benefit to all beings today and of all times.

Some of us are still lucky, having parents, a teacher or a mentor that are sharing with us their knowledge and experience and give us guidance. But there will be the moment when the only person left to rely on is yourself. 
It is therefore my first suggestion to question and ask yourself, "How can I learn to properly navigate without guidance? In the previous talk my aim was to encourage people to spend some time investigating the different mental states that your mind can find itself in. With the proper methods and a dedicated amount of practice, you will be able to give a lot and cultivate yourself in such a way that your mind regains the ability to discover and realize things that you haven't been able to see before.
Now just take a moment to imagine; you are a captain on a ship, located on the vast ocean. What you are facing is stormy weather, dark and heavy clouds, and the ship is carried on the ups and downs of the waves. In such a situation I strongly trust that it is not enough to purely rely your actions on intellectual knowledge. It is a great asset if you are able to learn and read the signs of the ocean and be able to see the chances that are beyond any learned knowledge, to sharpen the senses and be able to see possibilities beyond what the eyes are able to see, this truly is a sign of right knowledge. 

Now not everyone wants to become a sailor and not everyone is facing the same circumstances and the same situations but there are methods and there are insights that can make it possible and easy for us to safely find our way. In order to shed light to the world, indeed there is a saying, "There is one earth that we are living on but billions of different worlds existing on it." Before we continue to go deeper into possibilities let me introduce to the world that I am coming from.
When is the time that I can influence my life? When is the time that I can direct my life? It is exactly now. The greatest challenge but also the most difficult one that will bring the most outstanding discoveries is to cultivate and master yourself. To regain control you must train the mind to be more present, to live in the here and now and find to the answer within ourself. To perceive every moment as they are and to feel the most subtle changes  within, to continue work on it, that is the essential practice. What does my body, what do my feelings want to tell me right now? The martial art is an instrument. An instrument able to teach us many things about ourself and about the way of life. All practices have one similar goal to regain balance, starting step by step with the small things in life and to implement these principles with the proper bringing out of the best of ourself. The master guides the way but the student walks it.

There are many ways for the expression of the Shaolin way of life. It can be calligraphy, it can be the Buddhist practices but the most well-known expression today is the martial arts. Regardless of their appearance, the ultimate goal remains the same. It is to explore and discover the potential that lies within the human body and especially mind. Our body is regarded as the vehicle that transports us from place to place. Therefore a great amount of time is dedicated to the practice and exploration of ourselves.

When you are starting your first steps in the Shaolin Kung Fu it is often also known as 'walking through the valley of pain', because at some extent and at some point dependent on your level of practice it is impossible to ignore all the different layers of perception that your body and mind is going through. We think we know our body but to be perfectly honest, we don't.

There is so much more to learn, so much more to know. Ever since we've are looking for answers, now please apologize if you are misunderstanding what I am about to say but despite the common opinion that the Shaolin teachings are derived from a religious background, they are not. Let's assume you are asking me how is the weather today. I could answer, "The forecast said it is raining." The newspaper said, "It is cloudy". My mother told me, "It is stormy." If I rely on the forecast, I am wrong. If I rely on the newspaper, I am wrong. There can only be one real answer which is not based upon belief or any conceptualized idea. It is by watching the sky, answering. So, therefore, the next suggestion I would like you to consider

is; derive answers from action and experience and don't rely them on intellectual knowledge and conceptualized ideas. Now talking about conceptualized ideas I would like to share with you a final story.

Who would have guessed its another mountain? In ancient times it has been a great honor, being able to walk along a master's side with the only obligation, to not talk. So the story goes that master Laozu took one of his disciples on a walk to take a glimpse at the early morning sunrise. When they arrive just on time, when the first sun rays meet their eyes, the student is filled with such joy that he speaks out, "This is so beautiful!". When they return back, Maste Laozi never took the student for a walk again because no matter many words you speak, no matter how many words you write down, experience can not be replaced by words. Words are limited, sentences are limited, books and stories are limited. Their only purpose is to guide and confirm your findings. But these findings must come by your personal experiences. Now as a result of such teachings and cultural stories the amount of words used in the Shaolin temple is very little because ultimately it is your actions, it is your behavior it is the small and subtle movements that serve as the ultimate expression of your understanding.

Summary: To summarise this talk and as a guideline for yourself to keep it in mind. These are the three points to be remembered.
 

Take full responsibility in your hands and learn

how to properly navigate.

Observe more, free from judgment, free from discriminating, lessen the ignorance and try to create immersive moments.

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Practice to see and also hear beyond the obvious things. 

This world is not going to remember you by your personal achievements, it is going to remember you by the contribution that you have given to this world.

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May all of us be blessed by the greatness of life.