Martial Arts people are some of the most generous people I know. That is why I am doing this blog post. Please read this article below and follow the links provided. It is your chance to make a difference.

Hello Everyone,

If you look to the right of this article you will find a donation button to help a good friend of mine in Romania with medical expenses. I met this lady about 6 months ago and she helped me to travel to her country to introduce the art of Kyusho Jitsu to martial artists there.

Approximately one week ago from the date of this article she took ill with a serious liver condition. Her life is currently in danger, however the situation is improving. I arranged on Wednesday of this week for a helicopter airlift to Bucharest to save her life. Without this she had no chance for survival. However the problems still exist. The medical system in Romania is very poor and very expense. The economy in the country is in ruins.

Currently I am fund raising and taking donation to help the family with these expenses. Any and all donations are welcome and ALL the money is sent directly to the family. If you would like to help please use the donation button to the right of this article. All donors will have their name added to a card for Miky which Master Art will personally deliver to her when he returns by request of her family as soon as she regains consciousness.

Thank you for your generosity in this matter! Please see UPDATES below.

Sunday July 18th 2010 As of this writing Miky is in stable, but serious condition in Bucharest. She is currently on a machine which is cleaning her blood since her liver is all but shut down. This is LIVER DIALYSIS which will help to regenerate the liver. The cost of this procedure is 3500 euro which is NOT covered by insurances. Please follow the link provided for more information.

To donate to this cause please follow this LINK.

Also note 100% of all Kyusho DVD and eBook sales will go to this cause.

Master Art Mason

As many of you are well aware I am a martial arts school owner and teacher by profession. But that is not what I am here to talk about today. I want to bring up the connection between the martial arts, zen and self discovery.

The path of the martial artist is one of self discovery. It is a development of the connection between the mind and the body. As we go though life we are aware of our minds, but we forget about our bodies unless something goes wrong.  As you are reading this are you aware of your blood flow?

To be successful as a martial artist you must begin to reflect within. Some will only do this during training, however as the martial artist develops they begin to think of the arts all the time. As mastery approaches the connection of body, mind and spirit begins to reveal itself. When combined with meditation the combination is unbeatable!

Zen is a living truth in the martial arts. I will refer you to this article for more information on this aspect.  As you are searching on your path for truth consider the martial arts as a vehicle. It is an excellent vehicle also! Martial Arts was brought to China by a Zen Master Bodhidharma, so the connection is deep.

Discover the Peace of Mind available in martial arts training.

Awareness, awakening or whatever term you wish to use is what enlightenment is about. Buddha was asked if he was a god or a prophet, he said ‘no, I am awake.’  Coming to this, our natural state is not a easy task, however it is not difficult either. But you must put in your practice time.

The practice I am referring to is mediation. Meditation which is now a phenomenon in the west has been practiced in the east for thousands of years. It is however very misunderstood here. The only purpose of meditation is to quiet the mind. As the mind becomes quiet we discover our true selves within.  How does mediation accomplish this? Actually with great ease.

The greatest barrier to self discover is your ego.  You ego has an opinion on everything! Some people will read things like this blog and it will cause them to become upset. They disagree with my statement. This is pure ego. What is need is to simply observe things. Observe with no comment, or opinion. This is accomplished through mediation.

While sitting comfortably in mediation simply let go. Your mind will bring up random thoughts and images. Pay no attention to them. Simply observe the thoughts. Do not try to stop them, just watch as they come and go. Be aware of them.  When the mind and ego do not get the attention they are looking for they become quiet. At first this is challenging, but it gets easier each and every time you practice.  Have you ever been awake at night worrying about something? Imagine being able to turn that off. Mediation will provide this.

As you become more and more aware, the mind becomes quieter and quieter. You see the futility of focus on the past, and worry of future. In awareness you live only in the moment. You discover wisdom within yourself you did not know was there.  As you progress in mediation your healthy and vitality will grow. It can be like becoming younger. The reason is that stress will leave the body and it will go back into balance again. Health is restored.

What is the difference between prayer in the west and mediation of the east. Prayer is asking, meditation is giving.  These work best hand in hand. For all my Christian friends “God helps those who help themselves.” Mediation is a giving (helping) yourself the life you intended to have.

Mind exists only in the past. We can also call this mind our ‘ego.‘ This is the place where our false self image is created. We search the past and find who we are. This definition is not a positive, empowering definition either. It is negative and self destructive.

We allow the mind to control our lives by it’s living in the past. Even as we dream of the future this is done with references to the failures of our past.  We wonder why the Law of Attraction disappoints us, let our references and points of attraction are all wrong.

The Only Moment that Matters is this one, right here and now.

Some will say this is an unrealistic view of life. I say the opposite. Looking at the past is unrealistic, it is gone and will not return. If you bury the past, and a great part of the ego with it, you will have a wonderful future.  Mind can only exist in the past. It shuffles though thousands of memories, most of which are inaccurate and distorted.  Even pleasant memories will cause pain and suffering because we want those times to return. All the while life is passing in front of our eyes, but we have a do not disturb sign on our doors.

All the suffering that is being experienced on our planet is the result of poor thinking.  This groups hates that group because you hurt us 500 years ago. Get over it! Wars are created with type of political controlling thinking.  What is the solution? People need to focus on the present.

You cannot be angry in the present. To be angry you must reference a past event. You cannot be depressed in the present either. The only emotion that can be found in the present is joy.  Joy, happiness and contentment need no past references.  So if you empty the mind and let go of the past and therefore the ego who are you? You are awake! You are the same person as always, you are also no one.  What is the most important thing? That you are the CEO of XYZ company, with a million dollar house and a Ferrari? Or that you are happy? Experience will show that EGO Centered People are not happy. But there is great news in this also. You can be CEO of XYZ and have all that, but still live in the present. The difference is you will love the experience!

I am not saying this is easy and does not take work. The resulting change in your life will make it worth while.  As I write this it is not something I am been studying, this is experience. It has changed my life in far less time than I ever imagined.

The yin / yang symbol causes people in the west to become confused. People will see it as two images, opposite colours flowing into each other. The fact is that it is only one image, something that is complete.

Our world is dualistic, which is to say that it is made up of opposites. We have man and woman, good and evil, up and down etc, etc. This view will lead people to great confusion and conflict in their lives and they don’t even know it! Which brings me to all things being relative.

Every experience you have is judge by other experiences. There is not absolute good or bad, only a point of view of each. Let’s say you are having a bad day. You got to work late, the boss yelled at you, you missed a deadline. You go home at night feeling sad and dejected.  You say to your spouse, “This is the worst day I can remember.”

Your next door neighbor on the same day decides to paint his house. It is a beautiful day outside so he climbs the ladder to start. Something goes wrong and he falls. Later that day in the hospital he is told his back is broken.  Who had the worse day? By your view he had a worse day than you, to him you had a great day. All experiences and things are relative.

Now something that is interesting, for the man with the back injury, a traumatic injury, after about 6-8 weeks he will begin to have good days again even though he cannot walk anymore.  All experiences are relative.

What is the point to this? We need to stop judging our life experiences and just live them. To just live your experience you must be in the moment. If not you will compare it to something in your past and dilute the experience.  Living in the moment there is no dualism.

Next time you have a bad or a good day, remember all things and experiences are relative.

It looks like a Pine Cone and is inside the brain of every person on the planet. It is call the Pineal Gland and is part of your endocrine system. However it has been ignored by doctors and our culture for thousands of years.

It is found at the center of the brain. It is a small gland about the size of a grape, with amazing power and ability. For most of the population it is close to non functioning. For a few it is in full swing.  The hierarchy of all religions are aware of it, but don’t talk about it. The medical world uses it as a reference point when scanning for tumors. But this small gland is something we all want to awaken because it will change your life.

If you want to find the gland it is located in the middle of the brain, directly behind the 3rd eye. The 3rd eye is the mystical all seeing part of the human body. It is the connection with source energy, like a transmitter / receiver to the higher self and the energy of the universe. It is the center of our 6th sense.

The pineal gland has a few functions that we are all familiar with. When we are falling asleep it kicks in and produces melatonin and serotonin, as well as a chemical called DMT (Dimethyltryptamine). This chemical is responsible for your dreams at night. Dimethyltryptamineis a strong hallucinogen and is considered to many people to be the spirit molecule. Why do I say that people over the centuries have know about this gland? Because it’s symbolism is found in all religions and governments.

The image of the shape of the Pine Cone can be seen in a giant statue at Vatican City, on the head of the enlightened Buddha, the staff the Pope carries etc, etc. A little research and you will see this symbol everywhere, along with other “sacred geometry.” It has also been seen in eastern religions by the placing of jewels on the forehead. This practice goes back to ancient Egypt.

Pine at Vatican City.

What has caused this important gland to become dormant in most of the population? Diet….the water we drink, our toothpaste and various other products. These products have cause the calcification of the gland. But this is all reversible. One of the biggest enemies of the Pineal Gland is Fluoride, which is a highly toxic chemical added to our water and toothpaste, along with other products, to strengthen our teeth. Fluoride is a deadly chemical, yet our governments will say the levels are acceptable. How can their be an acceptable level of an unacceptable substance. Fluoride has been outlawed in most of Europe for decades.

The solution is to drink distilled water, and to use toothpaste without fluoride present. There is no evidence that it helps your teeth. Aside from clogging up your pineal gland fluoride damages the lungs, digestive system and the eyes. It also causes cancer. Iodine will help eliminate fluoride from the body. Look for a good supplement or eat lots of kelp.

The pineal gland has other interesting attributes. Inside it is mostly water, which is a conductor, but it also resembles the EYE. It contains the same ‘cones’ that they seeing eye does. Interesting, isn’t it?

To the ancients the Pineal Gland is the seat of the soul. It’s reference in ancient literature goes far beyond the scope of this essay. To awaken it only requires some dietary changes and some meditation. I will go into this aspect more (meditation) later.

Follow the links in this article for more information and video.

Osho : “Beware of that. There are people who are attached to wealth and there are people who are attached to poverty. But it is the same attachment.”

The phenomenon of attachment is a very difficult concept for the western mind. In this quote above Osho discuss both wealth and poverty as being the same attachment.  What does this mean? Understanding the Law of Attraction will help. First you will always get what your predominant thoughts are. If you think about bills, money and lack this is what you will create in your world. A great example of this are sales people who produce the same amount of commission in good times and in bad times. They make the amount they believe they are worth. Thus there point of attraction and their attachment.

I once worked in a area of our city that was poverty stricken. These people, most of the were multi-generationally poor. Why? Because this is what they believe they are worth and thus what they will attract into their lives. Those who break this cycle do so by changing their belief system and thus their lives.

The same is true for the rich. You also see much multi-generational wealth. Look at the Trump family as an example. It is because they are better people that they are rich? No, they simply have a different view of life and of themselves. Law of Attraction will provide the rest. So what is attachment?

Attachment comes when the object in question, money and wealth in this example, becomes and driving force in one’s life. There are millions and millions of poor people in the world who are very unhappy, but their are some who are extremely happy. The rich people fall into the same boat, they are both unhappy (the majority) and happy.

A poor person is attached to poverty when they are obsessed or driven by their poverty but do not really ever do anything about it. They gripe and complain about having no money, all the while wasting what they have and not looking for improvement in their lives. They believe they are victims of society and have been give a bum rap. The poverty conscious will lose sleep over their money problems.

The rich are no different. They have lots of money, but are obsessed that they might lose it someday (and they will this is called death).  They worry and fret over their money and that someone is going to rip them off. They also lose sleep over their attachment. Either attachment is the same, both produce a sad life.

Now I do know one person who is very rich, not attached and very happy. But this is because he is ‘centered.’ He is a very spiritual man, a god loving and god centered man. If he were to lose his fortune he would smile and say, “time to rebuild!” He is not attached to either poverty or wealth. Thus he lives a life of joy.

Law of Attraction will say to be wealthy you must let go of your attachment to poverty (the way you think about money). When you do this your situation will change dramatically. However if you then become attached to wealth your life will still be miserable! What is the solution? Once again I am going to point you to meditation and calming the mind.

There is a madman running wild in your life. He or she is the untamed mind. Take charge and use the techniques we have discussed in the previous essays and quiet the mind. As the mind becomes calm and centered you will begin to feel joy. From joy and happiness you can create the life of your dreams.

We are truly what we think!

There is an epidemic in our world. It is not swine flu as the governments would have you believe, it is loneliness. There are so many very lonely people in our world.

Loneliness is a state of mind. If you read the book “Happiness in a Troubled World” the author Howard C Cutter asks His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he is ever lonely. The Dalai Lama is very quick to reply, “no, never.” Yet one might think that the life of an monastic would be very lonely. We feel alone because we feel disconnected from others in our world. This is an illusion and can be changed with a little effort.

The FACT is that we are not alone. For us to be alone we would have to exist in and of ourselves which is not possible. We are the effect of the union of our parents. The best of both worlds.  We are connected via energy to each person we will even contact. Just because the room is empty, does not mean we are alone.

The problem is as when we feel lonely we create a cause, the cause is the worse it gets, the effect is the worse it gets. When we are down we never look in, only out.  Some people will pray when they are down, but that is not a permanent solution. We must look within to discover how abundant we are, and that we are not now, nor will we ever be alone.

One of the greatest lies that has been told to us is that we were born alone and will die alone. You were born of your mother, not alone. Even if she pasted on during the delivery she was still there with you and part of you. When you die you return to your true self, so who is alone?

Would you like to help someone who is lonely? Show them kindness. A kind word can bring happiness for a long time and doesn’t cost anything to give. When you are being kind you are in the moment, which is why you feel so good also.

We are never alone. Being alone is an illusion and a poor choice. If I chose my behavior from moment to moment then I chose to be compassionate.

Happy Christmas – War is Over is a well know John Lennon song from the 70′s. It reflected his dream of a world of peace. Tragically Lennon died of the very violence he hoped to see end.

For the last 5000 years man and fought war after war, and the passivises have fought to prevent them. Each generation dedicates themselves to making the future of the world safer, yet we seem to be losing ground. Why is this?

“If people are happy, nobody can drag them into a war.” – Osho

Think about this for a moment. War is always motivated by repression or retaliation. Look at Bush, the USA and Iraq.  The American people were, and still are very volatile, at the time the troops took Baghdad.  War and the business of war was made easy by September 11 2001.  War is fueled by the  media and governments as they point out the differences in cultures and countries and why they must fight and kill for the good of mankind or to serve God.  The only reason it works is that the population of the earth is fast asleep.

The problem will never be solved by demonstrations, rallies of other acts. These have been going on as long as war has, and in case you didn’t notice they aren’t working. Remember Einstein’s definition of insanity? (doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result).  Man fights because he believes the lies that the politicians tell him, and he is unhappy to his very core. He is told he has nothing to lose and everything to gain. One group is told that the other hates them, when at the same time the other is saying the same thing. The people in the USSR were told that American’s hated them. American were told the same about the USSR. All lies.  American companies even make weapons for the ‘enemy.’ It is time to take the power away, it is time for a paradigm shift.

How do we make a shift. First realize that no amount of demonstrating is going to change anything. History proves this. First we must understand that man is violent by nature. We like to think otherwise, but this primitive impulse is in us all. If we can accept this then we can work to transcend it. We cannot transcend what we do not accept and acknowledge. With this knowledge we must come to understand that we are all special, divine by nature, not good or evil, but whole. Good and evil, love and hate are all part of one thing, one cannot exist without the other. This is the contrast in life and that is OK.

Real happiness in people will cause war to cease. There will be no cause for the effect of war to take place. If you are unshakably happy there is nothing a politician can say to you to change this. In my view politicians are the lowest form of life on our planet, they are not to be hated, but to be treated with compassion for their poor choices. If I truly love myself I will not hate other, I cannot hate another. I have transcended both.

As each person works on themselves to make themselves feel better hate and anger will slowly and eventually cease. If soldiers on the lines told jokes to each other it would be impossible to kill. If man worked on his own happiness and did not worry about others he would achieve it. We have been told it is always better to put the interest of others before yourself. I used to believe this garbage myself once. However this only creates resentment, deep within. Putting yourself first and being happy will allow you help others and feel good about it in the process. This is real compassion. If every personal was compassionate would there be war?

Christmas time should be a time of understanding. Down the street from me is a Muslim Temple, they had a sign on it this year that said “Islam loves Jesus.”  This is a start of a paradigm shift.  Because our thinking and beliefs are so bad, being products of years of conditioning, we only see differences and problems. Genetically speaking (DNA) we are 99.9% the same. Since there is no difference that is real on the outside we all need to look on the inside and discover who and what we are.

Before the New Year comes spend some time looking inward. Calm the mind and find the bliss that is life. Let’s all make 2010 the start of a new way of thinking.

Imagine the return of a Christ, a Buddha, a Krishna or a Muhammad. What would the world view be? How much would things change in our society.  It would be the very same as it was then, there would be fear, doubt, aggression and possible crucifixion.

Truth is an interesting subject. No matter what kind of truth it is. When truth was found by great men and women in the past they were laughed at. When Galileo Galilei made his claims that the sun did not revolve around the earth he was at first laughed at, then he was forced by the Pope to retract his statements. Why? Because their authority was absolute, even though it was wrong.  Truth is first laughed at, then it is strongly apposed.

Many people who have spoken the truth have been put to death for these truths. Jesus was a example of this as was Socrates.  This continues today despite the fact that we think we are ‘evolved‘. In today’s world anyone who goes against the grain of society is still an outcast, even if we allow them to continue their speaking. Anyone in the ‘limelight’ is subject to much public scrutiny and ridicule for any actions or stands they take. We are not looking for good, we are looking for scandal. Why is this? We judge anything we don’t understand or feel threatened by. This must stop.

“Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself” is a mantra of the various Christian churches,  who spend their time in judgment of others. Why do so many people not follow these words? Because they believe that their good actions can help them avoid judgment. They believe they are not responsible or accountable. What people don’t understand about these ‘words’ is that the ultimate judge is YOU. When you judge someone else, it is done by making judgment against yourself FIRST. Thus the reasons for your unhappiness and discontent.

This essay is being published on December 24th 2009, Christmas Eve. Let’s all decide, regardless of religious denomination to stop the self judging and start to accept the world as it is. Only when we stop our condemnation, develop our inner peace, can we make our world a better place. Only after this can we accept things, and begin to make changes. This day is a great place to start. We can all abandon the dogma that was created by politicians or the various religions and begin to understand what the great teachings are really about.

It is time to end our sleep and become awakened.

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