The Resilient Mind - Stuck on Repeat? How to Break Your Patterns & Reclaim Your Power - Shaolin Master

Episode Date: May 30, 2025

Master Shi Heng Yi, Headmaster of Shaolin Temple Europe and author of Shaolin Spirit, shares ancient Shaolin wisdom for finding clarity, purpose, and peace in today’s chaotic world. Through powerful stories and insights, he reveals how true strength comes not just from breaking bricks—but from breaking the emotional patterns that keep us stuck. Take action and strengthen your mind with The Resilient Mind Journal. Get your free digital copy today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/Download_JournalThis episode is brought to in partnership with Diary of A CEO. Subscribe to Steven Bartlett for more inspiring videos: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheDiaryOfACEO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Resilient Mind podcast. In this episode, you will be listening to How to Break Your Patterns and Reclaim Your Power with Master Shurheng-E. Get access to the Resilient Mind Journal by clicking the link in the show notes. Enjoy. I do think that in this world, there have always been different streams, different forces. One of them leading to the betterment of humanity,

one of them leading to the destruction of humanity. And I do think that there are types of wisdom and knowledge existing out there that very easily without any additional help for anything else can be very useful for the people nowadays. You don't need to go anywhere. The only thing you need to do is take a moment, contemplate about yourself, go into yourself, and find the answers there, and then decide for yourself which part and what type of contribution

would you like to give to the world that you're living in. I ultimately think this is what I'm doing. This world is filled with so much choice, meanwhile, that it's difficult in a way to take a decision, which direction will go, what is right to do, what is not right to do. But ultimately, it's only yourself who knows the answer. which means it comes to the essential point, learn more about yourself. This is where it starts.

Because if you have the wrong perspective of who you are, what you are, everything else in this lifetime, you base your decisions on, it's just not going to be placed in the right direction. I usually do not very much rely on what the people tell me, what they think, what problem they have. It's just that I look and I can see already what I think you need. And foremost, one of these, and it's very simple.

Non-religious, nothing about believing. It simply is the fact you don't use your body as it is intended to be. Very simple. Yeah? You sit, many people, sit too much during the day. the body is not active at all. A lot of work, a lot of energy investment is done with the mind. Less energy investment is done really with the body.

And that simply means, for me, I can see there's a disbalance. Whoever created us, he did not create us to sit with our butt on one place and do thinking work the whole time. I do think a part of why we have been created. is to get out on the field and just do something out there. And what is the cost of not utilizing our body in the way that it was meant to be utilized? Unbalanced energies that can translate into anxiety, that can translate into dissatisfaction, that can translate into continuously searching and never being satisfied.

and the most common thing, not realizing how precious the moments are that you have. And instead of replacing them with illusions and dreams and assumptions, which are just not real, meaning everybody is not even Buddhist, it's not Shaolin, it is common understanding. We don't know if we wake up tomorrow. It is like this, yeah, but our plans go, we have five years plans, 10 years plans, we have short-term, mid-term plans, yeah, the truth is, we don't know if we wake up tomorrow. So, of course, I don't want to make it like sound negative, so just live in the present moment without planning.

This is not what I'm saying. But this is the challenge nowadays. How do you balance out vision? vision with reality. Real. The only thing real right now is this. That's real for us. I can feel it. You can hear it. You can sense it. This is real.

So absolutely there is the field of becoming conscious. Consciousness is a big field. Then we have science. This is another very, very big field. So some say, okay, is it that consciousness creates matter or is it the other way around? Which one is the fundamental basis? What is the basis of our interaction? So the truth is the fact right now is, regardless of science, no science, how our evolution developed, right now we are here.

Your body, my body, we are here. This is what we're having right now at the same time in the way of how this lifestyle at the moment is we won't have more than 50 more years to go in that body. So very simple. Without believing, without any religious aspect, once again, the truth is the lifetime of what you carry right now and what I carry right now, it's limited.

And now just imagine you would be, let's say, the director of your own movie. Jump out of the body and watch yourself right now. You are sitting like with Shihenghi, we sit on the same table. And you are writing your story. How do you want to write the story? You want to afterwards, after this podcast, you want to like feel uncomfortable, feel unsafe, feel unloved, feel like being just uncoft.

feel like being just unsatisfied with the whole life, cry or anything like this, or how do you imagine what is a really nice way of living for you the next 50 years? So, and based on that, purpose can be different. You say, I do like the travel. I do like to invest this lifetime in this body, to have the feeling at least that I can contribute something to all the fellow brothers and sisters that are around there. It makes me like, I wake up, I like to do it, it gives me purpose. So it is something very, very personal. Which also means that in a way speaking in these terms right now, I do not believe that every human

being has the same purpose when it comes to this type of purpose. But now there's another type of purpose, which is more or less personally for me, why do I think that in the first place we have been put with all these possibilities? And positively said, I do think it is a blessing being able to just experience. It's a blessing that we have been granted the possibility of simply experiencing what this existence is capable of creating, including everything, including the joy, including the happiness, including the tears,

including the heartbreaks, all of this. Without the separation, whether you prefer one, area or not. The one, sometimes the one goes with the other. But the purpose in a way is just be and experience. The only thing that happens and which is a big part nowadays is if you take your current existence too serious. if you completely base your identity, your being

on what you think you are. But like I said, it's just a picture right now, yes? But just sometimes make it very simple. Jump out of yourself and be the director. Be the director of this avatar. And then it just opens another perspective. because in that moment, you just realize it's like a movie. Not everything is always positive,

but in the moment where there are times of struggle still, not being caught inside your own creation, identity, illusion of the self, different expressions for that. It's a very helpful way of thinking. Let's put it like this. So this is literally also one point that you just mentioned is that it isn't there more. That has always been a part that followed me along the way.

Especially now in the last three, four years after social media, the algorithm of social media really started also pushing us quite out there. More requests were coming. of doing workshops, of doing podcasts, of teaching here, of teaching there, of making television show, of participating in movies. And of course, all together with this, doors start to open, different things start to come in.

But at some point, I just couldn't believe that this is supposed to be the purpose. because it all still had to do like had to do with doing the constant doing yeah and there I felt in my life now looking at this this couldn't be it so I looked for alternatives always and always again especially feeling that along the way of what you would say achieving something being recognized at something yeah but there's another side that goes hand in hand with it that the public doesn't see. There were times I could simply be surrounded with like thousands, thousands of people, but still feel lonely.

It's not what you're surrounded with. It's with what you are connected. And there I felt like there is always, again, this type of force. What is it that drives you on? going outwards, going outwards, going outwards, you lose yourself. But this self is the only thing that can give you connection in this life. So when I went to elementary school and also during my school time, I actually, for example, joined Christian lesson, yeah.

So by my parents, I grew up with Buddhist tradition, let's say. From the martial art training, I also got introduced into so-called Zen Buddhism. Because my father always told me, look, son, we are here in a foreign country, you're a foreigner. It's always better to have friends than to have enemies. That's why I made always friends with everyone. Meaning I had a lot of Russian friends, I had a lot of Arabic friends, I had a lot of Turkish friends, multicultural. also meaning at some point I also got like introduced into Islam. Bottom line is taking all of this knowledge from the past into my mind,

no matter from which angle I'm watching right now, I do believe that we all have a source. There is a source. So whether you call that source is a source, is the universe. Whether you call the source, it is the God. Whether this source is the infinite energy, I don't know. There are so many different expressions to it.

But when I look at all these teachings, all are always pointing at one and the same thing. Let's just take the expression of yin and yang, yes, the symbol everybody knows in the world. And there is that nice saying, Yin and Yang have a mother. The mother sometimes simply being illustrated as one circle. So yin and yang is the expression from duality, polarity, existence of number two.

Where do the two come from? They must come from one. So simple like in our way, you were there, I am here, one, two, where do we come from? there must be something that we have as a common denominator and this source is the only thing that can connect us because it's not your family, it's not my family, they're still different, that is not enough going just looking at we are humans.

Animal same. Whatever and whoever gave us the possibility to be here is the same who gave you the permission that is the same who gave me the permission and the blessing. And this is what I think, this is the level of mind. This is the level of connection that never leaves you lonely. First of all, I cannot speak without it and it would make sense to everyone. That's already the first very, very difficult part.

That's why my intention is never to say what is it. The only thing I can do is to like give pointers. But ultimately there's only one person who will be able to find it out, and it's not me finding it out for somebody else. Everybody will find out for himself or herself. So every human being, I do think, is at a different level of his growth, of his development. And everybody gets what he needs exactly in the moment where he is in. Which is why I think everybody at this moment in time is exactly where he needs to be for the next elevation to take place. The only thing you need to do is look at yourself right now and just find out what is it that makes you unhappy.

What exactly is it that at this moment in your life is binding you and restricting you from moving on? And this is the same question for everyone. But what you ultimately need to tackle, it's different. In the past, I sometimes played Super Mario and Luigi. And it's the same if you don't like manage level number one. You won't see level number two. The challenges from number two won't come. The end boss from number two is not going to come.

First, you finish level one. But once number one is finished, you won't face the same stuff anymore. And there is something along this line where it sometimes is like a game at the same time. Don't take it so serious. It helps. There is always the struggle between doing and being. Doing, I would ask, why are you doing? So why? Why do you want to go into action? Mostly, there is a goal.

the goal. Why do you have that goal? Because you're aiming at receiving something that in the moment where you have it, apparently you are lacking. So that means this type of goal setting, in my perspective, I would automatically refer to it already that your goal setting already comes from a space of lack. you feel like you're lacking something. That's why you need to do.

You feel like you're lacking something. That's why you need to educate yourself. Okay? So this is the one direction. Now coming back, maybe sounds again too philosophical. Connected with the source. There's nothing to add and there's nothing to take away from you. So apparently when somebody has this very, very, very,

very high ambition of doing something, achieving something. And most likely, the chances are there, this is not coming from a connection to the source. It is coming from the idea of wanting to nourish or create an identity, an identity that represents something that you think you want to represent. So this is the one area. the doing versus the being. And then the second thing is that ultimately goes hand in hand with this way of living your life

is that one thing is being forgotten along the line. The truth of that whoever and whatever you are creating and are intending to create and are intending to gather now and starting to attain things. Your attainment maximum is going to last 100 years. That is the other truth. And I do believe people understand exactly what I said.

But there comes the fight now again. The fight between, yes, between this very strong identity that wants to just maintain itself and the other side of just forget about your identity. Be as you are. That's it. No matter what you're going to attain,

you have it for 100 years after what it's gone. So just be. Don't stress yourself too much with what you don't have. Well, unfortunately, and this is always going to continue like this, unfortunately, there are always three ways how you're going to learn this. sometimes people just need to have the experience to realize, okay, I did it, I got it, now I realize, I don't need it. But in the first place, you need to have it.

First way of learning. Second way of learning, you do trust a certain teacher. You do trust a certain guide or a mentor. You just copy the way how he's living his life. So your approach is you just copy because you see, oh, apparently the person lives a good life. So you just copy second way of learning. And the third way of learning is you maybe have like a teacher or a master. He tells you some wise words.

You contemplate about it. You think about it. And because you are thinking about it, it already puts you on the alternative part without you needing to try it for yourself. And there will always be people in this world. in these three categories. Because, you know, simply said, telling somebody, look, don't, don't put your hand in the fire. They're still going to do it.

But later, when they do it, like two times, three times, then it's done. You have this goal in the mind. You put all your energy, all your effort into trying to achieve that. You're 20 years old. You're trying. You're 30 years old. You're trying. 40 years already.

You're still. trying. Fifty years you still haven't let go of the idea. Well, at some point, hopefully, you see exactly that senseless approach of how you personally already wasted 30 years of following a goal with the conclusion of two things. Number one, you haven't achieved it yet, or number two, you didn't have the right way of achieving it. But the bottom, line is you have two ways now what to do. Let go of the idea that you need it and redirect your life or redirect your approach of how you still want to achieve that goal if you don't want to let go of it. But apparently one of these two things is not right. And the more you want your life now,

let's say in the future to be quite different than what you're used to, the more you need to be able to let go. Let go of patterns, let go of the way of thoughts that you had in the last years and months. Now if nothing changes about that, they will not come in your life. And so let me draw you a picture. I was a four year old. boy, having father and mother, Asian origin, being refugees from Vietnam Laos, meaning they ran away from the war, coming to Europe, coming to Germany with the idea that for the children to have a better security on the one side, feeling more safe in Germany without the instability, that they witness in their own country.

And so, of course, father and mother, with this idea, put a lot of pressure in early ages already in terms of you need to be good at school, you need to achieve, you need to prove yourself. So this is the education from father and mother. At the same time, with the age of four, I went into a Shaolin Kung Fu school, learning martial arts,

and every martial artist, Practitioner probably knows, teachers and masters usually are not the ones telling you, oh yes, you did that very good. Yes, very well. No, they just say, okay, more, deeper, faster, harder. So bottom line is, from the age of four growing up, the only thing that in the way I felt was actually you're never enough. no matter what I brought home in terms of grades, if it was a B, why was it not a A?

If it was a A, why is it another A plus? If I did already 100 push-ups, the question is, why don't you make 150? If I was fast already, it was still not fast enough. So constantly this type of never enough. Ultimately meaning, and this is all now, I can just tell you 40 years later, but now I can see it. Ultimately, meaning that at some point, this little boy started simply to build up a shield, build up such a shield to be less dependent anymore on what other people think about me. Meaning, I just started to rely everything in my life purely on what I think.

at the same time building up emotional blockages and emotional walls, nothing to penetrate and at the same time also nothing to express to the outside. So now, having entered into a very new circumstance in my life where I need to take into consideration the opinion and the emotional state of my beloved, of my partner, of my son, I can feel how my old patterns sometimes are still trying to sneak in. And so the only thing to do is what to do, to break patterns. Number one, you need to see you have one. And number two, you need to replace old patterns,

which ultimately mean patterns, it's habitual behavior, its habits. How do you build habits by continuous behavioral patterns? that you continuously do. So there is something about consistency and continuity that ultimately builds a pattern. And this is now where, for example, in this field of martial arts,

that's exactly what it's about. Consistency of having a training regimen every day. This is not helpful to like six days per week do nothing, and then you go one day to, the gym and give your everything, you know, it's better you have some type of consistency throughout the whole day. This is what builds patterns, healthy patterns. And so similar like this, I would describe now what is somebody supposed to do? Number one, look at yourself and see yourself.

We are all not perfect. But according to the circumstances that you are facing right now, today. What type of character do you think? With what do you want to equip your character? That he is able to go through this current times in the best possible manner. What is not useful for you anymore, try to get rid of it and get your new skills in. Thank you for tuning in. Continue strengthening your mind by listening to our other episodes.