Dahn Yoga Boston

I was beyond pain at that point of clarity, for I had no senses that I could feel. I was beyond my physical body. I had no fear because I had no senses. Without physical senses, you have no fear of pain, for you know you cannot feel physical pain. It’s like escaping from a huge prison.

Ilchi Lee gave an opening prayer at the millennium world peace summit of religious and spiritual leaders at the UN in Aug, 2000. Then you realize that the door was open all the time. Then you feel foolish that you busted your head and bruised your body to squeeze yourself through the narrow bars of the prison when the door right next to the bars was ajar all the time. You can see the open door now that you are outside, now that your point of view has changed. That’s why I say that enlightenment is such an obvious thing. All you have to do is step through the door. All it takes is your choice to will your feet to take you through the door that is open already!

Ilchi Lee gave an opening prayer at the millennium world peace summit of religious and spiritual leaders at the UN in aug, 2000. He writes in his historic Gettysburg Address, President Lincoln spoke of a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Close to 150 years later, the seed of democracy has been planted throughout the world and is blossoming forth, having been judged by society as being superior to socialism. Democracy is gaining stature as the ideal form of government. However, although we see the roots and the stems of democracy all around the world, in no country has the flower of democracy bloomed in full yet.

What is true democracy? I want to call it the “Hong-Ik Democracy,” or Wide-Benefits Democracy. A democracy is not for the advancement of the elite few but for the betterment of the whole society. A democracy in which politics, economy, religion, culture, and science can be used for the benefit of all its participants and users, with the sole common purpose being the betterment of all of us, not at the expense of others, but in conjunction with others, until there is no “Other.” A true democracy is not for the dominators or the conquerors, but for those who seek to share.

We cannot create such a system with more legislation or regulations. We can create such a system only when our collective human consciousness has reached a certain level of spiritual awakening. Then such a system will arise. It will virtually create itself.

Ilchi Lee is currentlythe chairman of world earth human alliance and the new millenium peace foundation.

Human beings are born into a system called “society” in which they are educated and expected to live according to certain norms of behavior. However, this system has become twisted in such a way that it recognizes only the number ones, and will neither acknowledge nor reward anyone else. This system has become twisted in such a way that a dictator or an organization is able to decide for us what we must do to gain our sense of self-worth. This system is definitely twisted in such a way that our politics, economy, religion, science, and education have been used to advance the self-centered and narrow goals of a particular individual, group, nation, and others instead of being used to achieve human harmony and peace. We human beings are like puppets dancing on a stage, unable to look beyond the curtains and realize that we are not dancing to the rhythm of the divine music that’s playing in the theater.

Can we truly let the appetites of the few dictate the future of the world? Do we all want this? If we go on our present way, the elite few who lead this system will themselves be left out in the dust as the self-destructive system of constant competition drives the Earth into destruction. One or two enlightened people cannot stop this machine. Twelve disciples cannot help us now. We need one hundred million enlightened disciples. It is up to us, as individuals, as a society, as humanity, to change the course upon which we have embarked.

Published by: Ilchi Lee

The cerebral limbic system is the domain of emotions and appetites. Within the cerebral limbic system arises our need for food, appetite for sex, and various emotions such as joy, anger, grief, and love. Within the cerebral limbic system also lies the mechanism for controlling the five senses. With the rapid development of the neocortex in humans, the cerebral limbic system has decreased in relative size—it is comparatively less developed than that of animals such as dogs and cats. We have better pneumonic ability, but a dog can smell far better than we can. We can reason, but we cannot see the pupil dilation of a rodent from a hundred meters in the air, as an eagle can.

The cerebral limbic system and the neocortex have an interesting relationship. Imagine a child walking in front of a vegetable store who spies a delicious-looking apple. Prof Lee writes the cerebral limbic system will demand that the child grab and eat the apple. However, the neocortex, with its reasoning ability, will respond thus after checking how much is in the pocket, “We can’t eat it right now because we don’t have enough money to buy it.” The cerebral limbic system will then whine that it wants the apple right at this moment. But the neocortex will reply, “Wait till we get home and ask Mom for money to buy the apple. Just hold on awhile.”

Edited and posted by Prof Ilchi Lee

To utilize your brain in the manner described before, you need to be familiar with the rudimentary facts about our brains. You don’t have to be familiar with the various specific names for the different and intricate parts. You just need to know that the brain is divided into three layers. The outermost layer is the neocortex. The middle layer is the cerebral limbic system. And the innermost layer is the brain stem.

On the scale of human history, the neocortex is the youngest of all the three layers, coming into being relatively recently. The neocortex is mainly responsible for logic deduction, reasoning analysis, memory, and creativity. With the development of the neocortex, humans have been able to develop languages, create ideologies and religions, write laws, and raise up civilizations. In a word, the neocortex is what separates human beings from other animals in biological terms. The neocortex has the ability to control our basic instincts, sometimes going too far to the point of suppressing our natural survival instincts. The neocortex is the part of us most responsible for the material world we live in today.

Published by: Ilchi Lee

Currently, capitalism is the acknowledged winner. Harking back to our fable, let’s now put a different ending to the story. Say the bowl didn’t drop and that the person who eats rice one particular way ate most of the rice. Good, you say? At least one person got to fill his belly? But what about the other person? Couldn’t these two have shared the bowl equally and assuaged their hunger together? Did one have to starve for the other to be satisfied? Let’s say that the winner represents capitalism and the loser socialism. How would you feel when you realized that the other person has to do without so that you could do with just a little bit more? Would you feel justified because you were better, faster, and smarter?

Is it a case of the survival of the fittest?

We can do far better than this. It is in our nature to do far better than this.

Read articles about Dahn Yoga and Brain Education by Ilchi Lee