Ilchi Lee

While it is problematic to generalize about cultures and the behavior of the people in them, I was delighted to witness amazing evidence of the capacity of these Japanese to keep their promises to make a better world – full of health, happiness and peace.

While I know strong promise-keepers in North America, Europe, and my native South Korea, I was struck by how much the Japanese really want to do good for humanity, how focused they are on their goals, plans and actions, and how hard they work to achieve genuine results. A popular phrase that Japanese say to each other is “persevere until you succeed.”

It is very apparent in Japan how good (and fast!) service is in stores and restaurants. While some countries declare that the “customer is king,” Japanese say that the “customer is god,” and so they act with great respect, spirit and gratitude toward their customers.

Japan has a long history of turmoil and order vying with each other. In the past 150 years, Japan went from a closed feudalist state to a nation open to the world, which then led to an aggressive and brutal period in which the Japanese military conquered neighboring Asian countries. While victorious for a while, in the process the Japanese lost much of their humanity and social accountability, eventually leading to the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Since then, the Japanese have devoted their considerable energy and ingenuity to material pursuits, with substantial success.

Lately Japan seems to be entering a period where more and more of its population are searching beyond material concerns and for spiritual goals. The Japanese I met are among the innovators and leaders in developing and providing a higher-consciousness life for an increasing number of people.

What a powerful vision they now have! I am impressed by their incredible energy to keep their promise of establishing more Dahn Yoga centers throughout Japan to meet the needs of the Japanese for health, happiness and peace. It is my hope that through those centers, the people of Japan can keep their promises to themselves, and move forward into a peaceful future of abundance and satisfaction.

Now I find that much of my time is helping other people answer this same question for themselves. Even individuals such as Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft, and Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (one of the world’s most successful investment firms), are putting more of their time and money into philanthropic endeavors to support spiritual values and make a better world.

More and more people today are interested in finding meaning, purpose and peace in their lives. They have typically obtained material success, but then realize that this is not sufficient to make and keep them healthy, happy and peaceful. As enjoyable as the game of golf is for many people, myself included, it is not a very effective answer to the question, “What makes life worth living?”

To live with maximum fulfillment means to take care of your soul’s needs. To live a spiritually based life, it is imperative to have a big vision, goal or dream. In other words, you must pave a road out of nowhere, to something really great. Then you have to live up to your vision – to do it the right way, or not to do it at all. My chosen path has been to increase the consciousness of the world, to solve humanity’s and the Earth’s huge problems.

Is the vision big enough to substantially improve your life? There are two ways to tell. First, in entering the territory of a big vision everyone will encounter big obstacles, which must be overcome to make one’s dream a reality. So, if you don’t see any obstacles looming in front of you, then you have not framed your vision large enough to truly satisfy your soul. For me most of the major obstacles have involved resistance from various people to a global vision and to the innovative programs, methods and organizations that my partners and I have developed.

To break through these obstacles takes great will, energy, and creativity. These attributes you can find or cultivate in your brain – which controls your power and performance in the areas of your physical health and the energy to keep going toward your vision, your mental capabilities, and your spiritual connection. My brain management has led me to overcome my obstacles by the successful creation of the University of Brain Education (South Korea), a worldwide network of Dahn Yoga centers, the Korean Institute of Brain Science (a recognized NGO by the United Nations), and others.

In using your brain well, your doubts will fall away and your hope will grow. One of the best ways to stimulate your brain to this high level of functioning is Brain Wave Vibration training.

Second, the vision should feel so important to you that you end up giving virtually 100% of your energy to its attainment. You would even be willing to die for it, because it is that important to you.

Besides the observable results of overcoming your obstacles, your success will be exhilarating and you will feel extraordinary strength and happiness. You will discover a purpose-driven life, on a high level. Your life will have a much greater value – to yourself and to the world. Big visions involve helping other people, locally or globally, and enhancing the condition of the Earth. You are creating a destiny for your soul. You will weep tears of joy from your heart, as I have done.

Some people believe God is a created illusion. Others believe the brain contains evidence that a spiritual realm exists beyond the brain, which the brain then perceives. And others, like researcher David Wulff, believe that “spiritual experiences across cultures, across time, and across faiths suggests a common core that is likely a reflection of structures and processes in the human brain.”

Regardless of how you view it, spirituality is about your journey, your experiences, and your religious practice. It is unique to you.

According to Ilchi Lee, originator of the Brain Education System Training (BEST) and author of Brain Wave Vibration, “Many of the squabbles we have today in regard to religious faith are not about spirituality at all. Rather, they are about layers of identity that we have piled on our spirituality.” The more we try to define it through theology and philosophy, the more we lose.

So how can you get your thinking mind out of the way so that you can experience it “directly and purely?” You need to quiet your thinking mind and open yourself up to discovering new experiences.

Lee’s Brain Wave Vibration is a technique that can be used to help you explore your spirituality as opposed to just thinking about it. It will allow you to clear out the static and tune into a greater peace. It will allow you to reveal your own unique spirituality.

According to Ilchi Lee, originator of the Brain Education System Training (BEST), there are five steps to reaching your full potential, with each step building on the previous one to affect your body, mind, and spirit. Once you reach the fourth step--brain integrating--you will be well on your way to achieving metacognition.

John H. Flavell, credited for coining the term, believes “metacognition refers to one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes or anything related to them.” It refers to a level of thinking that involves active control over the cognitive process used in learning situations. Simply put, it is how you think about your thinking—your awareness of the learning process.

When you have metacognition, you have the skills to plan approaches to learning new things and to comprehending and evaluating them as you progress to the completion of each new task. Or as Lee writes in his book, In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging, “you [will be] aware of your own mental operations—aware of the workings of your mind.”

What does this mean for you? Well, once you understand this, you will be better equipped to answer questions such as, what do your relationships, spiritual beliefs, life goals, sense of identity, personal character, and life mean to you?

Take the time to ask yourself these questions, then dig deep within to find your answers—they are there; they always have been.