Confronting the Monsters Within: The Path of Healing

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
What if the real monsters weren't in haunted houses or in
corn mazes or all those other scary places, but in our own
hearts and minds? What if the shadows where we
fear most are not creatures of folklore or myth, but in the
hidden places within us where fear, shame, anger, deception
and attachment live unchecked? I am Justin Gates, your host and

(00:23):
my Co host. Joining me today is Michael
Perry. Hey.
Fam. And we are the new Ashla
podcast. Hello and welcome to the new
Ashla podcasts. Today we continue on kind of our

(00:44):
little spooky season themed shows.
And today we're going to talk about the monsters within.
Now, some of these things we, wehave talked about in full
episodes, some of those, you know, I, I think, and I know you
agree, Michael, that we should always continue to talk about
some of those things. And I added in a few, a few

(01:04):
other ones that we really haven't spent much time on.
So this show's going to feel a little different because we're
going to go through each of these shadows.
And before we move on to the next one, I'm going to give you
a mini exercise rather than justone big exercise at the end.
So that way you can come back tothe to the show and find the one
that you want to focus on for that week, that month that

(01:26):
whatever this year and you can focus on that and not have to
worry about anything else. We'll leave time stamps in the
show notes for you to find thosesections.
We definitely will. These monsters that we're
talking about today, Michael, they're actually really scary.
Not, not fake scary. Not Scooby-doo.
Scary, right? Yeah, but realistically, they're
the type of monsters that haunt us on a daily basis, the things

(01:49):
that hold us back from our greatness and the things that,
you know, end up keeping us up at night.
Right. And they don't.
They don't only come out under the cover of darkness at night.
They walk with us. For some of us, for a lot of us
in our daily lives, fear that keeps us small and shame
isolates us and anger blinds us.Deception, that was something we

(02:14):
talked about a lot. Mass, our truth.
And of course, attachment keeps us chained.
Shadows like these thrive in silence for most of us, but but
they lose their power the momentthat they are named and brought
into the light, which is something we really love to do
here. And we're going to do that
today. And as always, this is not about
demonizing or blaming ourselves or anyone else, but kind of

(02:38):
courageously facing these parts of us that we would generally
rather ignore. So it's all about that.
Healing work, right? All these things are things that
take practice. It takes work and hopefully we
can shed some lights and on you can start cultivating strength
in these areas and work on facing your monsters.
That's right. So the Acmeal, the Acmeal light

(02:58):
that that we're going to start off talking about today before
we get into these, I'm talking about these five monsters is
confusion distorts reason. When in doubt, do not act, seek
guidance and proceed cautiously in moments of uncertainty and
confusion. My my advice is this and
Michael, you can give me you cangive them your advice here in a
minute. Do not allow the storms of doubt

(03:19):
to cloud the clarity of your reason.
As always, turn inward, turn inward and seek the counsel of
your inner wisdom. There, there it is there there.
There's a lot of wisdom there inside of us through our
connection with the Force, with the light of creation, with
creation and Creator itself, with each other.
Remember, we're all interconnected.

(03:41):
But at the same time, don't let your foolish pride stop you from
seeking the counsel of others. Doesn't have to be us, right?
Find someone. Find someone in your circle of
trust to help you with this. Or go get professional help with
some of these if you need to. So because really, wisdom is
often found in that collective experience of humanity, is it
not? Yeah, yeah.

(04:02):
I mean, one thing I got to touchon with what you said about
going to your inner wisdom, yourinner wisdom comes from here,
not from here. Often when these monsters kick
on, they hijack our minds and when we allow our minds to be
taken hold by the feelings we are feeling, it takes us down
spirals and makes us react and makes us just respond in ways

(04:25):
that we would not want to. So in this axiom, confusion
distorts reality. It's the truth.
And so you have to pause in thatstorm, you have to go inwards,
you have to ask yourself, or thethoughts I'm thinking, are the
words I'm wanting to say reactionary?
Or is this coming from a place of virtuous is coming from my

(04:45):
own values? Because often when these
monsters rear their ugly heads, they take hold and they become
the voice inside of us. Yeah.
Am I responding right? Am I responding with with truth
and clarity and wisdom and not just reacting.
The luminari understand the importance of clarity and
discernment in navigating these complexities.

(05:06):
So when confusion clouds our reasoning, the best thing we
could do is it's avoiding, as you said, these impulsive
actions. That's prudent.
That is most important and in our tradition there is great
value in silence. Is there not and and and the
practice of what we call non action does this doesn't mean in
action not doing anything because it's Michael will remind

(05:27):
you right. Yeah, in action, man, it, it
keeps you stuck, it shrinks thatworld around you, and it makes
all these monsters 10 times bigger.
Right. So by pausing and seeking
guidance, whether that's within or someone you trust, and like I
said, it could be self reflection, meditation or
seeking literally seeking counsel from others, we allow

(05:50):
these Muddy Waters of confusion to settle back to the bottom and
it helps us find that clarity ofmind.
But as Michael said, you know, wisdom's here.
This is what gets attacked during these moments of
confusion the hardest ever confused about what it wants.
We we're confused about sometimes how to talk to the
right so and when we when we cando this, we come from a place of

(06:10):
wisdom and alignment with all ofcreation.
Human beings are creatures driven by needs and wants and we
are fueled by our emotional desires.
And unfortunately that means ouremotional reactions.
And all of us are subject to these shadows and these monsters
we're going to talk about today.And because of this, you must
consider the quality of your thoughts and your motives and

(06:31):
your actions. Make sure they align.
Are your thoughts aligned with what your heart is really
telling you? You know, because fear and
anger, hatred, these are all precursors to doubt, confusion,
envy and suffering. So.
It's all about balance, right? Every time, everywhere.
It may look like this, but I haven't done this in a while.

(06:53):
May look like pressure, but but you know, try to get here, but
it might be here here. So the agreement that that ties
into this first and foremost is responsibility.
We got to be responsible for ourselves.
I mean, we are our own. What's the word I'm looking for?
I'm going blank. We are our own representatives.

(07:14):
That's right. And when we present ourselves,
when we carry ourselves, the waywe respond is how people take us
in. We can have the best of
intentions, but when we are being reactionary, that is what
people will see. And often when we're
reactionary, it's coming from something much deeper than this,

(07:35):
the surface level event that's going on in front of.
You, we are accountable for the state of our inner world.
We are. It sucks, but those monsters and
shadows that we ignore, they become the monsters and shadows
that rule over us and speak for us and act for us, right?
Yeah, practically possess us. So of course, the ethos that tie

(07:55):
into this would be truth Withouthonesty, these shadows remain
hidden. And hidden things do what,
Michael? They grow, they grow and they
grow out of hand. But when we start, when we shine
a lot of truth on them, we discovered that they're not
undefeatable horrors, but parts of ourselves longing to be
transformed by the truth, by thelight, and not shunned or done

(08:20):
away with, but brought in right.Yeah, I mean, I love how you
present it like that because it's the truth.
They the more you avoid looking at these monsters, the more they
integrate into your everyday life without you even realizing
it. There are so many people that
suffer from anger or fear and they don't realize that that's

(08:40):
that's a response. That's not who they are as a
person. So our first monster, we got to
start off with fear, and fear isthe paralyzer.
When I think of fear, I think ofI struggled a lot with fear in
my life. From the bullying I went through
to a lot of different events of helplessness I suffered.
Fear is something that I still to this day struggle with.
And what I've come to realize when facing this monster is when

(09:05):
you go to Why are words so hard to do?
When you when you go to stand upfor yourself, when you go to Why
is this word escaping me? Scratch all that.
When you go to advocate for yourself, it's like your nervous
system catches on fire. It's the best way I can describe
it. And you just don't want to do
anything but shut down or run away.

(09:26):
And you got to confront that. You got to be able to calm that
nervous system, that monster. You got to bring yourself to a
place where fear no longer is what is dictating your actions,
your the way you show up. You got to be able to manage it,
bring it down, and then act froma place of truth.
Yeah, fear is perhaps the oldestmonster or shadow of them all

(09:48):
right? It magnifies suffering.
It magnifies danger. It distorts our perception, and
it paralyzes us before we can ever grow.
It's that thing that whispers, you are not strong enough, not
ready enough, not worthy enough.And when you leave it unchecked,
it makes us shrink from opportunity, from connection,

(10:09):
from our own potential. Courtney was talking about this
the other day in our in our showwith her about forgiveness,
where she talked about how she used to be proud of being a
chameleon. And she would shrink herself
down right wherever she was. She could be this, she'd be
that. And she learned that by doing
that, she was just handing over control to others.

(10:30):
It was as if they were holding her down and shrinking her down.
Fear does this. Fear does this and, and like all
of these, this, this grows larger only when light is behind
it, like just like like any regular shadow, right?
So what do we have to do? We have to turn and face it.
We have to reveal the illusion that fear gives us.

(10:52):
Now fear is not to be confused with caution.
This is something that that I teach on this path, right?
Because you know, when I, when Itaught you about the nature of
fear, like like any illogical person, you said, well,
sometimes we have to be afraid. We have to be afraid not to run
out into traffic. We have to be afraid not to
touch fire and things like this.No, that's caution.

(11:14):
That's caution. That's wisdom.
Caution is wisdom. Discernment is wisdom.
Fear. No, fear is a shadow.
Fear is a shadow that kills us. What?
Remember that lesson? Right what what are some things
that that some some easy things that we could do to kind of
start start looking at fear too,instead of growing the shadow
face it. Yeah, I mean, the first thing is

(11:37):
to be honest. What is it that triggers fear
within you? Is it having hard conversations?
Is it people who are being aggressive or angry?
What are the things that triggerfear in your nervous system?
And once you figure that out, wehave a comfort zone that when it
shrinks around us. It.
It slowly goes inward and the more we resist taking, taking

(12:00):
action that is outside of our comfort zone, the more it'll
come in around us. So exposure therapy is the
number one thing I would say forfear.
You need to put yourself into situations that trigger that
fear so you can Start learning how to handle your nervous
system and handle those situations in a new way.
And that's going to take practice.

(12:21):
It's going to be messy. It is going to be emotional, but
the more you do this, the easierit's going to be because you're
retraining your body that you'resafe.
The issue is so many emotions are stuck.
I was talking earlier about being bullied.
You know, that fear from my childhood carries on to my adult
life where I don't feel it's safe to speak up for myself.

(12:42):
And so in those situations, I'vehad to, I, I intentionally, when
I feel myself, if someone's talking crap or belittling, it's
like I have to step up and realize, Nope, I'm not going to
tolerate this. I need to speak up and advocate
for myself. And it's uncomfortable as hell.
I've been practicing this for two years and it's still It
takes work. It's gotten easier, but

(13:05):
practice. Yeah, one of our axioms of light
help us help us do this. And that axiom is perception is
reality. Perception is indeed a powerful
force in shaping our understanding of reality, right,
Right. Each person's perception colors
their experience and it and, andit does influence their beliefs

(13:26):
and actions, and is also influenced by their beliefs and
their actions and their thoughtsto include those thoughts of
fear, right? So our attitudes, our beliefs,
our biases, our experiences. Our.
Our our actual mindsets help shape our perspective and
literally manifest the universe we experience from moment to

(13:48):
moment. If these parts are influenced
and controlled by fear or doubt,the desire to control or any of
these monsters or shadows, then your reality will be 1 of
imbalance, struggle and suffering.
I mean, you got to look at your schemas, right?
You got to look at the blueprintyou have of how the world works
and how you fit in it. And often there are going to be

(14:10):
evacuation plans that your soul knows and you don't.
I love because it's not until you're in the heat of it or are
you sitting running for the exit.
You know, to tie into this with,with, with something that
happens in real life, I've been a first responder for, well, I
was a first responder right now I'm not, but I was for like 20
years. And I could tell you one of the
number one things that I've, that I've learned is that nobody

(14:31):
practices how to evacuate. Nobody has a plan and it kills
people and they get stuck or they they get hurt really badly.
So I love how you said that that's perfect because that
applies here, that applied here.You you should have at least the
understanding of how you can change how you can evacuate.
As you said, that's beautiful. That's.

(14:53):
Perfect. And I think schemas really tie
into all of these different monsters we're getting into.
So keep that at the front of your mind as we talk about these
unconscious, hidden shadows thatrear their ugly heads because
they're there for a reason. For people who aren't who people
aren't familiar with that word, can you explain that real quick?
I think the best way to describeis kind of how I mentioned it.

(15:15):
It's a blueprint of how we understand the world and how we
know we fit in it. When we have a schema, which we
all do, I don't care who you are, you have a schema that
tells you this is how the world works, this is what's good, this
is what's bad, and this is who Iam in it.
Am I good? Am I bad?
Am I broken or am I better than everyone else?
Our schema is the blueprint of all of that and how it all fits

(15:37):
together. And the way that ties into these
unconscious monsters is when youdon't know your whole scheme of
how you process data, how you understand things to be, because
often it's automatic. You know, our minds are meant to
categorize, to file things away,to make things as unnecessary
for thought as possible. But sometimes we file away some

(15:59):
bad information that ends up haunting us for a long time.
Yeah, and the and the check always comes due.
Yeah. So again, if these parts are are
influenced or controlled by by ashadow like fear, your struggle
of suffering will extend beyond you to others in your life too.
But but I love butts here. If these parts are influenced by

(16:22):
love, truth, integrity, connection, respect for life,
which are our ethos, then the reality you create will be 1.
Of balance and growth and positive transformation.
Alchemy from lesser to gold, right?
So and, and, and and by extension, those in your life

(16:42):
will feel your kindness and compassion and they will be
enriched by that too. So when we talk about this in
relation to this axiom, in pursuing wisdom, it is wise to
consider multiple perspectives and seek a deeper understanding
of not just the objective reality underlying our various
perceptions, but how are we getting to these subjective

(17:05):
things right? And through this discernment,
Discernment is really key here. 1 can navigate the complexities
of life with greater clarity andinsight.
It's not a magic pill, but it will be much easier if you if
you use discernment and do things with clarity.
I'm reading a book right now andit's called The Coddling of the

(17:27):
American Mind and it talks abouthow when it comes to things, the
first thing it starts off with is the peanut allergies that go
on in schools, how they ban peanuts everywhere.
They did a study and they had half the kids have peanuts as
kids and grow up to the age of five.
And then they had the other halfwhere they weren't allowed to
have peanuts at all until the age of 5.

(17:48):
And 20% of the kids who were notallowed to have peanuts got a
peanut allergy. 3% of the ones who had peanuts didn't get a
peanut, did not or developed a peanut allergy. 3%.
And what this shows us, what's really fascinating about this is
the more we avoid difficult things, the more we avoid things
that trigger us, the more they gain hold over us, right?

(18:12):
The more adverse we become to it, the more it will impact us
every single time. And it was just, it was a
fascinating chapter to read thatbecause I've always believed
that because you see studies, I mean, I was just one of the
couple studies in there. But yeah, I mean, it's
physiological. Right.
It is, it is I probably shared this in a very early show that

(18:36):
we did because I think I, I, I think you, you brought this up
one time. Something similar to this was
that with Mike, with all of my kids, the first time I gave them
like strawberries and the first time I gave them peanuts or any
other kind of nuts. We did it.
We did it near the hospital justin case, you know, just in case.
But I because I wanted to make sure that they actually couldn't

(18:59):
eat this thing or whatever because of all my food issues.
So the agreement that ties into confronting fear the paralyzer
has to be courage, right? Yeah.
Yeah, because what is courage? It's acting even when we are
afraid. It is never the absence of fear,
but acting despite it. That's right.
Does not mean we're fearless, because we are.

(19:21):
We do have fear. I have fear.
It means we choose to move forward despite it, right?
But but I will say, even though it doesn't mean that we're not
fearless all the time, but everyact of courage that we employ
chips away at that hole that fear has on us.
Because what does that do that proves to ourselves right, that
we are greater than that voice of fear that that you can't, you

(19:45):
can't. You can't.
It's too scary. It chips away at that and it
loses control. I mean, again, it's retraining
your nervous system that you canhandle this now.
You aren't that helpless little kid anymore.
Right, so for our first exercise, we're going to pause
like we always do. We love to pause.
Pause is a powerful tool, right?We're going to pause and

(20:05):
breathe. You're going to place your hand
over your heart, inhale deeply, exhale slowly.
Name your fear, whisper it aloudor write it in your journal, and
I'll give you an example. I'm afraid of failing.
That's pretty common. You're going to shift your
perception. Once you name it, once you call
it out, you need to ask yourself, is this fear?

(20:25):
If this fear were only a shadow,what light or what truth would
would it reveal? So in just a couple examples,
fear of failure may may reveal ahunger that you have inside to
grow or to be successful or to do a podcast or to do write a
book or do whatever. If it's fear of rejection, that

(20:46):
may reveal to you a lifelong, A longing for a connection, real
connection, right? So and do act small.
As always, act small, but act now.
Choose one tiny little step you can take today that moves you
forward despite fear can't. You can't destroy it, but you

(21:08):
can move despite. It one thing I got to throw in
there is if you are wondering what the light is behind your
shadow, behind your fear, drop it in the comments.
We'll help you figure it out together.
Yeah, second Monster Shadow is Shame, the Silent Destroyer.
Shame is a monster that doesn't shout.
It whispers and it convinces us that we are unworthy, or we're

(21:30):
broken or we're unlovable. Unlike guilt, which says I did
something wrong, shame says I amsomething.
And when that voice takes hold and takes root in US, it drives
us into hiding. It drives us into isolation.
Shame thrives in isolation, and it feeds off that secrecy and
silence. But it's a liar, is it not?

(21:52):
Shame is a liar. Shame is a liar and man does it
hold on to the shadow so well. It will convince you of all
these things. How you ever realizing that's
what's driving the emotion there?
Shame is one of the most powerful emotions we can feel,
and we feel it more often than we ever would realize.
I read a book years ago called The Healing The Shame That Binds
You, and it's one of my favoritebooks.

(22:14):
And it talks about how, especially when you're
struggling mental health, shame is associated with almost every
negative emotion you feel. If you're feeling angry and
you're lashing out, it's becauseyou're feeling shame to some
level. If you're feeling a level of
sadness that is profound becauseof something you feel is wrong
with you, it is shame that is governing.

(22:34):
That shame hides and disguises itself in so many ways.
It's a damn liar. It is a no good POS liar because
it what it tells you is that your wounds and your traumas
disqualify you, literally disqualify you from being what a
human. The truth is, these things make

(22:55):
us human. And I can't think of any better
thing to be. You know, I'm grateful for all
the, all the good things and thebad things because I get to, I
get to have this unique experience, right?
It's the messiness of human experience that makes it so
beautiful. It is beautiful and it'll tell
you. It'll tell you that no one could

(23:17):
ever accept you, when in reality, connection is the very
medicine that heals this. Another book I read, The Anatomy
of Loneliness, another really good book and it talks about the
three pillars of loneliness. And at the core of it, the main
pillar is shame. We are afraid to show ourselves
who we truly are to people. We are afraid to put ourselves

(23:38):
out there. We feel insignificant compared
to the the sea around us of people, when in reality, the sea
around us is struggling just like we are.
They crave connection just like we are.
And they're dealing with a lot of the same issues.
Yeah. So of course, the axiom that we
have to go to for this is one ofmy favorites, one of our most

(23:58):
powerful ones. It's at the center, it's at the
heart of our path. And that one is no one is beyond
redemption. That which is corrupt takes time
to reform. Now these two axioms bring us to
a place where we must reflect upon the boundless potential for
transformation, for alchemy. It's a testament to the
resilience of the human spirit, which cannot be broken ever.

(24:22):
You cannot break the soul. You cannot break the spirit.
No one is beyond redemption, forredemption is the doorway to
renew on growth. It's not an ending, it's a
beginning. And this, this beginning, this
journey of redemption begins with the recognition that our
imperfections, well, it's, it's recognizing our imperfections
and the willingness and the courage to take those first

(24:43):
steps toward change, toward alchemy.
Because within us, Michael is the capacity for compassion and
generosity or wickedness and cruelty.
We can, we're, we're, we're capable of doing both these
things. So we have to double our efforts
always in cultivating calm and stillness and peacefulness,
because our thoughts, our motives and deeds have the power

(25:04):
to betray us. You know one thing that can help
you sort of analyzed, Do I feel shame?
Am I someone who is shame based?Ask yourself, do I act the same
way around my close friends and family as I do in public or at
work? Now mind you, there's certain
levels that you're going to taper off there, but how much
are you showing up differently in places that aren't places you
just feel safe? That is a surefire sign to know

(25:28):
you are feeling shame because you feel shame of being even
though you don't think it. It's not like you're conscious.
Like I don't no one would get would like me.
It's I don't feel comfortable showing myself for who I truly
AM. Right, right.
We have to understand how we philosophically negotiate and
spirit spiritually reconcile theworld around us because this

(25:51):
directly influences our alignment with all of creation,
with the entire universe, with life force energy.
And I hate to break it to you bro, but some of this internal
corruption is not something thatany of us have the luxury of
ignoring. And yes, it takes considerable
amounts of patience to identify,to call it out, to stand

(26:12):
against, and then to move against it.
This is a path of self discoveryand self improvement where the
shadows of our past, the monsters that lurk can be
transformed into something, intoa light for a brighter future
for us. And as we talk about you and I
talk about a lot nature, the nature of reform is a is a

(26:33):
patient and persistent thing because we have to mend.
We have to heal, right? Yeah.
We have to have to face these things that are corrupt about us
in order to bring about that positive change.
I know you love your analogies, so here, here's one for you.
Just as the river carves its course through the rock over

(26:53):
time, so too does reform shape the landscape of not only our
inner landscapes, but of Society, of institutions, of
whole worlds and universes. That's beautiful and it's true.
I mean you, you spend a lifetimebeing who you are.
It's going to take work and timeto build that new landscape.
You know, I was listening to this interview and it was

(27:15):
beautiful. And as a guy who had who was
struggling with addiction and hewas now clean for like, I think
it was like 5 years and he's like, you know, good for him.
I kept, I kept struggling. I'd get two months in and I'd
relapse. And finally I had to sit with
myself and I had to realize I gave myself 27 years to be what
I was. And I only was willing to give
myself two months of trying to be someone else.

(27:37):
And it's like that don't work. It is a commitment, A lifelong
commitment. No, I know a few people like
that right now possibly. And if you're listening, reach
out to me. Reach out to me.
I can help you with this. So what's what's the agreement
that you think best? Fits this mercy.
Mercy is a good one. Why mercy?

(27:59):
Why Mercy? Because mercy is not just for
everyone in our lives. It's not for those who have
wronged us. If anything, the most important
person and the hardest person togive mercy to is ourselves.
Because if we can't give ourselves the grace, if we can't
let ourselves be redeemable to ourselves.
What was? What was that other word you
used? Grace.
It's another good one too. Yeah, makes me think I could fit

(28:23):
somewhere alongside Mercy, right?
Right. These things.
These things dissolve shame in their presence.
If you're truly graceful with yourself, if you're truly
merciful, yes, justice is important.
Seek justice. But love only mercy.
Love only grace, right? Yeah.
Because when we extend mercy, what are we doing?

(28:44):
We're giving ourselves permission to grow, but also to
stumble, but also to stand back up, to rise again.
Right. I think there is one other key
thing we need to have when it comes to healing shame
connection. Again, like I talked about
earlier, how it's hard to be authentic around people that
aren't your social circle. You cannot heal relational

(29:04):
trauma without relationships. It's just that simple.
Without having mirrors in our life, we can't see ourselves for
who we truly are. The point of having connections
to have that circle is to have reflected back to us the best
parts for ourselves as well as the parts that are flawed and
acceptable. Because you will be surprised

(29:25):
how many people will love you for every perfect imperfection.
Everybody I know and everybody Ilove is imperfect and I love
them for that, including myself.I do thank the Tea of Life is
one of the ethos that come to mind here too, because at the
end of the day, respect for all life, every soul is sacred, no
matter how flawed, no matter howwounded, no matter how

(29:47):
imperfect. Notice I didn't say broken.
I do not like the word broken, not for this wounded, imperfect,
flawed, we all are all of those things, but to honor this ethos
is to honor life and and in thatis a refusal to abandon
ourselves and to abandon us. So our exercise for shame.

(30:09):
We're going to write this one out.
Yes, I'm giving you journaling stuff for later too, but do this
as an extra 1 take out. Got your journal?
Find you a page and write down one message that Shame has told
you. For example, I'm not good enough
or I don't deserve love, which are lies by the way.

(30:33):
Believe that. But write down the message that
Shame has told you. Now in good old fashioned new
Ashla fashion, we're going to challenge it.
We're going to challenge that lie because that's what we do
next to it. Write this response.

(30:53):
This is shame, not truth. No one is beyond redemption.
I am worthy of love and light. Now we're going to release it.
Once you've sat with that and accepted the fact that shame is
a liar and that you've challenged it with truth, you're
going to release it from there. RIP that page out of your

(31:15):
journal. Don't let it.
Don't let it soil the rest of your beautiful journal with all
those lies. Tear the page, burn it, tear it
up, place it in a you could place it in a box that says
lies. No, I no longer carry, right?
You can cuss at it, dude. Stomp on it, do whatever,
destroy it, right? Because it's a lie and we stand

(31:36):
away from lies here. And then lastly, you're going to
affirm I am not my mistakes. I am worthy of healing in life.
Anything to add to the break in the silence of shame beaten
shames behind? The longer you sit with yourself
as you go to reflect on this, the more you're going to find
answers. Don't be afraid of the darkness.
So the next one, anger and hatred, we'll call this.

(31:58):
We'll call this monster the Devourer.
Oh, I should write some scary movies about some of these.
I'm sure we could make some goodones, some good thrillers,
horror thrillers. So anger and hatred.
Why is this the devourer? Because this is the thing that
turns people into demons. It's the thing that makes us cut

(32:20):
all our connections and turn to only trust ourselves.
It is one of the darkest roads you can go down because once it
consumes you, it is so hard to break free.
It is probably the most consuming out of all of.
These anger as an emotion, like all of our emotions, are not
evil in themselves, right? An emotion in its purest form is

(32:41):
a signal. Like we say, it's it's it's
saying, hey, how yeah, you like that Something, something you
need to pay attention to, right?It, it.
I mean, I get angry, justifiablyangry when I need to, because
sometimes that's telling me thatsomething that's happening in
front of me is unjust or something or someone in either
myself or someone that I care about is wounded or something

(33:04):
within me is in need of a change.
But but anger is a flame, right?We talked about this a few
probably a few months ago on oneof our shows.
We talked about these wildfires right from anger when we leave
this unattended. And you know, this is kind of
off the topic, but the same I learned today or yesterday that
Smokey the bear is not a thing anymore.

(33:26):
Did you know that they don't do the whole Smokey the bear thing
is scooped anymore? Yes kind of crap.
Is this Who do we have to? Talk to about this.
Yes, because like anger, wildfire start because flames
are left unattended. Well, but when you leave anger
unattended and you don't pay attention and you don't let it

(33:49):
serve, it's pure, pure purpose as an emotion, as a signal that
flame becomes a wildfire. And then what?
What happens when you have fire?You have smoke and it blinds
you. It blinds you to compassion.
It will burn up and corrode. Your judgement burns the bridges
of connection, as you said earlier.
And but when it hardens into hatred, that's when you turn.

(34:12):
That's when you change. People can come out of anger.
We can put fires out, but left unchecked for too long, it gets
hardened and it becomes hatred, and that is a poison of the
heart and that corrodes the spirit, that corrodes our
connections with all the spirits.
Now I've seen it first hand, it is crazy how much hatred can
just I had a friend, I was just going through a lot of the

(34:33):
journey with me when we were when I got into healing and we
had both gone through similar type events.
And as I was doing the healing scene, I watched as it just
slowly how it corrupted his viewof the world, his perception.
It just started being like, you can't trust women, you can't.
You got to be an authoritarian man, you have to be domineering

(34:55):
and you can't trust anyone. And it's like, no, no, that is
not the path. And it just like it broke my
heart because we don't allow ourselves to heal from when
someone has done us wrong, forgiveness, it will calcify
into hatred and it will taint our view.
You know, you look at so many old people that are bitter and

(35:16):
many of them, I'm sure we're happy, go lucky at some point
until someone did them dirty. And that anger calcified into
hatred because sometimes someonecan do us wrong and there's
nothing we can do about it. And when that happens, that
anger arises and has no outlet. It turns inwards because that's
really what hatred does. It takes that anger and it goes

(35:37):
inward, right? So, so it doesn't only devour
relationships and not just with the relationships that are
broken or severed, but with all relationships going forward.
But as you said, it devours thatpeace within too.
And sometimes anger is a good defense, good mechanism for
defense, right? But again, going to the extreme

(35:58):
becomes a very, the very cage ofprison that traps us.
So I want to, as I always do with emotions, I always want to
point out your true strength is not found in suppressing anger,
but also not in unleashingly unleashing it blindly, just on
the whole world, but recognizingit as a signal, transforming it

(36:22):
into something that helps you understand what's happening,
what's going on, and then you can take constructive action.
So the axiom that ties into thisone into anger and hatred, the
one I chose was approach. Understanding with light and
darkness will never gain purchase.
What do you think of that axiom for this?

(36:43):
I think it's the perfect axiom for this one thing that's always
helped me. I've had people who have wronged
me. I've had things happen in my
life that hurt me deeply, but you got to see the humanity
behind everyone and events that happened.
Just like we mess up, other people mess up too.
And they might not be accountable to it.
They might never tell you either, sorry, but often they

(37:07):
are more broken than you are in those situations.
We must see the light within everyone.
It doesn't mean we have to let them into our lives.
It doesn't mean that we have to trust them.
But we are all created from the same energy and we're just
conditioned by different experiences, beliefs and
survival mechanisms. And some people have learned

(37:28):
some pretty bad coping mechanisms.
If we can see the humanity and the people who have wronged us,
it allows us to heal. It allows us to change.
That story from this bad person did this to me too.
They were hurting too, and they didn't know how to cope with it.
My friends, listen to be illuminated by the light is to

(37:49):
be bathed in that radiant glow of wisdom, discernment, truth.
Some to your point about seeing that spark within everyone, but
also letting truth guide you here, right?
It's to it's, it's a beacon thatguides us away from these
shadows and these shadows of misunderstanding and fear.

(38:10):
See how fear likes to weave its way into everything because the
truth dispels the darkness of ignorance and confusion.
In this light of understanding, prejudice and bias find no
foothold. It becomes a force that we use
that unites rather than divides because it helps us recognize
the common humanity that binds us all to every other thing.

(38:33):
And when we approach life with aheart and mind filled with
understanding, these divisive forces such as these forces of
darkness, such as hatred and intolerance, they lose their
power, they lose their power, they die.
We I have a what I do for a living now as I manage a forest.
And part of that, part of that responsibility is I have to help

(38:55):
people protect their homes from wildfire because wildfire is one
of those things. It is inevitable.
It's not a matter of if a wildfire is going to run through
a forest, It's a matter of when right.
And the thing that we that guards us the greatest against
the wildfire losing our homes are to to fight the embers that
are floating around and they're raining down upon a house.

(39:16):
So the best way to do that is toensure the embers can never take
a foothold, that they land on the House.
And they what die? They die, right?
Such as hatred, such as intolerance, such as these dark
forces, the light of truth killsthem.
Now, as we always say, because Ilike to give you the balanced

(39:38):
picture here, living a path likethis one is always the most
challenging part. But you have to understand that
you cannot remain as you are andexpect such a fundamental and
profound transformation to come to happen.
It's never going to happen overnight.

(39:58):
These long lasting changes, thisalchemy happens by taking small
measured steps. Not these giant leaps.
Sometimes leap leaps of faith are are necessary, but not
always. That is the exception to the
rule, right? Yeah.
Well, it's like you think about philosophical concepts.
They can be life changing when you learn them.

(40:20):
But if you do not start putting the things you learn into
practice, it's going to be just a fleeting thought.
You're going to get this aha moment and it's going to vanish.
Because without action, wisdom is just not.
That's not wisdom, that's knowledge.
Yeah, and knowledge is only as good as of how applicable it is
to your life and your path. There's lots of knowledge out

(40:41):
there that's absolutely useless.You will never use any of it, I
promise you. Right.
It doesn't mean you stop being curious.
But just keep in mind as you're going along, am I really going
to need this? And if the answer is no, then.
And that goes for our philosophyas well.
If you get through. If you, if you start getting
through and you're like, Nah, nohard feelings, no hard feelings.

(41:03):
Because if it's not for you, it's not for you.
And that's fine. The agreement that I put in
here, and this one is usually prevalent in a lot of things we
talk about is mercy because forgiveness is not weakness
doesn't. And if you guys really want a
good show, I've had so much goodfeedback about the show we did
on forgiveness with Courtney Damatio.

(41:24):
It's in the it's in the list here.
It'll be down here somewhere if you don't listen to yet, listen
to it and listen to what I'm saying right now and then go
back and find it in that show. But this is not a weakness.
Forgiveness is not a weakness, is one of the most powerful, yet
one of the most necessary, unfortunately one of the most
necessary things you have to do.And you're not not approving of

(41:47):
the harm that was done to you orthe anger that you unleash or
someone unleash on you, but you're refusing.
They'll let that bitterness corrupt your spirit and really
control your life. I mean through mercy, through
through the ability to release someone from that bind.
Because often when we have that resentment, when we have that
hatred, it's doing nothing but poisoning our own souls.

(42:10):
What is it? What is it?
Everybody always says it's having hatred.
Yeah, go ahead, say it. It's like drinking poison and
expecting the other person to die.
Right, it's just not going to happen.
No. Yeah, you're just going to die.
And then you're going to be like, oh man.
Well, that was wrong. Try again next time.
Yep, I'll get recycled and try again next time.

(42:33):
So our exercise for anger and hatred is pretty simple one.
But like always, we want to identify the fire.
We'll identify this. And you can sit in meditation
with this or you can write it down on a journal.
I write it down because I don't remember things all the time.
Think of a situation where angerhas taken hold.

(42:53):
I mean, it's not just a real quick and gone, but it's it's
grabbed you. Now you're you're ruminating,
right? Think of a time where anger has
caused you to ruminate and you can't let go.
Write it down in a sentence or speak it out into a sentence.
If you want to do it as a as a meditation, now you're going to
name the wound beneath. Anger is almost always some kind

(43:17):
of hurt, some kind of fear, or some kind of unmet need.
Unmet need, right? And you can ask yourself, here's
an example. What wound is really driving
this anger? Why am I so pissed off about
this little thing that has nothing to do with why I'm
pissed off, Michael, right? The next thing you're going to

(43:38):
do is you're going to shift thatto light.
I want you to say this to yourself and you can say it as a
mantra. Say it out loud, whatever you
need to do. I release hatred.
I choose understanding. My heart remains untouched by
darkness. Sit with that for a week, right?
You know, use those anytime. And these, I like to make these

(44:01):
to where they, they are a good affirmation, but also great for
a mantra when you need them because mantras are good when
you need them in the moment. They're amazing.
They are. And then the last thing you're
going to do here is when you're ready, choose one compassionate
action toward yourself or towardanother person, if that's where
all this is going toward. Even something small should

(44:24):
always start small that channelsthis energy into truth, into
light. Beautiful.
The next monster, the next shadow we're going to talk about
is deception, the masked one. Now you, you took us through a
show literally like two or threeshows ago about the scariest
mask we wear. You know, why is deception such

(44:45):
a powerful shadow? Deception so powerful because
it's the one thing that we can use to become ignorant to all
the things going on inside of us, all the things going on
around us. Through deception, we can paint
perception as whatever we want to, and I mean that in a very
bad way. It's a lot of what you see going

(45:05):
on in the world today where people are deciding to paint
people as villains, trying to paint themselves as heroes, and
often we don't stop to ask what's really going on.
What's? True people of their humanity.
Yeah. What's really true here?
Is it true It's something you ask your kids when?
When your kids run up and they say, well, so and so-called me

(45:25):
this and it was for me, it was usually their sisters.
They were always bickering and always going at each other.
You're not asking, is it true? Are you really this thing?
Well, no. Then why do you care, right.
Exception goes both ways. It's us trying to deceive the
world and it's the world trying to deceive us too.
But they're all masked and they wear many deception wears many

(45:47):
different faces. Sometimes it's that lie that we
tell ourselves or tell others toprotect ourselves, to gain
approval or a big one that I seeto avoid conflict.
Most people are very passive aggressive.
Other times it's even more subtle, but probably more
dangerous. It's that lie.
The greatest lie ever told. The lie we tell ourselves.

(46:09):
Lie we tell ourselves. I'm fine, I don't need help.
I don't have a problem. This doesn't matter, but it does
every lie fractures that trust, and trust is really at the
foundation of both our well-being and the well-being of
our community. And from there to our country,

(46:30):
to our state and to our territory, whatever, whatever,
out into the deepest parts of space and beyond, if there is
such a thing. But when we live in deception,
even if it's unintentionally, because we start to tell those
stories long enough, what happens?
We start to believe them and they start to become a very the
very fabric of our being right. And it's all based on a lie.

(46:53):
As a side note, I'm I'm working on some parables for our
teachings and this very thing that we're talking about is one
of the stories. Do you remember the story where
the guy remember? Do you remember, like me sharing
that with you, the story of the guy who everybody thought was a
hero because he told a lie and no one could prove whether it

(47:15):
was true or not. So he just lived on it.
And like 25 years later, some really smart person finally
comes and calls him on it and his whole, his whole just world
cuz comes unraveled, right? And then it's like because he
built his whole life over arounda sly that he told it first by
telling others over and over andover and over and over again.
But as he did that, he's also telling himself the same lie.

(47:38):
And it becomes, you know, true because reality, it's reality
even though it's not true. So when we live this way, even
though intentionally we drift away from our authentic selves,
which is the whole point of thiswhole thing, to be authentic,
which is already hard enough. Why are you making it harder on
yourself, right? Because sometimes we can't help

(47:59):
it because sometimes it's shame.Sometimes it's shame, sometimes
it's fear. But as we talked about another
show, it's like, remember how we, I talked about how the mask
starts to root and it starts to dig in and get it off right?
The harder the longer you wear it, the harder it is to to to
remove it. Well, it's like little white
lies, right? Often you see people who will

(48:19):
tell that one little white lie thinking it's going to be
harmless, but then it just fractures into more and more and
more. It does because people don't
investigate it until you've already told it 1600 times,
Phil. And then it's like, oh crap, now
there goes your credibility. There goes everything.
That and you know what? Lot of good people, good people

(48:42):
tell little white lies, but theyhold on to them forever.
And it, it really becomes a problem because this, this what
this attacks our integrity, it corrodes our dignity and it puts
up these walls of mistrust between US and others, even
disconnects us from. Yeah.
I mean, one thing I got to add is, I mean, we talked a little
bit about how we lose trust not just with others but with

(49:04):
ourselves. Self trust is one of the most
important things you can have and you can cognitively convince
yourself something is real, but the soul always knows and that
will follow you and follow you. You got to be able to turn
around and look these things in the eye and see the truth.
You must crave truth, because truth is what sets you free.

(49:28):
It is I was, I was looking at mycoffee cup.
And so I'm one of those dads that buys his his daughters and
his wife and his mom Valentine'sDay presents like little stupid
little things. And this coffee cup, it says
snappy Valentine's Day. Yeah, it's great.
It is great and they love it. Or they pretend to.

(49:49):
Maybe they're telling me with a little white lies.
I've been spending all this money on these stupid coffee
mugs and and teddy bears for a long.
Who knows? So of course, the axiom that
ties into this, of course, is truth has no regard for
popularity because the truth stands unyielding.
It does not care. It's indifferent to the whims of
public opinion. We did a whole show about this,

(50:12):
probably one of our first withinour first five shows.
We did a whole show on this axiom.
Popularity sways back and forth,doesn't it?
You know, it's like. What was popular when I was a
little kid is now becoming popular again and I'm like, why
don't? Right.
But these things are when it, when truth is, when truth is, is

(50:33):
based on what's popular. It is then subject to the
impulses of society and of course, the passage of time.
And the passage of time shows nomercy to trends, right?
But the truth, deeply rooted into the literal ethos of the
universe, into creation itself. It's #2 on our ethos list for a

(50:54):
reason. It remains resolute and unswayed
by the shifting sands of public favor.
I am. I am infamous for saying I don't
give a crap what people think ispopular.
I am going to do what I like andI'm going to do what I feel is
best. Drives my wife crazy.
And of course, the Luminari US, we value truth.

(51:14):
Second above all else, love being the first.
Recognizing that it's not the applause of the world that
defines the worth of a principleor belief.
Doing this podcast, I hope to reach everyone, but I'm not
doing this for applause or praise or whatever.
Because at the end of the day, if I reach just a dozen of you,

(51:36):
if I reach just one of you, I'm happy with that.
Not because I'm settling, but because the truth is hard to
swallow. It's hard to accept.
And if I we've talked about thisbefore, if we could do all
different kinds of shows and have all kinds of all kinds of
fame and fortune. Popular content we refuse.

(52:00):
Not because I enjoy popular content sometimes too, but I
don't feel good about not telling the truth.
So we value truth above all elseexcept for love.
Love is number one for us. It's that because it's not the,
it's not the applause or the praise or the fame or the
fortune that defines the worth of a principle or belief.
Instead, it is the intrinsic authenticity and alignment with

(52:23):
the universal order, the universal laws, that give truth
significance. Because proof is where Michael.
It's everywhere. Everywhere, yeah.
It's all around us all the time.But I'd say one of the beautiful
things with truth is the more you start to embody truth.
One of the reasons we push truthprobably every episode is

(52:44):
because when we start to look attruth, when we start to embody
truth, when we start to look forwhat is true, others will follow
because we want to be the examples that we want to see in
the world. We want to see the change we
want to see in the world. And it's through truth is how we
get there, through honest evaluations, through true seeing

(53:04):
of how things are in the world. Those of us who hold fast to
truth, regardless of what's happening, regardless of what's
popular today and popular tomorrow, we find ourselves
literally anchored into the wisdom of all of creation, into
the DNA of creation. So I implore you all to question
commonly held beliefs all the time and to be open minded and

(53:27):
willing to change your views in light of new information or
evidence. Because we have to be
responsible with our thoughts and our words and our actions.
And is as elusive as the truth can be.
Sometimes we are reminded that it's not determined by what is
popular or widely accepted. There is a quote and I won't, I
won't give it today because I don't have it in front of me.

(53:48):
But there's a quote. It's, it's a speech that Captain
America gives Spider Man during the first Civil War event.
Go find that and read that. But go look up that quote and
you'll see what I mean. It's one of the greatest quotes
ever. But Captain America is one of
the greatest superheroes ever. I might be biased in that, you
know, you guys have seen the shield well when I used to face

(54:09):
that way. So, and again, remember, the
greatest lies are the ones we tell ourselves.
So always be curious, open to learning, be a seeker of truth
above all else. So this one might throw you off,
but but but I have faith in you.I have faith, which is one of
our agreements. What is the agreement you think
ties into this into into into honoring our word?

(54:32):
Please set it right there. Honor, honor, nobility, right?
The agreement of honor we use isnobility because it encompasses
the path, complete the path in totality as a knight, right, is
to choose all honor over falsehood, always, because.
Because a noble heart, a great heart as we as we call it, would

(54:53):
rather face discomfort than cloak itself in illusion.
I mean, it's through honor that it's it's our words we speak and
the actions we take that define our character.
When we are out of alignment with that, even with ourselves,
that sews mistrust that shows that.
Especially with ourselves, you're right, you are absolutely
right. And that leads us to our ethos.

(55:15):
Tie in integrity. How important is integrity here?
Integrity is a must. Integrity is the flagpole in
which you stand by to define yourself.
It is through your ACT. It is through the actions you
take, or the lack thereof, that will define who you are.
Not just everybody else, but to yourself.

(55:35):
Yeah, which is most important. How people see you, how people
honor you is not important. You must be in alignment with
your, with your inner and outer life.
Integrity is wholeness. It brings us back into harmony
when we lose it. And we will.
And you will. And we do.
It's who you are in secret and also who you are in the world.
This this allows the light and truth to flow without

(55:58):
obstruction. So our mini exercise for truth,
the mirror of truth to face thismonster, the shadow, this one,
you're going to have to use a mirror.
And I might have stole it a little bit from this one, from
one of your exercises a while back, but it's powerful.
Look into your own eyes. Ask yourself, where am I not

(56:19):
being completely honest with others, with myself?
Get your journal. I know you have one because I've
been begging you to get one thiswhole time. 68 episodes worth
write. Write down one small deception
that you've noticed in your life.
Doesn't have to be big, and it probably shouldn't be.
Remember, start small. And it could be something as

(56:39):
silly as even pretending that you're fine when you're not.
Because as small as that sound, that's a big one.
It's a lie you're telling yourself and you're and you're
sharing that lie with others. Say to yourself out loud or to
yourself, whatever you feel morecomfortable.
I release the mask. I choose truth, even if it's
uncomfortable, especially if it's uncomfortable, because when

(57:02):
it's uncomfortable, you know you're hitting the sore spot.
I honor myself by walking in integrity.
Remember, integrity is not aboutperfect, OK?
Just remember that. And the next logical step from
here is to consider one honest action you can take today,
whether it's admitting to something, to yourself or
speaking truth. But remember, just just because

(57:25):
truth has no regard for popularity doesn't mean you got
to be mean about it. Try to be kind, use your words
wisely. Be impeccable with your words,
right? You have to be.
Have to be I have to be any you want to add anything to to that
exercise. If you're someone who realizes
that there's a lot of errors, they are deceitful.
This is a practice. The more you slowly unweave this

(57:45):
web, the more you're going to find grounding in your authentic
self. Sometimes we create a life of
illusions so that no one sees usfor who we are, for our
shortcomings, for our failures. It's OK to be human.
Don't be afraid to work through this because I know it can be
horrifying. But once you get to that
authentic self, once you no longer have these kind of

(58:07):
weights on your back, it is liberating.
It gives you so much more energyto carry forth in life and to
create so much more. Yeah, does.
Well said. So our last monster we're going
to talk about today, the last shadow is greed and attachment.
Now we've talked about attachment a lot.
We don't talk about greed a whole lot.

(58:29):
We've done whole shows about attachment.
But it's worth repeating. Greed and attachment are the
shadows that disguise themselvesas hunger for security or for
love or for recognition, for connection, for belonging,
right? But the more we cling, as I've
said before, the, the, the tighter we hold, the more we
lose. But the more we clean, the less

(58:50):
we actually hold on to. Because your possessions,
they'll fade. They're not going with you.
Status crumbles because status is something that other people
give. So what does that mean?
Other people can take away and, and people cannot be owned,
cannot own people, no matter howmuch you love them, they, you
don't own them. You don't, right?

(59:11):
You can't. They're not possessions.
The more we tighten our grip, the more we feel the emptiness
within. And this is something that that
you're you're fond of going to about people who often chase
those things the most often feelthe most empty.
Yeah, well it's like when we look for love and validation
outside of ourselves, when we don't know how to give our self

(59:33):
these things. When we use external things to
give us our needs, which it's OKto have needs with people, but
we must give our core needs to ourselves.
The love, the validation, we endup becoming desperate for it.
We end up becoming zealous for it.
Depending on the path you fall into, some people become
tyrannical and controlling. Others end up losing themselves.

(59:54):
And it's all through the greed of wanting to and that hunger of
wanting more, wanting that security, wanting that control.
And even those who lose themselves, who are people
pleasers, who play the hero. It is a subtle way to assert
control. It's just wearing a Cape.
Yeah. Yeah, it really is the endless

(01:00:14):
hunger. It's more like a vampire, right?
You know, talk about a a monsterfrom lore.
Greed convinces us that the fulfillment comes from what?
More and more and more. More wealth, more attention,
more control. And attachment convinces us that
if we just hold tighter, we won't lose what we love.

(01:00:36):
But what both of these things do?
They lead us away from the most authentic.
Well, let me let me restate the what these two things do.
They lead us away from freedom, which is the ultimate gift of
authenticity. The greatest gift that we can
give ourselves is freedom. And that only comes from by
being authentic. And both of these things lead us

(01:00:57):
away from that because we have to become something that we're
not to give ourselves the the illusion of the feeling that
we're going to have those things.
But really, they just put us in chains.
They put us in chains, They bindus, they bind us to things.
It's almost like selling your soul.
Even the Buddha said at the heart of suffering is

(01:01:18):
attachment. Whether it's to material goods,
reputation, wealth or love, attachment is the root of all
suffering. Right, because what you're doing
is you're denying you're, you're, you're swimming in, in a
pool of lack and you're denying the, the overwhelming abundance

(01:01:39):
that the universe is already providing you, right.
True wealth and true abundance is not found in possession, but
it's found in connection and generosity.
So the, the axiom we tie into this one is something we did a
whole show on. So I won't, I won't dive too
deep into this axiom, but it is disdain for those below you and

(01:02:01):
envy for those above you is the way of darkness.
How does that one tie in, tie into us here, into this one?
What's all about things outside of ourselves?
Right, exactly and. So much of us, I mean, it's
like, I remember I wanted to be an entrepreneur so bad and I
thought it was because I wanted to have the freedom and the
flexibility. I wanted to be a business owner
and I wanted to go out there anddo all these things.

(01:02:24):
And as I've gone through this healing journey, I've realized
like a lot of that attitude I originally had was all because I
wanted to be seen for having a business.
I wanted to be seen for being successful.
All I cared about was the validation I got outside of
myself instead of being like, hey, here you are right now,
you're enough. Don't even worry about it.
And that's one of the reasons this podcast, we've been going

(01:02:47):
now for almost a year. It's because we're coming at
this not trying to do this for that validation for for the
money. We're doing it because of we're
we're following purpose. Yes, yes, yes, we are shining
that light that we're talking about.
We are facing these things rightat our own peril sometimes, but
to your example, all that stuff did was keep you trapped in

(01:03:08):
comparison, right? Never have find a piece of what
you had in front of you. Now, this doesn't mean to
settle, should never settle until you find your authentic
self and your authentic purpose,right?
But there are lots of good things in front of you that you
are ignoring because you're trapped in this loop of
comparison because you're alwaystrying to keep up with the

(01:03:31):
Joneses, these other business owners, these other.
Well, I see lots of videos. This guy does it.
This guy does it right. The way of light releases envy
and it honors dignity and it remembers that no one is above
or below. We are all threads in the same
web. As I've said to you before, I am
your teacher, Michael. But we're still here together,

(01:03:52):
you know, here together, just had a different orientation.
And you'll find, you'll find as you walk.
And if you are aware and if you are clear that you will find
others in your life where you are like this with them.
They're going here and you're going here, but you're still,
you're still connected. You're still not.
Better than not more than none of them.
Exactly, exactly. Just a different orientation,

(01:04:14):
right? So the the obvious agreement
that ties into this last shadow for us has to be generosity,
right? Has to be.
Through generosity. We can be humbled enough to for
those above us to ask questions,to learn from them, or for those
below us to offer support and towant to help them rise as well.

(01:04:35):
Yeah. Without generosity, what is a
night? Let me ask you that question.
Without generosity, what is it? What is a night then, if they
don't have generosity in their heart?
All right? Are they really a knight?
Because generosity is not simplycharity.
It is literally the spirit of the knight embodied in their
actions. Without generosity, a knight is

(01:04:56):
little more than just a shell, just an empty suit of armor,
because it is the lifeblood thatanimates honor, gives life to
compassion and loyalty and love.Right Now, a question that
always comes up when I talked about generosity of the people
is, well, does one person deserve help more than another?
Sometimes, Yeah. Because the world will tempt us

(01:05:17):
and it'll try to get us to weighpeople on our own scales of
worthiness, which is flawed, even the best of us, right?
Because we're always told from all sides, some are deserving
and others are unworthy. But that's that's the language
of judgement. That is not the language of

(01:05:38):
light, of truth, and Illuminari must rise above such narrow
thinking because we can never fully know the story of another
person's heart or their life. We don't.
We don't always see the hidden burdens that they carry.
We don't always see their woundsbecause in a lot of times they
don't even see the burdens or the wounds, right?

(01:05:58):
Right. Or the trials that they endure
in silence. Yeah.
I mean, often as we talk about, we're talking about how we, the
mask of deception, so many people are blind to the things
they are doing that are sabotaging their own lives.
And it's through grace, humility.
It is through generosity of our time and our attention and our

(01:06:18):
honesty. Can we help people come full
circle with themselves and startthis journey as well?
Yes. Though again, it's not our job
to push this stuff. Let them come to you.
If you if you want to help someone, be the example you want
to see. That's right.
When they're ready, offer that hand.
Offer but don't force, right? And yes, discernment must temper

(01:06:40):
our generosity because there aretimes where we enable harm or
abuse by accident, right? And that's not compassion,
that's folly. That's a fool's errand.
But beyond these extremes, the path of the luminary, our path,
the path of Ashland, calls us tobe open hearted and to give open

(01:07:03):
hearted. To empower others is to give
them the strength to stand in their own truth, in their own
life, not to make them bow before ours, not to think that
we can buy our way to heaven or connection or to anywhere.
Our task is not to produce followers per SE, but to kindle
more beacons, to light more fires, to help others discover

(01:07:25):
that strength that was theirs all along, was there all along.
The truest generosity is not about money, but it's about
presence and time and the willingness to see that divine
spark in every single soul. A night gives without seeking
dominion, do we not? Yes.

(01:07:45):
A night uplifts without demanding repayment, do we not?
Yeah, A night serves without expectation of glory or applause
or praise, do we not? It's the way.
It's the way so when generosity is absent, a night becomes
brittle and as you said, self-serving.
But when it's present, when it'struly present, generosity flows

(01:08:07):
like those living waters that nourishes and heals and
empowers. To be generous is to mirror
source himself who gives withoutmeasure, without exhaustion,
without condition. Now, like I'm fond of saying,
every time Michael brings up that people who chase wealth and
people who chase fame and all this stuff find themselves

(01:08:29):
empty, I like to offer the devil's advocate response to
that because again, it's about balance.
Accumulation is not in itself the enemy because we may gather
wealth, we may gather knowledge,we may gather resources.
But the distinction, Michael, isthat these things are tools that

(01:08:50):
we wield. They're not our masters, right?
It's in this over attachment that corrupts us.
Again, we all have some attachment to things.
I like Michael more than I like lots of other people, right?
But but that attachment is not an over attachment.
It does not. I don't allow it to harden into

(01:09:10):
greed because the hand that closes upon itself can no longer
serve right. And a greedy heart cannot truly
lift others, which is our literal purpose for serving.
It is. It is what animates us.
Now. Charities and organizations have
their place and it is really good to support most of them.
Some of them maybe do your homework, do your research, as

(01:09:33):
we've said in another show aboutchampion causes.
But look, no gift can equal the weight of direct compassion.
That hand extended the listeningear, that presence that says you
are not forgotten, bro, I see you if you need me, I got you
right, Right. So at the end of the day, we

(01:09:54):
don't measure generosity by the size of the ACT, but in the
sincerity of the heart. And the world is not transformed
by these great, great big grand gestures.
Sometimes they are, but most of the time it's the countless
small moments of care and responsibility that helps each
little tiny spark of light Pierce these shadows and these

(01:10:16):
monsters. Do you have anything to add to
all the things we talked about today?
Or, or generosity or Yes. So I have everyone.
Everyone. Thing that's here, I know
generosity. I gave you a lot.
Let's hear it. Man, this is this is all gold
right here. But when we're talking
generosity, if you're someone listening to this and you're

(01:10:36):
like, I'm actually a very generous person.
I give to those I care about. I, I give, I give, I give.
Ask yourself, is there a balancethere?
Generosity with others and generosity with yourself?
Because it is equally important to be generous with yourself if
you find yourself on a scale here, if you're on the side
where you're too generous with others.
The method I've come up with formyself to start cultivating more

(01:10:59):
generosity with myself is I mustbe 51% selfish and 49% selfless.
If there's someone who struggleswith generosity with others,
flip it, I must be 51% selfless and 49% selfish.
Through this, we can cultivate the skills we need for those who

(01:11:19):
are learning to be generous withthemselves.
That means you put yourself first in any ordeal and it
doesn't mean to be selfish or tobe domineering, but it means to
make sure you put yourself at the front of the actions you
take so that you're not self abandoning for others.
And on the other side of the spectrum, that 51% selfless

(01:11:40):
means you're going to think about the consequences of your
actions before you impact those around you.
So take that to heart when it comes to this.
And again, give yourself grace. This is maybe even something
I've started to embody for the last couple years, but by no
means am I perfect at it. Practice, practice, practice.
With this whole episode, all things.

(01:12:01):
It takes time and it's OK to start from way back here and
work your way up. Just give yourself grace, give
yourself love, and give yourselfcompassion.
I'm going to give you a little bit of grace because you embody
the teaching of generosity. You do, I see it, you do.
You are so giving with your time, but not to give because

(01:12:22):
you have a great balance in yourlife, right?
And I know that, I know that was, I know that was a hard Rd.
for you to get to, but you got there, you know, don't stop
practicing ever. As our path dictates, we start
off with awakening, but we end up with awakening.
There's never an ending to this path.
We just start again. But I will tell you that you

(01:12:44):
embody this lesson well, my friend.
I appreciate it. You do, you do.
And of course, the ethos that tie into to this shadow, this
monster is connection has to be connection, because that
illusion of greed is separation,disconnection, right?
Because you're saying things like I, I got to keep all this

(01:13:05):
for myself because there's not enough for us all.
So I might as well take it. Might as well hold on to it.
Might as well. And that's again, that's not
just goods and services and money and that's time and love
and compassion and things like that too.
Because the truth of connection reveals to us that abundance
belongs to us all in equal measure.
We just have to learn to see it already manifesting in front of

(01:13:27):
us. Don't settle.
But we also don't disconnect. And in connection and in
generosity, we realize that wealth and abundance multiplies
when it is shared, not when it'shoarded.
So our practice for generosity, this one might be tough for some
of you. This something like this is

(01:13:48):
tough for some people in my house.
I won't say who they are. I know they're listening, some
of them are listening, but when it's time to clean out the
closet, I'll say this part gets hard at my house.
Not for me. Because you guys see, I wear the
same damn shirt almost every time, so I don't own many.
Shirts, I always have to mix it up.
I know, I know, it's because I don't own many.

(01:14:09):
But to find a small object and start small.
Don't give yourself a trauma over this, but find a small
object that you value, but you also are willing to part with.
It could be a little stone that you that you like that you think
is pretty. You know, it could be, it could
be like a little a little crystal.
It could be a coin. It could be some just just a
keepsake of some kind. Now I want you to hold it

(01:14:31):
tightly in in your hand, you know, make a fist and do that
for a minute. I want you to I want you to hold
grip real hard. Now don't do this with like a
cactus or something. You know, I don't have you guys
signing waivers or anything, buttake it and hold tightly for a
minute. Notice the tension and notice
the discomfort and the effort ittakes to cling on to it.

(01:14:54):
Now we can sit here for a whole minute and do this and I can
tell you I'm going to get some. I'm already getting sick of
squeezing this crystal in my in my hand already.
Once you've done that for at least a minute, notice the
tension and all that stuff. Now slowly open your hand and
feel how good that feels to release in your body.

(01:15:15):
Your muscles get to stretch out in the space you've now created
in your hand around the object. It feels better, doesn't it?
Especially this thing, because this little damn thing was
stabbing me on my thumb. Place the object somewhere that
you can give it away. So place it away from you.
All right, That's no longer mine.
It's over here. I'm going to give it to somebody

(01:15:37):
and I will give this to somebodytomorrow, OK?
Michael will verify that for me.And I'm not giving it to you,
Michael, So don't get your hopesup.
Gosh darn it. Place the object somewhere away
from you and you're going to give this away to a friend, to a
stranger. You could bury it in the earth
as an offering to creation. Don't give it to an animal.

(01:15:58):
They'll choke to death on it. You know, I shouldn't have to
tell you guys this. You guys are grown-ups.
You know this. And once you've done that, once
that's all done. And, and you don't have to do
this tomorrow or give yourself some time if you need it, but
once you give it away and you come back home that day, I want
you to reflect on something. What else am I holding on to in
my life that drains me? Thoughts, fears, feelings,
untamed emotions. How can I begin to release?

(01:16:20):
What steps do I need to take to begin to let go?
And what can I do so that the flow of abundance can move
freely within me? Anything you want to add to that
exercise? Now that's good, that's
powerful, and unfortunately you called me out a lot with it too,
because I am one of those hoarders.
I was being very careful and notnot because I know that you're a

(01:16:42):
hoarder, because I don't. You don't look like you don't
present as a hoarder, but. I'll take it they see my
background. Meant for many years, you know,
some of the worst calls I ever went on was going to a house
where there was a medical emergency and I could not even
get to the person wall and climband literally like literally dig
my way to them sometimes. So I understand the extremes.

(01:17:06):
And if you, if you have those kind of problems, you, you
really, really, really need to reach out to someone who can
help you with that. You know, there are teams of
people out there. They have counselors and
organizers and people who can, you know, kind of like the show
hoarders. Those teams actually exist out
there and they're ready to help And a lot of times they can help

(01:17:26):
for free. So we're going to, we're going
to end this show by integrating everything we've talked about
today and we're going to do something that I'm very fond of
and I'm very fond of saying everything could be a teacher if
we allow it, right? So we're going to integrate
these things. We're going to turn the monsters
into teachers. These shadows, these monsters we
face, whether it's the fear, theshame, anger, deception, greed,

(01:17:50):
or all of those things, they're not enemies to destroy.
Integrate here. We integrate.
We don't associate with, but we integrate because when you start
throwing things away just haphazardly, what happens?
You may throw away something that's good in you, right.
So these, these shadows, if we allow them to be, they could be

(01:18:10):
guides and they almost always are.
They're guides. They point us to where we must
give attention to. They show us where the wound is.
They show they show us where ourhealing is most needed, but also
what what lesson we need the most in that moment.
So again, in Ashla, we are not called to deny, repress,

(01:18:32):
destroy, but to transform, to perform alchemy.
So each of these shadows carriesa message, fear into courage.
Fear reveals where trust must grow shame into grace.
Shame is a is a signal that there are places that we most
need forgiveness and mercy. Anger into mercy, because anger

(01:18:56):
highlights where compassion is missing.
Deception into integrity. When lies are exposed, truth
must stand, wholeness must be what we've become.
Deception's a really good place to learn integrity.
It really is if you're, if you're brave enough to face it.
Greed turns into generosity because clinging demonstrates to

(01:19:17):
us that the power of release is much more powerful than holding
on to everything, right? So I teach, Michael teaches our
path, teaches that the shadow isnot a curse, but a teacher.
You know, you're not broken, you're not cursed.
These are teachers. That's why I always say we are
our best teachers. We have many lessons to teach

(01:19:39):
ourselves. We need help.
All of us, even me. We all need help sometimes.
Sometimes we can get through it.But there's nothing, nothing
weak about reaching out for help.
And every teacher leads us back to wisdom.
Now, those are such powerful tieinsurance too, because when we
look at these things, I know at least one or two of these has

(01:19:59):
resonated with each person who has listened to this.
When we can go towards the antithesis, if we can go after
courage when we're feeling fear,if we can seek mercy when we're
feeling angry, all right. It's all about that.
Switch the gap between reaction or between stimulus and
response. That is what will ground us and

(01:20:20):
that is what will help us persevere.
It's not going to be easy. It's not going to be something
that is perfect every time. But yes, but you can't do it.
Michael, I love you. That was perfect.
Fear is the reaction. Courage is the response.
Shame is the reaction. Grace is the response.
Anger is the reaction. Mercy is the response.
Deception is the reaction. Integrity is the response.

(01:20:45):
Greed is the reaction. Generosity is response.
You could even say it like this.Fear is the ailment.
Courage is the medicine. Right?
Beautiful, my brother, beautiful.
He's starting to get good. You're starting to get good at
this. You're rubbing off on me a
little bit, I think. My God, I guess so.
You're rubbing off on me too. See how that works?

(01:21:05):
So our exercise, our final exercise is we're going to
reframe. We like the reframing here,
don't we? We do this, we do this, but it's
important to reframe and shadow work, rewriting the story,
reframing, but rewriting and reframing in truth toward
authenticity is is what integrates the shadow.

(01:21:25):
For us, right? So and you're going to do this
one at a time, one at a time. Do not try to do all of these or
more because we, we only talked about 5 shadows today.
There are many, many others, If there are ones that you are
dealing with now that you have named and you've exposed, but
you're trying to work through itthat we didn't talk about today,

(01:21:47):
you can replace that into into this exercise.
But do one at a time because it may take you months or years or
six days. I don't know.
That part's up to you, but you have to do it truthfully and
honestly. So choose one shadow that feels
most present in your life right now.

(01:22:08):
Get your journal, write it down on a naming it honestly, as
painful as that may be. Name it Rumpelstiltskin, right?
Don't call it Rumpelstiltskin, but you know what I mean.
For example, I feel fear when I'm thinking, when I think about
failing. I always use that one because
that's a pretty common one. It's something that has plagued

(01:22:30):
me over time. Now, beneath that, I want you to
reframe it into truth, into light.
And if it's fear, the example I'm using, you take, you write
the word fear, write you an arrow, and then I want you to
write in quotation marks. I know this seems silly, but I
want you to write it in a way that's framing it coming from

(01:22:52):
you, coming from your voice. I am learning courage.
If it's shame, right? The word shame, put a little
arrow in quotation marks. I am receiving grace, anger,
same thing, quotation marks. I am practicing mercy.
If it's deception, same thing, quotation marks.
I am walking in integrity. Greed, same thing in quotation

(01:23:17):
marks. I am choosing generosity.
And for each one, whatever one you're working on, speak that
truth aloud at least three times.
But speak it 100 times if you need to, 300 times.
That part isn't important. And this is not a contest and
we're not comparing so. Build those neural pathways.
Yes, yes, throw them bumps on your head, not on your head, but

(01:23:40):
in your head, right? And end with a moment of
stillness, placing your hand over your heart and, and, and
you could say I am not my shadow, I am the light that
transforms it. So any, any thoughts on the
exercise? Anything you want to add to
that? No, that was beautiful.
All right, So what are your final thoughts and what are your

(01:24:00):
calls to action for today, today's episodes?
If you listened all the way through, I'm telling you, you
got to pick at least one shadow.It doesn't have to be 1 of the
ones we have on here. You know what's stopping you.
And if you don't know what it isin form, sit with yourself, sit
in that dark void and allow it to come to you.
I I heard this beautiful quote by Jordan Peterson and it's if

(01:24:21):
there's something stopping you in life, all you have to do is
sit there and ask what is it that's holding me back?
And it will come to the surface.You may not like the answer, but
it will come. You probably won't like the
answer. Yeah, sit with it.
Learn to give yourself grace forit, and then start working on

(01:24:42):
how you can counter this. Start building those narrow
pathways. Start building practices and
things you can do to stop in themoment to not be reactive, but
instead to respond because that's where the magic happens.
It's not in figuring things out,it's not reading the books.
It's in the small steps that youtake and the actions you make.

(01:25:04):
Well said. All right, let's do our
affirmative prayer. Light of creation, eternal
source of truth and love. I open myself now to your
presence. I affirm that no shadow within
me has power over the light thatlives in me.
Fear may whisper, but I answer with courage.
Shame may rise, but I clothe myself in grace.

(01:25:25):
Anger may burn, but I temper it with mercy.
Deception may mask, but I stand in integrity.
Greed may hunger, but I live in generosity.
I declare that I am not bound bythe monsters of the past.
Each shadow is my teacher, pointing me back to you, back to
connection, back to the sanctityof life that flows through all

(01:25:46):
creation. With responsibility, I tend to
the garden of my spirit. With patience, I trust the
timing of my growth. With faith and hope, I walk
forward in strength. With nobility, I live with
honor. With love and respect, I affirm
the dignity of all life, including my own.
I released fear. I release shame.

(01:26:07):
I release anger. I release deception.
I release greed. I welcome courage, grace, mercy,
integrity and generosity to taketheir place today.
I walk as a servant of the light.
I am whole. I am free.
I'm aligned with the truth of who I am.

(01:26:27):
So be it, And so it is. And so it is.
Our affirmations for today. I face fears with courage,
knowing that the light within meis greater than any shadow.
I release shame and embrace grace, affirming that I am
worthy of love and belonging. I transform anger into mercy,
protecting my heart with compassion and understanding.

(01:26:47):
I live in integrity, removing every mask of deception and
walking in the truth of who I am.
I loosen the grip of greed and attachment, choosing generosity
and connection as my true abundance.
And our journal prompts. Justin, you keep giving us so
much homework. Yes, I do want you to know that
I do these things too. I do them before I give them to

(01:27:08):
you. So I do my work twice.
And Michael will tell you that Igive him lots of homework, but
it's not true because I've done the work twice before I even
give it to him. Oh, you give plenty of homework,
but it all matters. It all, it all has a purpose.
So the first journal prompt willbe for Fear the Paralyzer.

(01:27:29):
Where in my life is fear keepingme from moving forward?
What would courage look like if I took one step anyway?
If I took one step anyway? For shame.
The silent destroyer. What story of unworthiness do I
keep telling myself over and over and over again?
How can I replace it with a story rooted in grace, love, and

(01:27:50):
most importantly, truth? For anger and hatred?
The Devourers? What unresolved wound lies
beneath my anger? How can I bring mercy and
compassion into that space for deception, the masked one?
Where am I hiding behind a mask with myself, others, or even
with all of with creation itself?
What would it, what would integrity restore if I embraced

(01:28:13):
the truth, the whole truth? And for greed and attachment,
the endless hunger? What am I clinging to most
tightly? And what fear drives my
attachment? How would generosity or
connection bring me freedom? Here, I'll give you a part of
the answer. Unlimited potential mind blowing
stuff will happen to you. It is the truth.
So thank you so much for joiningus, Michael.

(01:28:35):
Thank you my friend. You always, always, always,
always bring the good stuff, thea game.
I appreciate it. Be right back at.
You and thank you so much for joining us.
Don't forget to like and subscribe and share our stuff if
it resonates with you or if anything we talked about would
help someone else that you know.So help us reach a broader

(01:28:56):
audience. And of course, always put your
comments, your suggestions, yourgripes and complaints in the
comments under these. Wherever these shows are, pretty
much anywhere we post these, youhave the opportunity to do that.
So and check out our website. Michael keeps pumping out the
blog post. I am this close to putting out
the teachings and we have some exciting stuff coming for you

(01:29:19):
soon. Well, we're going to really get
a branch out and really set the world on fire in a good way here
very, very soon. So.
Yes, indeed. Yes indeed.
So thanks again. We love you guys with love and
gratitude, Add Luchum. Add luchum.

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