The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Shaolin Warrior Monk: The Hidden Epidemic Nobody Is Talking About! This Modern Habit Is Quietly Killing Millions! Prediction For The Collapse Of The West!
Thu, 24 Apr 2025
From pain to purpose, Master Shi Heng Yi reveals the ancient mind tricks Shaolin monks use to master themselves and break free. Master Shi Heng Yi is Headmaster of the Shaolin Temple Europe and a spiritual teacher, who shares ancient Eastern philosophy to help people master their mind, body, and purpose in life. He is also the author of the book, ‘Shaolin Spirit: The Way to Self-Mastery’. In this conversation, Master Shi Heng Yi and Steven discuss topics such as, the hidden epidemic nobody is talking about, the modern habit that’s quietly killing millions, why the West is falling, and the real reason you’re always anxious. 00:00 Intro 02:13 What's Your Mission & What Do People Come to You For 05:53 Why Are We Suffering? 07:34 How Do We Find Our Purpose? 13:18 Why People Struggle to Find Their Purpose 15:40 What Do We Need to Be Connected To? 21:26 Identities and the Feeling of Lack 26:56 Letting Go of Your Ideas 29:08 How to Break Old Patterns 34:57 Training New Patterns 35:43 Advice for Young Men 38:43 Why Are Young Men Struggling? 39:45 The 5 Things Holding All Humans Back 42:16 Living in a World Full of Temptations 43:23 Discipline 45:25 Be Aware of Your Trigger Moments 49:01 Bringing Light to the Dark Areas of Your Life 01:07:47 Negative Feelings That Stop You From Growing 01:10:49 How Not to Be Affected by What Others Think of You 01:26:06 Ads 01:26:58 Kung Fu and Waking Up 01:32:20 The Shaolin Virtues 01:33:13 Do You Believe in God? 01:36:02 Are You Happy? 01:37:28 What Are Karmic Connections? 01:38:49 What Is Your Daily Practice? 01:43:38 The Importance of Doing Hard Things 01:48:29 How Master Shi Embraces Growth Daily 01:53:05 First Step to Be Comfortable With Uncertainty 01:57:42 Ads 01:59:54 What Is the RAIN Method? 02:03:46 Your Last Message to Your Son 02:05:01 I Couldn't Grieve My Father's Death 02:11:22 What to Do When Things Are Left Unsaid With Someone Who's Gone 02:14:58 What Does It Mean to Master Oneself? 02:25:10 What Is Your Greatest Regret? Follow Master Shi Heng Yi: Instagram Shaolin.Online: https://g2ul0.app.link/AifGPompPSb Instagram Shi Heng Yi: https://g2ul0.app.link/9nNBaGvpPSb Instagram Shaolin Temple Europe: https://g2ul0.app.link/XjRVrtxpPSb Shi Heng Yi Website - https://g2ul0.app.link/okadS79yNSb Shi Heng Yi YouTube - https://g2ul0.app.link/ja5XXWfzNSb You can pre-order Master Shi Heng Yi’s book, ‘Shaolin Spirit: The Way to Self-Mastery’, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/gKQzAX2yNSb Watch the episodes on Youtube - https://g2ul0.app.link/DOACEpisodes 🚀 The 1% Diary is back - and it won’t be around for long, so act fast! https://bit.ly/1-Diary-Megaphone-ad-reads You can purchase the The Diary Of A CEO Conversation Cards: Second Edition, here: https://g2ul0.app.link/f31dsUttKKb Sign up to receive email updates about Diary Of A CEO here: https://bit.ly/diary-of-a-ceo-yt Ready to think like a CEO? Gain access to the 100 CEOs newsletter here: https://bit.ly/100-ceos-newsletter Follow me: https://g2ul0.app.link/gnGqL4IsKKb Sponsors: Linkedin Jobs - https://www.linkedin.com/doac Perfect Ted - https://www.perfectted.com with code DIARY40 for 40% off Vivobarefoot - https://vivobarefoot.com/DOAC with code DIARY20 for 20% off Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Master Shi Heng Yi and what is his mission?
This world is filled with so much choice that it's difficult to take a decision which direction to go, what is right to do. And so there is a lot of suffering with the skills that you are developing through Kung Fu training involves methods and practices that give you the ability to do this. But there are five hindrances that make it difficult for you to still keep your goal in the mind.
Chapter 2: Why are people suffering and struggling to find their purpose?
There is sensory desires, ill will, dullness, restlessness, and then self-doubt.
And to overcome the five hindrances, you recommend the four-step RAIN method. Yes, and with this, I make it super simple. Because your father passed away from cancer. Yeah. How does one let go of that and therefore break the pattern? I will show you some practices. Number one.
I find it incredibly fascinating that when we look at the back end of Spotify and Apple and our audio channels, the majority of people that watch this podcast haven't yet hit the follow button or the subscribe button, wherever you're listening to this. I would like to make a deal with you.
If you could do me a huge favor and hit that subscribe button, I will work tirelessly from now until forever to make the show better and better and better and better forever. I can't tell you how much it helps when you hit that subscribe button. The show gets bigger, which means we can expand the production, bring in all the guests you want to see and continue to do in this thing we love.
If you could do me that small favor and hit the follow button, wherever you're listening to this, that would mean the world to me. That is the only favor I will ever ask you. Thank you so much for your time. Based on everything that's happening in the world right now and the work that you've committed your life to, What is the mission that you are on and why is it so important right now?
I do think that in this world there have always been different streams, different forces, one of them leading to the betterment of humanity, one of them leading to the destruction of humanity. And I do think that there are types of wisdom and knowledge existing out there that very easily without any additional knowledge Help for anything else can be very useful for the people nowadays.
You don't need to go anywhere. The only thing you need to do is take a moment, contemplate about yourself, go into yourself and find the answers there and then decide for yourself which part and what type of contribution would you like to make gift to the world that you're living in. I ultimately think this is what I'm doing.
And what is it that you see people struggling with? Because so many people write to you, they send messages to you, they come and see you. What is it that you hear they're struggling with at a fundamental level?
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Chapter 3: How can we find our true purpose in life?
I would say it's diversity and choice. This world is filled with so much choice, meanwhile, that it's difficult in a way to take a decision which direction to go, what is right to do, what is not right to do. But ultimately, it's only yourself who knows the answer, which means it comes to the essential point, learn more about yourself. This is where it starts.
Because if you have the wrong perspective of who you are, what you are, everything else in this lifetime you base your decisions on is just not going to be placed in the right direction.
And what are the other things that you hear people suffering with on a daily basis in the modern world with the way that the world is now? It's digitalized. We're lonelier than ever. Mental health seems to be surging. What are the fundamental things they say to you or that you infer through what they're saying that they are actually struggling with?
So an overload of choice and an inability to make a clear decision is number one.
So being perfectly honest, I usually do not very much rely on what the people tell me, what they think, what problem they have. It's just that I look and I can see already what I think. And foremost, one of these, and it's very simple, non-religious, nothing about believing. It simply is the fact you don't use your body as it is intended to be. Very simple.
You sit, many people sit too much during the day. The body is not active at all. A lot of work, a lot of energy investment is done with the mind. Less energy investment is done really with the body. And that simply means, for me, I can see there's a disbalance. Whoever created us, he did not create us to sit with our butt on one place and do thinking work the whole time.
I do think a part of why we have been created is to get out on the field and just do something out there.
And what is the cost of not utilising our body in the way that it was meant to be utilised?
Unbalanced energies that can translate into anxiety, that can translate into dissatisfaction, that can translate into continuously searching and never being satisfied. And the most common thing, not realizing how precious the moments are that you have. And instead of replacing them with illusions and dreams and assumptions, which are just not real. Meaning everybody is not even Buddhist.
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Chapter 4: What are the five hindrances that hold us back?
Because there's so many people that say they are struggling to find meaning in their life or they feel purposelessness. And, you know, I get so many messages from people all over the world saying that they, saying things like, is this it? Is this all my life is?
So this is literally... Also, one point that you just mentioned is that it isn't there more. That has always been a part that followed me along the way. Especially now in the last three, four years after social media, the algorithm of social media really started also pushing us quite out there.
More requests were coming of doing workshops, of doing podcasts, of teaching here, of teaching there, of making television show, of participating in movies. And of course, all together with this, doors start to open, different things start to come in. But at some point, I just couldn't believe that this is supposed to be the purpose. Because it all still had to do with doing. The constant doing.
Doing. And there I felt in my life now looking at this, this couldn't be it. So I looked for alternatives always and always again, especially feeling that along the way of what you would say achieving something, being recognized at something, yeah, but there's another side that goes hand in hand with it that the public doesn't see. There were times I could simply be surrounded with like...
Thousands, thousands of people, but still feel lonely. It's not what you're surrounded with. It's with what you are connected. And there I felt like there is always, again, this type of force. What is it that drives you on? Going outwards, going outwards, going outwards, you lose yourself. But this self is the only thing that can give you connection in this life.
And what do you need to be connected to then? You talked about being surrounded by thousands and being lonely. And it's really about what you're connected to. What does one need to be connected to?
Maybe before I answer you this question, there's one thing I maybe want to mention beforehand. So when I went to elementary school and also during my school time, I actually, for example, joined Christian lesson. So by my parents, I grew up with Buddhist tradition, let's say. From the martial art training, I also got introduced into so-called Zen Buddhism.
Because my father always told me, look son, we are here in a foreign country, you're a foreigner. It's always better to have friends than to have enemies. That's why I made always friends with everyone. Meaning I had a lot of Russian friends, I had a lot of Arabic friends, I had a lot of Turkish friends. Multicultural. Also meaning... At some point, I also got introduced into Islam.
Bottom line is, taking all of this knowledge from the past into my mind, no matter from which angle I'm watching right now, I do believe that we all have a source. There is a source. So whether you call that source, it's the universe. Whether you call the source, it is the God. Whether this source is the infinite energy, I don't know. There are so many different expressions to it.
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Chapter 5: How can we break old patterns and train new ones?
Where do the two come from? They must come from one. So simple like in our way, you are there, I am here, one, two, where do we come from? There must be something that we have as a common denominator. And this source is the only thing that can connect us. Because it's not your family. It's not my family. They're still different. That is not enough. Going just looking at we are humans.
Animals same. Whatever and whoever gave us the possibility to be here is the same who gave you the permission, is the same who gave me the permission and the blessing. And this is what I think. This is the level of mind. This is the level of connection that never leaves you lonely. This is the one that I mean. Being connected to the source.
Yes. Now, for someone that is listening to this and is confused at this juncture and they're asking themselves, what is that source? You've described it in many potential ways, but my attempt at describing it is it is ultimately where we came from. That is the source. Is there a better way of describing it for people that might be unfamiliar with the concept?
First of all, I cannot speak without it and it would make sense to everyone. That's already the first very, very difficult part. That's why my intention is never to say what is it. The only thing I can do is to give pointers. But ultimately, there's only one person who will be able to find it out. And it's not me finding it out for somebody else. Everybody will find out for himself or herself.
So every human being, I do think, is at a different level of his growth, of his development. And everybody gets what he needs exactly in the moment where he is in. Which is why I think everybody at this moment in time is exactly where he needs to be for the next elevation to take place. The only thing you need to do is look at yourself right now and just find out what is it that makes you unhappy.
What exactly is it that at this moment in your life is binding you and restricting you from moving on. And this is the same question for everyone. But what you ultimately need to tackle is different. In the past, I sometimes played Super Mario and Luigi. Yeah. And it's the same if you don't manage level number one. You won't see level number two. The challenges from number two won't come.
The end boss from number two is not going to come. First you finish level one. But once number one is finished, you won't face the same stuff anymore. And there is something along this line where it sometimes is like a game at the same time. Don't take it so serious. It helps.
On that point of we're all struggling with something based on the levels we're at, if you had to try and summarise what the common answer is to what people are struggling with, what do you think that might be? I was thinking about my best friends, because sometimes it's easier to step outside of oneself and look at others.
And I was reflecting on the conversations I've had with them over the last couple of weeks about things they're struggling with. And I would define a lot of it as wanting. So wanting to improve their businesses, wanting to improve maybe their romantic situations and find love. I would say the essence of it, the suffering seems to be striving for something that they're unable to grab.
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Chapter 6: Why are so many young men struggling today?
But I wondered if you had a different perspective on that.
Two things that right now would come to my mind. There is always the struggle between doing and being. Doing, I would ask, why are you doing? So why? Why do you want to go into action? Mostly, there is a goal. The goal, why do you have that goal? Because you're aiming at receiving something that in the moment where you have it, apparently you are lacking.
So that means this type of goal setting, in my perspective, I would automatically refer to it already that your goal setting already comes from a space of lack. You feel like you're lacking something. That's why you need to do. You feel like you're lacking something. That's why you need to educate yourself. Okay? So this is the one direction.
Now coming back, maybe it sounds again too philosophical. Connected with the source. There's nothing to add and there's nothing to take away from you. So apparently when somebody has this very, very high ambition of doing something, achieving something, then most likely the chances are there this is not coming from a connection to the source.
It is coming from the idea of wanting to nourish or create an identity, an identity that represents something that you think you want to represent. So this is the one area, the doing versus the being. And then the second thing is that ultimately goes hand in hand. with this way of living your life is that one thing is being forgotten along the line.
The truth of that whoever and whatever you are creating and are intending to create and are intending to gather now and starting to attain things, your attainment maximum is going to last 100 years. That is the other truth. And I do believe people understand exactly what I said. But there comes the fight now again. The fight between, yes,
between this very strong identity that wants to just maintain itself and the other side of just forget about your identity. Be as you are. That's it. No matter what you're going to attain, you have it for 100 years after what is gone. So just be. Don't stress yourself too much with what you don't have. Well, unfortunately... And this is always going to continue like this.
Unfortunately, there are always three ways how you're going to learn this. Sometimes people just need to have the experience to realize, okay, I did it, I got it, now I realize I don't need it. But in the first place, you need to have it. First way of learning. Second way of learning. You do trust a certain teacher. You do trust a certain guide or a mentor.
You just copy the way how he's living his life. So your approach is you just copy because you see, oh, apparently the person lives a good life. So you just copy. Second way of learning. And the third way of learning is you maybe have like a teacher or a master. He tells you some wise words. You contemplate about it. You think about it.
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Chapter 7: What is the importance of awareness and discipline in overcoming desires?
But maybe that is also already the lesson involved in this person's life. You have this goal in the mind. You put all your energy, all your effort into trying to achieve that. You're 20 years old. You're trying. You're 30 years old. You're trying. 40 years already, you're still trying. 50 years, you still haven't let go of the idea. Well, at some point, hopefully, you see exactly that...
that senseless approach of how you personally already wasted 30 years of following a goal with the conclusion of two things. Number one, you haven't achieved it yet. Or number two, you didn't have the right way of achieving it. But the bottom line is you have two ways now what to do. Let go of the idea that you need it and redirect your life or redirect your approach
of how you still want to achieve that goal if you don't want to let go of it. But apparently one of these two things is not right. And the more you want your life now, let's say, in the future to be quite different than what you're used to, the more you need to be able to let go. Let go of patterns, let go of the way of thoughts that you had in the last years and months.
Now, if nothing changes about that, there will not come a new life.
so many of us live in patterns the same cycles we end up getting the same results and those results result in unhappiness and suffering and i was speaking to a friend over the weekend about how one of our other friends has lived in a bit of a pattern and they've been able to unable to find love and companionship because of some things that happened when they were younger
I think they were bullied. So they have this sort of deeper sense of having to prove themselves and insecurity. And this shows up all the time because when they meet someone, they present a facade which might not necessarily be accurate. And then very quickly the relationship ends because it was never real in the first place. But this person's now aware of it.
But it's still happening over and over again. They're still living out the same pattern in their life and still getting the same results and dissatisfaction. So when we think about trauma at an early age that results in this sort of cyclical pattern of getting same behavior, same results, I wondered if you had a perspective on how one can let go of that and therefore break the pattern.
So let me draw you a picture. I was a four-year-old boy. having father and mother, Asian origin, being refugees from Vietnam Laos, meaning they ran away from the war, coming to Europe, coming to Germany with the idea that for the children to have a better security on the one side, feeling more safe in Germany without the instability that they witness in their own country.
And so, of course, father and mother with this idea put a lot of pressure in early ages already in terms of you need to be good at school, you need to achieve, you need to prove yourself. So this is the education from father and mother. At the same time, with the age of four, I went into a Shaolin Kung Fu school, learning martial arts.
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Chapter 8: How can we manage negative emotions and ill will?
From this moment, there's one thing I can tell by myself what I would absolutely prevent when it would come, let's say, to the education or what I share with my son. Like I said, I felt I was never enough. There was always something that additionally needed to be done. So, which literally means for me, for my son, there is nothing to be done. There is nothing he has to achieve.
If there would be something, it is stay connected. So in terms of I don't see myself as somebody who is now having the responsibility to shape my son. No, I only provide the framework. I try to provide the most safe framework for my son. He can try out whatever he wants. If he fails, he will learn by himself to get up again and keep trying. So, you know... to fail, and then to continue.
I just want to build up this framework as good as I can to make him feel safe. But trial and error is what I do believe is the way how you find yourself. So definitely not being spoiled, but at the same time also not like keeping something away from him where I make him feel like he's not enough.
So ultimately I do think in the modern way of how to express it in all these attachment theories, very simple. Of course it's the secure way of being a stable, own-built, self-made, self-sufficient person. individual who knows his own value. Why? Because he failed and got up.
Why do you think so many young men are struggling?
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Chapter 9: How does Master Shi Heng Yi handle criticism and other people's opinions?
Whatever shows up right now at this moment, 2025, it didn't start in 2025. Whatever appears right now, sometimes it's the result of how things have been handled, how the education has been from previous years, whether it's the last 10 years, whether it's the last 20 years. So it's not necessarily what did the generation right now did wrong, let's say.
No, it's also the question of what did the previous generation missed to keep passing on. that ultimately led to the result that we have nowadays. And this is the question where I do think it's multilayered.
You gave a TED Talk in 2020, almost five years ago now, about the five hindrances. What are the five hindrances? You described them as five mental states that are holding us back
Let's put the context first. Take a symbol. Just you have a goal setting. You set yourself whatever goal it is. You have your goal. So your mind is set on the goal normally. The five hindrances now simply describe there are five mental states. that would actually make it difficult for you to still keep your goal in the mind, whatever goal that is.
The number one, for example, is called sensual desire. Sensual desire means you are too receptive for any type of pleasurable feeling in regards to your five senses. You're being too quickly attracted when you see something beautiful. You're too quickly attracted if you smell something tasty. You're too quickly distracted when you have physical touch.
So the first hindrance means you're losing the goal already because in the moment something pleasurable is being presented to you, your mind has shifted already. So that means that first mental state only means, look, be aware of what is it that you are very easily attracted to. It doesn't say it's bad. It doesn't say it's good.
It just says in the context of you want to reach your goal, how to reach the goal the quickest, be focused with your energy. meaning be focused with the mind. Don't lose the goal from the mind. Whatever you do from the moment of waking up until the evening, whatever you do, keep the goal in the mind. This is the quickest way of making this goal become real.
Number two, simply said, you don't like discomfort. You don't like challenges. You don't like hardship. In that TEDx talk, I described it like you're walking along the path and then suddenly it starts to rain, but you don't like rain. So instead of you just continue to follow the path, you are starting to make your mind busy about what you don't like.
And already that means the mind starts to shift again, losing the focus of the goal. So this idea... Hindrance number one. Hindrance number two. Actually, you can easily say it like this. This is the goal. Two things not to do. Spend your time enjoying. Don't do this. Or spend your time rejecting that things are not the way how you imagine them to be. Both of these things.
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Chapter 10: What is the secret behind Master Shi Heng Yi’s ability to break a brick?
I was thinking about my friend when you mentioned awareness there, the friend I described earlier who exhibits the same pattern. And although they might be aware of the pattern, they might say, you know, I have this pattern, I don't believe they're aware of the moment where that pattern begins, like the singular trigger which sends them in that loop. And I was thinking the same about myself.
I was like, there's some behaviours that I have that I don't like. And although I'm aware of them, in the moment when it happens, I might not be conscious that the pattern has begun. That someone has said something, something has happened. And then you go on that pattern or you reach into the refrigerator at 1am in the morning and grab the thing or you end up being triggered by something.
So I wondered if there's a practice at all to increase our awareness of the trigger moment.
Yes.
This is, for example, where I very much appreciate so many different teachings that are meanwhile existing, freely available, for example, through the social media, including breath work, including yoga practices. All of them, if you have a proper teacher,
I'm very sure that this is exactly what is starting to raise your awareness for something that in this field, when you're spending some time, we refer to as energy. If you're not aware of your own inner layer, let's say like this, and somebody insults you, it can happen that somebody insulted me and then I just started exploding.
Yeah, but the fact is, before something explodes, before I explode, first of all, something must be lit. Already the small little flame already must have been lit. So when I already knew, who is it that I'm going to meet? Maybe that already, knowing, hearing the name from him, already was, ah, was already the starting point of a potential explosion
explosion to happen yeah so then ah this was where when this little flame already started being there and then you literally can feel things like this you can feel when something is has been injected let's say into you when something starts to arise because when the fire is already too big when the whole house is burning you're not gonna you're not gonna um put down that fire in any way
You can only put down all of these fires before things come to big, meaning we must find a way to be directly grabbing the root, grabbing the core, or grabbing the source of the explosion. And the only way that I know is you need to become more sensitive for everything that goes on in your body, in your surrounding, in everything. This is where, for me, awareness does play a role.
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