Ilchi Lee - Connect: How to Find Clarity and Expand Your Consciousness with Pineal Gland Meditation

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Copyright 2019 by Ilchi Lee

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Please understand that this book is not intended to treat, cure, or prevent any disease or illness. The information in this book is intended for educational purposes only, not as medical advice. Always check with your health professional before changing your diet, eating, or health program. The author and publisher disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use and application of any of the books contents.

First paperback edition: July 2019

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019940471

ISBN-13: 978-1-947502-14-7

Cover and interior design by Kiryl Lysenka

This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.

Dalai Lama

Where in your life are you standing right now, and with what mindset? When youve reached the end of a busy day, and youre tucking yourself in for the night, what do you feel in your heart? Do you feel confident that your life has a direction, and that you are the one driving your life in that direction?

If youre up against a particular challenge right now, do you have faith that you can overcome it and move on? Do you feel a sense of fulfillmentthat youve got a firm grip on the steering wheel of your life and are living the values that are meaningful to you? And more than anything, do you feel that youre deeply connected with yourself and that you truly love yourself?

Ive written this book to help you confidently answer Yes to these questions.

Over the last 40 years, Ive met with numerous people around the world as Ive given countless lectures and workshops. The people I met were invariably immersed in a plethora of anxieties great and small, looking for solutions. Seeing this, I thought hard about how I could help relieve their suffering, if only a little.

So, Ive created and taught many methods for recovering physical health, relieving mental anxiety, and developing happiness by reconnecting with the true self. Over the years, thousands of people of all ages and from all walks of life have benefited from the programs I have created, and I feel immense joy whenever I hear the testimonies of people who have been able to achieve a sense of well-being through these methods. Yet, I have never been satisfied that what I have offered is enough, so I am always looking to upgrade and refine what I present to people.

Recently I took a long look back at what Ive been doing for the last four decades and at the problems people have repeatedly presented to me, such as stress-related illnesses, depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. The more I reflected upon these common worries, the more the underlying cause became clear to me: peoples connection with themselves has been cut.

Its easy, and normal, to think that the causes of our problems are to be found outside ourselves, in other people or in the environment, but thats definitely not it. Dig deeper, and youll ultimately find that the primary cause of your problems lies not in your relationship with other people or in some imperfection in the environment, but rather in your connection with yourself. Yes, the earth suffers from pollution, and the behaviors and words of others can be toxic, but the first order of business is your own inner world, not the world outside of you. In fact, you will never be able to adequately solve outside problems if the interior connection isnt established first. You experience physical ailments, from headaches and indigestion to much more serious diseases, because your connection with your body isnt good. And if youre troubled, unable to find direction in some area of life, youre not really connected with your true self.

We can see the problems that arise from disconnection in every aspect of our lives, from our individual selves to the ecosystems of the earth. There are more than two billion Facebook users worldwide with approximately 300 friends per user, but loneliness has surfaced as a greater public health risk than smoking. People may have a lot of social media friends, but they dont have that many true friends to turn to in real life, to talk to and share their hearts with comfortably.

The greatest challenges faced by humankind todaysuch as climate change, gender inequality, the wealth gap, military conflicts, trade disputes, and religious conflictshave at their roots a deep-seated mindset that separates me from you and humans from nature. A solution thats based on separation without consideration of mutual interests can never be a true or sustainable solution, and in the end such a solution disadvantages everyone. Unless we heal the disconnection that is so widespread in our lives, the hole in our souls will keep getting bigger, the conflict between different social groups will grow increasingly serious, and the Earths environment will reach a state in which recovery is impossible.

Once you understand that disconnection is the underlying cause of your problems, then the solution also becomes clearer. All you have to do is mend your broken connections. Recover your connection with your body, your connection with your true self, and your connection with people and the world.

How can we recover that connection? I believe that the master key that makes it possible is in the human brain, and I present Pineal Gland Meditation as an essential technique for awakening the brain.

Thoughts, memories, and intellectual knowledge are what most people typically associate with the brain. However, the brain doesnt only contain the artificial information that weve accumulated during our lives. There is a certain something in our brain that is original and fundamental. Before we had thoughts, emotions, experiences, or knowledge, there existed complete and pure energy and consciousness. We could also call this nature, the rhythm of life, or even the divinity within us.

What brings separate individuals together is the universal homogeneity that exists in people beyond their personal differences. I feel that we can find that homogeneity in the pure consciousness and energy inside us. I believe its that pure consciousness that ties together not only human beings, but all life forms and ultimately everything that exists.

I have dedicated my life to exploring the brain and developing and sharing methods to use it well, because that kind of pure consciousness and energy exists within our brains. I believe that by recovering this consciousness, we can know ourselves as we truly are and recover our connection to all things in existence. I am certain that when we recover such a connection, we can gain the true solution and insight to simultaneously solve individual problems and the Earths problems. It is with these aims that I blended the ancient Korean mind-body training methods of the Sundo tradition with neuroscience to establish Brain Education, and why I have taught brain meditation for decades.