Path Of Creator Videos

[Transcript]

Hi, I'm Jonny John Liu.

Today, I want to talk about how we can use the practice of commitment to accelerate the process of Self-Transformation.

So, we should all know from experience that when we go through a suffering experience, there will be a tendency for most of us to want to escape the situation as fast as possible.

For instance, it may be a situation involving an argument with someone, or it may be a diet plan that we are having trouble going through, it may be a painful exercise that we feel like abandoning halfway.

The act of commitment is about staying in a situation for as long as possible, even when it becomes challenging.

This can be beneficial. Because through the act of commitment, one will be able to explore their suffering states of mind in their full intensity. Because instead of escaping, one is now facing their sufferings face on—this is how you can become intimate with your suffering states of mind!

But an important note: The act of commitment is only beneficial for Self-Transformation if one remembers to incorporate Stillness into the practice so that one can pull oneself into a state of Stillness whenever one is in a reactive state of mind.

Thus, purely enduring a suffering situation without the intention to overcome it will only develop little Self-Transformation!

The act of commitment will bring a confusing question to the mind as to how long should one commit.

Of course, a tip here is to commit only to things that are of benefit to one's physical health rather than to something which can cause harm to oneself, for instance, meditation, yoga, starting a business, buying a house, marrying someone.

How long you wish to commit will be entirely up to you.

What I am saying here is that Self-Transformation can be developed through commitment.

We can give up too quickly when things get hard, and as a result, miss out the opportunities for self-growth.

When things get hard on the inside, these are opportunities for us to develop Self-Knowing of the cause so we can address it. And through commitment, we can understand the cause deeper and deeper.

Of course, for some people, this can be a very difficult thing to practice!

Personally, I commit to a lot of things.

Let me share with you an example so you can understand how commitment can make one grow.

So, when I first began working in an office, I really hated it. We had a huge team, and everyone was into materialistic things whilst I'm more into spiritual things.

I preferred to work in a yoga retreat or an organic shop, but I chose not to because I knew we can all grow from our challenges. So I told myself, I'm going to commit to the job until my negativities towards it disappears.

The first four years was really tough because you are surrounded by people who think vastly different and would not support your beliefs. But I told myself that I would only leave the job until I am happy because to leave a job when I am unhappy is simply escaping my sufferings.

So I committed, and year after year, I worked on transforming my mind.

Now I don't hate the job; in fact, now I love the job because what I used to hate, no longer bothers me anymore because I have worked through them.

I've learnt to get along with all sorts of people: the arrogant people that I used to hate, the selfish people that I used to avoid; they no longer bothered me. If I had escaped from the job, I would still have reacted negatively to what I used to get upset about in the past!

So commitment can always bring out the more intense lessons in life where we can work through and gain great Self-Transformation.

Of course, you can start out by committing to little things in life, such as always waking up early or always taking breaks when you work and then move to the bigger commitments if you wish to challenge yourself more.

And remember to always carry the intention to overcome the negativities—to come into a state of Self-Acceptance when things becomes challenging!

Exercise

Choose something to commit to!

It can be doing an exercise once a week, twice a week, three times a week etc.

It can be completing a goal you have in mind within a timeframe.

It can be taking up the practice of meditation and practising it every day.

It can be trying a diet for a certain time.

It can be meditating for 20 minutes a day!

In the beginning, it will help you greatly if you set an end date for your commitments, for instance, to go on a diet for a month.

For this exercise, commit to something for at least a month, 30 days, and in these 30 days, you have to promise yourself to not quit.

Now, if you find that you no longer can commit to something, like you cannot overcome the negativity and you really have to stop doing what you are doing, simply stay for it just a bit longer before you leave.

For instance, if you feel you can't meditate for another minute or for another day, just do it just a bit longer before you leave and always do it with the intention to accept.

Remember, the most challenging times are the golden moments for Self-Transformation because these dark times are opportunities for us to know ourselves more.

So stay as long as you can before you abandon your commitment!

-Jonny John Liu

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