The ancient Hindu word Deva, often associated with angels or enlightened beings, shares its root with "devil." This juxtaposition reflects the inherent intertwined nature of darkness and light within each of us.

Mastering this duality, as Shaolin Master Shi Heng Yi describes, requires understanding "The Demon Hand and the Buddha's Heart." If we walk around this world with a Buddha's Heart and Buddha hand, we are like a gardener in a war, our efforts and desires unlikely to come to fruition. If we are walking around with a Demon's hand and a Demon heart, so too will our world fall apart, as we will bring about its destruction due to our inability to refrain, reconsider, and reconcile with ourselves and our actions. But, if we are able to achieve “The Demon Hand and the Buddha’s Heart,” we can become a warrior in a garden, protectors of what is sacred and essential to life, which is to say that we must learn how to master our darkness.

Life presents us with the challenge of mastering ourselves, of uniting the conscious and the unconscious, the Buddha and the Demon. We need both. The Buddha embodies love, peace, unity, and compassion, while the balanced demon represents power, protection, and rectification. Together, they form a potent force—the peaceful warrior who stands for justice and righteousness; the one who does not wish to fight but has the willingness, strength, and tenacity to stand up for and act on what they believe is just and right, as dictated by their heart.

To operate this way is to commit to embodying our ideals of the world we wish to live in. To stand up for what we believe in. To say no to the desecration of that which we hold sacred: our communities, our families, our relationships, our environment, our rituals, our beliefs, our sovereignty, our liberation, our world itself. They do not seek violence. Instead, they are the peacekeepers.

The Yoga Sutras echo this sentiment in the second sutra: "Yoga citta vritti narodhah," highlighting yoga as the union of consciousness in the heart. The word yoga, stemming from the root yoke, means union. The sutra therefore attempts to convey, union as the uniting of consciousness - of the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes - within the heart that is pure; within the heart that sees everything as an extension of itself.

But how do we strengthen the "muscles" required to live in this way? The Creator is You Self-Mastery Programs offer a path to cultivate these qualities. Join our Foundations program today to embark on a journey back to yourself—to the self capable of not only creating reality but also safeguarding it for the greater good.