Welcome to the final segment of my Habits of Mastery series. I hope you’ve found them informative and beneficial. Today I’d like to look at one of the key rewards of pursuing mastery…”grace.”
Grace is a state of presence where truth, wisdom and love merge and flow out of us with effortless perfection. The Japanese called this state “shibumi.” I don’t believe shibumi arrives easily, rather it requires many years of polishing the sword through training and practice. The good news is that you can accelerate progress toward grace by modelling the habits of the masters.
Effortless Perfection
Training in an integrated manner, such as our 5 Mountain training, develops bridges between our outer conscious inner subconscious minds. The mental state that results creates an intense presence, whether you are sitting in silence or performing on the battlefield. Training of this integrated nature cultivates your whole being – developing greater truth through better discernment of right and wrong, wisdom through falling down seven times and getting up eight, and humility as you face the limitations of being “just” human. It also develops love for your teammates as you learn that you just can’t do it alone!
Sign Posts of Shibumi
How can you mark your progress on that elusive path to grace? Here are some sign-posts that can guide you on your journey:
- Do you experiencing increasing moments of peace?
- Can you sense an expanding field of awareness?
- Are you able to perceive better – cutting through the nonsense and clutter of our world?
- Do you feel more love for others? For all sentient beings?
- Do you feel a sense of urgency to become a steward of Mother Earth, from which all things come and all things go?
- Do you find that you can accomplish any worthy task with ease?
- Can you tap into your intuition, your “gut feelings,” and use it to make better decisions?
- Do you see beauty and grace everywhere – even in mundane or dismal situations?
- Are you experiencing selflessness and joy in serving your teammates?
Step Up!
I believe that you are ready for the next stage of the journey. It is time to step up and make the commitment to be uncommon. Being uncommon can simply be doing common things uncommonly well. Why not start by working on meeting all of your commitments with honor. Then find shibumi by slowing down and merging your heart with your mind into your actions.
Hooyah!
–Mark Divine
– sealfit.com
– unbeatablemind.com
P.S. Please take a look at our newly launched Unbeatable Mind Academy site! The practices in Unbeatable Mind are designed to help you achieve grace, and the other traits we’ve discusses in the Habits of The Master Series.
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