What is up everybody this is Chris from the Rewired Soul where we talk about the problem but focus on the solution and I have an exciting announcement for all of you this is something that we've actually been working on for a few months here when I say we I mean myself and my beautiful very talented girlfriend we are now launching Rewired Soul merch all right and she is an amazing artist so she's been working on stuff and I've been talking to her and we're like all right let's put this on some stuff and this way all of you beautiful people out there can support the channel if you would like to or just rock some mental health positive merch so there will be links in the description below but I just want to kind of go over these designs kind of tell you the thoughts and ideas behind them and all that kind of good stuff all right so this first one right here that you are seeing I am a huge fan of pandas all right so I was like girl I need you to drop me some pandas doing different stuff with the logo and all this so this one is titled panda love because this world needs a lot more love and that's something I try to teach on my channel is love compassion and empathy and understanding and all those kind of things so you got a nice little combination of that with the good old panda this next one right here is one of my favorites because it is actually modeled after my girlfriends adorable adorable chubby little cat named Wyatt so as most of you know I'm huge into meditation specifically mindfulness meditation so I was like all right Tristan here's what I need I need you to take Wyatt's little chunky butt and make it into a Buddha like you know a picture where he's meditating and this is what we got look look at that resemblance it's beautiful so I have this one mission this one mission on my channel aside from helping all of you beautiful people with your mental health but it is to decrease the stigma and increase awareness when it comes to mental health so this is a nice simple shirt so if you're about that message go ahead and pick up that shirt design this next one I bet you didn't know this this was actually the very first design my wonderful girlfriend surprised me with this at Christmas and she actually got me this design on a shirt look it's right here so you can rock this shirt and me and you we could be twinsies all right and here is another picture with the panda and he's holding up the rewired soul logo on his back giving a beautiful little thumbs up and I don't know if I meant to this to all of you but all of these designs not only can you get them in a men's shirt or you can get them in a women's shirt but you can also get them on a mug I like this because I'm a huge coffee drinker so if you want to get a mug go ahead and get you a mug speaking of mugs not to be narcissistic or anything but here is one with my mug on it so if you want to rock this I really like it because it's a minimalist design and my girlfriend knows I love those and all that kind of good stuff so if you want to wear this one this is great and when she made it I'm like girl you really like kind of exaggerated my lips and she's like yo it's not my fault you got some big lips so it is pretty accurate so that is all the designs I got for you again these will be down in the description below and we're working on some more designs and things like that to release and give you more options and everything but some more exciting news for you up until September 30th you can save 5% on all of this merch by entering the coupon code rewired I put it right here it's really easy just type in rewired on your computer or laptop or on your cell phone and get you some merch these shirts and designs will be up for about two weeks and depending on what people like and don't like will keep the ones that you do like in the shop and then the other ones will rotate out get some other ones maybe bring some back and I hope in the future I can get a bunch of these and maybe do some giveaways and all that kind of good stuff but again for all of you guys like even if you don't want some merch or if you can't afford the merch or whatever that's cool like we passed 10,000 subscribers recently and I love all of you so so so much for just supporting what I'm doing here and even if you're just sharing my videos or liking the videos or putting comments down below to support the community here like you're all amazing and I'm so grateful to have all of you as part of this journey with me all right but yeah go ahead and check out the link in the description check out some of the merch and that's all I got for you but I'll be back later with another mental health video so thank you so much for watching I'll see you next time


I am the team leader of the conservation alliance of Kenya, which is an umbrella organization for registered organizations working in the environment and natural resources management in this country, Africa and globally. That sounds like a very, very big job. Yes, it's a very, very huge assignment because all these members are looking upon me to provide direction for them and to make sure that wildlife matters are always at the forefront. And then also looking forward to engage with the target audience in terms of where your space is. So, again, I'm very, very, how to say, artistic. Everything about me is a bit, a lot, a bit artistic. So Pocha is a Kenyan based movie, all Kenyan actors for Kenyan production. And it's about poaching, as the name suggests. So it's set up in somewhere in, you know, wildlife type situation. And then we have three groups of people. So we have the authorities who are trying to protect the elephants and all these fantastic wildlife species. And we have the pochas themselves who are harvesting the tusks of the elephant. And then we have a third group. Those are the normal village people who are actually being affected, like the elephants pass by and destroy their crops and their food products and all these things. But they do not harvest, but they will if it means a coin or a penny in their pockets, you know, to feed their families. So what part of that dynamic do you focus on? Excellent. That's a very good analogy when you say the pocha. Prior to joining conservation, I used to think that I've never destroyed natural resources. But only when I got in is when I realized my goodness. I think in my background I've actually been a pocha. Why am I saying that I've been a pocha? We killed rats. We killed snakes. That's different. That's different. Atamendu mewa. Atamendu mewa. Atamuskito yora pocha. Kusapuskira wu. Right? Yora pocha. So everyone is a pocha. Now, using my background, I've killed both small and big animals before. Even a dog, even a pig, the way you slaughter it, you can fall in the category of the pocha that you've described. So using your description. I feel in the category of where the normal manainchi is, where the people are, because that's where I come from. I don't work in the agency that actually protects natural resources, but I work with the people. So my role is to work with the people to see how culture fuses in with conservation and having said initially from the start that we all come from communities that are poaching and that are using wildlife resources as a way of sustaining their daily livelihood or as a way of entertainment or depending on whatever you want to call it. Previously, we are rewriting the narrative from the Masai culture where you have to kill a lion in order for you to prove your manhood and several cultures also rewriting it. Among the Samburu culture, you have to present an ivory ring before you wed and so many things are working at the moment and that's why fall in the category of the communities where the majority of the Kenyans are. But we also work very closely with the protectors that's the Kenya Wildlife Service and all the agencies that are also responsible for that. And one of the things that we work on a daily basis is to see how we reduce the impact caused by the poacher, the one now that kills. And they kill either for the products that the animals have or they kill also just to sustain themselves. But this is a very destructive category of poachers that we need to deal with in our country. Is it really poaching if you're getting rid of a nuisance, if the lion is coming and eating all my flock or if the elephant is trampling all over my food source? Is it really poaching if I, you know, tokapa?  There are two ways of looking at it. If you come into contact with a wild animal and the wild animal is causing destruction and disrupting your everyday issues, there are two things that we advise. It's contact Kenya Wildlife Service because they are the ones who can guide you in terms of helping you contain the issue that is happening at that particular place. Now quite often Kenya Wildlife Service may not respond on time or may not respond at the point where you expect them to and there could be some slight delay. It's expected because that's natural. But under normal circumstances, there are what we call early warning signs and this is where we work with communities to be able to work with Kenya Wildlife Service so that you don't wait for the elephant to come and destroy but you alert Kenya Wildlife Service and tell them we've seen lions hovering around, we've seen elephants around and they could be kilometers away, a lot of them kilometers away so that they can come with you and help you reduce the impact that they do. Now I do understand also elephants do move at night and they will surprise you in the middle of the night and they come and that's where we also sit down with you to train you also to help you see how to mitigate. So for example an elephant will come and you've got your granary and they'll come and leave the granary and the elephant is interested in eating and satisfying itself. So it's sad that that's what it does but then when you take the responsibility for protecting your property or protecting yourself there are two scenarios that may happen. Scenario number one is you may kill the animal and according to the act it becomes an offence and you can be child. Scenario number two is the animal can kill you and when it kills you then again it brings in other issues so it's a risk that we are taking if we don't engage the agencies that are responsible for taking care of the animal and at the same time also protecting lives. So it's a double age sword. One of another phenomenon I've seen that is also Kenyan. I watched a TED talk of a young boy who was tired of his village being just harassed by lions and such things in my life and my favorite thing about this story is he did not choose violence. What he did was he set up a lighting system so that if it's... I can't remember if it's motion sensor but as soon as a lion comes so all the lights just go on and then the animal just moves away by itself like this but there's no... but also clear throat. I have seen a case where there was a lion Nala was found somewhere at the bypass just walking around just chilling. What is that? How can I just be Steve, I'm a bit concerned. Just be walking and just bumping into a lion. No... Well, it depends where you are brought up where I was brought up those are normal scenarios. We would walk and see snakes passing by that's how I grew up. So imagine... let me give you a perspective different from where you grew up. Let's use the communities that live with this resource.  What's the first reaction? Wow, I only see this on TV. But I'm seeing it live. It's exciting. It's an exciting moment. Yes. We have different definitions of exciting but please continue. What happened? That's exciting. So you simply just sit back and watch and then eventually you find the lion is not interested in you. So you just look at each other? You just watch and watch. A snake is passing. You simply just stand still observe what it's going to do. It will look at you, say hi and it will continue with its activities.  You know us and snakes, the women and snakes. And then we've not been friends. I understand. Okay, let's talk about a baboon. A baboon will harass women more than men. Why now? It's because women show some level of scariness and a baboon gets excited and chases you. You're getting it. So women are more vulnerable to baboons than men and right now baboons are not even staying in the area where they are supposed to. People have even gone to the forest and interfered with the habitats of baboons and monkeys and that's why they're in our homes. So if you are to ask me what needs to happen is we need to adjust our attitudes and begin to live with these animals. Yesterday I was somewhere near Daleria and baboons were there and I saw this security guard eating a sweet and the baboon was just a few feet away and I was like wow. That's a lovely scene that baboons are getting closer to us, monkeys are getting closer to us and if you get closer to them also I'm not saying that we should actually get closer to them because there are challenges when you get closer that we encourage what is called coexistence. So there are certain animals you can get close. There are others you don't. I don't encourage you to get close to a lion. I don't encourage you to get close to an elephant. There are two scenarios. I'll give you an example of a very, very nice story for young people to know.  This is information that has been recited and it's been proven over time that majority of the people who actually get killed by lions are those who have come from drinking places. That's a fact. So be very careful even as you interact outside there that animals read our emotions and our actions and they interpret them differently and quite often just like human beings they go on to self defense mode same thing also with snakes if they read an action they go on to defense and that's when they attack but if you just stay calm nothing happens once we were walking and we were removing snails that were set by pochas to trap animals and right about ten feet there was a lion and there were three of us I mean I was scared I was scared that was my first experience I was scared wow a lion I am looking for anywhere to hide and there is nothing and they are just short shrubs what did we do we just stay calm alright we looked at us we looked at it and it continued moving and we allowed it to continue moving and it went opposite direction and we continued with our activity same thing with animals and rhinos they sense through the wind alright so if the wind blows your sense towards the animal then they sense there is a human being nearby so if you just want to walk and enjoy nature is just look at the direction of the wind so how do you tell the direction of the wind I don't know but I guess you know how to do it if you don't I will teach you teach me because midon they taught me yes that one then you know where the wind is going you know it's blowing that direction so if you are sitting on the direction where the rhino is or the buffalo is and I'm here and the wind is blowing that direction and I don't want the buffalo to sense I simply just ensure that the direction the wind is blowing doesn't blow my scent there so I simply just move the opposite direction and I can enjoy observing the animal in its natural state without causing the animal to panic so I takang itu asira takang asira just be cool be calm and we can enjoy the company of these wild animals you don't have to put an animal in a zoo in order for you to go and feel it in fact two worries like coming to Kenya because our wildlife are in the natural habitats and they enjoy seeing them in the natural it's a different experience from being a zoo neither may also promoting that you can actually have animals as pets so we have dogs and cats in our homes let the ones that are in the natural wild remain in its natural habitat you understand the dynamics they live in and just enjoy understanding them they are very nice, they are beautiful lessons you can learn from animals and that's another session that I can take you right from the dik dik that are paid for life a very good example of how to have a happy marriage and pigeons and dove that have good very nice love stories for life it's for life it's for life they are very interesting stories for elephants I mean the matriarch which is the female it's the one that leads the herd not the bull so there are different stories you can learn from each other and apply them in life okay guys just in case you've missed this part please don't just go drinking and then say hi to a lion don't do it someone painted a dog the color of a cheetah and then released it when the people were coming home oh my gosh it did not work out very well for our people under the influence but in case you actually do meet a lion please don't figure out just be cool be calm and it's not just lions just animals in general if my ancestor we need to talk but aside from that just be cool and calm so what is a normal day for Steve look like in terms of wildlife preservation a normal day for me I'll talk about before COVID was being out there in the world all the things that I'm describing to you I experienced that enjoy it by just being out there watching engaging talking with people trying to look for sustainable solutions to address the growing wildlife conflict and always engaging with government to look for sustainable solutions you know we are right now at crossroads where infrastructure developments and the needs of human beings are now stretching and beginning to interfere with the habitat for wildlife and you always find ourselves on a collision path whether we want to build a road whether we want to build a standard gage railway whether we want to build a pipeline it's good for human development and also for the economy but we find ourselves in conflicts on an everyday basis I'm always thinking about government and trying to see how do we get government decisions being compatible also with wildlife and how do we engage without speaking at each other and where we find that things have gone beyond the levels that we anticipated then we have to look for solutions and that means we have to look for opportunities always sit down and discuss so right now there is a matter we are discussing which is in court I cannot talk about it of a developer who wants to grow avocado and vegetables on an elephant migratory corridor from where we stand from that's it's going to increase conflict that's a very interesting but I can't talk about that matter because it's in court and we are also part and parcel I understand but those are the kind of issues that we find on a daily basis final one is just enlightening Kenyans I love talking to Kenyans particularly the young people this is your only opportunity to visit them as Amara right now particularly when there are no tourists coming the costs have reduced drastically alright take advantage of this particular time to visit these places try and understand what is it that people spend lots of money to come to Kenya every now and then to see visit the parks when you've got time visit and really really have an interaction with nature and wildlife and by the time you come it clears your mind and it relaxes it suits you and then after that when you go and have your beer if you drink beer that's okay if you have tea you are a tea toddler like me or coffee and you have your coffee you are still fine but don't stress yourself in the hustles try to fetch a living get out there in the world and relax your mind it's therapeutic it's a joy infact even the places I've lived I like living around it's good but I kind of really like that vibe okay I want to work backwards so you've talked about tourism and I really want to applaud that you are trying to engage trying to ask us to go see Tembera Kenya because according to social media the places to be need to buy but there's that where else just places that are not Kenya and you'd be very very surprised that your home is even more beautiful than the countries that we are struggling or you want to go see or you've already gone to see so pitch one more time one more time for just how beautiful the country is because it really is beautiful from the mountains to the valleys that's a rift valley to the Indian ocean and then we talk about deserts we also have a desert in Kenya Chalbi desert use Google map it will guide you to know where Chalbi desert is it's a tamak road it's a tamak road from Nairobi all the way to Marsabit get to Marsabit and begin to look for Chalbi desert desert experience you don't have to go the way to Dubai you are safe and there is no corona in Chalbi alright or you don't have to go the way to Namibia to experience what the bushmen go through just go there to Chalbi desert it's a nice experience for some of us who've been there go to like Turkana one of those neglected areas beautiful scenaries right from the valleys and everything in fact when Safarikum did its first calendar and they took pictures of Turkana people were thinking this can't be Kenya certainly not Kenya Kenya is beautiful is endowed with a lot of interesting places you can visit it's endowed with a lot of culture where you can learn as part of history go and learn your history Kenya is losing its history much more faster go and learn your history in fact the other day when we were in a function with the cabinet secretary many there is a generation in Kenya that doesn't know that actually the first capital city of Kenya was actually Machakos Machakos was in the desert no I'm sorry the first capital city was actually Machakos it's only when the standard gauge rail will reach Nairobi that's when the capital city was shifted from Machakos to Nairobi and now you can understand why there is a connection between Machakos and Nairobi that you can't tell the difference growing population is living in that area so get to know your history because as you visit other places and you say you are a Kenyan the first thing they will ask you and then the next thing they ask you wildlife are you getting it that's what Kenya is known for sasugi enda palu this is no ma swani now don't embarrass us so get to know your country and as you visit the dubais as you visit South Africa you go to market also Kenya you are an ambassador of Kenya so create a brand for Kenya and speak about it you can only speak about it if you visit these places if you know the places that I'm talking about so that when people come they are not just coming for wildlife tourism but they are also coming for cultural tourism and they are also coming just to enjoy the coming free spirit of Kenyans I like the places that you've mentioned but at first glance it doesn't sound like some I want to go turkana, prasna, skia, joto aguna raji, aguna tabula the only thing I see is this try at a netflix at a netflix utawana pali internet windo na itaji at a netflix utawana pali your portrait you can still continue watching it there you're smart, I like that it's only internet that you need these places, there's nothing you miss from Nairobi when you go out I like that and I like the aspect of traveling it kind of makes you feel that all your problems when you're by yourself and all your problems in your head and you think the world is ending but you travel when you see things you meet people and they become this big your problems this big guys, this big so tembera kenya, takani kwaploti let's start from tembera tukwaploti wuki edara in conclusion would you like us to remember from this conversation like I said the only way you can tell the kenyan story from a cultural practice from what we believe in as kenyans and what we do as kenyans is for you to dig a noble you want to know why why samburus must give an ivory ring before they say I do go to the samburus and ask them you want to find out why we are now running away from killing lions to prove manhood go find it, they are now having what we call the masai maraton join them in the masai maraton and appreciate so don't just stick on to your comfort zone get out of your comfort zone and begin to understand other people that's my rally call and also don't just look at conservation organizations like myself people who are there to serve the musungu community the wildlife resource belongs to the people of kenya kenya wildlife service are just custodians they are managing it on behalf of kenyans so kenyans have a voice on how the government and how the agencies manage the natural resources because the benefits accruing from these natural resources support all of us so this is your resource that I'm speaking to you about and you need to take responsibility in terms of how the government is handling it finally ensure that you don't destroy it why life is god given the moment you destroy it's gone and it's gone right now kenya is struggling so hard to rebuild the population of the northern white rhino because there are only two left and they are in all pajeta but they meted we are still waiting but it won't be the same as the original northern white rhino it will be different because science is coming and appreciates the role of science but it won't be the same so once you destroy it it's gone yesterday we were seeing a picture on the fig tree in westlands that is going to be cut because of the Nairobi expressway that is going to cut you never have a fig tree like that again once you cut it that's it that's how natural resources are some are renewable some are not renewable so watch out it's unfair that we have to choose between making our lives easier with resources and nature it's unfair but it is what it is lastly please do give us your social media so we can get into contact with you follow up what you're doing maybe even offer support where we can excellent you can follow me on facebook or twitter my login details please do follow me and let's interact from that level if you need to be exposed on what conservation organizations are doing please let me know we will involve you if you are looking for opportunities to volunteer and learn more you want to get interested in conservation issues please tag in with us connect you with the membership you'll be able to do that but please make a date if you are in Nairobi go to Nairobi National Park if you are in Nakuru go to Nakuru National Park and understand why the water levels are rising and why the headquarters is submerged in water if you are in Savo if you are in Amboseli if you are in Likipia enjoy the Likipia beautiful scenery if you are in western Kenya enjoy western Kenya and the culture and visit Kisumu Kisumu is going to become the hub of tourism very soon and they are going to introduce what we call boats for you to move around the East African region interesting things are coming if you are in Rumah enjoy the run until up which is unique only in the Rumah and part of the Shimbahils if you are in Kuala enjoy the coast and the marine life unique species now we can actually spot dolphins in our Indian Ocean that's so cool but you have a lot of information you have a lot of information this is what I want to pour out I like that so what you put in is what comes out remember that always guys so we gotta leave we gotta go we've had too much fun told him 20 minutes but it's been well over 20 minutes I didn't know he was this funny I could find us on White 54 Facebook White 54 channel on Twitter hashtag and even then you must stay white because we have a lot a lot a lot prepared just for you


Okay, right. So welcome back We've the last one hour. We've actually spoken about Adultery we've looked at what scripture has given us as warnings about what the Consequences of adultery certain words of caution that we need to take into consideration We looked also of certain often how people fall into this to into a state of adultery in the next Hour what we're going to be looking at is What do we do? How do we help? Somebody who's fallen into this place of adultery this place of an immoral relationship or into unfaithfulness How do we help someone out from that? So I think let's look at it in two counts in one is of course for us personally if there have been Any of us maybe here or anyone listening who's in a struggle or in this sin Ways of knowing that there is hope and there is a way to come restored and hold Out of this and the second part of and also for those of us who may be ministering to people who may fall into sin and fall into adultery a way to help them and Give them hope as to how they can move from a Place of sin into a place of wholeness The second part is what we are also going to be looking at how What are some practical boundaries or Certain certain moral Aspects of how we need to take care of what what do we need to take care of practical measures on how we can place those Boundaries where we can fence ourselves from such from from getting into such such a struggle Is there any question if not I'm going to move forward Just the first five minutes of questions on anything that we addressed earlier. All right. Okay, so I Guess not so then we'll we'll keep going forward Sorry having a bad throat All right, so the this part of the Lesson what we're going to look into is what if people Husband or a wife has gone into sexual sin. What is something? What is it that we do? And how do we help them to work through this and often people who are engaged in this kind of an emotional relationship or an immoral relationship Find it extremely hard to step out to to find hope through this it's almost like they're in a deep pit and there isn't a way outside but We know through scripture. We know with the God that we serve that there is hope there is just through Through who Christ is and the freedom that he gives there is hope So the first and important thing to understand is To know that no matter Where we are or how much we have fallen There's nothing that is hard for the Lord for to bring back to restore to redeem And we see that as a principle so much in scripture, right? So no matter how let's let's look at David himself We see that at the best of his times he fell back you know He went back very many steps because of his adulterous relationship And the murder that ensued after that But we see that there's nothing that is not there for God to restore and to bring back and And no matter what we know that if we are in a place of true confession and repentance Turning to God Looking at him for help. He is able to take us off from there and we see that Scripture says it, you know when I called to you You have answered me when I've been troubled deep in my affliction You have saved me. You have rescued me out of the Myri clay and that Helps us see that with God's help we can come around we can recover we can come back strong to to the purposes and to things that God has for us Now as we begin to understand that something that we also need to Internalize is to understand the father's love and the father's love has been beautifully demonstrated In the story of the prodigal son, you know, we see how Once the prodigal son left home, you know took away the money it took away all his share Broke it all, you know spent it all finally Came to the deepest part of his life where he had nothing and he decides and he realizes That he can actually return back to his father. He can actually return back to his father who had enough and plenty so When you know, he probably Thought and that's what he says, right? I I'll at least I can at least You know be treated as a servant in my father's house So when he was in his mind, he was prepared that it would probably not be a very good reception It would be something that may be humiliating a sense of an embarrassment But on the converse we see how The father welcomed him with arms open wide so much so that he puts The best robe and he puts a ring and he creates a party and That's the love of the father that we see and that What what Jesus is doing by expressing that he paints the love and shows us, you know Just a bit of I mean we were able to see only a glimpse of it of the love God has for us That the father's love the heavenly father's love is Much stronger. It's greater. It's more intense than a human father's love and Romans tells us that you know nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ So we can be assured that when we return to the father He is there with arms open with the best things to give us if we come back in repentance We also do know that it is only God who is the restorer of our souls He is the only one who is the overseer and the restorer of our souls We see that in Psalms 233. It says he is the restorer of our souls So he is the one who can Reshape and change our souls and make it whole once again So even if we have gone astray But when we have returned to him he is the Restorer because he is the one who oversees our soul So having assurance that when we return to him he will do What he is best at is which is to restore us and make us whole Now through what we do We also see that the power of the Holy Spirit is what turns things around for us in our lives We see that in Isaiah 61 3 where it says you know The the Holy Spirit is there to console those who mourn to give those To give beauty for ashes to give oil For joy oil of joy for mourning to give a garment of praying praise for those with the spirit of heaviness You know, there will be there will be gladness There will morning is off and dancing comes the sack lot is off and they will be clothed with with gladness again in Psalms 30 So we see that it's the power of the Holy Spirit that brings us out From the ashes to something that is beautiful. So it is his it's not our doing It's not our only our work, but it is his internal churning or refining that takes place as we repent and as we are willing to submit to him Now those who have those people, you know, who fall into adultery Feel that it's it's it is a way forward that is too intense that is too severe and You know, when you hear people who fall into adultery Speaking their desire to be able to come out of it I mean, I've heard people saying you know, I wish I could wake up in the morning and pretend as if none of this had happened Right the pain that they go through not just in the rejection in the in the problems and the consequences of the As a result of their adulterous relationship But also of the fact that they feel so Trapped like like being in a prison to be able to get away from the emotions and from the from the attachments that they've been feeling to the to the third person right, but Scripture shows us that you know when we keep our eyes on the Lord He's the one who picks us out from a trap as Sam 25 15 He's the one who picks us up from the track from a trap So he's the one who takes us away from captivity so that we can walk in freedom Now although it appears as a long long journey or a long place into recovery Every step matters. It is the initial steps that matter to You know towards it towards your destiny So when you're encouraging people to make that step into freedom The first one of the things that you would help them to see is to know that even though it looks long Even those look difficult taking one step at a time towards Choosing your freedom Now as you begin this journey, there are certain things that is Important for the person who has offended the offended person needs to do one the first thing Is to recognize that sin is sin the journey begins when you call sin sin you have to come to a place of not Justifying the action or excusing the sin saying that it is it's only because you know my my spouse didn't do this or didn't do that Or it's only because of or it isn't I mean it is not sin It's it's just a good friend. My colleague is a good friend The fact is you need to call a spade a spade you need to know that often Satan puts you through a deceptive Loop that makes you justify that your actions aren't wrong and these are Deceptions these are lies that that come about Shri Kumar, I'll just take your question. I'm just I'll just complete this bit Yeah, so So the first thing that that we need to do and if it is a personal journey to identify that any Intimacy outside of the marriage is to be called sin and we call it out of sin For those who we may be ministering to you may find a lot of people Hiding behind these lies and it's something that you may need to call out as a minister or as a pastor and say Sometimes it may be being a little bit more hard and saying You know you seem to be covering up on some things or there are certain excuses that that that That you're falling in we we need to bring out that sin is sin and Any sin that that it says all unrighteousness is sin and this is unrighteous Anything that keeps away from God's word is sin and we are answerable to God So the first point where the journey begins is is being able to call call out the sin to recognize that it is sin and Bring about an agreement. Yes. I am in a sinful place. Okay. Yes, Shri Kumar. We can take your question now Yeah, thank you pastor As you are Sorry, am I already? Yes. Yes, you are. Thank you. Thank you, pastor That's my question is as we were discussing on the like how the God has restored that relationship of David even though when he fallen into that sin and not only in adultery but also in murder But I just want to know in this present circumstances, there are a few cases which I know and Sometimes I was confused. I used to be confused that how to Like, you know, how to hand like not personally handle, but I used to think that how this can be like, you know Mr. Richard Where, you know, when some relationships goes Very deep and when the woman get pregnant and when she conceived And in such cases and this person is already having a having a like a having a married life and So in that cases if If one of this person wants to come out from this relationship Then now she's conceived now. You cannot say that you can about a child also And, you know, and how can we guide them? Because of this, you know, and that's in that which is now It's in a in a very very purposeful pitch. So how can we handle this case? Thank you pastor. Thanks a lot Yeah, absolutely. I think Shri Kumar What you bought out is is a reality This becomes extremely messy when When there is pregnancy involved when there is conception when there is a birth of a child in thing it becomes extremely messy Yes, we need to use a lot of wisdom as we deal with concerns like this The first and foremost thing we look at is one The the person Let's I'm okay. I'm just going to say maybe this is the man who is You know who's been adulterous in this relationship just for as an example for us to make it easier So the man of course needs to come to a place of repentance to be able to cut off the relationship And bring about restoration within his own family now that in itself is a process because with uh, you know, when it has moved into Uh a pregnancy coming as a result of it. It can get a lot more deeper and and difficult But the first thing we need to check to see is to ensure that the man Comes to a place of repentance and building on Himself as well as that relationship Uh the this because it scripture is very clear that The covenant relationship is the foremost important one. Okay We do understand that the other party in this Uh has has a lot lot of difficulties has a lot more things um to take care of but We need to ensure or help the person the the third party to come to a place of Living through those consequences um, so it it is you know establishing Uh establishing her emotional health finding out ways of maybe finding support for this person So that they can be taken care of yes, we we do not agree on uh on abortions No, and I would never recommend This in fact, I think I had a very similar example. I had a case like this where There was you know in an adulterous relationship It was not the man who came to me, but it was the woman the the Third person who came who was pregnant who came to us asking for what what could be done. So, uh It it the the church was very clear that uh, the the man involved Had to you know help we were he was helped to severe that relationship And to you know restore things with his wife and have nothing To do to completely severe cut off amputate this relationship. So he had nothing to do with this To do with this third party the third party. Yes, we had to find support within family Support of maybe extended organizations to protect to help to encourage You know, she came in in her third month of pregnancy asking for a decision of what she needed to do and You know, we she was counseled. She was she was helped. She was shown scripture But on her own She decided to about her child right I think within Within I think a month after after all, you know, there were there were these multiple settings and working through she decided to abort abort the child and Then, you know did not come back for help at all It is our responsibility or you know, and I think if it is if it is within a church situation, right? It's the responsibility to ensure that the man goes back to his family at that point of Uh, am I audible? Yes. Oh, okay. Okay. Sorry. Yeah, sorry. I think I lost my connection for for a minute. Yeah, so, um, so So, yeah, what I was trying to say was to ensure that the husband gets back to his home where you work on him And help restoration happen and for the woman in quest in the third party in quest in To get her to for help and support and whatever things she she may need by finding out resources of it So this is something that that I think as principal Is what we would definitely follow to to that that that cutting off really does need to happen Even if it may may mean that there are certain consequences that have come as a result like like maybe a child out of that Relief the cutting off is important in order to maintain first family Yes, Harrison Thank you pastor. Thanks Yes, Harrison. Thank you. Okay. Um Just like what my brother shared and what you've also explained It is something that when I look at it, it's more like, you know, you leave his car in the life of the woman I'm talking about the wife in question Now it is it is one thing, you know for the man of the husband, you know to come back in and see how You know, he builds, you know the home back or maybe restores, you know back The home to what it used to be Now like the one that you know pregnancy is involved and the child is not aborted It's a little bit difficult. It's a little bit Sensitive, you know for you to like, you know deal with, you know such situations You know and didn't maybe when the child is born the child is born The father is the father the mother is the mother Both thought party and the real wife, you know gets to Live with this, you know for the rest of their life So my question now is that in cases like this, you know, because I have a situation where The husband accused the wife of adultery And she was pregnant, but she stood on her ground, you know to say that I did not commit any adultery You are the only man That I know and this child belongs to you and the man, you know was not even Paying attention, you know, maybe Agreeing to what she was saying left the house And leaving her out all by herself And she not start pregnancy by herself until she give birth So it was more like, you know, the neighbors in the compound, you know Where the one that called him to say, oh your wife in has delivered And by the time, you know, he came to Visit He saw that the resemblance, you know of that baby was Nothing compared to him as in The resemblance was just Him So a lot of things were done and they found out that he was the father of that child And this has left a scar in the life of that woman that up to date She's not at peace with him So how do we help, you know, the women in this aspect, you know The women or who the one that is a victim of this situation Who is to bear all the consequences Not having anything to do with the situation Being faithful in the relationship and at the end of the day Such a thing, you know has happened to them. How do we Help them, you know, stay in such relationship and not feeling hot Thank you Thank you, Harrison So I think what Harrison is bringing about is when Someone has been offended Without any fault of this There is no fault That can be found in them but They equally or even more go through A pain and I think it's This could be even in similar situations where there is adultery that's happened where there is Someone who's offended and someone who's been the offender So whether there has been adultery that's actually taken place Or it has been An accusation of one It definitely causes a deep scar and And deep wounds So any spouse who has been Betrayed Definitely I'd either through, you know an allegation or or an actual Abandonment or adultery definitely goes through a lot of pain And they need Support and help through the time We may not be able to speed in The healing process We may not be able to push Them into healing fast And I think that sometimes is very inconsiderate Of us to demand That maybe because they are christians they should Come easy to a place of Acceptance or a place of Forgiveness now even as I'm saying that It is important that the offended person Needs to forgive There is no two ways about it because that is the very Fiber of christianity That even when we Have been outrageously sinful To god the father he Forgive us by sending his son Now that's the example we see so no matter how big the sin is how big the hurt is The offended person Should come to a place of forgiveness Right, but it may take time It may be a journey. It may be A season it's something that they need to progress into so We are looking finally At the offended being able to release forgiveness By taking maybe the time they need to work through The emotional struggles at the emotional knots that have taken place. It's definitely not easy And I and I see we've seen people walking through this journey some make it well Some often even choose to just end that relationship Which we know in in the case of an adultery it is permitted that you know if the if they are in an adulterous relationship there is They are permitted to For divorce and that's that's one of the Places where a divorce is permitted However, whatever they choose to do The offended person needs to release that forgiveness even though Whatever has happened even though there's been suspicion Even though there's been abuse. There's been emotional Hurt there's been abandonment. There's been shame. There's been humiliation Helping them to work towards Having that heart of love and without that offense Because as a believer We are all called to love as god loves And yes, the offended person does need this grace To live this up To a place where they can actually Come to a place of healing and wholeness By discussion with with uh counselor The other thing that I would say is now in the case that Harrison you bought up Um a restoration and a reconciliation between the this this party the offended and the offender That is important Where the offender comes to a place of knowing that he's been come he's been He has wronged his wife Coming to a place of repentance to her asking her for forgiveness for the things he's put her through coming to a place of sharing Maybe of you know, it requires a lot of humility to come to a place to say hey I was wrong and that too in something as Grevious as this right it it comes to a place of humility but Healing like like like, you know, like we were we were talking about healing Or hope is always there knowing that when we can bring about these hurts to god and ask him To restore these wounds and hurts. It's a journey I and even as I'm saying it it looks maybe like a five minute thing But it's a journey that can often take months and years where both This husband and this wife needs to work together to be able to come to establishing trust once again To be able to establish that intimacy and closeness once again and that can happen only through Open communication You know open repentance confession Building a faith going through those emotional overwhelmed moments Living that together working with that together. So yes, it's a journey. It it is hard. It is difficult Uh, but nonetheless, I with the power of the holy spirit Nothing is impossible Yes, Harrison. I think you had a follow-up question Yeah, thank you. Um I feel like sharing some few things about my life experience And it will help it will help everyone of us that is here Because sometimes, you know, we shy away from it and You know, we're talking of other people but Us in a question one way or the other we must have gone through some of these things I remember the early stage of my marriage where my wife, you know, had to travel out and you know belly stayed, you know for Almost two years apart and I I committed adultery and My my faith, you know and My work with God was questioned and it's very important for us to realize that In as much as we need help We as the victim or whoever that is involved, you know needs to realize that he or she Has wronged It is very important for us to understand that we have a very Big role to play in the healing And I'm talking about, you know, whoever that must have committed adultery Because in as much as you go to the pastor and the pastor will quote all the bible passages Tell you everything that he needs to tell you when the mind is not made up When the mind of that person is not made up, you know to To ask for forgiveness Or to come up, you know to say that yes, I have done something that is wrong Healing will not take place And what I'm saying this is that When this thing happened, you know, it's more like, you know My my reputation was questioned. My work with God was questioned My faith was questioned and it troubled me and in as much as nobody has seen what I have done God has seen what I've done I know what I have done But I took a bold step I called my pastor He was the first person I called I called my pastor and I said I want to see He was like Harrison this one you want to see me. I hope all is right. I said all is well And I went to his house And I sat down and I said I have something to tell you And he was curious and he was unsure, you know to hear what I want to say And I opened my mouth to tell him that I have seen before God and I've seen before man This is what I have done He was very shocked Not shocked that I did it but shocked that I came to tell him Because it's quite difficult, you know, for us, you know to come up in and and say what we have done Then, you know, we just go, you know, we cover up, you know, what we have done And when I told him that I said I'm also willing, you know, to come before the church And also Confess And he told me that for the fact that I've come to him There's no need, you know, coming before the church, you know, to To say it We pray And when I went back home I called my wife And I did the same thing and I told her this is what I have done She was broken at first But for me, in order for My life to be restored And my home, you know, to be restored and not giving room for the devil to dominate I needed to do these things And when I told her I gave her some time, you know, to like, you know, reflect on it But for me, I needed to do the right thing I needed to confess it first because when you don't confess it, the devil will deal with you with it You know, it will haunt you If you're really a christen and you're and you really walk with God, it will haunt you And at the end of the day You know, we started healing One good thing that I heard from my wife is that Even the step that I've taken marvels her And today we are stronger than before We are more bonded than before We are more united than before And God's presence is always with us So what I'm sharing this is that this topic is very very important to know for a christen race Because this is one area that we don't want to give room for the devil to operate Because the truth is that when it happens, if you're not careful It could destroy a lot of things It will ruin your marriage, it will ruin your relationship, it will ruin your work with God And everything about you will be questioned So I believe, you know, by sharing this, you know, it will broaden our minds, you know, to To understand, you know, what it really means, you know, to work with God And what it means, you know, for us, you know, to stay away from sin Sin, you know, is just something that keeps us in the dark It makes us hide And when we start hiding You know, when we start hiding What this means is that everything that God has Proposed in a man's life Will be will be hanging Because one is that fear will be there, shame will be there You will not be confident, you know, to come before the public, you know, to say that this is the same that is that When your mind, you know, will prick you to say that Do you believe in what you're saying? So I think, you know, with this little Experience of mine It will help us, you know, to see reasons, you know, why We have, you know, where the the ones, you know, that are involved in this Should be able to like Play that major role because the truth is that When a man's mind is not made up, you know, to forgive, you know, to forgive or to ask for forgiveness That that problem or that situation or that Challenge, you know, will be Will be so difficult to deal with so that's just what I want to share. Thank you Thank you so much, Harrison Um, when you shared that, I mean, I think that's a testimony that you've shared And I think number one, um, you've taken that courage to share that it was not easy But thank you because I think that bless blesses us to know that We're a body where we help And where we stand by our brothers and sisters who fallen into sin Who's come out from it and we've seen, you know By you're just sharing it and by what you did the courage you took In confessing it to your pastor and to your wife in itself Uh, you know, gives us a way to know that the Lord's blessing has been Uh over you and we pray and we um, we ask the that the Lord just Gives you a double portion you and your wife a double portion of his grace And his unity together as you move move ahead. Thank you for sharing I'm sure it touched so many of us. I can hear so see so many Messages here. Thank you brother Harrison for doing that Thank you Right. So, uh, you know, just by his example, I think a lot of what I wanted to say Um is is is something that he said You know, one of the things that he spoke about is getting rid of the lies behind it And that's one way that the enemy hooks you in, you know, when You do not recognize sin for what it is and do not call it sin um you You hide behind the lies of the enemy that causes further deception that for the that causes further manipulation and that's what All that sin and get rid of that those lies and to also to ensure that we We need to be in a place of remorse Into a place of absolute repentance in a scripture says that godly sorrow produces repentance so if We know that restoration is on its way when there is godly sorrow and there is a repentance and that's exactly what uh, you know, Harrison was was sharing that that coming to a place of Recognizing that you have been you have wronged Not not just man, but you have wronged god and to come to a place of that godly sorrow Uh an important practical thing, you know, especially For those who may continue to be in in that relationship. Yes Coming to a place of coming in right In the in the right place with god Is something you need to do alongside What we call an amputation The only way that you deal with sin, you know as it talks about in matthew It says if your eye has caused you to sin gorge it out if your hand has caused you to sin cut it off So it says you need to cut off And deal with that sin And that could be in any form and that could even further have consequences You know, there are times that people who are in extra marital affairs You know in their workplaces Some way of severeing may be to change the job or to move away from that situation or you know resign that place Yes, there are going to be financial consequences.  So it does require The recognition that you know you need to make the choice the person who has offended Is someone who needs to make the choice of getting this back, right? So breaking free from An affair or a relationship or an entanglement definitely requires that that cutting off that's Severeing off and it has to be done severely, you know, it cannot be done gradually It's not something that you know, you can do over the next few months. It it is painful It's something that has to be done like Like then and and now, you know and being able to reverse those those choices that Like I say, you know Interactions if it has been communications if it has been The job or if it has been a place of work or you know, wherever it is to be able to reverse those choices Change those choices because satan Definitely once he has a hold, you know, like I said in Ephesians 4 27 It says don't give the devil a foothold the minute there is a little bit that is that is given out You know, that's when he has The the whole of you, okay I want to quickly deal with With certain boundaries. We did talk about reconciliation And you know as as Harrison put forth that quest and we were speaking of how Reconciliation and healing is important. Yes The offended as well as the offender Needs the offended needs to come to a place of repentance Needs to come to a place of calling sin a sin Come to a place of working things out giving their spouse the time they may need to to recover to to come to a place of reconciliation and be willing to accept Whatever the consequence that may come as a result of that act, whereas the offended They need to be in a place where You know, they have the grace to to forgive to come to a place of releasing that forgive this And working on that. So these these steps aren't easy Sometimes they are a lot more painful just working together and discussing this I mean, I've seen how often things take a lot of time but ensuring that you know if Both the offender and the offended are in places are in Right right standing with God. We can see that it turns out beautiful like Harrison said it turns out beautiful The crisis tends to make you much stronger Much more faithful to each other you walk One one in one in one hand together and God reflects that healing and reconciliation Okay, so even if a couple has encountered this You know, there are times that they may go their separate ways and it is important that we continue to be loving and support And encourage both of them and help them to Live and pursue whatever purposes God has for their lives Maybe some things may not be come back to its original May not come back to what it was But God is still able to help and restore And redeem broken people to the best and the highest in him. Okay I just want to spend the next five quick minutes Just to just to go through certain moral boundaries that that you know A couple how do you safeguard your marriage? And this I think is helpful not just for us those of us who are in ministry But you know anyone who who are believers or those who aren't to really ensure how you keep your boundaries strong How do you discipline your way? In order to safeguard your marriage. So if you look at page 152 to 153 there are a lot of You know tips practical tips that are given and I'm just going to read through each of them and You know quick quick one-liners on each of them So the first it says is to be able to maintain your fulfillment within your own marriage Maintaining not just your sexual fulfillment Then your emotional fulfillment in marriage and one of the ways to to ensure that is there is to keep your marriage exciting to do good things to do fun things to Have now fun around each other to work things together And if at any point of time you see this as a concern You know take it as a measure on what you need to work at if you aren't satisfied Fulfilled in this area of your marriage do some door into Into into a temptation Okay, the next thing is don't do something you would not like your spouse to be doing right if it is maybe You know texting an old friend Maybe in the middle of the night and if you wouldn't want your husband to be doing or your wife to be doing that Don't do it yourself. You know Ensure that you keep the same standards that you're keeping for your for your spouse as well The third is avoid being away from your spouse for extended periods of time. You know we think Yeah, there may be times you're traveling frequently, but I think it's always helpful to not Be too long away from each other and to be to stay connected with your with your spouse at all times If you are working to ensure that you do not pair up with With with a colleague of an opposite sex for for for trips or for solo Business trips, you know avoid it or you know say that it is beyond it's not in your principles You know keeping some of these boundaries will be absolutely useful and helpful for you in the long run It may sound kinky to many people But when you do it, you know, it it not only establishes an example to others But it keeps you it refrains from you getting into any form of a temptation Okay refrain from going out alone taking drives with those of the opposite sex other than your spouse You know drops Shot drops to the bus stop or taking someone from the office to the work home From from home all of that the best it can be avoided be careful about your chatting your use of social media What are the messages that you send the emails that you send are your passwords all You know out for scrutiny scrutiny out for for others to see that's important to not doing things in You know on the slide. I would say cut off any kind of communication from unnecessary communication From people apart from work times that is needed or to the point, you know, maybe you may need to communicate to some Your team about something but to the point keep it short and that's be careful about be judicious about your interactions Next is to be able to guard your mind your thoughts your imagination your feelings and affections remember that You know, sometimes you may have thoughts Towards somebody arouse towards someone of the opposite sex. It's important to deal with it then and there Not allow it to brew and not allow it to simmer and boil But to deal with it then and they're taking it to god and prayer being able to come to a place of casting it out And consecrating it asking the lord for his spirit to cleanse your mind to be able to See the individual differently, you know to guard your mind to not to engage in in in those Thought the thoughts and those affections. The next is to be able to maintain your internal boundaries. It is to Being careful not to think of anybody else about your spouse. Now, this is something nobody can see This is all within the four. I mean the round in in your skull, right? But what you're doing is making a commitment to the lord that you will Will stay in those boundaries and and not allow these thoughts to creep in because everything starts with the thought Everything starts with things on the mind. Okay next is being able to speak positively about your spouse in your conversation with others avoid personal compliments or any You know flirtations with others not really making a mention about how they're looking or what You know what suits them avoid Avoiding those being careful in your interactions with the person that you may have had feelings to Sometimes yes, these these feelings do come come up But it makes absolute sense and I've seen a lot of people Thinking that if I go confess that I am feeling like this with that person, it may go away I think that's the biggest mistake one can make to not express your feelings or give any indications that you feel that way towards somebody Okay, it you're stepping into something that that's that's causing that's closing in those boundaries So don't be mistaken. You don't need to express those those thoughts to anybody Uh, yeah, next would be to yes staying away from pornography or anything that causes Sin in this area of sexuality Pornography in itself engaging in pornography can keep your mind Waiting to lurk on some on on the next temptation. So keeping away from pornography avoiding counseling those of the opposite sex avoiding Cussing personal problems or anything that may be emotional with someone Of the opposite sex this this this is the beginning of that intimacy Choose to discuss it with your spouse if if If that isn't possible Find someone who can help you with you know, maybe someone of No, someone of the same sex who can help to restore this emotional lack of emotional intimacy that you're you're finding Okay, being intentional about past relationships and cutting off those past relationships Establishing any other boundaries that may be specifically relevant to your situation I think it's important to evaluate yourself and see where it it takes courage to really look at To have a good look at what you are doing and how you interact, you know, it could be something in the thoughts It could be something in your words. It could be something of your feelings your emotions, but ensuring that you Really evaluate and establish those boundaries that may be very clear about About where your stance should be and of course if you are single Also to ensure that you establish these boundaries so that you will be fit and ready once you are married. All right Yes, I'm I'm through with this lesson. I know we've we've had a lot to discuss in this this chapter We've had excellent You know shareings Any question we just have you know way up time but just two minutes for anyone for any questions If not, we'll just close with a word of prayer Ask the lord for the protection of our marriages and our singles who may be here anybody any question Okay, let's just close with a word of prayer Heavenly father we thank you father for this institution of marriage Thank you for the way that you have designed it to be for one man for one woman To find all our fulfillment within this lord I commit every marriage represented here on this call and everyone lord who's hearing and listening to this Father we need your grace your mercy your protection over our marriages Lord just as we ask you father We pray that we will step in and guard our minds our thoughts our feelings Lord we will guard our Our very desires and our appetites father that we will seek to receive fulfillment from our own homes Seek to fulfillment from our own partners father Lord we come against every attack of the enemy in the area of our marriages lord, especially When it comes to our sexuality father We pray that you protect us lord even as we establish these boundaries give us the courage to call sin a sin Give us the courage to cut off everything lord that is against your word that is unrighteous in your sight father Give us lord the courage lord to to be willing lord to step into your grace father Lord we pray god for those of us who have fallen off the mark lord We repent lord we come with you lord with sorrow and repentance and ask god that you You revive us and you restore us lord if it takes any of us the courage To go back to our spouses and share with them no matter what the consequences may be Father may we lord start that process that journey of healing lord lord You have convicted us lord of our sin and when we come to you lord in us and when we come to you lord There is surely a blessing father. I pray lord for those who've been offended in this call father Those who've been offended lord lord your grace your mercy your love be poured out father So that the scars and the wounds that they feel lord will be healed in jesus name That they will begin to see hope that there is a living hope in you father That only you god can restore and reconcile us lord back to our original places father Lord i pray for the singles on this call even as they've heard father I pray that they would establish in their hearts that they would follow you with all their mind their soul and their spirit lord So that they could be strong examples strong witnesses to show forth your glory Thank you for lord that you make these difficult topics father Something that that that brings about a teaching for us yet lord that we need to protect ourselves through this Thank you heavenly father. We love you. We praise you I I bring each one of us hearing this prayer lord I pray that your miracle working power lord goes with them through this week May they see your miracles in every area of their lives in jesus name. I pray amen Amen God bless. Thank you God bless. Thank you. Thank you so much, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you. God bless


So, there is a lot of confusion about what spiritual Aikido is, or if Aikido can be spiritual.  That question was always present in me, it was always important for me because when I started Aikido, I actually started because I was interested in spirituality, but one of the problems with spirituality is that when somebody says, spiritual or is this spiritual or Aikido spiritual, oftentimes we're not really defining what spiritual is. And spirituality is a vast topic, there can be many interpretations of what spirituality is. Somebody can imagine spirituality to be about chi, ki, chakras, etc., and the other person can see spirituality as a practice of self purification. Both people will speak and argue about spirituality without actually realizing that one is talking about apples and the other one is talking about oranges. So that's actually where people trip very often or too often. Before we continue to talk about what is spirituality, I would like to define that spirituality for me, I try to make it as simple as possible.  For me that's actually spirituality, you can talk about it in other words, you can talk about it in different ways, but we can stop actually here. And if you look at Ossensi, he might have used other words for it, but you can see that he was very passionate about reconciling the world, making the whole family, the whole world one family. So it seems that it's quite clear actually that spirituality for him had similar meanings. The problem is that what I heard, the stories I heard, and there's one book which I really like, Remembering Ossensi, where different people, both Westerners and Japanese tell short stories about Ossensi, and also I heard the few stories from Sihan Robert Nadeau, who was a friend and a student of Ossensi, back when he was alive, that his students, most of his students weren't actually interested into the spiritual part of Aikido, and that was for a few different reasons. Another reason was because when Aikido was at its peak, it was after the Second World War, the Japanese, since they lost, they were very patriotic, so they really wanted to win back the honor of Japan. And so when they seeked out Ossensi as this great well-known martial arts teacher, they wouldn't be interested into his spirituality, they would be interested into his martial arts skills. And so when he would speak about spirituality, there's this one story from Sihan Robert Nadeau, which made a big impact on me, Ossensi, he would oftentimes start to talk and talk and talk and share these long stories about spirituality. When he would start talking, oftentimes he would talk for the whole class, and the class wouldn't even happen. So there were these doors, and there were one or two senior students next to these doors. Once somebody coming in late, walking into the dojo, and Ossensi was talking, Sihan Robert Nadeau, the way I remember the story, he told the senior student, and make a point here, senior student, he saw somebody coming and she said, no, no, don't come here, the old guy's talking. Today there's not going to be any class. Senior student. So that kind of gives the sense of what was happening, and you could think that this was maybe that one person who was not really into what Ossensi was saying, but at the same time, when I was reading the history, the biography of Ossensi and the remembering of Ossensi, there was a story when Ossensi was walking with a bunch of his students, and he said, you know, I see people walking behind me, but when I turn back, I realize there's no one, and that student who was telling the story said he didn't understand what he means back then, but then later it occurred to him that Ossensi just didn't feel that anyone is with him into that spiritual path. So in the end, he did have Goi-sensei, which is another whole long story, but it doesn't seem his students were passionate about spirituality back then. There's a couple more things why that happened. One more is because his students were young. For young people, it's very common for the whole world to be about you or about some concept rather than the whole. Another point is that Ossensi was very much into mystical terms, and most of you know that probably. Ossensi was very much talking about how spirituality is connected to Izayami, Zanagi, Aminamurokumokusamaradus, Hemly Dragon, and these diris, and he used a lot of mythological terms, and even today reading most of his texts, it's sometimes hard to catch what he was talking about, and that made for the students even harder to catch his spirituality. Although, nevertheless, like in the book The Heart of Aikiro, which I really love as well, the stories he says, or the ideas are very precise, very pure, so it was not all that bad. But then as the students of Ossensi grew, not everyone was interested in spirituality, and some became interested in spirituality, but in different ways, and in most of the cases it's just not very clear where the spirituality is with Aikiro, even more so when it's becoming so vast and actually disconnected as we spoke a bit in the past video. So when we look at spirituality in Aikiro, today we have this background, which is already quite vague and quite complicated, but today again, spirituality is oftentimes the word to many, too many people think connected to esoteric, so cheeky, chakras, etc. But the problem is that such spirituality is oftentimes it's exclusive. You have to believe it, and if you don't, you're not in the club, and which is actually, in my terms of spirituality, it's not actually, which is just important, it's not considering the whole. It's more about me becoming more spiritual, becoming more cool in spirituality, and then I'm higher than you, you are nothing, which is just not spiritual at all, makes me mad, actually. And that happens in Aikiro, too, as we spoke in the previous video about judging others and comparing each other and saying, I'm better than you, again, kicking out the spiritual side. And then again, when you look at the Aikiro, most of the dojos are just teaching technique, and sometimes they say a quote or two about from a sensei, but then you get confused, then you say like, okay, so where's the spiritual part in that? And it's, I agree, it's hard to see it there. There are many legends, many myths, one of the myths is, if you train long enough, eventually, you will just get it, which is not true. And again, in remembering a sensei, there's a quote which I liked, too, remember who said it, but said, well, in the past, when we would look at a sensei doing these incredible things, being so inspired, we think, okay, in 30, 40 years, we will also get there. We just need to do techniques, do techniques, do techniques, and we're going to get there. But then he says, 30, 40, 50 years past that we are doing Aikiro and said, it didn't come. That spirituality didn't come by itself. And they started to realize, you know, this is not self sufficient. It doesn't come, it does not come by itself. And that's my experience, too, until, until I got exposed to taikiro teachings, which are about the whole integrated into the training, it didn't really click into me. And the more I trained with my first instructor was very much about combat, the more I had this resistance of understanding, like, I don't see where that spiritual side of Aikiro is, I had to explore things on my own besides the training to get the spirituality there. Shrasni, it is there, even in a lot of dojos, some of the parts you can see. So the most common one is no competition. Although, yes, there's tamiki style and some other places where they try to implement tournaments. But most of the dojos most of the dojos, they don't have competition, which is actually good. And that's the reason I was since he did it. He said, competition separates us and makes us against looking to the notion of the wholeness, equal spirituality, competition denies that in a sense, creating a non competitive environment in Aikiro where we are where we don't need to compare each other where we don't need to prove that I'm better than you is already a part of spirituality, which is quite rare in most cases. Most life cases don't have that aspect. Even in work, you can you compete even with your friends, you compete. And technically, Aikiro shouldn't have that aspect. Again, as in previous video spoke, unfortunately, heck, it oftentimes does. Too oftentimes dojos compare, students compare, but that notion is still in most dojos, it's present. Also, who can not get a relationship in a healthy dojo, which is again, not always you find it, but in Aikiro, it is oftentimes emphasized that you should take care of your partner that even if it's an attacker, the ideal of Aikiro is actually to take care of the attacker, as I say, to not double dip. So if you immobilize him to not punch him in the face three times just because he attacked you, but rather do only what is necessary. And in the training also to take care of your partner to make sure he doesn't get hurt to make sure he feels good, you both feel good while you train. Again, not all the dojos have that, but generally the tendency of Aikiro is to encourage that, which is also quite spiritual. I could continue on expressing more ideas about how generally Aikiro has a tendency to draw people towards that kind of notion of spirituality. But the last thought I'll share for today is that my concept of what I call on and off the mat, what you train on the mat, you bring back on to your life. If you always resist on the mat, if you always compete on the mat, if you always hurt others on the mat, that's what you're going to get and do off the mat. But if you go towards the healthy side of Aikiro, if you take care of your partners, if you enjoy your training, if you support and help others in their growth, if you take care of people even who are against you and you try to resolve conflict without becoming aggressive. If you're not competing with others on the mat, hopefully, again, actually, it's quite rare. But if you don't, which Aikiro generally does give that space for it, if you don't do it, that's what you're going to get and bring back off the mat. Those are the qualities which you're going to start to live off the mat, meaning you will start to compete less with the other people. You will start to become less aggressive when there is a conflict on and on and on. So in that sense, Aikiro has that space, has a fairly unique space, which has the potential to be spiritual, even on the basic level, which can make you more spiritual, make you more concerned about the whole, make you more concerned about the well-being of not only you, but you as a part of the whole. There's also the next step, which is a very direct implication of spirituality into Aikido training, which I'm very passionate about. I really love doing my sensei, that Jogasti does it, this whole community does it, and I do it very passionately too, connecting techniques with certain exercises which make you feel more part of the whole. But that's the whole and other video, and we're going to talk about that later. If you're interested into that topic, subscribe, check the other videos while the next one comes out. But I hope that gives you at least a bit of an understanding, a bit of a sense of one way to interpret spirituality in Aikido, and actually at the same time, unfortunately, you see how oftentimes in the world of Aikido, it's off that direction, dojos competing with each other, trying to prove who's best, sensei's not getting along, etc, etc. But there is hope, there is that space, there is that basic initial message that Ossensi left us with to do something great. And I want to remind you that we have that choice. We can see more spirituality in Aikido. We can see Aikido, which is taking care of the whole. I understand you, I've been there too, not all dojos will accept that, and not all dojos will offer you that space, but you are free to choose your dojo, you're free to choose your sensei. And the techniques you will learn, you will be able to bring to the other dojo. You might need to relearn some things, but you're going to be fine. Trust what is important for you, trust why you study Aikido, try to see how it can actually work on and off the mat, and try to see how you can implement Ossensi's message into your life through training and off training. There's a lot more to be said here, but I'm going to stop here. Thank you very much for listening through the whole video. I'm happy that you stayed all the way against Rokas, and we'll continue on with our talks further. If you have any thoughts, I'm very interested to hear them in the comments. I'll definitely respond. Let me know what you consider spirituality to be in Aikido. Also, maybe the downsides of spirituality and misunderstandings you see. So let me know anything you think and feel in the comments. Also, subscribe, like the video that helps share this message further, share it with your friends. I think it's worth it. And yeah, I think looking at life in Aikido through this way, we can actually make a difference. So, we'll stop here.


Hey guys, Thundie here and it's the holidays. I'm taking a road trip to go visit family and I have the GMC Yukon Denali 2022. This bad boy's a beast. So let's see what kind of tech is inside the car. It's big. All right, so let's start off by taking a look at this car. It is a beauty all around. Now the color I have here is a dark maroon. I really like how it looks. Now, this is the first time I've actually driven the Yukon Denali and I've got to say though, styling wise it's great. At the very front of the car you've got this nice massive grille. It says GMC and you've got those LED headlights that are big. They are really great at night. Now you've got the GMC badging all around this car. You've got it at the front corners on either side, either the driver and the passenger side. Looks really nice. Nice simple detail there. It says Denali but underneath the door. Now, when we open up that hood we have a 6.2 liter V8 engine which gives you a lot of power for towing, tailoring, trail airing as well as also just the drive itself. Now, moving around the car we've got a 22 inch rims. They are nice especially for this car. We've also got a lift gate as well that opens up when you're about to get in but we go around to the back of the vehicle and here is where I found some really just cool tech in the car. So you can open up the top of the trunk to basically just quick access to drop things or pick things up. Or you can actually open up the whole thing whether you're using of course the button your remote, whatever the case may be. Now this gives you a sizable trunk to put in stuff but from here you can lower the middle seats all the way down and you can also lower the third row with those buttons at the back of the car giving you quick access so you can add more room. And this was great for my trip I was able to put in more stuff in the car to go see family for the holidays. So that actually was pretty cool. Other thing also you do have a full-size power plug there so you can plug in tools or TV if you're tailgating whatever the case may be maybe an electric grill you can use that right there with that power plug. Honestly, the driving experience in this vehicle is fantastic. It felt really comfortable. It felt lighter than the size of the vehicle itself and it was great just going from New York all the way to Massachusetts. Now when you're in the car you're greeted with just some incredible interior. So once you get into this vehicle you're gonna be treated to the Denali trim which is what I had in here in this package which is leather accents and you can see that nice brown leather kind of matches with the maroon outside. You've got wood accent panelling around the door and also to the passenger side which is great. You also have leather seats, fully leather seats all throughout the car. Nice, has the Denali logo heated seats so you've got heating on both the top and the bottom part of the seats and also they are cool seats as well so it depends on where you are. Now you also have 14 speakers around the car which is great so your navigation kind of comes from the very top of the car where some of the speakers are. I like that so it kind of separates the sound but it's very great audio experience. Now when you're sitting in the vehicle on the driver's side you've got a lot of things in front of you. It can be a little bit daunting but it's actually not that difficult. Now left of the steering wheel you do have your drive modes where you can switch between drive modes like your sports, your two wheel drives, your four wheel drive and so on and so forth and you've got the power management for those power plugs in the car. They actually two, one was in the trunk and one is in the middle row and then we move over to the center where your wheel is. Now the wheel has buttons behind for your music playback. You've got a few option buttons for the screen in front of you and then you do have a 15 inch heads up display. That is great because your navigation also shows up as a display. You don't have to look left or right. You can look straight ahead of you and you have access to the road and what you're seeing there. So that is really awesome. Now we'll move to the right of the steering wheel and by the way that's a leather steering wheel with heated steering wheel as well. We have the drive shifters so you can choose between park and drive and all that. It's interesting, there's just right on the panel there next to the massive touchscreen but it works out pretty well. Now the touchscreen itself is a 12.8 inch touchscreen. This is where a lot of things are housed and this is one of the fun parts of the car. Now you've got Google Assistant built into it but not just Google Assistant, you have basically, you can sign into your Android account and you've got full Google navigation with this. I like it because it allows you to do a lot of things. So number one, you can just go through the information system of the car and you can see all the different things you want to do from your settings to charging options and things like that for your smartphone but also you can use the voice assistant like you're using it in any other place. So I can navigate home if I want to. I can look for restaurants. I don't have to leave the wheel but one of the best things is also that I can control my smart appliances at home by telling Google to turn off the master bedroom lights and it actually would do that off through the car and control the stuff at home. So I like that simple synergy. It's something you can do off your phone but while you're driving you don't want to pick it up on anything and this is a great way to do that and I really enjoyed the experience because while we drove, we stopped by a couple of places so it's easy for us to do that navigation. Now within that display is where you do have access to a few other things. Like the nine cameras around the car giving you 360 view and honestly it was great for parking because it's been a while since I've driven a vehicle this large so it was nice to see all angles and trust me, it's awesome. You can go ahead and download apps from the app store, mostly audio based apps and you do have access to the two displays at the back there, two displays for the mineral seats which you can access there. Now there are no video apps you can use with it so that's something just to take note and then also you have Wi-Fi built into this and this is really, really important. I like this because it allows you to do much more. So for instance, you know there's Wi-Fi, you know I have two screens so I definitely went ahead and I connected my Xbox Series S and I hung out with my cousin and we just kind of gamed in the back of the car which is fantastic. So you think about it for a long road trip in this case, we just kind of parked the car and then we played some Halo Infinite and we played some Forza Horizon 5. It's nice the fact that if you're traveling with kids, family members, a lot of people, you can have access to just two screens. You either mirror the screens, you can have two individual sources because you've got two HDMI ports there within that second row to actually feeding to that and you're able to play and watch content. So for me it was a great experience to just chill with my cousin in a way from everybody else and we just kind of gamed in the car and that was a great experience. Now, some of the other things you find in the car in that center console, they also two more USB type-C ports which is great because you can charge your devices there but the third row also has USB type-C ports as well allowing for charging in those third. Everybody in the car can charge their phones whatever they want to, which is great. Now for the driver and the main passenger, you do have wireless charging right there with just one wireless charging charge spot but there's also USB type-C port and then USB type-A port as well. Now the center console itself has this really cool place where you can, I wish it was a wireless charger but it really isn't making place your phone there if you want to and you can move that center console back to give you more space or more storage space. So this access to it with a button at the very top of the car and you can actually go ahead and access more space. Now, speaking of the top of the car we've got a nice massive moonroof that allows you to open it up all the way to the back giving you just more light in the car, more scenery. It's a great look altogether. Honestly, there's a lot I really love about this vehicle. You've got a lot of great features. The trim is nice. They've done a lot of things to make you feel comfortable. There's a lot of seating space whether you're sitting in the middle row, the second row, or you're even sitting in the third row like myself and my cousin, we bought about six feet too and we had enough space and room to seat in this car. When you're taking long trips, that Wi-Fi is pretty great. Being able to connect, especially the other people in the car, if they want to do work, they can actually go ahead and do that within the vehicle because you've got a built-in hotspot and that is through AT&T and OnStar. So that is something that is great for just like the whole family as a whole. And for me, I think this is the kind of improvements I like to see with vehicles. Not just going into EVs but just stuff that makes things more practical while you're driving, you're taking long trips while using the car. It's a great fun experience and honestly, I really enjoyed it. I never thought I would enjoy driving a Yukon Denali but I do miss this vehicle and I like the improvements that they've done here. I love to see it in more GM vehicles across the line and I like to see more of that integration they have with Google because it made for the driving experience really simple and easy where once I was signed in, I just had to walk into the car, tell the car when I had to go and also just do different things when I was looking for restaurants or using my smart home features and using things in the car quite easily. So that is my look at the 2022 GMC Yukon Denali. I think it's a great vehicle. This package is roughly around $89,000 but you can build your own package. You should definitely use the link down below if you wanna check it out. And honestly, if you're a Yukon fan, Denali fan, this is something that will fit you quite well. So if you guys have any questions and comments, let me know. If you really enjoyed this video, the fact that, hey, we are doing something that will be different on the channel, we still gamed in the car and it was a fun experience but if you wanna check it out, let me know so we can do more car videos for you. This is Thundie, he's saying thank you and always enjoy your entertainment.