I still remember my very first Snatch.

After having a go with the PVC pipe for about 20 times,

I gave the empty bar (20 kg) a shot.

And to my surprise,

I fell foolishly backward with the bar almost taking my wrists to the floor with it.

And while I recovered as fast as I could,

trying my best to pretend nothing had happened,

something deep within me was changed forever.

For right that moment,

I fell in LOVE.

No not in the way "love" is used by those around me.

But perhaps,

in the most authentic and visceral way, the word will ever be used.

Because for the next few years,

no matter how my days were at work or study,

I would go to bed thinking about Weightlifting,

and wake up in the morning thinking about Weightlifting.

This was almost a decade ago.

Fast forward to today,

and almost nothing has changed when it comes to my love for the sport,

except for the "thinking" part.

(Which my readers from the "No-Mind" scene will understand why.)

But assuming you are from the "Weightlifting scene",

I will oblige and explain why I do not "think" about anything,

let alone think about the "love of my life".

I will warn you beforehand,

the words may hit you hard or in a "weird way",

and how hard (or weird) they hit you

will be representative of how thoughtful of a person you are.

You see,

you may have been brought up in a culture of...

"You become what you think about"

or

"I think, therefore I am"

But having gone deep into such a culture,

and suffering from its very many perils have taught me otherwise.

I have realized the opposite ...

"You become what you become when thoughts cease (to exist)"

or

"I think NOT, therefore I am"

Yes.

I have zeroed on into these realizations

after the years and years of embracing the "western" approach

and paying the price in staying weak mentally and brittle physically,

which was only getting worse.

(Yes to me strength that does not come freely, is weakness.)

And though a single post is not enough to fully educate anyone still on the "western boat",

let alone fully "convert" them (I will never "convert" anyone),

I can at least do my 0.002 (or perhaps even less).

Dear friend,

you are not just your thoughts (Mind).

You are an Awareness and a body as well.

Your thoughts are in fact a lie.

They may cajole you into thinking that they are your ally,

but by doing so, they make you their ally.

Yes, I know it is "confusing",

but confusion is the gateway towards real experience,

and thus knowledge.

What is the alternative?

As I said earlier, leveraging your awareness and thus, your body.

Your body is a far, far intelligent of an entity.

That is, if, you have not already conditioned yourself to "believe" otherwise.

The body is a temple.

One which is there only for you.

One which will respond only if you devote to it.

And oh boy will it respond...

For "respond" is highly understating the wide-open arms

with which it will wholly accept your devotion.

And show you the magic it has not been allowed to exhibit all this time,

because you were entertaining your "thinking buddy" (your Mind) and trying to teach it.

Yes.

When you use an external technique (through your thoughts and cues),

no matter how expertly "thought of" or how widely used elsewhere,

you essentially say...

"I have no interest in how my body naturally moves,

and so I will teach it how to move."

In essence, all you do is shut the door of your temple close,

and block it even more from being accessible,

for the technique becomes your wishing well.

(Why bother devoting to the temple, when the "well" is right there?)

But what you realize not,

is that the well gets deeper and deeper with time,

and thus the prizes harder and harder to reach.

And soon a time comes,

when it becomes a barren well with nothing to give,

no matter how deep you go searching for what it promised before.

And worse, when you do not stop insisting on "extracting the goods",

you risk slipping into the darkness of injuries and limitations,

and thus the other vicious cycle of therapy, recovery, and re-injury.

Tell me,

do these not resonate with your experiences as of late or in the past?

Even more so if you seem to have "hit the wall" in terms of your "progress"?

I will wait for the answer not dear friend,

for I have seen far such cases repeat too many times in front of my eyes.

But I will tell you this...

No matter now closed the door of your temple appear to you,

they can still be opened,

and they will welcome you.

Such is the nature of Nature.

She is always there to be accessed,

if the one who is accessing devotes fully and completely.

Thank you.

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