Eating Healthy Isn’t Enough (ft. Jaguang Sunim)

Is healthy eating really the same for everyone? What if the secret to better nutrition, emotional balance, and personal wellness begins with understanding your individual body rather than following another one-size-fits-all diet? In this thought-provoking episode of INsights & Straight Talk, host Rodd Duff welcomes Jaegwang Sunim, a Zen Buddhist nun who spent eight years training in a South Korean monastery. Together, they explore the connections between food, physical health, emotional well-being, meditation, and traditional Korean constitutional medicine.

This has been an experience of amazement to me.

Before you leave, if you'd like to watch another

one of the podcasts, click the first link in

the description. We love having you here. We

appreciate all your support. And with that, producer

Barbie and I are out. Welcome to Insights in

Straight Talk. I am Rod Duff. And you know, today,

I want to begin with a little bit of a question

that seems incredibly simple, okay? What does

it actually mean to eat healthy? Because we hear

that phrase everywhere, right? Eat more of this,

eat less of that. This diet is the answer. That

food is bad for you. This food is a super food.

Follow this plan. Count this, eliminate that.

And yet two people can... Seemingly do, by the

way, I appreciate everybody coming in. It looks

like you're jumping in early today. Please subscribe

and like the episode. Like I said, two people

can seemingly do the exact same things and experience

very different results. So maybe the more interesting

question isn't simply is this food healthy? Maybe

it's is this food healthy for me? And that's

where today's conversation gets. really kind

of interesting to me. My guest is Jaegwang Sunim,

a Zen Buddhist nun who spent eight years training

in a monastery in South Korea. And she spent

decades exploring the relationships between nutrition,

the body, emotional balance, and spiritual practice.

Part of her work involves five elements, Saswang,

constitutional medicine. Now, that is a traditional

Korean approach. It's built around the idea that

human beings aren't all physically identical,

and therefore, our nutritional needs may not

be identical either, right? Now, I want to make

something clear before we begin, all right? We're

not here today to diagnose anybody. We're not

telling We're not telling you to stop taking

medication. We're not telling you to ignore your

doctor or throw everything out of your refrigerator.

Why are you getting kind of hungry now? But that's

not what this conversation is about. We're going

to do something that we love doing here on this

show. We're going to get curious because Jaegwang's

story takes us from Canada to a Korean Zen monastery

through decades of spiritual practice, traditional

approaches, traditional approaches to health,

meditation, breathing, nutrition, and ultimately

to a fascinating intersection between the body

and the mind. You know what? There's another

piece of this that's really caught my attention.

Now, when we talk about, and we do quite a bit,

meditation or spirituality on the show. We often

think the answer to every struggle is inside

the mind. You know, try harder, focus more, meditate

longer, be more disciplined. But Jaquan raises

another possibility. I told you I'm terrible

with names. I'm so sorry for putting you in every

other sentence. What if sometimes it's the question

that what if sometimes the body is trying to

tell us? That's her approach What if physical

discomfort? nutrition energy emotion and Our

ability to become quiet and present are more

interconnected than we realize I don't know exactly

where this conversation is going to take us and

and As you guys know, that's precisely why I

wanted to have it. So today we're going to talk

about food. We're going to talk about sin. We're

going to talk about the body and the mind. And

we're going to challenge one of the most common

assumptions in modern health culture today, that

there is only one definition of healthy that

works for everybody. So, pull up a chair. to

bring your questions and remember whether you

agree, disagree, or simply walk away thinking

about something differently. Your voice belongs

at this thing. I hope this is going to end up

being a better day. Your voice belongs at this

table. So Zhezhuang, Sunim, welcome to Insights

and Straight Talk. How are you today? Thank you

very much. I'm doing very well. Sorry for butchering

that introduction so poorly, but my tongue got

a little twisted up a little bit here. Oh, we

already got somebody. Look at this. Somebody

is already jumping on saying hi. Oh, this must

be a local Oklahoman. Why don't you read what

eagle light says? I just see hi. Yep, that's

all she said. I just wanted to bring that up.

Usually we don't get comments this fast, so I

thought I'd just throw that up on the screen

for you. So back in the room, you didn't touch

the M &M's, did you? No, no, not at all. They're

still there. So we've got some people coming

in. There's a couple hundred people in already.

And so as they're kind of coming in and getting

settled in and comfortable. soaking into their

couches and so forth. I told you I wanted you

to kind of share the journey. I like the journeys,

you know, that give the history the background

of why you're here today with us. I mean, you're

the expert on what we're talking about. And there's

a reason you're here. What's some of that backstory?

Give us some background on what made you go from

Canada to South Korea and how all this developed.

It really developed when I was in college in

Toronto. And I was developing migraine headaches,

a lot of stress, schoolwork, pressure. And I

had gone to my doctor and he did all the usual

tests to make sure there was nothing physically

wrong. And he happened to be someone who was

experimenting. This was in the 70s. He was experimenting

with what they called self -hypnosis, which we

would now call guided meditation. And he had

created an audio recording, guiding one through

peaceful landscapes, et cetera. And he told me

to listen to that recording twice a day. And

I did that. And after a couple of weeks, my headaches

were gone. Oh, wow. Shortly after that, a friend

dragged me to a yoga class. So you did this like

in the morning, in the night? Yeah, it was maybe

15 minutes recording. I'd lie down, listen to

it. And shortly after that, a friend took me

to a yoga class. And at the end of the yoga class,

the teacher said, lie down. We're going to do

some meditation. And she went through essentially

a very similar thing to what was on my doctor's

recording, this kind of guided visualization.

But she called it meditation. And so I thought,

oh, well, if that little bit that I've been doing

got rid of my headaches, just think of what doing

more could possibly do. And around that time,

someone else had given me a book on a journey

to India and setting with a guru. And that kind

of opened me up to reading other books about

spirituality and meditation and Buddhism. which

then led me to looking for someone locally who

could maybe teach me meditation. And I found

a meditation center. This is in Toronto. This

is in Toronto, yeah. I found a meditation center

in Toronto and went there and it happened to

be run by a Korean Buddhist monk. And at that

time I knew nothing about Buddhism, having a

little bit of reading. I didn't know there were

different schools of Buddhism, different cultures,

different traditions. I just started going to

the Zen Center, and I enjoyed it. I found the

meditation practice really helpful, enjoyable.

The teacher was quite encouraging and inspiring.

And after a year or so, I thought, you know,

I'd really like to explore this more. And if

I'm going to explore it and devote more of my

life to it, I'd like to make sure that I'm really

practicing correctly. I want to make sure I'm

getting really correct guidance. And the monk

who ran the Zen Center was quite young. He was

in his 30s. This was the gentleman in Toronto

that first exposed you. Got you. Yeah, first

exposure. And I just felt like I wanted to study

with someone who was really an authentic Zen

master. This guy's only 30 at the time. Yes.

Yes. He was young, fairly inexperienced. Sure.

And I wasn't really aware of any great masters

in North America at this time. It's in the 70s.

Buddhism is still very young and in the West.

But one day when I was at the Zen Center, he

showed me a Buddhist newspaper that he subscribed

to that came from Korea. And he said, Oh, look,

there's a Western community in this monastery

in Korea. And the Zen Master there is open to

training Westerners. And it was an interview

of a French nun who was living in the monastery.

And he said, would you be interested in going

there and training on it? He said, it's a very

great famous Zen Master. And I said, yeah. In

all my naivety. And so he made arrangements and

it was probably about a year later before I finally

went. But that's how I got going. He made the

arrangements. What a crazy set of circumstances.

First of all, was he born in South Korea? Yes.

OK, so he eventually at some point in his life,

he's only 30 at this point, so apparently moved

to Ontario. Yes. And open this, what do you call

them? A Zen center. A Zen center. And so he started

this Zen center in your area. And then you guys

obviously developed a relationship to the point

where he helped you and set this whole thing.

I mean, the odds of all that come together. are

not exactly common, are they? That's a true definition

of what you're, of being put on a journey that

must be yours, because the circumstances are

what they are, and it's not, this isn't exactly

a small, although we like to think it is sometimes,

that this is a small world. That's amazing. Why

don't you read what, is it Ellen? Why don't you

read what Ellen says here? Now remember, you

don't have to look at the little one, just look

at the big one that I put up. When I ask you

to refer to that, don't look down there, look

over there. Perfect, so go ahead and read what

Ellen says here. Ellen says, great show, really

enjoying this conversation. It's an important

conversation to have because When I first saw

this, and that's why I wanted to hear your journey,

especially ahead of time, because this is not,

this, for you to accomplish so far, what you've

already accomplished is a big deal, obviously.

The chances that that would come about aren't

exactly strong. And at the same time, somebody

built, somebody obviously built like you did

something most people wouldn't do, right? I mean,

that's an extreme set of circumstances to accomplish

something pretty amazing. And so what about you

made you take these extra steps to then get to

a point where you're following this journey now?

But what do you think it was about you? I mean,

most people, if I go to a Zen study place right

now, I may get into that, but I don't see myself

ending up in South Korea studying to be a monk,

right? So what is it about you do you think that

made that difference between me and you? You

know, from a Buddhist perspective, in hindsight,

we would call this a karmic connection. I had

some karmic connection. A karma connection? A

karmic connection. Karmic? Okay, go ahead. Some

karmic connection with Korean Buddhism. At the

same time, I've been reading quite a bit about

Buddhism and meditation and the fact that human

beings have the ability to awaken to their true

nature, that we have an essential nature that

we're normally not conscious of, but we have

the ability to awaken to this, to realize what

our true nature is. And that when we can experience

our true nature, then this gives us greater freedom,

it gives us a broader perspective on ourself.

It helps us to let go of a lot of unnecessary

worries and concerns. It gives us greater peace

of mind, greater wisdom, compassion. And I thought

that sounds really great. And if some of these

great masters whose books I was reading say that

it's true, then I'm going to trust that this

is true. And so that was what really motivated

me. And it just felt important to me. Somehow

I can't explain how. It just felt like this was

something very important. I was, I guess, a little

bit at loose ends regarding career at this time,

because I was just finishing school and I didn't

know what I was going to do. And this came along

right about that time. When you say finishing

school, you're talking about higher education,

college. Yeah, finishing college. So it probably

all came together at the right time for me as

well. But somehow there was just a place in me

that said, yes, I want to try doing this. And

if I'm going to make a commitment to it, I want

to study under a real, genuine, certified teacher.

you know, to make sure if I'm going to put this

much effort and time into it, I want to make

sure my direction is correct. I don't want to

be going off on strange directions and leading

nowhere, etc. So that's what made me decide to

take up this opportunity to go to Korea. I'm

glad you said that one part in there because

I did a show before yesterday, we talked about

that, where just making effort Is one thing but

if you're doing it in the wrong direction, right?

And you just you just mentioned that you don't

want to be headed down the wrong Road, by the

way, there's over 400 people on right now So

your story you've got a nice little fan club

here building Hey, by the way, did you get did

you understand what it's what I meant when I

when we're emailing back and forth this morning

on a couple of little details on the Facebook

You know, we stream live to Facebook, LinkedIn,

and YouTube. Sometimes we do Instagram, too,

just depending on different things. But when

we stream live to, say, Facebook, that's a public

view. Where I have been doing it to private groups,

we're now opening up to public. And that's where

that sits. If you sent out that newsletter to

that link, that's where they're watching us from.

Does that make sense? Yes. All right. So let's

so Ellen followed up here because so how does

someone discover which so food is a big deal

right now? I mean, you know, John F. Kennedy,

you know, America. Yes. So there's there's many

layers to this conversation that we can have.

But but Ellen's asking here. how does someone

discover which foods are best suited to their

own constitution? You know, the food is bad anyway,

highly processed. That's a whole nother discussion.

But how do, like she asked here, how does someone

discover this as far as my constitution and what

food would be healthier or not for me? Well,

in the system of Sasson constitutional medicine,

We have a way of diagnosing your body constitution.

So this is something that we do during a consultation.

The system of Sasang is based on five -element

philosophy, which is the ancient philosophy of

Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine was originally

historically based on the principles of five

elements. And five elements are taken from nature,

earth, metal, water, wood, fire. And these five

elements also represent the energetic characteristics

of each of our five major internal organs. So

we, oddly enough, go through your date and time

of birth and create a five -element chart showing

the elements that were present at the time that

you were born. at the time that you took your

first breath, you take in whatever elements were

present, whatever distribution of elements, whichever

elements were weak or strong, whatever was present

when you took your first breath, are what enters

your internal organs. So before we're born, when

we're in our mother's womb, our body is formed

through genetics, what we inherit from our parents.

But while we're in the womb, we're relying on

our mother's energy. So through the umbilical

cord, we're being nourished by our mother. Once

we are born and we take our first breath, then

we are independent of our mother. We're breathing

on our own. And with that first breath, we take

in whatever elements are present and they enter

our major internal organs. And so the five element

birth chart is something that my teacher discovered.

My teacher is a Korean Buddhist monk, and he

had studied Sasang constitutional medicine before

I met him. And in the traditional method of Sasang,

they use other methods to try and see your body

shape, height, build, are you stocky, are you

slim? what's your blood type, that sort of thing.

And he found that this wasn't the most accurate

way, especially when it came to looking at Westerners.

It worked fairly well with Koreans, but when

they had to start looking at Westerners, it was

different. Our body builds are different. And

so he happened to discover that the five element

birth chart actually shows their constitution.

Constitution actually means that constitution

can be broken down to the very simple basics

of either you have a hot -dry constitution, meaning

the energy of your, what we call your spleen

-stomach, so the upper gastric system, is either

hot and dry or cold and damp. So you are one

of those. The hot and dry is the yang constitution.

Cold and damp is the yin constitution. And that's

where we begin. First we determine, are you a

yin constitution or a yang constitution? And

then the five element chart shows that. And that's

determined through this birth chart by me giving

you my year, day, and time of birth. Yes. It

doesn't matter where you are located, right?

Where you were born. We only need to know if

your birth time is standard time or not, so we

need to determine standard time. Gotcha. Okay,

gotcha. And so my teacher has studied the five

element charts for a completely different reason.

They're used for astrology and looking at personality

and that sort of thing. As he was studying them,

it suddenly dawned on him. He had this eureka

moment one day that he could see someone's body

concentration through the five element chart.

So he began to test it out and he would look

at it and we can tell. So if we give someone

a diet that suits their constitution, they can

tell within a couple of weeks if this is taking

them in a positive direction or not, if their

sense of well -being is improving. This just

came up while you're talking about this, so add

this into what you're describing. By the way,

there's over 800 people on right now, so there's

a lot of people jumping in. But this just came

in and you were just talking about it, so add

that into what you're talking about with that

one. Normally we are unaware of our constitution.

We eat whatever foods we're attracted to. And

often we have this idea that if I'm really attracted

to a certain food, if I really like this food,

it must be good for me. But that's not necessarily

the case. What are signs that a food may not

be right for you? Sometimes people have fairly

sensitive bodies and they can tell when they

eat a certain food that they just don't feel

good. They could get indigestion, they might

get low back pain, they could get fatigue, sudden

drop in energy. Low back pain, that was a curve

ball for me. I never thought about food and back

pain necessarily. That's a thing, huh? Yes. So

in all the years that I've been using this system,

which is about 30 years, We can sign up for this

on your website, which I'll put out there. Go

ahead. I've seen that, really I'm convinced that

most health issues, a lot of the common health

issues that people experience, especially what

we attribute to the aging process, comes from

long -term eating foods that work against your

constitution. I'm putting this together here.

So I go onto your site. We have a little introductory,

and then we go through and have a chart. And

then we start to understand a constitution. And

then from there, you're becoming more aware of

your body and what it may be telling you. So

you said a lot of bodies may be sensitive and

can. you can eat something and it makes you feel...

What you're actually saying here is that you

become more sensitive through this program and

thus continue on with what you were saying. I

just wanted to... I mean, that's the picture

that we're talking about. So some people are

sensitive to certain foods. They can tell. Some

people will tell me they know that they can't

eat spicy food. It doesn't agree with them. It

upsets their stomach, whatever. Some people can't

drink beer, it makes them bloated, et cetera.

Other people, I'd say the majority of people

don't really think about the symptoms that they're

having being connected to what they're eating.

And so... I think that's a very common walk through

life about most things. I mean, what we're talking

about today is about food, obviously. That's

the end result. And that's the subject matter.

But really it's more than that. It's about understanding

yourself. And there's so much of life that we

walk through. I was talking to somebody, they

used the term autopilot, where you just go through

autopilot in your life. And there's such a difference

between that and what you're talking about here.

Go on with what you're saying, but this is more

than just about food. when you're paying attention

to yourself. Sorry for interrupting, but I just

want to make that point. Yeah, once you understand

your body constitution, when I do a consultation

with someone, we go through a lot of different

details. We go through their health symptoms,

we look at emotions, because emotions are also

connected to the internal organs. Often people

who suffer from anxiety, for example, do so because

their stomach is cold and damp. And that gives

rise to anxiety. If they eat foods that increase

that cold and dampness. You're saying dry and

warm or cold and damp. And then depending on

what you are internally, that these foods help

the cold and damp. So if you have a cold, damp

constitution, then eating foods that provide

heat and dryness make everything feel better.

Digestion improves, anxiety comes down. Yes.

So your constitution is like your default condition.

Yeah, yeah. So you want to keep it in balance.

As you're keeping it in balance, you got to know

what it is. I mean, you can figure it out, but

quicker is better. You can learn. And so what

you want, if you're cold and damp, you want the

warm and dry. You want the opposite. The balance

is the point, right? So you will always be cold

and damp. That's always your default condition.

I always tell people it's like living in a house

in the Arctic. You know, if you live in a house

where it's a permanent cold damp climate, you

always want to keep the heat on. Everything's

comfortable. If you turn the heat off, the house

is going to get cold again. So and it's the same

with a hot, dry constitution. You need the air

conditioning on. It's like you're living in the

desert. Like you are in the desert and you need

that cool damp. like the air conditioning, you

need that on a daily basis in order to maintain

a comfortable condition internally, and it also

helps all of the internal organs to function

better. That example you just gave about the

summer when you need the air conditioning. I

live in Oklahoma, so we're just coming out of

literally a month's worth, a month, solid, every

day, of 110 degrees, 106 degrees, 111 degrees,

day after day after day after day. So yeah, air

conditioning is important and have balance. Because

I, you know, sleeping, well, hold on, I was going

to go down a rabbit hole. We don't need to do

that. But you talked about emotions and your

emotional, because here's part of the thing,

right? So your brain, you have three brains,

right? You have the brain of the head, the brain

of the heart, your emotions, and gut instinct,

the brain of the gut, the stomach. But really

what the brain of the head is doing, all the

brain, it doesn't know what's true. You know,

you can lie to it and it'll believe you because

it doesn't know what's true. It's only reading

through these filters. But my point being that

when the head interprets something. And that's

where these emotions that I'm curious about how

that effect works in here. Because what the brain

is doing is sending the synapses or sending information

somewhere to release hormones or release different

things that the body then reacts to, right? I

mean, that's kind of the whole thing that's going

on, right? It can be a back and forth thing.

Yeah. Neither start with the thinking or can

start with the internal organ being out of balance.

And when you have the emotional part of that

mixed in, your emotions, also the brain sends

out chemicals. So you could have conflicting

things happening unless you're aware of all this

and becoming more body aware. I don't know if

that's a real term or not. But, you know, Clyde's

got an interesting thing here that I know I'm

interested in, as you can see from all the gray.

Our nutritional needs do change, right, as we

get older? I mean, do they change in all sorts

of areas? I mean, we have this constitution,

and that's constant, consistent. But we also,

right, let's say I... I add 15 pounds of just

pure muscle mass. I'm going on this workout thing

or I'm not eating that much. I'm trying to lose

weight or maybe I'm walking a little bit more.

But as we get older, our body also changes, right?

How does that all look like as we get older?

Can you answer Clyde's question here for me?

Can our nutritional needs change as we get older

or lifestyle changes? I'm assuming the answer

is yes. Go ahead. They change in some ways, but

your constitution does not change. Right. Well,

in terms of the foods that agree with you and

disagree with your constitution, that doesn't

change. As we get older, our metabolism slows

down and generally we're not as physically active

most. older people are not as physically active

as they were when they were young. Some are.

If we're less physically active, then we need

fewer calories. But otherwise, once you follow

your body constitution nutritional program, then

you start to understand your body a lot better.

And you understand when you're - That's the biggest

key, isn't it? That's the biggest key, isn't

it? Yeah. You become much more - tuned into what

your body likes, what it dislikes, what makes

it happy, what makes it unhappy. And so it's

a living organism. That's what we are. I mean,

right. It's energy in, energy out. Yes. And what

kind of energy? Yes. And the more balanced you

become, energetically balanced dietary program,

then the more confident you feel in being able

to manage your health. We feel confident in knowing

how to stay healthy. If the body does start to

complain, you can think back to what did I eat?

Did I cheat on my diet? And this is why it's

complaining. So you feel like you have much more

control over your body. It's like you and your

body's needs are now in sync. And the energy

that you experience is more like your true energy.

rather than energy that you get through some

kind of stimulation, stimulating drinks, caffeine,

alcohol, whatever, you start to experience that

your body's true energy and you understand how

to nurture that and take care of it. That's interesting

what you just said. Because we in this society,

today's world, we need more energy, we drink

coffee. I even talked about it on the show, we

drink energy drinks. Yeah. But what you're saying

here is, and I want to go back to the sessing.

We already went through this with Chris. This

question was earlier. I didn't bring it up at

the time, but I do want to go back to it for

a quick second. But the sessing constitutional

medicine, it's identifying these different body

constitutions. by the elements that were in the

earth at the moment that you took you from? Yes.

Is that the entire, is there anything more we

can add for Chris in that? Because we did go

through this, but I want to make sure we're getting

everything out of here. Yeah, this is what we

found is the most accurate way to determine your

constitution is through the five element birth

chart. In Chinese, they call it baxi. In Korean,

they call it saju. Well, actually, let me show

you. It looks like this. All right. Keep that

up for a second. I'm going to take my cell phone.

OK, what are we looking at? So this is a five

-element chart of someone's year, month, day,

and time that they're born. And these Chinese

characters represent the five different elements.

So when we look at this, someone who is trained

in how to read this, they look at that and say,

oh, this person is a young constitution. And

this person has excessively strong energy sitting

in their respiratory system. So they shouldn't

eat any foods that further strengthen their respiratory

system. Their kidney energy is quite deficient,

which can lead to low back pain. So they need

to eat foods that will further nurture their

kidney energy. the parts in our body, the organs

in our body and saying, this is this, this, really?

Okay, okay, go on, go on. That's the beauty of

using the five element charts is it shows us

very specifically about that particular person,

which of their internal organs are weaker, which

are stronger, how the energy circulates from

one organ to the next, does it get blocked or

does it circulate through freely? And so we can

create a nutritional program. that's very specific

to them. So this person, the chart I just showed

you, their lung energy is excessively strong.

So we would say don't eat foods. Which energy?

Which one? Which one? I didn't hear you. What

energy is strong? Lung. Lung. Respiratory system.

Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Okay. Some people, it's

their liver will be very weak and they might

have symptoms related to weak liver such as high

blood pressure, thyroid problems. Fatigue, low

iron. So when they come. I hope producer Barbie's

on this episode today. She's not really here

with me, but she's in California. But this is

something she's constantly battling. She's got

an amazing, she's beautiful woman. I mean, you

see her in the videos. But her entire life, she

literally works out four or five. hours a day,

I'm not kidding you, three hours a day. You know,

mainly on the treadmill. And she, you know, her

family has iron issues and there's these different

things that, and she's very astrological as well.

So a lot of what you're talking, all of what

you're talking about makes a lot of, producer

Barbie and I have been together over 20 years.

So she's very involved in my life and is a big

influence on it. But I hope she's listening.

because this is something that this perfect person

deals with every single day of her life. And

with that, she also has a lot of stress, her

own, right? I mean, not stressness, she's just

affected by stress, like we all are. Sorry, I

didn't realize I had a little earplop up there.

Anyway, but she deals with this and this is the

kind of thing that can really affect positively

a lot of people, right? Let's go back, Jeff here.

We were talking about right before we went on

to Chris, when Chris was asking about, right

before that, we were talking about emotions and

the brain, the three brains and how your stress

or different emotions. you know, are affecting

the body as well. Can emotional stress, I assume

the answer is yes, and we know the answer is

yes, but let's build on what Jeff's asking here.

Can emotional stress actually affect how the

body responds to certain foods? It's fascinating

change there, how it responds to certain foods.

So I could eat an apple, this may be a bad example.

I could eat an apple today in this mood, in whatever's

gonna happen. and then tomorrow I'm in a different

mood, will my emotions, will that food be affected

differently in how my body responds to it, depending

on how my emotions are? I don't want to screw

up that question too well. If not, just read

the question. In some ways, yes, of course. Stress

affects our body in many different ways, and

it affects our digestion, certainly. It can affect

the way our body processes foods. But if we understand

our constitution, and we're following a nutritional

program that really supports our constitution,

then everything becomes stronger internally.

Our internal organs function better, functioning

is healthier, and we understand now which foods

not to give our body because it can't process

those foods. And so we're not giving our body

that stress of having to deal with foods that

are constantly throwing it off balance. Interesting.

I'm going off on a wrong side here. When actually

it just comes back to, yeah, your emotions can

affect, but at the end of the day, it's down

to the constitution. You have to be feeding it

the dry or the moist, depending on. And then

whatever your emotions are. there will be effects

like the body, but the effects will be better.

You said stronger. Yes. Because everything is

stronger. Yes. And people will have less stress

if they're nurturing their body in a way that

really supports it. For example, we talked about

the liver. If someone has a weak liver, they

can be much more prone to stress or it's more

difficult for them to deal with stress. than

someone who has a very strong liver energy. So

the liver constitutes... How we deal with...

It does a lot of things, but stress is one of

them. How we deal with stress, yes. Ah, really,

the liver. Yeah, if we have a weak liver and

we're in a very stressful situation, stressful

job, it really, you know, that stress kind of

puts a lot of pressure, a lot of... It challenges

the liver even more to function properly. So

yes, the body will respond differently, but it's

not gonna change. The stress is not gonna change

your constitution or your constitutional needs.

So stress is just it. Constitution is the armor

for the body, is the informational armor for

the body so that we can react. And let's not

go too far away from this. you talked about it's

based on Chinese medicine. Well, Chinese medicine

has been around for thousands and thousands and

proven how significant it is in its accuracies

and abilities. Chinese medicine is definitely

something powerful, very powerful. No, we've

already been going 45 minutes. That went by really

quick. We got a couple of comments here. So you're

on stage now. You've got to do your job. Would

you read what Mr. Bradley here has to say? Didn't

he make a comment earlier too? Yeah, yeah, he

asked a question about, he asked, what are some

signs that a particular food may not be right

for our body? Now he's, would you read what he

says here in your response? Thanks for another

Thoughtful Live conversation, Rod. Yeah, I love

doing, oh, these guys are all talking, these

guys are active. Why don't you say what Chris

is? This discussion. Oops. Sorry, sorry, sorry.

Truly eye -opening. Great show. Yeah. Yeah. And

if you want to make any comments back on any

of these back to people, certainly more than

welcome to. This folks here, James show. I love

it when other shows come on. every once in a

while that I've seen pop up. So why don't you

read what the James show is talking about you?

Fantastic conversation. Looking forward to hearing

more from Ja Gong. I also wanted to kind of bring

in the stress aspect. We can address it to some

degree with diet, but we also can bring in the

meditation aspect. Oh, we haven't even gotten

it. That's a huge deal. Absolutely. Go on. through

our meditation practice we can also see our stress

from a different perspective and we see what

does that look like what does that look like

so so i'm meditating and i've got stress but

as i'm meditating i'm seeing it from another

you're literally seeing that is that what you're

saying here or am i misunderstanding when we

meditate um through so in traditional korean

zen practice when we meditate we have a way of

um entering our practice in a way that we experience

silence and think that the chattering mind falls

away and when we can sit silently then it just

silence gives us a different perspective on the

kind of stress we normally experience so that

when we have the opportunity to experience a

mind that feels quiet and relaxed and feeling

we can go deeper into this silence that is part

of who we are as well, then we realize that whatever

it is that is causing us stress is something

that maybe we can take a different approach to

it. Maybe the way we response to that situation

that feels stressful can be different. Maybe

we don't need to regurgitate over and over in

our mind what happened in the past that was stressful.

and bring those emotions back to us again in

the present. So a meditation practice is very

helpful in that way. Often the results or the

benefits that we get from the meditation practice

are something that we experience a few days later,

not necessarily when we're sitting. When we're

sitting, we're either struggling to figure out

what the practice is, what we're supposed to

be doing, Or we find those moments where we fall

into some silence and really appreciate that

silence. And then after a couple of weeks of

sitting every day, we start to notice, hmm, that

was a good decision that I made. That's a better

decision than I would normally make in the past.

Oh, I think I'm getting a little wiser. It's

something that it builds sort of unconsciously.

as we open up our mind to that place which is

actually internally silent, then as we sit in

that silence, our wisdom begins to come through

more. So we are fundamentally people with great

wisdom. We being, we human beings have great

wisdom, great compassion. It's just so, it's

sitting in the background in such a subtle manner.

that we never notice it because our thinking

mind and our emotional mind are this chatter

all the time that is so distracting that we are

not aware of the place within us which is actually

silent. So, you know, if someone is interested

in a meditation practice, then this also can

help them with the stress. I think meditation

is... I was talking to somebody about this. I

know Buddhism is specifically religion. It's

more of a life than religion, right? But I mean,

it is religious elements to it. So just forgive

me, just set this aside for a second. I was talking

to somebody about this concept of praying and

meditation, these separate concepts. Separate,

I say, but. We had this interesting conversation

because at the end of the day where we came to

this once that's why I open this up the way I

did but We came to the point of praying is you

know when you pray you're talking to God. Let's

say you're religious When you're when you're

meditating you're listening to God to me. That's

a fascinating concept in Now this doesn't apply

exactly in this scenario, but but but what you

just said is we're we're we're We're human beings.

We're we're we're holy. I mean we all we have

heavenly elements to us It's this is my book.

We have it what you just said We have a lot more

of this than we realize because we don't use

it. We once we land on earth we start teaching

each other to be who we are. And at the end of

the day, when we land on earth, when we're born,

when we take that first breath, we have all this

stuff inside of us. We just need to grow up the

outside being to be able to bring all that out.

Unfortunately, we screw up bringing up the human

being part of it more often than we should. this

kind of thing what we're talking about today

and yes the primary subject is weight and and

how your body handles nutrition but but really

that's that's a secondary message you know this

is about getting back to our ourselves and and

and and what are your thoughts about what i just

said as far as the meditation or praying i know

that may be a difficult or maybe not even a fair

question for me to ask you or put upon you, but

what do you think about what I just said? Buddhism

is really when, so you mentioned about Buddhism

is religion, not a religion. To be, it's more

than religion, it's being. Yes, so we see in

Zen Buddhism, we see Buddhism as a practice.

Buddhism is a practice of self -cultivation.

where we discover our, we discover our true self.

Discover the self that we truly are. Beyond our

personality, beyond all the emotional stuff.

That being within that is always observing. So

whatever it is that's going on for us, we are

aware of it. If we have anxiety, we're aware

of the anxiety. If we have stress, we're aware

of that stress. The one within who is aware is

the one that we're turning to in meditation.

Okay, go on. So Christ taught that God is within.

God is within. Yes. And when we look within,

this is where God resides within us, this place

that is aware. So the one that is aware is like

the subject and the anxiety, the stress, those

are the objects. So the subject is observing

or aware of the objects. So in this way, I tell

people, I tell my sense students that you are

not your anxiety. You are not your anger. You

are not your impatience. Who you are is the one

who observes those things. And so in our meditation

practice, if we can focus on the one who is observing,

the one who is aware. so I observe the observer,

then this takes us to a place where the mind

can actually fall silent. And because we're focusing

on the observer, we're focusing on the awareness

itself. We don't care if thoughts come up or

not. We don't care if the mind gets busy because

we're not paying attention to that. We have another

place where we put our attention, and this is

the awareness, the observer. If you want to call

that praying, Ah, okay, so praying, in my definition,

what I just said, or in my comment, your definition.

So praying is then acknowledging the one who

knows, the observer. So praying is, wow, that's

another level. That's rich, that's... That's

a huge risk. Praying usually suggests praying

to something, someone external to you. Yeah,

a higher being, right? Yeah. Whereas this we're

saying... It's already inside of us. Yeah. As

God exists within us, God exists outside of us

as well, but God also exists within us. And so

that's where we can connect with God. That's

the only way we can connect with God is within

us. If we think of it as external to us, then

there's a separation. But when it functions within

us, that's where we can connect. That's huge,

man. My example is so minuscule compared to that,

because just that simple thing of what you're

saying, Christianity. You're going to outside,

right? You're looking to the outside. You're

praying. And what it really, Buddhism, what it

really is, is you are God. You are not you, but

inside of you. Yeah. So ultimately, you disappear.

Yeah. And then we function through God. Rather

than through our personality, our likes and dislikes,

our judgments, our fears, our emotions, we learn

to connect with that very place within that Christ

referred to when he said God is within. So that's

where we can best connect with God. And then

we understand that God is everywhere. But first

we experience it within. So the vessel is what

we're living through and we should be really

living through. inner inside of us and the vessel

is just carrying us around. Kind of got it backwards

there, don't we? So Faz Rod here says we got

a bunch of questions and stuff that just came

in. So let me get some of these comments and

some of these questions down. Probably got about,

I don't know, a dozen more, something like that

so far at this point. Why don't, we've already

talked about this and so, but what I want to

do is I want to change this around a little bit.

First of all, I like what he says. I'm curious

about this approach. I love that kind of comment.

That's a great comment because this is an important...

I remember in the beginning, I put in a monologue,

I said, I don't know where this conversation

is going to go. But now we're talking about an

entire religious aspect through Buddhism that's

really opening up probably a lot of people's

eyes. right now is to how to effectively live

life and build upon yourself. I talk about quality

and quantity as far as life. And you know, you

want to have, I'm going to tell a story to you

because I use it a lot. You've heard of centurions,

right? The term centurions meaning to live 100

years or longer. There's different terms for

it. There's several groups that they studied

back in the 80s or 90s, maybe it was even the

70s. I don't remember. There's one here in Kansas.

The monks, they studied Buddhist monks in different

places around the world, and they could never

find a commonality in why these people were living

longer than the average age for the rest of the

world was, right? civilized society. The atmospheres

were different, the elevations were different,

the foods were different, and on and on and on.

But what they eventually discovered, like these

different groups had in common, was they had

a mission. They had a journey. They had a reason

for living, right? They had a reason for their

journey. And so when you have this lifestyle

that you're talking about, and I use the word

lifestyle, I think that's cheapening it a bit,

but when you become self -aware of your own life,

that too will add both quality and quantity to

your lifestyle, wouldn't it? It does, right?

Absolutely. So Faz is interested in this. We

already talked about this. Is there anything

that we missed off of the five elements as far

as how you're I mean, we've talked all around

this this part of the subject quite a bit I think

we've done a really good job in there. But is

there anything you want to add to that? Well,

the the basic constitutions that we talked about

have a standard nutritional program of their

certain foods that agree with your constitution

and certain foods that don't agree with your

constitution. But then beyond that, for each

individual person, there are differences in terms

of strengths and weaknesses of each of their

internal organs. And there are specific foods

that strengthen each of the internal organs.

So if I do a consultation with someone, then

we look at all of those details of their particular

energy makeup. of which internal organs are strong,

which are weak. If they have a weak liver, as

we talked about before, there are certain foods

that specifically strengthen the liver. If they

have weak heart, there are certain things that

specifically strengthen the heart. And so that

is layered on top of the basic nutritional program

for that constitution. So for each person, the

nutritional recommendations are a little bit

different. And so it's very unique to each person.

And as we do that, as we strengthen the weak

areas, we refrain from giving further strength

to the internal organs that are already excessively

strong. Then our goal is to create energy that

is more evenly distributed among all five internal

organs through our diet. Food can actually do

this. And when energy is more evenly distributed,

the weaker organs are strengthened, the stronger

organs are left, as they are, they'll always

be strong, then energy flow improves, energy

circulation improves, and then our whole sense

of well -being. And when we achieve that kind

of balance internally, then health symptoms start

to fall away. So, yeah, usually after one month,

After one month, I do a follow -up with people

that they've been good about following the dietary

instructions. After one month, at least some

of their symptoms will be gone. It's usually

the simpler things that fall away first. The

deeper, more chronic things take longer, but

they will definitely have a sense that, yes,

I know now this is the direction I need to go.

These are the foods that fit me. I cheated two

weeks ago, and I ate such and such, and I felt

really bad for 24 hours, et cetera. As the body

gets more balanced, it starts to take over and

says, OK, yes, now you put me in a balanced condition,

I am not going to let you eat that anymore. Or

if you do, I'm going to let you know how unhappy

I am about it. So then you really start to get

a sense. Oh, yes, this is. These are the foods

that work for me and the foods that don't. So

I'm going to have you read Lynsock here. She

has a comment and then also a question. But would

you read what Lynsock has to say here? So she

says, great conversation can understand our digestion

and body signals, help us make better food choices

over time. Yeah, right. Yes, it can once you

understand your Constitution. When you understand

your Constitution, then you understand your body

signals. Yes. And that's kind of like having

streetlights on a freeway, right? You're driving

along there and your Constitution is the lights

keeping you on the road here. Yes. When you don't

know your Constitution and you're eating... a

variety of different foods. I think in general,

we generally think that we should be able to

eat everything. If we're healthy, we should be

able to eat everything. But that's actually not

the case. There are just certain foods that do

not work for our constitution that create problems

and eventually will start to create health symptoms

if we continue to eat them. I love what Danny's

got to say here. It's interesting. So as he says,

after decades of practice, I don't want to get

involved in it. I don't want to check it out

for no other reason. I'm not necessarily looking

to lose weight. I've done that. I had a stroke

and I had a motorcycle accident. I spent three

months in the hospital. And I lost like 90 pounds

after that. But what I'm really curious about

is how overall day in and day out, two things,

just the food aspect, how I can feel better because

I'm not doing anything specific to enhance my

quality of my food experience. But also just

in general, how that approach, that continuation

of life. continuing life with this approach,

just overall, I would think you'd just live a

happier life, a more knowledgeable life, right?

A more, you know, being more active and all that.

We talked about all that, but just being more

aware, I think would richen the flavor of life

in general, wouldn't it? Absolutely. Absolutely.

It brings a level of contentment. I've had people

report to me saying, I didn't know it was possible

to feel this good. By the way, by the way, we

have we still got a bunch of questions, but we're

going to back you up. What you're saying right

now. I hear one of your somebody knows you is

on. Go ahead. Yeah. Level of happiness. Yes.

Level of contentment. Yes. Level of joy. you

just feel like, you know how you take your car

in, if you're good about taking care of your

car, take it into the mechanic once a year, whatever,

get the oil changed, whatever they have to do

to maintain the car. And the body is very similar

to that. It's like when we follow our constitutional

diet, and it's like we're like a well -oiled

machine, and it works very well, it serves us

well, it keeps us happy. And I have a, my motto

is, We need to die healthy. There's no need.

There's no need for all of these aches and pains

and joint problems and stiffness and all the

other things that go along with arthritis that

we think go along with aging that we can actually

avoid if we follow our constitutional diet. So

it's a form of preventive medicine as well. So

Danny here, after decades of practice What surprised

you the most about the connection between food

and mind? Connection between food and mind? The

most. The most. What surprised you the most?

Because there's got to be a lot of surprises

that came along. I think probably how attached

we become to certain foods. And sometimes we

become attached to the very foods that hurt us

the most. And that's a mind thing, really. We

use food to appease our emotions often, emotional

eating. Whereas when we, so this is where the

meditation comes in too, to be very helpful,

because it helps to address those issues where

we're dealing with emotional issues and we're

eating to deal with the emotional issues. We're

eating to deal with boredom. where we're eating

to deal with fatigue or to calm our anxiety,

any of those reasons that sometimes it's more

of a challenge for some people to avoid the foods

they need to avoid because they have those other

reasons for being attracted to certain foods.

So that's probably what surprised me the most.

Yeah, and you know, just finding ways to help

people work around that. Generally speaking,

when you follow the diet for your constitution,

I encourage people to try and be strict with

it for two weeks, three weeks, so you can experience

how your body feels when you eat this way. And

then that helps people overcome those kinds of...

You need a little bit of time there to make sure

that you feel that actual feeling. It depends

on the constitution. For some constitutions,

the body reacts pretty quickly, and within four

or five days, they can tell they're feeling better.

For others, the constitution is more sluggish,

and it might take a couple of weeks before they

realize. But I think even asking someone to follow

it for two weeks isn't a big ask. People can

manage to do that, and then it... It lets them

have that experience. Then they at least have

something to compare to how they felt when they

just ate whatever they felt like eating. So this

is a great question here. Just kind of an adding

on continuation, I guess, to what Danny was asking

here earlier. But what's one misconception about

healthy eating that you wish more people understood?

Healthy eating in general is a good thing. I

think healthy eating generally is referring to

eating fresh produce, cooking your own food.

Perhaps for some people it means eating organic,

it means avoiding processed food, that sort of

thing. And that's always a good thing. The only

real misconception about that is that not all

foods that are considered healthy are healthy

for you specifically. Otherwise, The other thing

that comes into play a lot is, is sort of extreme

diets that are considered healthy as well, like

say raw food diet. Raw food diet is more suited

to some constitutions than others. There are

some constitutions that we don't recommend raw

food at all, much less 100 % raw food diet. That

sort of thing where it's, you know, those sort

of more extreme diets that we have to be very

careful about when it comes to. what we call

healthy eating. This is a great question. I think

we already know the answer to this one, but what

inspired you to connect? So remember I said at

the beginning as far as the journey, right, and

what put you on your path and so forth. So somewhere

along the line when you were learning from this

person, this 30 -year -old gentleman up at the

Zen Studio in Canada, what What inspired you

to connect that? I mean, you went there to learn

about true Zen Buddhism from the masters, nothing

against this gentleman, obviously. But then where

did that connection, just during your time there,

you studied this path? So what happened was when

I went to Korea, In Korea, the food is very spicy.

And when you live in... Is that real? Yes. I've

been to Korea. Yeah, you're right. It's spicy.

It's spicy and salty. And spicy food does not

agree with me. I knew that much. I didn't know

anything about the constitution. But I knew that

spicy food didn't agree with me. And I was a

little worried about that when I went to Korea.

But my desire to learn proper Zen practice was

so strong that I decided to go anyway. And the

original agreement was that I was required, I

had to agree to stay at least three years. So

I thought, okay, I can handle three years and

then I'll come back to Canada. In order to study

at the monastery, the rule is you have to spend

three, you have to make three -year commitment.

Yes. Yes. But then, you know, once I was there

for three years, I finally started to learn the

language a little. I finally learned all the

rules and regulations of the monastery. And I

was finally just feeling comfortable at the end

of three years. So I wasn't ready to go home.

But I was getting quite sick. My health really

deteriorated while I was in Korea. And so I finally

met this Buddhist monk who was from this monastery.

and he introduced me to this Sosong constitutional

medicine. I'd gone - And that was because you

were communicating, you were saying, man, I'm

so glad I'm here, but this spicy food is just

getting, it kind of developed out of something

like that. Yes. Yeah. So I met him and - He was

already studying sasang and trying to figure

out my constitution, because that's what he did

when he met everybody. And then he finally figured

out my constitution. And I got directed to an

herbalist in Korea, an acupuncturist herbalist,

who also then gave me proper herbs for my constitution.

But then the Zen master passed away, and this

Korean monk who taught me about sasang, he wanted

to... go to America and open a Zen Center. And

he asked me if I would come with him as his translator,

because he didn't speak English. And the Zen

message passed away. I was kind of at loose ends.

I didn't know what I was going to do next. And

this thing was a good opportunity to go back

and open a Zen Center and continue to learn because

he had... Is that where the California Connection

came in? Yes. Where is it? Well, it's not there

now. It's not there now. He has since gone back

to Korea and I'm in Canada now, but we had a

Zen Center in Berkeley for probably 25 years.

Wow. And also in Seattle and Washington, we had

two Zen Centers. That's where I was born, Seattle.

Oh, okay. So that's when, as we worked together

running the Zen Center, that's when I learned

more and more about the Sasong constitutional

medicine. That makes perfect sense. Now we spent

years working on that together. So I know this

answer, but I want you to explain why, right?

So Fazrath here, he made a comment or something.

Yeah, I'm curious about this approach. How does

SEMS unconstitute? OK, so before he was talking

about the Constitution, and now he's talking

just in general. can greater awareness of the

body help people become more present in daily

life? I think being more aware of the body creates

you becoming more self -aware, right? I mean,

so how would you respond to FASER? So this is

really comes down to the reason why as part of

the Zen Center, we started teaching people to

understand about nutrition. So my My Korean teacher,

the one that I ran the Zen Center with, my colleague,

I guess I could say, my Dharma friend. Wait,

what did you say? My Dharma friend. Dharma friend?

Friend. I never heard that term. So when he was

a young monk, he also did not do well with spicy

food, even though he was born and raised Korean.

And he started having a lot of health issues

also. And that's how he first came upon Sasang

constitutional medicine, is trying to address

his health issues. And so he realized when the

Sasang diet turned his health around, when the

herbology really helped him to regain his health

back, that's when he realized how important it

is for a meditator to also understand how to

take care of their body. Because when we're sitting

in meditation, it's very difficult to really

stay focused if your body's talking to you all

the time. If your knees hurt, your back hurts,

your head hurts, your stomach aches. It's very

hard to not notice those things and not be distracted

by those things. So when we can understand our

constitution and our diet and get our body healthy,

then it clears away a lot of those obstacles

that we would normally run into as we continue

with our meditation practice. Does it help you

to be more present? Yes, because you don't need

to worry about the food. My old Zen master, the

Zen master I went to study with in the monastery,

he always was a little bit cautious about people

studying things like this, Taoism, Chinese medicine.

He said it makes you too attached to the body.

But actually, what I have found is that when

you are able to create balance internally, you

can forget about the body because it no longer

interrupts you. It no longer complains to you

and whines to you about how it's suffering. And

so you can just set it aside and go much more

deeply into your meditation practice. So it works

both ways. Your meditation practice helps you

be more present. Your state of health helps you

to be more present. It works both ways. Both,

each one supports the other one. All right, why

don't you read, we've got a series of comments,

a few comments here, and then I'm gonna introduce

you. I think you probably know this person, but

you'll know what I'm talking about here in a

minute. don't cheat don't read don't cheat i

see you cheating there um so would you read what

the james show has to say here please it says

this is an excellent conversation thank you for

going deeper and that's that's the thing i really

love about people like yourself or were able

to get i mean i knew i was getting into an interesting

conversation because it's so unique but the with

us going deeper on, you know, we could be gone

almost an hour and a half. There's still those

600 people still hanging out here. So I mentioned

earlier, remember I said she must be from Oklahoma,

the horses, the first person that came on, they

said, hi, remember? And I had you read that comment.

Why don't you read this one? She wrote about

three or four comments. Why don't you read this?

I have been working with job on for a little

while now. and I have noticed huge differences

in my psychological, sorry, my physiological

awareness and nervous system since starting the

diet. I mean, it makes the difference immediately,

doesn't it? Like you said, it depends on the

constitution. It could be a couple of days, it

could be a couple of weeks, but we're talking

about something that happens. Now, she made a

couple more comments, but I'm going to let Jami

jump in here. Would you read this out loud and

respond to it, please? This is Danny, Jr. Thank

you both for sharing such meaningful and educational

insights today. I appreciate that. And then here's

this eagle light. Go ahead and read what she

says. I think it's a her. I'm not sure. Yes,

I believe so. Do you know who this is or do you

know? I think so. I don't absolutely recognize

the email address, but I think I know. Because

I'm convinced that she's from Canada, so I think

I know who this is. I'm very new to Korean Zen

Buddhism. And you think she's somebody in Canada

then, obviously, right? I believe so, yes. OK,

so go ahead. Da Gong is exceptional to work with.

Yeah, so obviously you do work with her. There's

a couple more comments she made down here. But

I want to show off my copy and pasting skill

sets. I like to get feedback, so I want to...

I want to make sure that my copy and pasting

skill sets here have come through and you approve

of what I wrote here as your website, MyBodyLandscape

.com. Did I do okay here? Yes, that's correct.

All right, cool. Now, back to your biggest fan

here. Oh yeah, okay, she says I am from Canada.

Okay, hold on. So read what she wrote here. You

might as well have a conversation with her a

little bit here. She's got a couple of comments.

It's enthusiastic. I'll just step aside and let

you guys talk for a minute. I have noticed that

the Buddhist diet Jogbang is mentioning is very

helpful to allow for a settled mind and body

for meditation. By Buddhist diet, you mean the

meditation practice? I'm assuming she's talking

about the constitution here, right? but it's

interesting what she says here. So I've noticed

that the Buddhist diet that you're mentioning

is very helpful to allow for settled mind and

body for meditation. So let me ask you this.

So just to connect what she's saying, I think

she is saying here is, oh here, this one. Does

that make more sense to you? Oh, the astrological?

logical I think she means that yeah exactly right

yeah it does especially if you're someone a young

constitution um is one that is very um kind of

in a state of overstimulation all the time and

when you this constitution follows their nutritional

program it really calms the body down you feel

a lot I'm more grounded. Yeah, I mean, it's kind

of works together, right? I mean, it's like you

said, the constitution diet has the body working

within itself as it wants. But but but as that's

quieting everything down, like you just said,

I think she just wants to talk to you. I think

I should just shut up. But but but that. The

meditation, you talk about meditation can be

hard because the mind is always chattering. I

get that, right? I have to take a couple of breaths

before I can slow everything down, right? You

know what I'm talking about though? Hold one,

two, three, four, let it out, slow, you know?

But when your body's not aching all over the

place, now your mind isn't so active, so now

meditation's even easier, right? That's a great

connection to me. I think it is, right? Yes,

exactly. And look, so this ought to help you

out. Read what she says here. I've been practicing

only about eight weeks. So she's a fairly new

student with you serving her. And yes, she did

put, I am from Canada. Oh, I'm sorry. Why don't

you read that? I cheated. Yes, I am from Canada.

And then that's what we talked about a minute

ago. And what I want to do. Yeah, so she's confirming

what we've been talking about here. It looks

like that's pretty much there. We've been going

an hour and a half now. We've still got those

same 600 people here, except for Eagle Light.

Hey, by the way, are you a lady or a man? Since

we've got a personal thing going on here, just

clarify whether you're a young lady or a young

man. Although I think we already know the answer.

So I just I just want you to comment again. Um,

but would you do me a favor, please ma 'am and

would you? She's still here. I was just testing

to make sure you were still here Why don't you

give a comment to everybody? That you want to

leave them with the same 600 people. I mean,

this is crazy There's not there hasn't been a

fluctuation at all So that's awesome. I think

we've got a good message coming along here really

well today. And thank you for an awesome, awesome

show. But why don't you leave a closing comment?

I'm going to finish with a closing monologue,

unless there's something else. And you know what,

we had to do another one of these. I really enjoyed

this. You know, another maybe getting into a

little bit deeper in certain parts of, I'd really

like to get into the, maybe what I'll do is I'll

sign up. And then we can do a follow -up in a

couple of months, like a progression thing. If

you're okay with that. Absolutely. We haven't

talked a lot about the Zen Buddhism. I know we

haven't. I know we haven't. But everybody's gone

over onto the... Yeah, people are very... Right?

Can I get it? That's kind of how we promoted

it. Yeah. Alright, would you read this? Go into

a closing comment that you want to leave everybody

with. So she says, I highly recommend Ja Gong.

Her suggestions have really changed my bodily

awareness and settled down an overactive mind.

And then she said. She is the real thing. All

right. So hey, I'm really glad you came on. Eagle

Light, I'm talking to her now, not you. But why

don't you leave, give us a closing statement.

Something to leave us with and as I said Here,

okay There's your contact and also we've got

all the contact information in the description.

So why don't you go ahead and Give everybody

a final comment and then we'll give you a big

wave off and then I'll do the closing Well, if

you are interested in taking care of yourself,

taking care of your body, and you feel that you

are someone who could be a little bit disciplined

about your diet, then understanding your constitution

can open up a whole big doorway to a new universe

of understanding how to take care of yourself,

how to take care of your physical health, how

to age gracefully and in a healthy way so that

you can do the things you want, even if you're

young, whatever age we're at, it's important

to be in good health. If we don't have our health,

then we don't have the ability to do the things

that we want to do in our life. To be the person

that we want to be, to cultivate the things we

want to cultivate. So being a little bit disciplined

about our diet can have a very big payoff. And

if we combine that with meditation practice as

well, if we are so inclined, then each one balances

the other and each one nourishes the other. So

they both work together in a very harmonious

way to help us discover that peace within, that

joy within, that wisdom that we have within.

We are great beings, we human beings. We are

great beings, we have great potential. to develop

much more than simply our personality, our emotions,

our psychology. We're so much more than that

as human beings. A little bit of work, a little

bit of discipline, it really pays off. And the

benefits we get are so much greater. That's beautiful.

I appreciate it. Why don't you give everybody

a big wave? Keep your hands off the M &M's. I'll

meet you in the creative room in a minute. All

right. Very good. Sorry, say that again. I cut

you off a little too early. Yeah, it's been a

pleasure. It's been really fun talking with you

It has been a great great joy and and your your

student here Says many things and I thank you

as well. Thank you All right. So that was an

awesome awesome show as as I predicted. I'm pretty

good at predicting these things But there's wrong

guy. Thank you. Seriously. I am I I thank you

because I think today's conversation leaves us

with something much bigger than a discussion

about what we should or shouldn't put on a plate.

I mean, we talked a lot about that, but it leaves

us with a question about how well we actually

know ourselves. As she said, You know, we didn't

really get into a lot about the Zen Buddhism,

which I really want to get into. But I really

want to get into that because we live a different

life than I think we really should be connecting.

You know, we live in a world that loves, you

know, universal answers, you know, the perfect

diet, the perfect morning routine, the perfect

exercise program. the perfect path to happiness,

the perfect way to live. But human beings aren't

assembly line products. We're not. We're complicated.

We're individual. And perhaps one of the lessons

worth considering from today's conversation is

that becoming healthier or even becoming more

present may begin with paying closer attention.

Not blindly following the newest trend. not assuming

something must work for us because it worked

for somebody else, right? And certainly not replacing

qualified medical care with something we heard

during the podcast, right? But paying attention,

asking questions, actually learning, and I think

there's something else Jezron's journey reminds

us of. Eight years. in a Korean Zen monastery.

It sounds like a world completely removed from

most of our everyday lives, right? Most of us

aren't going to disappear into a monastery. We've

got jobs, you know, we've got families, we've

got bills, we've got grandchildren, we've got

dogs that need to be fed, we've got phones that

seem determined, they just seem absolutely determined.

to make sure we're never quiet for more than

30 seconds at any one time. But maybe we don't

have to live in a monastery to learn something

from the practice of becoming still enough to

listen. Listen to our bodies, listen to our minds,

listen to one another, and perhaps occasionally

question some of the assumptions we carry. for

years right that's really what insights and straight

talk is supposed to be about not telling you

what you're required to believe not handing you

another predetermined answer but bringing interesting

people and different perspectives to the table

and allowing you to think about them. Thank you

for sharing your journey. your years of practice

and your perspective with us today. And everybody

watching or listening, thank you for spending

part of your day with us. If this conversation

made you think, share it with somebody who might

enjoy sitting with these questions as well. Follow

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and different things. Anyway, so that page, RobDoc,

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Because after hundreds and hundreds and hundreds

of conversations, I keep coming back to the same

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to learn from one another. Sometimes we simply

have to become quiet enough to listen. So I'm

Rod Duff, that's Daisy, boomers over here. This

is insights and straight talk empowering the

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So until next time keep asking questions keep

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