Piercing Through Obstacles to Fulfillment

Friends have asked me about some of the techniques that keep me intrigued with my Tibetan teachers who share with me their ageless lore of the Dorje Phurba “demon-defeating dagger”. Are you up for trying out an exercise?

The phurba dagger is a very real tool – a 3-edged blade like the famous commando daggers once used in western warfare but now banned in warfare for being just too fiercely deadly. Hand-held phurba spike daggers can be made of silver, gold, copper, or iron, or carved from wood of white, yellow, red, or black colors. However, the phurba is most important as a symbol of focused intention even more powerful than the hand-held blade.

What would you do with a weapon that could pierce through conditions in your life that stood in opposition to your fulfillment? What would you change right away if you had a tool that could nail into powerless paralysis any situations that caused lack or frustration in your life?

So here’s exercise one: Find one small condition that nags your life right now. Find something that you want but cannot seem to get, or something you dislike but cannot seem to dump. For this exercise, start with something relatively small, some little thing easy to identify, something that you will clearly recognize as being cured if or when a positive change comes about. We will save the big things for later.

Maybe you find some toxic condition you want to relieve – too much debt, excess body weight, unsafe car, co-workers or friends who bring you down, poor health, too much stress, overworked, etc. – something to purge in order to purify your life.

Maybe you will find some acceptable condition you want to expand – Mildly “OK” home or career or health or relationships or financial security or knowledge or appearance, etc. – but it could be and should be more satisfying and enriching.

Maybe you find your life missing key people, or positioning, or access to the kind of influence that would allow you to advance and accomplish – you lack the right allies, lovers, mentors, opportunities, titles, or outright patron sponsors – people or conditions to attract and bind to you in order to give your life the boost in momentum it needs.

Maybe you find your life invaded by people or groups or situations or conditions that seem to target you specifically and hold you back from what is rightfully yours – rivals, competitors, jailers, saboteurs, or outright enemies – some identifiable force to conquer and nail down out of the way in order for your life to be free to blossom.

Exercise One, part Two is to sit and take a deep breath and very clearly and explicitly identify with a vision in your mind’s inner eye and in as few strong words as possible just what you want to change. Stay with that for a few moments and repeat this step over and over to be sure you are focused. If you are comfortable with spiritual adventure, you could even press your palms together with the fingers of each hand gripping like claws the knuckles of the other hand as illustrated as Kuji no In Ge-baku-ken mudra in Chapter 5 of the book Ninja Vol 2, Warrior Ways of Enlightenment. I will show you a minor adjustment of that sometime when we are together personally.

Exercise One, part Three is then to watch very carefully over the next week for any and all signs, coincidences, omens, hints, whispers, or offers that could indicate a possible solution to your challenge. Just remember to pay attention and look for even the most subtle of communications as to an answer. See what catches your awareness directly, obliquely, or in moments of distraction or even dreaming.

Try it and write me a comment on what you experience.

19 comments to “Piercing Through Obstacles to Fulfillment”

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  1. سلام اقای استفان هیس
    من میخواهم رشته نینجا رو یاد بگیرم و علاقه زیادی به این سبک دارم
    میخواستم بدونم چطوری میتونم این رشته را یاد بگیرم
    ما از خانواده متوسط جامعه هستیم
    من هیچ هزینه ای ندارم که بخوام بتونم پول ان را کامل ویک جا بدهم
    ولی میتونم هزینه ان را به مرور به شما بدهم
    از شما میخواهم اگه میشه به من کمک کنید تا من این رشته را بطور کامل یاد بگیرم
    من منتظر جواب شما هستم تا که شما من رو به شاگردی قبول بکنید تا من بتونم این رشته راتوسط شما یاد بگیرم
    با تشکر

    Hello Mr. stephan hayse
    I want you to learn ninja series and have a keen interest in this style
    I wanted to know how I learn to field
    We are a comprehensive average family
    I do not want no charge could complete its money where I Wake
    But it can cost you to do over
    S If you want to help me to complete my degree learn to
    I am waiting for your answer to me that you do so, I can accept the apprentice in this field you learn Ratvst
    Thanks!

    • Joseph Bongiovanni says: -#2

      Anshu Hayes,
      Domo-arigato-gozaimasha”To be safe and secure ,and evade effortlessly the damaging effects of distress obstruction missfortune and dark influence”.And this is a direct quote from you Anshu.My life of late has been frought with the love of my life leaving ,family members falling into dark addictions,try as I might my help falls to deaf hears.But the power that brought me to your hombu,the honor,and teachings that I receieved there, make me remain focused. This works I know because I’ve experieneced it first hand. THANK YOU is not enough for the guidance you shared with all of us.
      Joe

  2. An-Shu,

    Wilco!

    Cpl Hall

  3. Darran Hight says: -#1

    An-shu,

    Thank you. It works. Again, thank you.

    Darran

  4. Daniel L Dunn says: -#1

    Yet another priceless and very well timed post.

    How interesting it is to look at what we may have already identified and what we may have noticed to find from that… Looking forward to finding more and posting back.

    Thank you very much again An-shu!

  5. Well, that´s a bit too personal I think. BTW does the forum still exist? K 😉

    [ Editor: SKH Quest Forum is going strong at http://skhquest.com/forum ]

  6. Joe Hathaway says: -#1

    Hi Anshu,
    Your recent blog had got me very fascinated. After a few days practicing over and over I’ve paid special attention to the most subtle hints and comments people had made to me, regarding what I had my heart set on. I even noticed that my wife would start conversations about it. In the end I obtained my goal and learned a lesson in this as well. I now have a new confidence as well.
    Thanks so much for this valueable lesson!

  7. An-Shu,

    This process seems a more direct approach than I’m used to, and at first, I feel as though I reacted with resistance. It’s as though I didn’t want this to work outright.

    It takes a certain honesty to be able to commit to this, I’m finding.

    My results; I’ve decided that I want to be more attentive, so I directed my declaration of intention at elminating complacency. I assumed the mudra described above as I stated again and again that “I will be present”. This signifies to me that I won’t allow myself to be “autopiloting” through life.

    This was immediately a bit more difficult than I thought it would be, as distraction is akin to a cocoon that doesn’t let you know when you’re within it’s grasp. After the first day, I refocused, and issued my declaration once again.

    Day two, I began to observe more actively when en-route to different locations. When on patrol, this was easier to apply, as we’re trained to take measures of this sort. Picking out colors and odd shapes in the distance that I might’ve otherwise overlooked helped.

    On day three, and since, I’ve begun stating “Here, now” to myself upon arriving at an objective, and before leaving it. This follows using the “Here and Now” guided meditation. It’s allowed me a gentle reminder to be present, especially when there are things that may be missed or forgotten.

    While it hasn’t been a full week, I feel this update was warranted if only to catalogue my own resistance to allowing this method to work for me. Initially, I felt as though it couldn’t possibly work, or as if there were more to the exercise than I grasped at the time. The key was in “allowing” the exercise to guide me in altering the things I need to change.

    Essentially, I was a barrier to myself. I wonder how often I’ve been an obstacle in my own path?

  8. Jerry Townsend says: -#1

    I’ve been working on a goal I have. So I tried the Ge-baku-ken mudra as suggested. The next evening, someone close to me brought something from the newspaper to my attention. Then, a bit of information came up in an article on the internet pertaining to the same subject shortly after. I didn’t mention this exercise to anyone except on your blog. We are going to make a go at a project to see if the market is receptive. It seems like an odd start for achieving this goal, but it’s a start none the less.
    Thank you for the enlightenment!

  9. Cool … that works!!! Thank you so much Kinryû!!! And greetings to the family!!!

    Regards,
    K´l a u s

  10. Daniel L Dunn says: -#1

    After meditating on this I didnt notice and tips or clues from the world immediately around me, but did and do have an ongoing ‘revelation’ or subconsious response in the form of answers of what I need to do in order to gain the results I need to both fulfill and rid myself of the described circumstances. These steps are ironically tied in to other things I’ve been needing and wanting to do for some time. As if metaphorically slaying a ‘demon’ has sprang forth the inspiration to move on to better, more appropriate places and functions in life.

    Thank you very much An-shu, looking forward to keeping this going into the future!

  11. Jerry Townsend says: -#1

    Positive things happened this week! I’m starting to feel like we are moving a little more forward in important areas of our family’s life. Breathing a little easier now…
    I’ll keep this exercise in my toolbox for sure!
    Thank you, sir!

  12. Thanks Mr Hayes, this is really cool. Will give it a go!

  13. I am happy to say I have broken through my obstacle of antidepressants. Thank you An-Shu for sharing your encouragement with us. Real obstacles, real people, real solutions, real results. To-Shin!

  14. mohammad zarea says: -#1

    با سلام خدمت شما استاد هیز
    یک سؤال خدمت شما داشتم.
    آیا شما در ایران کسی بعنوان نماینده یا مربی دارید که ما بتوانیم پیش او آموزش ببینیم ؟
    مربی رسمی که از طرف شما و یا نمایندگان رسمیتان معرفی شده باشد ؟
    با احترام
    محمد از ایران
    mohammad in Iran

  15. Ronnie Brooks says: -#1

    An-Shu,
    I started this excercise on Saturday 7-26-2014. How does one know the difference between actual sign or guidance as opposed to subconscious wishful thinking?
    Thank you

  16. Thank you for the book, Vajrakilaya. Things appear when needed, and that was personally needed now. From another, professional, viewpoint, I find that the practices you described are very similar to mind-body hypnosis – obviously without the same symbolism, but based in visualization and subtle connections between thought and form that bring about astounding results. Of course, I only know about this what I’ve read in yout text, and based on that I know this goes much deeper, but the similarity is certainly there and I’ve seen that power at work. Thank you, again.

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