Real transformation happens when we understand life’s principles, embody them through practice, and express them in how we live each day.
Once, while traveling, I met someone who asked me a question many people carry quietly in their hearts. She said, “I understand so many things now. I’ve read books, attended classes, and had moments when I felt deeply awakened. But when I return to my daily life, nothing really changes. Why is that?”
Her question stayed with me because it is not hers alone. Many of us experience moments of insight—times when life feels clear and meaningful. Yet the next day, we find ourselves reacting in the same ways, feeling the same worries, and repeating the same habits. We begin to wonder whether true change is even possible.
The truth is that realization itself is not enough. Understanding something with the mind does not immediately transform our lives. Real change happens only when understanding reaches our body and becomes the way we live.
In Brain Education, this process is called the Three Studies: the Study of Principles, the Study of Practice, and the Study of Living. It’s the natural process through which a human being grows—first seeing truth, then experiencing it, and finally becoming it through daily life. When these three come together, change is no longer something we struggle to create. It begins to unfold naturally, like a seed growing into a tree.
Study of Principles: Understanding Universal Laws
The first step is the Study of Principles.
Principles are the fundamental laws of life and the universe. They include the principles of the essence and movement of energy. Just as nature follows order—the earth revolving around the sun and seasons changing in rhythm—our lives also move according to invisible principles.
When these principles are unclear, we become easily shaken by emotions and circumstances. We react to events without understanding their meaning. But when we understand principles, we begin to see patterns behind our experiences. Principles show us that energy follows attention, that balance creates stability, and that clear intention organizes energy toward growth.
Studying principles also helps us ask deeper questions, such as:
- Who am I beyond my roles and experiences?
- What is the purpose of my life?
- How can my life benefit the whole?
Pursuing the answers to these questions under the guidance of universal principles gives us direction. It is like studying a map before starting a long journey. We know where we are going and why.
However, principles understood only with the intellect cannot transform us. Knowledge alone cannot free us from fear or habit. Principles must be experienced through the body, felt through energy, and confirmed through life.
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Study of Practice: Experiencing Energy Through the Body
Practice is how principles become real.
Practice without principles is simply physical exercise. It’s principles that make practice.
Some people may think practice means sitting quietly or escaping daily responsibilities. In truth, practice means training ourselves so that our body, mind, and energy move together.
Through movement, breathing, meditation, and awareness exercises, we begin to feel energy circulation, tension release, warmth spreading, and clarity emerging. At first, these experiences may feel subtle. But with consistent practice, the body and brain learn together. The nervous system becomes more sensitive, and our awareness deepens.
From practice, we discover that emotions are movements of energy, that breathing changes our mental state, and that focused attention gathers energy instead of scattering it. We feel these energy principles in our bodies. Gradually, old patterns and emotional information stored in our bodies begin to dissolve. Our energy strengthens and flows more freely, and we naturally feel lighter, more stable, and more present.
As we observe the energy changes in our body, our consciousness also changes. Rather than having a superficial understanding of universal principles, we gain detailed wisdom. Practice makes principles real inside our bodies. And this gives us more confidence because we are no longer relying only on belief; we are experiencing change directly.
Practice also includes how we work, how we relate to others, and how we meet challenges. Every difficulty becomes training when we approach it with intention and sensing energy. Every moment becomes an opportunity to grow stronger and more centered.
Study of Living: Bringing Awakening into Everyday Life
After understanding and practice comes the Study of Living.
Awakening that does not influence daily life is incomplete. It turns into an illusion of the mind. A flower that blooms but bears no fruit soon fades.
However, as our sensitivity to energy develops, something important begins to happen. We start to recognize the same principles operating outside ourselves. We see how energy moves in relationships, workplaces, and situations. We notice how intention affects outcomes and how our inner state influences the environment around us.
Life itself becomes practice.
The Study of Living means applying energy principles consciously in everyday situations. Instead of reacting automatically, we choose how to use our energy. We speak with awareness, act with intention, and align our actions with the direction we want our lives to grow.
When our intention is to grow our true selves—our souls—we learn to cultivate the energy that supports that growth: clarity rather than confusion, courage rather than fear, compassion rather than judgment.
Gradually, our life begins to align with our intention. When we greet others with sincerity, face difficulties with balance, and act for the common good, our enlightenment becomes visible. Our work, relationships, and ordinary routines become expressions of our inner growth. This alignment is not forced. It happens because our energy, thoughts, and actions are moving in the same direction.
The Three Studies Are One Path
Principles, practice, and living cannot be separated.
Without principles, practice loses direction.
Without practice, principles remain ideas.
Without living, realization has no meaning.
When consciousness changes through principles, energy changes through practice, and behavior changes through living, genuine transformation occurs.
This path is not about becoming someone special. It is about returning to our original nature—clear, compassionate, and connected with all life. As our true selves emerge through practice, the spirit of Hongik naturally awakens within us—the wish to benefit others and contribute to the greater good. Helping others is not an obligation added to spiritual growth; it is the natural expression of balanced energy and an awakened heart.
Each day offers another opportunity to begin again. When we understand a little more deeply, practice a little more sincerely, and live a little more consciously, our lives naturally change. As we share the clarity and positive energy we cultivate with the people around us, our growth expands beyond ourselves. The world itself becomes our training ground, and through the harmony of principle, practice, and living, our true selves continue to grow while helping life around us grow as well.
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