A Forest Monk Shares Amazing Wisdom

Description

Tim is taking part in the 4-Month Forest Monk program at ReWild University, and has agreed to share some thoughts from his first month of training.

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Tags: Kenton Whitman,ReWild University,Human Rewilding,personal rewilding,mindfulness,how to,bushcraft,survival,wilderness survival skills,how to survive in the woods

Video Transcription

well this is excited for me you would hope it's okay to just say that at first you had thought maybe you didn't want to do any any videos and then just yesterday you said you'd you know I'd have a million questions for you rather that people out in in the world would have a million questions too but just for her background year at hallelujah 1919 you've already spent a year in China so you've been able to see another culture and live in another culture you're studying Tai Chi over there and like Richard you seem to have a large amount of wisdom early in your life so I hope that gets shared here and people can my first question would just be what brought you to the Y I guess what brought you to the woods hmm I mean the Wits have always been a place that I have wanted to go and gain a deeper relationship with you know like I've took in walks and you know went outside every single day and appreciated the trees but I really wanted to be immersed and be able to navigate my way through the woods because I feel like it's you know an essential part of being a human that we were more outdoors not that it's better but we were more outdoors and we had these certain skills that benefited us in ways that we may not see right away you know and I feel like we lose a lot of

we lose touch of a certain point of us if we haven't lived in the woods for a long period of time long subjective what have you found out here so far hmm I found lots of slugs it's shit for the line lines of your question but I found oh man I found a deeper silence that was not here before like there's a lot of time where you had to think here and you know there's not much to do what you can do a lot of stuff but it really just owns your quietness you know because it is like small sounds going on like the rain well maybe a leaf will come down on your tarp every once in a while and you can just kind of relax and allow the sounds to come and so I think what I found out here is more silence so I don't know if you can find silence you know

definitely no people consider like a more peaceful state then I hope I can carry through in a busy world you're talking a little bit yesterday about bringing things back into the regular I don't know you're on the call that to our regular lives but oh there's some specific things that you feel like you'll be bringing back after a month here and are there other things that you hope in the next three months you'll be able to cultivate further and bring back yeah after a month I feel like a lot of my skills are just developing like I'm just you know breaking through the ground and now I really want to like hone what I have learned in these next three months you know and really cultivate that so bringing back now would just be like I said that that greater sense of peace happiness you know more laughs for sure and a little bit of like practical skills as well I'm definitely gonna tell people you know they're definitely gonna tell people about pooping they call it number two but it's really number one that's my motto out here now but after three months I would like to bring back a

a space that people can feel free in you know a space where people can grow and I don't know if a person can bring that but you know if someone walks in the room and you know everybody else smiles or the opposite you know someone walks in the room and everyone kind of closes up I want to be able to you know have that stillness within me where I can walk in a room you know and greet everyone and have a good time kind of play the notes of everyone and get everything in harmony it's like I saw it's a lot to say it's a you know it's a big test clear three more months but this is more like a lifelong you know thing that I'm hoping to really set the foundation for here and gifts of course I want to bring that gifts like soapstone and a bowl perhaps I'll keep it vague but I think Richards bad yeah he's gonna bring that good yes I don't be a resemblance it's something yeah Richard scoffs craftsmanship is far beyond mine or yours you didn't start with the chitchat questions she went straight you gotta give me you gotta warm up so at 19 years old a lot of people that are watching are a lot of people that might categorize themselves as gamers as you know in that age range and feeling like like a cigarette smoker they might enjoy the games and really appreciate them in some ways and but but at the same time sometimes feeling stuck in these things and kind of addicted and I think it extends far out of that age range because we all start to foster these these addictions or you know processes in our lives that I kind of feel good and you know it's my daily routine but I'm not necessarily filled up by them and you know especially to people in your age range can you can you speak to that to that demographic and like what's what's the most important thing at this at this time this moment in in a human's life as we're coming out of high school and moving forward into you know that huge expanse of whatever else is gonna be out there for us we're on this age you know it's easy to it lock down to one particular future and I think the most important part is to be able to carry on you know our childhood spontaneity in our childhood you know curiosity and freedom so I think at this age the most important thing would be to keep like experiencing and keep trying out new things like not getting stuck in the same rut in the same routine you know plenty of time for that later

but I mean for the for the whole gamer thing like some people that's that's what they need you know like that's what they really enjoy you know and they don't feel stuck but for the people who you know maybe game and don't feel so good about it or watching TV or anything you know

just get like mmm cuz you have to know yourself first like you have to know some parts yourself and what you do enjoy whether it be woodworking like once again there's no recipe because it's gonna be different for everyone you know so just finding that something that you actually enjoy and it gets you out of doing it I'm just doing it every day you know maybe set set something up if you're more practical set something up like after I play one hour this game then you know I'll do 30 minutes of woodworking or just something simple like that just something to get you out of whatever routine that you're already getting in because that is hard like that's one of the hardest things is when you get set and stuck in doing something that is addicting you know cuz you can keep doing it and you're like things are working out I'm still getting food I'm you know still surviving in that way but something feels missing you know and I think if you feel that if you feel that something is missing or you know life could be more joyous then that's really like a calling to to find that and I think this is a beautiful time when you're around this age to start exploring that and start to really get out of that comfort zone while still like having a safe place to do rest like I'm not saying cut it out cold turkey and you know go to China for years right if that's what you need to do that's what you need to do that's it's kind of getting time to know yourself to know what you really need and going for it you know classic just do it you just need to do it start and like by the time before you know it like you'll be you'll be so happy so and then you'll be able to go back and play those same games with like a different perspective in a different eye and like you enjoy it you know in a different way and I'm almost nostalgic way you know when you want that little break from it so I guess my advice would just take up take a short break find other things and whatever comes from that you know the nicer choice again like I have a I have like a small example it's funny but like we were we were eating a lot of peanut butter like every day just peanut butter yeah okay yeah yeah we got it at the store you know this is our treat we were just eating it all the time all the time like this is the best you know it like but I mean we were neglecting so many of the other good foods you know they were going you they were going bad and we're like we really got to start eating these vegetables so we're like okay we're going on a peanut butter fast I stopped eating peanut butter and at first like you know we're like oh man I just after training you know I just want to eat peanut butter and I want to cook but we started cooking or having vegetables and stuff like that and next thing you know like a week went by and we didn't have peanut butter and then we had like this this great feast well we only had one jar but we just ate the peanut butter and we were way more present because we appreciated it now and because we didn't have it for that week you know and worked when we said we want to continue doing that because it feels better that way you know to it's gonna be better all around cuz we're eating all the other food and then we're also get the peanut butter but it's just like getting stuck in that rut of doing the same thing because you think it's so good but you really like neglecting other sides of your life so when you just kind of decide to cut it out it's not as bad as you think it is and then when you come back to it it's a bit better so uh ha I love that I love that it's not about demonizing the peanut butter and being like I must eradicate peanut butter from my life for the rest of my existence that you step back from it and then you return to it and it it's more precious than it was when it was just the routine but have it the funniest thing that's happened to you out here I really know we were trying to start a fire this is this is passed no a second first or second week and it's late at night we're trying to start a fire because we got to make dinner and we got the tinder bundle we said we have our little you know teepee setup when we put the tinder bundle in and then we just lost it like I don't know I think Richard says something and I just I couldn't stop laughing you know just one of those times where even if I explained what he said it wouldn't be funny you know but we just started laughing laughing like as hard as we could and we're trying to blow it you know trying to get it going and you know our fires going out we don't want to start another one and then you know cough George and Dinah come running like yes perfect I read you know cuz we're still laughing we're like I was helpless and I come in and Dinah gets right down he starts blowing on the fire still laughs it crack it up doing nothing watching him washing a kid start our fire for us you know she we were completely useless like if they didn't show up at that perfect time there was no fire that night no food

super super funny moments that I always remember almost like every other night I'll be laying in bed before it's like think about it sure was good it was so perfect the time toughest thing about being out here definitely missing a family yeah missing missing your usual way of life you know certain comforts and it's one it's one of the best things but it's also one of the toughest cuz you really realize him

I appreciate what you had and in our situation what you can go back to just a beautiful thing okay I didn't just lose it and you know I can't go back to it now it I purposefully lost it for these four months and I'm able to go back with a greater gratitude and appreciation for you know my family and just all the beautiful things they've given it stuff well we talked about this yesterday yeah because there is so much like quiet time you meet yourself when you're quiet yeah there been anything really frustrating trying to light that match with the magnesium starter

oh and I wouldn't just it wouldn't go I've never actually tried it but as I thought that's gonna work 50 people being like I got a first try [Laughter]

so you already had this Taichi background but then we started doing all kinds of other martial arts stuff and you've just jumped onto this I mean it's so fun to spar with you in Grand fight with you what what is it about the martial arts that you like so much and or anything you want to say you about the martial art so well that's one of those questions again you gotta answer these questions yourself because I guess the hardest questions cuz I can say you know I love the discipline of it I love you know gaining skill or the connection between you know the two people in the battle like just the respect that's there the movement of it that's so natural and or the artistic aspect but it's one of those things again where I really just don't know like I don't know why I like it it's just when I do it I feel I feel a great joy

you know I'm immersed in it I'm not thinking about anything else and then afterwards I feel silent mine didn't I told you for a lack of better word like complete almost I just I don't really need anything else like as long as I'm training and working on that and that's that's what I like about I like I like the discipline I feel like when we're spying I see in you a lot something that in the Warrior Ethos we're trying to cultivate which is just sense of the Machine this my no mind where I'm at you know when you say to people engage like that so it often feels like that when we're fighting it just feels mindlessly mindful I don't know what that we don't have any word for it but where there's this is such a hard concept to explain in our with our language but you seem to have found evidence and it leads through into other areas your life you say anything about about that yeah is it wuwei in in Chinese okay can I say something about easiest question I've ever heard no just being immersed and what you're doing it's just being completely open and receptive so passive in that way but not passive as in you're not doing anything passive in the sense that everything is open you're taking things in and you're not judging what the input is you're just trusting that your body your mind whatever it can react to the situation without conscious thought or input

so when we're spying I feel it's much easier because we've been in combat from you know humans I mean I've been in combat for a long long time and when you're in it well it's not a fight to the death you know it's almost like you take it like that so you can be immersed in it in that way and if I'm thinking the whole time like oh no he's totally gonna kick me and I gotta kind of react it creates an anxious attitude you know then you're thinking but if you're just in there just resting when your body's gonna do like I don't think what my range is or what combination I'm gonna do I don't know if that's right but that's what I like doing now and it's just having a silent enough mind to do that I mean it'll be thoughts that come in but it doesn't it doesn't like I don't stop there mm-hmm you know like a thought will come oh I should do this but I won't do it I'm not gonna resist it and I may and I may do it but it's not like I take that all the thoughts that come in is truth you know like most the time like the best attacks or the best defenses are the ones where like there's none of that like it's just opening reaction you know no no separation like opening okay what can I do

action mm-hmm you know it's just like if I threw an apple really quick at you you know you just catch it you know you'd be like mm it's coming this way that's use my right hand to grab it right reaction so for those that are training in martial arts so we were doing a kick of kicking the supporting leg when when a round kick comes up moving away from that kick and kicking the supporting leg and you were saying the other day that if you try to think about that you kind of disrupted that flow I mean would that be some advice you give to martial artists if you you can have your techniques but I almost think of it as you train that technique outside of your sparring but when you go in and you're gonna you know do as realistic of sparring as you as you can that's the time to let go of all technique essentially and just whatever yeah totally I mean I haven't seen the fruits of my labor over time you know I've only seen it through this month and whatever before but from what I'm seeing now it's like when you drill you can think about it you know do your actions and you know what the kind of plan a little bit make it become muscle memory but when you're in the fight like you said like when I was thinking about okay as soon as you roundhouse I'm gonna do this you know a punch will come now if you're thinking about feet the whole time so definitely I would agree with that advice you know to when you're our spine just forget about any of your techniques and if you want you can film it so afterwards you can see you know what what you can work on more for your muscle memory I think gradually over time that'll just be integrated naturally you know cuz I think the most important thing in the sparring aspect is learning awareness you know is learning that motion yeah you know and outside you command techniques because to me martial arts and I'll talk about your question earlier it's not it's not about it's not only about the fighting in that you know combat aspect it is about that motion and also way of life and all that so there's more to there's more you can get out of this farm than winning or landing the greatest combination or you know any of that stuff I think you can learn something deeper and more profound that you can carry into other aspects of your life so play around with it whatever you want to do this may be another impossible question to answer but something that can be a real liability for those that are doing more realistic sparring or you guys you know you're actually hitting each other pretty hard at this point there's a lot of people struggle anger you get hit and then they start to lose kind of lose it a little bit and you Richard both have this aspect where you can go in and you know if you get kicked in the balls or whatever else

there's never I mean I've never seen the tiniest flicker of anger or losing it coming to you guys yes sir it's a recipe for that by the way that it's a martial artist could could work towards that if that's something that they are struggling with for sure once again it's easier for me to have no anger when I know like my partner my sparring partner either you were Richard has none of it you know I know it will never escalate to that so as long as you know I I don't have mine whatever player to so it's easy here but I feel like I wouldn't lose my control anywhere so I guess I can touch on that too and that is hmm

I guess is just experience like if you've been in situations like that and you've seen when someone adds their aggression you know it usually ends not too not too good you know so it's just kind of seen and I'm sure if you if you had had that aggression and you added it to whether it be through like a verbal fight or a physical fight you know it's the place you're coming from that really kind of dictates the outcome I guess I may be say remark and I have a humorous attitude to it you know it'll be more of a joking joking way most of the time some sometimes people take it our own way but if you have that intent of aggression it'll just keep building between the two people so a way to release that that I've used in the past is just knowing that when I add this aggression things there are gonna be consequences like for sure but nowadays like I don't think about it I don't have to think about like not being aggressive or whatever kind of just integrated into who I am like and that's definitely for my father like he has to aggression you know Oh whatsoever you know and but I mean that made it easy because I've seen him I've seen him do things you know just by his presence by knowing that he's not gonna fight that that situations totally reversed you know people with the aggression just kind of it just shattered their whole world you know and and they lost their aggression and all that so I know it works and so I've followed suit you know when you have that peaceful attitude and peaceful not meaning passive all the times with that peaceful attitude that that where you want to resolve the situation and you don't want things to escalate cuz you really care about people and you have compassion for you know life it really is felt you know so if you can just start to be around and understand that maybe society's version of being a man is a bit different than how it actually is so sometimes most the time we have aggression it's because I think my ideas because it conflicts with a belief we have about ourselves and we're all beyond beliefs when we get down to it when we really get down to it so something like triggers you just notice what belief in your triggers you know what part of you did that really make mad was it really you that is mad when someone says something about you cuz I mean if you know who you are have you know

you know that you're not a wimp or whatever and then someone calls you a wimp it's not gonna mean anything because you don't have that belief that you are that so if you can just really know who you are and spend time you know quietly and things will naturally take the course

that's kind enough master Peche no that's beautiful it's because I think that speaks to men in our culture a lot because it can be I think for a lot of us it can be really confusing to be a man in this culture and what is that what does it mean what is masculinity what you know and sometimes the definitions that we see are so hyper aggressive and you know and then sometimes are offered up this super passive version of it so something you said there where we talked about being peaceful and it's not the same as passivity and you talked about your father you know being enter into situations you witness this and transform them through this way of being and I'm guessing that wasn't by yelling and throwing things that's something I can't explain I guess something had way you beyond my confidence like how that works sir I'm not even gonna try to pretend like I do but I've seen it many times where have you come into a situation you know with a clear mind and you wish for things to be resolved because of the compassion like I was saying like everything else in rxj filming it just just works that way that's I just that's something you you can know by experience it's something that's hard to just take as a as a belief for us oh this is how the world works but you know the more open you are and the more experiences you've had like this like it becomes unquestionable you know how compassion can shape your shake your world and other people without even saying anything I did three months out once that I'm not gonna say what's good if I'm not saying something positive about something right I don't wanna name look talkative off but but I kind of starve to death there it was just I feel like oh it was lentils basically for three months and I came back really skinny and I've been really happy to hear you guys have it seems like you're enjoying your food and eating lots of healthy stuff what's the best thing you have cooked for yourself out here so something we've gotten really good at and making is definitely like our omelet eschatos which Richard called breakfast summer bounty crisp breakfast summer bounty summer bones okay you know we just take our frying pan put a little olive oil in there well first we have a fire you know anything over fire is ten times more delicious and that's a fact sometimes you can quote me but we add our eggs you know we have everything cut up we put some broccoli in there if we can find like golden chanterelles like that that makes it like way more Julie successful I'm not gonna say it I'm out sometimes but if not you know just some baby bella mushrooms diced up some tomatoes green pepper onions and super cheese or nutritional yeast sometimes we don't really add it all the time but if you add that to the eggs it's kind of like cheese cuz we don't see that okay it really it's really good tastes like cheese and yeah okay I'm black pepper I think that's it what's the we I mean we vary it up but I think that's like my favorite companies well food out here is like amazing

like we're eating delicious tasty nutritious foods like I can't answer I don't know how you did lentils here three months I think not happily just did you make did you make any meals that you took a bite full and you just couldn't really bad there's one thing that's amazed us because neither of us have a cooking experience or background but like all the stuff we make is really really yummy I mean I think the worst thing the worst thing that was made was in Witcher Richard was gone and I was cooking by myself and I didn't I didn't follow directions on the bean pasta like you're supposed to cook him separately and I was like I don't need directions say come on I've been out here you know three weeks I can can make no meal but I added like parsnip and different stuff to the water so it wasn't one of those bad things were like you eat it that's gross it's one of those things it's like you're like you know I'm gonna keep eating you know that mmm a big bowl and I gotta keep finishing it and then by the time you know you're just feeling really bad I don't know what is eating that shit

thank you for doing this is there anything else you'd like to share with you yeah it's going super simple you know but just do do it your enjoy you know immerse yourself in the beauty around you then hopefully come to see that and my perspective at least that you know life is just celebration like everything about it everything but let's just expressive and expansive that's where all the joy comes from it comes from giving you know all of that energy away cuz it's easy my dreams last night it was really awesome you know like they were shooting stars and the stars were exploding like all the energy was just being released from it and like a firework dance I saw all this it's like all this is just fireworks and dancing and playing and celebration you know it would be easy it'd be easier to have none of this you know just so to have some of it is you know spectacular to like have like the explosions and they have eyes to see them and appreciate them and stuff like that because it could just be as a metaphor I love rocks but it could just be like all of this rocks where they just shell themselves over and you know they're not expressive in a way that we would normally see you know and everything can do that like a tree could just be a seed and then just form a bark ball around it you know everything could just be like that but it's not like it's Kurt it's courageous and I'm adding my personification of things but it's courageous for a seed to be like okay I know I'm gonna go through this dirt and you know it's gonna be way harder than just totally surrounding myself and the staying under here you know but it comes out and it grows its leaves and then it's like I think I'm ready I'm gonna grow some branches out here you know like really stretch myself and it goes of leaves and the leaves are expression of it and fruit for you know anything to eat like this that's celebration if everybody else would you make fruit haha that you can eat and stuff like that so I guess it's just being courageous and allowing yourself to go through these stages and eventually get fruit celebration so I would like to dance with you all of you I mean I'm a highly trained expert in the school of you know I'm a human I'm us once a child so I can probably sway my hips and shake my hands that's good they're shortening the name but no I just dance or sing and express and make art Wow make your day as a martial artist you know or any kind of artist like make your day a piece of art I think I I don't know what that is that quote is but or who said it but it was like the the hardest art there is is the art of living you know learning out of it that's very true but I think it's the one the one art that we all really deep down know how to do we just need to remember

please