Soul = Sol = Sun = Light

I believe there is a direct connection between morality, the virtues, and one's physical health.

Your health has a lot more to do with light than you think. The age-old concepts of light and darkness coming out of both religion and philosophy can be merely metaphorical, yet they can also be quite literal when you know what you are looking at.

"Inner light" must be cultivated and nurtured on a regular basis. It the force or chi that moves you. It takes work that is both mental and physical. This electric force within you, which animates your body with "the light of life..." is made up of what modern science calls photonic light. (Just look up something called: "Photonic Health Light Therapy")

Science says: "Photons are the smallest and main components that make up everything in our universe. Photons have different sizes and energies depending on their wavelength. They are in the form of energy (a wave) when travelling at or near the speed of light and only act as particles with masses when they come to rest or collide."

"...in addition to electrical and chemical signals propagating in the neurons of the brain, signal propagation takes place in the form of biophoton production." Source

"Given the sheer insanity of our existential condition, and bodily incarnation as a whole, and considering that our earthly existence is partially formed from sunlight and requires the continual consumption of condensed sunlight in the form of food, it may not sound so far fetched that our body emits light. Indeed, the human body emits biophotons, also known as ultraweak photon emissions (UPE), with a visibility 1,000 times lower than the sensitivity of our naked eye. While not visible to us, these particles of light (or waves, depending on how you are measuring them) are part of the visible electromagnetic spectrum (380-780 nm) and are detectable via sophisticated modern instrumentation." Source

"Researchers at the University of Innsbruck have experimentally demonstrated quantum teleportation – a phenomenon that allows physicists to take a photon (or any other quantum-scale particle, such as an atom), and transfer its properties to another photon, even if the two photons are on opposite sides of the galaxy."
- Austrian Scientists Experimentally Demonstrate "Quantum Teleportation"
Date: December 15, 1997
Source: American Institute Of Physics
Link to original study

"We are electrical particle photons, and electrical signals are transmitted into us through the circuitry of the physical body. Everything in the photon realm is consciousness through electrical impulses."
- Bill Donahue, God is Photon

"Light is all there is. It is all we are really dealing with."
- Walter Russell, The Secret Of Light

"God is light."
“I am light.”
“Ye are light.”
- Jesus 

This inner "light" system includes melatonin production via the pineal gland which regulates your hormones, the endocrine system, nervous system, sleep cycles (circadian rhythm) and your immune system. The pineal is the light receptor in your body. When the pineal gland is stimulated it produces MELATONIN (“light in the body..”)

If you live an unbalanced, unhealthy lifestyle, or are plagued emotionally with fear and anxiety that has not been dealt with or attended to, you literally will have that "light" process diminished over time and will be more prone to "living in darkness..." 

Your view of yourself also has a major role to play. This view is ultimately conditioned by the level of either self-care or self-destruction that you express. If you treat yourself horribly and constantly pollute or mistreat your body, or if you create inner dialog (thought patterns) that ends up being mostly negative or self-negating, your true self knows this deep down and the ego then tries to repress the shame that comes along with this warped and destructive view of the self. That act of self-repression then can be a major factor in how one views the world around them along with all the people in it. Because we humans tend to project the internal condition of the psyche outwardly to the world, our actions in life are no longer motivated by "the light" of authentic expression, but rather an inauthentic performance that grants you no real benefit. Like all things, that which remains dormant grows stale and eventually dies out.
​"Rage, rage against the dying of the light..."

People in such a state of inner confusion and "darkness" are easy to spot and are often more prone to immoral and contradictory behavior because they are no longer able to generate that internal light, they instead need to sustain themselves off of the "light" of others around them who can. Here for more on "Psychic Vampirism"

The need for approval is sadly often stronger than the need to be authentic. The reason these types externally project contradictory behavior is because they are really dealing with an inner contradiction which they are actively avoiding. 

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as WE are..."
- Anais Nin

The physical health of your body and mind work hand in hand together and are in many ways directly proportional to your overall level of morality and virtue. It is said that "Fear is the cancer of the mind" and fear often leads to the path of "the dark side..." just as the diminishing of the functionality of your innate immune system leads to physical cancer of the body. Your pineal gland, which helps regulate your immune system, only functions optimally when you are taking good care of both your physical and mental health. The concept of "inner darkness" can be related metaphorically to a state of ignorance or internal blindness, or it can be thought of as being "in the dark" physically and literally, when you lack the "inner strength" (light) to generate enough personal courage and self-honesty to heal those wounds which are begging to be addressed and acknowledged; wounds that must be healed if optimal health is to be achieved, and hence: optimal morality can also be achieved. 

"How you treat others is a reflection of how you treat yourself."
- Anonymous

So it appears that what we call "virtue" is not just some old dead philosophical concept, neither are the various religious concepts of “spiritual light" and "darkness".

This is all much more literal and real than we may have first imagined.
Take care of yourself. It's more than worth it. 

​-DW

P.S. For more information on the nature of light, check out my new premium series on Esoteric Christianity and comparative religious/philosophical study, specifically the presentation "The Children Of Light" HERE

In this special firecast episode I sit around a viking fire with a few friends of mine and discuss the natural world, the philosophy of freedom, world history in light of current events, community, individual solutions and much more. We also make spears...

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​Someone shared this with me and I had to say something. Clearly, the authors of this bullshit study have never even taken a class in their lives let alone picked up a book on the subject and know jack about healthy self esteem and how it is achieved. They look at some stats, compare to other studies based on stats and then draw conclusions and call that “science”. 

I have trained in, and studied martial arts since the age of 9. I have taught and trained professionally in different cities, different countries, and have worked with with different demographics, age groups and both genders since I was 18. I feel I am somewhat qualified to comment on this. 

I will say that not all martial art schools integrate the philosophy side of the arts into the class. Some are “just a business” and some are better than others at coaching children’s classes. Many coaches are great practitioners but horrible teachers. However, even with that said, anything that gets your child’s energy flowing, their heart pumping, their brain working, and trains them how to do things on their own without their helicopter parents nagging them every two seconds, will boost their concept of self and their overall confidence that they CAN overcome challenges. This is essential in the process of developing healthy self esteem and martial arts is literally the best crash course in my humble opinion. 

Martial arts gives the child a space to practice facing an adversary or a challenge that at first glance seems insurmountable. Combat is the theme. 
Why is this relevant to one’s self esteem you ask? Because a lack of self esteem is a sign that one has lost the inner battle that will rage on unabated until those dragons are confronted. It takes a Warrior to do just that. This is why we practice war. This is why we practice winning. It’s not to get the better of others, it’s to get better yourself so you can win at life. 

ENTER THE WARRIOR. 
The ‘Warrior’ is in one sense a physical status that can ONLY be achieved through practicing struggle, confrontation, and dealing with various forms of opposition and challenge. In another sense, it is an archetype of the psyche that is there to be activated by honing your own will. The process of simply discovering this ‘inner Warrior’ alone will boost that child into a winner for life because it introduces them to their own potential. With no concept of one’s own potential, the default setting is externalization and that leaves you  helpless, depressed and unfulfilled. 

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” 

You can’t truly know yourself unless you have suffered through some challenge, discomfort and failure. Every sales pitch in the world is there to offer you a way out of this by offering you every comfort imaginable and to eliminate challenge from your life. Be careful about what gets eliminated along with it...

The martial artist learns to thrive in these challenging conditions, learns to embrace it when the challenge comes, and doesn’t believe in permanent failure because they have so much practice picking themselves up after defeat in order to achieve a victory. That process is hard indeed, however contrary to what your present society is teaching your kids, it is a precious part of the human experience and is necessary for a fulfilling life. They must be taught that ‘mistakes’ are not the end of you, they are merely your teachers on the path to success. This mindset alone is foundational to self discovery and self esteem. This is the Warrior way. 

In order for this discovery process to happen, the student needs to confront internal challenges just as they need physical challenges to overcome in order to achieve a positive level of self knowledge and overall confidence. It is self confidence by way of self knowledge that allows you to deal with your internal angst, your fear of others and of life. Martial arts has very little to do with learning how to “beat people up” and everything to with SELF MASTERY. Without self mastery, there can be no self esteem. 

“All knowledge is ultimately self knowledge...” - Bruce Lee 
Only a martial artist could have said this and truly understood it in its fullest sense. 
A scientist would ask “I can’t measure this thing you call “self” under my microscope so it must not exist...back to the numbers on the screen!” 

The internal process of understanding all of this is just has difficult as the tasks a good Sensei will put in front of you. In one sense they do this to whip you into shape so you could actually survive a confrontation (or God forbid...a push-up...), in another sense it is to help you draw out your inner adversary so it can be mastered. This is why the challenges are given to the student within this framework. 
Each challenge must address and sharpen both the body and the mind. 
The spirit is the fuel of it all. 

If a child is not introduced to these aspects of themselves, which will be needed throughout their lives both in the physical world and in the mental/spiritual world, then that child will forever be easy prey for predators and bullies in life and also prey to their own inner doubts, fears, inhibitions and demons. Do you want to raise a demon-slayer or a pill-popper forever seeking out the nearest safe-space? 

Even more important to factor in, is that absent the Warrior archetype, deep down the child KNOWS they are missing this quality and need it desperately to thrive in a world such as ours. When self confidence is absent, they default to believing that THEY ARE A HELPLESS VICTIM. This mentality is the death of the self altogether. (See the current state of the youth circa 2015-2022 for more details on this...) 

I will now give you a definition for self esteem, something these “scientists” didn’t even bother with: 

“Self-esteem is the disposition to experience oneself as being competent to cope with the basic challenges of life and of being worthy of happiness. It is confidence in the efficacy of our mind, in our ability to think. By extension, it is confidence in our ability to learn, make appropriate choices and decisions, and respond effectively to change. It is also the experience that success, achievement, fulfillment – happiness – are right and natural for us. The survival-value of such confidence is obvious; so is the danger when it is missing.” 
-Nathanial Branden 
More on this definition here: https://nathanielbranden.com/on-selfesteem/

The only aspect I would add to that great summary is the role of the body and the importance of developing confidence in the ability to ACT CORRECTLY in the face of danger or chaos. 

Regarding the study, I also want to point out that some martial art schools have a strong focus on tournaments-which isn’t necessarily always bad thing, it just doesn’t always result in turning out a well rounded martial artist nor in developing authentic self esteem. In fact, it can do the opposite if the approach and focus is unbalanced. Balance is lesson one in a good dojo. (Too bad many are taught to think this concept only pertains to their fighting stance...)

A true artist develops their art for the sake of the art itself, not necessarily for the affection and approval of those witnessing what you are doing and achieving. 

Why would this “study” not even consider tracking and interviewing a wide spectrum of different martial arts coaches for a period of time and then observe and document the results in real time? 
It appears that science doesn’t roll like that anymore. It’s all about stats and data in computers and not always the real world. I’m not knocking computers or science, but for crying out loud learn the distinction. Speaking of which, I would go so far as to say that your average martial artist conducts more real world scientific experiments inside a month of training than these data miners do in their entire lives. Just my two cents judging by what I’ve seen from the scientific establishment of late...but I digress. There is zero discussion about how somatic intelligence (body intelligence/movement training) factors in to the process of building up self esteem in children, nor on how movement training in general promotes the progression of self expression and self actualization-which are essential elements in developing a healthy human being. 

There is also zero consideration of the fact that there are different styles of martial arts, different coaching styles within any of the arts, and even different philosophical approaches to both teaching and training methods within these various art forms.  
These authors also fail to define what a ‘self’ even is, let alone how to have self love. They are scientists looking at numbers on a screen. How can you possibly determine the “results” of a study...if you haven’t even actually studied the thing you are studying?  

In conclusion of this rather long but necessary rebuttal, here is a simple equation these academics could crunch some numbers on if they want to conduct a study: 

If Johnny knows he is capable of defending himself, that he is fit to face the challenges of the real world, that he knows both his strengths and his weaknesses, that by learning about himself he is learning about others, that he is gaining knowledge of himself thru trial and error, that he is valued because he KNOWS he is due the fact that he has proven himself-to himself time and again, that he is actively working on becoming his own superhero rather than worshipping fictitious idols, and practices bettering himself each day towards these goals...will he come out with more self esteem or less than the kid who stays at home and learns how to live vicariously through metaverse avatars, celebrities, video game characters and cartoons? 

I leave it to you, my peers, to review and decide for yourselves. 
-DW

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2766365/#__ffn_sectitle