Ambition

Topics covered: We try to change exterior conditions in order to change our experience; There is nothing more practical than self-understanding. And there is nothing more empowering than self-knowledge; When we are afraid and anxious, who or what is it that is taking the action to change my experience? Fear and anxiety pretend to be guides; Letting go is about discovering the parts of us that promise power but ultimately make us powerless.

Topics covered: We have been conditioned to believe that who we are is dependent upon conditions; Psychological fear is the belief that who we are can be threatened by exterior conditions; Fear needs to control the conditions that threaten the existence of that self-structure; You can't change conditions, but you can change your relationship to them. That's where fearlessness starts; Any fear that you feed is going to consume you in the end...

Topics covered: Everything you do to "courageously" get rid of fear is the continuation of the fear; Not knowing what to do about whatever state is boiling in you is the same as actually seeing the state as it is; The thing that you feared your whole life is the place you find freedom. The antidote is in the venom; Emptiness will always be filled naturally if you will stop trying to fill it through your own efforts.

Student Talks: 04/24/2026 - Whatever it may be within us that fears death…is itself the thing that must die.

Student Talks: 2/28/2025 - The vast majority of humanity views the idea of spiritual rebirth as some sort of prize to be claimed and declared: a new and exciting personal possession, like having won a tropical island in a high-stakes lottery. But true rebirth is nothing of the kind; (it is) a distinct awareness within oneself of a timeless and intelligent awareness -- a fearless and abiding patience, burgeoning with expectation -- that is "in the world (of passing time), but not of it."

Student Talks: 7/12/2019 - Key Lesson: Trying to elevate the quality of our life experience -- with all of its delicate relationships -- without first working to realize and rise above the limitations inherent in our present level of consciousness... is like trying to shake the dust out of a carpet, while you're still standing on it!