Divided Mind

Topics covered:  The interior path does not necessarily change what you do with your life, but it will change the reason why you do it; "'Master, which is the great commandment in the law?' Jesus said unto him, 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.'" -- New Testament; Every law that is made to resolve a conflict creates more conflict, which then requires the creation of more laws to replace the law that did not work.

Topics covered:  The true interior path is about ceaseless exploration, not about coming to conclusions. We get stressed every time we come to a conclusion. Exploration stops when we come to a conclusion; The advanced spiritual life is already here in every moment, not in what you imagine the spiritual life is supposed to be; Nothing can grow without humility, because for anything to grow it must be in a position of receiving, yielding to what is above. No humility, no transformation.

Topics covered:  "Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." -- New Testament; Everyday you make choices that are given to you by something that is stealing your life; You believe that you are making an intelligent choice when you are afraid. You believe that the fear will deliver you from fear, that the anxiety will deliver you from anxiety, that the doubt will deliver you from doubt, etc.

Topics covered: Every question we ask about how to approach the Divine creates a distance between us and the very thing that we seek; Trying to be like anyone else never produces a change in the consciousness that is seeking to be something; No description of any principle is the same as the principle being described; The power of any principle does not exist apart from the relationship that the principle is a part of...

Classroom Talk: 6/26/2024 - Anytime we feel a need to stand in the healing light of the Divine -- and act to honor that wish -- we are shown a truth that not only sets us on the path back Home, but that serves to guide us the whole way: we have never been outside of the light of God.

Topic: Free Yourself from False Starts and Painful Dead Ends (Classroom Talk 6/5/24)

Student Talks: 4/7/2024 - Key Lesson: Part 1: We can't be anxiously looking for real Life, and take part in its rebirth at the same time. Part 2: United we see; divided we fall.

Topics covered: In any moment that you see beauty, you are not searching for anything to complete yourself; The world tells us that the way to complete ourselves is through acquisition, achievement and approval; We spend almost our entire lives trying to find the "partner of the moment" to complete us. Every partner we imagine has to be re-imagined when it doesn't live up to what we thought it would be...

Student Talks: 3/1/2024 - Key Lesson: Just as the eyes that see the sun cannot understand its light by which they behold the shape and beauty of all things, neither can the heart understand the love that calls it to know and encompass all things. Eye and heart are creatures in time, but Light and Love are not. Even so, all meet; and to be a silent witness to their inexpressible union... is to realize the pathless journey to the indwelling Divine.

Topics covered: Useless struggle is the effort to maintain the self that believes outside conditions to be the cause of its experience; The mind that cannot see itself is forever set against itself; The sole/soul purpose of all true teachings is to get an individual to see that nothing is missing; Our present level of consciousness sees transformation as a process of becoming, through the acquisition -- in a time to come -- of something that is missing...

Topic: Take a Vacation from Yourself and Leave Your Troubles Behind You (Classroom Talk 1/31/24)

Topics covered: Without clarity there can be no self-command; The real "evil" is the thought that I have to complete myself, because it separates you from discovering you are being given everything you need, moment to moment, to be a complete being; I don't have any trouble without a desire. All troubles and painful situations are born from hidden desires; What is behind every last troubling moment? The experience of myself...