Through our willingness to work deliberately at placing our usual self in "second place," we agree not only to change the way we see our relationships, but we also agree to be changed by the truths our new relationships will inevitably show us about us.

I know I should not worry about certain things in life; however, what am I to do when loved ones have chosen things that are not in keeping with the things that they have learned? What can I do to keep them safe and to guide them back on the right road? Inner work is not about trying not to worry. It is about seeing that worry doesn't work. How can a person who gives away his or her own lif...

**As a result of my deepening interest in truthful ideas, quite a few of my friends feel I have gone off the deep end, and I have noticed a growing separation between us as I work more and more for my own spiritual freedom. It is not that I don't care for them, but rather I am becoming less concerned about the things that have always driven all of us. My fear is they will eventually want to ha...

There are parts of us that would rather be punished by unkind people than have to spend one minute being alone, because the only way these same parts in us can exist is if they have someone to resent or somehow fear. In this case we remain in these ruinous relationships because the fear or emptiness we feel in even considering leaving them seems to be too much to bear on our own. Here's the k...

Whatever suffering you agree to shoulder not only helps to lighten the load of those in need, but also serves to awaken within you the strength you need to be a true friend.

Those with whom we assemble we will soon resemble, so the simple old saying goes. Yet it tells of a deep truth. It says that who we are -- the stuff of our soul at present -- is being transformed continuously by the nature of the company we keep; so that, in our essence we are always moving and evolving towards a kind of psychic oneness with whatever relationships we have revolving around us t...

**As a result of my deepening interest in truthful ideas, quite a few of my friends feel I have gone off the deep end, and I have noticed a growing separation between us as I work more and more for my own spiritual freedom. It is not that I don't care for them, but rather I am becoming less concerned about the things that have always driven all of us. My fear is they will eventually want to ha...

The first step in harmonious relationships is simple: We need only realize the spiritual truth that we cannot meet someone whom we are not like in some way, even if we don't actively express what we don't like seeing in him or her. The deception is that we're sure we're unlike everyone except for those who match the images we have of ourselves. And so it goes that we live from -- see our lives...

We're often led to act against ourselves by an undetected weakness that goes before us -- trying to pass itself off to others -- as a strength. In effect, we pretend to be something we're not -- a commonly accepted behavior these days. But any time we feign anything, we do so out of fear that without that "persona" to protect us -- to make that impression we want -- we won't get what we want.

Topics Covered: Resistance claims to know in advance how to be at peace; Use your life to discover the truth that sets you free; You can't have a judgment without there being something in place prior to the moment; Is the feeling of a negative state pleasurable, or painful?; With every judgment there is an attending pain; The pain begins with a consciousness that already knows...

Topics covered: Discussion of the topic for Talks in the Pines "Quieting the Mind, Freeing the Heart"; What does it mean to be a useful human being; You must be quiet so you can hear life tell you your true purpose; Anytime you're not present to yourself you are serving a lower will; All individual purposes serve a greater purpose; Why does it seem like we have to come up with our own purpose;...