One of the greatest gifts that a man or woman can be given in this world (and only if they ask properly) is to understand that everything that happens to them - no matter what -- is for their greater good. It makes no difference what it is -- call it the worst thing in the world -- and most of us have had the experience of recognizing there were times when if we could have thrown away that moment full of fear, anger, resentment, we would have thrown it away.
In the end, and to the point of this work we do, the journey is from outward to inward. The journey takes a person from "out there" (powers and possessions, travel, drugs, new hobbies, friends, relatives, approval, etc.) to an understanding that as long as they look to anything or anyone outside of themselves, it is never going to reconcile or bring an end to the overwhelming negative states such as fear that are wrecking their life.
The Divine journey involves the preparation of an individual by another, higher order of awareness (that already lies hidden within us), so that we're able to see that the ceaseless, seemingly individual waves of the passing events of our lives belong to a much broader, grander relationship. And they exist for the purpose of our development, and not to torment us with what we fear is going to be...
Most of us hold the unquestioned belief that our hearts and minds are at peace before one of life's "waves" washes in to disturb us. But if we take away the prejudice of self-pleasing images -- and add the ease with which we are disturbed by unwanted moments -- we have good cause to suspect something entirely different about ourselves. Could a truer view of what takes place in such times of...
When it comes to our wish to make real changes in ourselves, good intentions cost (us) nothing... and that's why the road to hell is paved with useless coins. On the other hand, making a conscious effort to change -- in the moment that calls for it -- comes with the cost of seeing ourselves as we really are. This awareness shows us not only the possibility of being released from our worry and fear...
We act every moment in our life from one thing and one thing only: that which (in us) is the knower of that moment. We act from what we know. As we are now, our actions -- based on what we know -- are predicated on a certain knowledge that appears with the reaction that tells us the meaning of the moment. And no more do we receive and are told the meaning of the moment...
If you were empowered to change life -- in order to give yourself whatever is always good and true for you to know and have -- would you ever make any other kind of changes? For example, would you fear unexpected events, such as a loss of some kind? No! Even though they may come as a surprise, you already know that they herald a new beginning of something better.
Our work, in terms of reclaiming our right as human beings to be in relationship with what we choose to be in relationship with, begins with being able to see that we suffer because choices are made for us. And it's an unnecessary suffering.
The only responses to life's challenges that any of us "ride" are those we think can carry us to safety. Leaping onto the back of the dark horse of a fearful reaction, according to our old habits, is like entering a runaway carriage being pulled along by wild thoughts and pounding feelings.
Regardless of the assertion of any fearful state that seeks to convince you otherwise (using its painful presence within you as "proof" that the prison you're locked within will stand until the end of time), apply this one great truth: That fear must break down if it doesn't succeed in breaking down your willingness to test its reality. How do you conduct such a test?...
We must recognize the almost endless cycle of pressure, anxiety, anger, and regret that always appears with the promise that if we follow that branch of negativity, it will lead us back to the source of understanding where we'll be free at last. In fact, that branch we're tempted to follow belongs to something that can never complete itself, and that requires our energy to sustain it.
The fifth step to making yourself fearless is faith. Real faith is born in a human being when he or she has the direct experience that they live in a world that is established for them to succeed in realizing that within them dwells an Intelligence beyond fear.When a person takes the first four steps - attention, awareness, self-knowledge, and persistence - and brings them together...