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...

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...

The moment I feel resistance, the moment I feel that contraction inside of me, I must understand that I am being introduced to myself. I've been brought to the bear, to touch the bear! That anger, that rage, that impatience appears in us. You and I know we have these states in us. We can dress up and appear pretty and appear like we're in control of ourselves, but every last human being...

Somewhere in a remote region of the Southwestern United States, a park ranger was seated in his high tower. It overlooked the deep canyons and ravines that ran through the national park where he'd worked for the past twenty years. Looking out over the terrain through his binoculars, he could see a thunderstorm gathering in the west and knew it was only a matter of minutes until a flash flood w...

We cannot change, control, or be stronger than anything our mind says is outside of us. But we can be inwardly awake, conscious of the fact that we don't need to be stronger than what we see because we aren't really separate from what we see.

That seemingly scary condition, whatever it may be, is not the problem. It's your reaction that has you shaking. And that's why, if you'll become conscious of a fearful condition instead of afraid of it, you'll change forever your relationship with fear. It's true. Being conscious of your fear empowers you to interact with it in an entirely new way. This new inner relationship gives you the p...

More times a day than we want to acknowledge, we feel powerless. In such moments, for whatever reason, we see our situation as being without a solution. Confusion starts coloring our considerations. Frustration grows and surrounds us, and we find ourselves imprisoned behind a wall of fearful expectations. But we need not, and must not accept being sentenced to a life of such limitation. We c...

There was once a family living on a large farm, growing corn crops. As the children grew up and the older ones would leave home, the younger ones would get to take better rooms in the house. One boy lived on the east side of the house until one of his brothers left and he was old enough to get his own room on the west side that looked out onto the corn field. The first night in the new room w...

Freedom is not overcoming what you think stands in your way. It is understanding that what is in your way is part of the way.

The seemingly scary condition, whatever it may be, is not the problem. It is your reaction that is fearful. This is why if you will become conscious of your condition instead of afraid of it, you will change forever your relationship with fear. To be consciously afraid means that you know you are frightened, but at the same time you know that these very fears, as real as they may seem, a...

What happens in the moment where life throws something at us, or nothing goes as we had planned? We know what happens. Instant negativity! We become disgruntled. Unhappiness over what is unwanted ruins the day. Why? Because now we're resisting the event, wanting nothing to do with it. And how many possibilities do we have in such moments when we resist life like this? None . . . except to...

Our usual reaction to any event not of our choosing is to fear it, so that our tendency is to see these experiences as being adversarial. These unwanted moments are seen as threats to our present happiness, as well as being a thorn in our tomorrow, because with any unwanted event comes the fear of not having the right answers to address the flood of new questions arising out of life's sudden t...