Honesty

The Divine knows we are ready to see the true solution to our suffering only when - and as - we realize we must no longer make excuses for any moment when, and where we miss the mark.

Whenever painful events happen, they tend to fall on only one of two sides of a person. The first side is the denial side. When turning this way, refusal rules. Regret, self-pity, and endless explanations generally follow. Or, the unwanted moment falls on the angry side, where the turning is to burning. Resentment rages. Hatred and feelings of betrayal mushroom into....

We can't have a true need without there existing that which is intended to fulfill it. But we have to allow the need to be there, wait, and watch the part of us that attempts to resolve the need with its own will. Then we discover that the resolution to any question we might have is within the question itself.

Topic: The First Great Law of Spiritual Development (Remastered Classic Talk) (Classroom Talk 12/31/25)

Topics covered:  We are the way we are because of what we turn to in unwanted moments. As long as you spend your life not wanting, you will have the life you don't want; You do not know how to be yourself. All that you have are the derivative images that have been picked up through the years about what it means to be a successful human being; Our sense of self is based on a fight with life, trying to make it to conform to the images we have about who we are.

Student Talks: 9/20/2024 - Key Lesson: Hanging onto a handful of anxious, worried thoughts to protect you from what they point to as a fearful moment to come, is like wrapping your arms around the anchor of a sinking ship because there's nothing left on deck for you to cling to as it goes down!

Topics covered: People who are addicted to something lie to themselves, listening to something in themselves that justifies their behavior; "An unexamined life is not worth living." (Socrates) The act of true self-observation is constant self-examination. Little by little, you will want to spend more time in a properly contemplative state; Through self-examination we see what it is interiorly that is presently harming us, instead of unconsciously agreeing...

Classroom Talk: 7/3/2024 - Honesty heals; lies hurt. In these four words live all one needs to know and practice—that is, assuming one wishes to be whole, harmless, loving, and true.

Topic: Learn to Say "Yes" to Life and Liberate Yourself (Classroom Talk 2/14/22)

Topics covered: Healing begins with self-honesty. No honesty, no healing; The acronym "INASTY" stands for "Instantaneous Negative Assumption Syndrome Tormenting You"; Negative assumptions are closely connection to painful self-protection; When the mind registers a disturbance, it names the disturbance so that it can know what to do about it; Life is disturbance...

Classroom Talk: 2/9/2022 - Seen properly, only self-liberation is possible; this highest form of freedom begins with being completely honest in all of our relationships, but especially as concerns the one we have with ourselves.

Topic: Develop this Divine Quality and Free Yourself from Fear (7/14/21 Classroom Talk)