Those who choose the road to mediocrity will always find many shortcuts along the way.
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Enlightening articles by Guy Finley on a wide range of topics address practical life issues and deepen your spiritual understanding.
Short but powerful quotes by Guy Finley will inspire you throughout your day.
Heartfelt inner-life questions from people around the world, and Guy’s enlightening answers, will shed light on your own issues.
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Watch or listen to the specific talk we will all be discussing during this week’s Online Study Group meeting.
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Enlightening articles by Guy Finley on a wide range of topics address practical life issues and deepen your spiritual understanding.
Short but powerful quotes by Guy Finley will inspire you throughout your day.
Heartfelt inner-life questions from people around the world, and Guy’s enlightening answers, will shed light on your own issues.
Read Guy’s newest insights as he jots them down, spontaneous and uncensored.
Watch or listen to the specific talk we will all be discussing during this week’s Online Study Group meeting.
If you have a few minutes, and want a burst of enlightenment, watch or listen to these brief talks by Guy, filled with concentrated wisdom.
Hearing Guy interact with an interviewer is a delight. Listen as he makes deep spiritual principles easy to understand.
Be encouraged by hearing fellow members share their experiences and discoveries as they bring higher ideas into their daily lives.
The Life of Learning singers and instrumentalists perform beautiful music that will inspire and uplift you.
Join us for exclusive live broadcasts of select Guy Finley talks.
Start your day off right with a nugget of wisdom that can transform your experience with everything you do and everyone you meet.
Inner-life exercises and special writings deepen your understanding.
Longtime local members speak for 10 to 15 minutes on a special topic. Hear the explorations and discoveries of others on the inner journey.
Dive deep into a subject on your own! Work at your own pace with a series of talks by Guy on topics critical to your inner development.
Catch Guy Finley’s weekly message that focuses on spiritual and personal breakthroughs. This is updated weekly and is available in video, audio and text.
Join a lively online discussion with other members each week of “This Week’s Topic” – a new Guy Finley talk selected for in-depth study.
You are not alone on the inner journey. Listen to lively, weekly online discussions between members.
Every Saturday Guy leads an open discussion. Local members share their discoveries, and Guy’s comments deepen everyone’s understanding.
Guy regularly holds open Q&A sessions. Often members of our global community send in questions, or speak directly to Guy online.
Access to all our private Facebook updates, student Facebook discussions, and our LIVE Saturday lunch roundtable discussions.
This member forum is where you can write in your observations and experiences, and receive feedback from fellow members. Read-only access for Free and Basic members. Full access for Premium & All Access members.
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Shop eCoursesThose who choose the road to mediocrity will always find many shortcuts along the way.
Often, when we first set out on the path of self-study, we begin with unrealistic or just plain mistaken expectations about what it will do for us. The unconscious wish that fuels this early stage of self-study is simply to become a better "old" person, rather than to become a completely new person.
Perhaps we have visions of suddenly becoming capable of handling with ease any set of troublesome circumstances; or that our newly enlarged self-knowledge will enable us to control other people, or at least to no longer be bothered by what anyone does to us. We hope or believe that in this imagined self-mastery the universe will shower us with gifts such as money, relationships, and good fortune. Further, we may believe that these are the things we need to guarantee our future happiness. But can any of these exterior conditions deliver the inner contentment we want? No, they can't. See the following fact and let it reveal the path to higher and higher levels of inner freedom: even when these desires are fulfilled, they do nothing to expand the restricted world of our self. To the contrary, these trappings only tighten the secret grasp of the thought-self that now is strengthened in its belief in its own power. If we do what we call spiritual work for these "self"-ish reasons, we simply remain in our tiny world, seeking the ends that that world calls valuable. The only way out of that world is through self-study, which begins with showing us that devoting our lives to the never-ending agenda of the never-satisfied false nature will never lead us to lasting happiness.
When people approach their self-study with wrong expectations, they can quickly become discouraged when those expectations are not fulfilled. They then claim that self-study does not provide anything valuable in return for all the effort it requires, because it does not bring them what their minds tell them it should. Wanting only to feel good about themselves, according to their own worn-out ideas of what that means, they never enter into the realm of real self-study at all. Sadly, without knowing it, they close the door on a world that could have rewarded them beyond anything they even knew to ask for, which brings us to a surprising paradox along the path of self-study.
The purpose of our inner investigation is not to feel pleased with ourselves -- and certainly not to feel good about ourselves because of some new noble self-image as someone aiming to lead a better life. The true purpose of self-study is to invite something Good into our lives that then provides us with the unshakable goodness we were previously unable to give ourselves.
We can only benefit from self-study when we use it correctly for self-discovery -- and not just as one more ineffective attempt at self-creation. True self-study is not an exercise in confirming what has been, but an opening of ourselves to what is and to the always-becoming unknown. We can use it to illuminate the tiny world our false natures have held us captive in, allowing our discoveries to throw open the door to the larger world within that is our birthright.
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<p>If we're not getting what we want out of life, it's only because of one simple misunderstanding: <em>Our unique purpose is not to succeed at any one thing, but to discover and live from a nature that is success itself.</em> When we understand this, the world opens its doors to us. We're not meant to struggle to make events go the way our minds tell us they should. That's what leads to frustration...</p>
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It is said, "Love makes all things possible." But love is more than just the promise of what could be; love is the secret source of freedom itself. Love serves as the creative force behind all that perfects and fulfills life. But it is greater still. Examine any good and noble quality in creation: Peace, Fearlessness, Success, Happiness, Excellence... and hidden there...
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In today's modern world, success and stress seem to be constant companions. Success in business means "workaholism." Success in love means constant sacrifice and "working on the relationship." Success in school, or art, or music, or sports means ever increasing pressure to perform. Success in our society is just plain crazy... but success is not supposed to be like that. Success is suppose...
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Have you ever wanted to be great at something? Painting, music, writing, physics, baseball? Of course you did. We all did. We all do! A longing for Greatness was put inside each of us even before we were born. It's part of what makes us human beings. Most people, however, have long since given up the quest for Greatness. Money worries, relationships, work, school, and the pursuit...
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To make the most of our life we must first know our true purpose – one that emerges from Love and enables us to make a real difference in life. This is the key to true fulfillment, as this talk reveals and explains how to attain.
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New and True Benefits That Self-Study Brings
Posted by Guy Finley in 459 Galice Road, Merlin, OR 97532 on , and updated on .
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