Negative States

Though we often find ourselves feeling so, in truth... there is no such thing as being powerless. We see how a person who resists life -- who hates or fears unwanted changes -- becomes the instrument of a power that effectively renders him powerless to do anything but struggle. But we've seen the converse as well: the one who realizes that the only power negative states have is to create the i...

Actualizing our spiritual right to live without the frustration of fearful limitations is not a question of achieving something new; it begins with choosing to end a relationship with that which has never been true.

Meekly submitting to any negative emotion in the hopes it will run its course and leave us alone just invites it to subjugate us again.

We cannot experience anything that is not already a part of our consciousness. Any disturbance that we become aware of within ourselves serves as an introduction to an aspect of our own nature that we have been asleep to up until that moment. Within us are already dwells all that is needed for us to be complete, and the only thing that is needed to resolve any psychological disturbance is awar...

We are not here to change other people. Whether or not someone else wants to change has nothing to do with us. We can change. We can use the resistance, cruelty, selfishness, and negativity of others to turn our attention around and see what it is inside of us that rises up to protect the images that we have of ourselves. When we see clearly the parts of us that want to fight because of someo...

Human beings suffer from a kind of spiritual amnesia produced by having assumed a false identity without knowing it. How is that possible? This temporary false self feels real. There's no mistake about that! It is animated and driven along by the flood of reactions we have as we run around seeking fulfillment. But the fact that this lower nature is driven doesn't mean it is alive. A bulldoze...

We have the capacity to stop making ourselves powerless by waking up to having put ourselves where our powers are stolen from us.

Every time we accept a negative state we compromise ourselves and increase the level of conflict for ourselves and everyone we meet.

The next time (and every time) you catch some negative thought or feeling that says, "I am anxious," "I am scared," "I am mad," or "I am in so much pain" -- the first thing to do is to come wide awake to yourself. By taking the following inner action, you can deliberately snap yourself out of that dark dream that is trying to weave itself into your identity. Rather than allowing yourself to...

Here is a particularly vital idea for those of us who are tired of finding ourselves a surprised victim of our own actions: in this world of ours response is request. We can slightly enlarge this idea by restating it this way: the way you respond to life is also a request you make to it. See how the next few examples prove this important discovery: Someone walks...

How many of us sometimes entertain thoughts and feelings that get us into trouble? We have all found ourselves compromised by thoughts and feelings that hurt us, but the truth is that nothing has access to our heart or mind without us inviting it into our life. When negative states knock on our psychological door, we cannot get into bad relationships with them unless we go outside of ourselves...

There are things that are true about the spiritual life that the mental man or woman will never know. Human beings are presently bullied around, pushed from pillar to post without even knowing what is happening to them. There is a corrupted state that exists in the consciousness of humanity in which there is an acceptance of interior conflict. When you begin at long last to awaken to your act...