Negative States

When we are dominated by any negativity, be it some consuming fear or heated anger, we may think we are in command of ourselves as we rush to judgment or lash out at the world, but a simple question reveals another reality. Who, in his or her right mind, purposely sets themselves on fire? The answer is obvious. No one deliberately defeats one's own best self-interests. This much we all realize...

What does it feel like to deny something? Is it a good feeling, or a bad feeling? We all know that it is a bad feeling. When something happens that we do not want, and we then deny the event, it feels bad. On the other hand, what does it feel like to want something when we envision something positive? We can easily see that when we are envisioning what we want, we feel good! In order to unders...

The present level of mind that we are experiencing on this planet today does not have command of its own attention. The world you see around you is being created by a level of desire that creates the conditions that it needs to flourish. It creates outwardly what it needs to sustain a consistent denial of the divine. The problem is that we think that somehow we were the ones who created this l...

Here is an exercise to help you take the first step up and away from self-punishing feelings. This exercise is called: Is This What I Really Want? You do not have to accept any inner condition that compromises your happiness. Read over the next sentence several times before proceeding further. It is never right to feel wrong no matter how right you may think you are to be feeling that wa...

It always seems that in the face of any crisis the best and the worst of humanity is revealed for all to see. On one hand there are thousands who suddenly become aware (perhaps for the first time) of the pain and loss others feel and, foregoing personal interest, dive into the challenging waters of self-sacrifice and other charitable works of selflessness. At the same time these crises -- esp...

Each day we hear a knock on our psychological door, and when we open it a pushy person enters and begins to bark out orders: "Worry about this." "Remember and regret that." "Work harder!" Is it little wonder we experience only the most fleeting feelings of love, kindness or relaxation? We are all the time being pushed along by something that calls itself an authority, and without ever questi...

At all times everything, everywhere, is unfolding as it must. Getting stressed and struggling to change the outcome of any past event is like arguing with an echo to make it see your point of view. In down-to-earth terms, to resent the person who cuts you off in traffic does nothing to change either that scary moment now passed, or the sleeping nature of...

There is a lot of conflict inside of an aspirant's heart. As an aspirant of a true spiritual life, you will run into many inescapable contradictions. Please read following sentence very carefully. There's no difference between not wanting a reaction that punishes you, and wanting to have a reaction that does not punish you. Wanting something and not wanting something are opposites that cannot...

Everything is either growing or dying. Either the waters of the soul are refreshed through revelation, or the soul and its possibilities shrivel. This can be seen in everything, even in the physical world, if we are willing to look. When it comes to the spirit, growth and discovery are the same thing. And the only thing that we ever discover about ourselves is ourselves. You cannot discover s...

Whenever someone hurts us with a pointed remark, what we see isn't whether or not there's truth in their words; all we "see" is our wish they hadn't said anything at all! In such moments we are absorbed by a familiar negative reaction whose one desire is that the unwanted event just go away. This resistance acts within and upon our consciousness as a "blinding" and binding force, so all we can...

Too frequently it seems our lives are under the power of things outside of us and beyond our ability to deal with: we feel like we are prisoners in one way or another of an unfair social system, impossible work conditions, an unforgiving past, or a failed relationship. Even trying to assemble a build-it-yourself bookshelf that doesn't know it "goes together with ease" can lock us away in the h...

One of the most difficult lessons we must face in our effort to win the war within ourselves has to do with the truth about our relationship with our own negative states: they fascinate us. That's right! But, why do we value them so? The answer will surprise you. We value negative states because of the strong sense of self we get from them. This may be very difficult for us to see, but a stro...