Self-Knowledge

Putting our life in God's hands does not mean that we hand Him our wish list for life, but rather that we make His life our wish. When God's will becomes our sole wish in life, then whatever happens to us not only fulfills our wish, but we realize it has always been our wish right from the start.

It's hard to believe that we have a nature that would rather destroy someone else -- punish them, resent them -- than see itself as it is. Most of us still don't believe it, but when things don't happen the way we want them to, what becomes of us? What do we express? You know the answer, don't you?

It is not in our power to change anyone else. On the other hand, our experience always brings us to this moment of truth where we have the possibility of changing what happens to us. And so it follows that the person to whom and in whom the Truth begins to become a living force, cannot have a bad day or a bad relationship.

Too frequently we feel as though our lives are under the power of things outside of us and beyond our ability to deal with: 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 "house of pain."

As we learn how to take the higher ground inwardly and begin winning that life for which we are created, we are gradually empowered to prevail over any event and challenge that life presents. Often, to our own amazement, we develop a new kind of eagerness to meet old weaknesses because within us is growing a cosmic confidence that cannot be defeated. Our inner victory rewards us with higher resources that help us every moment of the day.

Why is it that peace of mind is so hard for us to stay in, to keep as our own? Why is being calm in the middle of a storm virtually the last thing that most of us are able to do? What is the source of real composure? And how do we work to develop it within ourselves? This is why we must have new self-knowledge as follows.

Discover the profound truth about emptiness and inner peace—one that may surprise you. The greatest obstacle to the peace of heaven isn’t the world, your past, or your future—it’s what you have yet to understand about yourself. In this eye-opening exploration, we uncover a deep resistance within us, the fear of losing our familiar struggles, and the rarest form of self-knowledge: realizing that we don’t truly want to know the truth of ourselves...

It's well known that storm-tossed waves often expose new treasures along the shoreline; there is unexpected wealth to be collected by those who know the secret value of rough seas. And yet, even though most of us have little tolerance for anything that "rocks our boat," the truth of the matter is self-evident...

Real life is not by the numbers; it is impossible to "know" and grow at the same time. Yes, one can have a formula for a prescription drug, or a recipe for a good green salad; but there is no system of thought that can stand up to the ever-shifting changes of real life, let alone meet those same changes fearlessly. The self that knows itself through thought can never develop beyond the content of itself, any more than a math equation can suddenly outgrow...

When we talk about making changes in ourselves, it could be said that it's like climbing a mountain. Why is the mountain a metaphor for spiritual change? There's a certain kind of effort necessary for climbing, isn't there? Also, the mountain represents a higher view. Because as you ascend the mountain, not only does the atmosphere change in terms of becoming more rarified, but every step higher up the mountain produces...

The Divine journey involves the preparation of an individual by another, higher order of awareness (that already lies hidden within us), so that we're able to see that the ceaseless, seemingly individual waves of the passing events of our lives belong to a much broader, grander relationship. And they exist for the purpose of our development, and not to torment us with what we fear is going to be...

In this answer to a viewer's question, "Secret of Letting Go" author Guy Finley explains that nothing in creation flowers before its time. Our task to continue to carry with us the wish to understand, and what we wish to know will be given to us at the right time.