Self-Observation

What very few men and women ever come to realize, spiritually speaking, is that life is a ceaseless series of inner choices about where they want to live.

Do you feel like something is missing from your life? We have all felt like that to one degree or another. Yes, there are days when things seem to go well, but if we are honest with ourselves we know that there are not many good days, and as a result there is an incessant searching that is always going on. What is it that we are searching for? The unseen, unanswered need that every human bein...

The only thing that stands in our way of finding the fearless life is something in us that tells us "I can't." And yet, three of the most powerful words in the English language are: "I can learn." Unlike every other creature on this earth, we are created to be changed, to go through transformations that put us into a new relationship with a different order of life...

The seemingly scary condition, whatever it may be, is not the problem. It is your reaction that is fearful. This is why if you will become conscious of your condition instead of afraid of it, you will change forever your relationship with fear. To be consciously afraid means that you know you are frightened, but at the same time you know that these very fears, as real as they may seem, a...

The best time to practice going quiet -- to detect and drop dark inner voices -- is when the world around you is more or less already in a natural state of silence. So, early morning, upon arising, and just before you go to sleep, are the most likely times to yield the best results. But, as you'll no doubt come to discover for yourself, any time is the right time to go quiet. Find a place...

Within each of us, in our hearts and in our minds, there lives a special kind of light. In truth, it is everywhere. But, instead of seeing the beautiful stillness -- the source of that which reveals the movement of passing thoughts and feelings -- we grab onto each thought that passes through it. Why would we do this? We are close to the discovery of a great truth. It is not the real you, no...

Unlike lesser-level creatures that are not conscious of their own nature -- and that cannot choose any other world of experience apart from the one they are drawn to by their own lower nature -- we, as human beings, are unique in creation. We are created to be self-conscious. In spiritual terms this means we may have an awareness of any of the infinite number of qualities that form the charac...

As long as we have been on this planet, wise teachers have shared great truths about the real cause of the pain in our lives. And all of them pointed in exactly the opposite direction from where we've always tended to look. The enemy is not what we think it is. The real adversary in our lives, that proverbial thorn in our side that leaves us aching and angry, and then sends us looking for some...

There's an ancient truth tale about a young man who yearned to study with a renowned master of archery. It was widely spoken that this teacher had achieved perfection of mind. His skill with the longbow was reported as second to none. Admittance to this master's school presupposed a potential student was already advanced enough to strike the small center of a target from a great distance. But...

When faced with any pain or grief -- past, present, or promised -- the first thing our lower nature, the "me mind," usually asks is: "What's to be done? Who can I speak to about it? What's the best way for me to handle it? Is there any way out?" And at the heart of these complaints, whether detected or not, is the me mind's favorite question: "Why does everything happen...?"

No one really wants to talk about it, but the truth is there is a kind of evil spell hanging over each of us and our world as well. In fact, part of this global spell is our denial of its existence. It is called suffering. Everyone does it -- believing that their suffering somehow benefits them. That's how the spell works. Why else would anyone punish himself with unhappy feelings unless he ha...

Look closely for all of the inner gold locked within the wisdom of the following fact. Your extra efforts here will pay off handsomely. If you can't see some thought or feeling as it goes through you, then you don't have the choice whether to be that thought or feeling or not. So, before we can choose not to compromise ourselves, we must first become acutely aware of those thoughts of our...