Suffering

Remastered Classic Talk: 6/7/17 - There are two good things about a constant, strong wind in one's face: first, how resilient one's legs become, the stamina that's developed by walking directly into a gale force. The other good thing is this: when the winds change direction which, by law, they always do -- so that now the wind is at one's back -- one sprints forward with great ease, but it feels as if one is walking.

Doing the right thing, in the right way, begins with seeing the right order of things. All of life's lessons point us toward this simple, celestial truth. Through the pain of missteps and mistakes, we are gradually awakened to discover what has always been right before our eyes: whenever things are out of order within us, our choices and actions must follow -- and sorrow is the inevitable result.

Remastered Classic Talk: 06/29/16 - False certainty is a fool's certainty: it is based in the illusion that the more strongly we feel about any given moment -- in particular, the more negative we are over whatever may have transpired -- proves not only the truth of our unique perception... but also why we're so certain that whatever conclusion we reach goes well beyond the measure of any doubt.

The end of suffering is not found in the pursuit of freedom from suffering, but in seeing through the very nature of desire that generates the suffering to begin with. The problem is not what we desire, but the identification with desire itself, and the endless cycle of division it creates.

Remastered Classic Talk: 12/30/15 - The whole idea of wanting "more" cannot be separated from the idea that one doesn't have "enough." Seen properly -- unmistakably evident in this revelation -- is that one's lifelong pursuit of "more" is, in fact, spent in the service of an incomplete, constantly needy nature that, at best, can only be momentarily satisfied.

The more we allow our mind to drift where -- and will -- as it pleases, the more likely will we find ourselves having fallen into some form of unexpected suffering. Being in full command of ourselves is inseparable from being in command of our attention; there is no other order, and no other freedom.

Classroom Talk: 10/23/2024 - No moment is painful in and of itself; any conflict, or suffering ascribed to it is a dark creation of our own unconscious, negative assessment of it.

Classroom Talk: 8/28/2024 - When all is said and done, perfect order and true self-knowledge are inseparable; each reflecting the other in much the same way as is the beauty of a dark-red rose revealed through the eyes of its lover.

No unwanted experience of life will ever be "over" for us until we're inwardly awake enough...to get over wishing that it was.

The mind asleep to itself doesn't realize that it created the problem that it can't stop trying to resolve; and that the more it struggles to try and think through a solution to its self-induced conflict, the greater grows its struggle to escape that suffering.

Classroom Talk: 2/22/2023 - Any form of some painful, or otherwise conflict-filled negative reaction only persists -- as such -- in a world whose creator assists with -- and supports -- the reason for the continuation of that suffering.

Classroom Talk: 1/12/2022 - Falling into fear or doubt when caught in the gravity of a painful moment does not prove the world has suddenly turned upside-down. This kind of suffering appears, as it does, for one reason, and one reason only: to help us see that what's upside-down is our priorities. To realize this as true is the first -- and pre-requisite -- step for anyone wishing to turn...