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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

Classroom Talk: 9/15/2021 - Claiming that we want to understand the source of (our) suffering without being willing to enter the (lower) level of consciousness that creates it... Is like saying we want to explore the depths of the ocean while reclining on a lounge chair somewhere near the shoreline.

Classroom Talk: 8/18/2021 - Until we learn how to use the moments we don't want... even the moments we do want are useless other than to strengthen the illusion of -- and our identification with -- a false sense of self that believes it will find freedom in a time to come.

Classroom Talk: 8/4/2021 - There can be no reconciliation with (painful) karma until we enter it understanding the following truth: whatever sacrifice is asked of us to release our suffering serves a higher purpose than can be known by the parts of us thus called to realize them; and to that Divine end -- and for it alone -- do we surrender ourselves to a Timeless Intelligence greater than our own.

Classroom Talk: 2/17/2021 - In the end, the only thing we can truly be in charge of… is ourself. And yet, as paradoxical it seems, the cost of true self-command is the same as the conscious surrender of self.

Classroom Talk: 11/18/2020 - Identifying with resistance to any moment the mind points to as a painful problem of some kind... is the only real problem there is in that moment. To see the fact of this -- which is the purpose of all true spiritual teachings -- is the end of looking for any kind of power to protect, or otherwise restore some paradise...