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...

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...

Classroom Talk: 5/10/2020 - Part 1: Everyone we know is wounded in one way or another; we hurt too, which means all of us suffer. Someone has to be the first to start the healing, otherwise the hurt is endless. Be the end of the pain, even if no one else even wants to try. The angels will applaud. Part 2: Rough edges attract grinding wheels.

Topics Covered: Being misdirected from the path; You are on this planet to understand the nature of suffering; The purpose of conscious suffering; We are the ground of all that exists; Mistaking a reaction for the only reality there is; Life is a journey in letting go; Everything you see is a part of your own consciousness; Stepping into the unknown; The Divine has already given you everything.

Topic: How to Recognize and Release Yourself from the Circle of Self-Induced Suffering (4/5/20 Classroom Talk)

Classroom Talk: 4/5/2020 - Psychologically speaking, the pain & bane of our life is not just mistaking today's troubling event as proof of tomorrow's pain, but actually ensuring that it will be... by unconsciously resisting what is nothing more than a dark image generated by (our own) negative imagination.