Surrender

We have in us, the way we are, this idea that somehow or other we are going to be the ones who make the world that we see work. This notion runs very deep and is strengthened in us, in part, by what is its partial truth. So we're very reluctant to see that for all of these years, and all of the things that we've been doing -- with ourselves and for ourselves -- that every other day we still se...

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...

Each and every event in our life brings with it a kind of gift just for us, providing we know how to receive it. This priceless offer isn't about ways to empower ourselves through possessions or greater position in life; it is presented to us to help free us from the stress and worry born of the false belief that we need such riches to realize the timeless value of ourselves. What is this gif...

I was thinking this afternoon about the man who introduced you to me. What would I say to him now, if we could meet? Did he have any idea what he was doing? Had he given any thought to what was going to happen to me? How the rest of my life, every facet of it, would be shaped by that moment our paths then crossed? Did he understand I would lose everything I treasure because the only constant...

The only thing most of us know to do when life takes an unwanted turn, bringing us what we don't want, is to take a turn for the negative ourselves. And when the circumstance in question really makes a wreck of things, not only do we summarily reject the event seen "at cause," but for good measure we often will turn our wrath upon our own lives, pronouncing them "not worth living"! Such flas...

One of the principal ways we can help others to achieve new inner growth is by outgrowing ourselves. To help us understand the wisdom in this new idea we must first consider another equally important idea. A great portion of the way we "see" ourselves -- images of ourselves from which we derive our sense of self -- is actually a provision of our relationships with friends and family. Conside...

There are two basic kinds of prayer. The first kind of prayer -- the one most commonly understood and practiced -- is when you are asking for what you want; when you are temporarily filled with -- and renewed by -- both the self making that request and the anticipation of what is requested. This is the only kind of prayer that most men and women ever know; when someone asks from himself for...

• It is difficult to accept correction from other people. How do we judge the quality of correction when someone offers advice or criticism? I look at the unhappy lives of many of the people giving input, and think that their advice isn't worth much if they have such difficulties. On the other hand, I might be missing some valuable correction. Any advice?

If we wish to find peace we must understand something of its life. Here are a few such facts: Peace is the natural radiation of a living Now; it is one with that Light whose life is the eternal present itself, even as the emanations of light and warmth are one with the sun from which they radiate. If our intuition can perceive that the above ideas are based in truth, then we should be naturall...

We are not created to resist anything... we are created to grow through everything. Resistance to life kills the process of spiritual development. When we resist what life would show us about ourselves, we effectively close the door on the Light that wants to help transform us by showing us the things we don't know we harbor in our soul.

The reason we resist virtually all endings in our life -- wherein we feel as though something has been wrongfully taken away from us -- is because these same unwanted moments leave us feeling terribly empty inside ourselves. In truth, it is this overwhelming sense of emptiness that we detest, and not the changing condition itself that we so habitually protest. So when things naturally come t...

This evening, while reading another's account of his longing for his one, true Love, I couldn't help but be struck that my love for you paled in comparison . . . and here was the shock: The impassioned heart, mine in this instance, believes itself to be incapable of any greater longing than itself can bear. But plainly there are greater hearts; hearts whose nature can not only endure greater...