Hoping to help someone who loves to be negative see the harm of being identified with dark states is like...trying to teach a bat to appreciate sunlight, or a mud hen to preen in fresh clean waters.

It is impossible to hold an enemy in our heart and know, at the same time, the Love that lends the heart its wholeness -- its capacity to consider the suffering of others, without which there is no compassion.

Classroom Talk: 7/15/2005 - The pretense of kindness, of being loving, does not make those qualities real in us any more than an actor who plays the role of a talking tree in a play by Shakespeare is endowed with the strength of an oak!

It is the source to which we turn, and from which we derive our strength that is the real test of our character; for in any moment of trial no one can be any stronger -- better or brighter, than what he loves.

Part 1: All around us -- and within us, as well... are those who believe this world of time is the only one; vanity is their reward, and its blind partner, self-love... their unseen prison.

Can we agree that our fearful conclusions about our life experiences are born of an incomplete perception? That when I see something wholly, there is a different quality to the event than when I look at something and it formulates for me my sense of identity? And then the next thing I know, I feel isolated. And when I'm isolated, strangely enough, I'm still overwhelmed with fear!

Topics covered: When you are overwhelmed by multiple feelings at once, do you observe the feelings separately or collectively; Do you have plans to write a book on the deeper meanings of Christ's teachings; Can we turn around the negativity that has been perfecting itself within us; What do we do about feelings of superiority towards others; Can you tell us more about your background; How do I...

Classroom Talk: 9/10/2003 - If you want to stop feeling like a choiceless captive in life, notice how parts of yourself love to catch negative thoughts; then dare to drop this self -- with its torments -- before they drag you down.

Classroom Talk: 8/25/2002 - What possible Good is there in seeking Love or Peace in a time or place to come when everything along the way that thwarts your dream causes some kind of resentment or is seen as yet another disturbance to avoid!

The (Light of) Love never makes a mistake... but, in fact, never fails to "remake" the heart of whoever not only agrees to embrace the truth it reveals (about him or her), but who will then allow that revelation to lead him wherever it will.

In this answer to a viewer's question, "letting go" author Guy Finley talks about how grief over the death of a loved one will complete itself and become something else if we will not resist the experience and allow it to be what it is.

Classroom Talk: 3/9/2022 - We can either resign ourselves to the negative experience of encountering one unwanted moment after another, or we can work to see -- and free -- ourselves from an unconscious nature that loves to arrange these meetings of the always miserable kind.