When faced with any pain or grief -- past, present, or promised -- the first thing our lower nature, the "me mind," usually asks is: "What's to be done? Who can I speak to about it? What's the best way for me to handle it? Is there any way out?" And at the heart of these complaints, whether detected or not, is the me mind's favorite question: "Why does everything happen...?"

The pressure behind the momentum inherent in any imaginary 'train of thought' is never really obvious until reality 'interferes' with, or derails that train. These collisions -- and the prerequisite 'end of the line' for the self that is identified with its imagined destination -- are usually expressed in fits of anger, fear, disbelief, or depression.

Rebecca had decided that her best chance of getting hired by a company doing geological survey work in the Alaskan wilderness was to earn a private license to fly twin-engine planes. A few days later she began taking lessons from a wise old bush pilot, highly respected throughout the region for his cool and collected ways of dealing with the worst possible situations. After the mandatory gro...

One thing is certain: whether in our waking life, or in the dreams that visit our evening's rest, thoughts and feelings fill our every present moment. But just because you can feel or sense all of their diverse characteristics -- such as worry, fear, impatience, courage, or compulsiveness -- doesn't make the "you" that experiences these movements real -- any more than standing under the ca...

Topics covered: It isn't your anger or fear or depression. They belong to a level of consciousness that is asleep to itself; The more we listen to conditioned reactions, the more we become a captive of that consciousness and suffer accordingly; The mind projects a negative and unavoidable tomorrow from its own conditioned content. It then reacts to its own projected image...

We have all felt the pain that comes with resentment, anger, depression, or any other negative state. But the sense of self, the identity that seems to be real whenever we feel those states is a fabrication. That self can only continue to exist as long as we believe the story it tells us about why it is necessary to suffer.

Since real life renews itself every microsecond, then whatever moment our mind keeps pointing to from our past can't possibly be the real reason for our present pain.

My wife died three years ago, I live alone, and I and was recently diagnosed with cancer. I think I have come to terms with the prognosis, but for some reason my anxiety and depression get worse every day. I wake each morning with utter dread of the day ahead -- this horrible feeling of having no escape from the awful fear and despair. Sometimes I feel so close to madness; it's as if the false...

Topics covered: The only thing we know to do in unwanted moments is to reject them, and then listen for guidance from the part of us that responds in that way; In a disturbing moment, the resistance that comes up -- the onset of it -- is not yours; How many times are you going to struggle with fear, anxiety, depression, anger, and every other negative state?

I recently went through two life changes -- my cat died and my boyfriend broke up with me in the space of a few days. I had experienced major depression prior to this, but when these unfortunate events happened, I suffered so greatly that it transcended into a spiritual awakening. Reading your books and listening to your podcasts has shifted my entire perspective of my self/suffering, and over...

Whenever we find ourselves confused, depressed, angry with someone, or upset with ourselves for whatever reasons, we must come wide awake and realize -- through our inner awareness -- that we suffer as we do because we are ruled in these moments by our own thoughts and feelings.

Topics covered: When without falling into any form of despair, depression, or regret, you begin to lose all interest in looking for yourself in any image or belief - because the taste of yourself no longer tastes good to you - that's when you begin to wake up; The mind sees in parts -- sometimes through our intellect, sometimes emotion, sometimes sensation; Lower nature is constructed so as to identify with the parts of the whole, not the whole...