It is impossible to change the relationship that you have with the world around you without changing the relationship that you have in yourself, with yourself. Before you can become the kind of human being who never again hurts another -- either in thought or deed -- you must change the relationship you have with yourself. This is the secret teaching of the ages. Inside of it, we learn about...

Classroom Talk: 5/10/2002 - Permitting the many self-imposed demands of our exterior life to outweigh the Real need of our interior life is not only to place the proverbial cart before the horse, but it also makes a distant second our relationship with the Divine Driver, the only One who knows the Way Home.

 

For the most part we treat everyone in our lives the same way every time that we meet them, completely ignoring the fact that everyone experiences seasons of the heart and changes of the mind. This means that when we interact with others, we are not really meeting them in true relationship at all. Then what is it that we are actually meeting if not the other person? The answer is that we are m...

Topics covered:  There is an inner alchemical possibility, where what was once useless -- the lead of unconscious reactions -- can be transformed into something useful -- the gold of self-awareness; Life is relationship; self is awareness of that relationship; Everything that is passive naturally resists everything that acts upon it. Active and passive forces are complimentary. In nature a new conception comes out of the intersection of these forces.

Topics covered: Discussion of Guy's new book on Relationship Magic; Responding to a calling; What are the biggest problems in today's relationships; Is digital technology negatively impacting relationships; What is the ""magic"" aspect of the book title; What can we learn by seeing ourselves through the eyes of another; It's pain that picks the fight; How much does early trauma affect relationsh...

When we're negative -- in a "power struggle" with someone over whatever is being contested -- we're reduced to being little more than a puppet. We're literally "strung out" -- momentarily animated -- by unseeing forces in us that can only do one thing: mechanically oppose whatever seems to oppose them.

Guy Finley explains in this brief talk that we can either be embroiled in regret and resentment over the cruel behavior of someone from our past, or we can stop agreeing to hurt ourselves in the present moment by becoming aware of our unhealthy relationship with these dark states.

Compassion for others starts with the understanding that every human being on the planet looks different from us -- because physically we are different -- but inwardly we all live in the same pool. We all have pain and pleasure, we all share emotions that move in waves through that pool. People may live on the east bank of the pool so that the waves they know are different from the waves we know on the west bank, but if we look close enough...

The seat of Power and Perfection hidden away in the heart of one's soul is its potential to receive what is Divine and in this silent conception to be made Anew. This means that our Work is not about struggling to somehow make ourselves whole, but simply to surrender ourselves to the will of that Eternal Relationship already holy, already established within each of us.

Classroom Talk: 5/12/2002 - Part 1: Perfection is not an idealized final form but a living relationship being unfolded in the Light. Part 2: Only the practice of Perfection can perfect us because It's work brings us into humility and leads us into a willingness to let go of ourselves for the love of a Greater Cause.

 

If we ever hope to have right, bright, and truly kind relationships with others -- where we never again lash out at anyone in order to feel better about ourselves -- then we must awaken enough within ourselves to see that wanting to punish another for the pain that we feel is the pain we feel.

Before we can learn how to step outside the pattern set into motion by some habitual negative reaction toward others, we need a better understanding of the underlying forces that create it. In other words, we must find a way to look at these same moments through a "new set of eyes."