It seems to me that the main reason we suffer, as we do -- over the things we do -- is not because these things, in themselves, have the "power" to punish us, but rather because we forget in these moments that who we really are cannot feel "punished" without having forgotten that God is good.

The "promise" of any pleasure to come is really nothing more or less than the memory of a pleasing sensation imagined as just being ahead of you; in truth, it is projected there -- onto the screen of the mind -- from somewhere out of your past. The power of these wants, and the passion of their pursuit, is all due to the presence of a kind of psychological "special effect" -- a highly attracti...

Your awareness of the power of now can transform each challenging life moment into a new and true beginning for you.

Perhaps you've worked hard to be more aware of yourself in the Now, and that for this effort you catch a glimpse of how quick you are to judge others, to criticize them for their "failings." This pain that strains you -- and those you touch with it -- is itself a creation of a false sense of your own perfection. But your awareness of its punishing presence within you is the same as your invitation to transcend the negative nature that is responsible for it.

When it comes to our wish to make real changes in ourselves, good intentions cost (us) nothing...and that's why the road to hell is paved with useless coins. On the other hand, making a conscious effort to change -- in the moment that calls for it -- comes with the cost of seeing ourselves as we really are – this awareness shows us not only the possibility of being release...

Most days it seems as though there are a thousand and one things to do. From this perception of always needing to get things done comes the never-ending rush to get through the day and, with it, at day's end, the reluctance to review the effects our hurried half-measured steps have produced. But what is it that moves us so with so little lasting satisfaction? The question, "Who am I?" that li...

Whenever we find ourselves identified with some dark stream of thoughts and feelings, as opposed to being quietly aware of their downward-trending presence, we fall -- in that same moment -- into a world filled with unwanted negative states. The reason so much of what's going on within and around us seems "bad" is because that's all we can see. Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, s...

When it comes to our wish to make real changes in ourselves, good intentions cost (us) nothing... and that's why the road to hell is paved with useless coins. On the other hand, making a conscious effort to change -- in the moment that calls for it -- comes with the cost of seeing ourselves as we really are. This awareness shows us not only the possibility of being released from our worry and fear...

Being in conscious relationship with what is Holy in life is only as possible as we are willing to see, and to be, accordingly, the whole of who and what we are in each moment...

There is a kind of "evil spell" hanging over each of us, and our world as well. In fact, part of this global spell is our denial of its existence. It is called suffering. Everyone does it -- believing that their suffering somehow benefits them. That's how the spell works. Why else would anyone punish themself with unhappy feelings unless they had been tricked into somehow perceiving self-hurt...

Don't be afraid. There's little doubt in my mind that all around you--as within you--fearful thoughts and feelings are flying through the air like ashes falling from a forest fire. Certainly the world has never before seen anything like what you and I have been witness to in these last few days. But whatever fear you may be feeling--born of some projected dark imagining--and fueled by the f...

How many times in your life have you acted not just against yourself, but perhaps against others because your actions were uninformed, and you were moved prematurely into a conclusion? Too many times to count really. And most of these premature conclusions had some negative taint to them -- judging somebody, arriving at some insistence based on incomplete information.