Whatever justifies the unconscious suffering inherent in anger, blame, or bitterness is, itself, a part of -- in league with - these same negative states. And that's what we have to see if we ever want to be free of whatever it is (within us) that has "good reasons" for tearing itself apart.

Conquer the giants of anxiety, fear, anger and despair. Join best-selling author Guy Finley for this special half hour as he exposes the negative states that hold us captive for being the powerless punishers they really are. Learn how to overcome whatever you have been running from!...

Classroom Talk: 12/1/2019 - It’s never Life’s lessons (themselves) that are painful: here’s the real reason why we continue to experience the fear, anger, or anxiety that always seems to attend the appearance of unwanted moments: an unconscious part of us keeps resisting the (spiritual) lessons that are inseparable from the...

I sometimes receive letters from people who are angered by statements I make concerning fear and how another possible response is always open to us, regardless of the situation. For example, a scathing comment came to my attention from a woman who had read the following statement of mine: "That seemingly scary condition, whatever it may be, is not the problem. It is your reaction that is fea...

Featured Study Group Topic for the Week of July 1, 2013. Without some form of unconscious identification to nourish its proliferation, no negative state -- no punishing anger, fear, or worry -- can grow beyond the boundaries of that level of consciousness from out of which it appears.

I'm sure we can all agree that no intelligent, conscious person would ever intentionally hurt themselves. No one would choose to ache. Yet the fact remains that all of us do hurt ourselves every day with bursts of anger or fits of depression or anxiety. Even at the simplest level, there can be no doubt: fear and worry take an immeasurable toll on our health and well-being. So, then, knowing in...

Classroom Talk: 4/11/2021 - All unconscious negative reactions -- with others, events, or with ourselves -- deflect this one crucial revelation: as long as we meet life with any compulsive demand or unseen craving, we can't help but be painfully remanded into the hands of one self-punishing reaction after another. Anger, fear, and frustration are...

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.

Most people pounce on others as they do -- when they do -- not because they want to cause pain, but because they're afraid of being hurt. To see this truth is to realize that the real enemy of relationship is fear itself; for this dark state that dwells in the unenlightened heart knows that the best way to protect itself is by being first to find fault with another.

ED: Recently here at Life of Learning Foundation, Guy, you gave an inspiring talk about the benefits of self-knowledge, and I thought it would be nice for this chat if we went down the list of these benefits and talked about each of the items. GF: Let's start at the beginning. One of the oldest, truest axioms in all spiritual life is "know thyself." We don't know ourselves, Ellen. What we hav...

When you know what it means to be in relationship with Goodness, you never feel bad. Unhappiness, anger, fear, anxiety -- negative states -- cannot make a home in you when you know what it means to be in relationship with what is Good. If we understand this properly, it strips away all of the justification we have for being unpleasant. Our work is as simple as this: *to see and to be what we...

Whenever we find ourselves in some "unwanted" part of ourselves, perhaps reliving an old heartache or caught in the throes of some irrepressible anger, old fear, or unyielding worry, part of this unwanted moment includes our certainty that we're trapped in this condition. And compounding our confusion over feeling ourselves captive in this way are all of the attending negative inner voices. Th...