Student Talks: 9/17/2021 - Key Lesson: Part 1: What power has any painful moment over us save for having become unconsciously identified with our own negative reaction to it. Seen properly, this means the event we blame for our suffering is like looking in a mirror... and blaming the reflection for whatever we don't want to see in it! Part 2: Our willingness -- and the inner work it takes...

Topics explored in this dialogue: We've been led to believe that suffering isn't part of our purpose, but pain offers us a way to transcend who and what we've been up to that moment; We are driven to seek security through people, possessions, powers - but anytime we imagine what will grant us security we become attached to an idea, and attachment breeds dependency, which is one of the fathers...

Spiritually speaking, nothing can harm us without our consent.

regret, blame, disappointment, disappointed, betrayal, betrayed, annoyed, annoyance, hatred, hate, jealousy...

Topics covered: Discussion of Guy's new book Relationship Magic; What good is a spiritual practice if it can't be applied to my day-to-day life; People are brought into our lives for our mutual perfection; We don't really know much about real love; We bring unseen expectations into each moment; No one is perfect, but we can use our imperfections to help one another; We don't know how to use di...

Truth can only lift us as high as we are willing to let go of those parts of us that want to drag us down.

Topics covered: When you blame anything outside of yourself for the pain you are in, you are essentially blaming something from the past, a consciousness that is haunted by the content of itself; The future consolation that you hope to reach is a projection of the past; Even though a moment may seem familiar to the mind that is analyzing it, every single moment of your life is the first time that you have been in it.

The only way to be free of troublesome people is to be free of the part of you that's out looking for trouble!...

If your choices so far have left you feeling dissatisfied and incomplete, you must stop blaming your selections and see that the problem lies with the chooser -- you!...

Our usual reaction to any event not of our choosing is to fear it, so that our tendency is to see these experiences as being adversarial. These unwanted moments are seen as threats to our present happiness, as well as being a thorn in our tomorrow, because with any unwanted event comes the fear of not having the right answers to address the flood of new questions arising out of life's sudden t...

Interview with Maggie McCauley of "A New View" on 7/14/09. Topics explored in this dialogue: The inner determines the outer, Letting go has nothing to do with the release of anything outside of yourself, Discovering who and what you really are.

One reason why negative states sneak in so easily to steal our peace is that we have been conditioned to believe in their right to punish us. Here is proof of this dark conspiracy: We can be seated at a nice quiet table in a restaurant, have enough money to buy a fine meal for ourselves, have on nice clean clothes, be by ourselves or with friends, and for all of our good fortune, we will get...