Whenever you come to me I have no questions for you, only openness. Nothing needs be spoken. Everything is in its place; all is accounted for. But when you leave... I am like a harbor without a boat; a nest without a bird; a cup that somehow knows what it means to have capacity, yet that sits without any means to fill itself except for this flood of questions rushing to pour themselves into w...

Each time we see the need to let go of something -- a bad habit that drags us down, an unsatisfactory relationship, a career choice that can't complete us in the way we dreamed it would, or maybe unrealistic expectations of ours about others that eventually spoil our partnerships with them -- whatever it may be: what is it that's actually happened in these moments of honest self-examination? S...

When we don't understand our negative states, when we have yet to realize how they trick us into doing their bidding, they have the power to make us jump through hoops like circus animals. It's not a pretty picture in which to see ourselves, but we must not turn our eyes away from these truths that are self-evident. When we are dominated by any negativity, be it some consuming fear or heated a...

Unlike lesser-level creatures that are not conscious of their own nature -- and that cannot choose any other world of experience apart from the one they are drawn to by their own lower nature -- we, as human beings, are unique in creation. We are created to be self-conscious. In spiritual terms this means we may have an awareness of any of the infinite number of qualities that form the ch...

Unlike lesser-level creatures that are not conscious of their own nature -- and that cannot choose any other world of experience apart from the one they are drawn to by their own lower nature -- we, as human beings, are unique in creation. We are created to be self-conscious. In spiritual terms this means we may have an awareness of any of the infinite number of qualities that form the charac...

GF: It always seems that in the face of any crisis, the best and the worst of humanity is revealed for all to see. On one hand, there are thousands who suddenly become aware (perhaps for the first time) of the pain and loss others feel and, foregoing personal interest, dive into the challenging waters of self-sacrifice and other charitable works of selflessness. At the same time, these crises...

GF: Welcome and good evening. Our chat will begin once I post these opening remarks on what each of us can do -- on a daily basis -- to develop more harmonious human relationships. Deep spiritual work reveals the truth that hellish things on earth manifest as they do because their dark cause dwells hidden somewhere in us. Tonight we look into this interior abyss and shine into its unseen corn...

GF: Welcome everyone to our chat tonight. We will get started momentarily. As is the usual case, I would like to send along a few thoughts before we begin. If one day you banged your elbow and seven years later the same spot not only still ached, but radiating pains were appearing in your fingers and shoulder, you would know that something in your body's system was terribly amiss! You would k...

Can you count the number of times you have been present in a moment of your life and realized how much you wished you weren't you? That you hadn't done what you just did, and wished you would never do it again... loathing yourself for your weakness, despising yourself for your ambition that compromises you with every step you take, feeling frightened over some possession you've managed to acquire in the hope of some freedom it promised...

GF: Welcome everyone. Let me open our meeting with some thoughts about what is required of us if we would realize a more awakened life. We will discuss some of these truths now, and just before the end of the chat I will lay out a set of easy-to-understand personal exercises that you can work with on a daily basis. Now, let's begin at the beginning with an important point that ought to be mor...

Welcome and good evening. Our chat will begin once I post these opening remarks on the nature of spiritual battle, and what is required of us to overcome the darkness that has (so far) overcome us. The true spiritual battle occurs in the "dark" of us, a contest between the light of our wish to be better than the bitterness in us, or higher than some heartache or hatred dragging us down. Whate...

GF: Good evening. Before we begin our chat, I want to give you a few insights that are intended to help you put together (in your mind) a few pieces of that never-ending puzzle we know as “pleasure and pain.” It is impossible to overstate the importance of being totally honest with ourselves about our lives. Spiritual progress is impossible for anyone unwilling to be truthful about him- or he...