Never forget the truth that follows, and freedom is nearer than you think: no real spiritual effort is ever in vain, even when we’re given to see -- as result of our inner work -- some low estate into which we’ve temporarily fallen...

As consciously as possible -- preferably in the movement of a single, slowly taken in-breath -- gather all of your attention into the words, “I AM”... And then on the out-breath... (silently say, or think the word) “HERE"...

The love we have for anything holy or true is already present (within our heart)... before we can think of any reason for this love that we feel. To know this truth from yourself is to also understand why -- if you stay true to this love -- you can't fail to find it... and to realize it as your own.

It is what we are willing to learn in the unfolding moment, and not what we think we already know that finally turns the tide of any trial in our favor. This is why the wise ones have always taught that knowledge is the seed of wisdom, but its flowering is in conscious action.

Topics covered:  What we call our thinking isn't really us doing the thinking at all. Rather, it is a mechanical mind talking to itself about what each moment means; The nature that reacts mechanically has already concluded what the moment means even before the condition that stirs it to the surface. As we are, we are that reactive nature; Any time life runs counter to expectations, there is instantaneous judgment and resistance.

Any time we pretend to be something we're not, we do so out of fear that without that "persona" to protect us -- to make that impression we want -- we won't get what we want. This whole way of thinking is secret self-sabotage. It sinks us in our personal and business relationships as surely as a torpedo wrecks the ship it strikes. Learning how to stop this self-sinking is our focus here. The...

Put your love of what is true, open, and kind before all else, and Love itself will see to it that your life grows in truth, spaciousness, and compassion for others, regardless of what they think about you. More than this, one cannot ask for; less than this... is to miss the purpose of having been given life.

No one would think to seek something that he didn't first feel he had somehow lost. So it is with our search for God's Life. But in the end, as one draws nearer to realizing his quest he begins to understand that the Great Prize he has sought in all places was never lost. It had only been forgotten.

Think about all the finish lines you've managed to cross in your lifetime where you thought you were an uncontested winner. Let's name a few: "They said I was great!" "She said she loved me!" "I made the deal!" "At last I own what I've always wanted!" "The crisis is over at last." "I beat the odds!" "Now I know I'm a good and wise person." Then comes that untimely, unkind, or unexpected...