Understand this great truth, and bring an end to the real source of unhappiness: all unwanted moments -- points in time that seem to imprison you -- are really one and the same as the unwanted sense of your self that appears in those same moments. To see the truth of this... is to begin dying to that lower level of self that lives to feel dissatisfied. The only other path -- with its never...

Calling ourselves by a negative name -- strongly criticizing some false quality, or otherwise rejecting any dark characteristic of self suddenly brought into the light: these are the chief ways that the lower nature keeps itself hidden within us... even as it perfects the way it punishes us through this all-but-unseen agreement. After all, the strenuous judgment and denial of any apparent char...

Part 1 It's impossible to regret the repeated appearance of some unwanted character (seen) in yourself without having agreed -- no matter how unknowingly -- to relive its painful presence over and over again! Part 2 Those who seek true atonement with what is Divine must agree to realize a certain kind of spiritual sorrow as the cost of being shown their present level of being; and,...

The chief cause of any psychological fear is a false belief that life can throw something at us greater than our ability to outgrow both that unwanted moment... and the lower level of self that fears it. We are betrayed by this belief only because we have yet to awaken to this Truth that sets us free: Within each of us lives -- no matter what our culture, tradition, or religious background -...

The greatest, and ultimately the most important quality any of us possess is our love for what is True; and part of that truth includes being able to see that we did not seed this rarest of loves into our own heart. But, as long as we are willing to put this love within us -- still in its seedling form -- before all other desires, the same Truth that planted its Love in us will see to its fr...

Fear -- or any negative state that persists as a power to punish us is the inevitable result of believing that we are something that we are not. Once we see the definitive link between the fear, worry, or anger we feel, and the particular false sense of self that doesn't exist without these punishing states, our choice becomes clear: Either we agree to live with these negative states, eve...

Justifying what we see in ourselves of an unkind, selfish, angry, or otherwise self-harming character -- that we know hurts us, and others -- is how the negative nature that nurtures and harbors these dark states hides itself from our view. It accomplishes this mean feat -- of being able to justify what is inherently unjust -- by conveniently "remembering" exactly why -- given some unwanted m...

Studying higher ideas about love and relationships -- without doing the work it takes to put them into practice -- is like gathering kernels of wheat, laying them in a row on some back shelf in your cupboard -- and hoping they will produce an abundant harvest right where they sit. No seeds can prove themselves more valuable than the sweat it takes to sow them into the ground, including watchi...

All of our relationships, in particular the one we have with those we love, exist for a dual purpose, along with its great promise: first, most of us understand that our partner in life is there to help us grow, to awaken and stir in us, accordingly, an awareness of love's highest possibilities. But the other -- and equally important half of this same purpose and promise -- without which the f...

Part 1 It is virtually impossible to consciously bear the unpleasant manifestation of any other human being until we have awakened to the same manifestation in ourselves, and learned to consciously suffer it. In other words, we can only bear in someone else what we have learned to bear in ourselves... which means none can be truly compassionate until we know what it means to suffer oursel...

Part 1 Any real intention we set for ourselves to rise above our present level of being is going to reveal a lower level of self that doesn't want to change. This is a powerful spiritual law that creates both challenge and opportunity at the same time. The challenge: agreeing to see how our unconscious nature -- encased and enchanted by its own negative reactions -- is incapable of doin...

Part 1 Identifying with a negative reaction over some misstep we made, and then becoming even more negative because we can see our fallen estate... is exactly how the dark parts of us do their dark work in the dark of us to ensure we stay negative and living under their dark thumb. Part 2 The proof of our unconscious, yet consensual, relationship with a lower level of self that l...