"Father, forgive them: for they know not what they do." Guy Finley explains that real forgiveness is an act of realizing the similarity between yourself and those that have caused you suffering, because you understand they suffer in the exact same way that you do. The scripture "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do" points to this type of "immaculate compassion" towards others which...

Question: I struggle as I get older and the purpose of my life changes. I begin to wonder, "Well, what is my purpose?" Is being mindful enough? Should I be volunteering? Should I be doing this or that to complete myself? I also struggle with the conditions of the world and my local community. The changes in our society weigh heavily on me, and I often don't know what I can do. But the conflict arises when my mind remembers...

Question: I am troubled by something I read in The Secret of Letting Go. I do understand and agree with your point that a fancy job title accompanied your life seems to lack meaning. However, the "rules" of this modern era state that being passive and letting life come to you leaves you vulnerable to missing out on the opportunities. In other words, being proactive prevails while passivity...

The last thing that comes to mind, given there’s so many “things” still to find... is a question whose answer takes a lifetime to ponder, let alone refine: What if there’s a Life that can’t be defined? A greatness beyond name -- or claim, let alone imagined as “mine.”

Question: I am a mother with a difficult 16-year-old. I have read The Secret of Letting Go and many other books. I have met with professionals and still I keep on having to deal with difficult situations. I really don't feel letting go is the right thing at this time because I can't run away from my kid... I need to be present to have her consider her choices and their consequences. It's my responsibility towards her...

Topics covered: There are parts of us that do not want anything to do with the truth of things; Why is it that human beings have not known what to do with their suffering for all this time? Human beings are the captive of a suffering that they do not understand; Regardless of how conditions have changed as a result of our ability to change them with technology, etc., we are all still absolute captives of the suffering we don't understand...

Question: I feel I have been on this path forever, but my life has not improved externally. I am very alone, have very little income, and I cannot see how to improve things. I hear what you say about not running away from the pain, not looking for something else to replace it, and I am so much better at being present than I ever was... only I am not experiencing anything like the success I dreamed of.

Pain pointed outwardly must inevitably manifest itself in some form of violence, having found no other answer than to set itself against whatever is blamed for that suffering...

What goes with us everywhere, that never makes a sound, but that without its company... we wouldn’t be able to hear anything? Silence!

There is nothing in the past over which to suffer, and no impulse to do so without first having been tempted and then deceived into revisiting, and then resisting the pain of some old memory...

Real joy is not of this world. It is liberation from the illusion that there’s something yet to be gained in this world that we need to complete ourselves; it is freedom from the illusion of a false, and fallen sense of self...

There are two kinds of death: involuntary and voluntary. The former, the first death, serves this world...