Does it matter how great or small the fear is when one is working to live fearlessly? Is our approach the same? For example, one fear I have is learning to play the guitar. Am I supposed to only go within and discover why I am afraid of learning to play the guitar, or am I also to do that thing which I fear (learn to play the guitar)? (From student correspondence)...

Question: In this time of economic downturn, is there anything to say to those of us who have experienced losing a job or a home? I don't know what to say to my friends and coworkers who are suffering. It's easy to tell them that the universe will provide and that something better will come along when I'm not the one in their position. Any words of wisdom would be appreciated.

Part 1 The great secret of getting ourselves "unstuck" -- of being empowered to leave behind us those problems that life seems to set before us -- is to understand that before we can learn to walk through whatever stands in our way, we must take the first step of learning to willingly enter into it. Part 2 The importance of working to develop our attention is found in the appearan...

It was we, who in ignorance of reality, carelessly attribute weight to events that are without substance.

Don't try to please each other, for each of you has constantly changing pleasures. Instead, strive to please love, and in this you will please what is capable of being loved in each other. This understanding alone nourishes your love, and love, in turn will nourish your life together. Teach and help each other to be independent. Wrongful dependency on one another breeds fear and cruelty. Ins...

There is an unseen source of daily suffering that is the constant companion of humanity. It is in one respect one of the great driving forces behind the darkness that encompasses this planet -- the unremitting wars, the violence, the greed, the fear, the desperation -- all the things we see in the world around us...

We have no idea about the nature of real power; it isn't the ability to control, or otherwise resolve, the outcome of some conflicted relationship in life...so as to restore some lost sense of harmony; no, real power rests in seeing, in real time, that all (our) relationships are completed in the same moment they're revealed. So that...real power is not over things; it resides, without asserti...

Is it possible to use my marriage to further my studies in self-development? If so, how? Is it possible to avoid the ups and downs of a relationship? There are days when I'm sure that my partner is the love of my life, and the next we are at each other's throats. Where does the love go? Is it possible to realize a higher, more constant kind of love?...

If we cannot force a mind to be quiet, how does a quiet mind come about that is not forced? Am I correct when I think that we are not to be engaged in analysis of any thought when we are meditating?...

My thoughts run my life, driving me pillar to post. How do I learn to recognize when I'm trapped in useless thinking? I feel drained! I am easily taken over by re-running unpleasant events in my mind. If I say something stupid to someone, I'll hear it in my mind for days afterwards. I know this is crazy, but I just can't seem to help myself!...

Someone I was deeply in love with has left me after several years together. I am crushed. I have dated others, but none compare. How do I pull myself out of obsessive thoughts about what I once had? If there's really a way to take the torment out of personal loss, I want to know about it. But the whole idea of not feeling loss also frightens me in a way that's hard to describe. I mean, what...

I want to know true peace of mind, but how do I step out of my frantic world long enough to realize it? Can you give me some practical suggestions for staying in the present moment and observing myself? Why do some people seem to exude peace of mind while I struggle to be calm. What is the source of composure, and how can I work to develop it within myself?...