Topics covered: Something in me wants to keep me in fear and humiliation; Why do I feel more negative during the holidays; Feeling like a fake; Resisting unwanted moments; How do I take the high road and forgive someone who hurt me; I want to help my family cope with the death of a loved one...

Starting over is not the continuity of anything. It is -- at its inception -- an untamed impulse: a blast of will that undoes whatever it touches even as it assumes its next fleeting expression.

We can't really say that we have learned from our mistakes until we have seen the one great error that follows us through time: the only thing that judges us is our present nature, and not what we may have done in days now past.

A silent prayer to make the world a better and brighter place: Please help me to never turn my back on those who have turned their back on me.

Part 1 To have and to hold a hatred of anyone--or anything--is to reject the possibility of ever being released from the unseen attachment that is the real source of all self-induced suffering. Part 2 We must (each) agree to pay the debts of our fathers if there's ever to be any hope of balancing this world before it breaks down into so many parts that it can never again be put back...

Expecting nothing, real love forgives everything... Much in the same way as the sun shines all of its light into a darkness that comprehends it not. Be like the sun: shine on without expecting to be seen; this leads to the Divine realization that it's enough just to be light.

When I put out seed for the birds, It is myself... that I feed. When I hurt any other, It is I... who bleed. When I see someone in pain, It is myself... in need. And when I forgive those who hurt me, It is I... who is freed.

Topics Covered: Transform problems into powers; Rush of thoughts and feelings; The real nature of any crisis; You go on without me; Awareness of consciousness instead of being the unconscious instrument of it; Control is an illusion; Who you are doesn't need control over anything; Use negative reactions to discover something about the consciousness....

Topics Covered: The fear of reprisal is a form of regret before the event takes place; You don't have to prepare a way for yourself, the way is already prepared; The lower consciousness is a memorabilia collector; Find the pain itself, don't follow the reason given for it; Watching the sleeping consciousness try to tempt you; Pain always appears with the reason for it...

Part I: Those who cling to their pride deny themselves, by their own preference, the action of a Love upon them that alone is empowered to release them from their pain. Part II: If pride goes before fall, then self-love marks both height and distance to the ground.

Topics explored in this dialogue: We've been led to believe that suffering isn't part of our purpose, but pain offers us a way to transcend who and what we've been up to that moment; We are driven to seek security through people, possessions, powers - but anytime we imagine what will grant us security we become attached to an idea, and attachment breeds dependency, which is one of the fathers...

I had a friend for 5 years, and out of the blue I made a simple remark...and now she is not my friend anymore! I apologized, and she said she forgives me, but it's obvious she holds a grudge. Now our friendship is over...for good. It's breaking my heart. What can I do to get over this? How can there be no forgiveness for what I said without thinking? (From student correspondence)...