Classroom Talk: 12/1/2002 - Believing that one of the many quarrelsome and competing parts at work within yourself can show you the way to a peaceful state of being is like hoping that you can find a quiet moment for yourself while walking alongside a brass marching band!
It is possible for the willing soul to awaken from its spiritual slumber, but such freedom has its cost: We must catch what compromises us, realize the fact of it, and then see how our identification with that unconscious character causes our continuing sorrow. Now, here's the encouraging news: as we cease being identified with this unnatural, false self, our True Nature reveals itself. The sl...
Why can't we shake our sense of being incomplete in spite of all we've acquired? After all, what hope is there of finding in the world situated around us something that can answer our longing to be whole, to be one with life, when this need itself comes into us from a world above us? Small wonder we search in vain! It is a divine discontent that drives us in our search for...
One of the greatest rewards of enjoying real self-command is the confidence of knowing that no matter what happens, you're always in charge of yourself. Regardless of the circumstances -- when plans don't go as you want... when you have to deal with rude people... when you get bad news -- you're able to keep your head, clearly see what needs to be done, and act without hesitation...
Fear creates the illusion that lurking somewhere just “outside” of us -- concealed in the shadow of some dreaded moment yet to come -- dwells a “power” capable of diminishing us...
The awakening mind is fully capable of recognizing the difference between states of darkness and light, between what "serves" and what "steals" the new life stirring within us.
Real life is not by the numbers; it is impossible to "know" and grow at the same time. Yes, one can have a formula for a prescription drug, or a recipe for a good green salad; but there is no system of thought that can stand up to the ever-shifting changes of real life, let alone meet those same changes fearlessly. The self that knows itself through thought can never develop beyond the content of itself, any more than a math equation can suddenly outgrow...
Real life is not by the numbers – it is impossible to "know" and grow at the same time. Yes, one can have a formula for a prescription drug, or a recipe for a good green salad – but there is no system of thought that can stand up to the ever-shifting changes of real life, let alone meet those same changes fearlessly. The self that knows itself through thought can never develop beyond the content...
Have you ever longed to explore the depths of your True Self -- to touch the Eternal? This is your chance to learn the Way. The ability to do, to act in the Now and not fall into fear, doubt, or other self-limiting states is one and the same as the power to live in the perfectly present moment. What unseen forces are working within us to keep us from realizing a relationship with our own...
Our real "problem" with others isn't that they won't or can't give to us what we want from them. As we're about to discover, the true seed of discontent lies deeper than this. The short writing you're about to read is intended to help shed light on the real source of our unrest in our relationships. ----------- The less we learn to long for -- or depend upon -- Special understanding from o...
The end of suffering is not found in the pursuit of freedom from suffering, but in seeing through the very nature of desire that generates the suffering to begin with. The problem is not what we desire, but rather our unseen identification with desire itself, and the endless cycle of conflict it creates...
Our experience of life is 100% the reflection of what we understand about our relationship to it...which is why self-knowledge has always been the principle key to the doors of perception; awareness of (the) Truth and the freedom it grants are one thing. Real Life is neither what we call (this) life or (fear about) death...but is the simultaneous ground of both states and, as such, can be re...