GF: Good evening. Before we begin our chat, I want to give you a few insights that are intended to help you put together (in your mind) a few pieces of that never-ending puzzle we know as “pleasure and pain.”

It is impossible to overstate the importance of being totally honest with ourselves about our lives. Spiritual progress is impossible for anyone unwilling to be truthful about him- or herself. The reasons for this fact of the Path should be obvious, but for one thing, we cannot touch Higher Realities if the ground we stand upon and reach from is imaginary!

Besides, there is nothing to fear in any spiritual fact. To the contrary, the secret beauty in being willing to see the truth of ourselves -- regardless of what may be seen therein -- is that if we persist with our wish to awaken, we come to an unthinkable discovery: There is no such thing as any self-truth we find that doesn’t turn out to be for our own eternal spiritual Good.

Now, with these ideas in mind, here is the reality -- the truth -- of our present situation. If we each had a scale, and on one side of it we weighed the amount of our contentment in life, and on the other side we placed the stuff of our discontentment, our scale would definitely tilt to that side filled with our unwanted sense that something is missing from our lives.

Now the (unfortunate) thing is that we have lived for so long with this predominant sense of feeling ourselves to be incomplete that, at this point, it actually seems natural to us to be endlessly needful -- to always be in want of one thing or another that we hopefully imagine will restore and rebalance our upset sense of self.

The problem with this approach to satisfying ourselves is that no matter what we find to put there on the “pleasure side” of this invisible scale within us -- to make our sense of contentment outweigh the feeling of discontentment -- in no time at all each of these newly acquired pleasures passes away and once again we find ourselves weighed down with an unwanted sense of our self.

These findings are not philosophy but self-evident truths that, once apprehended, beg us to ask the following question: Is there a contentment, an abiding soul satisfaction we may know, that has no sense of sorrow, no unseen sense of loss attached to its trailing wake? May we know a True Contentment that cannot be assailed by any contrary condition?

The answer to this question is “Yes!” However, finding an answer that temporarily pleases us, and awakening to realize the Timeless Reality hidden behind this affirmation, are two separate things. This is why if we wish to find Sweetness in life that never sours, or hope to know a Love that harbors no hatred, we are required to roll up our spiritual sleeves and go to work.

When we close the chat tonight I will explain where this world without woe may be found and “how” one may reach its safe, secure shores. Now, what would you like to talk about tonight? What is on your mind?

Kraig: The mind tends to want to go stay in the past, especially relative to compulsive behaviors and associative thoughts… so which methods are best for the spiritual path to unfold? I have seen the truth of your opening remarks, and yet I still waiver.

GF: Nothing can really change for us without two principle movements taking place within us. The first of these movements is the gradual loss of the value we placed on former sensational self-created things. As this value wanes, of its own accord, then we must use our newly available energy and attention to begin experiencing and therefore valuing what is New and True.

Kraig: To put this another way... what is the best way to get off this spiritual yo-yo?

GF: Cut the string. What does this mean? To begin with, continually come wide awake and realize that you are unconsciously connected to the conditions that you say you don’t want in life, whatever they may be. The connection is one of unseen attention. The content flows back through unattended awareness. Sever the string of thought from the image or state it is tied to and the problem goes away.

Kraig: Can I use compulsive activity in a way that honors the Truth?

GF: You may use your compulsive nature to realize the truth by continually coming awake to yourself and deliberately slowing down or otherwise placing “roadblocks” between the runaway truck of yourself and its intended destination. Such an act on your part will be very beneficial to your wish to break out of the punishment inherent in being so compulsive.

Jayson: You mentioned that we get weighed down with an unwanted sense of our self. Can you elaborate? Vernon Howard said that there is no self that gets hurt, angry, lonely, etc. He said that there is no one there. What does he mean by “sense of our self”?

GF: A man standing next to a mountain lake knows that the man in the valley desert beneath him needn’t fear dying of thirst. But the man in the desert doesn’t know this. His “self” is real in its thirst, but the cause of his pain is unnecessary. He need only look up. We must never imagine an ache-free self, but rather awaken to its desert nature, which will cause us to lift our eyes to the Water above us.

fedup: As a step-dad, what should I do? I have a wife that is very controlling, defensive, and carries a lot of hatred. Her total focus is on herself and her kids with whom she has many problems. This has become the “Nightmare on Elm St.” as she has become her kids and her kids have become her.

GF: The first mistake that all of us tend to make while we still remain asleep spiritually is that we are filled with a pressure (born of the condition) that pushes us to search for an answer to this problem we face by trying to extract from the elements IN the problem that which we hope will change things. What does this mean? Negativity towards any condition just breaths life into that condition that isn’t wanted. Real solutions must be found elsewhere. If your family circumstances can’t be changed by your good efforts, and you can’t change the way you respond to these circumstances, then there’s only one possible recourse. Don’t fear what is inevitable, but until it’s clear what this inevitability is, do the best you can to stay out of the nightmare. It isn’t yours unless you join the bad dream. Stay awake.

CD: How do you let go of worrying what others are thinking about you? I know it’s wrong, but I do the things I don’t want to do... not the things I need to do.

GF: Here’s one answer. We fear what others think about us because our sense of self-worth is all tied into identifying with what we think others think about us. Hidden in this equation is a value that we have added to these people. As you wake up and watch the world around you, you will see that these people are lost and wandering and worrying like you what others are thinking about them. Now who needs them once this is seen?

KenU: Thank you, Guy, for your time and efforts. As I watch these questions and my thoughts, I wonder if this hunt for the “magic bullet” we all seem to be searching for represents the present state of most of humanity at present. Instead of “hearing” your opening comments, we commence to ask you for hints, clues or the “magic bullet.”

GF: The self that is impatient for what it calls its pending awakening, does not await any awakening but rather luxuriates in its sense of impatience and frustration. When this self with all of its myriad disguises is at last unmasked, it and all of its props begin to collapse. Our participation in this ending of self is the beginning of our Real Life.

abe1: I am a single man and I have this problem with having my attention on the possibility of catching incurable, lethal sexually-transmitted diseases. I don’t think it is paranoia because this is a very real possibility. This is preventing me from enjoying even the simple company of women. I need real help even though I stay awake.

GF: It is an unfortunate fact that the world we are in is indeed sinking in its own self-created sickness. On the other hand, you must recognize where it is that a certain negative fascination rooted in fearful imagination is beginning to dominate your reason. Casual sex corrupts. Develop a relationship and use it to wake up and drop all wrong sexual fascination.

abe1: I’ve only recently begun to realize this may be a sick fascination. How can I get rid of this serious problem? It’s very hard to fathom the fact of this problem occurring within me. Would it be worth it to discover how I got this fearful fascination?

GF: I understand what you’re saying, and let me tell you one trick that our dark nature tries to play on us in situations such as this. First, it hides an imbalance in us. Then, when it’s discovered, this nature cries out, “Oh my God.” Then this same nature goes into dark despair over the darkness that it is! All of these actions are to drag you into its world where the imbalance began because of being spiritually asleep. Drop it all.

QRS: It seems that if we don’t do our part to willingly stay awake to ourselves, we are, by default, choosing the downward path. If so, why is it set up this way?

GF: Everything is under laws in this world and in all worlds above and beneath us. Our awakening is in part to the discovery of these infallible principles and our cooperation with them, while at the same time discovering that these same Laws are the foundation of our very own being. Besides… choose up, and you won’t have to worry about down.

jaybird: Recently I have noticed that in my efforts to Wake Up, many deeply-buried resentments from years past have surfaced and become intensified. Is this a typical experience along the Path, perhaps a “darkness before the dawn”?

GF: Yes, your experience is expected even though you may not have been ready for it. It is a natural effect of increased awareness for what was formerly hidden in the darkness to suddenly seem as though it has “popped out.” It has not popped out, it has merely become visible. Keep going.

Barry: If real strength is the flower of wisdom and its seed is action, is “letting go” primarily an action proceeding from intelligence instead of an emotional feeling? In other words, would “letting go” of a pain be what I’m doing about it (which is nothing since I don’t what to do)?

GF: When we pick up a hot skillet, we let go immediately because the very cells in our body realize the inherent danger in this heat to their life. Letting go is natural and an act of physical intelligence in this instance. The same holds true with negative states. Our awareness of the state permits us to “touch” the actual energy of that state and our spiritual intelligence drops what is destructive to the soul.

Kraig: So letting go means just let it all go... the past only exists in the mind, so no need to hold on to it! What insights can you bring to bear on this for our daily living?

GF: Holding on hurts. It isn’t the thing, the person, the condition that holds us captive and puts us in conflict. It is our attachment to the sense of self that pondering these thoughts produces in us. There’s the pain, and there’s the way out. To see the truth of this is what it means to begin dying to oneself.

Wuckei: Okay, so someone is swinging a hammer over your head BUT they think it is a feather-fan. You cannot “drop them”... they may be dependent upon you, you may have to live with them. What is unreal here? The hammer is not in my unconscious.

GF: Do what is in your power to do, refuse to get caught up in what is not. If someone is “hammering” you, abusing you in some manner -- put distance between yourself and that sick person. Don’t make their sickness your own.

paradox: I have recently become involved in a romantic relationship with someone. We both feel that God has brought us together and we wish to maintain our integrity with this Higher connection by abstaining from certain physical involvements until their appropriate time. But our passions are very strong and make this commitment difficult. Any encouragement or validation that this is worth the wait?

GF: Such decisions are highly personal. The saying goes, “He who hesitates is lost,” but the unfinished part of that is that “He who rushes usually winds up in a wreck!” Follow your heart. Regardless, be kind, be true, and considerate of each other, and whichever way you choose will lift you higher.

jj: I have noticed an increase in the amount of times my spiritual slumber is interrupted, and it feels great! Does the false self ever “wake us up” from times of spiritual slumber?

GF: When we first meet true ideas, Real Knowledge, it falls on a certain “I” within us. That “I” is fed for the first time and it stirs after having been covered up for however long. When it stirs, it attracts to it other “I’s” that help it create a sustainable place for itself amongst the lower sleeping selves. This “I” is not Real “I,” but a herald of it.

bc4me: I just about fell off the couch when I realized every person who begins down the spiritual path ends up creating a new false self that he “thinks” is his true self. Our habitual thought nature knows nothing else. NOW I SEE SO WELL. Even the gurus people seek often teach from this very false self. Since then, my awareness is first nature instead of second. I seem to see through all now. Does this make sense?

GF: Yes, absolutely, but even as you’ve pointed out, we must always remember the tendency of our mind to identify in order to “be.” The same holds true with any considerations whatsoever that we hold of ourselves. If we are not awake to our emoting, we are asleep in these emotional movements.

CD: I recently discovered I am fearful of everything (situations) and everyone. Is there a way to end this fear once and for all?

GF: Just last night in class the topic was “How to Slay Spiritual Doubt.” The answer to your question is yes. However (as Vernon Howard used to teach), “The way out is through.” What this means is that nothing we are afraid of losing in life can be the source of our fearlessness. A simple instruction is: if you’re afraid of losing it, lose it! You won’t lose a thing, except for your fear.

Lenny: You tell us that we were never meant to be dominated by another human being. Part of me interprets that to mean that I should assertively stick up for myself in business and personal situations so I don’t get walked upon. On the other hand, you tell us not to defend ourselves. I know that to be true as well, as I know a part of myself that resents authority and hates to be told what to do. Help?

GF: The only thing that dominates us in this life is our own unconscious thoughts and feelings as they come to bear upon us in our spiritual sleep. The person that you think punishes you that you would dominate is not that person, but your negative image of him. You lash out at this image thinking it him, and you feel the pain. This is why we must wake up.

Rael: Would it be fair to assert that every single thing that happens to us in our life has been caused to happen for the direct purpose of exposing some falsehood under which we have been living?

GF: It is true. And our discovery of this fact is the beginning of our freedom. For within it we realize that there is a God and that He intends our success in life in ways we have yet to even dream. Lessons ride in on the backs of events, which means that all events serve the Truth that these lessons eventually reveal. Isn’t that exciting?

QRS: Can a man or woman rise above everything this world offers, even primal urges to procreate?

GF: Try to see that it isn’t the “things” this world offers that have such primal power over us, but rather that we are still longing for the experience of these things. We search for experience for our sense of self. One day we wake up and see that any sense of self based in experience is a self that fades with the experience. This is the beginning of rising above the world.

abe1: Although I’ve had tremendous joy in seeking/living Truth, I sometimes get a feeling of weakness when I think of “what’s next?… am I just gonna go on doing the same thing?” Any comment please.

GF: Spiritual apprehension as you’ve described usually appears at a point when a person recognizes he or she is about to “reincarnate” their life by running through the circle of self yet once again. The answer is so simple, and yet scary to the false self. Don’t do the same thing again.

davej: Vernon Howard said something to the effect that our right intention is the guarantee that we will achieve our destination. Would you please expand on this?

GF: First, no intention of ours can be any better than our ability to remember it. With this in mind, it is true that if we act upon our intention to wake up and have a God-centered life, there is nothing in the universe that can prohibit the promise of this from being fulfilled. Intention acted upon purifies the one with the intention… the purer the higher.

RANDY: As I do this work, I continuously have trouble discerning my false self from my true self and wondering if what I am living is real. Does it get easier to “figure it out”?

GF: I know the issue of false self versus true self can be confusing, but this is only because it remains intellectual for us instead of experiential. All negative states that any self within us identifies with and then allows those same dark forces to define that self belongs to the world of the false self. True Self is what sees this as True and acts upon it accordingly.

jaybird: You have said “If you don’t leap, you’ll never know what it’s like to fly.” Might you give us a specific “leap” we can take that will help us develop our spiritual “wings”?

GF: The next time someone says something to you that displeases you or otherwise challenges your authority and sets you off, refuse to give your reactionary response “wings.” This is a leap. Why? Because you will instantly see within you the nature that has not only secretly dominated you, but that has also sought to control anything in life that would challenge its authority.

Wuckei: I just saw a fabulous exhibit at the Smithsonian: “The Brain.” It showed interactively that much of what we perceive is in fact illusion... the brain “fills in” what is not there. Maybe this is from the “hunter/gatherer days” of structural development. One might call this an unconscious compulsive labeling/switching-out/inventing process. Only serious awareness in the present moment can unmask this structural brain-habit, correct?

GF: The beauty of learning what it means (and then paying the price) to awaken one’s spiritual eyes to see by awakened awareness is that such seeing cannot be deceived because it is actually a part of the quality it apprehends. Yes, it takes dedicated work and new attention, but compared to the ache of seeing through a sensory-based brain, it’s a walk in the park.

CD: As human beings, why are we so fearful to be independent? I am getting ready to go on my own... fly the parents’ coop if you will... but I have a strange fear associated with this. Why, are we fearful of anything new? Is it because it takes us out of our dream world?

GF: In part, yes. However, the real fear of being on our own is a rather constant and fully unconscious conviction that we have about ourselves that as we are, we are not enough. We create the dependent relationships that we do with others out of this fear. The best thing you can possibly do is to go it alone until you no longer fear being alone. Then God will fill in the blanks.

Faust: I’m so lonely that I’m “giving myself” away to people I have nothing in common with, even people I don’t like, just so I can have some human contact. I’m tired, my soul is tired, and all the while I can hear you saying “Stop giving yourself to little things.” I’m so lonely.

GF: Listen, log-off right now (come back next week to read the rest of the chat) and sit down in the middle of your living room. Turn off any noisy “anythings.” Find the center of this loneliness that you fear. Call it to you. Invite it in. Stay awake and allow the state that you say is this sadness to be fully present. Sit with it. It will disappear, and with it will go the you that fears being alone.

Roy: Much work has been done concerning the use of dream interpretation to help us understand ourselves. Do you see a real value in recording and interpreting our dreams to aid our self-development?

GF: To the mind that wishes to awaken and the heart that won’t be denied, there is nothing in our lives that cannot be used to further this realization. Most True discoveries, insights, occur in the moment the event unfolds. Analyzing and interpreting past images is fraught with “dangers” because the mind that recalls such images changes them as it recollects.

Roy: So, would you say that any value in dream interpretation is equal to the level of awareness of the mind doing the interpretation at that moment? Is this wakeful mind able to gain any insights from it’s subconscious that would be helpful for that individual’s spiritual development?

GF: I would say this is a fair assessment. Such can gain from seeing what is secretly forwarded in the content of dreams.

cubswinthepennant: “I” try to stay here/now whenever I remember, but at work I indulge in daydreams and it seems more enjoyable sometimes. Is this wrong?

GF: If a man lived by the ocean and he sat in his living room with the curtains pulled, staring at postcards of sandy beaches and rolling waves, you would understand that this person was compromising his own higher happiness. He prefers the image over the reality. So it is with all dreams. They belong to a nature that is as imagined as what it holds in its mind.

abe1: Is the energy life force called “chi” real? Do you believe there is any real benefit to practicing/cultivating this energy like people in China and other cultures have done for hundreds of years?

GF: There is no question that this “life force” permeates every cell of our being. Some call it Prana, Shakti, what have you, depending upon the culture. It needn’t be cultivated, however. What we need is to stop wasting it. Then it has its own life and does its purification process within us according to its purpose -- a purpose known to the Life whose blood it is.

jj: I’ve noticed certain conditions and circumstances (some avoidable, some not) can put me to spiritual sleep. Should we avoid those circumstances that put us to sleep or do our best to wake up in them?

GF: This is good. Noticing such things in our selves presents new opportunities in our development. Apart from purely dangerous conditions, where your being is at risk, never avoid any circumstance that “puts you to sleep.” Go into these places (which are actually just psychological conditions manifested) and use your propensity to fall to keep you upright and awake.

fedup: New Age parenting tends to approve the “we love you as you are” methods, even when we know its wrong. We see the results everyday. The more you do for kids, the more they hate you it seems.

GF: The New Age paradigm for parenting is trash. Throw it away. Make your own mistakes. Intend to love and let it show you what is not loving. It is not “judging” our children (or anyone else for that matter) when we know that what they do is destructive now and will be more so later if left unattended. Risk it. God rewards those who want real life more than being thought of as “good.”

bc4me: I agree with what you say about parenting… I told a friend of mine “to praise your children is like poisoning them.” Acknowledging them and their individuality is great, but praising them leads them to look outside of themselves for a sense of worth and being. We all know how disastrous that ends up being!

GF: Praise earned should be praise given. Everything has a golden mean, including holding and withholding comments. The quality of any praise cannot be separated from the one giving it.

alex: What is the difference between your spirit and your soul? Is there a difference?

GF: Yes, there is a difference. But the knowledge of it makes no difference (in reality) for one upon the Path. Soul is a sort of intermediary between spirit and what we call our self in this life. Spirit is everlasting, soul may become timeless, and this physical self, in time, passes in time.

Wuckei: There seems to be a wavelike movement to clarity and recurring imbroglio-ed, addled ensnarement. I think more than internal chemistry (like low blood sugar, lack of rest, adrenal spillages) influences this. The moon? The vibes others bring with them, picked up subliminally? What do you think?

GF: In one sense it can be said there is no “solid” self the way our mind images it to exist. We are the manifestation of infinite influences being infinitely influenced by these same energies of all origins.

Jayson: I realize the barrenness of the desert and believe the answers lie above. I am having trouble getting from desert to water. It seems unnatural to let go of what is familiar. How do I let go of what I believe I need for that which I really need? The ties are strong and comfortable.

GF: Welcome to the Work. There is a kind of discipline of understanding one must eventually live with, from, and by. In this new reason-born understanding, we learn to act towards life from what we know is true as opposed to acting out what parts of ourselves tell us is true about the world and ourselves in it. Take one step at a time and refuse to compromise what you know is true. Even your failure here is the seed of a success.

LDM: Does it do any good to pray for someone to make a wise decision or to be safe from harm?

GF: It is always good to sincerely hold in your mind and heart the good of any other human being. We do receive in this life what we give.

alex: “The light of the body is thy eye. If thy eye be simple, your whole body will be lightsome, but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be darksome. If the light in you be darkness, how great will the darkness itself be?” I feel I understand most of this saying except for the last part. Have you ever talked on this before?

GF: Yes, I have, but here’s a comment to consider. There are times when we are negative, i.e., living with darkness, where the darkness condemns something or someone for being evil or wrong in some way. When we give this darkness life, i.e., act it out, it is because we have mistaken it for the Light. It passes itself off as light by condemning the darkness in someone else. How great is this darkness?

jj: My wife is having a hard time understanding that what another person does is not the true cause of the pain she feels. Any words of explanation for her?

GF: Explain to her that the pain she feels is in the degree to which she reacts to what she thinks she sees as being outside of her, but that this perception is secretly the stuff of her own past experiences. Sure, if someone physically slaps us, we feel the pain of that -- but if we are insulted and are hurt, it is what we do with these words that wrecks us, as there is no inherent power to mere verbiage.

Raci: How does seeing paradox help free us? I used to get so confused by it. Now I tend to just see the truth in both sides while not trying to hold onto either one. I seem to feel lighter for this shift in focus.

GF: Yes, that is correct. Our troubles come to pass because we are literally “one-sided,” meaning that our sense of self – in order to exist as it does – must have something to be for or against. Seeing that opposites support one another, and cannot exist without one another, frees us from the weight of the ever-separate self.

abel: Isn’t it funny how when people are physically exhausted, they don’t fear the things they usually do when they are more “alert”? Could this very simple fact be an obvious, clear and simple proof of fear being false and our attention being manipulated?

GF: It is a well-known fact that when we are weak by illness, or have our personality otherwise “taken down a notch” by some shock, that certain habitual states are less prevalent or dominate. However, just for the record, sometimes when we get ill or exhausted, other negative forces will try to take advantage of our condition.

alex: I am always struck of how aware Abraham and Lot were in the book of Genesis. They recognized God’s messengers where others did not… and how Lot living in Sodom and still found it to be worthy to be spared… also Peter being given the knowledge of professing that Jesus is the Christ. Are these special gifts of the spirit?

GF: It could be said (and probably has many times) that when a person awakens to Real Life, that his or her very awakened state is God’s Life itself now living, moving, and even seeing through that person. And God certainly knows His own, doesn’t he?

mover: Why couldn’t God have made it real easy and just wiped out the devil? Choice is nice, but a lot of work.

GF: There are no “devils” in the Kingdom of Heaven. Try to understand the idea of scale and “ecological niche.” Certain creatures dwell and even fulfill the needs of certain places. This is true everywhere.

James1: For a very long time I’ve felt nothing. I’ve done things because I “should” do them. There is no desire. Is it desire I should look for? Before my teens I had drive and direction. Is this aimless state a product of a self that doesn’t like the world it sees?

GF: There are times when varying degrees of emptiness, nothingness descend upon everyone. Everything depends upon what one does in these times. I call such moments “emissaries” because they bring with them instructions and the invitation to let go (and let God). Some people see these periods as “adversaries,” and miss their point by filling this emptiness with hatred of it. Let the emptiness awaken you to remember your actual poverty. This awakening brings new riches that only God can give.

abe1: I think it was in the book of James that described the fact of God creating all things, including evil. Should we take solace in this fact, trusting in God even more?

GF: “And nothing was there not created by Him.” One day, if you persist with your wish to have a God-centered life, you will know that ALL things serve the Good.

mover: I learned to stay focused on the present and also to stay away from thought as much as possible, regardless. Am I doing this right?

GF: Let your own awareness confirm your actions. When we are awake in the present moment, we cannot be punished by our own past, by our thoughts and their need for continual conformation.

BenO: This work has released me in ways I never imagined possible, yet I’ve also had much success changing my behavior through hypnosis in the past, in places I can’t seem to shake with these spiritual ideas. Am I playing with fire? Is hypnosis dangerous?

GF: We must each seek what is true using our God-given intuition and resulting experience born of our actions. What have you seen? Does modifying your behavior free you from the torment (and hungers) of yourself, or does it merely put certain manifestations on “hold?”

traydog: When Jesus was in Gethsemane, he asked that “this cup be passed” from him. Was this set as an example to show us that when we are in a dire spot because of ourselves, the Truth/God does not come swooping down to “save” us.

GF: There are dozens of lessons -- at countless levels -- in this short passage. However, it might be said that in the “end,” all lessons on the Road Home have to do with understanding the end of this scene in Christ’s Life: “Nevertheless, not mine, but thy will be done.

jaybird: I’m starting to see more clearly the many ways I make this spiritual Work more difficult than it need be. One of them is “prescribing” to Truth what circumstances the awakened life is “supposed” to bring rather than letting Truth show me what’s best for me. Can you give examples of other stumbling blocks that seekers along the Path typically (and unwittingly) toss in their own way

GF: What you have stated is well put. In truth, there are no obstacles along the path apart from where it is that we insist that we already know the lesson before us. We never know the actual lesson until the self for whom it is intended has gone through the change inherent in the lesson. THEN we stand on the “other side” of ourselves and then we know (in part) what happened and “why.”

QRS: Would the following statement be correct: If you must have a relationship (male/female), try to find someone who is (at least trying to be) enlightened?

GF: If a person has found out that his or her life cannot have any real meaning to it without having God within it (to whatever degree as recognized) then such a person would not, could not, be content with a purely “worldly” relationship. “Birds of a feather” the saying goes. This applies for would-be angels as well!

James1: Have you heard of the exercise of focusing your sight on one particular object in a room, but not trying to describe it or identify it? It would seem to be a good idea as an exercise to physically pay attention to only one thing. Any thoughts?

GF: In the talks here at the Foundation we often cover various exercises in attention. There are many, many reasons why one needs to cultivate conscious attention. (For additional information request the class tape with the talk on it dated 8/5/01.)

GF: We have only a short time left before we must say goodnight. The groundwork laid in my opening remarks about the puzzle of our recurring pleasures and pains supports and complements the information that follows.

Before we can hope to come upon what for now we may call the perfection of our soul’s pleasure, we must learn something about the nature of our recurring discontentment and the unconscious parts of our self that sit at its dark ever-outstretched roots.

To begin with, we need to ask ourselves what ought to be a fairly obvious question. And as we will soon see, the honest answer to this self-inquiry will take us more than halfway to a whole new kind of unshakable contentment. Here is the question: Why is it that when it comes to seeking our pleasures, the only places we think to look for them seem to reside somewhere outside of ourselves?

Yes, that’s right -- at least it is for most of us most of the time! Run your own list of location searches. Everything, from our usual sensory delights to exciting psychological stimulation, we look for and find outside of our own nature. People, places, social prominence and position, possessions, you name it: These are the principle pleasures we pursue on a daily basis.

Now in case you missed the answer in the implications just outlined, we can summarize it now: We look for pleasures and our contentment outside of ourselves because we have yet to find the whole pleasure we are looking for in the company of our self. (If we did, we wouldn’t have to look very far for lasting fulfillment, would we?)

Do you see what we have uncovered in just this short search for the truth of our condition? We have stumbled upon the real reasons for our continuing sense of discontentment. Let’s dial in a bit for a closer look by considering just a few more pieces of evidence. Then we can close the case of this discontented self and discuss the nature of perfect pleasure.

As we have already seen, those pleasures in life that we seek outside of us, and the level of self that seeks these, are tied to the passing phenomenal world that gives rise to them both. This unconscious lower level of our self and the ever-changing exterior world that it wanders through mirror one other. As goes one, so goes the other without choice or exception.

As life changes (as it must!) and goes through its naturally alternating seasons, the self that is identified with -- and pleased in -- its summer or spring decries the onset of those seasons, any season, that it perceives as opposing its contentment. But in this world, one thing is sure: Winter will not be denied its turn. Discontentment rains down on us and we start the cycle all over again.

What can be done? Where are we to search for a constant contentment? Start your quest by closely considering the next insight, keeping in mind all that we have learned so far: Real Pleasure is found within the undisturbed sense of your own existence in God. To seek pleasure elsewhere is to search places outside of yourself at which no sooner do you arrive than you must depart again.

Now we know what to do and what not to do. We know that when we feel discontent within ourselves, we must not look outside of ourselves for something to please us. We know that our discontentment is rooted in the inner company we have been keeping and that life is not withholding its contentment from us.

We know, at last, that the Life of True Contentment we long for already belongs to us… if we will only choose in favor of its perfect company within us. Our inner task, our spiritual Work, is to make this courageous choice. Then, with persistence and patience on our part, we will watch as a whole new contentment comes and stays with us forever.

That’s all we have time for tonight. Be sure to mark your calendar for our next chat on Thursday, September 6th. Until then, remember yourselves and choose to remember God. Good night.