Talk Takeaways

How is it possible for you to act against yourself? Something in you is urging you to act against yourself. So when you act against yourself, it is not really yourself at all.

We are without knowing it shifted from one 'I' to another according to the prevailing condition.

The little 'i' of the moment depends upon the condition that it is identified with for its temporary existence.

Any negative reaction that you are captured by is always connected to an old, familiar sense of self.

We give ourselves over to a fear only because it promises a protection.

When we are negative, we have been deceived into believing that we are acting in our own best interests.

A momentary 'i' that has taken over one person will fight with the momentary 'i' of another for superiority.

"Grab-I" - A false, but commanding sense of self derived from having become identified with any emotional reaction, negative or otherwise.

"Stimu-Lie" - The continuous waves of associated thoughts and feelings that justify the continuation of any "grab-I" after it has taken over one's identity.

Some signs that you are about to be taken over by a "Grab-I" include: feeling of pressure, anxiety, tension, temptation to rush, defensiveness, anger, confusion, desire to control, avoidance, planning.

Be aware of any thought or feeling that comes up from underground to seize you. You are seized through identification with those thoughts and feelings.

Be aware of the flood of associated thoughts and feelings -- the "Stimu-Lie" -- that appear to justify being taken over by a "Grab-I."

You might believe that you are putting other people in their place, but in fact you are made a prisoner every time you build a case against another person.

The revisiting of painful memories does not prove that that sense of self is loving.

You cannot have true compassion in the midst of someone else's unconscious action until you see that you also have been the instrument of that same unconscious nature.

Real respect for another person is the same as awareness of your own reaction to that person.