"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest." -- Ecclesiastes, Old Testament
Any sort of development requires a certain amount of voluntary suffering. The path of development requires that you meet limitations.
We will go through great pains to make sure that we get what we want. But there is another kind of pain that we don't usually want: seeing the truth of our present nature.
There is unkindness between two people because both fail to see the pain that they are in.
An enemy is anyone who you believe to be the source of your suffering.
The revelation of the ceaselessly-stressed nature, and its pain, is an act of grace, not something that is against you.
The real answer is not to avoid the revelation of pain, but to go into it.
Simply having the knowledge of what it true is not the same as the application of it.
Seek to learn more about suffering, rather than listening to what that suffering says is true about you.
The present moment is a timeless level of being that almost nobody knows anything about because they are always occupied in time.
Real spiritual work happens in the middle of ordinary life as it reveals the pain of being identified and not wanting what you are being shown about yourself.
The way out is through. But through what? The moment that we have to go through is the realization that our plans to escape from what causes pain come from an unconscious nature that has taken over our life.
The sense of life derived from not-wanting is not the same as being alive.
The real problem is that we do not understand pain. Our agreement must be to consciously suffer the pain, which cannot be separated from the person that appears with it.
Allow the revelation of the pain. Be willing to remain present long enough to be able to see that lower nature scramble. Gather your attention to bring yourself into the pain, rather than trying to find ways around it.
When the next difficult moment appears, take pains to not look away, instead of letting the pain tell you to look away. Find out for yourself what is behind the pain.
Key Lesson 
