Special Lessons

The reason we resist virtually all endings in our life--wherein we feel as though something has been wrongfully taken away from us--is because these same unwanted moments leave us feeling terribly empty inside ourselves. In truth, it is this overwhelming sense of emptiness that we detest, and not the changing condition itself that we so habitually protest. So when things..."

Have you ever looked down at a sidewalk or parking lot and marveled at a single blade of grass that had somehow found the will and the way to break through the pavement and out into the fresh air and sunlight? When we think of a titanic struggle, we don't usually think of a little seed of grass buried in the darkness and fighting to get out in the light. And yet, even though we may...

We all want the comfort of knowing that there are things we can count on, that there is something in this life permanent. Yet, everything seems to slip away from us; people, places, and events all change. And as they go so does our sense of security, leaving us once again seeking something to give us a permanent sense of well-being. There is a cure for this seemingly endless longing...

Awakening to Real Life occurs in direct proportion to waking up from our own sleeping nature -- a fact which brings us face to face with some of life's oldest and greatest spiritual mysteries. The myth of the phoenix, the riddle of the sphinx, even the story of Christ's birth in a dimly lit stable of barnyard animals... all point to the existence of one nature dwelling in the midst of another...

Once something has outlived its usefulness in one area of life, its purpose for being in existence is no longer the same. The leaf that captures a stream of sunlight, and then transfers its energy to the tree, serves one purpose in the spring and summer, and another completely different one through the fall and winter. Its form first appears as an agent of conversion that collects sunlight....

Do you want to be a new person? Well, you're certainly not going to be a new person when you keep repeating the level of consciousness that literally runs itself into the ground... and where, incidentally, at the end of your physical life you have nothing whatsoever to show for your existence on this planet... any more than a lion has something to show for its existence...

We talk to ourselves about making a fresh start and even plan the path we will take when things get right... but that's it. We think, but rarely act. We dream, but won't awaken to the one fact we must face if we want a new life: There is only one place where we can hope to make a fresh start in life, and this has to be in that place where life itself is new all the time...

If we were to take the whole human race and try to see its nature as being one creature, what kind of animal comes to mind for you? For me, the answer is evident: humankind most resembles an ostrich. When a disturbance comes along this creature sticks its head in the sand so as not to see what's taking place. This is not unlike closing our eyes in the hope that an approaching...

Real life is revelation. There is no moment in which something isn't stirring us in a constant kind of disturbance for the purpose of revealing both what we are and what we can be. But, in moments we are brought alive by the sudden awareness of who and what we have been, our unconscious reaction is to either resist or try to control the revelation. There is however...

Around and within us reside invisible and powerful laws that rule over reality in all its infinite forms. These forces of instant righteousness, or perfect balance, are always at work. Nothing escapes their imperceptible presence; everything yields to the weight of their judgment. We've all heard the phrase, "What goes around comes around." This principle of karma, the idea that...

The more we intend to uncover the parts of us complicit in creating self-defeating patterns such as addictive behaviors and codependent relationships -- and how we're always dragged down by this unconscious proclivity -- the more liberating discoveries we will make. It's a law: Ask to see the truth (of yourself) -- then do what you must to be granted that revelation...

Living within us dwells an order of being that knows, without thinking about it, what is authentically good for us. The problem isn't that this higher level of being--with its natural, calm command--is actually missing just when we need it most. The real problem is that we forget it!