Special Lessons

The easiest thing in the world is to walk around unconsciously feeling superior to everyone we meet. But with what do we measure? A critical spirit? A judgmental mind? What kind of eyes have to look down on another to convince themselves of up?

The real underlying limitation in our relationships is rooted in how we look at and think about others who are in our life. But, perhaps more accurately stated: the real problem we have with others is what we don't yet see and understand about ourselves!

It's well known that storm-tossed waves often expose new treasures along the shoreline; there is unexpected wealth to be collected by those who know the secret value of rough seas. And yet, even though most of us have little tolerance for anything that "rocks our boat," the truth of the matter is self-evident...

The seed of greatness is sown in an instant, but in this world of ours everything great takes time to grow. This means that patience, mingled with persistence, is the special nutriment that sustains all things great. Therefore, should we wish to win the great life, we need only add equal measures of quiet watchfulness to our spiritual willingness and a great goodness cannot help but flourish 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...

Compassion for others starts with the understanding that every human being on the planet looks different from us -- because physically we are different -- but inwardly we all live in the same pool. We all have pain and pleasure, we all share emotions that move in waves through that pool. People may live on the east bank of the pool so that the waves they know are different from the waves we know on the west bank, but if we look close enough...

Whether in a simple truth tale, or in a moment of great personal crisis, don't fear what life is trying to show you about itself and about you. Don't be afraid to let the truth strike you. Welcome it! Yes! Don't resist anything that threatens to pull the rug out from under your feet...

When we are "driven" to succeed in this world, it is always to arrive at some point wherein we will no longer feel as though something is missing in us. All such drives in us are doomed at the outset. Here's why...

I am always surprised by your strength -- by how happy I am to be too weak to do anything except completely accept you. What is this power of yours? How shall I understand it? 

Are you a Gathering Force? When you come, do you collect all the parts of me that have wandered off high and low looking for you... somehow drawing them all into one place wherein their deep peace is that they once again know that they need never look for anything...

The truth is that letting go is very simple and, above all, natural; as natural for you and I as it is for a tree to shed the heavy, sun-ripened fruit that clings to its branches. Why? Because both man and tree, in fact all living things, are created to drop what is no longer needed. For the tree, the falling fruit carries its matured seed to the ground. No unnatural force is necessary. In a similar fashion -- that is to say, under higher but equally exacting laws...

There are three ways to get what one wants from life: industry, cunning, or love. Industry is good but at best conditional, for it is subject to the passage and ravages of time. The "crafty" inevitably trap themselves. Love, on the other hand, liberates those who seek its company, and it is timeless. When all is said and done, this order of love has the last word because it is its own reward: whatever we are willing to let it make of us, it fashions from itself.

One of the greatest gifts that a man or woman can be given in this world (and only if they ask properly) is to understand that everything that happens to them - no matter what -- is for their greater good. It makes no difference what it is -- call it the worst thing in the world -- and most of us have had the experience of recognizing there were times when if we could have thrown away that moment full of fear, anger, resentment, we would have thrown it away.