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Here is a simple set of instructions for those who want their love to last:

Don't try to please each other, for each of you has constantly changing pleasures. Instead, strive to please love... and in this you will please what is capable of being loved in one another. This understanding alone nourishes your love, and in turn love will nourish your life together.

Teach and help each other to be independent. Wrongful dependency on one another breeds fear and cruelty. Instead, learn to depend on love, for love breeds love... and real love is always independent and kind.

Don't try to change each other, either subtly or openly. This creates resentment. Instead, let the other find his or her way. This doesn't mean to condone whatever is seen as being wrong or obviously mistaken. It simply means don't condemn one another for a weakness, as love never lashes out but always strives to lift.

Key Lesson: We cannot separate the problems of this world -- including the pain endured in agreeing to honor, respect, and support those we love -- from the awakening of a patience and kindness that can be born in us no other way.

Like a flower that emerges from rocky soil
Only on a fully moonlit night, Truth appears
And its fragrance enriches whoever waits near.
Then suddenly, just as it appears
On no appointed schedule, it disappears again...
Only silence marks the empty spot from out of which it sprang.

Some try to dig it out, but manage to extract only
Bits and pieces of petals, stem, and occasional root.
None can pull from the ground intact
What is one with its nurturing soil;
Nor can they harm this precious flower they pursue...
Because it cannot be possessed, it is deathless.

Perhaps the harm in their pursuit, if any,
Is the almost impossible discovery that the beauty
They so long to possess does not live apart from them;
Rather, it lives for them -- even in those moments
When they tear it apart, trying in vain to possess
What it gives freely to those who die for the sight of it.

It may not always seem so, but everyone wages
The best battle possible at the time.
When challenges come, we stand as upright as stature allows,
And life delivers the inevitable blow that bends the will to break.

Is that greatly religious, wise, or wealthy person lying there,
Worn and torn on the ground, any less shattered
Than the one who, despite all effort, loses the little so hard won?
I think not.
None are better; none are worse in their weakness.
All are equal in this light.

If the passage of time reduces all to this lowliest of places,
If none may win other than momentary pride,
Then perhaps the true heights are best measured
Not by where one has once stood,
But by what rises in one's heart even as it falls to the ground.

Look at what one reaches for in his darkest hour,
And you gaze upon his God.

Sometimes the greatest truths are laid right before our eyes, in the simplest of things, and yet we just can't see them. Take for instance our own hands: what a miracle they are. If we consider for even a moment all they are capable of doing, it's evident that a great wisdom sits hidden behind their incomparable design. But, with this thought in mind, permit me to add one other to help us see another part of their special purpose that lies "hidden" in plain sight.

What good would our hands be to us or, for that matter, to the world they are made to help shape, if all they could do was close down around something and cling to it? How stale and old everything would soon be for us if the act of "holding on" to things were all our hands had the power to do? Just imagine what life would be like if we were unable to touch anything new.

To be able to touch and appreciate what is new, our hands are also created to open up -- and, as needed -- to let go of whatever is in them that is no longer useful.

This same basic truth applies, even more so, when it comes to our need to release those old feelings and worn out thoughts that first clog up, and then compromise our heart and mind. These tiresome states of ourselves have become "stuck" within us because we haven't learned how to release them.

Once we understand that letting go is the missing half of the whole happiness our heart longs for -- that it is a necessary and full partner in the power to discover and complete our True Self -- everything about our life grows easier. Old regrets dry up and blow away. We awaken to a quiet kind of faith that fears nothing. New possibilities for us appear almost moment to moment because we've hung an "open for business" sign on the door of our life. And, as our contentment grows with who we are -- within ourselves -- we stop compromising ourselves in order to win the approval of the world around us.

And best of all, as a result of our growing discoveries about the secret of letting go, we find ourselves on the threshold of solving the greatest mystery on earth: who are we? Why are we here? And what is our true role in this world? For as we start to see reality -- as it is -- in its timeless expression of creating life, perfecting it, and then letting it go, only to start all over again, we realize that we ourselves are an integral part of this Great Endless Story. And if the whole of Life is being made new in each and every moment -- and we ourselves are a part of its never-ending process of perfection -- then letting go isn't some distant and difficult faculty to be acquired. To the contrary: letting go is an effortless state of our own consciousness; it is a natural power of ours needing only to be actualized in order for us to realize the freedom that it alone can grant.

We who aspire to a life of Truth . . . in order to unite ourselves within the guiding Light of its silent providence, and to secure the blessings of a freedom that only its presence can provide, hereby establish within and amongst ourselves, for all of posterity, these Articles of Higher Consciousness as set forth in this Bill of Lights.

Article I
You have the Light to detect, dismiss, and to transcend the limiting influences of painful negative states such as doubt, worry, hatred, anger, and fear.

Article II
You have the Light to do your unique part in perfecting any moment within which you are willing to come awake to yourself.

Article III
You have the Light to help each person you meet realize that he or she has the inalienable right to live within and from the same Bill of Lights as do you.

Article IV
You have the Light to live in a peaceful world within yourself that is spontaneously creative and quietly confident at all times.

Article V
You have the Light to act with compassion towards all other beings regardless of how challenging your personal circumstances may be in any given moment.

Article VI
You have the Light to always remember that the Goodness responsible for your creation wants only what is true and good for you.

Article VII
You have the Light to realize that all things pass except for that Light living within you by whose eternal presence alone it becomes possible to see the soul-consoling beauty of this Truth.

Our task . . .
Is to prepare a Vessel to be filled,
And not . . .
To fill an imagined vessel with what we dream it has been prepared for.

The former begins by the light of inner work, fueled by an awakening faith.
The latter has its beginning in the darkness of spiritual sleep; its inertia sustained by the machinations of self-centered considerations.

The New Vessel is built to house all that is Eternal.
The imagined vessel holds nothing but the content of its own empty dreams.

The evidence of these Truths . . .
Is unseen by eyes blinded by their intoxication for the wine of this world.
But for those with eyes to see . . .
The same invisible testimony induces a deep spiritual sobriety within which the willing soul is prepared for a taste of a Wine bottled just for her at the beginning of Time.

These five special insights present the case for -- as well as the cost of -- true Spiritual Independence. Welcome them into your mind and watch how their secret instructions lead you to the unconditional freedom that your heart longs for.

To weigh the value of what this world can reward you with -- you need only to remove the scales from your eyes; for were you willing to measure how many times you have fallen victim to a world that promises you victory, then you would know just how hollow is the hope of finding treasure in a trash basket.

If common social convention -- with all is contrivance and hypocrisy -- has one redeeming value, it is this: The happy day may come when we realize that our lives have been spent dining with devils, conversing with thieves, making plans with liars, and promises to people incapable of even a single act of integrity. This day of our awakening is the same as the delightful date of our departure from a bankrupt world filled with beggars dressed as kings and queens.

Billions give their lives away for a moment's pleasure, for the promise of approval, or in the hope of acquiring some power by which to make their world a prettier place in the face of all the ugliness that these same pursuits create. The few and the true also give their lives away, but only in acts of quiet selflessness that naturally follow in the footsteps of the one who follows the Upward Path.

For those with "ears to hear" there is but one question and one answer: Will we wait patiently for a single moment of relationship with what is Eternal and Real, wherein for the touch of something Timeless all the moments of our life are forever changed, or do we waste the few moments of our life chasing the pleasure of an imagined time to come that forever recedes from our grasp in the same instant that we reach for it?

No one can say "No" to this world who is afraid to walk through it alone. The unseen cost of this baseless fear is not to just keep the company of cowards, but to lose one's possibility of ever coming to know the company of the Divine.

I do not have to be better than you have made me,
For you have created me in your image
And there is perfection in this promise.
But I do have to bear what you would make of me,
If I wish to know my maker.

Perhaps the greatest, yet least understood spiritual secret in the World is that being what I am is what it takes to make me better; Because only within what I am
Is what **you* would have me be . . .
And nothing can surpass this desire, nor exceed its fulfillment.

And what is difficult in this task is not just in being what I am,
For all being is natural in itself
And what is natural is necessarily easy.

No, the toil is in bearing what I am
So that I may no more be that,
For it is only in learning to bear myself
That I am given birth, that I am able to witness
A whole new order of being that rises to praise its creator,
And that glorifies His creation again and again Through its willing sacrifice.

Volunteer for deliberate spiritual growth by daring to venture into the unknown. It may surprise you to discover that the circumstances necessary just for you, and for your continuing inner development are much closer than you think! For instance, start with the following "10 Small Steps to Real Self-Knowledge." Agree to step into these unknown moments and then step back... And watch how new confidence, unshakable courage, and higher intuition make their way into your life changing it... and you, forever.

You Venture Into the Unknown Each Time You Agree To:

1. Be alone when you don't feel comfortable being with, or by, yourself.

2. Stay quiet without any distractions of one kind or another.

3. Get up in the morning when you wake up, even when there's "nothing to do."

4. Leave the dining table while still feeling a little hungry.

5. Refuse to run pleasing mental movies about a hoped-for brighter future when facing those boring reruns of your present life.

6. Ask nothing of God but for Himself.

7. Dare not to tell someone else how he or she failed to live up to your expectations.

8. Leave at least 24 hours between your wish to correct someone who has angered you and that moment when you decide to confront him or her.

9. Agree to assume more responsibility than you think it's possible for you to handle.

10. Answer the moment the way you really want to... Without explaining to anyone why you answered it in the way that you did.

For additional spiritual benefit you're encouraged to work with the following exercise:

Each day, at a point and time designated by you, go on a one hour retreat with nothing. Find a place where you can be by yourself and meet the hour alone and unknown. Spend this personal time without bringing anything known into it with you. Just be you, whatever that brings with it. And it bears mentioning that you can't fail at this exercise. To attempt it is to venture into the unknown. If you'll do this much, the Truth will take care of the rest.

To look for tropical fruit in the open arctic is a waste of time. If you wish to see soaring birds, you need to lift your eyes from the ground. The lesson is this: without knowing where to look, you can't expect to find what you're looking for. Never is this more true than when it comes to looking for why you're still looking for ways to be stronger than those situations which continue to overcome you. The problem is you're looking in the wrong places. The solution is to turn around and look in a new direction.

Whenever we find ourselves feeling angry or worried in some way, we always ask certain familiar questions. But these personal inquiries are not what they seem. They are really answers disguised as questions; not actually asking anything, rather secretly confirming that we know where to look -- for who -- or what -- is to blame for our shaky feelings. And in this same moment where we're able to name the cause of our conflict-filled feelings, there's something else that's secretly confirmed which seals this unsuspected self deception: We're sure the source of what's making us shake, or ache, rests outside of us. And it's this unquestioned assumption which keeps us looking in the wrong direction; where we remain a perpetual victim in search of victory never found. Now here's the right direction in which to look:

When faced with any shaky, achy feeling, look within. Just ignore those pointed thoughts telling you where the blame falls. Let your attention fall back upon yourself instead by learning to ask your own questions about your situation. This is the only way to see that the real source of those painful tremors is not outside of you, but that it dwells within one of a hundred false ideas about yourself that you've come to believe are true. And when you see that you've abandoned yourself to a nature which can never be anything higher than a blame-inflamed victim, real Self Victory follows. Now, to help you learn how to look in the right direction, consider the set of special questions below created just for this special study.

Stop asking in secret defeat: When will these unpleasant circumstances in my life finally change?

Start consciously asking: What is it in me that only feels worthwhile as long as circumstances warrant it? Or, What is it in me that only knows how to meet life's events at their own level?

Stop asking in secret defeat: Why can't you see that you're wrong?

Start consciously asking: What is it in me that just doesn't feel right until it's certain someone else knows it is? Or, What is it in me that only knows how right it is by the measure of its anger?

Stop asking in secret defeat: Where is this scary situation going to lead?

Start consciously asking: What is it in me that can only hear what fear has to say about a possible event? Or, What is it in me that has no direction in life outside of being told where it's headed?

For extra benefits: Write down a few of your own usual questions, which you sense may point you in the wrong direction, and then turn them around to point yourself in the right direction!

The Spiritual Life is one great paradox after another. For instance: All things are possible with God... But without Him... nothing Real can be achieved. To state the same idea in different terms: God wants you to realize that what is yours... Is first His; and that only after you discover the Truth of this Celestial riddle are you given that Life which never knows an impossible dream.

In the quest for this new realization of your true relationship with God, there is no substitute for awareness. It is through awareness that Truth first invites you to seek that Life which is Timeless. By awareness is Truth's Path tread and its gate revealed. And when at last entrance is gained into that full New Life, it is found within your awareness. Summary: Would-be Angels earn their wings by increasing their awareness.

The problem for most would-be Angels is that the first thing they usually find in the Light of their own awakening awareness is darkness! Lots of things which they would rather not see, they begin to see unmistakably. Their developing inner eyes reveal that they are not self ruling. In fact, far from being strong and Heavenly, everything within seems strange and heavy; weak and filled with conflict. But this stage of seeing is a test. God wants His would-be Angels to want to live within Him more than they want to go on living falsely enthralled with themselves. The awakening of conscious awareness insures the right choice.

The 10 voluntary exercises below are for would-be Angels who want to develop their wings. Each is designed to help increase higher self-awareness. Special note to all would-be Angels: Have no concern for results. In these self administered tests your principle responsibility is to want to see, not to create the light.

1. Help to make the life of someone else go a little easier in spite of it making yours go a little harder.

2. Do that one thing which needs to be done even though there's nothing in you that wants to do it.

3. Refuse to criticize yourself -- or anyone else -- for not living up to your expectations.

4. Give no voice -- either within or without -- to any part of you that wants to complain about anything.

5. When you're absolutely sure that you can't take one more step... test your conviction.

6. Catch yourself in a dead run to get something done and voluntarily drop out of the race by deliberately assuming a casual pace.

7. During some peak personal stress point ask yourself: How is it possible for you to be so obsessed with the ways of the world and, at the same time, to be so sure that you're really an undiscovered Angel?

8. Take one difficult moment and use it as a place to start all over instead of as a time to sink into self pity.

9. Right in the middle of feeling as though the weight of the whole world is on your shoulders, look around for something else that you might carry.

10. Step out of the tide of some seemingly powerful personal event by seeing that moment as being only half of a complete cycle.

The Path leading to the Life of Truth has long been called difficult because it's thought of as being an all uphill journey. But the True upward Path is inward. And this realization holds a very powerful implication for those daring enough to consider it. For this means that Truth's Path begins and ends within what you already are.

This new understanding is of supreme importance for any individual wishing to know God's Life because... If the Path to Truth is already in place within us from start to finish... then we unnecessarily seek its beginning... and struggle in vain to reach its end. But this discovery does not mean that nothing is required of us to make our spiritual ascension. We must be willing to see. And then, in the growing apprehension of what stands before us, within us, voluntarily quit ourselves. A task made possible by our own realization that the only thing possibly obscuring our view is what we've mistaken ourselves as either being or needing. Which brings us to a spiritual finding as timeless as the Quest for Truth itself: Conscious surrender or self-quitting is the upward Path.

There are two principle ways in which to quit yourself. The first begins with working in the world by learning how to say "Yes" to those moments in your life where all you've ever known to do with them is to not want them. And this practice is a whole study in itself; requiring much insight and willingness to enter unknown, often uncomfortable places within yourself. The second way of self-quitting begins with learning to answer the whole world with "No!" Something that gets easier and easier to do as you see that who you presently are is secretly connected to what the world wants to offer you. Shattering this secret conspiracy is a major part of self-quitting. And it begins with learning to tell the world that you're no longer interested in its empty promises. Begin today telling the world that you're no longer interested in being you. For fast results use the following responses, but the best answers are always your own.

1. You are free to do whatever it is that you want, only don't ask me to want it, too.

2. Don't come crying to me about the same thing more than twice.

3. You're going your way and I'm going mine, which means you can stop asking me to come along with you.

4. If our paths ever cross in this life -- of this you may be sure: It will be on Higher ground than where we're standing now.

5. Don't ask me to listen to your conclusions unless I've asked to hear them.

6. Join yourself to whatever pleases you but don't expect me to join in.

7. Stop trying to share with me what you don't want yourself.

8. I have more important things to do than concern myself with what you say is important for my life.

9. You may call your fear and hatred anything you like, but don't expect me to be a part of your destructive self-deception.

10. Your whole act is to convince me that you have something I want, but I don't need anything that takes me having to be convinced that I need it.