learn once that you don’t have to react that way, you’re free of it. You prove to yourself that you won’t die and you won’t go crazy and parts of your body won’t fall off. You can just be there and be perfectly fine. Then something hurts and you can sit through that. It just becomes interesting. You’re not resisting it any more. It’s just kind of f

We have no control but we think we should have. Letting go of the illusion of control will not make you more vulnerable, it will make you more relaxed, peaceful, open, receptive, joyful, calm. Children have no control and don’t think they should have.

STUDENT: I think that’s what it would eventually come to. If I don’t do my work, and don’t make money, then I won’t be able to pay for my house, and I won’t have any food. And if I follow that along far enough, I realize that I believe that all those things on the list are designed to keep me alive. And if I don’t do them the ultimate consequence i

GUIDE: Wanting to do something and doing something are two entirely different things. There’s no need to act just because you have a feeling. STUDENT: But what if I want to act? GUIDE: Your questions come from a belief that you are inherently bad, and that if you don’t control yourself, you’ll be bad. When you realize that you are goodness and let

We call people selfish when they WILL NOT give. But they CANNOT give what they DO NOT have. It’s like asking a starving child to share her food, and then making her feel guilty for not wanting to. When we have enough we are eager to share.* *What we have and what we are able to receive are two very different things.

Spiritual Practice Doesn’t Begin Until the Beatings Stop. I’m suggesting that you stop the beatings. Many spiritual teachers suggest that hatred is not the answer. They say things about love, forgiveness, generosity and gratitude. They hardly talk about beating people and hating people and this sort of thing. They say, “Now, folks, this is the dire

We are never going to “get” something— a philosophy, a formula, a fixed point of view— that will make us forever different.

TAKING BLAME BUT NOT CREDIT If something goes well, it’s a gift from God. If it goes badly, it’s all your fault. And even if you do take a little credit for something, you can always avoid feeling

A sinking feeling of “I’ve done something wrong” and a feeling of panic, “What’s the right thing to do now to fix it?” Buying anything for anyone else but never anything for myself.