Discomfort is the call to set yourself free.
To understand our own thinking is to understand all thinking.
Any story that you tell about yourself causes suffering. There is no authentic story.
We say to others only what we need to hear.
There are no new stressful thoughts. They’re all recycled.
I have never experienced a stressful feeling that wasn’t caused by attaching to an untrue thought. Behind every uncomfortable feeling, there’s a thought that isn’t true for us.
Thinking that people are supposed to do or be anything other than what they are is like saying that the tree over there should be the sky. I investigated that and found freedom.
Nothing terrible has ever happened except in our thinking. Reality is always good, even in situations that seem like nightmares. The story we tell is the only nightmare that we have lived.
My mother became a believer, and then I became a believer. But when I was 43 years old, I began to think for myself, somehow, by fluke and by grace. And I thought, “Oh, my. I was so mistaken.” The world isn’t what I believed it to be. I am not what I believed me to be, and neither is anyone.
If our thinking is clear, how could work or money be the problem? Our thinking is all we need to change.
It’s our nature to be free, and until we’re stuck in a stressful belief system, we’re pretty happy.
If we are in silence – in absolute silence with no thoughts – for 10 minutes, it’s only a thought that tells us we were silent for 10 minutes. Our only proof is a thought.
Inviting people to inquiry is much more powerful to me than describing my experience. When people hear me tell the story, they often say, “Oh my goodness, I get it. I get it!” But it’s not enough.
If I want something, I go get it. Anything that I believe will stop me, I question.
If your beliefs are stressful and you question them, you come to see that they aren’t true – whereas prior to questioning, you absolutely believe them. How can you live in joy when you’re believing thoughts that bring on sadness, frustration, anger, alienation, and loneliness?
People don’t need sudden revelations. They get what they need when they need it, thought by thought by thought. It’s a constant thing when the mind starts to wake up to itself.
Asking the questions – that’s what changes lives. Every cell in your body is awake with inquiry. And you cannot believe the old thoughts again.
When the creative mind is unleashed and understands its true nature, it’s unlimited. There’s nothing you cannot do.
You can never make yourself believe that you’re loveable, however hard you try, because when the chips are down what you really believe rises to the surface of the mind to replace what you want to believe.
The moment it begins to question itself, the mind becomes so clear that it starts working with itself rather than with the body’s identification.