Each one of us has a conscience —a deep place of knowing that lives at our authentic core—that watches everything we do. When we do not live authentically, the conscience sees it. When we cheat or lie or act in selfish ways, the conscience sees it. When we dishonor ourselves by playing small with our lives and refusing to live up to the magnificent potential that has been invested in us, the conscience sees it. When we fail to pour love into the world, the conscience sees it. All this betrayal of our true selves leads us to a slow and painful death. We, as people, begin to lose self-respect. Our self-worth plummets. We begin to feel unhappy, angry and irritable. At a physical level we lack energy and vitality and may even grow ill. We do all this to ourselves but it generally happens at an unconscious level. We just buy into this lie about who we must be and how we must live. And it ends up killing us. Then, on our deathbeds, we finally understand that we did not live the lives we were meant to live. ‘The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.’ But, by then, it’s too late.”
As infants, we were born into perfection—fearless, infinitely wise, of boundless potential and in a state of pure love. A small child who craves love is running the show for most people. This little child is afraid of not being loved. This little child is afraid of not fitting in. This little child is projecting his mom and dad on all those other adults around him and hoping that if he acts like them—like the crowd —he will find the approval he so desperately seeks. At a very deep and often unnoticed level, they are afraid they will not be loved. And every human being has a primary desire to be cherished. So we fall into a trap. We betray ourselves, give up on our dreams and adopt ways of being that were never intended for us. Who you are in this moment is not who you truly are. Rather, it’s someone you’ve become as a result of being in this world. But look at the hatred in the world around us. The world has lost its way and is in the most sorry state it’s ever been in. Too much fear and hatred on the planet today.
“The purpose of life is to remove the layers so more of the gold within us can shine and see the light of day. And the exciting thing is that every act of courage, every act of goodness and every act of self-responsibility will have an immediate payoff for you: each time you do what you know is the right thing and follow your truth rather than the dictates of the crowd, a little more of the mud covering up who you truly are begins to shine. Each time you act with love rather than fear, you become more of who you were meant to be. Every time you reach for your dreams and listen to your heart, you remember a little bit more of who you are. You would have so much self-love that it would not matter what others thought of you. So long as you were true to yourself, all would be good. And that, my friend, is what real success as a human being is all about.”
“Fear is the number one factor that causes people to live small, inauthentic lives. Personal transformation is a very organic process. Life will never work out the way you expect it to. No one can control life or understand its grand design. But, trust me, make plans and set goals. Work hard and go for what you desire. That’s part of being a responsible person—it is true that setting intentions does make many of them to come to life. But hold on to your plans and goals with a very loose grip. Often, the universe will send you a treasure in an unexpected package. When you are ready to receive a certain lesson, you will receive a perfect experience or person who will represent an opportunity for you to learn that lesson. And once you get the lesson, time must elapse so you can integrate it. There’s no hurry. It’s all a lovely journey. Trust that where you are, at any given point, is precisely where you are meant to be.”
Now you see why it’s so important for a person to work on himself. Once we do the inner work required to move through the fears that are running us, we move these shadows into the light of human awareness. And as you mentioned, moving a shadow into the light causes it to disappear. The fear leaves us.
The fear not only begins to disappear, it becomes replaced by love. As said, darkness is nothing more than an absence of light: once you pour the light of human awareness and understanding into the darkest recesses of your being, you will become a being filled with light. Where there was once fear, there will be love. Remember what it means to be ‘en-light-ened’: one filled with light.
Genuinely enlightened beings are those, who if you put them anywhere in the world and place them in any situation, they will remain perfectly at ease and deeply at peace.
“Well, one key natural law is this one: we never get more than we can handle. The path is lovingly planned for you and you will never, ever receive more knowledge or truth than you are ready for. So all the pieces come to you only when you are ready to receive them. The student must be patient. But the answers will come.”
“This world of ours is run according to a series of immutable natural laws, laws created by the same force of nature that built the world and sent you here. Well, life’s like a game as well. And in order to play—and win—it’s essential that you learn the rules. Live your life in alignment with them and your life will work. And learning the rules of the game takes some effort, deep thinking in silent places and a genuine willingness to be a philosopher. They include core principles such as ‘always help others get what they want while you get what you want,’ ‘have impeccable integrity,’ ‘live in the present moment,’ ‘become the kindest person you know,’ ‘do your best and be excellent in all you do,’ ‘be true to yourself and ‘dream bravely.’ Most of us know them but few of us live by them. It’s like what Voltaire once said: ‘Common sense is anything but common.’ So, back to these timeless natural laws, govern your daily actions by them and you will automatically take the expressway to your greatest life. Disregard them and you’ll be taking the long way home.”
Woodrow Wilson spoke truth when he observed: ‘You are here not merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget that errand.’
“We compete against each other for what we believe are scarce resources. We fail to support each other. We fear that if another wins, we must lose. We fear that there just isn’t enough abundance and prosperity in the world for everyone. We fear that if we genuinely help another person, we will somehow lose something rather than seeing the truth behind this lie which is that the more we help others, the more abundance will flood into our lives. One of the timeless truths of the universe can be stated simply: When you shift from a compulsion to survive into a heartfelt commitment to serve, your life cannot help but explode into success.
Remember that there are many forms of wealth, financial wealth being only one of them. One who has rich relationships and a loving community around her is, in my mind, wealthy. One who has a life of adventure, excitement and continuous learning has wealth of a different sort. And one who is spiritually connected to all of life and wakes up every morning feeling deeply at peace and aware of the truth must certainly be considered to be one who has accumulated yet another form of riches. The crowd—our tribe called society—has taught us that economic wealth is the only type of wealth we should chase. A lie. And please consider this essential fact about money: money is only a byproduct. Money is nothing more than payment rendered by the universe in return for value you have added to others. As you sow, so shall you reap.
“Remember, we see the world not as it is but as we are. We see the world though the filter of our personal perception, which comprises all the beliefs, fears, assumptions and values that we have assumed from our parents, early teachers and the world at large, in an effort to fit in with the crowd and be loved. As you change, the way you see the world changes. As your awareness expands, you will become aware of things you previously could neither see nor understand.
It’s been said that laughter is the shortest distance between human hearts. When we laugh together, all the social constructs that keep us apart fall to the wayside and we connect as real people. It’s a beautiful thing to behold. We are all connected at an invisible level. As you do your healing, you aid in the healing of the world. We are all brothers and sisters of the same family. We are all bonded together at an invisible level, we are not separate and connected with unseen ties. Even more so than through laughter, I have since discovered that we can connect with each other through the common sharing of our pain. If everyone in the world came together for half an hour and shared all of the personal suffering they have endured over the course of their lives, we would all be friends. There would be no enemies. There would be no wars.
“Things are never as bad as they seem. The situations that cause us sorrow are the same ones that introduce us to the strength, power and wisdom that we truly are.” The only individuals without any problems are those in their graves. Actually, it is the existence of problems and challenges that makes us bigger, stronger and wiser. We can run from them, and become bitter, complaining that life is hard. Or we can embrace them, and become better. It is generally in the times of our greatest pain that we are most intimately connected with who we truly are— and were meant to be. Martin Luther King Jr. once said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of confidence but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
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