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Browse every published article connected to Guy Finley, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Guy Finley, or search within this exact expert archive.
Freedom, real freedom, does exist. But it is not a condition or an event, nor is it found within another person's approval of us. Nor is real freedom ever a mere effect of circumstances, otherwise it is not freedom but merely a temporary pleasure we have mistaken for being the same as being free.
Around the world today, millions if not billions of individuals are being consumed by negativity. The world and our relationship to the cosmos always run through cycles of increased or decreased activity. Right now we are in a cycle of increased activity where many people are stirred up. In such stirring there exists the possibility of increased conflict, but also of increased consciousness – although it is conflict that seems more prevalent.
Here is a list of three false beliefs that betray our hearts and poison our relationships. The more aware we can become of these long-conditioned false beliefs and how they compromise our ability to have fulfilling relationships, the more freedom we will win from them: False belief # 1: Our value as a person is determined by how others see us.
No animal hides in shame for being itself. No tree bends to the opinion of others. No wind avoids the granite face before it. Only human beings cultivate ways in which to fawn or cower before one another, and all for the sake of winning nothing but a fleeting feeling that for their cunning they ...
There is one essential ingredient missing in most of our relationships -- one that is definitely required if we wish to continue in our own development and help others to do the same. What is this powerful catalyst that only we can provide for each other? Room in which to grow.
Over the many years now of living on a small mountaintop in southern Oregon, I have learned many invaluable spiritual lessons by observing the wildlife that shares the forest in which my small house sits sequestered. In truth, nature and her creatures are always exhibiting some of the most profound principles one can hope to learn. The celestial hides itself in the common; this realization – of its tireless wisdom and grace – never fails to reveal itself to those who learn to watch its goodness on display. A short personal story tells the tale of one such revelation.
Over the many years now of living on a small mountaintop in southern Oregon, I have learned many invaluable spiritual lessons by observing the wildlife that shares the forest in which my small house sits sequestered. In truth, nature and her creatures are always exhibiting some of the most profound principles one can hope to learn. The celestial hides itself in the common; this realization – of its tireless wisdom and grace – never fails to reveal itself to those who learn to watch its goodness on display. A short personal story tells the tale of one such revelation.
There is always a moment before a problem starts with another human being where we realize that what we want is not going to happen. Ordinarily we'll say the other person is about to "ruin my day." But there is, for those of us who want to understand, not only a way for our day not to be ruined, but a way for us to elevate both ourselves and the other person, or at least give them the opportunity to change their lives as well our own.
Question: Why do I continue to get angry, and why do I always feel so justified in my anger even though it always makes me feel terrible at a later time?
If one day you bang your elbow and seven years later the same spot still aches, and now radiating pains are appearing in your fingers and shoulder, you would start to suspect that something in your body's system was amiss! You would conclude, virtually beyond any doubt, that your original injury never healed properly.
True spiritual “power” isn’t the ability to imagine and implement an endless series of new solutions to old problems. Rather, it is a radical new and higher form of self-understanding, one that illuminates and transcends our unconscious need to have any painful problems at all. Which would you rather have: a personal fire truck and a fire to put out every day, or a life free of painful fires?
We tell ourselves that we want a new life; in our minds we see ourselves reclaiming our right to live without limitations. We see ourselves walking away from destructive relationships and letting go of negative thoughts and feelings. And this is the very problem. We talk to ourselves about a fresh start and even plan the path we will take when things get right . . . but that’s it. We think, but rarely act. We dream, but won’t awaken to the one fact we must face if we would make a fresh start: The new beginning we long for is now or never.
An essential spiritual force is missing from our lives. We are about to gather ample evidence of this fact, and learn ways to recover this crucial force that we unknowingly give away. The power we're missing is patience. Real patience is not about waiting for one's expectations to be fulfilled. ...
A family went to its favorite park for a Saturday picnic lunch. While the three boys, William, Paul, and Michael, played together, running up and down the green rolling hills as fast as they could, Dad put the finishing touches on the meal while Mom put out the paper plates on a checkered picnic tablecloth.
The universe is a work being continually perfected; though unseen, it is justice, compassion in action. Those who resist and resent what comes their way—who fight with its unending waves that rock their contrived sense of reality—are actually the ones who live without real choice.
No one really wants to talk about it, but the truth is, there is a kind of “evil spell” hanging over each of us and our world as well. In fact, part of this global spell is our denial of its existence. It is called suffering. Everyone does it—and, like hypnotized captives, everyone believes that their suffering somehow benefits them. That’s how the spell works. Why else would anyone punish themself with unhappy feelings unless they had been tricked into somehow perceiving self-hurt as self-help?
True spiritual “power” isn’t the ability to imagine and implement an endless series of new solutions to old problems. Rather, it is a radical new and higher form of self-understanding, one that illuminates and transcends our unconscious need to have any painful problems at all. Which would you rather have: a personal fire truck and a fire to put out every day, or a life free of painful fires?
Have you ever noticed how the more negative you get, the more difficult everything about your life becomes, including being able to do the simplest things? It’s like suddenly sinking into dark molasses, where not only can’t you move, but everything you don’t want seems stuck to you!
Near the end of a busy afte oon, a senior caddie at an exclusive golf club is making his appointed rounds—double-checking that everything is in its proper place—when he wanders into the clubhouse locker room. Much to his shock he sees an obviously completely exhausted man spread-eagle on the floor! A moment later, he recognizes the man as a fairly new member of the club. At first he fears the man may have fallen and hit his head, but after touching him gently, the man leaps to his feet...a terrified look in his eye.
We all know exactly what it is like to be certain we have let go of something sorrowful or worrisome, only to find ourselves in a similar sad situation moments later. nnDropping this person and picking up that person doesn't end the loneliness that drives us into dead-end relationships. This isn't letting go. We have only managed to put the emptiness on hold. nnChanging jobs to get away from someone or something that sets us off doesn't cancel our conflict. This just delays t
Here is an amazing higher instruction that can help you step beyond yourself: "Walk away from the mental 'how' into the spiritual Now." nnThis secret instruction deserves our close attention. Its real value, like that of a priceless jewel, is best appreciated when seen from every angle. Just as it is the nature of such a rare jewel to reflect its inner brilliance in all directions, so is it the nature of this special instruction to light your way once you have unlocked its se
Just as a storm in the atmosphere of the earth is born of conflicting fronts of different temperatures colliding with one another, so too must there be conflicting forces within us in order to form a mental or emotional storm. Our task is to become conscious of these unseen forces that dwell in the unenlightened parts of us. As we grow to realize that no disturbance can remain within us without our granting it the force it needs to sustain its fury, we realize that we have at
We can never hope to be free as long as any part of us struggles with, or suffers over what others are doing, have done, or won't do with their lives. If we could remain aware of the often-compromised state of our own character, that is, how we still do those things to others that we don't want to do, this awakened conscience would stir in us a new need. Rather than worrying about whether so-and-so gets his comeuppance for being the kind of person he is, our attention would b
Within each of us lives something Light, Bright, and Timeless that wants to grant us our true wish. And what is this wish? In a word, it is to have a life that is free, uncluttered by self-compromising acts, and full of love. But the secret heart of this wish, upon which all of our other hopes depend, is to live without fear. nnWhat does it take to live fearlessly? To realize such a Truth requires the highest order of honest self-discovery, followed by earnest actions based i
The greatest, most abundant resource on planet Earth is also its least understood and utilized. Its unlimited supply is found virtually everywhere, anytime, and under all circumstances, even though few recognize its real value. What is this most precious collective resource? It is our relationships. nnConsider these truths: It is within relationships that we grow as individuals in everything valuable; because it is through them that we become stronger and wiser, allowing us t
Have you ever noticed just how unhappy you can get over the fact you are not happy? Unexamined, this behavior seems to make sense. But a closer look at it will reveal that being unhappy over being unhappy is like throwing gasoline on a fire to put it out. You get lots of fire and smoke -- even a strange excitement -- but in the end all you are left with is ashes. This is why you must understand this next amazing fact. nnYou can make yourself miserable but you can't make yours
The secret of letting go not only hold the keys for ending what is unwanted, but locked within this same supreme secret is the beginning of a new life-the birth of a new nature that never has to hold on to anything because it already is everything. Let the following special insights speed you on your way.nn1. Letting go of yourself is letting go of your problems, for they are one and the same.nnn2. Go along with your longing to be limitless.nnn3. Uncovering what is wrong must
The less we learn to long for -- or depend upon -- nnSpecial understanding from others, nnThe less we will suffer for not receiving this. nn nnThe less we suffer over what others nnSeem incapable of giving to us, nnThe less unhappy will we find ourselves nnIn these unanswered moments of our lives nnSpent in the company of friends and foes alike. nn nnThe less pain we have over what life appears to deny us, nnThe more at peace we naturally become with ourselves. nn nnThe more
âIn the long run, our attitude towards lifeâs lessons â and the direction our life takes in life â are one and the same; show me someone who resists the Light of Lifeâs correction in the course of his or her soul, and I will show you someone whose destiny is the darkness of total self-enclosure.â nnEven though the Truth is never further away from us than our wish for its awakening and self-healing insight, there are distinct moments in life when it comes closer to
If we were to see someone trying to warm himself on a winter's night by snuggling up to a color photo of a fireplace, we would easily recognize this person as being deluded. We know that the glossy paper image which he clings to for life-sustaining heat is powerless to do anything but mock his obviously oblivious mind.nnBut this unfortunate man can't see the futility of his own misguided actions. Why? Because it's his own mind, his level of consciousness, that has confused a
We all have within us a vantage point -- a very special part of ourselves within which we may be at peace regardless of what goes on around us. This yet-to-be realized state of ourselves may be called conscious self-awareness. Through its power, instead of being pulled down into painful identification with the passing shadows of life, we can discover a life in a peace far above the reach of any fear. One thing needs to be clear about true peace of mind: Either we are at peace
(Excerpted from "Let Go and Live in the Now" -- Red Wheel/Weiser, 2004: 850 words) nnWe human beings are born with an indefinable longing to grow beyond ourselves, to penetrate and illuminate the mysterious depths of our own heart. The ideal and pursuit of perfection is literally seeded into our soul; it pervades our very being. Our longing to walk among the stars does not seem out of reach; the wish to be eternal goes with us everywhere. In more down-to-earth terms, if we wi