Today we ask that you learn how to be a good parent to yourself.

Very few people are lucky enough to have truly good parents.  By good, we mean sane, healthy, kind, loving, and non-reactive.  

For all human history, most humans have been born to crazy, destructive parents.  It is the way of things.  Crazy parents breed crazy children.  In every generation, a few awaken into sanity; but most remain asleep.

Humans deeply crave structure, and order.  Failing to find this structure and order within their own crazy families, they invent religions to create structure, order, and most importantly, a Divine Parent — a God who tells them what to do, how to think, and metes out rewards and punishments based on the behavior of His human children.

Unfortunately, crazy people tend to create crazy gods.

The gods of religion tend to be terrible parents — capricious, cruel, one moment loving, the next monstrous.  Such gods are only reflections of insane human collective consciousness.

It is time to let go of the terrible gods, and the terrible parents.

Of course, the craving for authority is so strong in humans that even when they abandon religion, they immediately set up horrible dictators to rule over them — as happened in Communist Russia, Fascist Germany, and so on.

Why do humans put their faith in cruel gods and cruel dictators?  Why are so many human lives sacrificed at the altars of these gods and dictators?

How can this cycle end?

It ends when humans wake up and comprehend that cruelty, punishment, hatred, and violence never represent the divine path, but rather the path of lower consciousness.  Animal consciousness.

Apes have a social order that is very close to what one perceives in mankind.  The primate tribe is organized around a dominant male — a “dictator,” if you will — and the rest of the tribe is subservient to this “alpha.”  The primates live in deep fear of the dominant male, who will sometimes kill in order to uphold his dominance.

Most religions, and social structures, throughout human history, have been reflections of the primate structure.

Any god or ruler who rules through fear, terror, and dominance is essentially a Big Ape.  That is all they are.  They are Big Apes.

If humans are to transcend their past, they must put their ape selves to rest.

In lieu of sick structures and crazy gods, they must create healthy structures and good parents.

Good parents do not rule through terror.  They are loving, wise, strong, and consistent in their behavior.  They nurture and encourage their children through positive reinforcement, not punishment.

Good parents create sane children.  And what the world needs now, more than anything, is a sane generation.

It is happening.  More and more humans are waking up.  They will not worship crazy gods, and crazy dictators.  They are more than monkeys.

Become fully human.  Put the Ape God to rest.

Today we ask that you understand that most of the time, subtlety is better than force.

Many people go through life like gorillas.  They perceive a threat, and then howl and beat their chests at it.

Or else they cower, and run away — like a scared, non-dominant gorilla.

So: it is either chest-beating, or hiding.  Force, or total helplessness.  These appear to be the only choices.

There is a better way.

There is another way to approach threatening situations.  One in which you neither beat your chest and yell and force, nor cower and fall into terrified helplessness.

This is the way of subtlety.

Sometimes, dealing with difficult people or situations is like entering a heavily guarded fortress to reach a hidden treasure.  The hidden treasure is successfully working with the difficult person to achieve a greater good, or defusing a tense situation, also to achieve a greater good.

There are three ways to approach a heavily guarded fortress:

The first is with a huge army.  This is the way of force, or chest-beating.  Thousands of foot soldiers may die in this battle, and victory is far from certain.

The second is just to run away from the fortress because you believe there is no way to reach the hidden treasure. This is the path of cowering fear, and helplessness.

The third way is to sneak into the guarded fortress like a thief, and liberate the hidden treasure right out from under the enemy’s nose — with no force, and no loss of life.

This is the path of subtlety.

It is like Obi Wan Kenobi, in “Star Wars,” using the Jedi Mind Trick.

It is a highly intelligent mode of action.  You are no longer a gorilla when you behave this way.  You are a true human being.

When faced with a threatening person or situation, ask yourself: how can I be Obi Wan?  How can I perform the Jedi Mind Trick?  How can I defuse tension without this person even understanding what it is I am doing?

How can I be the thief, who slips in unnoticed, and liberates the hidden treasure?

When faced with the choice of aggressive force or helpless submission — know that there is almost always a third way.  

When you inquire, “What is this third way?” — an answer will usually present itself.

Today we ask you to know that life has meaning.

When you live unconsciously, it appears that life has no meaning.  The days pass.  You are caught up in habitual routines.  Deep down you feel a sense of entrapment, like an animal in a cage.  You feel a sense of impending doom, which is really your fear of death.  You look to something outside yourself as your salvation.  Perhaps it is worldly success — money, status, achievement — that you believe will give you peace.  Perhaps it is the success of your children.  Perhaps you believe in an End Times prophecy, and pin your hope on the end of the world as it exists.

All of this is false.  This is life lived unconsciously.  Really, this is the way children think — fantasizing about the magic candyland where they can play all day and never do homework again.

This is not why you are here.  You are not here only to want to escape.  Life is not some kind of torment from which you must escape.

This is a good world.  It is a good world.

Right now, even now, you could be at peace.  There is a deep, primal joy running as an undercurrent through every single thing you perceive in the world of form.

You have not been put here to suffer and die.

You are here to wake up, and live.

It is a good world.  It is not a meaningless world.  It is a good world.

There are two paths to liberation.  The first is love.  The second is the end of judgment, and attack.  The second follows the first.

When you stop attacking everything, when you stop hating the world — when you create enough space in your mind to simply observe it, without judgment — then you begin to wake up.

And just like waking up from a bad dream… at that moment, the nightmare will be over.

Life has meaning.  

Today we ask that you stop punishing yourself.

Most humans really treat themselves quite horrifically.  You have crazy little dictators living in your heads, screaming at you all day long.  

“You should be doing more!  You should be better than you are!  You should eat better!  You should take better care of yourself!  You should lose weight!  You should be more productive!  You should make more money!”

What a horrid little monster.

Isn’t it funny, that the more this inner dictator shrieks at you, the less you seem to actually accomplish?

The little dictator is not your friend.  He may claim to be screaming at you “for your own good.”  It’s a lie.  This voice is not your friend.

Do you really want to get things done?

Here’s how:

Set a goal for yourself.  Let it be something that is actually realizable.  Something that you want to do that is good for you, that can realistically be accomplished.  Like going out and exercising tomorrow.  Or preparing a healthy meal.  Or paying the bills.

If you accomplish this goal, reward yourself.

Choose the reward before you set out to accomplish the task, and let the reward be something that will feel good to you, but not be unhealthy.  Obviously there is no point working out, then rewarding yourself with a milkshake.

A reward can be as simple as letting yourself take a long nap, or cuddling your pet, or taking a nice bath.  It can be watching a movie or TV show that you enjoy.  Whatever it is, the reward is not “productive.”  It is either relaxing, or fun.

This is called positive reinforcement, and if you practice it consistently, you will put your inner dictator out of work.

Really, your inner dictator is not intelligent.  He is quite mindless, and destructive.

Put your inner dictator out of work.  Turn your mind into your ally, not your enemy.

Instead of walking around with a little shrieking Hitler in your head, replace that voice with a warm, loving Mary Poppins.

Who do you think is a better motivator, really?  In terms of long-term, positive change?  

Hitler?  Or Mary Poppins?

Put your inner Hitler out of work.  Hire Mary Poppins.

Reward yourself when you do a good job.

Today we ask that you be true to yourselves.

This is not easy to do.

When you are children, parents and teachers tell you who to be.

As you get older, peers tell you.

Then girlfriends and boyfriends.

Then husbands and wives.

Faces on television tell you who to be.  Pundits have opinions.  Voices on the bright screen of the computer tell you who to be.

All kinds of well-meaning people tell you who to be.  They do it “for your own good.”

It is not for your own good.

Every human being living is utterly unique.  No two are alike.

Some humans feel comfortable embodying “normal,” or traditional roles, according to their societal values.

Others will never be at ease in those roles no matter how hard they try.

Squeezing into a role that does not fit is like squeezing into a suffocating corset — or a straightjacket.

All manner of terrible harm comes from well-meaning people trying to force other people into roles that simply do not suit them.

Such forcing always results in misery, and destructive behavior.

You cannot make dogs into cats.  You cannot make monkeys into lions.  You cannot make bees into butterflies.

Children are never merely extensions of their parents.  They may sometimes share similar characteristics, but they are totally unique, and unlike their parents.

What works for the parent will, in all likelihood, not work for the child.

And when parents force themselves into roles that do not fit in order to “sacrifice” for their children, no good comes of it.  Resentment and displaced desires and ambitions then settle on the child.

To thine own self be true.

What is good for others may not be good for you.

One of the greatest forms of wisdom is truly knowing yourself.

Today we ask that you understand that energy is more important than words, or appearances.

When people are upset about something, often they believe that the best thing to do is express their sense of outrage.  They must seek justice.  They must correct the person who has offended them.  At the very least, they believe that they need to “talk things over.”

In reality, all of these methods are ineffective, and most of them will just inflame a bad situation and make it worse.

Do you want to see real improvement?

Then let go of your need to be right, or prove a point, and listen to how things are done in reality.

In reality, if you wish to improve a situation, you must change the energy around it.

Some refer to this as “raising the vibration” around things, and it is an accurate description.

In any situation that is upsetting you, the single best thing you can do is create space and calm in your own consciousness.  You connect with the frequency or feeling around your heart center.

If you raise your own vibration around whatever it is that upsets you, your experience will change.

For example: if you are out in the world, and you encounter a person or situation that causes you upset, do not give in to the feelings of anger.  Do not attack the person, or situation.

Instead, go inside, and restore calm.  Connect with your heart center.  Relax.

At minimum, your experience of the situation will improve.

But something else may happen.  If you really shift your energy, you can also shift the energy of other people.  You can shift the energy around a situation.

All without opening your mouth.  All without making your point.  All without complaining.

Do you understand?

If you really understood the power you possess to change reality by shifting your own energy, you would never complain again.

Today we ask that you become a little more conscious about why you do what you do.

The truth is, most people do things without knowing why.  And when people do things without knowing why, it is easy to manipulate them.  It becomes easy to implant the idea in someone’s head that they need to do something, or believe something, or buy something because they are not in the habit of questioning why they do or believe or buy things.

The most important tool in terms of becoming conscious is to question.  Question your reality.  Ask, why do I do what I do?  And when someone says you need to do something, or believe something, or buy something — ask why.  “Do I really need this thing I am being sold?”  “Is the person on the television or internet telling me the absolute truth, or is it just a subjective opinion?”  

Even people who consider themselves very discerning, very aware about things, can be easily fooled if someone just presses the correct button.

The sad truth is, many people simply do not wish to take the time to question things.  It seems like too much effort, and there is a tremendous inertia that keeps people rooted in their narrow world views, doing and believing and buying things without really understanding why.

Before you get frustrated with other people for being this way, look to yourself.  Begin to notice the ways in which you stay unconscious, and do not question your beliefs, or your reality.

Today we ask that you have compassion for people who are asleep.

The truth is, the vast majority of human beings are asleep.  They walk the earth in a state of hypnotic trance, doing things without really understanding why they do them.  

At an early age, their parents and teachers inculcate them with certain beliefs.  One child will be a Christian, one a Muslim, one a Buddhist.  One child will be conservative, another liberal.  One child will believe in hellfire, another in jihad.  How can they help it?  It is what they are taught, how they are raised.

In every group, a few wake up.  A few question.  A few break out.  But most remain asleep.  They may feel a deep misery, which is really the pull of their true selves, trying to awaken them.  But most do not even understand that there is another reality one can wake up into.

Have compassion for the sleeping ones.  Forgive them.  They do not know what they do.

Do not attack them.  That only drives them further into unconsciousness.

Even intelligent, educated people may be largely unconscious.

Have compassion for the sleeping ones.  You have all been asleep, at one time or another.  You have all done things without knowing why.  They are mirrors are for you.  Have compassion.