Today we ask that you transcend your fears of bullies and critics.

This world is full of bullies, and critics.

Bullies throw their weight around, and intimidate.  They get in your face, with the intention of making you feel powerless.

Critics attack by criticizing.  They may not always seem as outwardly aggressive as bullies.  They may seem more passive, and say things like: “I’m only telling you this because it’s for your own good.”  Don’t believe them.  Critics are insidious.  They tear everything down.  Nothing is ever good enough for them, and yet they don’t actually create anything new or really do anything.  Even so, nothing you do you will never be good enough for a critic.  If you listened to them, you wouldn’t do anything at all.

Stop giving bullies and critics so much power.

It is good sometimes to see people who threaten you as if they were cartoon animals.  This will make them less threatening in your mind.

Bullies are like braying asses.  Donkeys bare their teeth, and make loud noises that set your nerves on edge.  They kick, and stomp their hooves.

But they are just donkeys.  It isn’t personal — they’re like that with everyone.

Critics are like clucking hens, in a hen house.  They’re always getting their feathers ruffled, and clucking to the other hens. “You wouldn’t believe what I heard about so-and-so!”  “Who does she think she is?”  Cluck-cluck-cluck.  Judge-judge-judge.  This person did it wrong, that person did it wrong.  

But they’re just clucking hens.  They may make a lot of noise, but what power do they really have?  And they say those things about everyone.

When you think about people who trigger your fears, imagine them as cartoon animals.  Maybe they are cats, or dogs, or birds, or horses, or monkeys.

This is not meant to dehumanize them.  It is meant to help you conquer your fear.

The part of humans that bullies, criticizes and attacks is not fully human.  It is the lower self, the animal self that engages in these behaviors.  Therefore it is accurate to represent the bullying or critical parts of people as animal in nature.  

Everyone has a higher self, an immortal soul.  That part is not animal; it is spirit.  But that part never bullies, attacks, or criticizes.  

Try it.  Try picturing the bullies and critics in your life as cartoon animals.  It is a fun game to play, and it will shrink down your fears.

You wouldn’t give your power away to a donkey or a hen, would you?

You can even depict the critical or bullying voices in your own mind as cartoon animals.  Then those voices will have less power over you.  Try it!

Today we ask that you stop fearing authority figures.

Most humans are conditioned from an early age to fear authority figures.  Traditionally, this is how parents won obedience from their children — by threatening punishment.  While parenting models have evolved for the better, many children still grow up in environments that are essentially abusive.

Most schools perpetuate this model.  Since children are told that their grades will determine their future, their safety depends on the approval of their teachers.  A teacher has the power to declare a child a “failure.”  This can be utterly devastating for a child.

The military has always employed ritual abuse in order to condition total obedience to authority.  Soldiers are conditioned to so deeply fear the disapproval of their commanders that they will consent to kill, or be killed — even in wars that they do not believe in.

In such ways are humans conditioned to give away their power, and live in constant fear.  You must live your whole life for the approval of others.  Disapproval feels unbearable.  Like rats in an experiment, you have been conditioned to experience disapproval as terrible pain, and a threat to your survival.

No human can truly be free until he frees himself from the bondage of fearing disapproval from authority figures.

Meditate today on the ways you feel fear around authority figures.

Do you fear “people in charge”?  Do you experience physical fear responses around parents, teachers, bosses?  Do you desperately crave the approval of others?  Does disapproval make you go crazy?

It is very possible to change this pattern.  The first step is becoming conscious of it.

One practice you can do is to imagine yourself in a situation with a feared authority figure.  It can even be someone who is no longer alive — many people are still giving their power away to people who longer exist on this plane.  Imagine a worst-case scenario: they are screaming at you, perhaps threatening you with harm; you have failed them.  Notice the physical fear and emotional sensations that arise.

Now, take at least ten slow, deep breaths.  Inhale, and exhale deep into your belly.  Calm your body down.  Show your body that nothing bad is actually happening to you.  You have not been harmed.  You are okay.  There is no real threat; it is all in your mind.  Even if you experienced abusive situations in the past, right now at this moment, nothing bad is happening.  You are perfectly safe.

If fear of authority figures is a major issue for you — and this is the certainly the case for anyone who grew up in even a mildly abusive environment — then it would be very useful to practice this technique frequently.  Over time, you will cultivate the skill of mastering your fear in the presence of authority figures.  

If you break the habit of fearing authority figures, you will reclaim a vast amount of power in your life, and live far more fully.

Today we ask that you master your fear.

This is the most difficult challenge any human can face.  But if you wish to awaken into higher consciousness, it is essential that you make this leap.

You can be a very spiritually educated person, who meditates and absorbs the knowledge of the wise.  But if you do not master your fear, you will always be at the mercy of lower energies.  The moment you feel overwhelmed by fear, you lose touch with spiritual consciousness.  As the fear intensifies, you may become like a scared animal, or a child.  You feel powerless.

For everyone on a spiritual journey, the time comes to master fear.  Fear is a physical response to a threat.  It is useful in life-or-death situations.  If you are being chased down by a bear, the physical fear response will give your body a rush of necessary adrenalized strength and focus.

The problem is, most of you are sitting in office chairs, not being chased down by bears.  But if you are a typical modern human, you are afraid all the time.

You wake in the morning with fear.  You go through your day with fear.  You go to bed with fear, and you do not sleep well.

You are afraid of your boss.  You are afraid of your coworkers.  You are afraid of your family members.  You are afraid of the news.  You are afraid of people who have different politics or religious beliefs.  You are afraid of the future.  You are afraid, you are afraid, you are afraid.

People who are constantly scared function very poorly.  They do not make intelligent decisions, and act impulsively.  They are easily manipulated by untrustworthy authority figures.  They engage in addictive behaviors, because the temporary rush they get out of eating sugary food or taking drugs or shopping or gambling eases their fear, if only for a moment.

Modern people cannot sit still, because the moment they stop moving and checking Facebook, their fears overwhelm them.  

Many people are so paralyzed by fear, they require medication just to get out of bed.

Even people who appear to be very dominating and aggressive behave the way they do because they are terrified.  No one is more terrified than a bully.

Chronic fear makes people physically and mentally ill.  The vast majority of all “first world” illness is caused by fear.  Heart disease, cancer, diabetes — these are the illnesses of fear.

So fear is a very big issue.

In stories and movies, heroes are always asked to face their worst fear.  Luke Skywalker must face Darth Vader, Harry Potter must face Voldemort.  It is the transcendence of their worst fear that allows them to become a true Jedi, a true Wizard.

To become heroes within your own life, you also must face your fears.  You must face your own Darth Vaders and Voldemorts.

When you are run by fear, you are unconscious, like a sleepwalker.  Most people are so chronically fear-ridden that they do not understand it is possible not to be afraid.

To conquer fear, first you must cultivate the ability to relax your body.

Engage in practices like meditation, qigong, or yoga, that take your body out of the adrenalized fear state, and allow it to relax.  Get a massage.  Soak in a bathtub.  Just learn what it feels like in your body, not to be tense and afraid.

Then start facing down little fears.  Do things that take you slightly out of your comfort zone.  You all know what your little fears are.  Maybe you would like to perform on stage, but you fear being exposed in front of an audience.  Take an improv class.  Learn to push yourself out of your comfort zone, in a safe, supportive environment.

Face down your fears in your own imagination.  While you are in a safe place, imagine facing a fear.  Keep reminding yourself that it is only in your imagination; nothing bad can actually happen to you.  You will feel the physiological fear response get triggered.  Start to take long, deep, slow breaths — calming down your body — as you continue to imagine facing the fear.  In time, with practice, you will feel less afraid.  That will help you face the fear in “real life.”

Do not allow your fears to dominate you, as most people do.  Do not limit your existence, because of fear.  

Learn to be very observant of your fear response.  Notice tightness in your chest and throat, tension in your shoulders, shallow breathing, sweaty palms.

When you notice this feeling, do not take any impulsive action!  Don’t write that email.  It will only make matters worse.  You must wait until your body is calm before you take any action.

The key is to learn how to calm yourself down, at will.  Realize that most of your fears will not kill you.  Your boss is not going to kill you.  Your family member is not going to kill you.  The traffic jam is not going to kill you.  Even if your physical body instinctively responds to these things as if they really will kill you, you must learn to activate your higher consciousness, and show your body that this is not true.

It is extremely challenging for humans to master fear, but it can be done.  It is a skill that requires practice and dedication, like any other.

Just making the commitment in your own mind to master your fear, and not be dominated by it, is a major first step on the path to liberation.  Everything will follow from this.

Every day, try to do one thing that is a little bit scary for you.  It can be as simple as organizing clutter or paying a bill.  Give your body cues that it is safe as you are doing this.  Do a five minute breathing meditation before you commence the “scary activity,” so that your body naturally feels calmer.  The main thing is to stay conscious around the fear response, and not allow it to overwhelm you.  With regular practice, this will get much easier — and you will be able to practice this ability when you are “out in the world.”

Over time, you will come to learn that on the deepest level, there is really nothing to fear.  Even Darth Vader and Voldemort.

Today we ask that you choose not to listen to destructive voices.

Destructive voices present themselves internally, and externally.

Their essence is always one of attack.

Destructive voices attack.  They attack you, they attack other people, they attack reality, and they attack God.

They say, you are worthless.  Other people are worthless.  Reality is worthless.  God is worthless.

They say, you are not good enough, and you will never be good enough.  No one is good enough.  Reality isn’t good enough.  God isn’t good enough.

They say, to enjoy life is foolish and irresponsible.  Life is terrible.  You should expect only misery.  Maybe if you struggle and experience a lot of pain, you can try to make yourself safe by earning money and status.  Or else you can show you are worth something by being very virtuous and good — although, of course, you will never be good enough.

Destructive voices say, if you are bad, you will suffer eternal damnation.  They say that God does not love bad people.

Listen to people when they talk.  Notice how much of their dialogue is steeped in attack energy.

Do they constantly complain?  Do they talk about how horrible people are, and how broken the world is?

What about the voice in your own head that does this?

This destructive voice likes to say it is very smart.  But really, it is very stupid.  All destructive action arises out of listening to this voice.  Wars, murders.  Atrocities.  Crazy shootings and terrorist acts arise out of this voice.

This destructive voice is very self-righteous, very humorless.  Often it invokes “the law.”  It has “the law” on its side.  Sometimes it is religious law, sometimes it is social law.  It is always taking people to court.  It is the judge and jury, heaping condemnation on everyone.  

Do not listen to this voice!

It is wrong.  It is wrong 100% of the time.

It is wrong about everything.

If it had its way, all that is good and beautiful in this world would be destroyed.  It would make the world into a gray, empty, desolate place.

This voice despises all that is light, loving, joyful, and creative.  Like all petty dictators, it seeks to snuff out free thinkers and creative movers and shakers.  It would send them to the gulag, to the prison camp.  

Within your own mind, this voice seeks to snuff out your own creative light and energy.  When you listen to it, you find yourself in your own mental prison camp of depression and hopelessness.

Do not listen to it!

When you hear this voice speak, do not listen.  Turn off the TV, turn off the internet.  Choose not to spend time with people who are like this.

If you must spend time with family members or coworkers who are strongly rooted in the destructive voice, you must constantly remind yourself not to listen, not to believe what they are saying.  Hold on to the light within you.  Think about all that you love, all that brings you joy in this life.  Imagine a song in your mind, that makes you happy inside.

It is essential that you never argue with the destructive voice, for it feeds and grows stronger on opposition.  Tell it that it could be right.  That is all it wants to hear, anyway — that it is right about everything.  You will never reason with this voice.  So tell it that it could be right, and go about your business.  If you argue with it, you will just exhaust yourself and be further poisoned.

When it manifests in your mind, nip it in the bud.  Meditate, or count at least ten full breaths in and out.  Go for a walk outside, and look at the trees and grass.  Get out of your head, and back into your body.  Feel your feet on the ground.  Be with an animal or a young child.  Do some physical exercise.  Garden.  Listen to music.  Watch something on TV that you know to be very light and silly, that will make you laugh and lighten your heart.

Just don’t give that voice a soapbox in your mind.  When it gets going, it is very hard to shut it up.  And it will try to kill all the joy, pleasure, and creativity in your existence.  

Do not give your power to this voice, whether it is internal, or external.  Do not listen to it, even if it is your own mother or father.  Parents are often not all that wise.  It is the very rare parent who is truly wise.  If your parent is a miserable person who is always complaining and negative — feel compassion, but do not listen!  Do not believe their story about reality.

The energy of destructive voices is just as toxic to the human mind and body as chemicals, radiation, and disease.  Please limit your exposure to this energy, and work to develop your psychic immune system though meditative practices.  

Today we ask that you take responsibility for your perception and experience of life.

While you cannot control external events or other people, the one thing in life you do have a measure of control over is your own perception and experience.

There are two modes of perception:

The first might be called “expansive perception.”

Expansive perception is open.  You are open to new experiences, possibilities, growth, and learning.  Your basic belief about life and reality is that it is good.  You trust the universe, and have faith that there is a purpose and meaning to your life, and life experiences.  You are playful, and humorous.  You have a strong desire to expand your own health and well-being, and the well-being of others.  You are deeply appreciative of all that is good in life.  You can appreciate the “simple things.”  You awaken in the morning with a sense of excitement about what the day will bring, and fall asleep at night with a sense of satisfaction.

Limiting perception is closed.  You dislike change, you have no desire to be challenged or to grow.  You crave comfort and safety, and only take in information that confirms the beliefs you already have, asking you to learn nothing.  You don’t think have to grow because you’re already a “grown-up,” and growing is something only children do.  You believe you “can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”  You are often humorless, and take yourself very seriously.  You complain all the time, about everything.  Nothing is ever good enough for you.  Life is terrible.  The world is broken beyond repair.  You live in a “dog-eat-dog” world in which you must fight and claw your way to getting and holding on to what is yours.  Other people are the competition, the enemy.  There is no meaning or purpose.  Faith is for naive fools.  You don’t take good care of yourself; why bother.  You wake up in the morning with a sense of dread, and at night you are so plagued by anxieties and terrors that you sleep poorly, if at all.

These are the two ways of perceiving life.

Now here’s the trick:

It’s a choice. 

You can choose expansive perception, or limiting perception.  You can make this choice at every moment.

If you find yourself in limiting perception, with all the misery that entails, you can actively shift your perception back into expansiveness without anything changing in your external reality.

Only of the most effective ways to quickly access expanded perception is through gratitude.  Consciously think about what you are grateful for in life.  Find one thing you can appreciate.  Then find another.  And another.  It can be a very small thing.  The important thing is to feel the feeling of appreciation.

Engage in loving action.  If you have a pet, go cuddle your pet.  Go for a walk outdoors, and make a real effort to appreciate the beauty around you.  Notice the trees, the sky, flowers.  When you eat a meal, take time to appreciate all the effort that went into the creation of the meal, including the growing of the ingredients.  

Make a point of thanking people, and honoring them for what they do, no matter how small.

Engage in practices that increase the well-being of your body and mind.  Meditate.  Go to a yoga class.  Choose a healthy meal over processed munchies.

It takes conscious effort to raise your energy out of limiting perception into expansive perception.  It takes dedication, and practice.  Sometimes it is extremely difficult, especially when you are surrounded by people who are stuck in limiting consciousness, or when you come from a family that is strongly rooted in limiting consciousness.

Raising your perception, at will, is like developing your abdominal muscles.  When you first start to develop abdominal muscles, they may feel very atrophied.  You can barely use them.  You’re exhausted after a few sit-ups.  It is only through regular, preferably daily, practice that these muscles can develop, and you gain real strength in your “core.”  

Your consciousness becomes strong enough to withstand the negativity of family members, bosses, coworkers, and people on TV and the internet.  You can enter a strong energetic field of limiting consciousness, and still remain expansive.  

Please build your consciousness muscles, through meditation, gratitude practices, and good physical and mental hygiene (i.e. choosing not to consume things you know to be unhealthy, whether it’s food or reality TV). 

The stronger these muscles get, the more you’ll be able to dwell in expansive perception, and resist the constant drag of limiting perception that you will encounter in daily life.  As a result, you will experience far more peace, joy, and creativity.

Today we ask that you consciously learn to work with your body, emotions, and thoughts.

You each possess a physical body, an emotional body, and a mental body.

The physical body experiences the senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch.  It is a marvelous organism that consumes food, converts it to energy, processes waste, and continually modifies and repairs its structures.  It is the material home for your soul.  It is like a wondrous machine — infinitely more complex and valuable than any man-made scientific marvel.  It possesses a very basic, primal consciousness and self-awareness.

Your emotional body feels.  Happiness, sadness, anger, fear.  It has a great deal in common with mammalian animals.  It is the seat of instinct, and intuition.  It can feel whether or not other people are lying, or pose a threat.  It is in tune with the rhythms of nature, and with the collective unconscious of mankind.  At its highest level, it conveys a wordless wisdom that can never be understood with thought; only felt deep within.

Your mental body thinks.  It learns.  It digests information.  It plays with concepts and philosophies.  It is the seat of the intellect, and the imagination.  The mental body can construct a cathedral, or grasp the Theory of Relativity.  At its highest level, it is the seat of insight, the “a-ha” moment, when everything comes together.  It imagines, and builds from its imagination.  It tells stories.  It can perceive beyond the limits of the physical senses and feelings, through its imagination.  It can imagine other worlds.  It can imagine the divine.  

When the physical, emotional and mental bodies are healthy and functional — what a piece of work is Man!

Each one of you possesses this capacity.

Some humans are more physical, others more emotional, others more mental.  These are like different colors in the palette.  Everyone is a unique shade, but some are more red, more blue, more yellow.

As we said in yesterday’s message, it is essential that each of these bodies be attuned to your true spiritual nature.  That is what creates health, and allows them to fulfill their highest purpose.

It is a very useful practice to check in with each of your bodies several times each day.

Ask, what is going on with my physical body right now?

What does it sense?  Does it have aches and pains?  Is it hungry?  Is it tired?  How can you help it, without giving into its cravings (reaching for the cookies, etc.)  Maybe it needs a healthy snack.  Maybe it needs to stretch.  Maybe it needs to go for a walk.  Listen to it.

Ask, what is going on with my emotional body right now?

What do you feel?  If you are angry, anxious, or sad, what is causing this?  Without giving into your cravings (lashing out in hostility at someone else, watching “junk” TV to distract yourself, etc.) ask how can you help it?  Maybe you need a hug.  Maybe you need to cuddle an animal.  Maybe you really need to cry.  Listening to music can help.  Try to find a safe space in which you can feel your feelings.  Be very gentle with this body.  Listen to it.  It contains deep wisdom.  

Ask, what is going on with my mental body right now?

What are you thinking?  Are your thoughts racing?  Are you imagining bad things happening to you, or your loved ones, in the future?  Are you obsessing over things that happened in the past?  Are you distracted from the task you are supposed to be doing right now because you are thinking about something that won’t happen for months, or years, if ever?  Is your head overheated from all the information you’re taking in from the internet?  Are you paranoid, obsessing over problems in the world that you have no control over?  What is going on?

In order for your mental body to be healthy, you must learn to help it calm down.  You cannot let it race around like a hyperactive child.  You must learn to focus.

The best tool for this is learning to meditate.  Focusing on your breath will calm your mind.

Another very useful tool is The Work of Byron Katie.  This is a system that asks you to inquire into the truth of your thoughts.  You will discover that almost all of your stressful thoughts cannot be proven true.

When you learn to calm your hyperactive thoughts, your mental body becomes healthier.  You actually start thinking “higher quality” thoughts, instead of just letting your brain rattle around.  You will become far more productive.

You must also remind your mental body that you are a spiritual being.  Use your imagination to imagine realities that increase your well-being, and the well-being of others.  That is is the proper use of the imagination.

Please learn to check in with your physical, emotional, and mental bodies.

Just asking: what do I sense in my body right now?  What do I feel emotionally right now?  What am I thinking in my mind right now?  — asking will automatically bring more consciousness to these bodies.

Please help your body, emotions, and thoughts work for you, not against you.  It really is possible!

Today we ask that you know you are not a monkey.

This is not an argument against evolutionary theory.  Your physical body is extremely similar to monkeys and primates.

However, you are not your physical body.  

You are a spiritual being, residing within a physical body.  You also possess an emotional body, and a mental body.  These bodies all interact together in a highly complex system that, when working harmoniously, creates a marvelous, healthy human being.

Most humans do not have physical, emotional and mental bodies that work harmoniously.  That is because they are disconnected from their spiritual selves.  Connecting with spiritual truth is like plugging into a tuning fork that tunes all the lower bodies and brings them into harmony with each other, and spirit.

Practices like meditation, qigong, and yoga are ancient methods of plugging into this spiritual tuning fork, and harmonizing the mental, emotional and physical bodies.

A healthy human is always rooted in her spiritual self.  Every action has a spiritual dimension.  She does what she does to increase well-being and consciousness not only for herself, but for all beings.

When people are disconnected from their spiritual selves, the lower bodies fall out of harmony.  They begin to act independently, and as a result the human tends to devolve, and become more ape-like.  

The physical body becomes ruled by cravings and addictions.  It desires physical comfort, sex, sugary food, drugs.  It can get very aggressive if those cravings are denied.  

The emotional body is also ruled by cravings and addictions.  It desires emotional comfort, feelings of safety, and constant reassurance.  It gets extremely agitated and hysterical if those cravings are denied.  

The mental body becomes consumed by fantasies and fearful projections.  Like the other bodies, it is obsessed with safety, for its greatest fear is death — that it will be snuffed out of existence.  It spends its time calculating ways to maximize its safety.  It usually believes this goal can be achieved by dominating others and rising to the top of the hierarchy — an ape-like belief.  It also craves physical immortality by propagating its own genetic material; creating a “dynasty.”  Its nature is cold and calculating, similar to the archetypal character of the artificial intelligence in science fiction.   When its cravings for power, security, and physical immortality are denied, it goes insane, and can be a force of terrible destruction.

Historically, human males have been more identified with the mental body, and human females are more identified with the emotional body.  Without connection to the spiritual center, humans tend to fall into archetypal male/female roles — the cold, dominating male; the shrewish, needy female, etc.  

This is what happens when the lower bodies are disconnected from the spiritual self.  Humans become ape-like, driven by their cravings, impulses, the will to dominate, and an insane desire to escape physical death.  

It is impossible to truly experience life as a full human being without some sense of a greater spiritual consciousness.  This has nothing to do with religion.  Many religious people are not spiritual at all, and many spiritual people do not subscribe to any particular religion.

Being spiritual just means being conscious that you are here on this planet to do more than satisfy your primal impulses for security, comfort, and dominance over others.  It means you are not a monkey.  You are a Man.  

Learn to notice when you are being taken over by your lower bodies — whether physical, emotional, or mental.  

You must learn to take care of your lower bodies, the way a good parent takes care of children.  You must nourish and listen to your physical, emotional and mental bodies.  As if they were siblings, you must love them all, and let no one of them dominate or suppress the others (it is common for the mental body to suppress the physical and emotional bodies, which is a major cause of illness).  

But all the lower bodies must serve your spiritual core.  Your actions must be aligned to a higher purpose.  Then you will experience peace, joy, health and harmony in your existence.  

Mankind is at a crossroads.  It is time to evolve out of your ape-like nature, and take your place as full human beings.  Many of you are already there.  Engage in practices that harmonize your physical, emotional, and mental bodies with your spiritual self.  

Today we ask that you learn to master your impulses.

This is one of the healthiest things any human can do.

Within every human, there are many lower, less evolved identities.

Every human brain contains a reptilian part, and a mammalian part.

The reptilian part deals with survival, fight or flight, seeing things as threatening or harmless, and initiating hostile, defensive, and attacking behaviors.  It seeks security above all, and is incapable of empathy.  

The mammalian part deals with social bonding, familial and tribal relationships, parent-child relationships, and social hierarchies.  The mammalian self can feel empathy, but only for those it identifies as part of its family, or tribe.

In addition to these, you contain your whole genetic histories.  Your ancestors have a kind of life within you, and can influence your thoughts and impulsive behaviors.  You contain your parents’ identities within you very strongly, even if you never knew your parents.

You also contain within you your identities at various stages of childhood and adolescent development.

Together, all these identities form a collective thought form body.  This thought form body manifests as what Freud called the “id,” “ego,” and “superego.”  They can take shape as a voice in your head, or as an overwhelming craving or impulse.

Most people believe that these identities are who they are.  But this is not true.  They are your Lower Self.  

You are an immortal being, temporarily occupying a human body.

These primal, genetic, Lower Self structures can dominate your existence.  Or you can liberate yourself from them.

The Lower Self is not bad, or an enemy.  The part of you that craves sugar, or alcohol, or procrastinates, or wishes to cheat on your mate isn’t evil.  It is just a less evolved part of you, that requires good parenting.

Most people have no idea how to be good parents to their Lower Selves, so they are totally ruled by their impulses and conditioning.

Meditation is an ancient and powerful tool for learning not to give into the Lower Self.

Simply sitting in one place, “doing nothing” for a set period of time will teach you impulse control.

Learning to observe your thoughts, and not get caught up in the discursive meanderings of thinking, will teach you impulse control.

From there, it becomes a little easier to refrain from impulsive habits.  Eating poorly, vegetating in front of the TV or computer, shopping compulsively, getting into hostile arguments over nothing — all of these are impulsive habits, triggered by your Lower Self.

You can even get familiar with your inner identities.  Feeling overwhelming defensiveness, hostility and a lack of empathy?  That’s your Reptile Brain.  Feeling insecure about your rank within the social hierarchy and desperate for approval?  That’s your Mammal Brain.  You can also learn to recognize your Inner Five Year Old, your Inner Ten Year Old, your Inner Teenager, etc.  You can recognize your Inner Mother, and your Inner Father.  You can recognize ancestral habits.  As you do, all these identities will have less power over you.  

Never be punitive with yourself.  Punishing impulsive behaviors only perpetuates them!  

Just learn to notice your impulsive habits, and be a gentle, loving, but firm parent.  If you know ice cream is bad for you, choose not to eat it.  If you do eat it, don’t attack yourself for eating it, but make a real commitment not to give in the next time.  If you know watching reality TV makes you sluggish and depressed, choose not to turn it on.  

If you feel disempowered in your life, learning impulse control is the path toward stepping into your true power.

Try meditating, even for five minutes a day.  It helps!

Today we ask that you be wary of any “quick and easy fix.”

Humans are very paradoxical creatures.  On one hand, you believe that life is a struggle, and that people earn merit and display virtue by struggling.

On the other hand, everyone is always looking for a “quick and easy fix” to their problems.  Even people who are really invested in their struggle identity, and perhaps especially those people, all salivate at the thought of a quick and easy fix.

Really, they are two sides of the same coin.  

Looking for the “quick and easy fix” is just addictive thinking.  It is like the person who forces himself through the grueling, painful, joyless workout and then rewards himself with a sugary treat — thus defeating the purpose of the workout.  The sugary treat is a “quick fix” for the pain and misery of the workout.

Humans work themselves into exhaustion and sickness, then reach for the quick fix of stimulants and pharmaceuticals to keep themselves going.

Of course, as any child’s fairy tale will inform you, the “quick and easy solution” is always anything but.

If you are already sick, exhausted, and mentally unstable, stimulants and pharmaceuticals will only mask the symptoms.  Down the road, you face complete physical collapse, severe illness, possibly terminal illness.

Quick fixes never work out.  It is like patching over a problem.  The problem doesn’t go away.  Under the patch, it only gets much worse.

You must extricate yourself from the pattern of struggle and misery, ameliorated by quick fixes.

In the old Roman Empire, people kept slaves.  In order to keep the slaves quiescent despite their lives of drudgery, once a year the slaves got a holiday, called Saturnalia.  They were “free” for a day, and could get drunk, participate in orgies, mock their masters without punishment, and generally go wild.  This “quick fix” kept them quiescent in their bondage for the rest of the year.

How many people today still live lives like those Roman slaves.  Drudgery and toil, punctuated by little Saturnalias.  Get drunk, get high, cheat on the wife.  Even this brief release is preferable to those who never allow themselves any release at all, living lives of continuous repression and toil only made tolerable by stimulants and pharmaceuticals.  

Don’t believe in “quick fixes.”  Whether it’s a drug or an offer in the mail — beware.

But don’t believe in struggle, either.

The well-lived life feels like an enjoyable, healthy challenge.  Always, there is growth, learning, and new experiences.  You work your muscles, but it is not painful or miserable.  It may be uncomfortable, but you certainly don’t need drugs to numb yourself to the experience.  It is like a good yoga class, a good bike ride.  Sometimes it is very challenging, sometimes less so.  But you’re never on auto-pilot, going through the motions.  The basic feeling tone is good, and enjoyable.

There are no quick fixes on a bike ride, or in a yoga class.  You can’t shorten the distance, you can’t skip to the end.  Nor would you want to.  You have no desire to reward yourself for the activity, because you don’t perceive it as a chore, or punishment.  It is only when you view life activities as chores and punishments that you crave quick fixes.

Quick fixes can be very insidious.  It manifests as compulsive, addictive behavior: plastic surgery, drugs, shopping, gambling.  Gambling is a classic “quick fix” scenario that never works out in the long-term.  Most criminal behavior is a quick fix.  Sadly, suicide is its own quick fix.

When you stop seeing life as a struggle, you will also stop craving quick fixes.  You’ll stop fantasizing about winning the lottery.  That is a slave’s fantasy.  

Life is good.  It is not punitive.  You are no one’s slave.  Your life is meant to be enjoyed.  All humans innately enjoy healthy challenges, if they have not been conditioned to believe they are slaves, and that life is toil and drudgery that can only be eased by quick fixes.

Today we ask that you know that pain does not make you special.

Consciously, very few people enjoy pain, with the exception of masochists.

But unconsciously, many people believe that pain and suffering make you special.

Religion venerates saints and martyrs who died excruciating deaths for their faith.  Most Christians do not focus on the Resurrection of their Savior, but rather the Crucifixion.

Religions tend to fetishize pain and torture the same way sadomasochistic fetishists do.

And since many people are exposed to these religious images and stories in early childhood, unconsciously as adults they continue to fetishize pain and suffering.

Society often holds up suffering as a sign of virtue.  The overworked parent who works himself into a state of sickness, exhaustion, and an early grave for his children — such a person is a saint, to be venerated.  The dutiful worker who works himself into state of sickness and exhaustion for his own advancement and the advancement of his company — such a person is to be venerated. 

Victims, in general, are to be venerated.  Their suffering makes them more special than others who have not been victimized.

Romance is associated with pain and suffering.  Love is torture, agony.  People fetishize stories about vampires, seeing them as objects of great passion and romance — instead of the parasitic bloodsuckers they are!  And so people get into abusive, painful relationships and think it must be love, since love is pain and suffering.

This is all quite unhealthy.

There is nothing virtuous, romantic, or special about pain, suffering, and victimhood.

Pain is a part of the life experience.  Everyone experiences physical and emotional pain.

But there is nothing special about it.

Animals experience physical and emotional pain.  They do not fetishize it; such a thing would not occur to them.  That’s why animals tend to get over their traumas relatively quickly, compared to humans.  They know how to “shake it off,” and get on with life.

On this planet, only humans fetishize pain and suffering, believing that it imbues them with specialness and nobility.  That is why humans have such a hard time letting go of trauma, and sometimes spend their whole lives in it.  While it is necessary to go through a grieving process around loss, there is a difference between grief as a process, and grief as an identity.

Animals have no concept of martyrdom.  This is a human invention — and a highly destructive one.

If you’re interested in experiencing less suffering in your existence, one good thing to do is to explore the ways in which you have been taught to believe suffering is virtuous, special, noble, and romantic.

Look at the ways you admire or venerate “virtuous sufferers” — in religion, in literature, in film and TV, and in your own life.

Start questioning your beliefs about pain and suffering being romantic, noble, special, and virtuous.

Love should not be painful.  Romantic relationships should feel good, nourishing, and healthy.  Don’t date vampires!  Vampires “suck.”

Life should not be painful.  Sometimes of course there are very painful experiences.  But the predominant feeling around life should not be one of torment.  Life is meant to be enjoyed, and should feel good.  Don’t be a martyr.  Don’t glorify victimhood.

Unless you really know that you’re “into” pain as an experience, it’s good to examine your unconscious beliefs around pain and suffering.