Today we ask that you know what is real, and what is not real.

There is only one real and true thing in your reality.

That is love.

Love is real.

Anything that is born out of love, is real.

You live in a reality that is very dream-like, and fluid.  If you could see things unfold from the perspective of a mountain looking down on a city, human activity would look like a continual swirl of creation and destruction.  Things are built and destroyed.  Everything changes.  Nothing lasts.

You live in a reality that is built on shifting sand.

And yet there is a ground, a root, under the sand.  This ground does not move and shift.

Love instantly connects you with that place that exists beyond time and form.  It is the ground.  It is the root.

By love, we mean unconditional love.  It is just love, without any desire to fix or control.  You love something or someone just as it is, just as they are.  It is a very innocent feeling.

Confusion arises out of fear.  Fear leads to delusion, and a disconnection from love.  You become fixated on the shifting sands, and can no longer feel the solid ground beneath you.

With that comes a clinging, and a grasping, that is not rooted in love, but rather a fear-driven desire to control.

The fear-driven, controlling desire craves certain things:

Specialness.  Wealth.  Power.  Safety.  Security.  Dominance.  Fame.  Permanence.  Normalcy.  

None of these things are real.  They are all illusions.

Really, they can be simplified into two primary fear-driven desires:

Specialness.  

Safety.

You wish to be special, and you wish to be safe.

And for many, these desires supersede love.  People spend their whole lives wishing to be special, and safe.  They also want love, but specialness and safety are more important.

Specialness and safety are not real.

You cannot achieve specialness, because you already are special.  

Every leaf on every tree is special.  Every cat and dog is special.  Every human born is special.

No one human is ever intrinsically worth more than any other human.

You cannot achieve safety, because you already are safe.

You will die.  This is true for everyone.  You will, sooner or later, experience the death of your physical bodies.

This will not be the end of you, and that is why you are completely safe.

Fame, dominance, and riches — which is how humans achieve what they believe to be specialness, and safety — do not last.  This is because they are not real.  Unreal things never last.  

Every famous person will eventually be utterly forgotten.  Every empire and dynasty will eventually crumble.  Fame, dominance, and riches never last.

Love is real.  The love you feel in your heart, right now, at this moment — that is real.  That is the only real thing there is.

Love is real.

Specialness and safety are illusions.

Love lasts.  The love you put into things lasts.

 That is why you can look at a very old, beautiful work of art whose creator might be completely forgotten — but if love was put into the creation, you will respond to it today.  You will feel the love, across space and time.  The name of the creator is forgotten, and he is long dead; but the love is real, and it lasts.

Specialness and safety do not last, and cannot last.

The more you ground yourself in love, the more solid and real life will begin to feel to you.  You will be less fearful, and more at peace.  

Today we ask that you stay conscious of the ways in which you fantasize about things.

People daydream.  They daydream about becoming rich and famous.  They daydream about their children becoming rich and famous.  They daydream about fictional characters in movies and TV.  They daydream about celebrities.  They daydream about dream weddings, dream houses, dream babies.  They daydream about getting makeovers, or getting fit and beautiful.  They daydream about winning the lottery.  They have great romances going in their minds.

It is easy to get quite lost in all these fantasies.  And sometimes that can be dangerous.

Many of you know, or have known, someone who is madly, romantically in love with someone who does not return their feelings.  Often, when you meet the object of such a person’s affections, you think: “That person?”  You may be able to easily perceive things about this person that your daydreaming romantic friend cannot see at all.

There is nothing wrong with dreams and romance.  But problems arise as people become deeply disconnected from reality, so lost are they in their fantasies, and projections.

It is one thing to do something because you love to do it.

It is another to do something because you fantasize that it might make you rich and famous.

It is one thing to fall in love with someone from a space of deep, true connection.

It is another to become romantically obsessed with someone you do not really know.

It is one thing to wish for your children to be happy and fulfilled in their lives.

It is another to project all your own failed ambitions upon your children, and daydream about their grand futures.

When something is based more on egotistical fantasy, rather than truth, reality has a way of stripping everything away except that which is true, and real.

This process can feel very painful, but it is essential to growth, and maturation.

Ultimately, you may find yourself in a calm, stable place.  There, you are at peace with where you are right at this moment — and you no longer have any need to fantasize.

Please know that there is nothing wrong with dreaming, or having desires.

The question is: is this dream or desire rooted in the True Self?  Does it come from love?

Or is it bubbling up from the False Self.  Does it have a grasping, clinging quality?  Does this fantasy make you feel like you are special, or worth more, or more important?

If you love to dance, you love to dance.  It is not about being somebody special, or worth more than other people.

If you love a person, you love that person for who she or he is.  But being with that person will not make you special, or worth more.

That is how to tell the difference between a true dream that arises from the heart, or a fantasy that arises from the ego.

Dreams do come true.

Fantasies tend to go up in smoke.

Today we ask that you know that life is worthwhile.

For many, human existence seems like a difficult, challenging, unrewarding experience.

If you had any say in the matter, you would have much rather been born on some happier, more peaceful planet.

Such places do exist.

And yet here you are.  Why are you here?

You are here because you chose to be here.

It is as simple as that.

You chose this particular space and time in which to experience human existence, with all its challenges and suffering.

No one forced you to come here.

It was not a punishment.

It was not because of “bad karma” from another life.

It was not because you are not yet evolved enough.

This is not hell, or purgatory.

You chose to be here, now.  You chose it.

And all the basic parameters of your existence, you consented to in advance.

It is okay if you do not believe this.

Not believing this is a part of the journey you chose.

But if any part of you is open to this concept, it is interesting to play with.

If you came here of your own free will, why.

Why might that be?

If you were not born into circumstances beyond your control, if you were not born a powerless victim in a frightening world…

… if you actually chose this…

… why might that be?

And why this world, of all places?

Imagine that you are an immortal being.  Why would you choose to come to this place in particular, and forget who you are?

You don’t have to believe this.  Even if you don’t believe it, it’s a fun idea to play with.

Today we ask that you feel and know that there is a purpose to your being here.

There is a purpose to your existence.

There is a purpose to this reality.

There is a purpose to everything that happens.

There is a purpose behind every so-called “failure,” or “mistake.”

There is a purpose behind every perceived misfortune, or tragedy, or disaster.

Everything has a purpose.

Often, there is a Voice that will tell you everything is meaningless.

This Voice will show you all the terrible things that appear to happen in the world.  It will say: “Look, you are powerless to prevent these terrible things.  You are worthless.  You are nothing.”

The Voice will look at what you do with your life, and it will say: “Who are you fooling, thinking that you make a difference to anyone.  It is all a waste.”

This is especially true when you experience setbacks, or traumas.

The Voice will come in, and say: “See.  Here you thought something was working out for you, and it didn’t.  So much for your faith.  It is all meaningless.”

You must not listen to it.

Everything has a purpose.  Every life has a purpose.

Faith is simply the belief that this is so.

Your sense of purpose is not determined by how much you do, or accomplish in this lifetime.

You do not need to do great or noteworthy things, in order to have a purpose.  You do not need to bear or parent children who go on to do great or noteworthy things, in order to have a purpose.  

You do not have to do anything at all.  Even if you do nothing, you still have a purpose.

You are fulfilling your purpose regardless of whether or not you think you are “fulfilling your potential.”

You cannot know the hidden nature of reality.

The crazy homeless person has a purpose.  You have no idea what is really going on.

You are all fulfilling your purpose, whether you know it or not.

That is why, always, the best thing to do is to relax, be calm, and be present in the moment.

In this way your conscious mind can begin to merge with the deeper current that always runs through you, guiding you in every moment.  That deeper awareness is your purpose.  

In that state of consciousness, it is impossible to believe that life has no meaning.  In that state of consciousness, there is meaning and purpose in every blade of grass, and in every grain of sand on the seashore.

You have a purpose, whether or not you believe you do.

But if you believe you do, you feel better, and more peaceful.

Please do not listen to the Voice that says it is all meaningless.  That Voice is a liar.

And yet even that Voice has a purpose.

Today we ask that you stop thinking about your problems.

To many, this may sound like terrible advice.  How will your problems ever get solved, if you do not think about them?

But the truth is, thinking rarely solves problems.  At best, thinking tends to solve one problem, only to create another.

Do you know how problems are best solved?

Through flashes of insight.

Some people call this “thinking outside the box.”

But really, it is not “thinking” at all — at least, not the way you think of it.

Most creative people can confirm this.

A common question posed to artists goes something like: “How did you think that one up?”

This is not an answerable question, if the artist creates from a place of true inspiration.  Inspiration simply comes, from a wordless place.  It is not “thought up.”

The same is true for physicists, mathematicians, and scientists.  The great leaps never come from thought alone.  They come from a deeper place.

What is true for artists and physicists is true for everyone else, all the time.

Insight is not limited to the creation of works of art, and physics theories.

Any problem, no matter how small, can be addressed through insight, not thought.

This happens when you decide to stop grinding away at a problem, or banging your head against a wall.

When you feel frustrated with a problem, the best thing to do is back off.

Relax.  Calm your mind.  Move on to other tasks.  Focus on what you can do, not on what you can’t do.

Let it go.

If you really can do this, sooner or later, a flash of insight will come.   

You will “think outside the box.”  And the answer will usually be more elegant and intelligent than anything you could ever grind your way through.

That is why the Tao Te Ching says:

“Stop thinking, and end your problems.”

It is literally true, as counterintuitive as it may sound.

Today we ask that you know how very free you are.

You are free.

Most humans do not believe they are free.  They think they are stuck in a prison.  They perform their jobs, and do what they think they are supposed to be doing.  They have been born into a particular identity, and they are stuck with it.

Even in countries where part of the collective belief system is that anyone can elevate themselves out of the class they were born into, there is still a sense of imprisonment.  There, the dream of accruing wealth becomes its own special hell.  Everyone competes to climb ladders, everyone is stuck in the rat race.  And even if they achieve the reward of wealth — a nice house, cars, private school for the kids, and so on — they are still stuck in a kind of hell.

Please: question these things that you have been told you should want so badly.

Question the images on television, and in advertisements.  Question the covers of the magazines.

Question all these things you believe you need, in order to feel like you are worth something.

Most humans are like someone sitting in a prison cage, with the door wide open.  The door is wide open, but they do not get up and walk out.  Instead, they sit in the cage, and complain about how awful the food is in the cage, and how horrible it is to live in the cage.

The door is wide open.  You can leave at any time.

You can leave the moment you begin to question your beliefs about the way life works, and what people are supposed to do.

You can leave when you question your beliefs about what gives people their “worth.”

You can leave when you begin to question your own identity.

Ask: “Am I really this person?”

Am I defined by what I do for a living?  Am I an accountant?  Am I a bartender?  Am I an assistant in an office? 

Is that all I am?

Am I a mother or a father with kids and a mortgage to pay?

Is that all I am?

Am I a senior citizen with my best years behind me?

Am I a high school student who worries about grades?

Is that all I am?

Who am I?

Who am I, really?

If you keep asking this question, and follow it deeper and deeper into your heart, you will be shown the door that leads out of your sense of imprisonment.

You are free.

You are free, because you are not who you think you are.  That is not all you are.

Today we ask you to loosen up.

Nothing is really all that serious, in your world.  There is nothing that can’t be poked fun at, or made subject to silliness.

The more seriously someone takes himself, the more he is in need of slipping on a banana peel.

And reality has a way of kindly putting banana peels in the path of someone who is taking himself way too seriously.

When you slip on a banana peel, it good to laugh about it.

When you cannot laugh at yourself, it is a sign that your ego has gotten out of hand.

That is why you should never listen to any pundit, counselor, authority figure or guru who seems humorless.  

Lack of a sense of humor means this person is in the grip of the False Self.

People who speak from the heart always smile and laugh at things.

It is a good way to tell if someone is rooted in the True Self, or the False Self.  The True Self never takes anything too seriously.  The False Self always does.

So, in “Star Wars,” Yoda has a great sense of humor.  But Darth Vader is a humorless stick-in-the-mud.

Whenever you are feeling humorless and serious about life, it’s a good time to send in the jokesters and the silly ones to lighten the mood.

Blessed are the comedians, truly.  Blessed are the people who can make others laugh.

There is no place so dark that laughter cannot brighten it.

Laughter is one of the great balms of the world, a healer of all wounds.  It pours forth from the heart.

Pay attention to those times when you feel very serious and uptight about something.

That is the time to send in the clowns.

If you don’t, reality might just throw a banana peel in your way.

Laugh.  Laugh.  Laugh.

It is not all so serious.

Today we ask you to appreciate the value of uncomfortable situations.

Often in life, you are denied things that you want very badly.  They may be things you have desired since you were a child.  They may be things you have worked very hard to achieve.

And when this happens, part of you screams: “It isn’t fair!”

We are here to tell you:

It is fair.  Life actually is fair.

The response to this is usually to throw up all the ways that life obviously isn’t fair.  What about all the awful things that happen to perfectly good people?  What about innocent children who die in accidents, or from diseases?  

Surely that isn’t fair.

What about victims of violent crimes?  People who die in natural disasters, and wars?

Clearly such things are grossly unjust and not fair at all.  And anyone who claims that “life is fair” is some sort of out-of-touch pollyanna or else downright insane.

And yet… life is fair.

Here is why it is fair:

What you think of as “the sum total of existence” is, in fact, a tiny fragment of reality.

If you lived in a kingdom of blind people, anyone who believed in the existence of colors and visual images would be considered crazy.

If you lived in a kingdom of deaf people, anyone who believed in the existence of music would be considered crazy.

You live in a kingdom of blind, deaf people.

There are other kinds of blindness and deafness, and by that measure, most humans are quite blind and deaf.

Even so, in every generation, some people experience glimmers of true sight, and sound.  Enough to share their experiences with others — and often be labeled “crazy.”

So when we tell you that life is 100% fair, we are basing that on a perspective that most humans cannot currently perceive.

Part of that perspective is based on the truth that nothing ever dies — which is to say, your existence will not be snuffed out at physical death.

If things are not snuffed out of existence at physical death, that takes the sting out of a great deal of perceived injustice.

This is nothing new.  Since the beginning of time, the greater dimensions of existence have been accessible to humans, and many have described their “mystical” experiences.

The problem arises when blind and deaf people attempt to make sense out of what someone means when they describe a beautiful sunset, or a symphony.  Things tend to get garbled in translation.

This is why we encourage you to access the place of true vision for yourself, via meditative practices that will connect you with the still, wordless place that lies within.  There, you can “see” and “hear” for yourself — but only when the thinking mind is still, and quiet.  

As for uncomfortable experiences: the sole purpose of such is to draw you back to your True Self.  The Self that exists beyond your transient ego identity, with all its programs and beliefs about the world.

In other words: the reason you are blind and deaf is because you are wearing a blindfold, and earplugs.

The blindfold and earplugs are your ego identity — the incessant chatter of your thinking mind, with all its fears and desires, stories and projections about the way life ought to be.

Uncomfortable experiences have a way of stripping down the ego.  And that can sometimes let a burst of light in through the blindfold, or a blast of music in through the earplugs.  

Consider how much you’ve grown in life as a result of uncomfortable experiences.

So that is why the universe is not cruel, because it sometimes denies you what you so desperately crave.

Addicts in withdrawal are uncomfortable.  And the ego is terribly addictive.  

The ego is addicted to things like approval, admiration, control, consumption, and security.  It is always hungry, never satisfied.  It can never get enough.

Part of the discomfort you experience when your desires are denied is not dissimilar to an addict’s withdrawal symptoms.

Ultimately what reality is going for, in terms of your evolution, is this:

An unshakeable inner peace that is in no way dependent on what is happening outside of you.

And fully restored inner senses.  Reality wants you to see all there is to see, hear all there is to hear, taste all there is to taste, smell all there is to smell, touch all there is to touch.  And experience for yourself the senses beyond these five.

That is what life is actually doing.

And that is why life is not unfair.

Today we ask that you look at the addiction to fantasizing.

The thinking mind always pulls you out of the present moment, into fantasies.

The fantasies are always about the future, the past, and realities that do not exist.

Sometimes the fantasies are about things you desire: a new car, a house, a certain boy or girl, a dream wedding, a baby, a million dollars, winning prizes, becoming famous, etc.

Sometimes the fantasies are about things you fear: awful things happening, losing all your possessions, losing a relationship, bad things happening to people you love, catastrophes in the world, and so on.

Sometimes the fantasies are about changing things in the past.  You fantasize about handling some past situation differently.  You fantasize about having had a better childhood.  You fantasize that if you went back in time and “fixed” some mistake, everything would be better for you.

Sound familiar?

When you consider the amount of time most people spend in such fantasies, it’s fairly staggering.  When you consider how much time people spend in such mental projections, and then add to that the time spent immersed in fantasy worlds on TV or the internet, it’s truly amazing that anything ever gets done in your world!

Fantasies are addictive.  They are as addictive as narcotics, or other drugs.  They are, in fact, more addictive than such drugs.

How much time in a day do you spend with your eyes slightly glazed, daydreaming about the future and the past, your fears and desires; lost in realities that are no more real than a TV show.

If you are someone who feels like you wish to do more in this lifetime, here is a very good place to start.

Imagine how much time you would have in a day, if you did not spend so much time lost in obsessive thoughts about the future and past.

Really consider this.

Now, a Voice may argue: How can I strategize about my future, if I do not engage in these mental projections and worries?  How can I make plans?  How can I protect myself and my loved ones against bad things, unless I sit around imagining potential bad things?  How can I buy my dream house, if I don’t fantasize about it?  How will I meet my dream partner, if I do not dream?  How will I win prizes, and achieve renown, if I do not fantasize and scheme and strategize?  How will I avoid mistakes in the future, if I do not obsessively analyze mistakes I made in the past?

In other words, what purpose does my mind have, if not to be used fantasizing about the future and past?

The answer is: your mind has a much better purpose, but you will not realize this until you can still the incessant, addictive thinking and fantasizing.

Your purpose in this life does not necessarily align with what you have been programmed to think you should possess, or achieve.

The truth of your existence can only be accessed in stillness.  It is felt in the heart, in a place without words, without fantasies.

It is here now.  In the present moment.

And if you focused the full potency of your consciousness into the present moment, you would find that everything else fell into place.

You would be like the champion runner on the track — every ounce of your being fully focused in the act of running itself.  

All of you, every one of you, possesses such power.

But for most of you, this power is dispersed, scattered, unfocused.  That is why you feel like you can’t move, can’t get anywhere.

Rein in the thinking mind, through meditative practices that focus the consciousness.  Breathe.  Get back in your body.  Get back in the here and now.

Notice how addictive fantasies of the future and past are.

It is okay if you do not believe this, but we will say it anyway:

If you become calm, present, and stable in your consciousness, everything else in your life will automatically fall into place.  You will be functioning from the True Self, from the heart, from the still center — and you will therefore no longer have any need for “strategies.”

It really is true.