I have said many times that the real enemy of work on self and the greater Work is self-importance. Perhaps this statement needs further elaboration? What is self-importance? Is it the strutting, boastful ego attempting to impose its will on others? Or is it much deeper and more pervasive than that? Is self-importance also the Read More

The post Self-Importance first appeared on In Presence.

I sometimes find it very difficult to forgive others when their actions have offended me. How can I work on this block in myself? This question uncovers a number of issues related to work on self. Your assumption seems to be that you should be able to forgive. That it is expected of you. The Read More

The post Forgiveness first appeared on In Presence.

What are we to do with our memories of past mistakes and failures? Many times every day, I am suddenly reminded of the embarrassing things I have done or failed to do. This is one of the great burdens of being human. There is no easy answer. Do you think about the positive things you Read More

The post Memories first appeared on In Presence.

I find that compassion makes it easier to accept the world as it is. Perhaps I could suggest that you need to go deeper? There is nothing comfortable about compassion. The suffering in compassion has no limit and no corrective. This is why it is so powerful. There is no avoidance of the facts, no Read More

The post The Nature of Compassion first appeared on In Presence.

I would like to know what this work has to say about despair. In our inquiries together, we don’t seem to deal with it but I think many of us experience despair. I think all of us experience despair at times. Let’s agree on what despair means. (Group member consults telephone internet). Ok, according to Read More

The post Despair first appeared on In Presence.