What’s in the Water?
Guidance for Swimming Against the Stream
In waking up to whiteness, there are questions to answer and ideas to confront. Molly’s insights bring perspective and clarity.
Phoniness
I realized this morning that a subtle but very painful and powerful belief I have is that I am not authentically loving and kind and/or that I do not truly care about serving others. I'm playing with ways to inquire into this as a judgment because I find inquiry into...
Scandal in the House of Integral (So What Else Is New?)
Ken has often used the example of the highly developed spiritual teacher who acts from a lower level with respect to psycho sexual or moral development to illustrate his premise that development does not proceed uniformly across all lines/streams. Now the Integral...
The Work on Phony Marketing
Okay, kids. I'm diving into deep water here. JUDGIING Self improvement people do deceptive and phony marketing. I want them to stop hyping their products. I want them to stop the hard sell that causes people who shouldn't be buying the products to buy them. They...
Know thyself, until you don’t
It occurs to me that one of the most maddening beliefs in contemporary western society (at least in the US) is the belief that we should know ourselves. Plutarch attributes the maxim “Know Thyself” to the Delphic Oracle. I suppose he would know; he was a priest of the...
The Right Speed
People should read and follow the speed limit. (Thought when someone in front of me is going "too slow") Is it true Yes. It's the law. Can I absolutely know it is true? I can't know it would be better for me or them if they read and followed the speed limit. I can...
One liners
One liners are simple statements of stressful thoughts or beliefs to take to The Work. I keep a file of these puppies on my laptop (where did that expression come from?). Here's a sampling: It’s my job to know the right way to (fill in the blank). If only I were...
Overheard
Bits of wisdom from The Work telecon today: The Saint Francis prayer begins, "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace." I've always liked that, and today a friend reported that her teacher suggested that it may be more accurate to recognize that you are an intrument...
Be soft in your practice
Be soft in your practice. Think of the method as a fine silvery stream, not a raging waterfall. Have faith in its course. It will go its own way, meandering here, trickling there. It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices. Just follow it. Never let it out of...
I’ll feel better when I stop doing things wrong
I'll feel better when I stop doing things wrong. Is it true? No. How can I know that I'll even notice I'm not doing things wrong? How can I know that I would prefer not to do things wrong (until I do)? How do I react when I think the thought, "I'll feel better when I...