Question: I’m so tired of living the same old life that leads me nowhere toward the peace I want. So why is it so hard to just let go of it all?

Answer: There is one very shocking fact along the Path that we can’t escape if we want real peace: Right now, this moment, everyone everywhere is embracing exactly what he or she wants. Nothing can make us cling to conflict. If we hold on to a negative thought or anxious emotion, it’s because we still find value in it. We must see this if we want to be free.

Question: I’m frequently attacked by painful memories and regrets. I feel helpless when they come over me. What should I do?

Answer: Whenever we can remember that all dark thoughts and feelings require our consent to punish us, and that these negative states are, in themselves, literally nothing without the powers we grant them in our forgetfulness, then in this same bright moment of recalling the truth of ourselves are we made the conqueror of what would overcome us!

Question: I tend to run away from difficult situations. I’ve moved, changed jobs, changed wives, but I still feel all this pressure. What’s the answer?

Answer: When we realize the truth that there is no place on earth that can be any better or different from what “I am” when I get there, then we will no longer believe in some new destination as a solution for an old suffering. Instead we will do the interior work it takes to be where we are, for at last we have understood that the only safe haven is our own awakened state.