A quote from Friedrich Nietzsche got my attention: 

"The mother of all excess is not joy,

but joylessness."

     When you or others do things that cause pain, it is not because you're too happy. It is because you're hungry for happiness. So the answer to the world's ills is not more analysis, austerity, or self-condemnation. It is to feed your soul with what brings you joy.

     A Course in Miracles tells us that every action is either an expression of love or a call for love. Reframe all aberrant behavior as a call for love, and you will have the key to healing.  You will know what to do for yourself and you will know what to do for others.

     A wise pundit posed a philosophical question: “Does good come from truth, or does truth come from good?”  Are good deeds the fastest route to awakening, or does authenticity lead more rapidly to service?

      I found my own answer when years ago I went to visit some new friends in Toronto, a couple whom I wanted to impress. The husband was a well-known author and his wife a gifted counselor. I thought they were really cool and I wanted them to think I was cool. When they invited me for a weekend,  I was on my best behavior to be really, really nice.

      The first evening of the weekend my hosts invited a small group for dinner.  After dinner, like any respectable do-gooder, I headed for the kitchen to do the dishes. I made a point of renouncing my dessert so I could really do good. As I washed the dishes I made lots of noise and even whistled once in a while to let them know I was very nice.

      The last item to be washed was a large wok. I noticed that the base of the wok was dark with oil from cooking many stir-fry delicacies. “Here is a chance to really do good,” I thought. “I will clean the wok thoroughly.”  I found a piece of steel wool and scrubbed that sucker to the bone, until it was spotless and shiny as a mirror.

      If you cook, you are probably grimacing right about  now. You know that a wok is supposed to have lots of oil in its base. When a wok is well seasoned, cooking is easier and the food tastier. But I didn’t know that―I was busy doing good.

      After a while the hostess came looking for me; she entered the kitchen just as I was finishing cleaning the wok. I proudly held up the wok to show her, like a five-year-old presenting his mom with the finger-painting he did in kindergarten. “Look, I cleaned the wok!” I told my hostess.

      To my surprise, she did not light up and hug and thank me. Instead, her eyes bulged and her jaw dropped. “It took me three years to season that wok!” she exclaimed.

      That was the last time I ever did good.

      I would like to recommend that you quit doing good before you get in trouble. Instead of doing good, I strongly recommend you do real.

      Real is far more helpful than good. Real begets more good than good. Authenticity is far more of a gift than trying to stuff yourself into a mold that doesn’t fit you and doesn’t work. Robert Louis Stevenson advise, "If your morals make you dreary, depend on it, they are wrong. I do not say give them up , for they may be all you have. But conceal them like a vice, lest the spoil the lives of better and simpler people."    

      “But Alan,” you argue, “If everyone just did what they wanted, the world would be chaos. We’d live in bedlam.” 

      Not really. If everyone did what they wanted, the world would be far happier and more efficient. Someone once asked me, “If everyone followed their bliss, what kind of world would this be?” I answered, “A very blissful world.” Lots of people would love to be waitresses, or school custodians, or groom horses. You can’t understand that because you are not them. If you were them, you would find bliss exactly as they are. And they are.

      The spirit within you is intelligent and responsible. It would never guide you to hurt anyone. The more you are true to yourself, the better position you are in to serve as many people as possible. Your inner guidance loves to be helpful, and ultimately what is most helpful to you is most helpful to others. Frederick Buechner wisely declared. 

"To find our calling is to find the intersection between our own deep gladness

and the world’s deep hunger."

           Alan

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ALASKA

Cruise into Self-Discovery

August 12-19, 2007

 

 

A floating seminar aboard the magnificent

Celebrity Infinity

 with Alan Cohen, Tarra Walter,

Anne Emerson and Barry Dennis

 

Join us this summer on the Inside Passage and

• Nurture your mind and spirit

• Learn from illuminating teachers

• Connect with like-minded people

• Explore unspoiled nature in daily excursions

• Luxuriate on an elegant cruise ship

• An unforgettable vacation/seminar you will always cherish

Starting at $1,995 for cruise and seminar.

 

Book now - space limited.

 

Click here for additional information
or to reserve your space.

 

 

 

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 Simplicity is the flower that

brings the intellect to its knees. 

 

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Is My Husband

Draining my Prosperity?

 

 

 

From Alan's Q & A

 

 

 I have used an inheritance to live on to stay at home with our children. My husband has always worked, saying his dream is to support us with his income, so that I could stop using mine. In 7 years this has yet to happen and I am near broke.  Although I did not marry for money, I feel like I may divorce him because of our current financial situation. His new sales position is full commission and in almost a year we have lived off the equity of our home. I have never been a person to worry about money. It has always come easy to me and I have always felt abundant, but since being with him I have become fearful and angry and feel like he has led this family to the 'poor house.'  I can't help but to feel betrayed and abandoned. His lack of emotional support has only made things worse. Almost every waking minute I think I want to leave him, then worry that would be the wrong choice, but I am afraid if I stay things will only get worse. All I want is clarity so I can move on.

  

 

Click here for Alan's answer

 

 

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A guest appearance by  Pat Rodegast (Emmanuel)

and a concert by           Charley Thweatt

               Join Alan Cohen,                         Sharon Gardner, Charley Thweatt   and Pat Rodegast (Emmanuel)

 

 

Menla Mountain Retreat

near Woodstock, New York

 

If your life has been changed or transformed by the Life Mastery Training or the Personal Mentorship Program, here is a fantastic opportunity to reclaim, recharge, and keep the spirit and wisdom of your experience alive in your life.

• Reconnect with loving, upbeat, positive friends

• Immerse yourself in an atmosphere of support, vision, and acceptance

• Learn cutting-edge concepts and techniques to make the principles work for you where you are on your current path.

• Create new connections with like-minded people

• Play, laugh, and lighten up

Tuition:  $995  -  $1195  per person

includes program, accommodations, meals

 

 

Click here for registration & information

 

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Getting stuff can bring

 you peace. Getting peace can bring you peace quicker.