Everything that makes up your organism comes from the environment in which you live.

One of the fundamental delusions that most people have is the delusion that this “I” exists as an independent entity, as something separate from the whole of life.

The ego is not who we are, it is who we think we are. When we think of our name, our image, our history, and our life experiences as who we are, we become associated with an idea of ourselves, a mental image that is not at all who we are in reality.

If we stop completely, not just outwardly, but inwardly, we will see that there is no truth to our self-image; it is completely mind-made.

Ultimately, it is not the circumstances in life that affect us, but how we choose to perceive those circumstances.

It is our perception—of ourselves and of reality—that determines our experience.

We do not need an ashram or church, some secret initiation, a guru’s blessing, or an intentional community. As helpful or supportive as those may be at times, ultimately, what we need is the willingness to look at ourselves honestly, to feel what emotions lie within us, to acknowledge our thoughts and actions, to choose to be aware of what we ignore or suppress, and to let go of what limits and distracts us so we can open ourselves fully to the truth of life in this moment.

To awaken to the truth of our being we have to be willing to look at the illusions that veil us from this truth, and we must be willing to surrender these illusions so we can perceive reality clearly as it is in the present moment.

The way that we experience reality is determined by how our mind perceives reality.