A Heroic Life Quotes

“The desires that run through your thought-stream, which you might be tempted to pray for, don’t represent what is best for you, even if they seem to. People who are sick are sure they would be better off well, and most who are single are sure they would be better off in a relationship. But this isn’t necessarily true. The ego doesn’t see the whole picture or the long-range picture. It doesn’t see the benefits in being sick or single, or in other challenges. That which is living your life knows much better than the ego what is best for you.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“The hero noticed that if he let love, excitement, and joy lead him, he would be happy and find his way to greater love, peace, and happiness. He discovered that love is both the path and the reward of following the path.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“wasn’t kind, life didn’t work.   The hero noticed that whenever he gave something or someone his full attention, love flowed, and then he was happy and others were happy.   The hero noticed that love is receptive and patient, and when he was receptive and patient, others loved him and came to his aid.   The hero noticed that when he did what he loved doing, he was happy and he became better at it easily.   The hero noticed that when he was loving and happy, others were attracted to him and wanted to be around him and be good to him.   The hero noticed that when he behaved lovingly, he was happy, and when he didn’t behave lovingly, he wasn’t happy.   The hero noticed that when he forgave others, he stopped suffering and was able to move on and love again.   The hero also noticed that when he forgave himself, he was able to move on and love himself again.   The hero noticed that giving love felt better than receiving it.   The hero noticed that he could choose to love anyone or anything, and then love would flow from him. He learned there was a fountain of love available within himself, which never went dry. And so he realized that feeling loving and therefore feeling happy was always in his power.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“Language such as “good” and “bad” and “I like” and “I don’t like” divides the world into what you want and don’t want. Then when life shows up in a way you don’t like, you suffer. By wanting life to look a certain way, you cause your own suffering. The hero has seen how such dualities and desires create suffering and how suffering wouldn’t exist without them.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“Beliefs can’t change reality, even though they change one’s experience of it. To be helpful, beliefs have to reflect reality accurately. The ego tries to change reality with its faulty beliefs—its shoulds and coulds—while the hero doesn’t bother with beliefs that aren’t true. He knows that only the ones that stand up to experience and match reality work and are useful.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“Thoughts are conditioning, so when you believe your thoughts, you become the conditioned self and lose touch with your real self. As a result of the distance from thoughts developed by meditation, the real self comes back into the picture. The real you is what is aware of thoughts and of everything else. The ego can’t be aware of thoughts because the ego is, in essence, itself a thought. The ego belongs to the conditioned self and has no awareness of its own.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“Another reason people continue to hurt themselves and others emotionally is that they don’t want to stop. This sounds ludicrous, but it is unfortunately true. The ego in them doesn’t want to stop, even while the goodness in them does. When the ego has the upper hand, it does some terrible things. The ego takes pleasure in doing hurtful things if it believes those things will give it the upper hand, exact revenge, or obtain power or something else it wants. The ego feels justified in having negative feelings; after all, it created that justification with its stories. As a result, it sees its feelings and actions as worth any trouble they create. Because the ego feels entitled to its feelings, it takes a kind of righteous pleasure in being awful. It also doesn’t see any other option. What the ego overlooks is the price that is paid, not only in bad karma and ill will from others, but also internally—to one’s self-esteem. With every negative emotion the ego nurses inside or expresses hurtfully, it digs itself deeper and deeper into a hole of hate, self-loathing, and worthlessness. When people behave badly, is it any wonder they don’t feel good about themselves?”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“But the hero lets the future take care of itself, because he knows the future never actually arrives. In reality, all there ever is, is one moment moving naturally and gracefully into the next, with or without the mind’s ceaseless thoughts.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey

“What happened in the past was what it was, and no amount of speculation can change that. This rumination about reality is just the mind’s way of not accepting a former now and its way of taking you out of the current now.”
― Gina Lake, A Heroic Life: New Teachings from Jesus on the Human Journey