I always thought
                  it was the things
                  in the world
                  that made me angry

                  Then, one day
                  in the kitchen
                  I stubbed my toe.
                  I was furious.

                  There was no one
                  around to blame;
                  nothing to yell at.

                  Only myself
                  and the villain, anger
                  who had stepped
                  out of his inner box.

                  Is this what
                  the sage meant, when
                  he said,
                  the inner war is inside?

                  Now I know
                  who my enemy is;
                  he’s no longer
                  out there.

My teacher used to tell us that each difficulty that comes our way has a piece of gold hidden in it. If we accept the difficulty peacefully and cope with it as best we can, then we will see after it is past that indeed we have gained from it. 

I remember all too well my time in the Marine Corps, undergoing boot camp. It tested me to the maximum and I found myself performing actions under extremely difficult circumstances that I never thought myself capable of.

When I finished training and graduated I walked out of the camp that summer day, as if I were 10 feet tall  – I had done something very difficult (one third of our platoon dropped out) and my confidence and spirit had been strengthened  -  I had found the gold inside!

The wise one says “My children, do not search for faults in others. The faults you see in others are really within yourself. Search for your own faults, eliminate them, and achieve purity. To do that will be best for your faith, and for the house of you inner heart, and it will bring peace to your heart and happiness to God.”

I went for my daily walk today along a stream and through a peaceful forest – just the sound of birds and the wind blowing through the trees.

It dawned on me that as peaceful as it was, there were, flowing past me at enormous speed, millions of sounds, music, words, all unrecognized and silent to my ears.

What a wonder, I thought, all this information flowing past me and without the proper receiver.

I could not hear or benefit from any of it.

There is another flow – that of wisdom – that comes to us; but here also, we need the proper receiver or else we gain nothing.

That receiver is already installed within us at a deeper level. It is not foreign at all – we were born with it.

The trouble is, we have tuned to other frequencies and therefore do not receive this amazing stream of grace and wisdom.

The tuning of the receiver requires several things: first, one should take at least 5 to 10 minutes a day to sit quietly and watch the breath flow in and out, and second, one should gradually begin to practice the qualities.

We will begin to hear and sense this wondrous output of grace that is constantly available and with us at all times.