A life free of regret

The Teacher said:

There are three things needed for a life free of regret.

One is to be mindful of your thoughts and actions and do only good to the best of your ability.

The second is to focus on the good in every course of action.

The third is to forgive yourself continuously and completely.

A student asked,

Where does this leave my enemies, or in other words, people that our out ONLY to harm me?

The Teacher replied:

First of all, this is guidance on living a life free of regret, not on all aspects of life, though it comes pretty close to the latter.

I can't improve on the advice Jesus gave, which is to love your enemies. If unconditional love is the center of your being, that is something no one can harm or touch.

I believe that our purpose in life is to be happy and to teach others by example how to be happy. When someone tries to harm you and discovers that your happiness is unassailable, he may cease hating you and try to emulate you. People who set out to harm others are very unhappy people themselves. They live in a state of unconsciousness toward Spirit. The unhappiness that dominates their minds seeks to perpetuate itself by spreading unhappiness to others. It is a universal law that what a person sends into the world will come back to him or her. The unhappy mind knows this and seeks to bolster its own unhappiness by making those around it unhappy also.

If a person seems to be actively seeking to spread unhappiness, it is possible that the Spirit within that person is trying to break through the shell of unconsciousness in which it is confined. This drives the unhappy mind to greater efforts to contain Spirit, because it fears that Spirit will destroy it. Yet it is not necessary to destroy it, because it does not exist; it is mere darkness that will ultimately be dispelled by the emrgence of Light. This process may take more than one lifetime. However, you can help by shining the Light of your own unconditional love upon that person. Even if the effect on him or her is not perceptible, you may cause the shell that binds that person's Spirit to begin to dissolve; and in the meantime, you will have done no harm to yourself.