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Sometimes we shy away from saying the Principles, as though the words might separate listeners or readers from the deep truth they represent. But the words could not be more simple and straightforward. Mind, even without the formal definition provided by Sydney Banks, generates the idea of energy we cannot see or explain, the power that wakes us to life. Consciousness generates the idea of being aware or able to notice or "see" life. Thought generates the recognition that we have ideas going through our heads all the time. Put them together: the energy of life awakens us to the "reality" of our thoughts as we continually create them, using that energy. The remarkable profundity of the Principles is that they are a logic that assures people that what we all see, moment-to-moment, is the life we are creating within our own minds as we respond to life circumstances.  We are creating our own thinking about circumstances, and being conscious of that thinking. The Principles are the gift of freedom. We do not live at the mercy of life circumstances. We live as creators of our own experience of them, with the power to change our minds at any time. Imagine how different the daily news would be if more people in the world really, truly knew that.

In an interview with CNN yesterday, Deepak Chopra talked about advances in the studies of neural plasticity (in essence, the brain's ability to heal itself and change in response to challenge) and epigenetics (in essence, understanding how we turn off and turn on different genes). He talked about how exciting it is to realize that our mental state, our ability to lessen our experience of stress over time, is proving to be critical to our ability to maintain optimal physical, as well as mental, health.

Science is moving in the direction of the three principles. The bottom line on Deepak Chopra's conversation: Life IS truly an inside-out experience. What we have to contribute: the principles offer the simple, logical explanation of how and why that is the case.

The news today is troubling to people. How could a medical doctor, a US Army officer, a person who, regardless of all else, took an oath to "first do no harm", murder his compatriots on their shared military base?

From the silly to the sublime, we all have moments in life when we recognize our gratitude for knowing it's an inside-out world. In my case, I recently moved to a condominium community, after years of owning my own home. And a few months ago, I adopted a sweet little dog, a Jack Russell Terrier named Jo, who loves to walk and frolic around on the lawns we pass. And, being a dog, she takes advantage of her walks to "get relief" and I faithfully clean up after her. So imagine our surprise when a lady burst out of her door yesterday morning just as my dog was doing her thing and screamed at me to get my filthy mutt off her lawn. (Condominium = nobody owns their lawn...the lawns are common ground) She was outraged and angry and, truthfully, wasn't making a lot of sense as she continued yelling at me about the dog. She was going on and on about how stupid and thoughtless I was and saying a lot of personal and not at all nice things.

First thought: give her some "instruction" in the common area facts of condo living and the rights we all have, dogs included, as long as the owners clean up.

Inspired thought: This lady is REALLY worked up and has gotten herself into a terrible state of mind. We've all been there... Entertain those upsetting angry thoughts for a moment or two, and the mood plummets and the common sense goes out the window ... it's not a good idea to try to reason with someone who's upset and yelling.

So I quietly cleaned up after my dog, assured her that neither I nor my dog had any desire to contribute to her upset, and wished her a good day.

She stopped yelling at me. "Well, all you people with dogs just upset me," she said.

And I found myself filled with gratitude that I could go on with my day knowing that the only thing that really can upset people is their own thinking about things in life, such as people with dogs. Maybe I'll get to know her some day and have a chance to share that with her, and maybe she'll just have her own insight at some point and see that being upset is an inside job.