#4
Meeting 4Reading and reflection
State, inner core, and Repentance
Continuing1 hr 52 min
Meeting 2
Reading and assignments. Staying with the study
One book is easy to read; another makes you want to put it aside. The question is not only whether the text makes sense. This meeting explores reading several books in parallel, resistance, and assignments involving thought, word, and action—things that gradually become your own lived experience.
February 21, 20252 hr 7 minReading and reflection
#2
I read books. But what happens to me in the reading itself and in carrying out assignments?
- For those reading the program's authors and encountering resistance
- For those who want to connect reading with observation throughout the day
What you can explore here
Understand why you might read different authors in parallel while keeping to the sequence of each author's books
Pay attention to resistance, as well as to understanding the text
Return to observing thought, word, and action
In the author's words“Take up the assignment calmly and say what thoughts arise in me. Take up the assignment: what actions do I take? Take up the assignment: what do I say?”
What the conversation covers
- The sequence of books and reading in parallel
- Resistance and questions that come from a desire to understand
- Thought, word, action: assignments in everyday life
- Engagement and the impulse to continue
This is a recording of a live meeting with participants' questions and examples. The topics describe its contents; they are not an outline for a separate course.
Reading is considered alongside assignments and engagement, rather than as an accumulation of books read.
Return to your own experience.
- What happens to me when I read different authors?
- Where does resistance arise in me, and what question lies behind it?
- What do I notice in my thoughts, speech, and actions throughout the day?
Related recordings and collections
Included in these collections
What to keep in mind
This is neither a summary of all the books nor a speed-reading course.
Do I need to read all the books mentioned beforehand?
Not to become familiar with the discussion. But this is a meeting within a reading group: without the texts themselves, some examples will remain introductory. Purchasing the recording is not understood to include the complete books.
Background: detail of “Darkness,” January 29, 2026 · Alexander Volchek