There is nothing new to say, nothing new to hear, no secret to find. Only the ancient truth about love, about who we are, about who we live among, whispered to each of us beyond time. But perhaps there are a few more minds ready to listen and hearts ripe to hear what is unchanging, that we are all One.

Each time I have presented a new book or idea to a publisher, every one I have ever had wants to know how it is new, how it is different than what has been written before on the subject, how it is groundbreaking, or at least unique. Here is my answer: I have nothing new to say. I suppose the practical wisdom within this simple statement is not the greatest selling point in today’s world. Yet, most arguments or conflicts can be ended once we realize that there is nothing new to say, but many experiences of love to share.

In contemplative practice I have asked myself many times, “who am I?” but not so many times have I asked, “where do you live?” The latter seems so obvious, of course. I live in a house, in a town, in a state, in a country, and so on. Today it occurred to me that asking where I live is really a deep facet of asking who I am. More precisely, I am asking, do I see myself as separate from my environment?

We all tend to see ourselves in relation to the place we live, or the places we find ourselves, and we tend to define our environment as the physical world around us. At least a part of our identities appear to be closely linked to the roles we play in this environment—in other words, what we do. But if we return to the concept of our own spiritual path, our goal, in part, must be to begin to transcend our physical environment and experience something beyond it that is beautiful no matter what the physical environment itself may be.

I experienced this in one of the most difficult environments, when I was in India many years ago. Mother Teresa’s Missions of Charity were filled with orphans and with the dying, but it was such a beautiful place, a place filled with loving kindness. It was not beautiful in the physical sense of course, quite the contrary, but the true environment beyond was radiant. There was something tangible there, a love that was not of this world. As Mother Teresa would put it, the Sisters were making something beautiful for God. They knew that love, not the physical environment or physical condition of the body, is what determines their real identities. I have experienced this (and probably most of us have, if we really think about it) as moments where we are so focused on love that we are able to transcend our physical experience and the conditions of that experience. I watched my wife’s brother embrace his father just before he passed. In that moment, I saw none of the pain, felt none of his long months of fighting illness. I simply experienced the tenderness and purity of one man loving his father, in that father’s last moments in the physical world. Such beauty. This is where I live, where we each truly reside.

I used to play a game with my kids when we were driving. If we were going through a particularly physically unattractive place or town I would ask them, “Could you be happy here?” I hope I was planting the seed that if we bring a loving and positive attitude to wherever we are, we can be happy. It was my way of suggesting to their young minds, and reminding my older one, that we can transcend our physical surroundings, that the physical world does not need to determine who we are, our level of happiness, or our worth.

We may not always consider words as physical things, but they can often create the same “problems” as a particular environment. Despite their helpfulness at times, words can get in our way of experiencing beauty and Truth. Reactions to certain words bring up past experiences, and sometimes those may not be happy ones. Maybe it is a name of a person who we believe caused us pain, or a religious word that we don’t agree with. This is very true for many of us when it comes to organized religion, and for those of us, such words as “holy” or “God” can lead us quickly into a defensive posture.

Take a moment to consider that these words can, for you, hold their own meanings. A word or name of someone can get in your way: you can let it interfere with your peace. Or, you can choose to see that you have the power to see that word differently, and thus create a comfortable space for yourself.

For me, I use to have negative reactions to religious words, yet now, for example, the word “holy” means pure love and compassion while “God” is Oneness, non-dual awareness, and unconditional, ever-reaching Love. So, this statement: “My mind is part of God’s; I am very Holy,” to me means “My mind is One with all that is; I am pure love and compassion.” This is precisely how we each can come to transcend the physical world, how we can leave our defenses behind, how we may know our true value, why there is no need to attack; it is how we may know what to do in any situation. Words are symbols, and once we choose all words to symbolize the same goal, forgiveness, we are free. I did not establish my value and who I am needs no defense.

There is nothing that can attack my true value and no physical condition that can change it. My worth does not change on a whim or because of a mistake, or vary according to where I am and who I am with. My value simply is. There is no place to look in my physical world or condition that will tell me of my value, but there is a place to turn— I may ask my inner wisdom and I will hear, but I must not fear the answer, for it is the voice of Love telling me who I truly am, where I live, and what to do each moment. The source is real and true, and so is the answer I hear. Who I am matters, and that has never changed and never will.