Does it matter how we be  prior to awakening?

NTI does recommend specific ways of being as we walk this path of awakening.

Why does how we be  matter?

Because our way of being either supports and reinforces ego or it ignores ego. The way of being that ignores ego is most helpful in the process of awakening. The way of being that ignores ego abides by conscience and inner spiritual wisdom.

We were first introduced to the importance of our way of being on Day 2 when kindness was emphasized as a way of being. Recently, NTI Romans 16 highlighted ways of being including patience, trust, humility, honoring others and being discerning within our own minds. Today’s reading also focuses on ways of being.

Just as you did on Day 159, takes notes on the ways of being presented in today’s reading. As you do, contemplate the importance of being in a way that emulates the true Self instead of bolstering ideas of division, self-will and self-centeredness. If it feels right for you, review your notes from Day 159 as part of this contemplation.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

On Day 172, we saw that emptiness is Love.

Yesterday, we saw that the qualities we attribute to ourselves are the masks we wear that hide our emptiness.

Today, we get a glimpse of the experience of emptiness, which is being awake to Love. It is being awake to consciousness, which is the second principle of God.

Today’s reading says:

As you walk the earth, you know where you walk, so that the earth is merely a symbol within the mind. You shall not know brothers, but you shall talk to them.”

When one is awake to consciousness, one knows everything as consciousness. This is not an intellectual, learned knowing. It is the seeing that occurs when we are empty. It is as Nisargadatta described:

Love says ‘I am everything.’ Wisdom says ‘I am nothing.’ Between the two, my life flows.

It is through not-knowing, not-defining, and not-judging (not-declaring) that all wisdom arises spontaneously, including the wisdom of being with life as it is joyously.

Today’s reading also says:

What is received when all that is false has been let go is only that which reflects truth. … It is upon this recognition, which is the completeness of recognition within time, that you enter the fourth and final earthly phase of the path of truth with me. …

The purpose of your life in the fourth phase of living on earth shall not be different than the purpose at any other time. Only now, in the fourth phase, the distractions have been erased. … Now, in the fourth stage, your focus is complete.

In NTI Acts, we learned about the first three phases of the spiritual path:

1. The Search (NTI Acts 19)
2. Purification (NTI Acts 20 & 21)
3. Service and Merging (NTI Acts 22)

Up until this point, NTI 1 Corinthians has focused on the third phase by teaching us how to be the servant of inner wisdom. Through service, merging occurs. The fourth phase of the spiritual path occurs when merging is complete. It is the state of true perception. It is the stage of unity consciousness. It is being awake to the ‘I am,’ the second principle of God. However, it is still a “phase” or “stage,” both of which are a period one passes through  in a process or development.

What comes next?

Awakening to the first principle of God.

That’s why the reading says:

The purpose of your life in the fourth phase of living on earth shall not be different than the purpose at any other time.

The purpose of the fourth phase is to complete the awakening process by awakening from ‘I am’ consciousness to the absolute.

As the reading says:

The one that seems to be in the fourth stage is but a symbol of the truth that is. So this one must pass away also. But in its passing, you pass from a final illusion of beauty to Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion.

What’s most important for us to know is that we awaken to the second principle of God, which is the bridge to the first principle of God, by becoming empty. Being empty is being egoless. Emptiness is the prerequisite to awakening, so emptiness, which includes empty of self and empty of self-will, is our focus now.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

We are Love. We are  the all inclusive nature of emptiness. That is our truth. Yet, we do not see ourselves as we are, because we attribute qualities to the emptiness, and we claim those qualities as what we are. In today’s reading, those qualities are called “the mask.” The reading says:

Surely the one under the mask is the creator of everything that makes up the mask. Surely the one who made the mask is beyond the mask that he made.

Here is a message that I received from Inner Wisdom several years ago. It is related to today’s reading:

To see that you are not who you think you are, remember first that all ideas are in the mind. Remember all ideas are the same, in that they are  all ideas and they all exist within the one mind that is you.

When you have a grasp on the realization that ideas are only ideas and they live only in the mind that is you, try this exercise:

Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the center to make two columns. At the top of one column write, “What I think I am.” At the top of the other column write, “Then I must also know.”

Now look at the personality-body that you call you, which is actually only a filter of ideas. How would you describe that personality-body using one word adjectives? List those adjectives in the first column.

Each adjective that you have used to describe the personality-body has an opposite. Write its opposite in the second column next to the corresponding adjective.

When you’ve finished this, look at both columns. Remember that everything you look at exists only as ideas in the mind. Now, see that both sets of ideas are  in the mind. Where there is beauty, there is ugly. Where there is smart, there is dumb. Where there is skilled, there is unskilled.

In order for you to know the experience of feeling beautiful, you must have at some time felt ugly. To know feeling smart, you must have felt dumb. To know skilled, you must have felt unskilled. Only by feeling both can you know both, and only by knowing both can you ‘choose between’ in order to identify yourself as.

In other words, both sets of opposites have been a part of your experience or you would not be aware of either. And if both are a part of your experience, can you truly be defined as only one?

If you are experiencing ugly, you have experienced beautiful, so which are you truly? If dumb, then smart also. And if unskilled, skilled.

As you look at these two columns, you will realize you know both experiences. This is the only way you can make comparisons, and only through comparisons can you ‘choose between’ in order to define. Accept that this is true. In this acceptance, definitions begin to fade.

If you are both, can you be either?

Think on this today, and be glad. In accepting this you release your hold on the false. In releasing your hold on the false, you open to only that which is true.

If you take the time to carefully complete the exercise suggested in the previous message, it will help you see through the mask that you carry around in your mind as you. I recommend creating the list and contemplating it to discover if you have felt/experienced the adjectives in both columns. Once you’ve done that, consider this:

If you are (or have been) both, can you be defined as either, or are all definitions false?

Here is an example of the list requested in the exercise, except your list should be modeled after how you define yourself:

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Yesterday’s tip ended with:

You do not want Love different than it is, for as it is is  Love, and Love is all you truly want.

What is Love?

There are 21 definitions of “love” on dictionary.com, and none of those definitions define “Love” as it is meant when it refers to reality.

The reason none of the definitions accurately define Love is because nearly all of the definitions in the dictionary are based on duality, the love of one for another, whether that is the love for another person or another thing. The only exception is the definition of “love” as it is used in tennis. In that case, love is “a score of zero; nothing.” Interestingly, that definition comes closest to Love.

The best way to define Love is:

Openness or the all-inclusive nature of emptiness.

Its opposites are judgment and division.

People often ask, “Why does God allow…?” as if there are some circumstances that God should reject.

Today’s reading says:

The reason for all things is Love.

Or said another way, God is the openness or the emptiness that enables and allows all things. As emptiness, it is incapable of rejection. It is as the Tao Te Ching says in verse 11:

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

Emptiness does not reject or obstruct anything.

Emptiness enables and allows all things.

Love enables and allows all things.

The mind judges and divides. The mind cannot know Love.

Only emptiness can know Love. Only emptiness knows emptiness. If it is not empty, it is not Love.

The ego may suggest that emptiness is an uninteresting neutrality—a kind of “blah.” That is not true, which is why emptiness is called Love. However, to know Love you must become Love. Only through the direct experience of being it can you know it.

Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. …

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (From 1 John 4:7-16)

Love is as the Tao Te Ching describes the master in verse 12:

His heart is open as the sky.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Today’s reading reminds us that judgment is the tool that makes illusion. It says:

Judgment is the tool of illusion, so as long as you desire illusion, judgment is a tool you will hold dear.

This is a very important point. When we see ourselves as people living in a world that matters, we also feel that judgment is necessary. We feel we need to judge what we see as political injustices. We feel we need to judge crimes against humanity, crimes against animals, crimes against the environment, and etcetera. But what we don’t see is that with each judgment, we engage the creative principle and continue making the illusion that we judge.

Verse 29 of the Tao Te Ching says:

Do you want to improve the world?
I don’t think it can be done.
The world is sacred.
It can’t be improved.
If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it.

The world is “sacred,” because it is consciousness. Even the circumstances of the world are “sacred,” because they are the decision of consciousness through the creative principle. One who sees this, sees the world as it is, and she does not judge what she sees. She accepts the appearance as it is and loves the power that is behind the appearance.

Not seeing the world as it is and judging that it should be different is “tampering” with it. Through tampering, new illusions arise from the same energies as previous illusions. In this way, the world continues to go round and round and round, looking different as specific circumstances change, but caught in a loop, repeating itself, without any meaningful change at all.

It is as Jesus said 2,000 years ago:

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. (Mark 13:7,8)

When Jesus told the apostles, “do not be alarmed,” it was the same as saying, “do not judge; accept the situation as it is.”

When Jesus said, “but the end is still to come,” and “These are the beginning of birth pains,” he taught what today’s reading teaches:

When you look [at the world] with Me, there is nothing to judge. For everything works for the healing of one mind. There is no error, and there is no mistake. There isn’t one single flaw. There is only one mind listening to itself and recognizing which self is true. It is an awakening, a growing recognition, and it is perfect in every way.”

Or, as NTI Romans 14 said:

The experience is the experience it was made to be. It is the perfect reflection of a wish. It is everything you asked to see.

In this way, you may be grateful for everything you have made. You asked a question, and you have discovered the answer. … You do not want Love different than it is, for as it is is  Love, and Love is all you truly want.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Today’s reading says:

I lead you where you want to go. Do not fear that I will ask you to do what you do not want to do. I cannot do that, because I know what you are.

It also says:

I can only want for you that which you do want. This is why you have the freedom to choose dreams of illusion, if that is the experience you desire. I will not take from you that which you desire.

If you ask a human what s/he wants, you might get a list of hopes and dreams. When awake consciousness says, “I lead you where you want to go,” it does not mean that it will lead you to achieve all of those hopes and dreams. Awake consciousness has a different point-of-view. From its point-of-view, there are only two things you could want: truth or illusion. And right now, you desire only one of those two. You desire truth or you desire illusion. If you think you desire both truth and illusion, you desire illusion, because there is no illusion in truth.

When awake consciousness says, “I lead you where you want to go,” it means that it leads us to truth. Yet, if we are not ready for truth, it waits gratefully. It sees us as we are—as consciousness—and it wants for us what we think we want. So if we want the experience of illusion, it is grateful that we experience illusion.

Of course, if we choose illusion, we choose duality. Duality will never be “all good,” because it includes the swings of change. Nothing is constant in illusion. Everything eventually ends. Illusion is never wholly pleasant to the mind that desires it.

Our reading says:

I will never make you suffer, because I know you cannot suffer.

This is not speaking to a person in a world, because a person can suffer. This speaks to our truth. Awake consciousness does not see us as persons. It sees us as we are. It does not arrange the universe to suit the person. It lets the universe unfold as it is created through the creative principle, and it continues to remind us that we are before  the world and before  the creative principle. We are unaffected, untouched consciousness. The world is meaningless to what we are—meaningless, because the world cannot affect or change what we are—just as a gnat on the back of an elephant is meaningless to the elephant.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Today’s reading is very powerful and should be read slowly and contemplatively. I also recommend reading it more than once today, possibly once in the morning and once in the evening.

Humans are addicted to self-judgment. Today’s reading points out that if we judge our self as good or bad or simply mistaken, we are not empty. Just as emptiness does not believe the mind’s stories, emptiness does not judge. Emptiness is silent watchfulness, including silently watching the body-mind that seems to be ‘me.’

Focus on the idea of emptiness as silent watching. Can you be empty by silently watching everything, including what your body-mind does or doesn’t do?

The reading says:

Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial.

That sentence is not an opening to judge one’s self. There is a balance that only emptiness knows how to maintain. That balance is silent watching combined with discernment and acting based on intuitive guidance. However, silent watching is the over-arching beingness. In other words, silent watching watches the body-mind discern and act based on guidance, or not.

As an example, let’s imagine that someone says something. In my forgetfulness, I get annoyed and say something from annoyance, and then I see that. Immediately, I choose to shift into silent watching—not judgment. As I become empty, a realization that an apology would be beneficial comes from intuition. Abiding in silent watching and without any expectations, I apologize. I remain in silent watching and let whatever happens happen. I am also tuned-inward to intuition for my role in the play. I play my role and silently watch the play, including my role in it, simultaneously.

The simultaneous balance maintained by emptiness is silent watching, discernment and acting based on intuition.

In my example above, I spoke from annoyance, saw that, and then shifted into silent watching without self-judgment. I can do that now, but I admit there was a time when I couldn’t do that. Back then, self-judgment fired so quickly that I couldn’t stop it from happening. At that phase in my journey, I learned to shift into silent watching (or rest-accept-trust) and watch the automatic self-judgment, as well as any emotion that was created by self-judgment. Rest-accept-trust are the training wheels that teach silent watching.

In other words, shift into silent watching or rest-accept-trust whenever you can. If you can silently watch your body-mind without judgment, do that. If self-judgment seems automatic, watch that. If there is a lot of guilt or emotion that you feel nearly compelled to believe, practice rest-accept trust. Whatever you can do to move out of full believing and toward silent watching is beneficial.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Today’s reading is about our identification with thought. It’s about how thought thinks it is what we are, and we also think thought is what we are. The reading says:

The voice that thinks it is you has convinced you that it is you also, and so you listen to this voice as if it is you.

What is the “you” that thinks it is thought?

We can answer with labels like, “I am consciousness,” “attention,” or “awareness,” but instead of doing that, let’s look.

Can you see what you are?

Can you see how you give yourself to thought as if thought is what you are when thought is not what you are?

Can you see how you can hold back from giving yourself to thought?

Can you see how you can relax into a general openness that is the empty shell instead of being concentrated on thought?

Can you see how in this moment, you actually are  general openness, even when some part of you is concentrated on thought?

Nisargadatta Maharaj once said:

I am that which knows I am.

Can you see (be aware of) that?

I recommend practicing a few minutes of awareness-watching-awareness with Self-inquiry before reading today’s reading. If you are clear on yourself when you read, the reading will be clear.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Yesterday’s tip ended with this statement:

As previously mentioned, we let go of a thought by realizing we don’t want it, and the best way to realize what you don’t want is to remember what you do want—your spiritual aspiration.

Today’s reading is about the importance of remembering what you want by focusing on the heart instead of on thinking.

One advantage of Gentle Healing is that we take time each day to focus on the heart through reading, contemplation and meditation. Without this daily focus, we would most likely be slaves of the head instead of servants of the heart.

It is just as Jesus taught when he walked on the shores of Galilee:

Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Dependence on the mind is like building a house on sand. Dependence on the heart is like building a house on a foundation of rock.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Here are answers to some questions that might come up as you read today’s reading.

When NTI asks us to empty the shell, what is the shell?

The shell is the person—the apparent human being that is regarded as an individual. When the person is empty, it is a vessel for truth. It is moved by truth, and truth speaks through it. An enlightened one is an empty shell, empty of self and self-will.

What is the difference between letting go and repression?

When a person lets go of a thought, there is a realization that the thought isn’t what is wanted. Since the thought isn’t wanted, it’s let go, just like you might let go of something that is taking up space in your house when you realize you no longer want it. If an idea has been believed to the point that an emotion was created, you’ll also need to rest-accept-trust as the accompanying emotion moves through and out of the body-mind.

When a person represses a thought, there is a fear that s/he is bad for having that thought in the mind. Repression is more like hiding something in a dark corner in the basement of your house, because you don’t want it to be seen. Whatever is stored in the basement is still in the house, taking up space.

By learning to feel the difference  between realization and fear, you can discern if you are letting go of thought or repressing it. If you find you are repressing it, you can realize you don’t want that, and then relax into letting go.

What are points of experience?

As we learned in NTI Romans, ignorance began because we wanted to experience something different than truth. “Points of experience” are illusory thoughts that fulfill that wish by creating emotion.

Let’s look at how points of experience create illusory experience.

Imagine that you are standing with a conveyor belt in front of you. Hundreds of needles are passing by on the conveyor belt. There are several different color needles. There are pink needles, blue ones, gray ones, yellow ones, etcetera. Each needle is standing on end, with the sharp end of the needle pointing up. As the needles pass by, you feel compelled toward some of the needles. When you reach out and touch a needle, it pricks your finger, and you experience the emotion that is associated with that color needle. Eventually, you become addicted to some of the emotions. Even though you don’t like the emotion, you continually touch needles of that same color and continually experience that emotion.

That is how points of experience create illusory experience, except instead of a conveyor belt with different colored needles, we experience illusions that are different from truth by giving attention to thoughts. Thoughts float by, just like needles on a conveyor belt, and we feel compelled to give our attention to some of them, and then we experience the emotions associated with those thoughts.

In order to empty the shell of illusory experiences, we need to see that although we feel compelled to give attention to some thoughts, we aren’t compelled to give them attention. We are free to give attention to a thought or let it go on by, as if on a conveyor belt, regardless of what the thought is. If we’ve already picked a thought up from the conveyor belt, we are free to lay it back down, and it will move on as the conveyor belt moves on.

As previously mentioned, we let go of a thought by realizing we don’t want it, and the best way to realize what you don’t want is to remember what you do want—your spiritual aspiration.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.