Note:  Before reading today’s tip, read Acts 5:1-11 from the Bible or watch all of Acts 5 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today, we will continue to look at the belief that we are guilty (or unworthy, shameful, etcetera.) NTI uses the story of Ananias and his wife to help us look at our belief in guilt.

In my experience as a spiritual teacher, guilt and its sister-feelings, like unworthiness and shame, are at the core of each person. Some people are very aware of their feelings of guilt, unworthiness or shame. Other people aren’t aware of those feelings. Those who aren’t aware tend to see themselves as better than others in one way or another. They see others as guilty or unworthy, just as Peter saw Ananias and his wife as guilty, and just as the leaders of the Jewish faith saw Peter and the apostles as guilty. This is a classic example of projection. When the belief in guilt is healed, we do not see anyone  as guilty, unworthy or shameful.

If you feel this discussion about guilt does not apply to you, pause and look at how you see others. If you see guilt, unworthiness or shamefulness anywhere in the world, the belief is deeply repressed in you. You need this healing too.

The Truth

The belief that we are guilty is not true. In order to see that it’s not true, we need to take our eyes off of the lie and focus them on the truth.

Yesterday we learned that there is only one Will, and that is life-awareness-freedom. That is the truth. For the purpose of simplification, let’s shorten that to life.  Life is what God is, life is what God created you as, and life is God’s Will for you. The only thing God wants for you and from you is life. Nothing else is asked or expected.

With that said, if you have an extra-marital affair, have you gone against God’s Will or are you still life?

If you hurt someone with something you say in anger, have you gone against God’s one Will or are you still life?

What if you hit someone, throw dishes at someone or steal? What if you lie or fail to respect your parents? Have you gone against God’s Will or are you still life?

It is true that mistakes like these can cause unnecessary suffering, but as we have already seen, these mistakes are caused by ignorance and are a call for knowledge. Although you may believe they go against God’s Will, they don’t, because God’s Will is life, and life is unaffected by these mistakes.

Some people may ask, “What if I kill someone?” The answer is, are you still life? Look at the life that you are. It is uninterrupted and unaffected in you. That is the answer to your question.

Others may ask, “What about suicide? Am I guilty if I commit suicide?”

Well, if suicide actually results in death, then you are dead. Can something that no longer exists be guilty or does it simply no longer exist? And if suicide does not actually result in death, but results in a transition from one type of life to another, there is still life, isn’t there?

As some people read this, their minds may try to prove that guilt is true in some circumstances. If so, why? Why try to prove that guilt is true instead of accepting this teaching?

On Day 99, our Thought of Awakening said:

See that the thoughts
you want to hold to
are only thoughts
you want to hold to.

They are ideas only.
And you want to hold to them
as if they are your life.

But are they your life?
Are these ideas
that which you are?

That’s a great question to contemplate today. Are your ideas about guilt your life, or is your life present and unaffected by your ideas about guilt? Which is your foundational truth, and which is added by the mind?

As you contemplate this, you might consider these questions:

Does everyone see guilt in the same way? For example, in some cultures a woman is guilty for letting a man she is not married to see her hair. Does everyone agree that is a crime, or are our ideas about guilt merely ideas?

What if there is no such thing as guilt? What if guilt is only a mind-made idea and there’s no truth to it at all?

That is what is being taught now. Guilt is only an idea. There is no truth to it at all. And that is why you cannot be guilty (or unworthy or shameful. They are also mind-made ideas.)

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

Note:  Before reading today’s tip, read Acts 4:1-22 from the Bible or watch all of Acts 4 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

More About Guilt

Yesterday we saw that guilt is not the correction for ignorance; knowledge is the correction for ignorance. Today, let’s look a little more closely at why guilt is not a proper correction.

Let’s imagine a woman with a sweet tooth. This woman loves to end each day by eating a bowl of cookie dough ice cream and some Oreo cookies. Over time, the woman begins to gain weight because of this habit. Whenever she looks in the mirror, she begins to believe thoughts like, “You fat cow. You’re ugly. No man will ever want you.” Since she believes these thoughts, she begins to feel very bad about herself. Feeling bad leads to seeking pleasure, which leads to bigger bowls of ice cream and more cookies. Of course, that leads to more weight gain, more self-hatred thoughts, and the cycle grows unto itself.

Notice that when the woman started hating herself for gaining weight, the self-hatred did not lead to a positive correction. Instead, it led to additional ice cream and cookies, which compounded the problem.

Self-hatred, unworthiness, shame, guilt, and similar self-debasing feelings all work in the same way. When we cling to these ideas about our self, we listen to ego more instead of less. The problem is compounded, instead of corrected. So, you aren’t guilty for the mistakes you’ve made, and  believing you are guilty will lead to additional mistakes. Believing you are guilty (or unworthy, shameful, etcetera) keeps you stuck in the cycle of listening to ignorance.

Therefore, if we want to be free of ignorance and its effects, it’s important to trust that we are innocent, worthy and even beloved by the benevolence of the universe. By trusting our worth, we are able to step outside of the cycle of guilt and begin choosing the highest vibration available. In that way, we begin climbing the ladder of knowledge.

Contemplating One Will

Today’s reading points out that belief in separate wills is ignorance, since the belief in separation is ignorance. It says:

If you knew there was only one Will, you could not be confused.

It is easy to see many different individual wills in the world. Politics is a great example of this. People vary greatly about the policies they’d like to see as law in their country. So what is this “one Will” that NTI refers to?

The one Will is life-awareness-freedom (which is also called love).

When the world is seen through the right-mind, it appears as life-awareness-freedom. The right-mind sees one Will that is never blocked or interfered with. Life-awareness-freedom is present in everything that can be seen. It is also known in the unseen.

When we look out on the world and see many different wills, we are seeing through the filter of separation. We are seeing with ignorance, which means we need knowledge, since knowledge is the proper correction for ignorance.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 3 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

In America there is a saying:

Everyone has skeletons in their closet.

What the saying means is that we have all done things we are ashamed of—things we feel guilty for. When I look at my memory to see when I first tried to hide something I did because I felt guilty for it, I remember two events from when I was 4 and 5 years old. I guess that means we start putting skeletons in our closet at a pretty early age.

Are we guilty for the things we’ve done that were clearly wrong?

For example, one of my early skeletons was lying to my kindergarten teacher and blaming someone else for something I did. If the teacher hadn’t seen through my lie, a little boy could have been punished for something he didn’t do. Lying to the teacher and blaming an innocent child for something I did was clearly wrong. It wasn’t the right thing to do. But am I guilty?

What about the extra-marital affairs we’ve had? What about the hurtful things we’ve said out of anger? What about the times we’ve hit someone or thrown dishes at someone? What about the things we’ve stolen? What about all of the lies we’ve told? What about the other skeletons in our closets? Are we guilty for what we’ve done?

Today’s reading is very clear. We are not guilty regardless of what those skeletons are.

Every time we’ve done something wrong, it is because we listened to ego instead of conscience. Listening to ego was the first mistake. If we hadn’t listened to ego first, whatever came next would not have happened. For example, when I blamed that little boy for what I did in kindergarten, the quick ego thought in my mind was something like, “Oh no, I’m going to get in trouble. Quick! Blame someone else!”

Today’s reading points out that the ego is ignorance. It is ignorance, because it is an entire thought system based on one false premise: separation. It is an entire thought system based on the idea that I am this body-mind-personality, and I am not anything but this body-mind-personality. Everything else is separate from me.

However, that premise is not true. I am not this body-mind-personality. I am life-awareness. Wherever I see life-awareness, there I am too. The life-awareness that seems to be in this body-mind and the life-awareness that seems to be in your body-mind are the same life-awareness, and we are That.

Of course, the ego doesn’t see it that way, and all ego chatter is based on the false idea that the truth is not true. So, the ego is ignorance. It is ignorant about the true nature of things.

Every time we have done something wrong—and we’ve all done something wrong, usually starting at a very young age—it was because we listened to ignorance. If we listened to ignorance and followed it up with action, our action is ignorant action.

NTI makes a clear distinction between ignorant action and guilt. It says:

Ignorance is not guilt. It is a call for knowledge.

In other words, every time a human does something wrong, it is an indication that one has listened to ignorance. The correction for ignorance isn’t guilt. The correction for ignorance is knowledge.

We have all done things that had intended or unintended negative impact in the world. NTI doesn’t deny the impact our mistakes have had in the world. However, life-awareness (reality) has not been affected at all by our mistakes, and guilt is not the correction for our mistakes. Knowledge is the correction.

Without knowledge, mistakes continue, because we continue to listen to ignorance. With knowledge, we put ignorance aside and listen to intuitive conscience and spiritual intuition instead. Harmlessness (ahimsa) comes from the guidance found in intuition. Therefore, acknowledging that our mistakes and the harm we’ve done are ignorance, and then choosing to put ignorance aside to follow intuition is cause for celebration.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 2 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today’s reading shares several tips about following guidance, including some of the blocks to guidance. I recommend taking notes as you read today. Write down each bit of clarity that comes to you regarding the tips and obstacles shared in NTI Acts, Chapter 2.

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

Note:  Before reading today’s tip, read Acts 1:1-11 from the Bible or watch all of Acts 1 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts. (Here is a link to the Acts movie on YouTube.)

Yesterday’s reading described the awakening process from identification with the false self to the awake-realization of unity consciousness. It described the experience as a “merging” process.

Today’s reading points to the first step in the merging process, which is opening to guidance that seems to come from beyond yourself.

In the initial stage, guidance seems to come from beyond yourself, because you are identified with the false self. Guidance does not come from the false self. Resistance comes from the false self.

Let’s look again at what guidance is and what resistance is.

Resistance resists change. Specifically, it will cling to your identification with thought, body and personality as you.

Guidance is the highest vibrational choice available to you now. As you choose the highest vibration, you also rise in vibration. In that way, guidance is like a ladder, and by climbing that ladder you climb beyond identification with the false self to realization of unity consciousness (the I Am presence). That’s why the false self resists guidance, and that’s why guidance does not come from the false self.

Necessarily then, you must put your personal will aside and seek guidance that comes from beyond the personal self, which resists truth. Today’s reading teaches us how to do that.

Today’s reading makes another important point too. Many spiritual seekers become too attached to outer teachers and teachings. Although outer teachers and teachings can be helpful for a time, we all must become Self-reliant with our own inner spiritual wisdom. In fact, the mission of The Foundation for the Holy Spirit, which is Awakening Together’s parent organization, is:

To help individuals become Self-reliant with inner spiritual wisdom. We do this by providing resources and services beneficial to that mission.

Awakening Together is the primary resource through which this mission is accomplished. Gentle Healing is one means of accomplishing that mission. NTI is also a resource of The Foundation for the Holy Spirit.

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

NTI John ends with a lovely description of the awakening process from identification with the false self to realization of unity consciousness. It describes the experience as a “merging” process. At first, we listen for guidance as if it is coming from outside of us. Then, we begin to recognize it is not coming from outside of us. Instead, it seems to move in us and through us naturally. Eventually we see ourselves as That, which we used to reach for or resist.

NTI John points out that until the merging process is complete, there will be resistance and doubt. There will also seem to be “tests,” which are situations when we are severely tempted to fall back on our old habits in order to feel safe. These “tests” do not come from truth. There aren’t any “tests” we have to pass to realize truth. The “tests” are times when the ego is screaming for us to turn away from truth. The “tests” come from our remaining resistance.

Today’s reading says:

But if you open to Me, even within your moments of doubt, the miracles that you experience will convince you that your faith is well placed, and you will continue to follow the guidance of the Light.

In other words, we are awakening to benevolence. By not returning to the ego during the “tests” of resistance, we discover the benevolence that is natural to truth, and we learn to trust it more. This positive reinforcement, which comes naturally when we do not return to our old habits, encourages us to let go of ego and merge with the light.

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

Yesterday’s reading ended with this:

You stand before two voices, both witnessing to you and both claiming to be the voice of truth. Each voice has something to say, but what they say is different. And you must make a choice. … Which voice will you believe? … Which voice will you listen to?

Today’s reading points out that until we resolve to live by the voice for truth, we live by the ego. The ego is the default voice in the world. As long as we believe that we serve our best interests by thinking through options and making decisions based on thinking, we live in accordance with ego.

Most people will read today’s reading, feel the desire to live by the voice for truth, and then follow the ego predominantly anyway.

Why?

Because of the value put on one’s thinking.

The reading points out that you will suffer because of the choice to live by ego. This is important to see. If we notice how much suffering our thinking causes us, we will begin to value it less. The less we value our thinking, the more likely we are to follow our heart and live by the voice for truth instead of the ego.

It is helpful to notice how you feel when thinking is spinning in the mind. Notice that thinking is the cause of suffering. Grow tired of thinking as your guide.

It’s important to remember that the voice for truth is intuition, and intuition guides in the moment. That means that as we resolve to live by the voice for truth instead of thinking, we need to become comfortable with not knowing and with waiting until intuition makes known whatever it is that we need to know.

Watch your thinking. When something is not yet known, but the mind is trying to figure it out, put the thinking aside. Be willing to abide in unknowing presence until it is time to know. Through this decision, you wait for intuition instead of running off with thinking.

On Day 96, our tip pointed to a core problem:

We may think we value truth,
but what we really value is our thinking.

This is why we confuse our true Self with a false self. The false self is thinking, and we value thinking to the point that we are willing to see it as what we are.

Of course, Gentle Healing is a process of undoing this core problem. However, as we undo the core problem, we can’t ignore the fact that we are undoing something we have willingly valued above everything else, including truth. The value we have placed on thinking is the source of our resistance to undoing. We experience resistance to the degree that we still value thinking.

In other words, resistance is lighter if I don’t place much value on thinking anymore. It is greater if I still place great value on thinking.

The interesting thing about the level of truth that we are attempting to realize now is:

It is simple, obvious and there is nothing to fear in it.

The level of truth that we are attempting to realize now is the Second Principle of God, consciousness. Today’s reading calls it “I Am.”

If you take a break from thinking and simply look at the I Am presence that you are, you will see there is nothing to fear in it. You will see it is a simple, obvious fact. You will see it is naturally peaceful. You may even see that it is comforting to recognize yourself as “I Am.”

So, why is there resistance to simply claiming yourself as you are?

It is because of the value that is put on thinking. “I Am” is not thinking. Thinking is what today’s reading calls your illusions and your imagination.

Today’s reading provides guidance that helps us be with resistance so that resistance can be healed. Read today’s reading slowly and contemplatively. Learning to be with resistance in a way that heals it is important. As resistance heals, the value we put on thinking naturally weakens. As the value we put on thinking weakens, the awakening process gets easier, because there is less resistance as we value our thinking less.