NTI Luke has taken us “into the desert” for purification. Today’s reading focuses on purifying the “I am bad” belief, which may show up as:

• guilt
• unworthiness
• self-hatred
• shame
• feeling like a fake
• seeing one’s self as less than others
• etcetera

It’s helpful to make note of NTI Luke 8, so you can return to it for guidance when any of these ideas take hold in you. NTI Luke 8 coaches the reader into a healing posture.

Some key points from today’s reading are:

1. Remember to trust that you are worthy, regardless of what you believe or feel about yourself.

 

2. Remember that this feeling/belief must rise to the surface to be healed. Be grateful for this as an opportunity to heal.

 

3. Practice rest-accept-trust during times of strong emotion.

 

4. The “rest” in rest-accept-trust means rest away from believing the stories in the mind. Relax the mind and focus on gratitude for healing instead of focusing on stories about what is happening in the world.

 

5. The “I am bad” belief is based on judgment. Look to find the judgment you made against yourself. Are you willing to see that you are the one making the judgment? Are you willing to accept that you could be wrong? Are you willing to let go of that judgment?

 

6. The “I am bad” belief is strongly believed. It has been believed repeatedly. That might make it seem true to you, but that does not mean that it is true. In fact, it isn’t true. The belief comes from the mind. It is a mental interpretation about the body-personality. As we have already seen, the mind interprets; it does not know.
    
   In addition, you are not the body-personality. You are the awareness that is aware of the body-personality and mind. As you rest-accept-trust, notice that you are aware of the storm in the mind. As you rest, be aware of yourself as awareness. Noticing yourself as awareness is looking beyond the storm to the blue sky.

Note: I recommend printing this tip for future reference.

Today’s reading interprets the story of the Centurion. Here’s that story:

When Jesus had finished saying all this to the people who were listening, he entered Capernaum. There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die. The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them.

He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: “Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. [ At the time, Jews believed they would be made unclean if they entered the house of a Gentile.] That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.” Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.

Today’s reading emphasizes faith, clarity regarding the goal, and surrender.

Faith

Jesus said the Centurion had “great faith.” The Centurion knew that his request would be fulfilled. He said, “… say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Previously, I described faith as (1) trusting the healing process, (2) having confidence in a benevolent power beyond what your senses or mind can know and (3) accepting that all is well, regardless of the appearance. I’d like to add a fourth aspect to faith. Faith includes having confidence that you will awaken. Consider this quote:

Desire and confidence must go together. The stronger your desire, the easier comes the help. … If your desire and confidence are strong, they will operate and take you to your goal, for you will not cause delay by hesitation and compromise. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

Let’s look at how the creative principle works. That which we believe is fed into the creative principal and results in manifestation. With that said, if I believe I am unworthy to awaken, what is likely to be the result?

Catch thoughts of unworthiness in your mind, and let them go in faith.

Clarity Regarding the Goal

Yesterday we learned that the ego-mind does not know; it interprets. When we imagine what we think truth is, we are interpreting with a mental-mechanism that does not know. We are creating a fantasy.

If we have a mental fantasy about truth, and we desire our fantasy, we are not truth-seekers; we are illusion-seekers.

What do you imagine truth to be? Are you willing to let that go and find out what truth is?

Surrender

Today’s reading asks, “Did you really expect to find the peace of God in your  way?”

That leads to another question:

What is the ‘I’ that says “my way,” and can it lead to truth?

Contemplate how critical surrender is if your purpose is awakening.

Today’s reading is very important. One who genuinely practices today’s reading will advance very quickly. As we have already seen, if we continue to live by our old habits, nothing changes.

Today’s reading makes two primary points:

Everything that you see and experience, you see and experience through the filter of your mind.

That means your mind at your current vibrational level. As you rise in vibration, you still see through the filter of your mind, but how you see changes because the mind is different at a higher vibration. Remember, mind is simply thought. So as thoughts change, perception changes. However, even the highest thought—the highest vibration—is still not reality. Perception is never reality, so perception isn’t knowledge.

Knowledge is peace.

Knowledge isn’t “the right perception.” Perception is always interpretation—always seen through the filter of mind. Knowledge is peace.

Peace isn’t perception. Peace is difficult to describe, because it isn’t an object. It isn’t a thought or emotion. It is the absence of object—the absence of thought and the absence of emotion. It is undisturbed, clear, open awareness. That is knowledge.

If we are honest with ourselves, we know when we are caught up in our interpretation and when we are acting with knowledge.

How do we know?

Because peace is either present or it is not.

We can lie to ourselves and claim to be at peace when we are not, but if our desire for truth is strong, we won’t lie to ourselves. From the stance of self-honesty, it is very easy to tell if we are at peace in the moment or if there is a disturbance present.

Today’s reading recommends that we avoid speaking or acting from interpretation, which is not knowledge. It also suggests that we avoid “correcting” others whenever there is a disturbance in our mind. Instead, if we notice a disturbance in ourselves, regardless of how small that disturbance is, we do well to seek healing and clarity in quiet.

When we are at peace—meaning there is no disturbance present—we can trust what we feel to say and do. We are moved by knowledge. In fact, one who is moved by knowledge knows she is moved by knowledge, because she does not have her own interpretative reasons for what she is saying, doing or not doing. She does it because she feels moved to do it, and that is all. There is no other reason, because there isn’t an interpretation.

Review today’s reading carefully, contemplatively and repeatedly. After that, I recommend practicing it conscientiously. There is great benefit in putting today’s reading into practice starting immediately.

Here is a Bible story from Luke 6:

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and his disciples began to pick some heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat the kernels. Some of the Pharisees asked, “Why are you doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” [Work, like harvesting grain, is unlawful on the Sabbath according to Jewish law.]

Jesus answered them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He entered the house of God, and taking the consecrated bread, he ate what is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” Then Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. [Unless it is life threatening, healing is also considered work, and therefore, unlawful on the Sabbath.] But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there.

Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?”

He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus.

As the scribe of NTI, when I read that story from the Bible, I judged the Pharisees. That’s why you see the interpretation that you see in today’s reading. It talks about judgment, because I was caught up in judgment.

What is judgment? In the way it is used here, judgment is comparing and then favoring or rejecting.

There is another definition of judgment. Judgment can also be defined as making sensible conclusions. The problem is, most of us think we are judging sensibly when we are actually practicing the distorted judgment of separation.

If there were more clarity in the human mind, the guidance would be to use sensible judgment in our daily lives, but when we are completely confused about what is sensible and what is not sensible, the guidance becomes, “forget everything you have been taught and everything you have learned. For if you know nothing, you cannot judge. Any judgment you make … is a mistake.”

Is it safe for us to let go of all judgment? Yes, it is safe if we turn to intuition for guidance. Remember, intuition knows everything about this moment, and it knows truth too. It is much more reliable as a guide than the limited, biased thinking mind. As Nisargadatta taught:

That which sees all this, and the nothing too, is the inner teacher. He alone is; all else only appears to be. He is your own swarupa (true Self), your hope and assurance of freedom; find him and cling to him and you will be saved and safe.

Let me be clear. Humans need judgment to survive. One who lays down the judgment of the thinking mind without tuning into intuitive judgment puts the body-personality in danger. However, it is perfectly safe to abandon ego-judgment and listen to intuition instead. As today’s reading says:

I know truth and I know the world that you believe and hold dear.

Therefore, it is safe to trust intuition.

Today’s reading addresses a second mistake that I made as the scribe of NTI. While reading the Bible, I noticed that the names of the apostles in Luke were different than the names of the apostles in a previous book in the Bible, and I became scared. The fear that arose in me was the fear that the truth is not true.

My mistake was looking for the truth in the world (in this case, in accurate Biblical history.) Looking for truth in the world isn’t an uncommon mistake. Another way this mistake manifests is by expecting human perfection from our spiritual teachers. What we don’t realize is that we want them to be perfect, because we are looking at them as if they are the truth, and then when they do something that doesn’t meet our mental expectations regarding truth, we are disillusioned, and we suffer.

NTI says, “We are all guided to learn the truth by following the path of unreality.”

What does that mean?

It means that the symbols we encounter in the world, including the books and teachers that point to truth, are not truth itself. It is as NTI Revelation says:

The world is an illusion, and so everything you experience as you let go of the world is illusion also. You are not to believe any of it. But helpful symbols will be given to guide you. Remember that they are only symbols. Follow them, realizing you know not where they lead.

Judgment will lead us to reject a book or teacher if we find an error in it that doesn’t meet our expectations. Both favoritism and rejection are the signs of ego-distorted judgment.

Intuition leads us to take what is helpful from books and teachers, and simply leave what isn’t helpful without getting caught up in emotional rejection. Sensible decisions like this are the hallmark of intuition.

Today’s reading provides the basic guidelines for purification. When we live by these guidelines, we purify, which means we rise in vibration.

In today’s reading, the purification guidelines are called “new habits.” Our conditioning is referred to as “old habits.” If we continue to live by our old habits, nothing changes. New habits are necessary if we want to rise in vibration.

Here is a summary of the new habits (guidelines for purification):

1. Realize you do not know anything.
2. Rely on intuition to guide you in all things.
3. Have faith, which means:
   ~ trust the healing process
   ~ put confidence in a benevolent power beyond what your senses or mind can know
   ~ accept that all is well, regardless of the appearance
4. Be willing to let darkness rise into awareness.
5. Practice rest-accept-trust when darkness rises. This type of rest is healing.
6. See doubt as a normal part of this process while realizing it is the lower vibration, and then choose faith instead.
7. When you notice that you’ve slipped into old conditioning, shift into the new habits. In this way, the new habits will replace old conditioning.

Note: I recommend printing this tip for future reference.

Today’s the day! The inner teacher has taken our hand and is leading us into the desert for purification. Yay!!!

Purification is a very important step. It’s necessary, which is why it was the very first thing Jesus did after baptism. Baptism represents the decision to awaken fully. Purification is the first important step in the direction of awakening. We follow in Jesus’ footsteps by walking into the purification stage with the help of NTI and inner spiritual wisdom.

If the thought of purification scares you, remember that fear is a low vibration tempting you to remain at a low vibrational level, and then choose to focus on your willingness instead.

Today’s reading begins:

I am your leader in this process of healing. … The way to healing is to listen to Me with the full attention of your ears. Focus them on nothing else and no one else.

That’s the opening instruction—focus your ears on nothing and no one except the combined guidance of conscience and spiritual intuition. That means that intuition will guide you in how to be, including how to respond to your boss, your spouse, your parents, your children, your spiritual teacher, and etcetera. No one has authority over your spiritual intuition. It alone is your guide, and it guides under all circumstances.

Start here by accepting inner spiritual intuition as your sole authority under all circumstances. If you make this commitment, you take a giant step forward.

Three times, today’s reading says, “This is what you are to do.” Whenever you see those words in NTI, pay close attention. That is specific guidance. You heal by following specific guidance.

What does “heal” mean? NTI refers to the lower vibrations as “sickness.” These are the thoughts, emotions and perceptions that lead to suffering. “Healing” is rising in vibrational level until lower vibrations have no effect on you.

There are two levels of healing. The first level of healing is true perception. True perception is similar to being in remission; you are currently healthy, but you are still subject to vibrational levels. One who experiences true perception is at a very high vibrational level and is in the habit of selecting high vibrations, but the possibility for selecting lower vibrations still exists.

The second level of healing is awakening to the First Principle of God, which is awakening beyond the effect of any vibrational level. It’s awakening from the dream of vibrational levels.

As you read NTI today, keep your journal handy. When you read what you are to do, which will happen three times in today’s reading, ask within “What does this mean?” or “How does this apply to me?” Write what comes to you in your journal. The act of writing will help you commit to the guidance inwardly, and it will help you remember the guidance. I also recommend reviewing your journal a few times during the day. In addition, it is helpful to share from your journal in the Sanctuary or in a safe relationship. Sharing will further strengthen your memory and commitment.

At the end of today’s reading, we are told:

Sickness must rest and be quiet. This is the way to health. Let your sickness rest. But health must serve the Son of God, for that is its only purpose.

Here’s something to contemplate in relationship to that:

The right use of mind is in the service of love, of life, of Truth, of beauty. … You must begin in yourself, with yourself – this is the inexorable law. Attend to yourself, set yourself right – mentally and emotionally. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

The story in the Bible at Luke 4 is the story of Jesus’ 40-days and 40-nights in the desert. Jesus went into the desert to purify from lower vibrations, namely false beliefs, fears, desires and conditioning.

NTI Luke 4 is the beginning of the purification process for the reader. From this point forward, NTI takes the role of spiritual teacher and guides the reader through purification. However, NTI cannot do this alone. You must choose to follow the guidance of NTI in your daily life. If you make that choice, NTI becomes your guide. When NTI becomes your guide, it is more than written words on the page. It is also your inner guide, meaning it will be with you as inner spiritual intuition whether the book is with you or not.

Today’s reading says, “Jesus came out of the desert a teacher, but the one who taught through him was the Holy Spirit. This is the same one that teaches you now, so that no time has elapsed since Jesus seemed to teach until the time that I am teaching you now.”

In other words, that which led Jesus into the desert for purification, that which taught through him after purification, that which speaks through NTI and your spiritual intuition are all the same one. It has been called by many names, including the Holy Spirit and the Voice for God. It is the knowingness of pure consciousness. Today’s reading is an invitation to let this Voice be your guide.

The reading says, “… you will not have to look far to find doubt within your mind.”

It’s helpful to admit that we have doubts, and then move forward trusting inner intuition to the best of our ability anyway. If doubt holds us back, no movement occurs. Doubt can keep us at a lower vibrational level.

Maybe you aren’t sure that you intuit spiritual intuition. That’s okay. It really doesn’t matter at this point whether you do or not. You have access to conscience—everyone has access to conscience—and you have spiritual intuition through NTI, so start there.

NTI Luke 1 said:

Each one comes to the awareness of truth from where he is, so where he is, is where he must begin to learn. There is no shame in his starting point, wherever that starting point seems to be.

Keep things simple. Our goal now is to raise our vibrational level by choosing to follow the highest vibration currently available to us. By doing that, higher vibrations become available. So, that is all you have to do.

If you are worried that you won’t recognize the highest vibration, you can put that worry aside. Worry is a lower vibration. Remember what NTI Luke 2 said:

The birth of Jesus represents the birth of willingness, humble at first, but promising within it all of the glory of Heaven. Mary pondered this promise in her heart, not with the worrisome thoughts of the ego, but in her heart where the Holy Spirit is.

Instead of worrying, simply be willing to take one step at a time. NTI has promised to guide you, and it will. NTI gives very specific guidance—clear and easy-to-follow guidance.

Our guidance begins in tomorrow’s reading. Today, contemplate your willingness to follow NTI’s guidance.

Please review the tip from Day 1, and then come back and read this tip.

Conscience, Consciousness and God’s Will:

Conscience is the knowing within that encourages us to choose the highest vibration available. Conscience knows that lower vibrations lead to suffering and higher vibrations lead to freedom.

Today’s reading refers to “Christ” and “Son of God,” which are synonymous. They are religious terms for consciousness. When today’s reading says that John the Baptist was “not yet fully the Christ,” it means that conscience points towards consciousness, but the vibration of pure consciousness is higher than the vibration of conscience.

As pointed out on Day 1, spiritual intuition is higher than conscience. That’s because spiritual intuition is the knowingness of pure consciousness. We reach spiritual intuition by following conscience and by desiring truth realization. Only following conscience is not enough to awaken spiritual intuition. The desire for truth must also be present.

Today’s reading also refers to “God’s Will.” In truth, God has no will. God, as life-awareness, simply is. “God’s Will” is a symbol. It represents truth. It is also used to symbolize our desire to realize truth.

Let’s look at the Four Principles of God using the terms from today’s reading:

First Principle of God – Pure, unmanifest, life-awareness. There is no “will” in this principle, but the term “God’s Will” is a symbol for this principle.

Second Principle of God – Consciousness, Son of God, Christ.

Third Principle of God – The creative principle.

Fourth Principle of God – Manifestation. Conscience operates at this level. It is an intuitive mechanism that can reduce suffering in humans and raise their vibrational level.

Distraction and Specialness:

Yesterday’s reading pointed out two ways we can raise our vibration: willingness and being grateful for willingness. Today’s reading points out two ways we maintain a lower vibration:

1. Distraction – Being completely outward-focused and forgetting to pay attention within for the highest vibrational option.
2. Specialness – Thinking you are different from other people.

Whenever you notice you have become distracted, simply remember your willingness, and then turn to intuition to find the highest vibration available to you in the moment. Surrender to that vibrational option as guidance.

Whenever you notice that you feel special (different from other people), remember the exercise that we did with molding clay on Day 48. Jesus was a temporary form made from clay. Clay was the essence of Jesus. Clay was a symbol for consciousness. Just as the essence of Jesus was consciousness, your essence is consciousness. There is no difference between you and Jesus. Since the essence of everyone is consciousness, there are no special people. Everyone is the same, regardless of appearance, vibration, knowledge or behavior.

The story in the Bible at Luke 2 is about Jesus’ birth and consecration. The consecration was a ceremony required by Jewish law. Every firstborn male had to be taken to the temple in Jerusalem to be dedicated with a small sacrifice, namely “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” When Jesus was taken to the temple, two unusual things happened:

Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation…”

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; … She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Today’s reading says that Jesus’ birth “represents the birth of willingness, humble at first, but promising within it all of the glory of Heaven.” It interprets the story about Simeon and Anna in this way:

This tiny willingness, only newly born and without achievement of any kind, is received by the Holy Spirit as a wonderful gift, and it is received with eternal gratitude.

So it is with your willingness, no matter how humble that willingness may seem to be to you.

Yesterday, we saw that the path of awakening is a path of choosing higher vibrations over lower vibrations. We also saw that although the code is multi-layered, not all vibrational levels are currently available to us as options. We are aware of the vibrations that are closest to our current vibrational level. Some of those vibrations are in tune with the lower edge of our vibrational level. Others are in tune with the higher edge of our vibrational level. We rise up by choosing the options that are in tune with the higher edge of our current vibrational level.

NTI Luke 2 offers willingness as a higher vibrational option that is in tune with our current vibrational level. Gratitude for willingness is another a high vibrational option that is available to us. Through gratitude, willingness grows into true desire, and true desire grows into intense desire for awakening. Intense desire for awakening is a very high vibration. As we have already learned:

Awakening the extremely intense desire for Liberation is the most important first step that can be taken towards being liberated here and now in this lifetime. ~ The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss by Michael Langford

As you read from NTI today, keep in mind that NTI Luke 2 provides a very important key. As it says in The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss:

Some teachings are essential powerful keys. The knowledge that increasing your desire for liberation is the most effective first step you can take, is an essential powerful key.

All obstacles that appear in your journey to freedom are caused by too little desire for freedom. Even a little increase in your desire for freedom is helpful. As your desire for freedom grows in intensity the ego creates fewer obstacles.

Since willingness is a higher vibrational choice, it’s helpful to choose willingness whenever a lower vibration is tempting you. For example, imagine you are very annoyed at a person close to you. Instead of acting from that annoyance, say this prayer with your heart:

I feel very annoyed right now. I don’t see how I could not be annoyed at this. However, I am willing to see differently. I surrender all of my thoughts about this situation in willingness, and I remain open to any guidance that will come.

With a prayer like this, you make the higher choice, and you rise a little higher in vibration, which makes an even higher option available to you. The new higher option is called “guidance”. It might be the guidance to rest-accept-trust, it might be a new way of seeing the situation, or it might be something else that is different from the original options that were available in your mind.

Whenever you choose the highest option available in the moment, you are guided to the next higher option through a rise in vibration. That is what guidance is—a higher choice leading to the next higher option. By following guidance, which is the highest option available now, you continually rise in vibration.