Yesterday we looked at the ego as the belief in separation and self-centeredness. Those are two legs of the three-legged stool that is the ego. The three legs that hold up the seat of ego-self are:

Today’s reading includes pointers that help us remove these three legs. When we do, the ego collapses, because it doesn’t have a leg to stand on.

To remove the belief in separation:
Focus on awareness.

To remove the sense of self-existence:
Ignore mental chatter.

To remove self-centeredness:
Surrender.

Here are some quotes to help you contemplate today’s pointers:

In true meditation the emphasis is on being awareness; not on being aware of objects, but on resting as primordial awareness itself. Primordial awareness is the source in which all objects arise and subside. As you gently relax into awareness, into listening, the mind’s compulsive contraction around objects will fade. Awareness naturally returns to its non-state of absolute unmanifest potential, the silent abyss beyond all knowing. ~ Adyashanti

The Lord, your God, wants one thing from you and one thing only. He seeks all that you think, that He may show you all that you are. ~ Today’s reading

You should offer up to me the bright ruby of your mind. That is the gift that will bring me delight. ~ Ramana Maharshi

[Surrender] is the feeling ‘I am helpless by myself; God alone is all powerful and except by throwing myself completely on him, there is no other means of safety for me.’ By this method one gradually develops the conviction that God alone exists and that the ego does not count. … Complete surrender is another name for jnana or liberation. ~ Ramana Maharshi

Today’s reading is very short, but its message is the crux of true spirituality. It deserves the utmost contemplation.

The problem with humanity is the belief in separation and self-centeredness. That is one problem, not two. The problem is complicated by the fact that humans do not realize it is a problem. They think separation is a fact, and they typically do not notice their own self-centeredness. The ways that humans hurt each other, themselves, animals and the planet because of this way of seeing are too numerous to list. Extreme hurt is much more common than we’d like to notice or admit. In the past, I have shared two videos—Kirtana’s “Happy Birthday Jesus” and John Lennon’s “Happy Xmas”—to help us look more honestly at the pain caused by the ego. And yet, those videos only show a tiny portion of that pain.

Ashleigh Banfield’s “Primetime Justice” on CNN Headline News often highlights news stories that show just how cruel and self-centered humans can be. If you can watch that show without judging the accused, it can be helpful to tune in on occasion as a reminder of the pain that is caused by the belief in separation and self-centeredness.

In Jesus’ time, there was just as much cruelty as there is now. Nothing has really changed in 2,000 years, which is the point of Kirtana’s song, “Happy Birthday Jesus.” That’s also the point that Michael Langford makes in his book, The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss:

For thousands of years humans have been stuck in the same pool of inward unsolved problems. Thousands of years ago humans had the problems of suffering, sorrow, anger, fear violence, conning, cheating, lying, death, etc. Today humans have the problems of suffering, sorrow, anger, fear, violence, conning, cheating, lying, death, etc. All of those problems have a single cause.

Michael Langford goes on to explain that the single cause of all of those problems is the ego. He also explains that the answer to all of those problems is the final end of the ego. It would be the same to say that the single cause of all of those problems is the belief in separation and self-centeredness. Therefore, the answer to all of those problems is the final end to the belief in separation and self-centeredness.

Note: Notice that Michael Langford says, “For thousands of years humans have been stuck with the same pool of inward unsolved problems.” The belief in separation and self-centeredness are inward unsolved problems.

In today’s reading, Jesus is asked, “Of all the commandments, which is most important?” Jesus answers with two commandments. The first addresses the belief in separation. The second addresses self-centeredness.

Instead of simply reading today’s brief excerpt from NTI, and then going on with your day, take time to contemplate the following questions. Journal with inner wisdom until you feel you have reached genuine insight.

What can I do to love God (truth, Self, awareness) to a greater extent?

What change (or changes) can I make to be less self-centered and more inclusive?

Again, seek genuine insight regarding these questions. When we reach genuine insight, we are able to feel it. It is the feeling of something new dawning on the mind, like a new realization, a new way of seeing, or a new or deeper way of understanding something that has been presented before. An insight may lead to an increase in the desire for truth realization, or it may lead to a more authentic approach to spiritual practice. If there is a dull “I-already-knew-that” feeling or a feeling of guilt associated with your answers, you have not yet reached insight.

Note: It doesn’t have to take a long time to reach insight. It’s possible that genuine insight may come quickly.

Day 50: NTI Mark 12 (v1-12) – (v18-27)

When we derive a portion or all of our self-image from the truth teaching that we study, the teaching is hijacked by the ego, and it is no longer effective. Instead, the teaching becomes a tool that is used by the ego to continue the ego and its illusion.

That is the meaning of the story about the vineyard, which you will find in today’s reading. The perfect vineyard is the teaching. However, the one who becomes identified with the teaching turns it into a personal thought system. Once the teaching is reduced to a thought system that ‘I’ identify with, it needs to be defended whenever the thought system appears threatened. At this point, the teaching becomes completely ineffective, and it isn’t used for the purpose that it was originally given, which is truth realization.

A term commonly used for this process of identifying with a teaching, turning it into a personal thought system, and then defending the thought system is, “fundamentalism.” Like ritual, fundamentalism is the husk of truth faith.

Awakening Together’s fourth core value addresses fundamentalism.

We affirm one true Self as the only truth. We live this value by embracing what is helpful on the path of awakening without idolizing any spiritual doctrine as truth.

NTI Revelation, Chapter 1, also addresses the mistake of fundamentalism.

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.

Do not idolize anything within the world or any symbol or any thought that is sent to lead you from the world. Hold to them as they are useful, but let them go when their usefulness has past. You are to keep moving by letting go until you find yourself with nothing left to hold onto.

Twice, today’s reading says, “Jesus understood the confusion within the mind and the thought that gave rise to such confusion.” The confusion is fundamentalism. The thought that gives rise to the confusion is the “I” thought, a thought that constantly seeks for a self-image.

To awaken, we must let go of self-image, including spiritual self-image, and embrace “the oneness of God”—consciousness, the Second Principle of God—as what we are.

As a reminder, NTI Mark is a fictional story that provides helpful symbols. Our role is to derive meaning from the symbols, and then live from the example provided by those symbols.

I am reminding you of this today, because today’s reading in NTI is quite a bit different from the way the stories are told in the Bible. In the Bible, Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey and is hailed as king by crowds of people. The next day, he wakes up hungry. The Bible says:

Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it. ~ Mark 11:12-14, 20-21

That fig tree “withered from the roots” and died.

After cursing the fig tree, Jesus went to Jerusalem. This is what happened next:

On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ ~ Mark 11:15-17

Why does NTI tell the story differently? Because, NTI Mark is a fictional story that provides helpful symbols. Our role is to derive meaning from the symbols, and then live from the example provided by those symbols. So, NTI changes the story in order to provide us with an example we can follow and model ourselves after.

What about the story as it is told in the Bible?

The morning after Jesus rode into Jerusalem and was hailed as king, the Bible says:

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. ~ Mark 11:12

As we know, Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights in the desert and refused the ego’s temptation to turn stones into bread. But on this day, Jesus sees a fig tree in the distance and, even though it wasn’t the season for figs, he gets so angry at the tree for not having fruit that he curses it, and it dies. Doesn’t it seem a bit unusual that physical hunger would have such a strong effect on him?

It’s interesting to note that “hungry” has more than one definition. The obvious definition is “feeling the need for food,” but notice some of these other definitions:

Having a strong desire or craving; grasping

Strongly motivated as by ambition; power-hungry

Extremely desirous, avid; hungry for recognition

It’s possible that thoughts of grandiosity entered into Jesus’ mind as he rode into Jerusalem the evening before, and so the next morning he woke up “hungry.” It’s also possible that he was beginning to sense the threat of arrest, and he was upset by thoughts about that. Whatever the case may have been, it appears he was not immediately alert to his thinking. He was temporarily deluded by his thoughts, and that’s what led to the outbursts with the fig tree and in the temple courts.

In NTI, Jesus doesn’t make the same mistakes that he made in the Bible. NTI provides us with a role model that we can emulate when we notice wrong-minded thoughts in our minds. However, the Bible story is helpful too, because it can be helpful to realize that even Jesus made mistakes. That point-of-view can help us forgive ourselves when we are not quickly alert to our thoughts.

As you read today’s tip, keep the Four Principles of God in mind.

In today’s reading, Jesus says, “When you look at me as one who is in a body, you do not look at me at all.” At this point in our story, Jesus has awakened to the Second Principle of God, which is consciousness. As such, Jesus is aware of everything as consciousness. In A Course in Miracles, this way of seeing is called true perception and the real world. In other teachings, it is referred to as the unitive state or oneness.

Nisargadatta Maharaj said, “The very nature of the Self is love. It is love, loving and lovable.” He also said, “Love is not a result, it is the very ground of being. Wherever you go, you will find being, consciousness and love.” This is Jesus’ way of seeing.

Not too long ago, we did an exercise in the mind using the image of children’s molding clay. To understand the teaching in today’s story, let’s do a similar exercise.

1. Imagine that you have a can of children’s molding clay, like Playdoh, in front of you. Imagine taking the clay out of the can. Set the clump of clay on the desk or table in front of you.

 

2. Before beginning to mold anything out of the clay, spend time appreciating the clay itself. Imagine the color of the clay. Pick the clay up and feel what it feels like in your hands. Smell the clay. Appreciate the unlimited potential of the clay. Realize it can be molded into anything. The clay represents consciousness. Be with that thought for a moment before continuing to the next step.

 

3. Begin to mold the clay into Jesus. See yourself creating a perfect image of him. Imagine using tools to create the fine features of his face, hair and clothing. When your image is complete, see it setting on the table or desk in front of you.

 

4. Now, shift your perception. Instead of focusing on the image of Jesus—instead of focusing on his features, such as the face, hair and clothing—focus on the clay. Notice the color of the clay again. It is the same color as when you started. Notice the smell of the clay is the same. Pinch your molded image just enough to notice that the clay remains malleable, just as it was prior to creating this image. The clay is still clay. The clay represents consciousness. Be with that thought for a moment before continuing to the next step.

 

5. Now, destroy the image of Jesus. Squish it. Tear it apart, and press the pieces back together into a formless clump of clay. Completely eliminate the image that was molded from the clay. When you are done, hold the clump of clay in your hand.

 

6. Examine the clump of clay. Look at the color of the clay. Feel the clay in your hands. Smell the clay. The Jesus image is gone, but the clay is still clay. The clay represents consciousness. The clay itself is love. Jesus of NTI sees himself as the clay. He does not see himself as the image of a man called Jesus.

 

When you read today’s story, keep this exercise in mind. If you do, you will understand what Jesus means when he says, “When you look at me as one who is in a body, you do not look at me at all.” You will also understand his meaning when he says, “Remember that Love cannot die.” When Jesus talks about love, he is not talking about an emotion. Emotions come and go. Jesus is referring to consciousness and the unlimited potential of consciousness. That’s love.

As Nisargadatta Maharaj said:

“The very nature of the Self is love.”

“Love … is the very ground of being.”

Nisargadatta also said:

“The right use of mind is in the service of love…”

Contemplate that last quote along with what Jesus says about the “Servant” in today’s reading.

Today’s reading provides the opportunity to contemplate, once again, the goal of the spiritual path.

Awakening is not becoming a better person. It isn’t attaining eternal life for the self that you think you are. Awakening is realizing that you are That which is beyond all sense of self, even beyond consciousness itself.

Let’s review the Four Principles of God:

First Principle of God – Pure, unmanifest, life-awareness; abstract, unlimited potentiality.

Second Principle of God – Consciousness; the unaffected, still witness. All things manifest are made of this principle; therefore, all things are consciousness.

Third Principle of God – The ongoing activity of creation, which occurs naturally through the interaction of the witnessing principle with that which is witnessed. It is how consciousness forms itself into the many temporary forms that make up the manifest universe.

Fourth Principle of God – Manifestation. Everything in this realm is temporary, and so it is often referred to as a dream. It is consciousness appearing as something other than consciousness, and so it is called illusion. One who believes manifestation is the realm of reality is referred to as unconscious, not awake, or ignorant. When this realm is seen through ignorance, it is fearful and full of suffering. When seen through clarity, this realm is miraculous.

The goal of the spiritual path is to realize we are the First Principle of God. To do that, we cannot be attached to anything in the Fourth Principle. Attachment to the Fourth Principle maintains our identity as a body-personality-mind in the Fourth Principle. It’s like being a balloon tethered to a fence. The only way to float up to the First Principle is to cut the string.

It’s important to realize that the person is part of the Fourth Principle. Whether you are a good person, a bad person, or an improved person, it is still the Fourth Principle. Everything in the Fourth Principle is temporary. You can never attain eternal life for a temporary manifestation, but you can realize that you are not a temporary manifestation.

After you read the story in today’s reading, ask yourself:

What about my life is so important to me, that if I were about to be absorbed into infinite awareness, I would hesitate and look back toward the world?

Hint: Watch the type of thinking that distracts you from awareness during meditation.

Yesterday, I wrote, “If we are looking for the one teaching that is right, we are missing the point. The point isn’t about one right teaching.”

In today’s reading, Jesus again addresses confusion about one right teaching.

The law that came through Moses is core to the Jewish religion, but in today’s reading, Jesus makes a recommendation that is different from that law. He makes a recommendation that suits the situation that is presented to him. If he had been presented with a different situation, he might have made a different recommendation.

Verse 38 of the Tao Te Ching says:

So when the Way is lost,
that’s when we resort to virtue.
When virtue is lost,
that’s when we resort to humaneness.
When humaneness is lost,
that’s when we resort to morality and righteous justice.
And when righteous justice is lost,
that’s when we resort to ceremonies of propriety.
Ritual ceremonies? Mere husks of sincere faith,
marking the beginning of confusion and disorder.

When we believe a particular teaching or structure to the point that it becomes ritual, we resort to following mindlessly without intuiting what is right (or best) in the current situaiton now.

Verse 38 also says:

The true person
relies on the heart, not the husk,
the fruit, not the flower.

In today’s reading, Jesus “relies on the heart, not the husk.” He sees that self-centeredness is the problem at hand, and so his prescription in the moment addresses self-centeredness.

As you read today’s reading, contemplate this question:

When do I think that consistent rules and guidelines should always apply, and so I fail to look to intuition in the moment?

During the time when I was scribing NTI, I used to post to a Yahoo group. Each day, I posted the portion of NTI that I received that morning. I remember there were some people who didn’t like my posts. In fact, they became pretty belligerent about it. They argued that Helen Schucman was the only legitimate scribe, and anyone else who heard Jesus or Holy Spirit was a fake.

Of course, many years before Helen Schucman, there was Mary Baker Eddy. Mary Baker Eddy received great insight from within. Her work became known as Christian Science. However, Mary Baker Eddy felt that her work was the final revelation. Eventually, this resulted in a split in Christian Science. Her student, Emma Curtis Hopkins, started her own school of Christian Science. Unlike Eddy, Emma felt that the truth had been revealed to many people throughout history and was always available to everyone. She taught that we each already know everything. She said truth isn’t a matter of learning, but a matter of recalling. Emma Curtis Hopkins always saw herself and her students as equals.

Awakening Together is founded on those same principals. Here are three of our core values:

We trust everyone is led by unique inner guidance to one experience, called awakening, which is realization of one true Self. We live this value by supporting one another on different paths of awakening.

We realize everyone is equal and no one has been given spiritual intuition that is an authority over the spiritual intuition of others. We live this value by listening to each other, respecting each other, and allowing each one to be where he/she is.

We affirm one true Self as the only truth. We live this value by embracing what is helpful on the path of awakening without idolizing any spiritual doctrine as truth.

When you learn from wisdom that came through another person, that learning passes through the mind. To one degree or another, it is also distorted by the mind, and it is not the same as it was for the individual who originally received it. In fact, all world religions are based on original wisdom, but they are severely distorted because the wisdom has passed through many minds over the ages. Mental ideas that were not part of the original wisdom have become part of the religion.

Divine wisdom speaks to you best when divine wisdom comes through you. This is why I encourage you to contemplate, journal and teach from your own experience and insights.

In today’s reading, Jesus says, “God will call many teachers to do his work, and each one may seem to teach in his own way…Do not be distracted by what may seem to be differences.”

We will find differences in the way people teach. There are even differences among the masters’ teachings. If we are looking for the one teaching that is right, we are missing the point. The point isn’t about one right teaching. The point is, we are one. And that’s why divine inspiration comes through each of us. We are the same one, and the inspiration is speaking from our Self.

Interestingly, oneness doesn’t mean that divine inspiration is always exactly the same. Although we are one Self, our manifestations are unique. So, divine inspiration comes through each of us in a way that is perfect for the one receiving the inspiration. And that, of course, is what’s most helpful for everyone.

I love to listen to your inspiration. I love to hear how it expresses itself through you. It amazes me how one simple truth can dawn on each of us in an absolutely unique, one-of-a-kind way. It reminds me of a high altitude alpine valley filled with dozens upon dozens of different brilliant wildflowers, each one just as beautiful as the next.

Of course, anyone who feels that a specific book or teaching is the final revelation will disagree with everything I have written in this tip. They will feel this tip is a distortion. You will have to decide for yourself.

Today’s reading reminds me of the children’s nursery rhyme:

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall;
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty together again.

The wall we sit on is belief in our thoughts. It is a very shaky wall, crumbling at its foundation. If we sit on this wall, “a very great fall” is destined. The fall results in a break from clarity; we see from a separated, biased point-of-view instead of from reason and wholeness. We also make the mistake of believing how we see—we think we are right—and so, “All the king’s horses and all the king’s men” cannot help us see rightly again.

In today’s reading, Jesus gives us a prayer to pray whenever we find ourselves on that shaky wall:

Father, it is not Your Will that I be separate from you, so it is not my will that I be separate. I rejoin with you by letting go of my attack [or fear, judgment, guilt, unworthiness, etc]. I give this to you, that you may do with it as it is Your Will. I ask for nothing of you but peace.

This prayer, or one like it, helps us let go of thinking that is about to cause “a great fall.” When we surrender thoughts in this way, we let them go and leave them in God’s Hands. We don’t continue to think with those thoughts. We don’t speak from them, and we don’t act upon them. We step outside that loop of thinking. We willingly let things be as they are and as they will be.

If we follow the prayer up by thinking, speaking or acting with those thoughts, we have not surrendered them. Our wall remains shaky, and a fall is eminent.

Today’s reading also points toward true perception. We can place our attention with this pointer instead of with our separation thinking, if we want to. The pointer that Jesus shares is “the innocence that is found within our Lord.” Jesus also uses a small child as an example of his own innocence, which he calls “one innocence.”

In order to understand this pointer, we need to understand “innocence.” In this case, innocence isn’t the opposite of guilt. Innocence is “lack of knowledge.” (From Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary.) Or said another way, it is the opposite of the I-know mind.

Again, believing our thinking is the problem. When we accept, “I don’t know,” we disengage from the thinking mind and open up to intuition, which comes from consciousness.

Twice in today’s reading, we are told that Jesus “opened his mouth, so that the Holy Spirit could pour forth.” We aren’t told: Jesus knew the man who was speaking, and he knew this guy had a grievance against so-called-Messiahs. He also knew that he had to prove this man wrong, or many people might stop trusting him. And so, he tried to get the man to see another way, so that the crowd would not turn away.”

Opening his mouth without any ideas about what he would say is an example of innocence. Believing thinking, like the thinking in my made-up example above, is the opposite of innocence and a fall from clarity.

Each day, I read from NTI. When I feel to stop and be with a particular sentence or paragraph, I do. However, when I finish reading and pick up my laptop to begin writing the tip, I always wonder, “What will I type today?”

My daily tip is a surprise to me. It unfolds as I write. Until it is done, I don’t know what it will say. Today, the idea about Humpty Dumpty came after I put my hands on the keyboard. In fact, I originally wrote, “Today’s reading is about how we separate ourselves.” After I typed that, the idea of Humpty Dumpty came, so I deleted my original opening sentence and followed Humpty Dumpty to see where it would go.

Innocence is lack of knowledge. By following that pointer, we experience true perception. By believing our thinking—by thinking we know—we keep climbing up and falling off of a wall, over and over and over again.