Well … that doesn’t mean there isn’t more to be gained through contemplation. Joseph Benner had realization after realization, resulting in a book called “The Impersonal Life,” through contemplating one short quote continuously. The quote: “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Consider this story on contemplation by William Samuel, written in his book “The Awareness of Self-Discovery”:

“Once, in China, I was given a simple verse to read and then to give my interpretation. I was ready to give an answer immediately but was informed that I had twenty-eight days to think about it. ‘Why so long?’ asked I, with the usual impatience of a Westerner.

“’Because nothing has been read once until it has been read twelve times,’ was my answer. ‘Read and reread.’

“I did. Twelve times twelve to make twelve readings … and I heard a melody I could not have heard otherwise. Since then I have known why it is that certain lines in the Bible (or any other book) that have been read countless times will one day, upon just one more reading, suddenly take on a grand new significance.

“So reader, with a very gentle touch, read and re-read. If you are earnest, and act with the earnestness you are, one day when you least expect it, you will hear and feel your Heart within complete [the] words without.”

The quote William Samuel was asked to contemplate for 28 days was: “The same moon shines on ten thousand rivers.”

 

Regina’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 115:

Salvation is my only function here. Getting to know my Self is my only function. For what other purpose could I have been born except the purpose of knowing my Self? The gift of life is given so we can celebrate life. The gift of awareness is given so we can love awareness. The gift of spontaneity is given so we can enjoy the miracle of spontaneity. I will embrace this birth by becoming intimately enthralled with my Self. This Regina-suit is the perfect medium for getting to know what I am.

My part is essential to God’s plan for salvation. If the plan is for the whole to be happy and celebrate, how can that be done without me? Can the whole be happy without my happiness? Can the whole celebrate without my celebration? I am integral to this plan. Most importantly, I can only know its gifts through my individual cooperation with it.

For example, do I expect wisdom to be poetic? Do I expect it to use words I don’t use? Do I expect it to sound like A Course in Miracles or some other written scripture? Do I expect it to use certain spiritual words and avoid non-spiritual, everyday terms? Do I expect it to come from a voice in my head that is very different from my own?

Any expectations that I have about inner wisdom can block the flow of inner wisdom, so it is worthwhile to look for those expectations and let them go.

Sometimes when wisdom begins to flow, it isn’t immediately brilliant to me. The first few words that appear may seem uninteresting or unorganized. I remember I’ve promised not to judge what comes, and I start writing whatever comes. This seems to open the flow more, and soon I have perfect wisdom for me now. And that’s really all it has to be … the perfect wisdom for me now.

If what comes feels like something that is good for you to focus on today, that’s it. That’s the wisdom. Don’t expect anything else. All you really need is today’s “daily bread.” Today’s daily bread, one day at a time, will take you all the way to the top of the mountain.

 

Regina’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 114:

I am spirit. The body experience is here. That cannot be denied. But when I look, am I the body? Thought is here. Ongoing commentary happens, but when I look, am I commentary? What experiences the body and sees thought? What am I?

I will accept my part in God’s plan for salvation. Awakening is a personal endeavor. Only I can dive into my heart. Only I can question my thoughts. Only I can choose where my attention is focused. No one can do this for me, and I cannot do this for anyone else. I accept the responsibility of being inward focused and being still. I accept my part in God’s plan for salvation.

“Who cares if you’re enlightened forever? Can you just get it in this moment, now?” ~ Byron Katie

If I am contemplating that quote, I might ask myself, “Am I over concerned with enlightenment? Has that become an obstacle for me? In what way is that an obstacle?” And then I look at myself to find the answers to the questions.

Or I might ask myself, “What is ‘it’ when she says, ‘Can you just get it in this moment, now?’” And then I remain open. I don’t use thinking to try to figure it out. I just stay with the question, open, feeling for a sense of the answer. Something may come for me to write or I may simply continue to reflect on the question throughout the day.

Today, while contemplating the review of lesson 95, questions began to arise. I will reflect on those questions throughout the day today. Something different happened when I contemplated the review of lesson 96. An image arose as I contemplated it, a symbol. That image flowed out of the questions that I asked as I contemplated lesson 95. The questions prompted the image.

We have to be willing to let ‘pointing’ come to us in whatever form it will as we contemplate, and then it is important to trust what comes. Usually, as we trust the first little bit that comes, more will follow. Today, as I wrote the first question for lesson 95, another question followed. With lesson 96, as I trusted the image of a leaf blowing across a yard, that image developed into the clarity that is written down for my reflection today.

Regina’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 113:

I am one Self, united with my Creator. ‘Regina’ is a temporary expression, but what expresses through her? What animates this body? What lights up this world and this mind? Can I separate myself from that?

Salvation comes from my one Self. If the wind mistakes itself for the dry leaf that it blows across the yard, it may fear the homeowner’s rake. But when the wind knows itself as itself, the rake can be of no concern. Salvation comes from knowing my Self. Knowing my Self is my one function.

“In order to understand the symbol, one must accept the Love of Christ. One prepares himself to accept that Love BY RECOGNIZING HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND the symbol, and then he ASKS for understanding. By OPENING UP TO RECEIVE UNDERSTANDING WITHOUT JUDGMENT, he opens up to accept the Love of Christ. With that Love comes Christ’s knowledge, for they are the same and inseparable. Then the meaning that is beyond the words is understood as a Light that shines for all who look to see.” There are two main points about contemplation in this paragraph: 1 – In order to receive wisdom, I have to realize I don’t understand the words I am reading. For example, when you contemplate today’s workbook lesson, do not assume you know what “light,” “joy” and “peace” are, even if you have received clarity about those terms before. Let today’s inspiration be free to interpret those symbols in a new enlightening way. 2 – In order to receive wisdom, I have to be willing not to judge what I receive. The other day I was listening to Jacquelyn Eckert’s teaching in the Awakening Together online Sanctuary. She commented that when she asks a question of Spirit and receives an answer, it takes a few days before she can look at it without believing that it came from her ego. I know the feeling she is talking about. Jacquelyn is doing well when she allows herself to write what came and when she waits a few days until her ego has quieted down in order to look at it again. With practice our egos will quiet down sooner. If you heard the weekly gathering she taught most recently (April 2017), then you heard that the entire gathering was based on wisdom she received from within. Thank goodness she trusted what came. This is what we all need to do. We need to trust what comes when we ask for understanding. The two instructions above were important instructions to move me completely beyond my ego, including my spiritual ego, so that I could receive spontaneous enlightened clarity without blocking it with what I thought I already knew and without shutting it down by judging that it wasn’t enlightened clarity.

Regina’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 112:

Light and joy and peace abide in me. I am light and joy and peace. That is my nature. I cannot be separated from light and joy and peace. The lightness that I am can taste other experiences, joy can mask itself as interest in problems, and peace is the openness that allows that, but I am still light and joy and peace.

I am as God created me. I cannot be otherwise. To know my true Self, pay attention to my true Self. When I look to discover what is changeless about me, what do I find?

Let’s take advantage of this third review to enhance our contemplation skills. That’s really what the review instructions are pointing to when they say, “Read over the ideas and comments that are written down for each day’s exercise. And then begin to think about them, while LETTING YOUR MIND RELATE THEM to your needs, your seeming problems, and all your concerns. PLACE THE IDEAS WITHIN YOUR MIND, AND LET IT USE THEM AS IT CHOOSES. Give it faith that it will use them wisely, being helped in its decisions by the One Who gave the thoughts to you.”

The words I have written in ALL CAPS above are words that point to HOW to contemplate. Notice there is a passiveness in contemplation. Instead of thinking hard about the lessons, you read them softly and let insight come to you, like a gift.

What I will do each day during this review period is share different tips to help you learn the art of contemplation. I will start today with a quote written by Regina Dawn Akers. This is something that came to me one day while I was contemplating a quote in The Seven Steps to Awakening. So, this quote itself is a fruit of contemplation:

“Contemplation is not thinking or trying to understand. Contemplation is silent diving into the restful, devotional, open heart of the words, and there being; just being in the state of contemplation without seeking to understand or get answers.” ~RDA

If contemplation is new to you, try contemplating my quote above along with the paragraph I have quoted from the review instructions, and then practice contemplation with today’s lesson. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Just BE WITH the words with the intention to receive additional clarity or a deepening of clarity. I recommend writing down what comes and reviewing it several times throughout the day. It may come in words, as a picture, as a vision or as a feeling. If it comes as one of the latter three, consider making a few notes that will remind you of the experience later.

Regina’s Personal Contemplation of Lesson 111:

Miracles are seen in light. Darkness is the personal point-of-view as seen through ‘my’ thoughts, ‘my’ prejudices, ‘my’ fears, ‘my’ judgments, etc. Miracles are not seen in darkness. They are seen in light. They are seen through openness, through loving all.

Miracles are seen in light, and light and strength are one. This must also mean that darkness and weakness are one. My personal point-of-view is weakness regardless of how smart or right it may feel. Thinking of ‘me,’ ‘what I want,’ and ‘how I want it’ is a position of weakness. Lay weakness aside each time it is noticed, and strength is naturally received.

When you rest the mind, realize you are allowing time for healing. Rest during meditation, rest when you happen to notice that thought is all wound up and also rest when you feel an upset. Learn to relax attention away from thought. At first you may need to put attention on another thought like the day’s Course lesson, because you are used to having attention on something, but the goal is to learn to rest in openness. Just be open. For me it feels like being general instead of specific. Some might call it being unclenched instead of clenched. Play with resting, and you will get the feel of it. When you feel tight, it is helpful to take a breath, relax, and then relax deeper into rest.

Today might be a good day to do one of this week’s homework assignments. You can rest as you listen to the music playlist or let Adyashanti guide you into a state of rest through this week’s guided meditation.

Today’s lesson says, “One thought, completely unified, will serve to unify all thought.” That’s the power of the Loving All Method. It unifies everything so that there are no opposites. It brings about a “state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all.”

Here is the link to the Loving All Method for those of you who want to review it this week: