Today, we will continue to look at our addiction to mind. We will continue to look at how much we believe mental chatter is me  thinking.

On Day 303, I listed several spiritual practices that are now part of your daily Gentle Healing spiritual practice.

Do you feel your life is centered on those practices?

Do you avoid any of the practices for any reason? Because you don’t enjoy them, because you are too busy, because you have decided they aren’t useful, etcetera?

If you do, where did that idea—I don’t like to do this, or I’m too busy, or this practice doesn’t do anything—come from? Didn’t it come to you as a thought? And didn’t you believe it, and aren’t you avoiding the resisted spiritual practice because you thought that was you  thinking?

If mind said, “I’m too busy to practice awareness-watching-awareness,” didn’t you think that was you  thinking and believe you were too busy? Isn’t that why you skipped meditation? What about when mind said, “I’m tired. I need a break. What’s on TV?” Didn’t you believe that was you  thinking as you reached for the remote control?

Are you free, or are you a slave to the mind because of your addiction to mental chatter?

What’s really going on?

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

Today, we will continue to look at our addiction to mind. We will continue to look at the belief that mental chatter is me  thinking. As mentioned on Day 300:

Admitting that there is a very serious problem—an addiction—that you cannot control is a critical first step if you are going to heal.

This first step isn’t an intellectual first step. It’s a deep, deep realization.

And so we continue to look, and we will not look away until a realization about the extent of our problem has brought us to our knees in full surrender.

Today, you will begin to notice who/what the mind says you are. You can find surface answers to this question very easily. There are mental identifications like, “I am man/woman” or “I am spiritual student” that you are easily aware of. However, the sly mind has many more messages of identity that it whispers into your mind everyday, which you believe but do not notice. These identities keep you tethered to thought as self.

In order to be free of ego, you need to see that you are not everything the mind says you are. In order to see that, first you have to see what mind says you are.

If you really watch, you will find that mind is not consistent in its identity messages; it is only consistent in assigning identity.

For example, in one moment thought may whisper, “I’m so responsible,” and then in another moment on another day, thought may whisper, “They’re going to see how irresponsible I am.”

As another example, in one moment thought may whisper, “My life is so much better than his/hers,” and then in another moment on another day, thought may whisper, “My life sucks!”

Mind is not giving you a consistent identity like ‘always responsible’ or ‘always the one with the good life.’ Mind’s identity messages shift and change constantly. However, mind is always telling you who/what you are. It is very consistent in giving an identity message.

When you catch yourself caught up in mental chatter, say the mantra, and then look back to notice the “I” or “me” content in the previous chatter. What identity message was being sent through the chatter that was just occurring in the mind?

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

You have a lot of spiritual practices in your life now:

• Daily reading and contemplation
• Journaling with inner wisdom
• Awareness-watching-awareness meditation
• The loving all method
• Surrender
• Practicing the mantra
• Looking at chatter to notice its “I” or “me” content

Spiritual practice is becoming the center of your life. There’s a reason for that.

Most people who believe they are on a spiritual path are on an intellectual journey only. Self-realization does not come from the intellect. Self-realization is beyond the intellect. And that is the purpose of a life centered on spiritual practice—to go beyond the intellect to Self-realization.

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

Today’s reading points out that there are two paths of awakening:

Surrender
Withdrawing from the world

The Teachings of Inner Ramana  teaches surrender as the primary path to awakening. This is also the path taught in The Bhagavad Gita. In Hindu tradition, it is called “karma yoga.” It is a path of living in the world and going about your usual daily tasks—work, family, etcetera—while disengaging from the ego through detachment. That is the purpose of surrender—to live an active life without being attached to mind.

As we learned through The Circus and the Meadow:

True stillness cannot be achieved by quieting the mind through meditative practices for part of the day and then being wrapped up in the stories of the mind the rest of the day. … You will never be free through partial abidance. Only total abidance can be totally freeing.

That means if surrender is our path of awakening, we want to learn to use surrender for all of our daily decisions. Learning surrender to this level will take time—it will take time for the surrender-program to fully develop in the brain—but we should continue to give it our best effort everyday, whatever our current best effort is, because total surrender is how we will awaken.

Remember, as you give surrender your best effort, awareness programs the surrender-program in the brain.

Withdrawing from the world is the path of awakening that Michael Langford recommends in The Direct Means to Eternal Bliss. That’s why he recommends meditating for 12 hours a day. Withdrawing from the world was also the path that Ramana Maharshi followed beginning shortly after his initial awakening to consciousness, which occurred when he was a teenager. However for most of us, surrender will work better than trying to fully withdraw from the world.

In The Teachings of Inner Ramana, “enlightened” is synonymous with Self-realized and true perception. “Awake” is a term reserved for the First Principle of God.

Today’s reading points out that the enlightened one doesn’t experience surrender like the deluded one does. The deluded one is attached to mental chatter as me, so to him, intuition feels like something other than me. The enlightened one doesn’t see mental chatter as me anymore, so intuition feels like the Self. Intuition is followed as easily by the enlightened one as mental chatter is followed by the deluded one.

However, the deluded one is still life-awareness, so the deluded one’s attention has the power of life-awareness in it. As she gives believing-attention to her thoughts, she unconsciously creates the world through consciousness.

That gives us an additional reason to live as if we are Self-realized.

On Day 297, you were asked to live as if you are Self-realized. That’s because living as if you are Self-realized leads to Self-realization.

Another reason to live as if you are Self-realized is because, when you do, you no longer participate in making illusion. That means that by living as if you are Self-realized, you stop contributing to the appearances that cause suffering in the world.

As Ramana Maharshi said:

Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.

If you don’t remember how to live as if you are Self-realized in a genuine and self-honest way, review the tip from Day 297.

Today, practice surrender, the mantra, and practice looking back at chatter after you say the mantra to see what it was saying and how you were listening as if it was you  thinking.

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

Yesterday, we started looking more carefully at mental chatter to see how it emphasizes the idea of “I” or “me.” It’s important that we continue this looking until we have a strong realization that seeing mental chatter as “me” or “my thinking” is insane.

If you don’t remember yesterday’s tip well, please review it.

Today’s reading begins by saying:

Much of what you do comes from the ego.

And then it defines the ego as:

Belief  in the false identity “I”.

Mental chatter on its own is not a problem. If you paid no more attention to mental chatter than you do to the sound of the heater, air conditioner or refrigerator in your home, you’d experience true perception in spite of ongoing mental chatter.

The real problem is that you believe  mental chatter. You might not believe all of it. You may have learned to let go of some categories of thought, but you most likely still believe a lot of mental chatter to be you  thinking.

Look and see if that isn’t true. When mental chatter is running through the mind, don’t you give attention to it as if it is you  thinking? We don’t say to ourselves, “I am thought.” In fact, that statement probably seems ludicrous. But we give attention to mental chatter as if it is me  thinking.

That attitude of attention—giving attention to thought as if it is me  thinking—is what creates the ego. The ego is listening to mental chatter as if it is me  thinking.

The reason much of what we do comes from the ego is because much of what we do comes from the belief that mental chatter is me  thinking.

If mental chatter says, “I don’t like this,” we react as if we do not like the current happening. It never occurs to us that it isn’t true, because we believe mental chatter is me  thinking.

If mental chatter says, “I want a new …,” we react as if we need to obtain that object. It never occurs to us that it isn’t true, because we believe mental chatter is me  thinking.

If mental chatter says, “I need to quit this job/relationship,” we react as if we are dissatisfied and need to change our circumstance. It never occurs to us that it isn’t true, because we believe mental chatter is me  thinking.

In most cases, we do whatever mental chatter tells us to do, because we believe it is me  thinking. It never occurs to us that it isn’t me.

Much of what you do comes from the ego.

True perception comes when we are disengaged from mental chatter. True perception comes from realizing in a very deep way that mental chatter isn’t  me thinking. We know we’ve had this realization when what we do doesn’t  come from mental chatter. Mental chatter may still make noise, but we have become adept at ignoring it as meaningless—as uninformed—as wrong—as not me.

That’s why Inner Ramana asks us to surrender. When we surrender, we listen to something other than mental chatter. What we do  comes from something other than mental chatter. Through this practice, we begin to disengage from mental chatter. First, we see that we do not need mental chatter to get through daily living; there is  another way. Next, we begin to see in an experiential way  that mental chatter isn’t me. That’s when we begin to break free from the ego.

As you’ve learned, there are two awakenings. First, one awakens from delusion to true perception. Next, one awakens from true perception to reality. Reality is entirely different from delusion. It would be very difficult (if not impossible) for one to go from the deluded state to reality in one giant step. The human brain needs time to reprogram based on new learning, which prepares the human organism (the brain and the body) for the realization of reality.

That’s the purpose for two awakenings. One can go from delusion to true perception more easily—even as an unexpected, dramatic awakening. And then, the experience of true perception gives the brain a chance to reprogram in preparation for truth realization.

The practices in Inner Ramana lead us from the stage of delusion to the stage of true perception. Once we reach the stage of true perception, intuition is our guide without confusion or distraction. At that point, mental chatter doesn’t have an influence over us anymore—because we no longer see it as me—so intuition leads unimpeded and prepares us for the final awakening to reality. In that way, true perception is a bridge from delusion to reality.

That’s why NTI 1 Corinthians 15 said:

The purpose of your life in the fourth phase of living on earth (true perception) shall not be different than the purpose at any other time. Only now, in the fourth phase, the distractions have been erased. In letting yourself become an empty shell, you freed yourself from the desire for distraction. Now, in the fourth stage, your focus is complete. Now you know what you want, and you want it wholly.

The purpose of true perception is to prepare you to awaken to the First Principle of God.

Today, practice surrender, the mantra, and practice looking back at chatter after you say the mantra to see what it was saying and how you were listening as if it was you  thinking.

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

Today’s message begins:

It’s time to go beyond everything you’ve learned.

Everything you’ve learned has been helpful. It’s been helpful toward willingness to take this next step. But without the step that we are taking together now, all that you’ve learned serves no real purpose toward awakening.

We have learned so much since we began Gentle Healing 678 days ago. It’s been an amazing journey of learning. Yet, today we step beyond all of that by becoming aware of just how addicted we are to mind.

This is a very, very important step.

I’ve never taken a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous, but what I understand from friends who have been part of a 12-step program is this:

Admitting that there is a very serious problem—an addiction—that you cannot control is a critical first step if you are going to heal.

This first step isn’t an intellectual first step. It’s a deep, deep realization. For an alcoholic, drug addict, sex addict or gambler, it might come about when they finally do something far below anything they ever thought they were capable of, something so severe that it wakes them up in a very deep way to the realization that there is a problem and they do need help.

One purpose of the practices of Inner Ramana is to help us have that same very deep realization about our addiction to mental chatter. Fortunately, we do not have to do something horrible and extreme to finally have that realization. We simply have to practice as Inner Ramana asks us to practice.

I want to alert you that if you practice Inner Ramana well, mental chatter may become extremely uncomfortable. It might seem like it’s getting worse. It’s not getting worse; you are simply becoming more aware of it than ever before. You are beginning to really see  the problem—the addiction to ego.

As today’s reading says, without this step everything we’ve learned in the last 678 days serves no real purpose toward awakening.

Today, you are asked to say the mantra whenever you notice mental chatter, and then…

“with the coolness (maturity) of the quieted mind, look back at what the mind was telling you while you were listening to its chatter. Look for the “I” or “me” in the story or thought. Discover how the tricks and tumbles of the mind … in whatever direction it was turning in the moment …; notice how it was telling you about “I” or “me” separate from everything else.

On Day 286, we learned what learning is. When we learn, awareness pays attention to what is being learned, and it programs the learning into the brain.

So here’s what’s about to happen: We are going to learn to see the ego like we’ve never seen it before. Awareness will program that ability to see chatter into the brain, and we will begin to see more. As that seeing-program becomes more and more developed in the brain, we will see more and more, until we are seeing so much ego in our own mind that it is shocking! And that’s where the genuinely deep realization that we need help will come from—from seeing.

You aren’t going to have to wake up naked in a cemetery smelling like whiskey to realize that you need help, but you may feel just as shaken by the depth of your addiction.

Here’s something else we learned on Day 286:

As we learn, awareness sorts through previous programming in the brain to see if something is useful in the current situation. If so, it forms a relationship in the brain between the new programming and the prior programming.

In the last 678 days, you’ve been exposed to a lot of useful right-minded teachings. As you begin to see the ego and your addicted dependence on the ego, awareness will form relationships in the brain between those right-minded teachings and the seeing that is occurring. As these relationships are formed, you will begin to have insights.

An insight is a deep intuitive understanding. It is more than mere intellectual understanding. In other words, the teachings that have been previously learned will strike you in a new way, in a way that is genuine—authentically clear, real and directly meaningful.

So, today we begin to go beyond everything we’ve learned into an entirely new level of learning.

Note: Since this level of learning is new, at first you may not be good at it. You may not see mental chatter well at all. In fact, your first insight might be just how much you don’t  notice all of the chatter you are listening to.

Remember that awareness is programming the brain as you try to see chatter, and keep trying. As that program is more developed, seeing will happen more easily and naturally. So keep at it. This is one of the most important things you’ve ever done.

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

Today’s message speaks directly to your desire to awaken. Likely, somewhere deep inside, you already know everything today’s message has to teach, although the mind does not think about this knowledge. The mind’s thinking distracts us from the wisdom that is clear through today’s message.

Today, we are told that our primary interest now is to lose interest in the mind. That is to lose interest in mental chatter. Just as the only way to stop smoking is to stop smoking, the only way to stop listening to mental chatter is to stop listening to mental chatter. As today’s message points out, we can’t be free by quieting the mind for a little bit each day if we engage in mental chatter the rest of the day, just as you can’t quit smoking by not smoking from 7am-10am while still smoking the rest of the day.

In today’s message, Inner Ramana says:

I ask you to be my student.

If your heart says, “Yes,” to this invitation, read today’s message very carefully. Notice how much you love its instruction. Read it lovingly two or three times! And then give your best effort to practicing the mantra and surrender today.

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

As we saw yesterday, in the language of The Teachings of Inner Ramana, Self-realization is the equivalent of true perception, which is awakening to consciousness. One is “awake” when one awakens to reality, the First Principle of God.

Today’s reading says that quieting the mind is essential to Self-realization. It also says that the purpose of the mantra is to help us quiet the mind. That is the same as saying that the purpose of the mantra is to help us disengage from mental chatter.

Today’s reading shares four guidelines for effective use of the mantra. Please review the guidelines carefully so you can remember them and practice the mantra in the way today’s reading recommends. Also, remember to practice surrender today as it was taught on Day 296.

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

In order to have clarity regarding today’s reading, it is helpful to remember that there are two states of mind and beyond mind.

The first state of mind is deluded. When one is deluded, she believes she is a person in a world. She values mental chatter as her real thoughts.

The second state of mind is true perception. One who perceives with true perception is disengaged from mental chatter. He follows spontaneous intuition. He has the experience of being human in a world, but he is aware that everything is consciousness. In today’s reading, one who experiences this state of mind is referred to as Self-realized.

Beyond mind is beyond perception entirely. As we learned on Day 292, there is no sense of self in awake reality. The body that is perceived by others as the awakened one is moved by consciousness—by “the code”—but there is no sense of ‘I am.’ There is no interpretation, no mind and no world beyond mind. Only the absolute exists.

In order to move from deluded to Self-realized, it is helpful to live as if you are Self-realized  before you are Self-realized. By living as if you are Self-realized, you awaken into the Self-realized state.

How do you live as if you are Self-realized?

1. Remember that fear (upset) does not come from circumstances in the world, and resolving situations in the world does not transcend fear. You transcend fear by remembering reality. When you experience fear, practice rest-accept-trust, awareness-watching-awareness or look at your thoughts with clarity.
2. Practice surrender as it was taught in yesterday’s reading. Live by following intuition instead of mental chatter.
3. When you find yourself caught up in thoughts about the world, let go of mental chatter by practicing the mantra. Thoughts about the world include thoughts about your personal life, your work, the personal life of others, politics, and etcetera.

Today is a good day to begin living as if you are Self-realized. That doesn’t mean you should pretend you are Self-realized. That doesn’t mean you should be dishonest with yourself about your state of mind. It simply means this: Live your life by following the three recommendations above.

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