Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 21 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today’s reading says:

Whenever you are tempted to do anything, question whether it is temptation or prompt. Temptation comes from fear, the ego, and the desire for self-will. A prompt is given by the Holy Spirit through your willingness to listen to Him.

As mentioned yesterday, you are already following spiritual intuition when you use inquiry to discover the author of your thoughts. That is discernment.

On Day 127, I told a story about an experience I had with a specific spiritual teacher. In that experience, I made the decision to leave that teacher, because he wanted me to follow him instead of following my own intuition.

Let’s look at two possible scenarios regarding that story in order to see how root cause inquiry can help us determine the authority of an idea.

Possibility #1:

Let’s imagine I am in relationship with a teacher. He has told me that what I think is my intuition is actually ego, and he wants me to disregard my intuition and follow him without questioning him. When I hear that, I think, “I need to leave.”

I take that thought into root cause inquiry to discover the motivation. I ask:

Why do I want to leave this teacher?

Am I afraid of what will happen if I stay?  – Yes.

What am I afraid of? – I am afraid of having to give up everything that is important to me.

Does that mean I am trying to protect myself? – Yes, I feel I have to protect myself. I feel at risk.

Is the desire to protect myself ego or Spirit? – It is ego.

So, who is the author of this idea? – Ego.

So, what am I going to do? – For now, I will stay. I will stay and continue to inquire into my thoughts and motivations so I can get clarity on my authority from moment-to-moment.

Possibility #2:

Again, let’s imagine I am in relationship with a teacher. He has told me that what I think is my intuition is actually ego, and he wants me to disregard my intuition and follow him without questioning him. When I hear that, I think, “I need to leave.”

I take that thought into root cause inquiry to discover the motivation. I ask:

Why do I want to leave this teacher?

Am I afraid of what will happen if I stay?  – No.

Do I feel I need to leave to protect myself from something? – No.

Do I feel that I need to trust this feeling to leave? – Yes.

Do I know what will happen if I leave? – No, it is totally unknown.

Am I trying to avoid or escape anything? – No, I don’t feel like that is the case. It just doesn’t feel right for me to stay anymore. It is time to go.

Do I feel that I need to take this step and trust the unknown. – Yes, I need to take this step and trust the unknown.

Does this willingness to trust come from ego or spiritual intuition? – The ego is fear, guilt and defense. This willingness to trust the unknown feels like spiritual intuition.

So, what am I going to do? – I will take this step, leave this teacher, and stay carefully tuned in to guidance.

In phase two, it isn’t the action that’s important. It is the motivation. In Possibility #1, the motivation to leave was ego. In Possibility #2, leaving was the guidance that came from spiritual intuition.

We can’t look at the action and determine if it’s ego or intuition. We have to look deeper and discover the motivation.

Important note: This form of root cause inquiry is always about my motivation. It is never about the storyline in the world. For example, in the possibilities above, there aren’t any questions about whether the teacher is genuine or not. To try and determine that as the basis of my decision would be looking out instead of in. If I look out instead of in, ego (judgment and thinking) will be the authority that guides me.

If you’d like to review the reasoning of ego and the right-reason of Holy Spirit, read NTI Acts 19 from (v23-41) through the end.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 20 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today, we will begin reading about the second phase of the spiritual path, which is purification. NTI calls it “letting go.” During phase two, we let go of the ego as our authority. We do that by embracing spiritual intuition as our authority.

It’s important to remember that the human always follows an authority. The human is authored, and it has an author-ity. The human believes it is an independent being, but that isn’t true. The sense that ideas are “my thoughts” is ego. Ego is the sense of an independent and separate self.

When we look at thoughts to determine their authority, we are already following the authority of spiritual intuition. Spiritual intuition guides us to discern authority and make a conscious choice. Ego simply believes “I am me” and “I am my own authority.”

Discernment is a key aspect of phase two. You cannot let go of ego without recognizing ego as ego first.

The greatest challenge in phase two is that our beliefs and the beliefs of most other humans come from living under ego’s authority. Because most humans are under ego’s authority, the world appears to live by ego’s laws. However, the world does not live by ego’s laws. The world is a reflection of how we use attention.

This is very, very important to remember in phase two, so I will repeat it again:

The world appears to operate according to specific rules, because people believe those rules. The world does not exist, meaning it has no power or authority of its own. It is a reflection of what we believe and give attention to.

For this reason, we are perfectly safe when we receive intuitive guidance that goes against the rules of the world. By trusting intuition, and by letting go of any obstacles that stand in the way of that trust, we learn that our experience in the world can be written by another author-ity. That’s how we learn that the world is not real. That’s how we awaken to consciousness as what we are and what everything is.

In order to intuit guidance, it is important that you are not attached to any desire or specific outcome. For example, one who hates to work may imagine guidance to quit her job. However, if she pauses to do root cause inquiry before quitting, she will discover the underlying motivation and realize that ego is the author of that idea and will be the author of the script that follows, if she takes that step.

That shows why pausing and asking ‘why’ is very important in phase two. It also shows why it’s important to let go of all of your individual desires. If you let go of everything except your spiritual aspiration, you can trust that your guidance is pure. If you have mixed desires, your guidance will have mixed authorities. However, a commitment to root cause inquiry to discover underlying motivations will help you to sort that out.

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

One key difference between phase one of the spiritual path (the search) and phase two (purification) is that in phase one, although you are guided by spiritual intuition, you may not recognize it yet. In phase one, you are typically identified with the ego as yourself, and you may not recognize it as the ego at all. It is simply “me” and “my thoughts.”

In order to move from phase one to phase two, you need to recognize the difference between ego and spiritual intuition. You also need the clarity to decide that you don’t want ego as your authority anymore. (Reference Days 119 & 120.)

Why is that necessary?

Because phase two is purifying one’s self of ego (the false), and that can’t happen without recognizing ego as ego and choosing to let it go.

Today’s reading does a good job of teaching the difference between ego’s authority and authority that comes from spiritual intuition. Here are a few examples based on the reading:

Examples of reasoning that comes from ego as authority:

You feel stress at work as you attempt to complete a project with an impending deadline. You are afraid of your boss’ reaction if the project isn’t completed on time. (Fear of attack, driven by a sense of unworthiness)

You want to be alone, and a friend asks you out to lunch. You do not want to go, but you are afraid your friend will get upset or think badly of you, so you accept the invitation anyway. (Fear, driven by a sense of guilt)

You are invited to speak at a gathering of a local organization that shares an interest with you. You are terrified that if you get up in front of the group, they will discover you do not know as much about the topic of interest as they do. You turn down the invitation to speak. (Fear of attack, driven by a sense of unworthiness)

Examples of reasoning that comes from spiritual intuition as authority:

You are working on a project at work, and there are some challenges with it that you do not know how to resolve. You aren’t sure the project will be completed on time. You work with others to try to resolve the obstacles while feeling curious about what will happen. (Peace, acceptance, purpose of One)

You want to be alone, and a friend asks you out to lunch. You notice there is no attraction to going to lunch, and there is a strong attraction to being alone. You politely turn down your friend’s invitation. (An action of now taken in faith and trust)

You are invited to speak at a gathering of a local organization that shares an interest with you. You have no idea what you will say when the time comes, but you feel the invitation must be in the best interest of the whole. You accept the invitation and trust that what to say will be given. (Purpose of One, trusting your worth and the Hands you are in)

As you read the characteristics of the ego and the characteristics of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading, pause and look at specific examples from your own experience. It might be helpful to write the characteristics along with some examples in your journal.

Today’s reading also encourages us to discover what drives us by asking why. In other words, it asks us to practice root cause inquiry. Through root cause inquiry, we discover the underlying motivation and authority.

Previously, you learned to use root cause inquiry to uncover the cause of an upset. A different form of root cause inquiry can be used to discover underlying motivations. For example:

Why am I still attending AA meetings?

Am I afraid that I will drink again if I quit going?

Am I afraid of what others in the group will think of me if I quit going?

Am I afraid of what they will say behind my back?

Do I enjoy the meetings?

Do I enjoy being a sponsor?

Do I feel guilty about letting go of sponsoring others?

Etcetera.

By taking the time to look at why we do (or don’t do) things, we can discover when we are driven by ego and when we are guided by intuition. Once that discovery is made, as today’s reading says:

Then you can make your choice as you choose, knowing what it is that you do.

In other words, then we have clarity regarding the underlying motivation and authority, and we can choose what we want knowing which authority we are choosing.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 19 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

NTI teaches that there are four phases to the human journey known as the spiritual path. Those four phases are:

1. The Search (NTI Acts 19)
2. Purification (NTI Acts 20-21)
3. Service & Merging (NTI Acts 22)
4. True Perception/Enlightenment (NTI 1 Corinthians 15-16)

The fifth phase is not designated as a phase in NTI. That’s because a phase is something one passes through as part of a process. The fifth phase, which is not a phase at all, is awakening to the First Principle of God.

Today’s reading introduces the first phase in the awakening process, which is the search. Most of you (if not all of you) have already passed through this phase. However, you can experience some lingering phase one residue, like believing some people have clarity that you do not have within yourself. For that reason, it is helpful to read about the first phase carefully to find what’s helpful in the reading for you.

I would like to share a brief story about how I crossed over from phase one to phase two.

Like nearly everyone in phase one, I thought a teacher outside of me would be able to give me everything I needed to become enlightened myself. I came across a teacher that I believed was enlightened, and I became a part of his inner circle. From within the inner circle, I saw that things were not as they appeared from the outside.

As it turns out, he was a controlling and manipulative person. He appeared to have three primary desires: he wanted followers, property and money. He talked about these three often. He also pressured the people within the inner circle in order to achieve these goals. For example, he expected his followers to sell their personal property and donate all of the money to his foundation. If a follower chose not to do so, he told stories about that follower to others, making it appear that one was clinging to ego. It was all very manipulative. I watched as people gave everything they had to him, not because they felt guided to, but because they finally gave in to the pressure and manipulation.

During my time with this teacher, I did not give in to the pressure that he put upon me. I always followed my intuition. However, that meant that he and I came face-to-face more than once regarding a command that I would not give in to. In the end, he made it clear that he wanted me to forgo my inner guidance and follow his directions without questioning them. I knew I had to part ways with him, and I did.

It was right for me to stick with my inner guidance instead of giving in to pressure. It wasn’t easy to do, because the ego whispered, “What if he is right, and you are just clinging to ego?” Those whispers came from my sense of unworthiness and from the idea that he had something I did not have. Fortunately, I did not listen to those ideas.

The mistake I made was holding a grievance against this teacher for a few years after leaving his organization. That’s the reason I am telling this story. Today’s reading says:

Do not make the mistake of judging messages or teachers that are not for you. … Trust in Me and remember all things work together for God.

“All things work together for God” means that all things are for the healing of the Son of God, including a spiritual teacher with impure motives.

How is a manipulative and impure teacher part of our awakening to consciousness?

For me, he was a darkness catcher. I am a healing/awakening point in consciousness. My job is to purify the light of any darkness that comes my way by letting it purify in me. If I choose to hold a grievance against him, I am not doing my job.

It is as A Course in Miracles  says:

The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the atonement for himself.

It was difficult for me to let go of my grievance against the teacher in my story, because I had a belief that leaders should demonstrate the highest ethical standards. That was one of my mind-made laws. However, as we learned on Day 99, mind-made laws are ego devices that:

1. Give us a sense of identity.
2. Provide a basis for judgment and separation.

Mind-made laws are  darkness. I needed  someone to catch that darkness and toss it to me so I could heal it. This teacher did that perfectly, and I did finally heal it completely, so I am grateful to him.

NTI Matthew 18 says:

You will know that your forgiveness is complete when you love your brother with your whole heart and soul and mind, just as the angels do.

I still see that teacher every now and then. Our paths cross, usually when we are speaking at the same spiritual conference or retreat. When I do see him, I find that my heart is completely open towards him. I love him in the same way that I love my biological brother. It’s nice to see him from time-to-time. We don’t have much in common, so there isn’t much to say, but we can embrace each other, and the embrace is genuine.

Has he changed? Not that I know of, but I don’t follow him closely enough to know for sure. However, it’s important to know that my love for him has nothing to do with whether he has “cleaned up his act” or not. If it did, it wouldn’t be true forgiveness.

He is allowed to be exactly as he is. His choices do not affect my love. That’s how I know my love is pure.

The reality is consciousness. The destination for everyone is awakening, and everything along the way is perfect as it is. It is all a part of the healing/awakening process.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 18 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Yesterday we learned that there are no sides in consciousness. Regardless of appearances, everything in the Fourth Principle is:

Consciousness interacting with consciousness so that consciousness can heal and awaken to itself as consciousness.

Your function as an aspect of consciousness that has been guided to this point in NTI is to be a healing/awakening point of consciousness.

Instead of thinking of yourself as a person, as “Sally,” “Harry,” or whatever your name is, think of yourself as a healing/awakening point of consciousness.

Here’s an image to help explain your function:

Imagine consciousness as light. Within this light, there is movement—light moving within light. There are also dark clouds within the light.

You are like a mini-cyclone of light within this bigger movement of light. You are a healing/awakening point within the light.

Other aspects of light are darkness catchers. These other aspects of light move around within the light, catch the darkness within consciousness, and then toss it to you.

When darkness is tossed to you, it magnetically connects with any belief in darkness within you. When darkness connects with belief in darkness, you feel it. When the feeling occurs, it means that it is time to get to work.

As a healing/awakening point in consciousness, you do not react to darkness as if you are a person. You remember that you are a healing/awakening point in consciousness. You rest-accept-trust, and let the feelings be. As you do nothing, your natural light cyclone cleanses the light of darkness, just like the agitation and spin in a washer cleans clothes.

As you rest-accept-trust, imagine yourself as the outer frame of a washing machine, which stands still as the cleansing action occurs inside of it.

When the light is perfectly clean, the cleansed light moves out into the light, mixing with and spreading within the entire light.

 
 
In other words, as you appear to heal and awaken as an individual, all of consciousness is healing and awakening with you. You are a point in consciousness that helps the whole to awaken by performing your function as a point of healing/awakening.

Some of the other people that you meet, hear about or see on the news are working with you in awakening by gathering darkness and tossing it to you.

For example, when you feel upset by something you see on the news, those characters in the news story are gathering darkness and tossing it to you, the viewer. It’s all one function of scooping up darkness and cleansing it. All you have to do is remember your part in this process. The way to remember your part is to stay internally focused on spiritual intuition. Spiritual intuition is the guide for all healing/awakening points in consciousness.

How do you know that you are a healing/awakening point in consciousness?

You know, because you have been guided to the teachings that train you to do your job.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 17 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Like A Course in Miracles, NTI is a step in the awakening process. It is not the final destination. The primary goals of NTI are:

1. Purification, which is freeing one’s self from believing the mind.
2. Service, which is living by following guidance.
3. Merging, which is awakening to consciousness.

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.

If you compare the goals of NTI with the Four Principles of God, you see that the goal of NTI is to awaken to the Second Principle of God.

I bring this to your attention, because today’s reading says:

You are the one Son of God. You have always been the one Son, and you shall always be God’s only Son, for that is what you were created to be.

In creating you, God gave everything to you. He extended Himself, which is all that He had, and He named this extension you. The you that He made was the same as I Am, so there was no difference between them.

In this context, “God” is the Second Principle of God and “you” refers to everyone and everything manifest as the Fourth Principle of God. That’s why the reading refers to “you” as “the one Son of God.” The many things in manifestation are not many things, as they appear to be. The many things are one thing, consciousness appearing as something other than consciousness.

The reading says:

There is no difference between you and I Am, … You are the Son. I Am is the Father. You are the extension of I Am. In the extension, you are I Am also.

When reading this, it is important to remember that “you” refers to everyone and everything manifest as the Fourth Principle of God. If your name is Sally, “you” does not refer to Sally alone, because there is no Sally alone. “You” refers to everyone and everything manifest.

It may be helpful to think of children’s molding clay again. The children’s molding clay represents consciousness. Now, imagine that an elaborate city is created from the clay. It includes many types of people, the birds, animals and plants that are found in a city, the buildings and automobiles that are found in a city, and so on. “You” is not one specific image of a person in the clay city. “You” is everything in the city. It is as if the clay is speaking to the clay city and saying, “You are created from me, and you are the same as I am.”

The reading also says:

And yet, there is a difference that cannot be called a difference at all. You are not the same as I Am, because you did not create you. I Am did. And that which He created is exactly as it is, and that is you exactly as you are.”

That means you are not what you think you are; you are consciousness. That’s true regardless of how the mind defines you. It doesn’t matter if the mind sees you as smart, stupid, talented, dull, athletic, clumsy, beautiful, ugly, admired, unloved, and etcetera. None of that is true about you. You are consciousness. You are not Sally or Harry (or whatever your name is.) You are the whole.

Since we are one whole—one creation of consciousness—we cannot be separated or divided. It’s impossible for some of us to be on one side wanting one thing while others are on another side wanting something different. We can’t have different or independent goals. We are consciousness, and its purpose is our purpose.

To illustrate, think of the cake batter analogy again. Is the blue cake batter on one side of a color issue—the “We want to be blue” side—while the white batter is on the other side of the color issue?

No. It is all one batter. The blue food coloring is simply spreading naturally through the batter as the batter is stirred.

In the same way, “we” are one consciousness, and consciousness is awakening to itself as consciousness. That is all that is occurring throughout the Fourth Principle of God, regardless of what appears to be occurring.

How is this helpful?

If you realize that everyone and everything in manifestation is consciousness, and its goal is awakening to consciousness, then you can see that everything has one purpose, and you can use it for that purpose. For example:

Imagine you are with a group of friends who are making plans for the day. You aren’t quite sure what has been decided, so you ask, “What are we doing?” Someone close to you gets frustrated, turns to you and says:

“You are an idiot. I am sick and tired of trying to explain everything to you all of the time. Get your head out of your ass!”

When this happens, you feel deep feelings of embarrassment, shame and unworthiness.

Why has this happened?

The person who said that to you is consciousness, and you are consciousness, but you subconsciously believe you are an idiot, shameful and unworthy. Consciousness played its role in awakening by being the accuser in order to bring up beliefs that need to be healed. Now your role as consciousness is to practice rest-accept-trust and heal those beliefs.

It’s consciousness interacting with consciousness so that consciousness, as one whole, can heal and awaken to itself as consciousness.

That is all that is occurring in the Fourth Principle now. Nothing else is happening, because consciousness, as one, only has one purpose.

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

Note:  Before reading today’s tip, read Acts 16:16-36 from the Bible or watch all of Acts 16 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Many people resist surrendering and following guidance, because they believe freedom is “doing what I want,” and surrender is giving up that freedom.

Today’s reading says:

If you leave all things to Me, I will guide you in all things. You will not need to give thought or care to anything you are to do or not do. … All that you are left to do is to willingly do as I ask and enjoy the freedom that is expressed through you.

If you pay attention to the thinking mind, you will notice it isn’t freedom. It worries. It spins and spins as it tries to figure out solutions to problems. It finds more problems in its solutions to other problems. When things do not go as it expects, it gets angry and blames others, or it decides that you are guilty and unworthy. Thinking is not freedom. It is “the prison you are in.”

When we surrender and follow guidance, we do have to give up “my way,” but what we discover is the freedom of being an empty vessel. Loves moves through and around that vessel, so that what we witness and experience is love.

Knowing love as the benevolent nature of the universe gives us a sense of freedom that we could never know with the thinking mind. It isn’t the mind’s idea of freedom, which is “doing what I want and doing it my way.” That only leads to conflict. True freedom is witnessing love, knowing the universe as love, and realizing, “I am that.”

When Paul and Silas were in prison in Macedonia, a great earthquake came, which opened the prison doors and set them free from the chains that bound them. It appeared that the earthquake set them free, because now they could go their way. Yet, that was not freedom. Their freedom was following the guidance to stay in prison—which freed the jailer from his sense of guilt and unworthiness—and welcoming their jailer into their hearts as a friend.

The freedom of befriending the jailer was greater than escaping and going their own way.

The point of the story is this:

If you go your own way, you may think you know freedom, but if you follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you will discover what freedom really is.

Freedom is being an empty vessel, because an empty vessel is free to know the benevolent heart of consciousness through:

1. Witnessing how the universe cares for us.
2. Directly experiencing free-flowing love for all things.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 15 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

On Days 99 & 100, we looked at mind-made laws and how they are obstacles to truth. We learned that mind-made laws vary by individual and serve the ego in two ways:

1. They give us a sense of identity.
2. They provide a basis for judgment and separation.

Although mind-made laws vary by individual, many of the laws we adopt are learned, which means they are part of our culture. Some mind-made laws are religious rules of behavior, some are cultural ethics, and some are the law of the land.

Today’s reading points out that as long as the ego mind’s lower vibrations rule people, laws are needed. Laws are needed, because people are not living by conscience. If people lived by conscience, laws would be unnecessary.

The reading also says something that may be shocking to some people:

When you have opened yourself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and given your willingness that you should be led by Him, it is also time to lay the laws and rules aside as laws and rules that govern you.

This is true, because mind-made laws were created for the ego. To transcend the ego, you must transcend its vibrational level. Instead of abiding by laws that are intended to keep those at a lower vibration within some semblance of order, you are to follow inner guidance to a higher vibration.

Does that mean you are free to ignore traffic laws, stop paying taxes, steal whatever you want, etcetera?

If you are attracted to unruly living, you are listening to the lower vibration. If you are listening to the lower vibration, laws still apply to you, because you still need them.

It is interesting to note, however, that guidance could lead you to do things that are not in accordance with the law or human morals. For example, let’s look at a story about Ramana Maharshi:

Ramana says of his awakening, which occurred when he was a teenage boy:

It was quite sudden. I was sitting in a room on the first floor of my uncle’s house. I seldom had any sickness and on that day there was nothing wrong with my health, but a sudden, violent fear of death overtook me. …

The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: ‘Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? … The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. This means I am the deathless Spirit.’

All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truth which I perceived directly, almost without thought-process. ‘I’ was something very real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with my body was centred on that ‘I’. From that moment onwards the ‘I’ or Self focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death had vanished once and for all. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from that time on. …

Previous to that crisis I had no clear perception of my Self and was not consciously attracted to it. I felt no perceptible or direct interest in it, much less any inclination to dwell permanently in it.”

A few weeks after that, he suddenly realized the futility of his schoolwork. He pushed the papers away, sat cross-legged and entered into deep meditation. His brother, who was observing him, remarked sarcastically, “What use is all this to such a one?” Recognizing the truth in his brother’s criticism, Ramana decided to follow an inner calling and go to the holy hill, Arunachala.

He got up and left, making the excuse that he had to return to school. His brother gave him five rupees and asked him to pay his college fees on the way to school. However, Ramana did not pay his brother’s fees. Instead, he kept three rupees for his journey to Aruncacha and left the remaining two rupees with the following note:

In search of my Father and in obedience to him, I have started from here. This is only embarking on a virtuous enterprise. Therefore, none need grieve over this affair. To trace this out, no money need be spent.

Your college fee has not been paid. Rupees two are enclosed herewith.

Thus,
_ _ _ _ _ _

The note was not signed, because his separate identity had been lost when he discovered his true identity a few weeks prior.

As you read today’s reading, pay close attention to the guidelines NTI gives about following guidance instead of mind-made laws. I recommend taking notes. When we take notes, it helps us absorb the information. Also, if you take notes you will be able to keep them for easy future reference.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 14 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Command and Control

Today’s reading begins:

Your mind is split. … And this split will seem to persist after you have made the decision to follow this path with Me. Do not let the split distress you, but do not forget to be aware of it. You must notice when the part of your mind that is not with Me seeks to regain command and control  by giving you ideas that seem appealing and useful to it. …

I have italicized part of the excerpt above. That phrase is not italicized in NTI. I added the italics, because that phrase has shown up in my mind many times over the years to help me see ego as it tried to “regain command and control” in my mind. It was really helpful to notice ego in this way, because I am well aware that I do not want it to regain command and control, so when I saw the thoughts in my mind from that perspective, it gave me the ability to remove attention from the mind and place it with intuition instead.

For example:

Let’s imagine there is a problem that needs resolution. My mind is thinking about the problem, and I am engrossed in it until this thought crosses the mind:

“The mind is seeking to regain command and control.”

“Ah, I see,” I say to myself.

A moment before, I was listening to thinking, because I thought the way to resolve the problem was through thinking, but once the reminder showed up, I saw that it is ego trying to command my obedience and control my attention.

Since I know I don’t want ego to have command and control, I shift into trust and patience. I decide to be okay with things as they are now, and wait until something is made clear through intuition or the unfolding of the universe.

Choice of Illusion

Today’s reading says:

You are the expression of freedom, and as the expression of freedom you are endowed with the choice to choose the illusion you choose to see.

What does that mean?

In Tip 77, we learned:

Everything that you see and experience, you see and experience through the filter of your mind, meaning your mind at your current vibrational level. As you rise in vibration, you still see through the filter of the mind, but how you see changes because the mind is different at a higher vibration. The mind is simply thought, so as thoughts change, perception changes too.

True perception is the highest vibrational level of perception. However, all perception is illusory. Truth is beyond perception entirely.

NTI 1 Corinthians, Chapter 15, refers to the mind that sees at the highest vibrational level as a mind in the “fourth stage” of awakening. It says:

The one that seems to be in the fourth stage is but a symbol of the truth that is. So this one must pass away also. But in its passing, you pass from a final illusion of beauty to Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion. You pass from form, which reflects Light, to Light, which shines into form.

Since perception is seen through the filter of the mind, we “choose the illusion you choose to see” by practicing discernment.

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