A universal assembly for true discernment
Michael DeForbes led our Sunday morning meditation. Michael is a student of Helen Hamilton. His guided meditations are based on the direct path, which is an integral part of our teachings here at Awakening Together.
Enjoy this powerful, deep meditation into ever-present peace and the now of the Noumenon which had the theme of embracing all aspects of the self.
Title: “In the World, But Not of It”
Description: Rev. George shared about what it means to be in the world and but not of it and what does that mean for each one of us. Who are you, and where are you? You only exist now. By rejecting the now you are rejecting your true Self!
Reader: Rev. Toni Fields read from the Bible, John Ch. 1 v. (1-5). Also, The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI) John Ch. 1 v. (1-5 ) & NTI Romans Chapters 13 & 14.
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Kate shares her experience, poetry, and life with us as she goes about the business of giving up her ideas about herself and the world on her journey toward purification and awakening. Kate shares with wisdom and humor and allows us a glimpse into the beautiful and sometimes messy blossoming of life examined with an eye on Truth.
Awakening Together is happy to announce we have a brand new weekly program Cobwebs and Crevices with Laura Bedford. It will take place on Wednesdays from 8:30-9 pm ET in the Sanctuary.
In this program, the purpose will be to help strengthen awareness of what is still playing in the subconscious that may not be yet fully seen and then let go of what has yet to be given up.
Laura further shares that even with the best of intentions we are consciously and subconsciously choosing to deny our True Self, our Light, our Divine Nature but it is in the deep looking where we can release this tendency. In this program, we are invited to locate and invite Divine Light to undo surprising subconscious desires that we keep choosing (yep, choosing!) so that we may fully awaken. This work is based on information being taught by Jesus of A Course in Miracles through a soon-to-be-published book Jesus: A New Covenant
Jesus says we are open enough now. We’re ready for this deepest looking. If you experience anything less than absolute peace, joy, and radiance beyond the measure of God (our True Nature) at all times, it can be discovered that we are still desiring less than the full awareness of our Divine Nature. The great news is that Jesus, being in charge of the atonement, does the heavy lifting in our subconscious mind IF we give him permission.
All are welcomed to journey with us in this deep ongoing discovery!
Day 274 AssignmentThis evening (or tomorrow morning):
Read NTI Romans 11 (v11-16) to the end of the chapter.
Tomorrow:
Please read and contemplate quote #682 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. Here is a portion of that quote:
When consciousness devoid of notions of objectivity merges in itself losing its separate identity as it were, it is pure being.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
Yesterday’s reading asked us to:
Focus on the frequency that is God.
That is perfect guidance. According to Ramana Maharshi’s disciple, Paul Brunton, focusing on the Self is the “short path” to Self-realization. However, the fearful mind can distort that guidance into a corrupted mental message that goes something like this:
If I feel anything but peace, joy and love, I am bad.
That’s an untrue statement.
NTI 2 Timothy teaches us how to be with any feeling that is different than truth. It asks us to explore the feeling, see that it is just a feeling—an experience—and nothing more than that. In order to do that, we need to look at our feelings with pure awareness.
Thoughts are not pure awareness. Thoughts are judgments. Thoughts tell us what our feelings are, what they mean about us, others and the world, and what caused the feelings. Pure awareness doesn’t have any of these stories in it.
As you know, my dog, Jamie, was euthanized (a dog in her past, not the current dog, Ellie). That experience came with feelings. There was acceptance, joy and a strong experience of life. There was also sadness and a feeling of missing Jamie. The latter feelings came in short waves, and then passed. Each time they came, I gave myself to the feelings.
In my case, there were no stories about how things should have been different, so I did not need to focus on letting go of untrue stories, but I did explore the feelings as 2 Timothy recommends. I noticed what “sadness” felt like, especially in the heart. I noticed it wasn’t unpleasant (which is what the mind would have said about it). The sensation in the heart, which some people might call “a broken heart,” wasn’t there before Jamie’s passing. It was certainly related to her passing, but it was just a feeling. As I looked at it, I realized I did not know what it was. The mind wanted to understand why the feeling was there, but awareness was able to simply be with the feeling in gratitude for a present experience.
The same thing was true of tears. Every now and then, tears came. A couple of times there were a few seconds of hard crying, but none of that felt “bad” when looked at with awareness. It was just part of the experience of loving a pet and then losing that pet. If I label the experience based on how it looked through the eyes of awareness, I would say it was an intimate human experience. I felt what it feels like to be human.
This is what today’s reading teaches. We have the experience of being human because we want experience. Beauty and healing come when we allow the pure, unadulterated experience of experience. Stories, however, pollute experience with a particular spin or interpretation. When we are engrossed in stories, we still have experience, but our attention is more in the head than in the experience. In that way, intimacy with the experience is lost.
Love and intimacy are one.
By allowing ourselves to be intimate with an experience without becoming lost in stories, we love the experience. We are open to it and empty for it. When we love an experience, it moves through us. When it leaves us, we feel free. In the beginning, that freedom may be experienced as healing. However, openness, emptiness and freedom are our true nature. We come to know our Self by loving experience as it is.
Let me say that again.
We come to know our Self by intimately experiencing experience, because we intimately experience experience by being open, empty and free.
We be our Self, and so we know our Self.
Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.
“I am that I am”
is open.
It is as open as the sky.
It has no end.
It continues forever.
This is the best idea of you.
This is the truth
without definition.
Do not put thought to this idea.
Merely let it be thought,
repeated,
by the mind.
And after it is thought,
rest the mind without thinking,
and then let this thought
be thought again.
~From our Holy Spirit
Day 273 AssignmentThis evening (or tomorrow morning):
Read NTI Romans 11 (v1-6) thru (v7-10).
Tomorrow:
Please read and contemplate quotes #680-681 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. Here is the last quote:
Since all delusion has come to an end, since the mind has ceased to be and all evil thoughts have vanished, I rest peacefully in my own Self.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
Title: “In the World, But Not of It”
Description: What does being in the world and identifying with the world look like versus being in the world but not of it? And what does that mean for each one of us? Who are you, and where are you? You only exist now. By rejecting the now you are rejecting your true Self!
Reader: Rev. Toni Fields will be reading from the Bible, John Ch. 1 v. (1-5). Also, The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI) John Ch. 1 v. (1-5 ) & NTI Romans Chapters 13 & 14.
*Weekly gathering is held every Sunday morning at 10:15 am ET/8:15 am MT in the Awakening Together Sanctuary. Join us after the Gathering for our Fellowship Time, hosted by Rev. Saina Fernandez.
Join us at 1:30 pm ET/ 11:30 am MT for Freedom Practice SanghaThis will be a time of sharing our inquiries, insights, and challenges, listening to others, or just knowing that we are in community as we find that undefended place within ourselves that longs to be free.
Join us at 6:00 pm ET/ 4:00 pm MT for Something Genuine with Rev. Jacquelyn EckertRev. Jacquelyn Eckert facilitates this program, in which Awakening Together members and friends join together to watch and discuss TED talks that reveal the Truth of ourselves and our universe based on the actual experience of ordinary people. Their insights are genuine—not based upon theory or dogma—and give us a “man on the street” perspective on what we are coming to learn through Awakening Together.
Join us at 7:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm MT for The Guiding Light with Rev. Regina Dawn Akers *RecordingRegina Dawn Akers reads selections from the book Perfect Brilliant Stillness by David Carse. The purpose of this inspired book study is to learn to stop focusing on words and concepts. Look where the pointers point! Be still and realize Perfect Brilliant Stillness just as it is. Join Regina as she dives deep into this enlightened book study which isn’t a book study at all!
Join us at 8:00 pm ET/ 6:00 pm MT for the Debut of Sounds of Awakening with Rev. Yolanda MapesThis brand new musical Awakening Together program features Rev. Yolanda’s amazing spiritual music and many various musical artists.
In the program, Yolanda will be sharing the platform with 1-2 other musically talented guests that are also on the journey of awakening. The program will include live and prerecorded music. There will also be an interviewing of the guests by Yolanda to help us to understand how it is their journey has come about and how music is currently being used in the awakening process.
For the debut of Sounds of Awakening, Jackie Greggs has said yes to sharing new music never before released on any social media. Also, a long-time musical associate of Yolanda’s, Freddy Freeman, will be another guest for this first installment of what promises to be a fun, joyful celebration of music and awakening.
If you would like a sneak peek at Rev. Yolanda’s music, visit www.Yolanda.net/audio
*Sanctuary now closes at a new time of 9 pm ET.
Awakening Together Internet Broadcast: Listen Live on AT Radio
