A universal assembly for true discernment
Please read and contemplate quotes #661-662 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. Here is a portion of the last quote:
The mind is the hub around which this vicious cycle revolves, creating delusion in the mind of the deluded.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
Please read and contemplate the following commentary in the same way that you read and contemplate the Thought of Awakening. The commentaries are designed to enrich your understanding of the Thoughts of Awakening.
~Commentary on Awareness~
Awareness is not judgment. Judgment is a thought that at its basic root sends a message saying, “This must be this way or something is terribly wrong.”
Judging sets up duality. It is the world of right and wrong, good and evil, good and bad. With duality there are right choices and wrong choices, and you can be worthy or unworthy, innocent, righteous or very guilty.
Judgment sets up a world of comparison of this and that, higher and lower, better and worse. It makes the world of joy and sorrow, happiness and pain, security and suffering. And judgment, as the king of the world, defines what is good and what is pain, so that you become a slave unable to be consistently happy in a world of this and that.
But all of this…everything that is created in a world of judgment…is illusion. The answer, which frees you from illusion’s images, is the simple truth of awareness.
Awareness is attention without judgment. It is observation with curiosity and without conclusion. It is perpetual openness. In awareness there is no pain, no suffering, no guilt, and no bad, because there is no judgment, no definition, that would make these things possible.
~From our Holy Spirit
Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.
It is time to look inward
at the mind, the heart, and the soul,
and ask, “What am I?”
This is a question
that should not be answered too quickly,
for if an answer is given
that the mind can understand,
that is not the answer at all.
If an answer is given
that can be explained fully with words,
that is not the answer at all.
Search deep within your inquiry
and also search broadly.
Do not limit your answer
to what can be understood
or taught.
Do not limit your answer
to any idea that has an ending
or definition.
Limit your answer
only when defining what you are not.
When defining what you are,
know that the inquiry continues forever.
~From our Holy Spirit
Rev. Saina Fernanez guides a group of committed students through year 1 of Gentle Healing who would like to make consistent, gentle progress toward genuine peace, joy, and love. This group meets weekly on Thursdays at 6-8 pm ET and all members are committed to specific assignments and practices between group meetings.
Please note: it may be necessary to download the audio to listen to it fully.
FunPlay for the week:
The Awakening Together Sanctuary will be closed during the Awakening Together Fall Retreat so that everyone has the opportunity to attend the retreat.
The Sanctuary will be closed beginning Sunday, October 10th through Thursday, October 21, 2021. Regular Sanctuary programming will resume at 7:30 am ET on Friday, October 22 with Being Aware of Awareness Meditation.
Awakening Together Radio will continue to broadcast throughout the Sanctuary closure.
Day 264 AssignmentThis evening (or tomorrow morning):
Read NTI Romans 5 in full.
Tomorrow:
Please read and contemplate quotes #658-660 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. Here is the last quote:
When the inner light begins to shine, the mind ceases to be, even as when there is light, darkness vanishes.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
The primary message in NTI 1 Thessalonians is:
Be it to know it.
Be peace to know peace.
Be happiness to know happiness.
Be gratitude to know gratitude.
Be acceptance to know acceptance.
Be love to know love.
Today’s reading says that fear is the primary obstacle to being that which you desire to know.
On Day 177, we looked at three definitions of fear:
Contemplate each of the previous definitions of fear. As you do, look at your own experience. Do you agree that fear is an obstacle to being that which you desire to know?
For example, if you have decided to be and know acceptance, when you are caught up in fearful thinking, are you in acceptance or are you resisting something?
Please contemplate this before continuing to read the tip.
~ ~ ~
You cannot fully believe fear and be that which you desire to know simultaneously, but you can feel fear and be that which you desire to know.
How?
Be at peace with feeling fear.
Or be happy to explore the feeling of fear.
Or be grateful for the opportunity to heal fear.
Or accept of the feeling of fear exactly as it is.
Or love the feeling of fear exactly as it is.
Each of the previous suggestions will help you practice rest-accept-trust. When you practice rest-accept-trust, fear heals. When you believe fear and act from fear, you are lost and do not know the Self.
Fear can be subtle. If you look carefully, even the tiniest upset can be attributed to fear. For example, frustration in a business meeting could be attributed to the fear that you are less than others, the fear that you might lose something, the fear that something outside of you can affect you, or the fear that you are losing control.
Fear is the greatest obstacle to truth realization.
Fear is the greatest obstacle to peace.
Fear is the greatest obstacle to happiness.
Fear is the greatest obstacle to gratitude.
Fear is the greatest obstacle to acceptance.
Fear is the greatest obstacle to love.
Pay careful attention to yourself. Whenever you are upset, pause and look to discover the fear that is present. If necessary, take a break and practice root cause inquiry.
Each time you bring restful awareness to fear, you come one step closer to abiding as your true Self consistently. In the early stages of awakening, this practice is called purification. In the later stages of awakening, it is called stabilization, because you are learning to stabilize as the Self.
Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.
Your mind
is designed to distract you,
to make you think
and look away
from what is.
This is why the mind
is the great story teller.
It is like an illusionist
that uses stories
to keep you from seeing
what is true.
Be aware of the illusionist’s tricks.
Look on them gently and without judgment.
But do not forget what the tricks are for,
and you will not be so willingly
deceived by them.
~From our Holy Spirit
This bi-monthly program is Awakening Together’s In the Company of Truth with Helen Hamilton that airs on the second and fourth Wednesday monthly from 3-4 pm ET. Helen’s core message is that the Realization of the True Self is possible for everyone, no matter what background you may have as long as you want it more than anything else. After all, we are only returning to our natural state, to what we already are. We are only coming to live as that Truth consciously.
Having reached a place of total peace, love, and joy, Helen has dedicated her life to helping others wake up too. The Truth is here and now and accessible to all. Helen will offer her teachings in this bi-weekly Satsang to help you Realize and BE the Self you already are.
For more information about Helen and to access her teachings, visit her website: www.HelenHamilton.org.
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Rev. Helen Avery is an Awakening Together Ordained Minister. She shares weekly in our Sanctuary with a half-hour of heart-felt deep-diving into truth, love, and awareness. This candid sharing is a time when Helen explores different modalities and teachings with various non-dual teachers and how the real-life application of those particular teachings is currently showing up in her life. She shares about experiences from her path of awakening including the demonstration of how to utilize these helpful processes and spiritual tools. In her most recent Awakening journey, she discusses radical truth and wisdom from teachers such as Mooji and Helen Hamilton.
Anne Blanchard shares her experience of purification and awakening, unfiltered and as it happens. Raw, reflective, brave, and infused with clarity, Anne’s open honesty inspires us all to dive deep into the spiritual journey instead of simply skimming the surface. She continues to share deeply from various non-dual teachings and teachers.
