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.

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People often resist surrender, because they believe that in surrender they sacrifice something. As today’s reading points out, that resistance “comes from the delusion that you are what you are not.”

In NTI 1st Corinthians 1, we were told that the “ego is still within your mind, and it may seem to persist for some time.” The ego is the idea and feeling of ‘me.’ As long as the idea and feeling of ‘me’ persists, surrender will be resisted to one degree or another. If we expect perfect surrender from ourselves before we are fully ready, we create another opportunity for self-judgment. The ‘I am bad’ belief endures through self-judgment.

It is best to see ourselves as learning  surrender. It is natural to make mistakes in the process of learning. Children fall when learning to walk. Pianists hit the wrong keys when learning to play piano. Etcetera.

We do not need to judge ourselves for our mistakes, but we can use them to enhance our learning.

In a recent contemplation with inner spiritual wisdom, Teresa from Northern Ireland wrote:

When I worked as a teacher, I would demonstrate a new mathematical process to the children on the blackboard. They appeared to understand, but it was only when they started making mistakes, when asked to complete some exercises by themselves, that they realized where they were going wrong.  That’s like me.  I think I understand while I am reading, etc. but the rubber only hits the road when I’m in my daily living.

Inner wisdom responded:

You can view your life in the world as those little children doing their mathematics.  Learning from their mistakes is the only way they are going to have success.  Then they have to practice, practice, practice in order to become unconsciously competent.

Just like children who are learning math turn to their teacher for help when they make mistakes, we can turn to the inner teacher for help when we make mistakes. The inner teacher will help us see the mistake with clarity and help us see the correction without judgment. That is how children learn math, and that is how we learn to be the empty shell. Today’s reading says:

Therefore, when you believe you have made a mistake, turn to Me. Ask Me to use your perception for your learning. In this way, you open yourself for another thought of Mine to be revealed.

Every time we turn to inner spiritual wisdom, we receive spiritual wisdom, and that is how we learn.

You are becoming skilled at going within and receiving wisdom. Be willing to use that skill to look at your mistakes. If you do, you will receive insight that is specifically and directly helpful to you.

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

Thoughts of Awakening # 163

Guidance comes from love.
It rises up
like a free-floating flow.
In this way,
guidance shares the characteristics
of the love from which it comes.

A free-floating flow can be blocked,
because a free-floating flow
does not force.

Your role,
if you are to know the guidance that comes from love,
is to remove the obstructions
that would block it.

Judgment is an obstruction.
You cannot know
the guidance of love
if you cling to
the obstruction of judgment.

~From our Holy Spirit

An “empty shell” is empty of self and empty of self-will. Today’s reading points out that we will not immediately become the permanent empty shell. We need practice in order to learn that we prefer emptiness to self-will. That is the same as saying we need practice in order to learn that we prefer harmony to conflict. You might think you prefer harmony to conflict now, when you don’t, at least not yet. You see, the ego mind likes harmony as long as it gets harmony “my way.” The ego is attached to self-will, which means that when it comes right down to it, it prefers conflict to no self-will.

We need to learn that we want harmony over conflict to the point that we are willing to relinquish self and self-will in order to realize harmony.

If we are willing to let go of self-will, we will be given opportunities to practice. Conflict will arise in our lives, so we can see that the cause of conflict is self-will, and then we can decide if we are ready to lay aside self-will in that moment  in order to experience harmony.

It reminds me of the opening to Lesson 185 in A Course in Miracles:

I want the peace of God.

     “To say these words is nothing. But to mean these words is everything. If you could but mean them for just an instant, there would be no further sorrow possible for you in any form; in any place or time.”

It’s important to note that harmony is experienced within, not on the outside. If I let go of my self-will in a conflict with another person, but the other person doesn’t let go of her self-will, she may still experience conflict. If I want her to experience harmony, that is simply my  self-will. (i.e., I want her to experience harmony.) I can release additional self-will by letting go of my desire regarding her experience.

Today’s reading says:

“Your willingness to practice will match with your brother’s willingness to learn, so he may be brought to you, and you will be given your opportunity to practice.”

In NTI Romans 13, we learned that the world is “set up for your learning.” It is set up so we can learn the answer to these questions:

What if nothing was as it is?
What if I could make something completely different,
and make it whatever I want?
What would that be like?

Regardless of whether a person is on the spiritual path or not, he is learning the answer to these questions. When his readiness to learn more about, “What would that be like?” matches with your desire to let go of self-will, you are matched in what may appear to be a conflictual relationship, so he can learn more about the experience of self-will while you let go of self-will.

Today’s reading says:

“You are eternal and beyond limits of any kind.”

The ego has an interpretation of “limitless,” which is a distortion and not related to truth realization. The ego’s idea of limitless is:

I am not limited. I get my way all of the time.

It is better to see limitless as:

I am not affected by anything. Everything can be exactly as it is.

You know yourself as “limitless and beyond all fear” when you have no self-will and you are  absolute, unqualified love.

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

Thoughts of Awakening # 162

The inner guiding force,
which is the Voice for the Heart of one
and the wisdom of the seat of knowledge,
guides within the world
without judgment.

Where ever there is judgment,
there is lack of understanding.

Where ever there is judgment,
there is lack of knowledge.

Where ever there is judgment,
there is seeing the one
as completely separated parts.

In this seeing, there is error,
and so there cannot be wisdom.

~From our Holy Spirit