Over the past couple of weeks, we have looked at vibrational choices. We have seen that you can maintain your current vibrational level or raise your vibrational level by the choices you make.

Today, we see that our vibrational level affects the vibrational level of the whole. In NTI Luke 9, inner spiritual wisdom asks you to be a teacher. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you will take a teaching role in the world. It is a request that you consistently raise your vibrational level, thereby raising the vibrational level of the whole, by contemplating the thoughts of Spirit and by practicing the teachings in your daily life.

For some, this idea of raising the whole may lead to additional motivation to practice. It provides additional motivation for me. It provided additional motivation for Buddha. He was motivated into the jungle to seek enlightenment when he discovered the suffering of sickness, old age and death. He wanted to find the answer to suffering for everyone. His motivation came from compassion for the whole.

Consider these quotes:

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. ~ Jesus referring to himself, Mark 10:45

Your own Self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world. ~ Ramana Maharshi

True compassion is seeing the suffering in the world, and then choosing to sacrifice one’s own ego in order to raise the vibration of the whole. It is as Jesus said:

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ~ John 15:13

Today’s reading also says, “You are the Christ, … Christ is your true Self.”

Christ is synonymous with consciousness, the Second Principle of God. The reading’s focus on consciousness as the inner Light is a reminder that, although we’ve been focused on purification and raising our vibrational level, the true Self is present and pure now.

If the true Self is pure, why go through purification?

To purify the mind.

Is that necessary, since the true Self is already pure?

The best way to awaken to the true Self is to do two things simultaneously:

Purify the mind of conditioning, false beliefs, desires and fears, and  focus on awareness (e.g., awareness-watching-awareness).

When you focus on awareness, you can see that it is already pure. It is not the mind. However, as long as the mind causes suffering, mental purification is necessary too.

Thoughts of Awakening # 71

Trust the awakening process.
It is what it may not always seem to be.

~From our Holy Spirit

Do you think you would benefit from a spiritual counseling session?

How would you like to receive counseling
& serve Awakening Together
at the same time?

This is your chance!

Several Awakening Together ministers are currently taking a 6-week course that teaches how to provide spiritual counseling, also known as spiritual mentoring. This Thursday, on the last night of the course, each minister will use what’s been learned by providing a 45-minute private and confidential mentoring session to a volunteer.

Here’s how you can help:

If you think you’d benefit from a counseling session, sign-up to receive free mentoring from one of the ministers currently being trained. We need 8 volunteers who have a real topic to discuss with a minister.

Mentoring sessions will be offered this Thursday, April 29 at 6:30pm ET (4:30pm MT) in a private Zoom breakout room. Afterwards, you will be asked to evaluate the minister based on your experience in the mentoring session.

Registration is Closed

You may also use the form above to ask questions before volunteering.

NTI Luke has taken us “into the desert” for purification. Today’s reading focuses on purifying the “I am bad” belief, which may show up as:

• guilt
• unworthiness
• self-hatred
• shame
• feeling like a fake
• seeing one’s self as less than others
• etcetera

It’s helpful to make note of NTI Luke 8, so you can return to it for guidance when any of these ideas take hold in you. NTI Luke 8 coaches the reader into a healing posture.

Some key points from today’s reading are:

1. Remember to trust that you are worthy, regardless of what you believe or feel about yourself.
2.  2. Remember that this feeling/belief must rise to the surface to be healed. Be grateful for this as an opportunity to heal.
3. Practice rest-accept-trust during times of strong emotion.
4. The “rest” in rest-accept-trust means rest away from believing the stories in the mind. Relax the mind and focus on gratitude for healing instead of focusing on stories about what is happening in the world.
5. The “I am bad” belief is based on judgment. Look to find the judgment you made against yourself. Are you willing to see that you are the one making the judgment? Are you willing to accept that you could be wrong? Are you willing to let go of that judgment?
6. The “I am bad” belief is strongly believed. It has been believed repeatedly. That might make it seem true to you, but that does not mean that it is true. In fact, it isn’t true. The belief comes from the mind. It is a mental interpretation about the body-personality. As we have already seen, the mind interprets; it does not know.

   In addition, you are not the body-personality. You are the awareness that is aware of the body-personality and mind. As you rest-accept-trust, notice that you are aware of the storm in the mind. As you rest, be aware of yourself as awareness. Noticing yourself as awareness is looking beyond the storm to the blue sky.

Note: I recommend printing this tip for future reference.

Thoughts of Awakening # 70

Peace is a state of mind that is constant.
Peace is a state of mind that is available to you now.
Peace is always ready,
awaiting only your decision to listen to it.

Listen for a moment in stillness,
even among the chaos of the mind,
and peace shall rise into awareness
to comfort you.

~From our Holy Spirit