A universal assembly for true discernment
In this program, Reverends Jacquelyn Eckert and Glen Ganaway review and discuss A Course In Miracles from a non-dual, interfaith perspective. The two of them discuss the main themes and key principles of the Course and how they are lived in our shared lives.
Kate shares her experience 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.
Weekly Sunday Gathering with Rev. Meghan ReinhartTitle: “Beyond this World There Is a World I Want”
Description: Rev. Meg Reinhart gave an inspiring talk around the spiritual person becoming presence awareness while purifying the attributes associated with I am.
Reading: Rev. Regina Dawn Akers read an article titled: “Opening Us to the Fourth Dimension of Existence and Beyond.”
or
Day 85 AssignmentThis evening (or tomorrow morning):
Tomorrow:
Like yesterday, spend time in silent reflection with the following quotes, and then read today’s reading. After the reading, return and reflect on the quotes again.
2. The fabled musk deer searches the world over for the source of the scent, which comes from itself. ~ Ramakrishna
3. Meditation is one of the greatest arts in life—perhaps the greatest—and one cannot possibly learn it from anybody; that is the beauty of it. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
4. The first thing to realize in meditation is that there is no authority, that the mind must be completely free to examine, to observe, to learn. ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti
5. Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. ~ Buddha
6. If the mind falls asleep, awaken it. Then if it starts wandering, make it quiet. If you reach the state where there is neither sleep nor movement of mind, stay still in that, the natural (real) state. ~ Ramana Maharshi
To have faith in your brother
is to have faith in the light.
To have faith in the light
is to have faith in God.
~From our Holy Spirit
In this program Anne Blanchard facilitates one of the core practices of the Awakening Together community. This program provides an opportunity to be in community with others who will to find that place of no-place, that attention to our natural attentiveness, that innate humanness that can often be overlooked. Anne Blanchard facilitates this program on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:30 – 8:30 am ET/5:30-6:30 am MT by leading participants through gently guided Being Aware of Awareness meditation.
All are warmly welcome.
This meditation was led by Kate Brennan.
Day 84 AssignmentThis evening (or tomorrow morning):
If you feel the sentences in #2 do not apply to you, look to see if there is anyone that you feel is guilty of being different than you think they should be. Write one or more sentences that encourage you to let go of believing these thoughts about another.
Tomorrow:
At least 8 times during the day, pause for a few moments and reflect on your sentence(s) from #3 above.
Please spend time in silent reflection with the following quotes before going to today’s reading. After the reading, return and reflect on the quotes again.
1.We need silence to be alone with God, to speak to him, to listen to him, to ponder his words deep in our hearts. We need to be alone with God in silence to be renewed and transformed. Silence gives us a new outlook on life. ~ Mother Teresa
2. You will receive everything you need when you stop asking for what you do not need.
~ Nisargadatta Maharaj
3. Imagine that every person in the world is enlightened but you. They are all your teachers, each doing just the right things to help you learn perfect patience, perfect wisdom, perfect compassion. ~ Buddha
4. Everything you see and experience, you see and experience through the filter of your own mind. In order to find peace, one must abandon interpretation and remember knowledge. This is the process of learning that I lead you through. You are learning that you do not know; you interpret. This enables you to step back from conflict, and knowing that your interpretation is nothing, let your interpretation go. As interpretation is released, knowledge can be given. Knowledge is peace, since knowledge has no conflict, because it is whole and it is truth. ~ NTI Luke, Chapter 6
5. Silence is most powerful. Speech is always less powerful than silence. ~ Ramana Maharshi
6. The world is indeed a mixture of truth and make-believe. Discard the make-believe and take the truth. ~ Ramakrishna
If you are not at peace,
there is a wonderful opportunity
before you
right now.
Seize the opportunity.
What obstacle to peace
are you holding onto?
What idea do you cling to
that is causing you pain?
~From our Holy Spirit
Day 83 AssignmentThis evening (or tomorrow morning):
Tomorrow:
At least 8 times during the day, pause for a few moments and reflect on your sentence(s) from #3 above.
Sometime this weekend:
Once or twice this weekend, when it is convenient for you, practice this 25-minute guided Miracles Meditation.
I’m sure you’ve noticed that the mind can be more or less noisy when you meditate. Although a quiet mind is considered ideal for meditation, it is not required. Michael Langford’s awareness-watching-awareness practice instructions say:
If you seem to be having a lot of thoughts, ignore them and turn your attention away from the thoughts and towards awareness observing awareness.
In this case “ignore” means, place your attention elsewhere. It does not mean, “repress.” Some applicable synonyms for “ignore” are:
Disregard, take no notice of, pay no attention to, pay no heed to, tune out
Meditation is called “practice,” because meditation is practice. We know our practice is paying off when we notice ourselves disregarding thought in daily life. When we ignore thought, we live from awareness, intuition and spontaneity.
The Teachings of Inner Ramana refers to ignoring thought and living by intuition as “living from within instead of living from without.” In today’s reading, the Pharisees are a symbol. The Pharisees who are not distracted symbolize living from within. Jesus symbolizes intuition, and the Pharisees who are not distracted are able to hear him. The Pharisees who are distracted symbolize living from without. Their perception is biased and limited by their thoughts. They do not hear Jesus’ message, just as we do not hear intuition when we are caught up in thought. They also do not notice “the peace beyond the words,” just as we do not notice awareness when thought has our attention.
Jesus is clear that we are not guilty if we believe our thoughts, even if we act on them. We are not guilty, because consciousness is unaffected. However, believing thoughts and acting on them is the cause of suffering. In NTI Matthew, Judas symbolized the mistake of believing and acting on thought.
In daily life, it’s important to turn our listening attention inward. It’s important that we learn to disregard thoughts and live from awareness, intuition and spontaneity.
Here’s something to remember from the Mullah Nasruddin story about the leaky bucket:
If you react unconsciously, you push the lesson of the moment away.
Our bucket leaks when we live from without instead of living from within. It’s as if we put water in the bucket during our morning meditation and contemplation, but then we let it leak out again as we live from thought throughout the day. We are never guilty for this mistake, but it is confusion, the cause of suffering, and an obstacle to truth realization.
Everything I have given
is fully and completely
with you now.
You are missing nothing.
Rest, my child.
Do not worry.
Rest is a means
of letting go of nightmares
and remembering your truth,
which is of Me.
~From our Holy Spirit
