A universal assembly for true discernment
This evening (or tomorrow morning):
Tomorrow:
Review your spiritual purpose 2-3 times during the day.
Regina’s Tip for Lesson 6
In Chapter 4, The Happy Learner section, ACIM says:
“The truth is true. Nothing else matters, nothing else is real, and everything beside it is not there.”
That statement from the text is highly related to today’s workbook lesson:
“I am upset because I see something that is not there.”
Looking at these two statements together can help us see just how severely perception is distorted through egoic self-referencing. Egoic self-referencing leads us to see “something that is not there,” and then it leads us to get upset about it. We literally throw away our peace because of something that does not exist.
This may be hard for you to believe. That is to be expected. The Introduction to the Workbook said:
“Some of the ideas the workbook presents you will find hard to believe, and others may seem to be quite startling. This does not matter. You are merely asked to apply the ideas as you are directed to do. You are not asked to judge them at all. You are asked only to use them. It is their use that will give them meaning to you, and will show you that they are true.
Remember only this; you need not believe the ideas, you need not accept them, and you need not even welcome them. Some of them you may actively resist. None of this will matter, or decrease their efficacy. But do not allow yourself to make exceptions in applying the ideas the workbook contains, and whatever your reactions to the ideas may be, use them. Nothing more than that is required.”
Homework for the week:
What is the Ego?
Our special theme says, “The ego is insane.” It also says, “The Son of God is egoless.”
What am I?
The correct answer would be “the egoless Son of God,” but is that my actual experience?
Am I free of all sorrow and suffering? Do I live in eternal joy? Is my experience absolutely free of fear and guilt? Do I see only peace surrounding me? Is my experience that of the deepest silence and tranquility?
If not, then I do not know myself as the egoless Son of God. And if I would like to know my egoless Self, I have some work to do to undo illusions in my mind.
I choose to see my brother’s sinlessness.
Our lesson begins by saying, “Forgiveness is a choice.” However, it continues by saying, “I never see my brother as he is, for that is far beyond perception.”
I think Course students sometimes feel that if they let go of the current judgment in their mind, they have let go of seeing their brother with ego, and they are now seeing him and accepting him as he is. However, our workbook lesson says that our brother, as he is, is far beyond perception. That means that as long as we perceive a world and bodies, we do not know our brother. If we do not know our brother, we also do not know our Self.
A Course in Miracles points far beyond simply being kind to others, although being kind to everyone is a very good start. A Course in Miracles points to full awakening, manonasa, as the way to see and know everything as it is.
Sister Bernadette Roberts described creation beyond the world and beyond consciousness as “eternal form.” She wrote, “Beyond consciousness, the ultimate Truth of the divine is that it is neither immanent (within anything) nor transcendent (beyond anything), but IS everything that eternally exists.”
What eternally exists? Sister Bernadette is clear that it is not consciousness or matter as we perceive matter, but there is “eternal form that cannot be grasped by the senses, the intellect or consciousness.” Whatever that is, that is our brother as he is. That is also our true nature.
As you interact with others today, contemplate that you have no idea what this one’s “eternal form” is. You cannot see him/her as he/she is. You do not know anything as it is, not even yourself. Let this sink in as deeply as you can allow it to sink in. Don’t let the mind short-circuit your contemplation by saying, “He is light,” or “She is God.” Don’t be satisfied with mere concepts today. However, DO realize that ego is the obstacle that blocks true vision. It keeps you from seeing everyone and everything in its “eternal form.”
Meditation Options
Today, you will have the opportunity to witness a conversation between a student and her awake teacher. The questions she asks may be a lot like the questions you would ask, because her experiences are probably very much like yours. She is attached to the mind as “me,” and so she believes the mind’s thoughts of resistance. She believes, “I don’t want to do this,” and “This is too hard.” She doesn’t see that those are thoughts, and she (life-awareness) is giving believing-attention to thought.
Our belief that we are mind and mind-chatter is me thinking is so deeply engrained that it takes time and practice to see that we are completely wrong and fully fooled about what we are. Those who feel they can awaken without devoting themselves to practice are like the alcoholic who continues to drink while telling his friends, “I can quit anytime I want.” They have not yet fully realized the extent of their problem.
As Jesus said when the disciples asked how they could be saved, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle… With man this is impossible,…”
That’s why we need to either surrender to within or withdraw from the world. The Teachings of Inner Ramana teaches the former. The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss teaches the latter.
Today’s message points out that the mind tries to feign surrender.
Mind’s fake surrender feels completely different than genuine surrender. In the mind’s fake surrender, there is still the feeling of “I know.” In genuine surrender, there is the knowledge, “I do not know.”
For example, one common teaching is to surrender to your brother and let him do things his way except when it is important. When the ego reflects on this teaching, it thinks it knows what is important. The spiritual aspirant who is surrendered needs to seek within to see if the current situation is important or not important. She never knows on her own if this is a time when she should let her brother have his way or if this is a time when she should be more insistent. Only surrender can adequately guide her.
Just now, after typing the paragraph above, there was a thought in my mind that said, “That’s a pretty good paragraph, but it needs editing. ‘Brother’ is A Course in Miracles’ language. It is sexist language. It might even confuse some people. They might think you mean their biological brother. You should rewrite the paragraph to eliminate the word ‘brother.’”
I looked at the paragraph I’d just written and read the first sentence. For a moment, I could see the mind’s point, but then I felt within for guidance. The guidance was to leave the paragraph as it is. Guidance didn’t judge the paragraph as good or bad. Notice ego did both. Guidance simply indicated through an intuitive feeling to leave the paragraph as it is.
Notice how much the mind thought it knew. It thought:
That’s a lot of “I know” in just a few short seconds of mental chatter!
(Just to let you know, I have no idea what I will write next, so we can feel pretty sure that it is coming from surrender.)
Feigned surrender has the feeling of “I know” in it. Genuine surrender comes from “I do not know.”
Today, we are encouraged to question the mind whenever we notice that we believe it is me thinking. For example, if you think and feel, “I wish she would stop talking,” pause. Ask, “Who wishes she would stop talking?” Look. Is it awareness that wishes she would stop talking, or is it the mind? When you feel that you wish she would stop talking, aren’t you identified with the mind?
Today’s reading says:
An idea is relinquished by looking at it, challenging it, and by seeing it as false. Since the idea of ego has been deeply learned through repetition, deep and consistent unlearning must result.
So now, instead of simply looking at mind chatter and noticing what it was saying, we will question chatter to see whether that was me thinking or not. If you have been practicing awareness-watching-awareness for the last 640ish days (since it was introduced in Year 1), you should be fully prepared for this practice. This is an advanced practice, and one who has not been watching awareness will be mistaken about what she sees when she asks, “Who thinks that?” In order to see the folly of believing mind, you have to have some direct experience with the sense of what you really are.
In other words, everything we have learned up until this point has prepared you for the step we are taking now.
Thoughts of Awakening # 309
Peace is not a feeling.
It is a state of mind
when the thinker has been put to rest
and true wisdom guides.
Thinking blocks the flow of wisdom.
To know wisdom, one must stop thinking
or one must give attention
to the gaps between the thoughts.
If one gives attention to thinking
one will not know wisdom,
and one will be ignorant
of the realization of peace.
~From our Holy Spirit
This class is 6 weeks long.
The purpose of this course is to introduce participants to “The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament” (NTI), which is scripture provided by and preserved by Foundation for the Holy Spirit (Awakening Together).
NTI is described as a loving or heart-centered approach to letting go of ego.
In this class you will:
1. Become familiar with key spiritual themes in NTI.
2. Practice noticing ego, letting it go and refocusing on spiritual wisdom.
Specific Information:
This is a forum-based MPP course.
Individual Homework Time Commitment: About 1 hour per day six days per week, plus exercises throughout the day.
Structure of Course: Six weeks including one introductory video and six weekly instructional videos, about 45 minutes each.
Course dates: February 22, 2021-April 5, 2021
Cost is $120.
The textbook needed is The Keys to NTI or The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI). Either book is acceptable for this course. You do not need both books.
This course is offered in our online discussion forum. Familiarity with the forum is helpful.
Registration closes on February 17.
For more information on this course, click here.
Regina’s Tip for Lesson 5
Today’s Workbook lesson asks us to apply the exercise to all upsets indiscriminately. As you do today’s exercise, you may notice a temptation to select certain upsets as worthy of this exercise, while quickly deciding other upsets are too small or unimportant to mention during the exercise. For example, you may decide to practice with the argument you had with a family member while deciding to overlook the minor annoyance you feel about the noise outside your window as you do the exercise.
Deciding some upsets are worthy of the exercise while others are too small or unimportant to mention is an ego preservation strategy. That’s why today’s lesson asks you to say to yourself, “There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.”
The perfect peace of true perception has no upsets in it. Some people will argue this point, but that is only because they have not yet fully undone the ego filter.
You need not settle for less than perfect happiness, because perfect happiness is your right. Perfect happiness is your natural state, which you will experience when the self-referencing habit is undone.
If you learn not to self-reference during conversations with family members, and as a result, you no longer argue with family members, that’s great! However, if you still self-reference regarding noises in the environment, traffic patterns, smells and weather, you will still experience discontent and possibly outright rage. In order to experience “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” self-referencing must end completely. (Ref: Philippians 4:7 in the Bible.)
This is what the Introduction to the Workbook meant by “transfer of training.” Transfer of training is learning something, and then applying what you learn in all circumstances, instead of just some circumstances.
As a reminder, the Introduction said:
“The exercises are planned to help you generalize the lessons, so that you will understand that each of them is equally applicable to everyone and everything you see.
Transfer of training in true perception does not proceed as does transfer of the training of the world. If true perception has been achieved in connection with any person, situation or event, total transfer to everyone and everything is certain. On the other hand, one exception held apart from true perception makes its accomplishments anywhere impossible. …
“… be sure that you do not decide for yourself that there are some people, situations or things to which the [exercises] are inapplicable. This will interfere with transfer of training. The very nature of true perception is that it has no limits. It is the opposite of the way you see now.”
Homework for the week:
What is the Ego?
Our special theme says, “The ego is insane,” and then continues to describe its insanity. What stands out to me in this paragraph is the statement:
In fear it stands beyond the Everywhere,
apart from All,
in separation from the Infinite.
I need to ask myself:
Do I want to continue to do that?
I feel this is a really important decision. I know I will either spend my time reinforcing the ego, or I will spend my time in the spiritual practice that undoes the ego and awakens to truth.
I also find this question showing up in my mind:
Do I love God enough to awaken to God?
Or are other things still more important?
Today I claim the gifts forgiveness gives.
Please read today’s workbook lesson in full as you contemplate the questions I have asked myself above.
Meditation Options
Please contemplate this commentary in the same way that you contemplate the Thoughts of Awakening.
~Commentary on Not-Knowing~
What is not at home is your way of seeing, your way of perceiving and your way of understanding. Your way is lost from home, because your way is unique and individual, and therefore it is not home.
Home is one way. It is the true way. It is seeing what is as it is.
Peace leads all things home, because in peace you are home. From home, home is all you see because home is all that truly is.
~From our Holy Spirit
Thoughts of Awakening # 308
Peace is the power
that leads all things home.
In peace, one finds directness.
In peace, one finds surety.
In peace, one finds rest.
In peace, one is strength.
~From our Holy Spirit
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.
