A universal assembly for true discernment
Revs. Glen Ganaway and Yolanda Mapes, who are interfaith ministers, share a delightful, funny and inspiring hour of A Course in Miracles. Come join in on the fun, the laughs, and the music while unlearning the ego through the lessons and chapters of ACIM. You can find out more about the Mighty Companions on their website: www.themightycompanions.com
This evening (or tomorrow morning):
Throughout the 500 days, you can do the assignments under this heading in the evening, or tomorrow morning, or you can split the tasks between this evening and tomorrow morning, whatever suits your schedule.
Tomorrow:
Do the assignments under this heading during the day tomorrow.
Review the “blessed” that you selected and briefly think about the meaning it has for you 2-3 times during the day.
What is Creation?
Our special theme says, “We are creation; … We seem to be discrete, and unaware of our eternal unity with Him. Yet back of all our doubts, past all our fears, there still is certainty. … God’s memory is in our holy minds…”
This is a very important clue. Truth is unimaginable, but it is reachable. And we reach it through a journey within our self.
This could be called returning in the way we came. We began at Home, in the First Principle of God as our Self. In this Self, however, there is no sense of self. There is awareness, but not awareness of. There is Truth without a subject to be aware of Truth.
From this state of Truth “in crept a tiny mad idea.” It could also be called a desire, a desire for something that did not exist. It was the desire to “Know thy Self,” which could be called a desire for a sense of self.
And so, a container that could have an experience of self arose. This container was a subject, something that could feel or know. It was awareness with the additional ability to be aware of. I call it consciousness in order to distinguish it from the awareness that it came from. This is the birth of the Second Principle of God.
Once consciousness arose, which is the ability to be aware of, there needed to be something to be aware of. Consciousness is like a living mirror that wanted something reflected in it, something to watch, know and feel. Of course, consciousness could have simply looked back in the direction it came from, and it would have experienced the reflection of Truth in itself. But consciousness was on an outward-bound journey, so it looked outward in its desire to know something as its self.
Out of this desire, divine law—the creative principle—arose, which is the Third Principle of God.
Through divine law, all of manifestation was born, which is the Fourth Principle of God.
As consciousness watched the images that appeared in it’s self, consciousness became engrossed with them. It began to identify with the images. Each of us, as consciousness, experiences an aspect of that identification. We feel identified with our thoughts, feelings, life experiences, etcetera, because we are the consciousness that has become identified with the images reflected in it.
So now, we begin the journey back in the way we came. It is an undoing. It is the return of a boomerang idea, going back inwardly by reversing the steps we took in the outward-bound direction.
First, there is the undoing of the distinct sense of self, typically called the ego. This is undoing of identification with the image as me. It is this sense of self that creates suffering. Therefore, this undoing is significant, but it is only part of the return journey.
When we awaken to our self as consciousness (the mirror), we experience a more correct sense of self. Whereas the idea that “I am the image” is a delusion for consciousness, the idea “I am consciousness” is more correct or truer. Yet, it is not ultimate truth, because the original true Self has no sense of self.
A sense of self is a type of existence. You could say, “I exist as the sense of what I am.” Since a sense of self is a type of existence, the end of the sense of self is a type of death. It is the death of what we have come to know as existence. The death of consciousness as self is manonasa. What lies beyond this death is Nirvana.
Note: Since consciousness is like a mirror, we can get a sense of Nirvana once we reawaken to consciousness. This sense comes from Truth’s reflection in the mirror of our self as consciousness. However, this sense is still only a sense received from a reflection. In order to know Truth directly, we must awaken fully to it and be it, which is to awaken beyond consciousness.
I need but call and You will answer me.
The reason for telling the story above is to help influence us to “constantly direct [mind-consciousness] toward liberation, through self-effort.” We made the outward journey through a kind of self-effort—idea, desire, curiosity, will, focus—and now we make the return journey through the same kind of self-effort.
But how? Where do we begin today?
Today’s workbook lesson says, “I am not asked to take salvation on the basis of an unsupported faith. For God has promised He will hear my call, and answer me Himself.”
The God that we call on for guidance is not some distant deity, knowledge or awareness. We are the one that took the outward journey from truth to our present attachment to manifestation, and every step of that journey is recorded in our divine unconscious. Therefore, the reverse of each step is known in our own divine unconscious. Our own unconscious knows the way! The communication that comes from this unconscious knowing is what I call spiritual intuition.
We literally have everything we need, except for maybe one thing. It’s possible that we haven’t actually made the decision to begin the return journey yet. It’s possible that we are still interested in lingering here a little longer.
Please read and contemplate today’s workbook lesson in full. As you do, also contemplate the power of your own decision or lack thereof. (In truth, there’s no such thing as a lack of decision. Not deciding for one option is deciding for the other.)
Here are a couple of short video clips to help you contemplate today’s teaching in a fun way. You’ll find the meditation links under the video clips.
Meditation Options
Yesterday, we started looking more carefully at mental chatter to see how it emphasizes the idea of “I” or “me.” It’s important that we continue this looking until we have a strong realization that seeing mental chatter as “me” or “my thinking” is insane.
If you don’t remember yesterday’s tip well, please review it.
Today’s reading begins by saying:
Much of what you do comes from the ego.
And then it defines the ego as:
Belief in the false identity “I”.
Mental chatter on its own is not a problem. If you paid no more attention to mental chatter than you do to the sound of the heater, air conditioner or refrigerator in your home, you’d experience true perception in spite of ongoing mental chatter.
The real problem is that you believe mental chatter. You might not believe all of it. You may have learned to let go of some categories of thought, but you most likely still believe a lot of mental chatter to be you thinking.
Look and see if that isn’t true. When mental chatter is running through the mind, don’t you give attention to it as if it is you thinking? We don’t say to ourselves, “I am thought.” In fact, that statement probably seems ludicrous. But we give attention to mental chatter as if it is me thinking.
That attitude of attention—giving attention to thought as if it is me thinking—is what creates the ego. The ego is listening to mental chatter as if it is me thinking.
The reason much of what we do comes from the ego is because much of what we do comes from the belief that mental chatter is me thinking.
If mental chatter says, “I don’t like this,” we react as if we do not like the current happening. It never occurs to us that it isn’t true, because we believe mental chatter is me thinking.
If mental chatter says, “I want a new …,” we react as if we need to obtain that object. It never occurs to us that it isn’t true, because we believe mental chatter is me thinking.
If mental chatter says, “I need to quit this job/relationship,” we react as if we are dissatisfied and need to change our circumstance. It never occurs to us that it isn’t true, because we believe mental chatter is me thinking.
In most cases, we do whatever mental chatter tells us to do, because we believe it is me thinking. It never occurs to us that it isn’t me.
Much of what you do comes from the ego.
True perception comes when we are disengaged from mental chatter. True perception comes from realizing in a very deep way that mental chatter isn’t me thinking. We know we’ve had this realization when what we do doesn’t come from mental chatter. Mental chatter may still make noise, but we have become adept at ignoring it as meaningless—as uninformed—as wrong—as not me.
That’s why Inner Ramana asks us to surrender. When we surrender, we listen to something other than mental chatter. What we do comes from something other than mental chatter. Through this practice, we begin to disengage from mental chatter. First, we see that we do not need mental chatter to get through daily living; there is another way. Next, we begin to see in an experiential way that mental chatter isn’t me. That’s when we begin to break free from the ego.
As you’ve learned, there are two awakenings. First, one awakens from delusion to true perception. Next, one awakens from true perception to reality. Reality is entirely different from delusion. It would be very difficult (if not impossible) for one to go from the deluded state to reality in one giant step. The human brain needs time to reprogram based on new learning, which prepares the human organism (the brain and the body) for the realization of reality.
That’s the purpose for two awakenings. One can go from delusion to true perception more easily—even as an unexpected, dramatic awakening. And then, the experience of true perception gives the brain a chance to reprogram in preparation for truth realization.
The practices in Inner Ramana lead us from the stage of delusion to the stage of true perception. Once we reach the stage of true perception, intuition is our guide without confusion or distraction. At that point, mental chatter doesn’t have an influence over us anymore—because we no longer see it as me—so intuition leads unimpeded and prepares us for the final awakening to reality. In that way, true perception is a bridge from delusion to reality.
That’s why NTI 1 Corinthians 15 said:
The purpose of your life in the fourth phase of living on earth (true perception) shall not be different than the purpose at any other time. Only now, in the fourth phase, the distractions have been erased. In letting yourself become an empty shell, you freed yourself from the desire for distraction. Now, in the fourth stage, your focus is complete. Now you know what you want, and you want it wholly.
The purpose of true perception is to prepare you to awaken to the First Principle of God.
Today, practice surrender, the mantra, and practice looking back at chatter after you say the mantra to see what it was saying and how you were listening as if it was you thinking
Thoughts of Awakening # 301
Attachments are an activity of the mind.
They are nothing in reality.
Without mind, there are no attachments;
there is only freedom.
Watch the mind for your attachments,
that which you think you need
in order to be happy.
Say to yourself,
“This attachment is an activity of mind.”
Then rest the mind,
and release the attachment
with the Heart.
~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.
Today (or this evening):
Tomorrow:
During the day tomorrow, review the 4 sentences that you wrote at least twice.
What is Creation?
Our special theme says, “Creation is the holy Son of God, for in creation is His Will complete in every aspect, … We are creation.”
The “Son of God” is a symbol based on the idea of separation. It was once believed that the closest one could come to the divine is its first creation, consciousness. Now it is seen that consciousness is not God’s first creation, nor is it reality. Consciousness is the first step into the dream.
There are many stories that attempt to explain how this first step into the dream occurred. All stories are just that, stories. At best, they help us accept that the dream has appeared, and reality exists outside of the dream.
In The Supreme Yoga Vasistha, it is written:
Whatever might have been the origin of the mind and whatever it might be, one should constantly direct it toward liberation, through self-effort.
In this quote, mind is synonymous with consciousness. The quote asks us not to be concerned with the stories about how consciousness came to be; it asks us not to be concerned about what consciousness is. Instead, constantly direct consciousness toward awakening.
If you look again at today’s selected excerpt from our special theme, you will see that it is calling us into an awakening that is beyond consciousness—beyond the experience of Christ-Self, which experiences a direct relationship with the divine source—into the divine itself. The divine is our true Self.
I am forever an Effect of God.
When we look carefully at consciousness in relationship to the source, we see that consciousness is something other than source. Consciousness is the subject that experiences the ego or it experiences the divine, but it is set apart from what it experiences. Consciousness itself—meaning the Second Principle of God—is the ultimate illusion. There is no “second” in God.
As NTI 1 Timothy says, “All that you are is beyond the observer, but the observer is a step in the right direction. For as observer, you begin to surrender the concept of personhood by accepting you can observe the person, so the person must not be all that you are.”
The symbols of “Father,” “Son” and “Effect” are used in today’s workbook lesson, but the lesson is pointing to the fact that we are as we have always been. We are not consciousness (the dreamer) or its dream.
Today’s lesson says, “…it is Your Will to have a Son so like his Cause that Cause and Its Effect are indistinguishable.” That sentence points to the truth that we are being asked to accept. There is no Son in Reality, and therefore there is no Father. There is only Reality, and we are That.
Today’s lesson says, “Let us today behold earth disappear, at first transformed, and then, forgiven, fade entirely into God’s holy Will.” As stated in the previous paragraph, God’s Will is the end of the dream that appears to distinguish a Father from a Son.
The real world is still a dream, but it is a dream that reflects reality. In the real world, true perception sees that everything is consciousness. That is a dream-reflection of the absolute, which is non-dual reality.
Gently contemplate what I have written today. Marinate in it, without trying to figure it out.
Meditation Options
Today’s message begins:
It’s time to go beyond everything you’ve learned.
Everything you’ve learned has been helpful. It’s been helpful toward willingness to take this next step. But without the step that we are taking together now, all that you’ve learned serves no real purpose toward awakening.
We have learned so much since we began Gentle Healing 678 days ago. It’s been an amazing journey of learning. Yet, today we step beyond all of that by becoming aware of just how addicted we are to mind.
This is a very, very important step.
I’ve never taken a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous, but what I understand from friends who have been part of a 12-step program is this:
Admitting that there is a very serious problem—an addiction—that you cannot control is a critical first step if you are going to heal.
This first step isn’t an intellectual first step. It’s a deep, deep realization. For an alcoholic, drug addict, sex addict or gambler, it might come about when they finally do something far below anything they ever thought they were capable of, something so severe that it wakes them up in a very deep way to the realization that there is a problem and they do need help.
One purpose of the practices of Inner Ramana is to help us have that same very deep realization about our addiction to mental chatter. Fortunately, we do not have to do something horrible and extreme to finally have that realization. We simply have to practice as Inner Ramana asks us to practice.
I want to alert you that if you practice Inner Ramana well, mental chatter may become extremely uncomfortable. It might seem like it’s getting worse. It’s not getting worse; you are simply becoming more aware of it than ever before. You are beginning to really see the problem—the addiction to ego.
As today’s reading says, without this step everything we’ve learned in the last 678 days serves no real purpose toward awakening.
Today, you are asked to say the mantra whenever you notice mental chatter, and then…
“with the coolness (maturity) of the quieted mind, look back at what the mind was telling you while you were listening to its chatter. Look for the “I” or “me” in the story or thought. Discover how the tricks and tumbles of the mind … in whatever direction it was turning in the moment …; notice how it was telling you about “I” or “me” separate from everything else.
On Day 286, we learned what learning is. When we learn, awareness pays attention to what is being learned, and it programs the learning into the brain.
So here’s what’s about to happen: We are going to learn to see the ego like we’ve never seen it before. Awareness will program that ability to see chatter into the brain, and we will begin to see more. As that seeing-program becomes more and more developed in the brain, we will see more and more, until we are seeing so much ego in our own mind that it is shocking! And that’s where the genuinely deep realization that we need help will come from—from seeing.
You aren’t going to have to wake up naked in a cemetery smelling like whiskey to realize that you need help, but you may feel just as shaken by the depth of your addiction.
Here’s something else we learned on Day 286:
As we learn, awareness sorts through previous programming in the brain to see if something is useful in the current situation. If so, it forms a relationship in the brain between the new programming and the prior programming.
In the last 678 days, you’ve been exposed to a lot of useful right-minded teachings. As you begin to see the ego and your addicted dependence on the ego, awareness will form relationships in the brain between those right-minded teachings and the seeing that is occurring. As these relationships are formed, you will begin to have insights.
An insight is a deep intuitive understanding. It is more than mere intellectual understanding. In other words, the teachings that have been previously learned will strike you in a new way, in a way that is genuine—authentically clear, real and directly meaningful.
So, today we begin to go beyond everything we’ve learned into an entirely new level of learning.
Note: Since this level of learning is new, at first you may not be good at it. You may not see mental chatter well at all. In fact, your first insight might be just how much you don’t notice all of the chatter you are listening to.
Remember that awareness is programming the brain as you try to see chatter, and keep trying. As that program is more developed, seeing will happen more easily and naturally. So keep at it. This is one of the most important things you’ve ever done.
Thoughts of Awakening # 300
Surrender is a mental act.
The true Self need not surrender.
It is the flow of perfection
and perfect Love.
Surrender is a mental act,
because the mind is an obstruction.
The mind can be useful
as the servant of God,
but that is because it allows itself
to be used by perfection.
~From our Holy Spirit
Michael Deforbes led a meditation on Sunday, January 3, 2021, during the weekly program “There Is Only One.”
Enjoy this meditation, which is based on the teachings of Helen Hamilton and direct path teachings.
In this program, we watched and discussed a selected TED talk. TED talks follow a unique format. Speakers at TED events have a maximum of 18 minutes to share their messages, which are delivered in highly polished, succinct speeches. TED talks are delivered by people from all walks of life on a multitude of subjects. A great many of these talks are about the insights gained by ordinary people–insights gained through extraordinary experiences or based on their contemplation of the ordinary events of their lives. Either way, their insights are genuine—not based upon theory or dogma, but experience.
The speaker was Dan Gilbert. The Ted Talk is called: “The Surprising Science of Happiness.”
This group was facilitated by Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert.
