What is the Real World?

Our special theme says, “Only happy sights and sounds can reach the mind that has forgiven itself. What need has such a mind for thoughts of death, attack and murder?”

Yesterday, you were asked to practice inquiry on a fearful perception—a perception that leaves you feeling affected. If you did this, it’s highly likely that you found mistakes in your thinking, since the only thing that can leave you feeling affected is belief in thought.

A “mind that has forgiven itself” is a mind that recognizes itself as unaffected awareness. (In this context, “mind” is synonymous with awareness and consciousness. It is like the first definition of “mind” in my dictionary: “the element of a person that enables them to be aware…; the faculty of consciousness…”)

A mind that recognizes itself as awareness has no need for mistaken thoughts.

A mind that recognizes itself as awareness sees the real world.

Today, we will take another step toward forgiving our self. This step has three parts:

1 – Read this article by Adyashanti. It is taken from his book, True Meditation.

How I Discovered Meditative Self-Inquiry

2 – Write or type this question:

What do I need to realize about ___________________?
(Fill in the blank with the selected perception you have been working with.)

Note: You may also do this by speaking into a recorder, if that feels most effective for you.

3– Write about your selected perception as if you are teaching someone else everything you know about it. Include everything you discovered as you inquired into this perception yesterday. Follow Adyashanti’s advice by writing all the way to the edge of what you know about this topic, and then wait for something else that you know is true. When that next true word, phrase or sentence comes, write it down. Continue writing until you hit another boundary, and then wait again. Stay with this process until you know that you came to a conclusion, one that is recognized in your heart and soul as the completed answer to your question.

Note: If you are speaking into a recorder, pause the recording after speaking to the edge of what you know; wait until the next true word, phrase or sentence comes, and then start the recording and begin speaking again.

I want to give us plenty of time to be thorough with this, so other than a brief comment on tomorrow’s lesson, I will not write a tip tomorrow. My next tip regarding our special theme will be two days from today. That gives us two days to explore the answer to our questions.

My body is a wholly neutral thing.

People usually see the body as who they are, but today’s lesson points out that we are not the body. We are “a Son of God”—that is, we are unaffected consciousness.

The body is a neutral thing, which means it is open to interpretation. If we listen to the ego thought system, the body is “I”. However, if we listen to spiritual intuition, it is “of service for a while and fit to serve.”

As Ramana Maharshi said, “Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world.”

Hence, Self-realization is the purpose of the body. Your body is perfect for this purpose, and that is true regardless of the current condition of your body. The reason the body is as it is now is to help you reach Self-realization. If there is a thought that the body is an obstacle to Self-realization, realize that thought is ego’s interpretation of a neutral thing, and then shift to spiritual intuition’s interpretation instead.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation, I recommend this meditation today:

Abandon Release Description C

Join us on Sunday, December 6th, 2020 at 8 pm ET/6 pm MT for our Quarterly Member Meeting

Here is the agenda for the meeting:

• Jacquelyn Eckert will present the 3rd quarter financial reports.
• Shiryl Kaplan will be ordained as an Awakening Together Minister. Rev. Regina Dawn Akers will be the guest speaker for Shiryl’s ordination.
• Regina will discuss her new program, 500 Days with NTI.

What is the Real World?

Our special theme says, “The real world cannot be perceived except through eyes forgiveness blesses …”

What does that mean?

To me, “eyes” implies looking, seeing and perceiving.

We learned from our first special theme that “forgiveness” is recognizing yourself as the unaffected Self.

So, that sentence means that the real world is perceived when we know ourselves as the unaffected Self, and we look out on the world from that knowledge.

With the help of spiritual intuition, we have each selected a perception in which we do not see our self as unaffected. It isn’t helpful to start telling ourselves, “I am unaffected,” when there is probably a deep-seated belief that we are affected. Instead, it is more helpful to look carefully at the belief that we are affected.

It is time for inquiry.

Through Gentle Healing, we have learned about several types of inquiry including root cause inquiry, Byron Katie’s “The Work”, Diederik Wolsak’s “Choose Again” inquiry, and Inner Ramana’s self-inquiry. Use any of these methods, a combination of methods or your own inquiry process in order to learn what you fear regarding the selected perception. Set a goal of being able to honestly explain your fear to another person in a dispassionate way by tomorrow.

Note: According to my dictionary, dispassionate means “not influenced by strong emotion, and so able to be rational and impartial.” That doesn’t mean that you will repress any emotion. Emotion might be present, but your description will not go off into stories that are influenced by that emotion. Your description of the fear will be “rational and impartial.”

All fear is past and only love is here.

We learned previously that the past is only thought. Today’s workbook lesson says, “All fear is past,” which means all fear is only thought.

Today you will look to discover thoughts you believe that also cause you to believe you are a vulnerable affected self. These thoughts are obstacles to the vision of the real world. As today’s lesson says, “Can the world seem bright and clear and safe and welcoming, with all my past mistakes oppressing it, and showing me distorted forms of fear?”

We celebrate the opportunity to be free of an obstacle as we go in search of our mistaken beliefs today.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this meditation:

Loving Consciousness Description V

Helpful Resources for Today’s Practice:

Guidelines for Root Cause Inquiry

Byron Katie Worksheet

Instructions for Doing The Work

The Choose Again Six Step Process

Inner Ramana’s self- inquiry

Two new Consistent, Gentle Healing Year 1 groups will begin on Thursday, January 7.

One group will be facilitated by Rev. Dawn Fernandez and will meet each Thursday at 6 pm- 8 pm ET / 4 pm-6 pm MT in the Awakening Together Sanctuary.

The second group will be facilitated by Susan Telford and will meet each Thursday at 2 pm – 4 pm ET ( 7 pm – 9 pm UK time / 8 pm – 10 pm Central European time) in the Awakening Together Sanctuary. This group was scheduled so that those who are not in the United States can more easily attend.

The Gentle Healing Curriculum guides committed students to make consistent, gentle progress toward genuine peace, joy and love. Year 1 is based on A Course in Miracles Workbook for Students and other non-dual teachings. This group will meet weekly and will be committed to specific assignments and practices between group meetings.

You do not need to ‘register’ for this group.  All you have to do is come.

If you are already in a Gentle Healing group and feel that you have benefited from your participation, you may wish to consider inviting friends or family to participate by beginning with this new Year 1 group.

What is the Real World?

Our special theme says, “The real world is a symbol, like the rest of what perception offers. Yet it stands for what is opposite to what you made. Your world is seen through eyes of fear, and brings witnesses of terror to your mind.”

Yesterday, you made a list describing the world as you see it. Take a look at your list. Label each perception in the list as fear or peace, whichever feels most correct for the specific perception. When choosing between fear and peace, look at how you feel when you perceive the world in that way. Your mind might want to argue that a specific perception isn’t peace, but it also isn’t fear. Trust that any perception that isn’t peace is fear, even if it doesn’t seem that way to you.

Complete this step before continuing to read.

Notice how many of your perceptions are labeled as fear compared to the number of perceptions that are labeled as peace.

The labels help you understand why you see the world the way you do. If the majority of your perceptions are fear, you live in a fearful world. If some of your perceptions are fear and some are peace, you live in a somewhat stable world, but certain circumstances are fearful for you. If all of your perceptions are peace, you see the real world.

A happy outcome to all things is sure.

Today’s lesson says, “God’s promises make no exceptions. And He guarantees that only joy can be the final outcome found for everything. Yet it is up to us when this is reached; how long we let an alien will appear to be opposing His. And while we think this will is real, we will not find the end He has appointed as the outcome of all problems we perceive …”

Look at your list again. Ask spiritual intuition to select one fearful perception for you to work on. Sometimes the mind’s reaction to intuition’s choice is resistance. It might feel like, “I don’t want to work on that one. I’ll pick an easier one.” Those thoughts come from the “alien will” mentioned in today’s lesson. Ignore those thoughts, and choose to work on the one selected by spiritual intuition.

Today, whenever the selected perception arises, repeat today’s lesson to yourself. As you do, realize that a happy outcome is delayed when you cling to your conditioned way of thinking. Give willingness to see that your way of thinking is wrong. Tomorrow, after a day of giving willingness, we will look more deeply at our selected perceptions.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation, I recommend this meditation today:

Abandon Release Description B