Join us at 10:15 am ET/ 8:15 am MT for Our Weekly Sunday Gathering with Rev. Kelly Barber

Title: “Gratitude’s Gift”

Description: Rev. Kelly will be looking at how gratitude is a beautiful bridge from desires of the ego mind back to the true desire of the heart.

Reading: Marie Torrisi will be reading The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI) Colossians Ch 1 & 2.

*Weekly gathering is held every Sunday morning at 10:15 am ET/8:15 am MT in the Awakening Together Sanctuary. Join us after the Gathering for our Fellowship Time, hosted by Rev. George Maddox.

Enter Sanctuary Here.

Join us at 1:30 pm ET/ 11:30 am MT for Freedom Practice Sangha

Following the recent Awakening Together online retreats it has become clear that many feel called to dive into intensive follow-up work. While the practice of unearthing and looking directly at our individual beliefs is primarily solitary in nature, we all recognize that the sharing of that work with others who are undergoing the same process can be enormously beneficial and supportive. This will be a time of sharing our inquiries, insights and challenges, listening to others, or just knowing that we are in community as we find that undefended place within ourselves that longs to be free. This program will be facilitated by Anne Blanchard. She also will be acting as admin since this is the time the Sanctuary Director normally takes a break.

Join us at 6:00 pm ET/ 4:00 pm MT for Something Genuine with Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert

Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert facilitates this program, in which Awakening Together members and friends join together to watch and discuss TED talks that reveal the Truth of ourselves and our universe based on the actual experience of ordinary people. Their insights are genuine—not based upon theory or dogma—and give us a “man on the street” perspective on what we are coming to learn through Awakening Together.

Join us at 7:00 pm ET/ 5:00 pm MT for The Guiding Light with Rev. Regina Dawn Akers

Regina Dawn Akers reads selections from the book Perfect Brilliant Stillness by David Carse. The purpose of this inspired book study is to learn to stop focusing on words and concepts. Look where the pointers point! Be still and realize Perfect Brilliant Stillness just as it is. Join Regina as she dives deep into this enlightened book study which isn’t a book study at all! Here’s a link to the book here: Get the book for free

What is the Christ?

Speaking of Christ-consciousness, our special theme says, “Your mind is part of His, and His of yours. He is the part in which God’s Answer lies; where all decisions are already made, and dreams are over. He remains untouched by anything the body’s eyes perceive.”

That means that Christ-consciousness is untouched by anything that occurs in the human experience.

The best way to discover that you are Christ-consciousness is to check in with consciousness (awareness) frequently, and notice it is always the same. As the human that you seem to be goes through different experiences today, repeatedly check in with consciousness. Notice its sameness for yourself. Notice its untouchedness.

Also, take the time to notice that this present untouched nature is you. Notice that this present consistent nature is actually more intimately you than anything else you may call you.

Today belongs to love. Let me not fear.

As you go through the day today and different experiences come and go—some the mind may consider favorable and some the mind may consider unfavorable—continue to check in with awareness. Continue to notice your untouchedness.

The end of fear lies in the direct realization that you are untouched by everything that happens in the world.

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

Loving Consciousness Description F

What is the Christ?

Speaking of Christ-consciousness, our special theme says, “Your mind is part of His, and His of yours. He is the part in which God’s Answer lies; where all decisions are already made, and dreams are over.”

While we were on Lesson 267, we spent the day with a visualization plan. It might have been Lesson 267 as it was written, the visualization plan you wrote earlier in Gentle Healing, or a new visualization plan. This is the plan I was with that day:

“I forget about anything I am not called to by God. I joyously answer all of God’s calls, no matter how big or how small. I am completely surrendered, completely in love, and awakening to truth at the perfect pace, God’s pace.”

My visualization plan is in the same vein as the excerpt I have quoted from our special theme today. Today’s excerpt and my vision point to the easy path, the path of being completely surrendered in trust to spiritual intuition.

From our human perspective, awakening is not complete. However, from the perspective of Christ-consciousness, it is complete. In fact, from the perspective of consciousness, non-awakeness has never happened.

Realizing the perspective of consciousness, a wise human relaxes into the current experience. Relaxing necessarily includes tuning into and following spiritual intuition, since the wrong mind is agitation.

From a human point-of-view, what we know about everything is extremely limited. The wise human becomes comfortable with not knowing and lives in the mystery in joy by following intuition in the moment. The wrong mind, which thrives on agitation, worries, tries to figure things out and tries to control everything toward an outcome that is decided upon in the mind.

If we see Christ-consciousness as our truth and the human as a temporary experience, we relax and enjoy the ride. If we see humanness as our reality, we tend to struggle against the unknown and undesired.

The stillness of the peace of God is mine.

As today’s lesson says, “Perhaps we are now ready for a day of undisturbed tranquility.”

Are you ready to trust that consciousness is your reality? If so, you can relax, and watch the human dream from the stillness of reality.

The lesson also says, “If this is not yet feasible, we are content and even more than satisfied to learn how such a day can be achieved. If we give way to disturbance, let us learn how to dismiss it and return to peace.”

It is helpful to pause whenever disturbance arises. Notice that you are aware. Notice awareness is always present, regardless of the current human experience. Happy or sad, at peace or agitated, healthy or sick, in love or lonely—awareness is always present as you.

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

Loving Consciousness Description E

What is the Christ?

Our special theme says, “Christ is the link that keeps you one with God, and guarantees that separation is no more than an illusion of despair, for hope forever will abide in Him.”

This sentence is an invitation for us to become clear on the difference between what is true and what is not true.

Let’s look at the definitions of true, or real, and not true, or illusion.

Yesterday we learned about consciousness, which is the realm of creation and the ability for creation. Consciousness is the direct creation of source. Therefore it is an extension of source and the same as source.

“True” and “real” point to that, to the essence of consciousness and source, which is changeless and eternal.

Temporary appearances are made of consciousness. They are an extension of consciousness just as consciousness is an extension of source. Yet on the surface, they appear to be something other than consciousness. They appear to be thousands upon thousands, actually billions of different names and forms. The temporary things they appear to be are “not true.” They are “illusion,” because each of these things is actually more than it appears to be. Each thing is not its temporary appearance, but the eternal essence of its source.

To become clear on what is true and what is illusion, we will continue to focus on awareness in ourselves and on life in the living things that we encounter throughout the day.

How can illusions satisfy God’s Son?

Today’s lesson asks, “Can dreams content me? Can illusions bring me happiness? What but Your memory can satisfy Your Son?”

Temporary appearances occupy the mind. Temporary appearances give the mind something to think about. Since things are always coming and going, shifting and changing, the mind remains very occupied. This is life to the mind.

However, we are not the mind, and what is life to the mind is actually agitation or suffering for us. It’s like keeping our attention with the restless waves on a stormy sea, fearing what will happen to the wave, while ignoring the changeless nature of the sea at its depths. Focusing on the surface is suffering. Realizing and abiding as the depth is peace.

The practice we have already committed to today is also the practice that will bring us to realize peace. It is the practice of focusing on the depth instead of the surface. We will focus on awareness in ourselves, and we will focus on life in each living thing that we encounter today. It doesn’t matter if the people we encounter seem happy, angry, or afraid. The life in each one is the same. Life-awareness is the changeless depth of our source.

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

Loving Consciousness Description D