A universal assembly for true discernment
All there is, is What Is. Just as it is.
Realize there is no separation.
Then there is peace that is beyond understanding.
Perfect Brilliant Stillness.
Beyond the individual self.
Stop focusing on words and concepts.
Look where the pointers point!
Be still.
Realize Perfect Brilliant Stillness.
Just as it is.
This enlightened book study, which isn’t a book study at all, is led by Regina Dawn Akers.
The name of the Ted Talk: Stop Waiting for Life to Happen. Then speaker was Peter Sage.
This group was facilitated by Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert.
Sharon Slyter and Michael Deforbes shared from Helen Hamilton’s teachings and books about what it means to dissolve the ego and see all as the already Aware/Self. Join in and listen to the deep teachings of the Northern Guru Helen Hamilton.
In NTI Acts, we learned about the first three phases of the spiritual path:
NTI 1 Corinthians focuses on the third phase. It teaches us how to be the servant of inner spiritual wisdom. As the servant, we are in service to unity consciousness as we merge with unity consciousness. As we pass through the third phase, we experience less and less “me” or false self. Through the third phase, the one that ‘I think I am’ is gradually laid aside until it cannot be said to exist anymore.
As we learned on Day 131, the second and third phases of the spiritual path overlap. You may be in service as you go through the purification phase, and purification will continue to one degree or another in the service phase. You may not be able to find a distinct point in time when you cross from one phase to the other. Therefore, it is okay to see yourself as in service and in purification simultaneously, if that is how it feels to you. You don’t have to complete purification to begin service.
At the same time, one mistake that many people make is being overly eager to enter the service phase. The symptom of this mistake is seeking service. Said another way, the hallmark of this mistake is when your self-will wants to serve.
The purpose of the service phase is to relinquish both self-will and the false self. Therefore, if the self-will and false self are boosted through service or the idea of service, it is the antithesis of the purpose of the third phase.
Instead of wanting to serve, which may be ego driven, it is better to want to be empty of self. The desire to be empty of self is never ego driven. The ego can want to help others; it can want to be a spiritual teacher; it can want to be wise; etcetera, but it does not ever want to be empty of itself. If you focus on the desire to be empty of self—to have no self-will—any service that is to occur will occur naturally.
In NTI 1 Corinthians, “empty of self” and “empty of self will” are called “the empty shell.”
As already mentioned, the purification and service phases overlap to some degree. That’s why today’s reading says:
The ego is still within your mind, and it may seem to persist for some time. …you are to remain aware. For if you do not remain aware and alert to the ego in your mind, you may forget to question your thinking and believe you are listening to Me when you are not. If you remember and remain aware of the ego in your mind, you can continuously question your thinking and seek for the reason you hold. As My servant, you will desire to hold to right-reason…
Both forms of Root Cause Inquiry will help you “question your thinking.” The two forms are:
You can review the characteristics of the ego’s reasoning and the characteristics of right-reason by reading NTI Acts 19 (v23-41) – end.
Thoughts of Awakening # 160
“I rest in God”
means
“I know there is nothing to fear.”
“I am willing to rest now”
means
“I trust I shall learn
there is nothing to fear.”
A desire not to rest
comes from the belief
in fear.
Each way of thinking
is a phase.
The last is sleeping.
The second is a bridge,
and the first is a sign
of the fully awakened mind.
~From our Holy Spirit
Weekly Sunday Gathering with Rev. Beverly Toporowski
Title: “Letting Go of Fantasy”
Description: Rev. Beverly shared with us about what it means to be willing to be taken higher by journeying into the unknown. Also, how Awareness knows how to take care of the body as we abide in the True Self. Realizing we have never been the doer allows us to relax and allow the Intelligence to guide us in the flow.
Reading: Rev. Meghan Reinhart read Chapter 12 The Person Is Not Reality from I Am That by Nisargadatta Maharaj,
or
Join us on Sunday, August 23, 2020 at 8 pm ET/6 pm MT for movie discussion group. This month’s movie is called: Avatar
Here’s the play sheet for the movie: Click Here
On Day 157, we learned that the Loving All Method is the way to collapse the apparent many things into one thing, consciousness.
Yesterday, we learned that surrender is the way to end the apparent false “I,” which is the final obstacle to non-dual realization.
Today’s reading provides guidance on how to be until the previous two goals are accomplished.
Please take notes as you read today’s reading. Taking notes will help you remember what you read.
If there is something in the reading that you do not understand, ask inner wisdom for clarity.
As you read, remember how Jesus was in NTI Mark. Jesus of NTI Mark is the role model that demonstrates the way of being that is described in today’s reading. Imagine yourself being the same way in your daily life. Prepare yourself to follow the lead of our role model, Jesus, by envisioning yourself being that way.
Thoughts of Awakening # 159
The Heart of one
is the seat of knowledge,
and the Heart of one knows
what is in the best interest
of everyone
in every moment.
Put aside the idea of “me”
and “my interests.”
Delve into the Heart of one
with no sense of self
and no desire for self.
From here, you are guided
with the best interests of all
at the Heart of one.
~From our Holy Spirit
Click the link below to read the minutes from this meeting.
(To learn more about the Member Board of Trustees, click here.)
Join us in welcoming Lin Castaldo’s new program: Free Falling into Christ’s Embrace. It will be on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month from 9:00 – 9:30 pm ET. Lin will be reading from The Book of My Life, translated by Mirabai Starr about the Saint Teresa of Ávila. With this fresh translation Mirabai Starr brings the inimitable Spanish mystic to life for a new generation. We come to feel that Saint Teresa is someone we feel we know, a woman intoxicated with God yet filled with an overflowing love for the world.
Plan to join in for the debut of this program on August 12th at 9 pm ET/7 pm MT and hear Lin read about this divine mystic’s life and her deep love for God. All are warmly welcome.
Yesterday we learned that the Loving All Method, or the declaration, “It is what it is,” is the way to undo the illusion of many things. On Day 139, we learned that surrender is the way to “unweave your way out of fantasy.”
Let’s pause for a moment and look at how these two practices work.
At its most basic level, illusion is the appearance of two things, the subject (you) and the object (everything else). You are the “I” that experiences everything else, which is “not I.”
The “not I” or object appears as many things, some that are judged as good or desired and others that are judged as bad or not desired. The Loving All Method undoes the judgment that creates the many things and collapses them into one object, which is consciousness.
Once the apparent many things collapse into one object, consciousness, there is still the feeling of “I,” the consciousness that sees, and “it,” the consciousness that is seen. In other words, the complicated many things collapse into the simplistic two things.
Surrender is the practice that removes the “I”. In NTI Acts, removing the “I” through surrender is called merging. When merging is complete, “I” no longer exists, so there can’t be a feeling of “I” and “it.” There is only consciousness. Without the “I,” non-dual (not two) being is realized.
Today’s reading focuses on the process of merging through surrender in order to collapse the “I.”
Thoughts of Awakening # 158
The flow of life is ease,
although the mind wants to tell you
it is not.
The mind says,
“The flow of life is sacrifice,”
and so you continue to fight the flow.
But which choice could truly be called sacrifice?
Surrendering to the flow,
which carries you in ease?
Or struggling against it,
attempting to forge your own way?
~From our Holy Spirit
