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June 21, 2020 Special Member Meeting ~Meet the Nominees

June 21, 2020

This Special Member Meeting was to help you decide who you want to vote for. In this meeting we met the five nominees. We heard from each nominee and why they feel that they are a perfect match to be on our Board of Trustees. Read Their Bios

You should have received an official ballot on June 15, 2020. Please mark your ballots by the deadline of Tuesday, June 30, 2020. Remember that each Awakening Together member may vote for up to four different candidates. We are very excited to be welcoming four new Trustees to the Member Board of Trustees. We thank you for your continued participation in our Trustee election process. Remember you get 4 votes. Thank you again for voting!

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Dissolving the Ego~ 6-21-20

June 21, 2020

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.

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Being Aware of Awareness Meditation 6-19-2020

June 21, 2020

In this program Anne Blanchard facilitates one of the core practices of the Awakening Together community which is Awareness watching Awareness meditation. 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 Awareness watching Awareness mditation. All are warmly welcome.

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Being Aware of Awareness Meditation 6-17-2020

June 21, 2020

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The Guiding Light ~ Bernadette Roberts #50: Consciousness is a Closed System

June 21, 2020

Regina Dawn Akers reads selections from books by Bernadette Roberts. The purpose of this inspired book study is to learn from one who walked through the final doorway to no self, no world, no God–Only Reality.

Listen to this audio

6-21-20 Weekly Gathering: “Perceiving Bethlehem”

June 21, 2020

Weekly Sunday Gathering with Rev. Doreen Bonnet

Title: “Perceiving Bethlehem”

Description: Doreen shared her insights on the birthplace of Christ from a metaphysical perspective and its relationship to willingness and awakening.

Reading: Anne Blanchard read excerpts from Dissolving the Ego, by Helen Hamilton.

Listen to this audio

My Meditation ~ A Poem by Rev. David Hemphill

June 20, 2020

I appreciate how many friends here understand my spirituality. I love your support and kindness. I love your grace that I know you have because you are reading this. I love it even if you stop now, and scroll away. Thank you for being my friend.

I wrote a poem. Instead of explaining, I wanted to show. Show you my meditation:

I am a wondering and lost soul
Who has stopped a moment
To look inside.

I have found a fire.
A kind fire, a merciful fire,
a fanciful, surreal, omnipotent fire.
A fire so strong, it burns even desire away.
A fire so gentle, I can forget its glow
By opening my eyes.

I am a wondering and lost soul
Who has stopped a moment
To look inside.

Ah, an old friend.
Warmth so close,
I know I have seen the fire,
10,000 years or more.

This is the fire the sages have talked about.
I have found the eternal flame.
Every moment, bathing in the heat
Of everlasting bliss,
And freedom.
So free, I can move away
By opening my eyes.

I am a wondering and lost soul
Who has stopped a moment
To look inside.

Exhausted, I fall to my knees.
My bags so heavy, I decide why not
Take off my shoes
Cast aside my belongings
And muse with the dancing flames
Of fire.

My bags are weighty.
No doubt, a few items too many
Packed in and carried,
Burrowing into my shoulders,
An easy food for the flames.

With a moment to relax,
My endless shivering
Suspended
I throw a bag.
Into the fire.
It burns.
All my belongings into the fire.
My worries,
I am weightless.
So carefree,
I can be anything
By opening my eyes.

I am a wondering and lost soul
Who has stopped a moment
To look inside.

I abide here.
I dwell here.
This fire is my home.
The hearth of flames,
My bodily heart.

I watch closely.
I never noticed
How the fires lap up
And pull at my skin.
Thought after thought
After thought after thought
Jumping out of me.
Into the fire.

Each thought refreshed and new
Birthed from nothingness
Pulled into the fire.
Some go quickly, willingly,
Others go slowly, sticking to me
Holding on
Inevitably flowing towards
The fire.

And I notice.
For the first time
The gravity
Of the fire.
Not just my thoughts.
My whole being.
Is pulled,
Patiently.
A behemoth of thought.
Identity.
“I.”
I am called to enter the fire.
Patiently.
Inching closer
And closer.
I know I can
Allow it,
Embrace it,
Cherish it,
Or I can
Open my eyes.

I am a wondering and lost soul
Who has stopped a moment
To look inside.
But I know it is a matter of time,
Just time,
Before I will look inside,
And open my eyes,
And never cease to see
the fire
all around me.

Gentle Healing 2 ~ Day 110: NTI Acts 3

June 20, 2020

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 3 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

In America there is a saying:

Everyone has skeletons in their closet.

What the saying means is that we have all done things we are ashamed of—things we feel guilty for. When I look at my memory to see when I first tried to hide something I did because I felt guilty for it, I remember two events from when I was 4 and 5 years old. I guess that means we start putting skeletons in our closet at a pretty early age.

Are we guilty for the things we’ve done that were clearly wrong?

For example, one of my early skeletons was lying to my kindergarten teacher and blaming someone else for something I did. If the teacher hadn’t seen through my lie, a little boy could have been punished for something he didn’t do. Lying to the teacher and blaming an innocent child for something I did was clearly wrong. It wasn’t the right thing to do. But am I guilty?

What about the extra-marital affairs we’ve had? What about the hurtful things we’ve said out of anger? What about the times we’ve hit someone or thrown dishes at someone? What about the things we’ve stolen? What about all of the lies we’ve told? What about the other skeletons in our closets? Are we guilty for what we’ve done?

Today’s reading is very clear. We are not guilty regardless of what those skeletons are.

Every time we’ve done something wrong, it is because we listened to ego instead of conscience. Listening to ego was the first mistake. If we hadn’t listened to ego first, whatever came next would not have happened. For example, when I blamed that little boy for what I did in kindergarten, the quick ego thought in my mind was something like, “Oh no, I’m going to get in trouble. Quick! Blame someone else!”

Today’s reading points out that the ego is ignorance. It is ignorance, because it is an entire thought system based on one false premise: separation. It is an entire thought system based on the idea that I am this body-mind-personality, and I am not anything but this body-mind-personality. Everything else is separate from me.

However, that premise is not true. I am not this body-mind-personality. I am life-awareness. Wherever I see life-awareness, there I am too. The life-awareness that seems to be in this body-mind and the life-awareness that seems to be in your body-mind are the same life-awareness, and we are That.

Of course, the ego doesn’t see it that way, and all ego chatter is based on the false idea that the truth is not true. So, the ego is ignorance. It is ignorant about the true nature of things.

Every time we have done something wrong—and we’ve all done something wrong, usually starting at a very young age—it was because we listened to ignorance. If we listened to ignorance and followed it up with action, our action is ignorant action.

NTI makes a clear distinction between ignorant action and guilt. It says:

Ignorance is not guilt. It is a call for knowledge.

In other words, every time a human does something wrong, it is an indication that one has listened to ignorance. The correction for ignorance isn’t guilt. The correction for ignorance is knowledge.

We have all done things that had intended or unintended negative impact in the world. NTI doesn’t deny the impact our mistakes have had in the world. However, life-awareness (reality) has not been affected at all by our mistakes, and guilt is not the correction for our mistakes. Knowledge is the correction.

Without knowledge, mistakes continue, because we continue to listen to ignorance. With knowledge, we put ignorance aside and listen to intuitive conscience and spiritual intuition instead. Harmlessness (ahimsa) comes from the guidance found in intuition. Therefore, acknowledging that our mistakes and the harm we’ve done are ignorance, and then choosing to put ignorance aside to follow intuition is cause for celebration.

Thoughts of Awakening # 110

Observing is merely this:
Watching while realizing
you do not know.

Observing sets the moment free.
It does not make of it a slave.
It does not make it that
which you would have it be.

When the moment is free, it is a gift.
As freedom, it is the reflection of your truth.
As this gift, it is free to give a gift.
It is free to give the freedom you have given
back to the one who gave it.

~From our Holy Spirit

Homework for this week

Practice daily meditation for 30-60 minutes each day.
Practice the “Loving All” Method.
Thoughts of Awakening, 106-112
Read NTI John Chapters 19-21 & Acts Chapters 1-5.
The reading shared on Tuesday night was from The Transparency of Things by Rupert Spira, p. 128- 136 or for Kindle users the Chapter titled Knowing Is Being Is Loving & Changeless Presence.
Exercise to practice: Everything you know, you know because it is in you. You could not know it if it was not in. you. This week, every once in awhile, notice every now sounds, sights, sensations, anything in your awareness and know that the only way you can be aware of them is if they are in you.

This Sunday in the Sanctuary ~ June 21, 2020

June 19, 2020

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

Title: Perceiving Bethlehem

Description: Doreen will share her insights on the birthplace of Christ from a metaphysical perspective and its relationship to willingness and awakening.

Reading: Anne Blanchard will read excerpts from Dissolving the Ego, by Helen Hamilton

*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 The 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.
If you feel called to dive deeper into this work, please join us. All are warmly welcome.

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

Join us at 8:00 pm ET/ 6:00 pm MT for Special Member Meeting

In this meeting we will meet the nominees in order to help you in knowing whom you would like to vote for in the upcoming election process for electing four new members to our Board of Trustees. You will get a chance to hear from each nominee and why they feel that they are a perfect match to be on our Board of Trustees. Remember you get 4 votes. Thank you again for voting!

Join us at 9:00 pm ET/ 7:00 pm MT for Dissolving the Ego with Sharon Slyter & Michael DeForbes

Sharon and Michael will be sharing from Helen Hamilton’s teachings and books. They will be exploring deeply 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. All are welcome!

Here are direct links to join us in the Sanctuary:

Enter the Sanctuary Here: Click Here

Awakening Together Internet Broadcast: Listen Live on AT Radio

Gentle Healing 2 ~ Day 109: NTI Acts 2

June 19, 2020

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 2 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today’s reading shares several tips about following guidance, including some of the blocks to guidance. I recommend taking notes as you read today. Write down each bit of clarity that comes to you regarding the tips and obstacles shared in NTI Acts, Chapter 2.

Thoughts of Awakening # 109

You are ready for the next step now,
and the next step is remembering.
Here is what you are ready to remember:

You do not know,
and in not knowing
is all knowing known.

Stay in the moment.
Remain still
by remembering you do not know.

Trust the moment
without needing to understand.

Relax in trust,
and watch how it all unfolds.

~From our Holy Spirit

Homework for this week

Practice daily meditation for 30-60 minutes each day.
Practice the “Loving All” Method.
Thoughts of Awakening, 106-112
Read NTI John Chapters 19-21 & Acts Chapters 1-5.
The reading shared on Tuesday night was from The Transparency of Things by Rupert Spira, p. 128- 136 or for Kindle users the Chapter titled Knowing Is Being Is Loving & Changeless Presence.
Exercise to practice: Everything you know, you know because it is in you. You could not know it if it was not in. you. This week, every once in awhile, notice every now sounds, sights, sensations, anything in your awareness and know that the only way you can be aware of them is if they are in you.