Today’s NTI reading is a gentle introduction to what can become a hard-hitting topic. I call it a “gentle introduction,” because anyone who is not ready to see what today’s reading points to can not see it in the reading. However, anyone who follows this path to its end will eventually come to the point of questioning every expectation and everything he has ever put faith in.

I am not going to rob you of the gentle introduction provided through today’s reading. One will arrive at “hard-hitting” when one is ready. All I want to do in this tip is highlight one paragraph:

Peace comes from laying down your expectations and your judgments and accepting truth as it is. There is no other way to accept the truth, for to accept it in any way other than as it is, is not to accept the truth. It is to accept delusion over truth, and in delusion, you are lost from truth.

There is a term that is used frequently these days. The term is “his truth” or “her truth,” as in, “She has to find her truth and live by it.”

The problem with that idea is this:

There is only one truth.
Anything other than truth is not truth.
It’s imagination.

Most people live by imagination. In fact, there is so much imagination in most people’s lives that I couldn’t begin to point it all out. Nor would I. Each one is allowed to live by his imagination. However, the problem comes when one person’s imagination conflicts with another person’s imagination, or when one group’s imagination conflicts with another group’s, or one nation’s with another nation’s imagination. The problem with imagination is that it isn’t consistent—it can be anything—and when it is heavily believed and invested in as if it is truth, it creates conflict.

Conflict comes from believing one’s imagination.
Peace comes from accepting truth as it is.

That’s why everyone who follows this path to its end eventually comes to the hard-hitting point of questioning everything she’s ever believed. You can begin that questioning whenever you are ready. Life will provide the starting point for you. Every time you are upset, you are provided with the opportunity to discover where you’ve mistaken imagination for truth.

Note: I recommend that you read Matthew 21 in the Bible before reading NTI today, since today’s reading refers directly to the stories in the Bible.

A Parable of a Woman and Five Sons

There was a woman who had five sons. All of her sons were comic book fans, so she took them to Comic-Con. Each boy dressed as his favorite comic book character and spent the entire day at Comic-Con pretending to be the character he dressed as.

When they arrived home that evening, each boy ran off in a different direction, continuing to play the character he’d played all day. As the woman walked through the house looking for her sons, she came across her youngest son first. She said, “Go into your bedroom and change out of your costume. When you are done, come into the kitchen for chocolate cake and milk.”

A few minutes later, the woman came across her eldest son. She said, “Go into your bedroom and change out of your costume. When you are done, come into the kitchen for chocolate cake and milk.”

The woman continued through the house in this way until she found each of her five sons, saying to each of them, “Go into your bedroom and change out of your costume. When you are done, come into the kitchen for chocolate cake and milk.”

The last son that the woman found loved cake the most, so he changed his clothes the fastest. He ran into the kitchen and saw a round chocolate cake cut into six slices. The boy said, “Mom, since I was the fastest can I have two pieces of cake?”

“No,” the woman said, and she gave her fast son one piece of cake and a glass of milk.

Next the eldest son came into the kitchen. He looked at the five remaining slices of cake and said, “Mom, since I am the oldest, can I have two pieces of cake?”

“No,” the woman answered, and she gave her eldest son one piece of cake and a glass of milk.

Two more boys came into the kitchen and the woman served cake and milk to each of them. Finally, the youngest boy came into the kitchen. He was only four years old, and so he had worked very hard to take his costume off all by himself. “Momma,” the youngest said, “Since I worked the hardest, may I have the extra piece of cake?”

“No,” the woman answered. “Each one of you took off your costume, so each one of you get the same amount of cake.”

Why didn’t the woman give the extra piece of cake to the fastest boy, the eldest boy or the boy who had worked the hardest? It is because each one was her son. The differences made no difference.

There are apparent differences among us. Some of us gain wisdom quickly. You could say we are fast, like the woman’s fastest son. Some of us have been on the spiritual path for many years. You could say we are the elders, like the woman’s eldest son. Some of us are very committed and work very hard at awakening. We are a lot like the woman’s youngest son. However, we are all already consciousness, so our apparent differences make no difference at all.

Today’s reading focuses on letting go of the differences we see in one another. That doesn’t mean that differences won’t appear. It means that differences are appearance only.

When we focus on differences, we focus on appearances as if they are reality. When we let our sight soften around differences, and we look for sameness—for the fact of each human, in which there is no difference at all—we open to reality.

(Before reading from NTI today, read Matthew 20:1-16 in the Bible.)

There are three stories in the Bible at Matthew 19. The first is a discussion about whether divorce is allowed or not allowed under God’s law, and that includes the question of whether it is better not to marry at all. The second story is about how the disciples thought playing with children was a waste of time for the master, who had more serious business to attend to. And the third is the story of the rich man who wanted to inherit the kingdom of God, but could not give up his role as provider for his family and servants.

These three stories have one thing in common: People are trying to figure out what is right to do in the world so they can ‘please God’ and ‘inherit the kingdom of Heaven.’ They are coming from confusion in their attempt to understand; therefore, understanding is out of reach for them. Today’s reading looks at the confusion that underlies all three of these stories and helps to set us free from confusion so we can reach understanding. This tip highlights three clarifications from today’s reading:

1. 1. It is not what you do that is important, but why you do it. No matter what you do, look to the heart to see why you are doing it. Are you doing it simply because it is here now, or do you hope to get something from it? Do you have an agenda? Are you attempting to manipulate the future, escape the past, or are you in the moment being present with what is?

    

   2. Do not expect consistent rules of behavior that you can learn and master in a world of change. Rules of behavior vary between one time in history and another time, between one culture and another culture, and between one set of circumstances and another set of circumstances. Remember that humans create rules of behavior, because humans have forgotten how to live by conscience from moment-to-moment. Instead of trying to figure out consistent rules of behavior when there are none, learn to live by intuitive conscience in every moment.

    

   3. Adults confuse love with attachment. You are attached to something (or someone) when you believe that you get something from it, most likely security, happiness, self-image or worth. You love something (or someone) when you simply appreciate it because it is here now. Its presence is enough. Love is appreciating presence. That is the only real love. Anything else is attachment. Let go of attachment, and the reward is love.

    
   Contemplate these three clarifications. They will help remove confusion, which will allow you to know understanding.