NTI teaches 7 steps to awakening. Those steps are not linear. They are more circular, like a spiral of awakening. The 7 steps are:
Step 1– An intense desire for awakening.
Step 2– Seeing through the ‘mask’ of ferociousness (attack, grievance, harshness) to the false beliefs that support and sustain it.
Step 3– Tiring of judgment.
Step 4– Letting go of the belief that life is temporary, which is also letting go of the belief that the body-mind-personality is your reality.
Step 5– Learning to trust all that is as it is.
Step 6– Letting go of perception, which is letting go of thought as me.
Step 7– Giving no meaning to anything the ego says or any experience you have as the ego dies its final death.
As we move into Gentle Healing Year 3, we will continue to progress through these 7 steps. As you commit more deeply to your inner teacher, the spiral of awakening will most likely increase in intensity. It may feel quite dramatic at times; that is the nature of a spiral before it explodes into nothing.
As I have mentioned, we will use the book, The Seven Steps to Awakening, in Year 3. The seven steps from that book are not the same as the 7 steps listed above. The book, The Seven Steps to Awakening, is a collection of 1574 quotes collected by Michael Langford. Here is what Michael shared about that collection of quotes:
Most people tend to think that when an Awakened Sage is talking to a student that everything the Sage says is a part of his or her teaching and therefore helpful for awakening. This is not true as the following saying of Sri Ramana Maharshi illustrates:
“The sage’s pure mind which beholds as a mere witness the whole world is like a mirror which reflects the foolish thoughts of those who come before him. And these thoughts are then mistaken to be his.”
… If you understand the full significance of that Ramana Maharshi quote it can completely change your approach to studying spiritual teachings. It changes everything. …
The Seven Steps to Awakening does not include quotes that were a reflection of the foolish thoughts of the questioner.The Seven Steps does not include quotes that are distractions and detours. Look at the power of that! The Seven Steps to Awakening is a new spiritual path.
The quotes in the book The Seven Steps to Awakening were typed exactly as they were in the eight books the quotes were gathered from. Not one word was changed. Not one word was added. Therefore you might wonder how can The Seven Steps to Awakening be called a new spiritual path. …
One of the most significant aspects of the book The Seven Steps to Awakening is that the quotes have been gathered together on seven essential teachings (the steps) one subject at a time. The impostor self does not like to focus on one subject. It likes to go from one subject to the next. That is one way the impostor self preserves its imaginary self.
By having quotes by Seven Sages on One subject before going unto the next subject the mind has a chance to really absorb that teaching, that lesson, that step, that subject. By having seven sages teach on a subject you can see it was not just one sage’s teaching. Seven different styles of communication on a single subject has a much better chance of penetrating the human mind’s thousands of layers of self-deception. …
This is how The Seven Steps to Awakening book was created: I read the eight source books one at a time. I was looking for quotes that met this criteria:
- No distractions or detours.
- Essential quotes for the Direct Path of Awareness.
- No quotes that were the reflection of the foolish thoughts of the student.
- Only the quotes that would lead toward’s the end of illusion and not towards more illusion. In other words the most helpful quotes for someone who really wanted to end the illusion and not just read about it. Quotes for those who wanted the Direct Experience and not just the theory. Quotes for those who wanted Realization and Freedom and not just more words.
After circling the quotes I wondered what category would this quote fall under? Then I wrote the category (step) in the margin of the book so I would know where to place it later. I did not start with seven categories and then look for quotes to fit them. I did not start with any category. I just circled quotes that met the criteria listed above and then wondered what category those quotes would fall under and then wrote the category in the margin. That is how the seven categories arose. I called them steps because steps are something you put into practice. Those seven steps are seven essential truths. I arranged those steps in the order that would be most helpful. For example Step One are quotes to show how to use the quotes as practice instructions and how not to take the quotes intellectually or theoretically. The reason that step is first is because if one does take the quotes in a way that just makes them into a thought journey, then all the other steps would not be effective. …
If some of you who have read the book The Seven Steps to Awakening have noticed a power or a unity or a transmission or a revelation that is different from any other book you have read before, this very large post may help you to understand why. The Seven Steps to Awakening has the undiluted concentrated focus of the essential essence of Seven Sages Teaching.… Seven Sages who succeeded in bringing the impostor self and all illusion and suffering to its final end.
Note on the statement that not one word was changed: in quote 1405 there was a typo in the first edition. The word “too” should have been typed as the word “to.” That has been corrected in the second edition.
Michael’s explanation of how The Seven Steps to Awakening came about may help you see that those seven steps are not steps in the same way the 7 steps from NTI are steps. Instead, they are seven categories of teaching by seven sages. When the seven categories of teaching from The Seven Steps to Awakening are contemplated and put into practice, they support you as you pass through the 7 steps listed in NTI. You will mature in your practice through The Seven Steps to Awakening.
Michael’s explanation of how The Seven Steps to Awakening came about may also help you see why that book is as powerful as the books we have already used in Gentle Healing. It is a collection of key quotes from seven sages who have brought the ego and its illusion to its final end.
There are two versions of The Seven Steps to Awakening. You may use either version in Year 3, because both versions are the same except for the font size and the correction of one typo, which Michael explained above. If you haven’t ordered The Seven Steps to Awakening yet, I recommend ordering it now.
Starting tomorrow, we will prepare ourselves to begin Year 3 by reading The Teachings of Inner Ramana again. This time, we will contemplate the messages each day with the inner teacher.
Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link
