There are two questions that are really the same question:
What is truth?
What am I?
When these two questions burn in us to the point that nothing else is important, we are getting ready for truth realization.
Today’s reading interprets the parable of The Vineyard and the Tenants. When we read this parable in NTI Mark on Day 50, the vineyard was interpreted as the teaching, and stealing the vineyard was interpreted as identifying with the teaching (also known as fundamentalism). Today’s reading interprets the story differently.
Today’s reading interprets the vineyard as:
… a mind that is shared among God and His creations.
Like consciousness, awareness and soul, “mind” is an elusive term. If you look it up using a few different dictionaries, you will find out that it has many meanings. Although there may be a temptation to try and define exactly what “mind” means in the context of today’s reading, it might be better to let it remain an open question.
Why?
We’ve already seen that one type of resistance is seeking answers to metaphysical questions or questions about enlightenment. The mind resists truth by seeking to understand truth mentally. If you or I are satisfied with mental understanding, the desire to realize truth is quenched. In this satisfaction, the ego wins.
The real purpose of today’s reading is three-fold:
- To help us realize that our sense of guilt and unworthiness stems from an unconscious knowing that our false sense of self is a lie.
- To help us relax away from the belief in guilt by pointing out that we are free to maintain a false sense of self and world.
- To lead us into a penetrating curiosity, where we want to find the answer to “What is the truth?” and “What am I?”
I love the line in today’s reading where the Holy Spirit says, “So whatever I am, you must also be.” Notice the word “whatever” in that sentence. I like to stare at “whatever.” As I look deeply at the word “whatever,” I want to find out what that is—“whatever I am, you must also be.”
Do you want to find out what that is, or are you satisfied with a lie and a dream?
