Please listen to the Bonus audio teaching of The Code  from 2014.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link

Michael Langford says that the ego is the cause of all suffering. The ego is attachment to thought. So, attachment to thought or believing-attention on thought  is the cause of all suffering.

There are two ways that believing-attention on thought causes suffering:

1. It distorts your perception. For example, if you think someone close to you doesn’t care enough about you, you will notice every time that person makes a choice that puts his/her preference above yours, and you will not notice when that person makes a choice that puts your preference above his/hers. You may also complain about how you are not loved, until the one who loves you feels there is nothing he/she can do to please you and leaves the relationship out of a sense of frustration.
2. It generates thought and circumstances. Let’s continue with the previous example. There are thoughts in your mind that indicate your partner doesn’t care enough about you. Those thoughts are not your thoughts. Those thoughts are manifestations. They are received into your mind from consciousness. When you believe them, you experience them, and more thoughts of the same type are attracted into your mind. As you continue to give believing-attention to those thoughts, arguments break out in your relationship. Your partner is drawn into this energy through those arguments. Thoughts are attracted into your partner’s mind based the same storyline. Since your partner gives believing-attention to his/her thoughts too, the relationship deteriorates and eventually ends.

In other words:

What I think, I see.
What I see, I experience.
What I experience, I think.

NTI teaches this process of manifestation through NTI Ephesians.

Please review the tips from NTI Ephesians 4 and NTI Ephesians 6.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link

Today, please read sentences 82-166 from Chapter 8 of The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss.

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Several years ago, I received guidance to practice the middle path to awakening. I was told that some people focus heavily on purification or letting go as the spiritual path. Others focus heavily on immersing themselves in the divine. The middle path that I was guided to focuses on both letting go of the false and embracing the true.

Awareness-watching-awareness is a practice that focuses on (concentrates on) letting go of the false (world, body and thought) and embracing the true (life-awareness).

Notice these specific instructions from The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss:

Shut your eyes. Notice your awareness. Observe that awareness. Turn your attention away from the world, body and thought and towards awareness watching awareness. If you notice you are thinking, turn your attention away from thought and back towards awareness watching awareness.

Concentrate in a relaxed manner without effort. If thoughts are noticed, turn your attention away from the thoughts and back towards concentrating on awareness.

There are the things you are aware of. There is the awareness that is aware of the things. Instead of observing the things, observe the awareness.

There are thoughts and feelings. There is the awareness that is aware of thoughts and feelings. Instead of observing thoughts and feelings, observe the awareness.

If you see light, turn your attention away from the light and towards awareness of awareness. If you see darkness, turn your attention away from the darkness and towards awareness aware only of awareness.

If you notice your breathing, turn your attention away from the breathing and towards awareness aware only of awareness. Whatever you become aware of, turn your attention away from it and towards awareness of awareness.

Focused time to let go of the false and embrace the true without distraction  is a very important part of our daily practice.

Please read sentences 1-81 from Chapter 8 of The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss.

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Today, please review The Loving All Method.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link

Judgment creates the sense that the imposter self is ‘me.’ Judgment is the “I know” and “I’m right” mind—the resistor.

NTI Romans teaches two practices as the antidote to judgment. Those two practices are acceptance and surrender.

Why does NTI teach two practices as the antidote to judgment?

NTI teaches two antidotes, because there are two types of judgment.

One type of judgment divides everything into good and bad, liked and disliked, desired and not desired, etcetera. That type of judgment creates the appearance of many things.

Yesterday, we saw that acceptance (existence-loving-existence) is the antidote that undoes the many things and collapses them into one thing, which is experience. When this collapse occurs, only two things remain, the experiencer and the experience.

The second type of judgment is decision-making. Decision-making creates the sense of ‘me who decides.’ Surrender is the practice that removes the sense of ‘me’ as the one who decides.

You might remember that NTI teaches there are four stages on the spiritual path: The Search, Purification, Service and True Perception. The third stage is the period of surrender. NTI Acts 22 says:

The third stage on the path with Me is the stage of guidance or service. This is the time when the merging will occur. … This is how the merging occurs. It is through your own willingness to surrender to Me. … What seemed to be separate gradually becomes one, until it is evident that “separate” never was.

Consider this related quote by Ramana Maharshi:

Surrender is giving oneself up to the original cause of one’s being. Do not delude yourself by imagining this source to be some God outside you. One’s source is within oneself. Give yourself up to it. That means that you should seek the source and merge in it.

When you are not surrendered, there is a feeling of “me” making “my own decisions.” As you fall more deeply into surrender, you lose the sense of “me deciding,” and you experience everything as one ongoing flow of happening. You cannot separate yourself from the ongoing flow of happening. You know only one flow, one existence, one consciousness.

The Loving All Method and surrender practiced together undo both types of judgment—the judgment of good or bad and the judgment ‘I decide”—so both the experienced (the many things) and the experiencer (the decider) are undone, and only non-dual (not two) consciousness remains.

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NTI Romans, Chapter 2 calls judgment the “building block of illusion.”

What is judgment?

If you look very carefully at judgment when it appears in your mind, you will see it is the “I know” and “I’m right” mind. It is the resistor, the antithesis to truth. Whenever you give believing-attention to judgment, you are identified with the imposter self.

NTI Romans teaches two practices as the antidote to judgment. Those two practices are acceptance and surrender. Today, we will look more closely at acceptance. Tomorrow, we will look at how surrender undoes judgment.

Acceptance is the decision to accept every experience exactly as it is without judging that it should be different. The deepest form of acceptance is love. Therefore, a key practice that undoes illusion and disengages from the “I know” and “I’m right” imposter mind is The Loving All Method.

Let’s look more closely at how The Loving All Method works.

At its most basic level, illusion is the appearance of two things, the experiencer (you) and the experience (everything else). You are the “I” that experiences everything else, which is “not I.”

The “not I” or the experienced appears as many things, some things that are judged as good or desired and other things that are judged as bad or not desired. The Loving All Method undoes the judgment that creates many different things and collapses them into the current experience, sometimes called the ‘now’. Through Loving All, you come to the experience of “I” loving consciousness/existence. A Course in Miracles refers to this stage as “the happy dream.”

Look at the room around you. Notice that the mind sees many things. Let the mind tell you what it likes and doesn’t like about what you see. Or, look in a mirror. Consider standing naked in front of the mirror, and let the mind tell you what it likes and doesn’t like about what you see. Or look at another person, and let the mind tell you what it likes and doesn’t like about that person.

As the mind tells you what it likes and doesn’t like, notice the sense of difference or division that happens. Watch the mind as it creates many things.

For example, while looking at the room the mind might say, “The picture of my family is very nice, but there is too much clutter on the furniture.”

While looking in the mirror, the mind might say, “My arms look strong, but my waistline is too fat and flabby.”

While thinking about a friend, the mind might say, “She is very generous, but she talks too much.”

Notice that in each case, judgment is  the sense (or feeling) of “I know” and “I’m right.”

Notice how judgment gives you the distinct feeling of being ‘me’ separate from whatever or whoever is being judged. Feel the strong sense of ‘me’ that is present in judgment.

Notice the hardness (firmness) in your way of being whenever you believe a judgment.

Judgment is to the ego like air is to a balloon. It inflates the sense ‘me’ and many things that are ‘not me.’

After examining judgment closely, close your eyes and simply appreciate existence. Don’t think of the many things thought says you like about your life. That is still judgment. Simply appreciate existence itself.

Within each of us, there is a love of existence that is so excited by existence that it loves every experience simply because it emphasizes existence. Leave the mind behind, and find the love of existence in you. (People often experience this love in nature, but nature isn’t needed to experience it, because love of existence lives in you.)

After spending a few minutes appreciating existence with your eyes closed, open your eyes. Pick up something and hold it in your hand. Don’t think about what the thing is. Just feel it. Appreciate existence experiencing this existing experience.

You can practice existence-appreciating-existence with any experience. If you look in the mirror and feel self-hatred, pause and appreciate existence experiencing emotion. Or look at the part of the body that mind says it hates, let go of everything you’ve learned about how a body is supposed to look, and appreciate existence experiencing a body.

Existence-appreciating-existence is  the Loving All Method. It is accepting experience exactly as it is and loving it as existence. It is consciousness loving consciousness as manifestation.

Practice existence-appreciating-existence as a way of life. Whenever you notice yourself hardening into judgment, notice the distinct feeling of ‘me,’ remember your desire to be immersed in truth, and shift into existence-appreciating-existence with whatever  is being experienced now, including the feeling of believing judgment. Make no exceptions in your practice. Appreciate existence in every experience exactly as it is.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link

As we end Gentle Healing Year 2 and prepare to begin Gentle Healing Year 3, it’s important that we realize:

Our thinking is not who we are;
therefore, it cannot lead us to know what we are.

When we are attached to mind, we trust thinking regardless of how foolish thinking is. Here are some very foolish ideas that almost all humans believe without ever questioning them:

1. I am a self
2. I am this self (body-mind-personality)
3. I am a bad/lacking self

Detaching from these three core ideas is  detaching from mind.

Of course, the self that believes these ideas cannot detach from these ideas. That is why we need to learn to trust the guidance that comes from within.

Sometimes the guidance that comes from within seems contrary to what you think you want. However, it’s important to notice that your individual will is merely believing-attention on thought. It’s not reflective of your truth.

You can see this for yourself if you practice s/Self-inquiry on what you think you want.

Typically, what a person perceives as his/her wants is based on the last two ideas in the list of foolish ideas above.

You can see that for yourself by drilling down into your upsets using root cause inquiry. Through root cause inquiry, you can discover that what you want is often a defense against the belief that you are bad or lacking. It also upholds the idea that you are a specific body-mind-personality. That’s why letting go of what you want can sometimes feel difficult. It is like letting go of you (as you perceive yourself.)

On Day 6 of this year, we read the following in NTI Matthew 8:

Do not ask for what you want. Ask Me what it is that you need, and I shall lead you to it. But follow Me in purpose and faith only, for if you seek anything else, you will not see what I am showing you.

When we ask for specific things or circumstances that we want, those specific things are based on the fears and desires of the imposter self. Therefore, believing we need or want those things reinforces the idea that we are that self. By letting go of what we think we want, and by asking in trust for whatever guidance we need, we loosen our grip on who we think we are.

As we near the end of Year 2 and prepare for Year 3, ask for your “daily bread” each day by asking inner wisdom:

What do I need now?

Other ways to ask that question include:

What would you have me see or realize now?
What would you share with me today?

A good time to ask is while contemplating the daily Thought of Awakening. Inner wisdom can always use the daily thought to give you specific guidance that is helpful to awakening.

In year 3, you can ask for guidance while contemplating the daily quotes from The Seven Steps to Awakening.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link

We began Gentle Healing Year 2 by looking at Michael Langford’s Five Steps for the Majority. These five steps emphasize kindness with others—with all  others. Michael recommends these five steps for anyone who wants to experience more light and less darkness in their lives, even if they are not interested in awakening. However, he emphasizes that these five steps are critical if awakening is your goal.

Here’s a review of the Five Steps for the Majority:

1. Every time you speak to a human being either in person or over the phone, make sure the content of what you are saying and the tone of your voice are loving, caring, and kind.

2. Every time you write something to a human being, make sure that what you are writing is loving and kind. Pause before you send someone an email or a text message and make sure that your email or text message is loving, caring and kind.

3. Never do any harm of any kind to any human being or animal.

4. Treat even the people who you think do not deserve your kindness with kindness.

5. Treat even people you only see briefly with great caring and kindness.

When Peace Pilgrim began her spiritual investigation, she noticed that nearly every spiritual culture had a rule similar to “the golden rule.”  Jesus taught the golden rule in the Bible when he said:

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ~ Matthew 7:12

In Jesus’ final teaching to the apostles, just prior to his arrest and crucifixion, he said:

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. ~ John 13: 34, 35

What these spiritual teachings point out is that kindness with one another and with all living things is a way of being that needs to be mastered by the genuine spiritual aspirant.

Here’s our reason for mastering kindness:

Not to be kind is to be a slave to the ego.

It is good to act kind even if you do not feel kind. Restraint from acting based on mental chatter is the first step toward disengaging from mental chatter, just like restraining one’s self from smoking a cigarette is the first step toward quitting smoking. However, restraint on its own isn’t enough.

The second step toward disengaging from mental chatter is rest-accept-trust. Allow the emotions that are covering natural love-peace-joy to rise and pass.

When you have some distance from ego emotion, practice self-inquiry to discover what you believed—what idea(s) you attached to as me  thinking. Question that idea(s) until you achieve clarity with inner wisdom.

Finally, practice Self-inquiry to complete the process; turn attention toward awareness. Recognize your Self, and abide there. (The mantra may help you make this transition.)

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link

Today, we will look at a message regarding these three states of mind:

Resistor– The state of mind when you fully believe the body-mind-personality is what you are.

Doubter– The state of mind when you are learning about truth and questioning everything you believed as resistor. This is most likely the state of mind you are in now.

Abiding– The state of mind when you embrace truth as your reality and live from that instead of from thought.

Today’s message points out that when you ask inner guidance questions, you are identified with the false self. During this stage of the journey, you still think mental chatter is you  thinking, and so you seek wisdom that comes from beyond you. During this stage, which is the doubter stage, you are moving towards abiding and away from resistor, but identification still lies firmly with the false self.

As long as you identify with the false self, going within for guidance and wisdom is wise. However, at some point you will take the step that breaks the attachment to mind. When you break the attachment to mind, you will listen to inner wisdom easily throughout the day without asking questions. Wisdom simply arises and is followed.

The only reason one struggles to follow inner wisdom throughout the day is because she is identified with mental chatter.

In other words:

You always listen to yourself (as you perceive yourself) first.

If you think mental chatter is you, you listen to it first.

If you see yourself as __________ (there is no word to use here), you listen to wisdom throughout the day.

Abiding has no identification, which is why there is a blank in the sentence above. Abiding knows ‘I am,’ but there is no identification like, “I am smart,” or “I am old,” or “I am …

Ideas of identification come from mental chatter, and they aren’t true. They are simply identifying with a thought or an experience; clinging to something temporary, and saying that is what I am. But that can’t be right, because that is something passing, and you are eternal.

You are the blank in the sentence above.

Here is another way of defining the three states of mind:

Resistor– The “I know” and “I’m right” mind. Also known as the ego or false self.

Doubter– The “I don’t know” so “I must seek” mind. Also known as the seeker or spiritual aspirant.

Abiding– The _________ guided by the highest vibration in the moment. Also known as “Self-realized,” although ___________ is a much better descriptor.

Note: If one is identified  with being Self-realized, one is not abiding. More likely, since he allowed this identification to creep in, he is slipping back toward resistor—into “I know” and “I’m right” mind.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link