Today’s reading is about a wish, a fog, and a shadow.

The Wish

The wish isn’t fully conscious in most humans, although it drives their behavior and decision-making processes. It is the wish to be something, commonly felt as the wish to be somebody. It is the wish for distinctness. It is the wish for identity. It is the wish for separation.

This wish is core to the human psyche. From the time that a child is a toddler, it begins seeking identity. At first, the child looks to its parents or caregivers for its identity. Whatever they tell the child it is, it believes. Later, the search for identity broadens. Identity comes from a wide range of “sources” including other people, media influences and most especially, one’s own developing mental chatter.

The Fog and the Shadow

Driven by the wish to be something, we each develop a view of the world and a sense of self. The fog is one’s view of the world. The shadow is one’s sense of self. They are completely illusory, decided upon solely by the individual mind. It is as Nisargadatta said:

The world you can perceive is a very small world indeed. And it is entirely private.

Since our world and individual sense of self is completely private and not shared with anyone else, they can’t be truth. They are individual made-up illusions.

As we learned on Day 85, we are free to maintain a false sense of self and a false sense of the world. We are not guilty for doing so. However, “the fog and the shadow” block truth as long as we cling to them. Even more, we typically suffer because of the fog and shadow we’ve made.

The Antidote

Since the wish to be something is the reason we made up an individual view of the world and self, a different wish (or different desire) is the antidote. That different wish is one’s spiritual aspiration.

Today’s reading says:

Step into the Light fully without fear of death, and see how clearly your path is lit.

What is the “fear of death” that today’s reading speaks of?

It isn’t fear of bodily death. It is the fear of losing one’s self—one’s sense of self.

Yesterday’s tip was about the mind-made laws we live by. Again, these mind-made laws vary by individual, and they make up the filter of the individual mind. Since they make up the filter of the individual mind, that means we see and understand the world and ourselves the way we do because of  these mind-made laws.

The mind likes to understand. It feels comfortable understanding. That means our individual mind-made laws are like a security blanket for the mind. That’s true, even if we suffer because of the laws we believe in.

Since the mind gets its sense of comfort from the laws, it identifies with the laws, just as a small child identifies with its security blanket or security toy.

Have you ever seen how upset a child gets if you take its security item away?

It is as if you are removing the child’s orientation to the world.

That’s how it is with the ego too. The mind feels threatened to the point of death when you start removing the laws it is oriented to.

As you get serious about letting go of mind-made laws, the ego may rebel, just like a small child rebels when you take away its security item. If you want to “step into the light fully,” you must learn to relax through ego rebellion. To step into the light fully, you need to let go of living and seeing through individual mind-made laws, even though that makes the ego extremely uncomfortable.

Unrelated note: A friend sent me a link to The Visual Bible’s Acts movie on Youtube. If you like, you can use this link to watch the movie when we get to NTI Acts.

On Day 108, the Gentle Healing Group will begin reading NTI Acts. One fun and informative way to read NTI Acts is to read it along with watching the movie, Acts, by Visual Bible. The movie stars Bruce Marchiano, James Brolin, Jennifer O’Neil and Dean Jones. It is directed by Regardt Van Den Bergh.

This movie’s script follows the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible exactly. There isn’t a single word added to the script for dramatization. Since the NIV Bible is the one I read when scribing NTI, that means this movie depicts the scenes I read about as I received the interpretation.

Another great thing about this movie is that the scripture reference appears as captions on the screen. That means you can watch the movie, stop it, and then read the corresponding interpretation from NTI.

This movie is not required  for Gentle Healing. However, if the idea of the movie interests you, I recommend ordering it now so you will have it by the time we start reading NTI Acts.

If you get the movie, I recommend using it this way:

1. Look at the tip to see what that day’s reading is.
2. Watch the portion of the movie that corresponds to that day’s reading. (For example, on Day 108 watch Acts 1. Stop the movie when the scripture caption moves to Acts 2.)
3. Read the tip.
4. Read the daily reading in NTI.

This will add a few additional minutes to your Gentle Healing routine, but it will help bring the Bible stories alive, and it will enhance your experience of the reading and the tip. The DVD has a great feature that allows you to easily select the chapter you want to listen to each day.

If you choose to order the movie, be sure to get the DVD mentioned above. There is more than one movie about Acts.

Today’s reading says that we define ourselves by mind-made laws and by our relationship to mind-made laws.

What are these mind-made laws?

The “laws” cannot be listed, because they vary by individual. They make up the filter of the individual mind.

A few examples might be:

• People should be honest.
• I shouldn’t eat so much.
• She shouldn’t talk so much.
• Telemarketers should respect my privacy and quit calling on the phone.
• My neighbor’s dog shouldn’t bark.
• It shouldn’t snow in April.
• People shouldn’t cut in and out of traffic.
• People shouldn’t be racist.
• I should keep my house cleaner than I do.
• Children should respect their parents.
• Etcetera, etcetera, and etcetera.

Laws like these serve the ego in two ways:

1. They give us a sense of identity.
2. They provide a basis for judgment and separation.

As long as we believe mind-made laws, we are limited to a self and a world that is seen through the filter of these laws, which means we remain unaware of reality.

Today’s reading suggests that we let the Heart lead ahead of the mind. It suggests we follow intuitive guidance instead of living by mind-made laws. This is another way of asking us to live by trust (reliance on intuition and universal spontaneity) instead of thinking, since thinking is the obstacle that blocks our awareness of reality.

What mind-made laws do you notice in your mind? Are you willing to let them go? Are there any you feel compelled to hold onto? If so, why? What do you think you lose by giving up those laws?

Yesterday’s reading was about faith. Today’s reading is about trust.

Again, faith is:

• Trusting the healing process & having confidence awakening is certain
• Having confidence in a benevolent power beyond what your senses or mind can know
• Accepting that all is well, regardless of the appearance

Trust is:

Assured reliance on  the benevolence of the universe and the current moment’s guidance.

In other words, faith is a general attitude through which we view our life circumstances and the world. Trust is living from faith by being totally dependent on intuition and universal spontaneity.

One who trusts is not reliant on thinking. To rely on thinking is not to trust. Not to trust is to fear. Therefore, one who relies on thinking comes from a state of fear.

Most people live from fear unconsciously. They have not contemplated the difference between trust and living from thinking.

Today, let’s contemplate the difference between trust and living from thinking. Which do you want to rely on?

Note: This is a tip you may want to print for easy reference today and for future reference.

Today’s reading says:

To have faith in anything at all is to have faith in everything you see. For without faith in all things, you are faithless, because all things are God and you are all things.

Let’s review the definition of faith. Faith is:

• Trusting the healing process & having confidence awakening is certain
• Having confidence in a benevolent power beyond what your senses or mind can know
• Accepting that all is well, regardless of the appearance

Today’s reading points out that faith is total or it isn’t faith at all.

Do you have faith in some circumstances, but not in others?

Do you have faith regarding some people’s lives, but not regarding others?

Do you have faith regarding others, but not regarding yourself?

Do you have faith regarding your personal life, but not regarding the universal scene?

Today, contemplate the definition of faith and the fact that true faith is total. Where are the gaps in your faith?