Today’s reading focuses on intuition and discernment.

Intuition

In today’s story, Jesus sends the disciples out to teach in the villages because, “He knew that it was through their own participation as teachers that they themselves would learn and see, …”

He gives instructions to the disciples before sending them into the villages. The heart of these instructions will help us learn to follow intuition.

1. “You do not know.” – A friend of mine used to call the thinking mind, “the I-know mind.” It does think it knows. So, shifting into “I don’t know” disengages the thinking mind and opens us up to intuition.

 

2. “Only the Holy Spirit knows.” – “Holy Spirit” is a Judeo-Christian term for intuition. Intuition is different than the thinking mind, because its source is different. The source of the thinking mind is perception—usually misperception—and thought. The source of intuition is consciousness. The thinking mind is linked to and limited by the biases of one self-centered individual, while intuition is linked to totality’s true perception and to truth. Which one do you think is more reliable as a guide?

 

3. “Think only of the work He has sent you to do. All else will be offered through His Grace.” – This teaching is most well known as, “Seek ye first the kingdom and all else will be added to you.”

 

4. “Do not ask for more than you are offered.” – The ego is always trying to add to itself, so “more” is a key thought in its thought system. To seek “more” is to align with ego.

 

5. “Be grateful for everything you are given.” – Gratitude flows from our true Self. There is a natural gratitude for being and for our truth. When we are grateful for what is, without seeking more and without asking it to be different, we exercise the right mind’s natural gratitude. That moves us towards true perception.

 

Discernment

Today’s reading points out a key thought in the ego thought system, so you can come to recognize this thought and choose not to believe it.

The thought is:

You are separate and different from all you know, and for this you are guilty [unworthy, less than]. You must protect yourself, for when your guilt is unmasked, you will suffer endlessly. You will be cut off from all that is and from life itself.

This thought whispers in the mind multiple times every day, but it hides itself so it is not recognized. For example, it may appear as:

• Stress when you aren’t sure if your work project will be successful, on time or to your boss’ pleasure.

 

• Makeup on a face, which tries to hide a sense of ugliness.

 

• Disliking someone.

 

• Over achieving, taking on too many projects, or saying “yes” to everyone’s requests.

 

• Pushing your children to be successful, over achieve, or be the perfect parent.

 

• Resolving your children’s problems for them.

 

• Selecting friends, homes, cars, functions, and etcetera in order to appear as good as others.

 

• Numbing the pain through drinking, taking drugs, over eating, etc.

 

That’s only a few examples of how this thought hides itself.

The best way to identify where this thought hides in your mind is through root cause inquiry. Once its hiding places are found, you can see it (discernment) and choose not to believe it. As long as it is allowed to hide, you are its slave.

Note: I recommend printing this tip for easy future reference.

As a reminder, NTI Mark is a fictional story that provides helpful symbols. Our role is to derive meaning from the symbols, and then live from the example provided by those symbols. In this way, Jesus of NTI is our role model.

Today’s story begins by saying, “With each day, Jesus felt his closeness to the Holy Spirit growing. … A merging seemed to occur.”

How did this merging occur? Through discernment, surrender and kindness. These are the three practices of Jesus of NTI.

Discernment is determining the difference between personal thought and self-will, which is ego, and thought and will that arise from beyond the personal self.

Surrender is choosing to ignore personal thought and will, and following the thought and will that arises from beyond the personal self. Follow it just as it is, without adding to it or subtracting from it. In this way, one becomes the witness of life, playing his part while letting the rest be as it is.

Kindness is living and acting from love instead of fear. (e.g., the Loving All Method)

Today’s reading tells two brief stories. The first story is a story of kindness and a story of faith plus action. Jesus is kind to a woman who feels worthless. Her sense of worthlessness has affected her health. Jesus asks this woman to go home and find her inner brightness. She has faith in his teaching, and she goes home and does as he asks. In this way, she is healed.

Imagine if the woman had been happy in the moment to meet Jesus, had been grateful for his words, but then did not follow up with his guidance when she got home. She would not have experienced the same result.

This demonstrates that faith in the teaching is not enough. One must combine faith with action.

Here are two quotes to contemplate along with this teaching:

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? … faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. ~ James 2:14-17

I can only tell you what I know from my own experience. When I met my Guru, he told me: ‘You are not what you take yourself to be. Find out what you are. Watch the sense ‘I am’; find your real self’. I obeyed him, because I trusted him. I did as he told me. All my spare time I would spend looking at myself in silence. And what a difference it made, and how soon! It took me only three years to realise my true nature. My Guru died soon after I met him, but it made no difference. I remembered what he told me and persevered. The fruit of it is here, with me. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

The second story in today’s reading is a story about Jesus following intuition under extreme circumstances.

Jesus of the Bible was able to raise the dead. However, Jesus of NTI doesn’t have this special power. He simply discerns, surrenders, and lives from love. In today’s story, Jesus’ faith in these simple practices is challenged when he is told by a witness that a little girl is dead. The witness has seen the girl. Jesus has not seen her. Yet, when he feels intuitively that she is not dead, he trusts his intuition over the witness and others. He also follows intuition and breathes into the little girl’s mouth even though he had no knowledge of CPR.

Imagine the faith Jesus had, to trust his intuition over the witness, who was certain the girl was dead. Imagine the faith it took to see the girl, who appeared dead, and then to breathe into her mouth—to pass on the breath of life—without any knowledge of the medical practice we call CPR.

This story is told in this way to encourage us to trust our intuition over personal knowledge and over the urging of others.

I have learned from my own experience that intuition knows more than the human thinking mind. Intuition’s source is consciousness. As such, it knows everything about this moment, and it knows truth too. For this reason, intuition is much more reliable as a guide than the limited, biased thinking mind.

Here is a quote to help you consider your relationship with intuition. This is a powerful quote that can reveal a lot of clarity. I recommend contemplating this quote slowly, in parts and as a whole.

That which sees all this, and the nothing too, is the inner teacher. He alone is; all else only appears to be. He is your own swarupa (true Self), your hope and assurance of freedom; find him and cling to him and you will be saved and safe. ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj

There are two ways to view the story from today’s reading. We can view the story as an example of how to be with others, and we can view the story as an example of how to be with ourselves.

Today’s story is about fearlessness and kindness. Fearlessness and kindness go together. You can’t be afraid and be kind too. You might be afraid and act nice, but that’s not the same thing. If you have a personal agenda—a desired outcome—you aren’t being kind; you are being manipulative. (Note: Whenever you have a personal agenda, there is an underlying fear.)

In today’s story, Jesus demonstrates kindness. He is not afraid. He interacts with the man in the story with no fear at all. He is present and genuinely responsive.

It’s fair to say there isn’t enough kindness in the world today. If we see kindness and fear as opposites, we can also say there is too much fear in the world today. That negative energy is recycled in our world through the loop of experience—What I think, I see; What I see, I experience; What I experience, I think—and unspeakable atrocities occur as a result. Genuine kindness can help release some of that negative energy, and some atrocities can be prevented.

When you read the story, notice that a woman shares a fearful story with Jesus and the apostles. The apostles pick up on the fearful energy and believe it. As a result, they are incapable of being kind. Jesus dismisses the fearful energy as meaningless, so he is able to meet the situation without fear and with kindness.

I mentioned that there are two ways to view today’s reading, as an example of how to be with others and as an example of how to be with ourselves. If we see the man in the story as the ego and the legion of demons as thoughts, then Jesus demonstrates how we can be kind with ourselves.

The same rule applies: we can’t be afraid and be kind too.

There’s no reason to fear the mind. The mind can make a lot of noise, but if we don’t give it meaning, it is a noisemaker and nothing more. You don’t have to fight against the mind. In fact, fighting it isn’t helpful. Instead, be kind to the mind.

For example, if the mind is worried about a future situation, you might say, “I know you think there’s a lot to worry about, but we don’t actually know how things are going to turn out. Relax. Let’s watch and see what happens. We’ll know what to do when the time comes.”

With kindness, you can help the mind relax and let go of distracting thoughts. That places the mind in the present. A mind that is in the present is aware, surrendered to intuition and effectively responsive in the moment.

There are two primary points shared through the stories told in today’s reading.

The first point is related to a quote I shared recently from Nisargadatta Maharaj. Here is that quote again:

All you need is to listen, remember, ponder.
It is like taking food.
All you can do is to bite off, chew and swallow.
All else is unconscious and automatic.

When the apostles asked Jesus to describe the kingdom of Heaven, he shared two parables. Both were about seeds growing into plants. At another time, Jesus describes the kingdom of Heaven as being like yeast put in dough.

Jesus’ parables point to this:

Truth realization dawns upon the one who is willing to take time for contemplation and meditation. The one who rushes through life, always doing but never contemplating, misses the truth that is everywhere waiting to be seen. It’s like living locked within one’s skull, instead of opening up to existence and seeing, “I am that.”

We need time alone—quiet, contemplative time. If we allow ample room for that in our lives, realization will occur naturally, “unconscious and automatic.” But if we are too busy to slow down, “bite off, chew and swallow,” the seed is not planted, and it is not watered, and so it cannot grow.

The second point from today’s reading addresses confusion about what we are.

In today’s story, Jesus and the apostles are in the middle of the Sea of Galilee when a storm comes and frightens the apostles. They are afraid of losing their lives. The apostles do not see themselves as anything more than body-personalities.

In the story, Jesus is aware that:

Just as sure as the storm began, it will end.

This is a metaphor that points to truth. Let’s look at the metaphor more carefully.

Here is a story that I call The Journey of Water:

In the hot summer sun, some water evaporates from a lake known as the Sea of Galilee. The evaporated water forms a cloud. The cloud journeys through the air and drops rain in another location. The rainwater flows on the downward slope of the land and joins a creek. The creek flows southeast and merges with the Jordan River. The Jordan River flows south and dumps into the Dead Sea, where some of the water evaporates in the hot desert sun and becomes part of a small cloud. The cloud drifts northward and is drawn into a powerful storm system. The passing storm tosses a small convoy of boats on the Sea of Galilee, and raindrops fall to merge with the lake.

In this fictional story, we see that the water is ongoing and the storm is a temporary manifestation.

When Jesus refers to the “Son of God” in today’s reading, he is not referring to a single temporary body-personality. He is referring to what we are, the Great Ongoingness, of which the body-personality is a temporary manifestation, just like the storm is a temporary manifestation.

We are the Great Ongoingness—ongoing like the water in The Journey of Water. Transcending everything in form, ongoingness has nothing to fear.