Today’s reading interprets three Bible stories. I recommend reading the stories in the Bible before reading the interpretation in NTI. Each story provides an opportunity for self-examination and self-honesty.

Jesus did not tell these stories so that we would chastise ourselves and decide that we are not good enough. There would be no forward movement if we understood the stories that way. The stories are provided so we can look, see where we are not in harmony with the calling of our heart, and then make adjustments. These stories are gifts to help us notice where we are still operating based on old conditioning, so we can retune ourselves.

With that said, a question you might ask yourself as you read The Parable of Ten Virgins and its interpretation is, “Where do I look for peace of mind? The marketplace, which is a symbol for the world, or within?”

A question you might ask yourself as you read The Parable of Bags of Gold and its interpretation is, “Do I trust the unknown or fear it?”

A question you might ask yourself as you read The Sheep and the Goats and its interpretation is, “Am I guiding myself towards unity consciousness or am I still interested in self-centeredness?”

It might be helpful to see yourself as a musical instrument. Are you playing the melody you want to play, or are some of your strings out of tune?

I found this comment online about tuning a harp:

There are people who will tell you that one key is “better” or “worse” than another. Like with many harp-related things, it is not so much a matter of right and wrong, but is rather very subjective and individual, and depends on a number of factors, including: what type of harp you have, how much musical experience you have, what style of music you want to play, and how much theory you know. It can even depend on things such as, how much improvising and/or transposing you want to do, and how much you rely on sheet music. So instead of trying to tell you the “right way” to tune a harp, I’ve presented some of the more common tunings, with explanations as to why some people choose them and others don’t.

I thought this comment was helpful, because we can get caught up in ideas of right and wrong whenever we engage in self-examination. It isn’t a matter of right and wrong or good and bad. It’s a matter of, “What do I want?” and “Is my way of being in support of that or hindering it?”

Here is a quote from Nisargadatta Maharaj that we can contemplate along with today’s reading:

You do and undo at every step. You want peace, love, happiness and work hard to create pain, hatred and war. You want longevity and overeat; you want friendship and exploit. See your net as made of such contradictions and remove them — your very seeing them will make them go.

Remember, we are in Messiah kindergarten. Remember, “Messiah” means, one in whom God’s plan for humankind is being brought to fruition. It is an evolution, of sorts, and in this evolution we are baby Messiahs. Since Messiah is a very important role, we need to give all of our attention—our whole heart, our whole soul and our whole mind—to the lessons we are learning now. (Ref: Mark 12:30)

Today’s lesson is a key lesson for Messiahs, although it is not the easiest of lessons to learn. In fact, it is a lesson that some students of non-duality deny entirely. They say this teaching isn’t what it appears to be; it means something other than what it says. However, the masters do not deny the teaching. Only some students—those who do not yet know—deny it.

The teaching  I speak of is that the world is not real. It is an illusion.

First, let’s look at the dictionary definition of “illusion”. An illusion is “a thing that is or is likely to be wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses. It is a deceptive appearance or impression.”

One mistake that we make is not questioning our senses. We believe that if we see it, it is true. But is that entirely correct? We see the sun rise and the sun set everyday. The earth that we are on looks stationary, as we observe the sun moving across the sky. But is that true?

The earth that we walk on seems horizontal. Is that true?

Moonlight lights up the night sky. But is there such a thing as moonlight?

If our senses are not reliable some of the time, can we be sure that they are reliable the rest of the time? Is it possible that we see with our brain, a brain that has been conditioned to see in a self-centered way, a way of seeing that is entirely faulty?

Here are some quotes to consider before beginning today’s reading in NTI:

“Vision consists of your eyes detecting light and converting it to electro-chemical impulses in neurons which are then given meaning by your brain.   Hence, the real ‘seeing’ occurs in the brain with the interpretation of the impulses. ~ Debbie Hampton, author of Beat Depression and Anxiety by Changing your Brain

“… bear in mind that your own sense of vision is carried by nothing but millions of nerve signals that just happen to travel along different cables.  Your brain is encased in absolute blackness in the vault of your skull.  It doesn’t see anything.  All it knows are these little signals and nothing else.  And yet you perceive the world in shades of brightness and colors.  Your brain is in the dark but your mind constructs the light.” ~ David Eagleman, author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain

“What we perceive as our physical material world, is really not physical or material at all, in fact, it is far from it. … Quantum physicists discovered that physical atoms are made up of vortices of energy that are constantly spinning and vibrating, each one radiating its own unique energy signature. Therefore, if we really want to observe ourselves and find out what we are, we are really beings of energy and vibration, radiating our own unique energy signature -this is fact and is what quantum physics has shown us time and time again. We are much more than what we perceive ourselves to be, and it’s time we begin to see ourselves in that light. If you observed the composition of an atom with a microscope you would see a small, invisible tornado-like vortex, with a number of infinitely small energy vortices called quarks and photons. These are what make up the structure of the atom. As you focused in closer and closer on the structure of the atom, you would see nothing, you would observe a physical void. The atom has no physical structure, we have no physical structure, physical things really don’t have any physical structure! Atoms are made out of invisible energy, not tangible matter.” ~ Arjun Walia, author of Nothing Is Solid & Everything Is Energy – Scientists Explain The World Of Quantum Physics, an article published in CE—Collective Evolution (an e-magazine)

“It is because the thoughts you think you think appear as images that you do not recognize them as nothing. You think you think them, and so you think you see them. This is how your ‘seeing’ was made. … It is not seeing. It is image making. It takes the place of seeing, replacing vision with illusions.” ~ A Course in Miracles Workbook for Students, Lesson 15

“There is no body, nor a world to contain it; there is only a mental condition, a dream like state, easy to dispel by questioning its reality.” ~ Nisargadatta Maharaj, Indian sage.

“If one is able to remove the ego-sense by means of one’s awakened intelligence, he cleanses from his consciousness the impurity known as world-appearance.” ~ The Yoga Vasistha, an ancient Hindu text.

“After Realization, the supposed seeing ends and what is known will be known and what was supposedly ‘seen’ will be ‘seen’ no more.” ~ Floyd Henderson, author of The Advanced Seekers’ Series

One of the Nisargadatta Maharaj quotes from yesterday was, “Just remember steadily what you want, and reject the incompatibles.”

Today’s reading is about rejecting the incompatibles.

My dictionary has three definitions for “reject”:

1. Dismiss as inadequate, inappropriate, or not to one’s taste
2. Refuse to agree to
3. Fail to show due affection or concern for

What are the incompatibles we are to reject?

1. The world as our purpose
2. Guilt as a motivating factor or call to action
3. Fear as a motivating factor or call to action

In a way, we aren’t to reject the world, guilt or fear, and in another way we are to reject them. First, I will write about how we are not to reject the world, guilt or fear, and then I will write about how we are to reject them.

The World

We are not to reject the world by avoiding the roles we are to play in the world. There are roles that come with each bodily existence. Our roles may include spouse, parent, child, worker, homeowner, pet owner and etcetera. Each role has ‘doing’ that is part of that role. Doing is natural, and doesn’t need to be avoided.

What is unnatural is attachment to doing. We are attached to doing when we associate our identity, self-image, safety, or happiness with doing. We are detached from doing when we see that doing has nothing to do with who we are, what we are, our sense of well being, or joy.

We are to reject attachment to roles in the world, while continuing to do the doing called for by those roles. See attachment as inadequate or not to your taste. Refuse to agree to it. Do not be concerned with thoughts that lead to attachment.

Guilt and Fear

We are not to reject guilt or fear by avoiding those feelings. Whenever those feelings arise, we are to pay attention to them. They signal false ideas that are to be seen and let go. In fact, when guilt or fear arise, it is best to give them our full attention by inquiring into them to see what we can learn, and then by practicing rest-accept-trust until they have passed.

We are to reject guilt and fear as motivators for action. In other words, we are to reject doing what guilt and fear urge us to do. They are not appropriate motivators, and so do not agree to them as motivators. Instead, stay with inquiry and rest-accept-trust, and do nothing else, until guilt and fear have dissipated and a sense of peace, acceptance or well-being returns.

The same is true for the many forms of guilt and fear, which include unworthiness, the sense of lack or the sense ‘I am lacking,’ anger, hatred, jealousy, and etcetera.

A Final Tip

I recommend printing this tip for future reference. Great confusion often comes with attachment to the world, with guilt and with fear. It may be difficult or impossible to remember this tip once confusion sets in. If you keep this tip in a handy place, you can reread it along with NTI Matthew 23 whenever it is needed.

(Note: This is the third tip that I have suggested you print. Consider keeping the printed tips in a notebook, so you know where they are and you can access them easily for review. The other tips I’ve recommended printing are Day 5 and Day 11.)

Yesterday, I told a story about a woman with five daughters. In that story, the daughters were asked to remove their Disney Princess costumes, “and become my daughters again.” Of course, each girl already was the woman’s daughter. No one really had to remove the costume to “become” the daughter.

The same is true with you. You do not need to remove your false beliefs and conditioning in order to become truth. You are truth now. And yet, you do need to let go of your false beliefs and conditioning, just as the girls did need to take of the costumes—if not for strawberry shortcake, then later, for some other reason, like to get ready for bed, to bathe, or to go to school the next day.

Why do costumes need to be removed? Because they aren’t truth. The costumes did not represent who the girls were. The costumes weren’t real. They were temporary. Beliefs and conditioning do not represent what you are. They aren’t reality. They are temporary. The spiritual journey is one of taking off the temporary—like one takes off a costume—and returning to the foundational reality.

How does one do that?

Nisargadatta Maharaj said, “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. Listen, remember and understand — the mind is both the actor and the stage. All is of the mind and you are not the mind. The mind is born and reborn, not you.”

He also said, “Forget the known, but remember that you are the knower. Don’t be all the time immersed in your experiences. Remember that you are beyond the experience ever unborn and deathless. In remembering it, the quality of pure knowledge will emerge, the light of unconditional awareness.”

And, “The more earnest you are at remembering what needs to be remembered, the sooner will you be aware of yourself as you are, for memory will become experience. Earnestness reveals being. What is imagined and willed becomes actuality — here lies the danger as well as the way out.”

What is to be remembered? “The ‘I am’. Give your heart and mind to it, think of nothing else.”

And one final instruction from Nisargadatta Maharaj: “Just remember steadily what you want, and reject the incompatibles.”

These quotes are the heart of today’s reading. First, contemplate these quotes, and then read today’s reading from NTI. Put your heart into the contemplation and the reading, and you will experience great profit, which brings me to another Nisargadatta Maharaj quote:

Remember that you are.
This is your working capital.
Rotate it and there will be much profit.