What is the Last Judgment?

The first paragraph of our new special theme says:

Christ’s Second Coming gives the Son of God this gift: to hear the Voice for God proclaim that what is false is false, and what is true has never changed. And this the judgment is in which perception ends. At first you see a world that has accepted this as true, projected from a now corrected mind. And with this holy sight, perception gives a silent blessing and then disappears, its goal accomplished and its mission done.

A Course in Miracles and NTI tell the story of two awakenings. The first is the awakening from a deluded state of mind, also known as duality, to a pure state of mind, known as non-duality. It is awakening from the belief in manifestation as truth to realization of everything as consciousness. In my map, which is called The Four Principles of God, this is awakening from the Fourth Principle of God to the Second Principle of God.

However, another awakening remains. That is awakening from the Second Principle of God to the First Principle of God. That is the awakening that our current special theme points to. Notice it says, “And this the judgment in which perception ends. … perception gives a silent blessing and then disappears, its goal accomplished and its mission done.”

Or as NTI puts it, “…you pass from a final illusion of beauty to Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion. You pass from form, which reflects Light, to Light, which shines into form.”

In other words, there is one awakening, which is awakening to Christ. And then there is a second awakening, which is awakening into the Father. This could also be called awakening to the ‘I Am’ presence, and then awakening into its source.

As we continue to walk the spiritual path individually by being fully in the phase of awakening that we are currently in, which for most of us is either purification or merging, we will also look ahead of us in order to become clear on the destination and the landmarks along the way. This will help eliminate the ego’s ability to confuse us into thinking we have arrived at the destination when we have not.

I judge all things as I would have them be.

Today’s lesson speaks of judgment as “a weapon used against the truth.” It says that judgment “separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart.”

This is something you can see today. Judgment, as it is used by the ego, reconfirms over and over that there is a ‘me’ and ‘not me.’ It does not matter what you judge against. With each judgment the ego whispers its judgment into your mind—”me and not me.”

Notice this today. Look whenever you judge anyone or anything. If it is as simple as judging the weather, notice there is a ‘me’ and the weather, which is ‘not me.’ If it seems like a righteous judgment, notice there is a ‘me’ that is right and others—’not me’—who are wrong. Every time the ego uses judgment, judgment is used to separate.

After noticing the separation that comes from judgment, “make a gift of it to Him Who has a different use for it.” In other words, surrender your judgment because you don’t want to perceive separation anymore. No more thought is required than this. If you think too much about it, thinking may lead you right back into ego and the belief in separation. Do not think. Simply:

1. Look.
2. Notice the perception of separation that is caused by judgment.
3. Remember your desire to see without separation.
4. Let go of your judgment simply because it conflicts with what you truly want.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

This special theme ends by saying, “Pray that the Second Coming will be soon, but do not rest with that. It needs your eyes and ears and hands and feet. It needs your voice. And most of all it needs your willingness. Let us rejoice that we can do God’s Will, and join together in its holy light.”

As we have seen, the spiritual path is made up of four primary stages. The four stages lead to a final awakening that is beyond those stages completely. It is an awakening that is beyond perception. It is awakening to the First Principle of God, which is the Source and ultimate truth.

The Second Coming is awakening to the Second Principle of God, consciousness. That is the fourth stage of the spiritual path. Although it is an awakening, it is prior to the final awakening. Consciousness sees with true perception. It knows all things in manifestation as consciousness. Therefore, it knows all things are one.

Merging is the stage that leads to awakening as consciousness. This is a stage of surrender, when one continually lets go of anything that appears to be a separate will or separate self and surrenders into spiritual intuition and the recognition of consciousness. Awareness-watching-awareness meditation is an important part of this stage. Practicing surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana is another part of this stage. The Loving All Method is also a wonderful practice during this stage of awakening.

Purification prepares you for merging. Purification is a stage of clearing away false beliefs and conditioning. It is a stage of untangling or undoing. It is also when most people discover spiritual intuition. Inquiry is a very important part of this stage. Focusing on one’s willingness, spiritual aspiration or desire for clarity is also very important. Awareness-watching-awareness meditation is helpful, because it can help you achieve some distance from the mind, which aids immeasurably in letting go. The Loving All Method helps you gain freedom from your emotions and judgments, which is also very helpful.

In fearlessness and love I spend today.

Today’s lesson says, “This day, my Father, would I spend with You, as You have chosen all my days should be.”

Nisargadatta Maharaj once said, “If you desire to be free, do not neglect the nearest step to freedom.”

Let’s spend this day with our Father by paying attention to our individual “nearest step to freedom.”

Ask this question:

What is my nearest step to freedom?
What do I need to know and do?

Let writing (or speaking into a recorder) lead you to the answer. Start by writing the answer that feels true to you. Write to the boundary of your knowledge, and then wait to see what truth comes from beyond the boundary of your current knowledge.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Our special theme says, “The Second Coming is one event in time which time itself can not affect. For every one who ever came to die, or yet will come or who is present now, is equally released from what he made. In this equality is Christ restored as one Identity, in which the Sons of God acknowledge that they are all one.”

This is a statement that says we cannot fail to awaken to consciousness.

Admittedly, it is possible that our awakening to consciousness will not happen in this lifetime. However, the special theme says, “For every one who ever came to die, or yet will come…”

That means that if awakening does not occur in this lifetime, it will occur in another lifetime. Awakening is guaranteed!

When we think of this lifetime as the only time we have, we are looking at this person as who we are. We are not this person.

To see that we also have other lifetimes in which we can accomplish this goal broadens our perspective of our self as more than this time-limited being with a particular name and history. It’s helpful to see that we are beyond that limit, because that is true.

At the same time, this lifetime is a perfect time to make every stride that we can in the direction of awakening. Maybe this will be the lifetime in which we awaken!

Whether this is the lifetime in which we awaken or not, as we saw in our contemplation yesterday, “this instant is the only time there is. … The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now.” Let’s use now well.

I will not fear to look within today

The lesson says, “Within me is eternal innocence, because it is God’s Will that it be there forever and forever. … I fear to look within because I think I made another will that is not true, and made it real. Yet it has no effects. Within me is the Holiness of God. Within me is the memory of Him.”

If you have listened to my teachings much at all, you have heard me speak of the ‘I am bad’ thought. This fear—the fear that ‘I am bad’—is one of the greatest obstacles to awakening. It keeps us stuck in the belief that we are something other than God. As NTI puts it:

You believe you have stolen yourself from God. That is to say, you believe you have made yourself separate from God’s Will. You believe it is your choice to follow God’s Will or your own, and you feel guilty for this choice, because you believe it is a sin to have made a will that is separate from God’s.

Your guilt, born of the choice to have a separate will, leaves you feeling unworthy of God’s Will. And so, out of your guilt and sense of unworthiness, you deny God’s Will by not hearing it, or by hearing it, but by not believing you are deserving to follow it.

There are several things you must look at here. First, you do have the desire to know and follow God’s Will. Hold that up as a beacon. That is your willingness. Let it guide you to your true Heart’s desire.

Secondly, the feeling that seems to be an obstacle to knowing and following God’s Will is the belief that you are unworthy of God’s Will. This is like a crafty trick. It is a loop that keeps you trapped within an illusion of yourself.

You think you are guilty because you want to serve a will other than God’s,

and

Your true desire is to serve God’s Will,
but your sense of unworthiness is an obstacle to that desire.

Do you see the loop in which you are snared? Can you see how your own belief in your guilt and unworthiness seems to lead you onto the path of increased guilt and additional unworthiness?

This is why I have come, to help you look at the upside-down reasoning within the mind that keeps you feeling trapped. And also to help you see that you are not trapped, because you can lay down this reasoning that makes no sense. When you lay it down and put it aside, you are free to know the reasoning of the Holy Spirit, which is right-reasoning and is joy.

If you are in the purification stage, spend today noticing the thoughts in your mind that continually tell you that you are ‘bad’ (guilty, unworthy, not good enough, etc.) Each time you notice one of these thoughts, realize that it is an ego preservation strategy and nothing more. Put faith in the fact that you are eternally innocent. Rest for a few moments as you hold that faith in your mind and heart. You don’t need to understand how you are innocent. You simply need to trust that it’s true.

If you are already purified from the ‘I am bad’ belief, let today’s lesson be a reminder of your desire to surrender completely, and therefore merge fully with consciousness.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Our special theme says, “The Second Coming is the time in which all minds are given to the hands of Christ, to be returned to spirit in the name of true creation and the Will of God.”

That is an extraordinary sentence.

“all minds are given to the hands of Christ”

“to be returned to spirit”

“in the name of true creation”

“and the Will of God”

Please take time to contemplate this sentence today. What clarity comes to you as you contemplate this beautiful symphony of words? Be sure to write your clarity down, so you can return to it if it is forgotten later in the day.

This instant is the only time there is.

Today’s lesson is also incredible.

“I have conceived of time in such a way that I defeat my aim.”

“I must change my perception of what time is for.”

“Time’s purpose cannot be to keep the past and future one.”

“The only interval in which I can be saved from time is now.”

“The birth of Christ is now”

“present blessing”

“love is ever-present, here and now”

“Thanks for this instant, Father.”

Oh my goodness! What a glorious feast! It is a perfect combination of ideas to bring us into the heart.

Please contemplate these words from today’s lesson, just as you contemplated the excerpt from our special theme.

I can hardly wait to get this tip posted, so I can move into my own joyous and fruitful contemplation. The heart is already opening in anticipation of it.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Our special theme says, “The Second Coming ends the lessons that the Holy Spirit teaches, making way for the Last Judgment, in which learning ends in one last summary that will extend beyond itself, and reaches up to God.”

Our last special theme, “What is the Real World?” shared the same teaching. Spiritual intuition leads us across a bridge that leads from the false self to truth. When we have reached the end of the bridge, spiritual intuition’s job is complete. God takes the final step to pull us into Itself. In today’s excerpt from our special theme, that step is called “The Last Judgment.” (We will look more at the “Last Judgment” later, because that is our next special theme.)

We’ve talked about the third stage of spiritual awakening as merging. This is the phase of disregarding the apparent personal will by following spiritual intuition until no separate will can be said to exist anymore. When merging is complete, there is realization of only one consciousness and one will. This is a highly awakened state where one is not tempted by the ego anymore. One lives a fully harmonious life that is centered in the still-point of God. This is the Second Coming. In NTI, it is called the fourth stage of awakening. However, it is not the last step in awakening. One step remains, which is God’s final step.

Here is how the final step is described in NTI 1 Corinthians:

The one that seems to be in the fourth stage is but a symbol of the truth that is. So this one must pass away also. But in its passing, you pass from a final illusion of beauty to Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion. You pass from form, which reflects Light, to Light, which shines into form.

Using the Four Principles of God as a symbol, this is awakening from the Second Principle, consciousness, to the First Principle, Source, which is ultimate truth.

Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.

Today’s lesson is focused on the third stage of the spiritual path, merging. However, this lesson is also useful to you if you are in the purification stage.

If merging is your primary focus now, use today’s lesson to increase your desire for surrender and your sincerity in that practice. Read today’s lesson in its entirety and with heart at least five times today. Let it give you a boost in enthusiasm. Also, practice surrender throughout the day.

If purification is your primary focus now, spend today noticing the thinking in the mind. Notice that your thinking does not have one goal. In one moment it prefers one solution to a specific problem, and in the next moment it criticizes that solution and prefers another. As The Teachings of Inner Ramana says:

The mind is not constant. The concerns of the mind for one day may be completely different than the concerns for another. If all of the concerns for one day are written down, it may be seen that concerns and imagined solutions conflict with one another, so that no true peace can be found with the mind. The solution of concerns creates new concerns. And so again, there is no peace with the mind.

This is why one must step away from the mind to find peace. Peace cannot be found with the mind.

Stepping away from the mind is as simple as losing interest in it. When the mind chatters, it chatters because you are listening. As you lose interest in what it has to say, because you know its answers are not your answers, the chattering of mind shall fade away.

Each time you notice the chaos of mind today, remove attention from thinking and place it with your willingness to lose interest in the mind, and then repeat today’s lesson, “Conflicting wishes cannot be my will.”

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Our special theme says, “Forgiveness lights the Second Coming’s way, …”

When we are learning to undo the ego thought system, one thing we learn is to let go of ego thoughts without speaking them or acting on them. This is important, because speaking them or acting on them fortifies them with our belief in their validity. That is the opposite of forgiveness.

Conversely, speaking from and acting on our choice to awaken strengthens that choice. It also sends a message regarding our sincerity to the creative principle, which results in a stronger response from Grace, one that is equal to our sincerity. This is why Nisargadatta Maharaj said, “strive for the coveted Grace with sincerity and honesty.”

Sincerity is more than a mental decision or emotional feeling. It is living from one’s convictions free of pretense, deceit or hypocrisy.

You cannot fool the creative principle. It responds to you as you are actually being in mind, heart, word and deed.

Are you ready to “strive for the coveted Grace with sincerity and honesty”?

The gift of Christ is all I seek today.

As you read and contemplate today’s lesson, also contemplate your sincerity as it is defined above. Do this without judgment. We aren’t interested in finding ourselves guilty, lacking or bad. We are simply interested in determining if there have been limits to the Grace in our life, because there have been limits in our motivation to live from our decision to awaken.

If we are limited, Grace responds in a way that is equal to our sincerity.
Likewise, if we remove all limits, Grace responds in a way that is equal to our sincerity.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Yesterday we looked at the creation principle and saw how Grace is created based on our change of focus. Interestingly, Michael Langford writes this in his book, Manonasa:

[You may] wonder, “Is it by grace, luck, fate or magic that those very few who attain Manonasa (the final end of the false self after which it can never reappear) succeed in attaining Manonasa?” It is not by grace, luck, fate or magic. It is by using a different approach than the crowd uses. …

The intensity of the desire for freedom from the false self is the key factor. When that desire for freedom becomes extremely intense it changes everything. The extremely intense desire for freedom changes all of one’s actions, it increases the level of self honesty, it changes one’s approach to everything and especially it changes one’s approach to how to go about attaining Manonasa.

In his book, The Direct Means to Eternal Bliss, Michael writes:

When your desire for Freedom becomes extremely intense, for the first time you can see what is essential for freedom and what is not essential. … When the desire for Freedom becomes even stronger, the desire for Freedom itself will bring you everything you need to succeed in your quest for Freedom including the answers to all your questions, the Direct Path teachings, the solution to all obstacles, the motivation to practice, etc. … The extremely intense desire for the direct experience of the absolute Truth will guide you to your inner Teacher.

So, when Michael writes in Manonasa that Manonasa (awakening) does not happen by grace, he is using the word “grace” as synonymous with “luck, fate or magic,” meaning that it does not come to you without your participation. This is true, because of the creative principle. If you feed interest in the world into the creative principle, you receive thoughts and circumstances that reflect that. But when you feed desire for truth into the creative principle, especially when that is backed by action, you receive everything you need to help you awaken. Gina Lake and I call that Grace; Michael does not. He gives credit to your desire for Freedom. However, we are all teaching about the creative principle and how it responds to you.

You do you part,
and Grace will do its part.
It is a divine partnership.
It is the law of the creative principle.

There is a peace that Christ bestows on us.

The prayer from today’s lesson says:

Father, the peace of Christ is given us, because it is Your Will that we be saved. Help us today but to accept Your gift, and judge it not. For it has come to us to save us from our judgment on ourselves.

Contemplate this prayer along with the teaching on divine partnership. What clarity comes to you through this contemplation?

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Yesterday I wrote of Christ’s Second Coming as the fully integrated state of knowing one’s self as consciousness. I also encouraged you to take part in awakening to consciousness by fulfilling your role within your current stage of awakening. Today, I will write about Grace and the part it fulfills in your awakening.

Recently, I read to you from Chapter 4 in Gina Lake’s book, In the World but Not of It. Here is one paragraph that I read:

Exercising your power to choose silence or any other activity that promotes Presence is a real turning point on the path to spiritual liberation. This marks an acceleration in your spiritual growth which will reverberate in your life in countless ways. Things will change, many of them unexpected. Anything truly begins to be possible. More conscious choosing of Presence lays the groundwork for Grace to be more active in your life. The more sincere you are, the more Grace is bestowed.

This is true because of the Third Principle of God, the ongoing creation principle.

The creation principle is a principle of now. It is as if all of the data in the universe is fed into a creation mechanism, which then creates the current moment of time based on the information received. You learned about this principle through “The Code” and NTI Ephesians.

When you are focused on the world and your thoughts about the world, this is the data that is fed into the creation principle, and so the creation principle responds by giving you world-based thoughts to think. Your life is also filled with circumstances that reflect your desire for the world and its drama.

However, as you begin to want truth, and you back that desire up by acting upon it, you send new data into the creation principle. The creation principle responds by giving you new thoughts to think and by filling your life with circumstances that support your desire to awaken.

In that way, Grace isn’t anything miraculous. It is divine law acting in the way divine law always acts by responding to you. It is as Nisargadatta Maharaj said:

I know nothing about miracles, and I wonder whether nature admits exceptions to her laws, unless we agree that everything is a miracle. To my mind there is no such thing. There is consciousness in which everything happens. It is quite obvious and within the experience of everybody. You just do not look carefully enough. Look well, and see what I see.

Our special theme says, “Forgiveness lights the Second Coming’s way, …” Please contemplate this line from our special theme along with the teaching I just shared about the Third Principle of God. What clarity comes to you?

Let not my world obscure the sight of Christ.

Today’s lesson begins, “I can obscure my holy sight, if I intrude my world upon it. Nor can I behold the holy sights Christ looks upon, unless it is His vision that I use. Perception is a mirror, not a fact. And what I look on is my state of mind, reflected outward.”

With the teaching about the creative principle in mind, what does this mean? Please write the answer to this question as if you are teaching about the creative principle and its effects to another person.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist

What is the Second Coming?

Our current special theme is about Christ’s Second Coming. That is symbolic language that points to an awakening, which is commonly referred to as awakening to consciousness. In the model I shared yesterday of The Four Principles of God, it is awakening to the Second Principle of God.

Two days ago, I shared four stages of the spiritual path as it is depicted in NTI. Today, let’s look at those four stages to see how they fit with awakening to the Second Principle of God.

Second Principle of God – Consciousness. This is the only direct creation of the Source. In A Course in Miracles it is called “Christ” and “the Son of God.” It is the unaffected, still witness. All things manifest are made of this principle; therefore, all things are consciousness.

Typically, when one begins the spiritual path, that one believes s/he is a person in the world. In other words, one believes the manifest realm is reality. That means that the process of awakening begins in the Fourth Principle of God, manifestation.

The goal of awakening, although the spiritual aspirant may not be aware of the goal yet, is to awaken from belief in manifestation as reality to the Second Principle of God, consciousness. This awakening includes three basic stages: the search, purification, and merging with spiritual intuition.

Some people appear to ‘pop’ into consciousness without going through these three stages. However, those people complete their maturation after awakening by completing the stages they have not yet completed. In some cases people find themselves at the beginning, in the search, after awakening. They experience it as searching for what has happened to them.

Whether one goes through the three stages of awakening and then awakens to consciousness or seems to awaken to consciousness and then complete the stages, one is not fully integrated as consciousness until all three stages have been completed.

Our special theme refers to the Second Coming of Christ as all-inclusive. That means that the Second Coming of Christ is a term that points to the completion and total integration of consciousness as self.

In NTI, the Second Coming of Christ is the fourth stage of the spiritual path. NTI says:

The fourth phase is a glorious phase, upon which your feet shall barely touch the ground. As you walk the earth, you know where you walk, so that the earth is merely a symbol within the mind. You shall not know brothers, but you shall talk to them. You will not need food, but you will eat with joy. Music shall accompany you in your every moment, and yet, you will have no need for your ears. Your sight will be changed from earthly sight to sight that is provided from Heaven. All things shall be new, and you shall have no need for any of them. In this, your joy shall be complete.

Or, as our special theme says:

It is the all-inclusive nature of Christ’s Second Coming that permits it to embrace the world and hold you safe within its gentle advent, which encompasses all living things with you. There is no end to the release the Second Coming brings, as God’s creation must be limitless.

The holy Christ is born in me today.

The prayer from today’s lesson says:

Your Son is welcome, Father. … He is the Self that You have given me. He is but what I really am in truth. … He is my Self as You created me. It is not Christ that can be crucified. Safe in Your Arms let me receive Your Son.

Near the end of our last special theme, I asked you to determine which stage of the spiritual path you are on, and based on that, what your primary function is.

If you are at the first stage, the search for truth, your primary function is reading and listening to spiritual teachings while feeling within for an inner confirmation regarding which teachings are for you.

If you are at the second stage, purification, your primary function is inquiring into your perceptions and thinking, giving willingness to let go of false thinking, learning not to act or speak from false thinking, and allowing repressed emotions to rise and heal.

If you are at the third stage, merging, your primary function is letting go of your personal will, including your thinking and conditioning, and surrendering to spiritual intuition until that surrender is complete, and you no longer experience a separate will.

If you are at the fourth stage, you know yourself as consciousness and the first three stages are completed.

Assuming that you are in the first, second or third stage of the spiritual path, spend today giving welcome to consciousness as your self by practicing your function as fully as you can. We are not here simply to say, “Let me receive Your Son.” We are here to back up that intention by doing our part to fulfill our function.

Tomorrow, I will talk about Grace’s role on the spiritual path. Today, just be aware that you are not alone as you do your part.

Meditation Options

Guided Meditation Audios

YouTube Meditation Playlist