The ego often tells us that awakening is impossible. Or, at least it will say it is impossible for “me.” However, A Course in Miracles says:
“In an impossible situation, you can develop your abilities to the point where they can get you out of it.”
And that is what we are doing in the Gentle Healing Group. Day-by-day, step-by-step, we are developing our abilities to the point that we will become un-mesmerized by the ego and its dream, and therefore fully ready to embrace awakening. That means awakening is possible for us. In fact, if we simply keep taking steps in that direction, one step at a time, day-by-day, awakening is inevitable!
Here’s a fun song to help us remember that:
Tips from Regina – Lesson 87
As mentioned in yesterday’s tip, discouragement is of the ego. It is a very successful ego trick, because it can lead us to let go of the practice that awakens.
Today I would like to share several quotes from masters. These quotes all make the same point: Complete awakening is possible for you if you make it the priority in your life.
From Nisargadatta Maharaj:
“The desire to find the Self will surely be fulfilled, provided you want nothing else.”
Questioner: How is the person removed?
Maharaj: By determination. Understand that it must go and wish it to go; it shall go if you are earnest about it.
“Try. One step at a time is easy. Energy flows from earnestness.”
“The mind will rebel in the beginning, but with patience and perseverance it will yield and keep quiet.”
Questioner: I have tried many times and failed.
Maharaj: Try again. If you keep on trying, something may happen. But if you don’t, you are stuck.
“All will come as you go on. Take the first step first.”
From The Supreme Yoga Vasistha:
“One should never yield to laziness but strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is ebbing away every moment.”
“Constantly seek to discover the supreme peace.”
“By their own self-effort millions of beings have attained liberation.”
“The wayfarer does not despair at the sight of the long road ahead but takes one step at a time.”
“By persistent effort the impossible becomes possible.”
From The Way of Mastery, Chapter 10:
“The point of all of this is simple. I want to convey to you, yet again, that the life I lived as a man was not unlike your very own. … If there be anything that I can give unto you, it is simply this: … I have overcome the world.”
“You are the one who decides.”
“All of your mind, all of your energy, all of your gifts, all of your very awareness must become committed to being the presence of peace.”
“The wisest of students are those that hear the word and put it into practice, diligently, for themselves.”
“But I can promise you, if you will take up such a path – simply, joyfully, gently, patiently – the end of your journey is certain.”
Audio & Homework – Week 14 Gentle Healing Group with Regina, 4/11/17
Listen to this audio
Regina Dawn Akers guides a group of committed students who would like to make consistent, gentle progress toward genuine peace, joy and love. This group meets weekly and all members are committed to specific assignments and practices between group meetings. Everyone who is willing to make a commitment to healing/awakening is invited to join this group.
Homework for the upcoming week:
1. Homework Assignment A: Workbook lessons 87-93. Practice daily awareness-watching-awareness meditation for 10 – 15 minutes each day.
2. Homework Assignment B: First, contemplate your spiritual aspiration. Next, watch “The MetaPhysical Secret – The Law of Attraction,” in the Gentle Healing Playlist on the Awakening Together YouTube Channel. Listen for teachings in this video that will help you realize/achieve your spiritual aspiration. Take notes on those things that will help you realize/achieve your spiritual aspiration.
3. Homework Assignment C: Listen to RDA teaching, “The Secret Holy Spirit Style,” parts 1 & 2. They can be found at www.reginadawnakers.com under Classics, One Dozen Classic Audios, #12.
4. Homework Assignment D: Create a visualization plan that promotes your spiritual aspiration.
Regina’s Tips for Year 1 as an ebook
Gentle Healing Facebook group: Sharing in Contemplation Together
Tips from Regina – Lesson 86
Some spiritual teachers, like Michael Langford and Ellie Roozdar, teach that awakening/enlightenment are extremely rare. Often, when people hear this, they feel discouraged. Recently, Kathy Smith expressed that discouragement during one of my Seven Steps teachings, and Michael heard it. He responded by writing a letter to Kathy. Here is some of what he wrote in that letter:
“When I make a statement that less than one out of every five hundred million humans attains [the final end of the ego], I am referring to the seven billion people living on the earth today. I am not referring to people who are practicing the truly Direct Path. Those odds do not apply to people who are practicing the truly Direct Path.
“Look at the Seven Billion humans living on the earth. Billions of them are not even on a spiritual or religious path. They are materialists who are just living this one life for whatever pleasure this one life can give them and they are not interested in anything that is not physical or material. You do not fall into that category because you have an interest in the spiritual and that is a reason to be encouraged.
“Billions of people are on some sort of spiritual or religious path. Almost all of those spiritual or religious paths are feeding the ego illusion. Most of those people have never even read one book or seen one video that describes the truly Direct Path. Let us suppose that out of the seven billion humans on earth that seventy thousand have read a book or seen a video that describes the truly Direct Path. You are one of the seventy thousand that has read books that describe the truly Direct Path and that is a reason for great encouragement!
“Whatever you do or do not do for the rest of your life with the truly Direct Path, you have been introduced to it and therefore you are way ahead in the game of awakening! That is a reason for great encouragement, not discouragement.”
For those of you who don’t know, “the direct path” refers to watching awareness. Everyone in the Gentle Healing Group has been introduced to this path and hopefully is practicing it a little each day. That means everyone in the Gentle Healing group is “way ahead in the game of awakening!” Our feet are solidly on the path, and this is reason for great encouragement.
By the way, Michael also mentioned in his letter that discouragement is of the ego. It is one of the ego’s preservation strategies, since discouragement keeps us from spiritual practice. If we see discouragement as an ego trick, it may help us NOT listen to thoughts of discouragement.
Before coming across Michael Langford or Ellie Roozdar, I already knew that full awakening was extremely rare. Yet, I felt called to reach for it in this lifetime, and so …. well, that was that.
One song that has always encouraged me in my quest for awakening is “The Impossible Dream.” Here’s a link to Susan Boyle’s version of that song:
Tips from Regina – Lesson 85
Someone once asked me what motivates me to spiritual practice. My answer: It is the practice itself that motivates me. I find that as I dedicate myself to spiritual practice, I experience an increase in my desire for spiritual practice.
There may be some bio-chemical thing happening in the body to explain this. Just as the cells in our body can learn to crave certain emotions or specific types of food based on what we’ve given it, the body-mind can begin to crave spiritual practice and devotional time with God. This could be called “the positive use of craving.”
What we need to notice about this is that the body-mind learns to crave what we give it, so we have to GIVE IT in order for the body-mind to begin to crave it.
That could mean that in the beginning there isn’t much motivation to practice. However, in order to create the motivation to practice, we need to practice anyway. It reminds me of an Awakening Together Daily Quote from last week:
“Each step may seem to take forever, but no matter how uninspired you feel, continue to follow your practice schedule precisely and consistently. This is how we can use our greatest enemy, habit, against itself.”
~ Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche
Buddha taught that when we see the cause of suffering we also see the path to ending suffering. The cause of suffering is the ego thought system. The path to ending suffering is the spiritual practice that leads to the end of the ego thought system. That understanding is our motivation to begin spiritual practice even though we may not yet crave spiritual practice. If we will do that, the motivation to spiritual practice will increase as the body-mind learns to crave it.
In other words, through spiritual practice we become a soul on fire.
Tips from Regina – Lesson 84
Buddhists often speak of compassion. They practice compassion in many ways. It occurred to me recently to look at the life of Buddha to see what he meant by compassion.
For those of you who don’t know the story of Buddha, he was born the son of a king. When he was born, a prophet foretold that he would become either a great spiritual master or a great king. His father was determined that he become a great king, so he decided to hide the world from Prince Siddhartha. (I guess his father knew that the world’s suffering was the ‘kick’ that would put Siddhartha’s feet on the spiritual path.)
Siddhartha was never allowed to go outside the walls of the great palace. Inside those walls, the king made sure Siddhartha had everything he needed for a life of constant pleasure. However when Siddhartha was a young man, he grew increasingly curious about what was outside of the palace walls. His father knew this curiosity had to be resolved, so he arranged for the prince to have a tour outside the walls. The tour was carefully orchestrated so that Siddhartha only saw young, healthy people. The old, the sick and the dying were hidden on back streets that were not part of Siddhartha’s tour.
As it turns out, one curious old man peeked around a corner to get a glimpse of the prince as he passed, and Siddhartha saw him. Prince Siddhartha had never seen old age before and was immediately struck by what he saw. He followed the old man in order to learn more, and stumbled across everything his father had tried to hide from him. Old age, sickness and death.
Prince Siddhartha was overcome with compassion for everyone who suffered from these maladies. Driven by compassion, his quest became the pursuit of the end of suffering.
Now, this is what is important for us to notice. When driven by compassion to end suffering, did Siddhartha decide to be a great king so he could make new laws? Did he decide to become a doctor? A scientist? A social worker? No. He decided to seek enlightenment. Somehow he intuitively knew that the answer to all problems rested with truth realization.
We are practicing true compassion when we dedicate our lives to the pursuit of truth realization. This is because the ego thought system is the cause of all forms of suffering.
Today I have selected a Christmas song for inspiration. It was written by John Lennon. I picked this song because it asks us, “What have you done?” This is not meant as an accusation, but as an internal question that we can each contemplate until increased motivation for spiritual practice arises within us. If we ask, motivation will come
Listen to the song by John Lennon Note: You may have to click “I Understand and Wish to Proceed” to watch the video in YouTube, because of the violence presented in the video.
Tips from Regina – Lesson 83
I know some of you found yesterday’s tip difficult. One ego preservation strategy is denying the full onslaught of suffering and terror caused by the ego thought system. If we looked directly at it, we would give it up. It’s like the movie, “Inception,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. In that movie, they are going deep into another man’s dream in order to plant an idea into his head. The question becomes, “How will we wake up from the dream?” The answer is to plant a ‘kick’ in the dream, something that will shock them awake.
If we looked at the full horror caused by the ego thought system, that would be our ‘kick,’ so the ego makes sure we don’t look.
In spite of any suffering we may experience, our lives aren’t bad. Our level of suffering is tolerable, which is why we put up with it. The disadvantage of that is that it doesn’t push us to desire awakening with our whole heart, our whole soul, all of our strength and all of our mind.
However, there is an advantage to our easier lives too.
If we were overly consumed with suffering, we might not have time or energy to focus on awakening, because we would be too busy trying to resolve the problems of our suffering (or too sick/weak to do anything). Our more cozy lifestyles permit the opportunity for spiritual practice, if we will take advantage of them. And as yesterday’s tip pointed out, we can be motivated by the suffering of others, if we are willing to look like Prince Siddhartha (Buddha) looked.
Most of us (if not all of us) know that we do not take full advantage of the time allotted to us for spiritual practice. Yesterday I was driving to the bank in our new AT Ride (a van donated for our Retreat House) when I heard a Christian song on the radio. The song said that a saint is someone who, “falls down and gets up, falls down and gets up, falls down and gets up.”
So, that’s what we need to do. When we notice we have slipped or forgotten our purpose (fallen down), we just begin again (get up). In this way, we awaken ourselves and the world.
Tips from Regina – Lesson 82
Earlier this week someone, presumably Syria’s president Assad, ordered a chemical attack on civilians/terrorists (depending on who is telling the story). In America, we saw images of the children affected in the attack. Last night US President Trump ordered an attack on a Syrian airbase. Russia, Iran and Syria say the US attack was “naively pulled behind a false propaganda campaign.”
An 11-year old boy hung himself because his girlfriend and her friends pulled a prank on social media saying she killed herself. (Clearly he was pulled in by a false propaganda campaign.)
North Korea’s nuclear missile campaign is increasing. Their leader has been willing to execute his own family members, so there is little to no trust that he will be responsible with nuclear weapons. His goal is to obtain the capability to strike the US.
A maid, who had been cleaning windows outside of a high-rise apartment, slipped. She held on to the windowsill and screamed desperately for help. Her employer thought it was funny. Instead of helping, she grabbed a smart phone to video it. The terrified maid fell. The employer walked over to the window to finish the story on video by showing her lying about 15-20 floors below. (Amazingly the maid survived.)
A Michigan woman, age 41, was arrested for choking a high school girl at Disney World on Wednesday night for blocking her view of the Disney fireworks show.
These are just a few of the stories in the news this week. The sad thing is, there are many, many, many more stories like them that we will never hear about. These aren’t just stories ‘out there.’ These stories are the affect of the ego thought system.
Buddha’s motivation for letting go of ego was the desire to find the end to suffering. His own suffering didn’t motivate him. Personally, he didn’t know suffering. He was motivated by compassion for others.
Jesus said his life was a ransom for many. Could he have had the same motivation as Buddha?
Can we look at the suffering and terror that is caused by the ego thought system, and like them, choose to let go of it?
Please take a moment to watch the following video today. And thanks for any effort that you put into letting go of the ego thought system in your mind. It is a gift to all of us.
Tips from Regina – Lesson 81
Congratulations. You have made it to the second review in the ACIM Workbook. I know some of you feel you have not been doing this perfectly. That’s okay. We rest for a bit in the arms of this review in order to strengthen our commitment to truth.
Notice these sentences in the introduction to the review:
~ Do not allow your intent to waver in the face of distracting thoughts. … Replace them with your determination to succeed.
~ Regard these practice periods as dedications to the way, the truth, and the life.
~ You are dedicated to salvation. Be determined each day not to leave your function unfulfilled.
Repeatedly we are told, “Be determined and dedicated.” So this is the primary objective of lessons 81 – 90. We are here to gather our motivation and strength so we may continue on with increased determination and dedication.
My tips each day during this review period will not focus on the specific lessons that we are reviewing that day. Instead, I will focus on the objective of gathering motivation and strength so we can continue with increased determination and dedication. I will be our coach.
“Do not dwell in the desert hot of the non-self, eating arid sand. Come into the Heart, the mansion cool, shady, vast, serene and feast on the bliss of Self.” ~ The Garland of Guru’s Saying
Tips from Regina – Lesson 80, Let me recognize my problems have been solved
Yesterday we recognized that our only problem is listening to and believing mental chatter. When we carefully examine our mental chatter, we find it is full of untruths.
I remember once when I was going through a lot of fear regarding stories in my mind about what would happen if I quit my job, which was my guidance at the time. One day, during my daily journaling process, I was guided to list things I had feared in the past. All of the things I wrote down had caused significant fear for me. Next, I was guided to look at that list and notice how many of those fears had come true. Amazingly in my case, not one of them had ever actually occurred.
This was a big eye opener for me. Why was I listening to my mind like it was a wise counselor? It was literally making stuff up!
A few months later I had quit my job and sold my house. I was in North Carolina looking for a new house. I couldn’t find anything that I could afford that didn’t need significant work, and I didn’t have the money for significant work. I began to really fear that I had messed up my entire life by listening to this guidance to quit my job. It was one of the greatest fear episodes I ever experienced. A friend from high school happened to come by that day and see my condition. When I told him my story he responded gently, “There’s nothing wrong. You just don’t know that yet.”
He was right. There would be a solution. I just didn’t know it yet, and I had slipped into believing my mind’s made up stories again.
Have you ever noticed that not a single problem lasts forever? Everything that has a beginning has an end, and that is true for problems too. As John Lennon sang in his song, Watching the Wheels, “There’s no problem, only solutions.”
What if we knew this? Wouldn’t we relax and enjoy the ride?
“You are entitled to peace today. A problem that has been resolved cannot trouble you. Only be certain that you do not forget that all problems are the same. Their many forms will not deceive you while you remember this. [The only ‘problem’ is believing your mind. Remember not to believe it today.] One problem, one solution. Accept the peace this simple statement brings.”
We bring the problem to the answer when we remain aware that the mind’s chatter is the problem. The answer is our awareness.
Awareness is that which does not come and go. It was not born and does not die. It is our truth. Our wisdom resides in awareness, not in the mind. Remain the gentle presence of awareness today.
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