I will continually increase my focus on God, while simultaneously letting go of everything in me that I recognize as not God. As I take care of myself in this way, I trust seeing will take care of itself.

Review 22. What I see is a form of vengeance: What I see has changed, because my mind—my attention—has changed. My seeing is more joyous and more reverent than before.

I spontaneously notice the majestic power of a bird’s flapping wings as it passes overhead, and it takes my breath away. I hear silence amidst the sounds of this world and feel its peace in my heart. I see ‘problems’ as temporary and life as unending.

Where is there room for improvement?

I see life as busy. I see humans creating their own busyness unnecessarily. I realize I am caught in this cycle. Busyness needs to be questioned, because it keeps us centered in the world instead of in God.

What I see is a form of busyness. ~ha ha~ Okay, this tells me what I need to work on, and so I will.

Review 23. I can escape from this world by giving up attack thoughts: I want to put more focus on God. I can feel this in the core of my being.

I recently had a dream that showed I want to take the solitary trek to God, but I am allowing myself to be pulled back into the world by ‘others.’

Do I want to take the solitary trek that is calling me?

Am I willing to give up what I think others want in order to do this?

Review 24. I do not perceive my own best interests: The ego is willing to hi-jack this calling for aloneness with God. It is eager to plan my escape. I cannot think about how I will take this solitary trek, because ego will be in the thinking. My best guidance is to say ‘yes,’ and then remain present for in-the-moment intuition as it occurs. It knows the way. Thinking does not.

Review 25. I do not know what anything is for. Therefore, I cannot judge. To judge is to invest in ignorance. To be, is to be centered in wisdom

What I am is living-intelligent-open-awareness.
What is true is what I am, life-intelligence-love-presence.
What is false is form. Form is the manifestation of story, changing story.

To live with maturity is to stay in touch with what is true. Allow the false to be. Allow it to be as incidental, while abiding lovingly with the true.

Review 17. I see no neutral things. Everything perceived with the senses is the manifestation of thought. There is no difference between the thoughts in one’s brain and the form sensed with the body. Maturity does not see a difference between these things.

To live with maturity is to stay in touch with what is true. Allow the false to be. Allow it to be without undue emphasis. Interact with it appropriately. Interact with it while abiding lovingly with the true.

Review 18. I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing. Abide lovingly with the true, and radiate truth. Forget the truth, and radiate confusion. To radiate is natural and uninterruptable, so it is always occurring. Maturity is aware of this fact, so it lovingly abides with the true in order to communicate consistently the compassionate message of truth.

Review 19. I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts. To wander from my realization of truth is to spread confusion. At this stage, spreading confusion is still a possibility for me. I can get lazy, go back to sleep and forget what I know, but I don’t have to. I don’t have to, and I don’t want to. I am fully capable of remaining awake and aware now. It is time for maturity, and I am ready to be responsibly and lovingly mature. There’s nothing else that I need. My stage of awakening to wisdom is complete.

Review 20. I am determined to see. Seeing is nothing more than a present choice to abide with truth. I can do this now, and so I will.

When Helen scribed the review lessons, she also wrote a paragraph below each lesson. We do not know if this paragraph was fully scribed or if it is a reflection of her personal relationship with the lesson. In the instructions, you are asked to read these paragraphs, but you are also told that it is “not necessary to cover the comments that follow each idea either literally or thoroughly in the practice periods. Try, rather, to emphasize the central point, and think about it as part of your review of the idea to which it relates.” This might be because the comments are Helen’s personal relationship with each lesson. Rather than emphasizing her personal relationship, it is more helpful for you to develop your own personal relationship.

One way to develop your own personal relationship with the lessons is to contemplate each lesson and then write your own comments, comments that reflect your relationship with the lesson.

My intention for the review period is to spend time each morning contemplating the day’s review lessons and writing my own comments. Throughout the day, I will spend at least two minutes each hour deeply contemplating one lesson and the comments I wrote for that lesson. At the end of the day, I will reread the lessons and comments in the workbook along with my own comments.

If this feels right for you, please feel free to do the same. Developing your own relationship with the lessons as we do the review can be extremely, extremely helpful.

I will post my comments for Lesson 51 as an example.

Regina’s personal comments for Lesson 51:

1. Nothing I see means anything. I do not see with the body’s eyes. I see either with the mind or the heart. It is not what I see, but what I see with that gives meaning. When I see with the mind, I am lost in an individualistic illusion that has no meaning at all. When I see with the heart, I am in communication with my true Self. When I am in communication with my true Self, I know my real thoughts. My real thoughts are meaning.

Everything that is born will die. Each one of us does well to accept this fact. When we accept that the body-personalities that we perceive ourselves to be are temporary and can end at anytime, we are ready to seek for our eternal Self. Our eternal Self is beyond everything temporary and is affected by none of it. The realization of our eternal Self as our truth is ‘salvation’, ‘awakening’, and ‘eternal life’.

“Only the Love of God will protect you in all circumstances. It will lift you out of every trial, and raise you high above all perceived dangers of this world into a climate of perfect peace and safety.” This refers to truth realization. When you know what you are, you are not affected by the ups and downs of this world because you know yourself as beyond it.

A perfect illustration of this is the story of Ramana Maharshi’s death. When his body was dying of sarcoma, his devotees were in great sorrow. They thought they were losing their master. But Ramana responded to them by saying, “Where can I go? I shall always be here.” He knew himself AS eternal life. He identified with eternal life, not the temporary body.

Contemplate Lesson 50 carefully today, and watch your mind for every scrap of magical thinking. “Put not your faith in illusions. They will fail you. Put all your faith in the Love of God within you; eternal, changeless and forever unfailing.”

Here is a link to a song that may help you in this contemplation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llKPujyRgek

p.s. Because magical thinking is such a strong ego defense (to keep us identified with the body), people often ask me questions like, “Should I take medication?” I resonate with Byron Katie’s response. She says that the body is the doctor’s business, not hers.

Let the doctor play games with the body. If the doctor says to take a medication or go through a certain procedure, go ahead, but watch your mind for the idea that this will save you. Identification with the body is an error. You are not the body.

Ramana Maharshi allowed his devotees to call a doctor, and he submitted to the doctor’s operations. His attitude seemed to be the same as Byron Katie’s. His body was not his concern or his business. He let those who saw the body as important make decisions about the body.

The brain has the ability to translate God’s silent Voice into your language, which means you can hear God’s Voice as words/thoughts. This may or may not happen for some individuals. It may happen sometimes but not all of the time.

When I first became a scribe, my experience was listening to a Voice (a thought stream that did not seem like my own). It was like taking dictation. I would simply listen and write what I heard. However, as I became a more experienced scribe, I noticed that I was feeling the Voice and my brain was selecting the words that would best communicate what I felt. I could sense the silent communication and had full understanding of it before the brain supplied the words.

I am sharing this so you will be open to ‘God’s Voice’ in whatever way it comes to you today. If you close your eyes for 5 minutes and have no other experience except feeling more relaxed after the 5-minute practice, you heard God’s Voice. That’s it.

I will make another post today for those of you who are beginning to scribe the inner voice with language. The ego will fight this process with doubt. I am going to share a post from 2008 when I was experiencing extreme doubt about scribing, so you can see the Voice’s response to me. It may help some of you to move through your doubts and allow the conversations with the inner Voice to continue.

Great love, Regina

Tip for Lesson 49, Part 2 of 2, Looking at doubts about scribing

Question: What about…

Ahhhh! I’m having a tough time asking this next question. It is hard because there is so much judgment and fear in my mind. I am judging the question and I am judging me as the scribe. I have a huge fear that I am just writing what I want to hear. This fear is so big that it makes me want to throw down my pen and runaway and hide. I feel it in my chest.

For most of us, the goal of Gentle Healing is Self-Realization. Yet, we have to admit that most of our attention (energy) goes to the world and thoughts about the world. That shows we still have a strong desire for illusion (and we always receive as we ask).

If we want Self-realization, we must begin to reverse what we do with our energy. We must begin to give attention to within, away from the world and our thoughts. This is the purpose of awareness-watching-awareness meditation.

Quietness is attentiveness to the Self.

By taking time and focusing attention on awareness, we genuinely ask for Self-Realization. And we ALWAYS receive as we ask.

Nisargadatta Maharaj taught that in order to realize the Self, we must overcome the obstacles of “desire for the false and fear of the true.” How do we overcome these obstacles? By our action. When we turn attention away from the world and thoughts, we are overcoming the desire for the false. When we place attention with awareness (changeless being), we are overcoming our fear of the true.

There is nothing to fear. Close your eyes and practice a bit of awareness-watching-awareness each day. In this way, you ask for Self-Realization.

Love, Regina

“Whoever recognizes that he has been desiring what he does not desire, and chooses to desire again in a new way, chooses also to save himself from a multitude of distractions in order to settle within the peace of his own Heart.” ~ NTI James