What is the World?
Over the last two days, we have contemplated the fact that perception is deception. However, our special theme gives us hope when it says, “As sight was made to lead away from truth, it can be redirected … all perception can be given a new purpose …”
The world’s purpose for you is the one that you give it. If you give the world the purpose of healing the mind and awakening to truth, that is the purpose of everything you perceive. However, if you do not consciously and steadfastly choose this purpose, the world, by default, will continue to be a place of deception with the purpose of feeding the thought of separation.
What purpose do you choose?
Is there anything (anyone, any circumstance, any desire) that you exclude from the purpose of healing or awakening?
If there is anything that you exclude from the purpose of healing or awakening, that remains an area of deception for you. That is where your ego feeds itself.
To love my Father is to love His Son.
There are some teachings we need to accept if healing the mind or awakening to truth are important to us.
- The ego (I-thought) will not lead us to awakening. Its purpose is the opposite of truth.
- The ego is the cause of all suffering. As long as we continue to accept the I-thought’s thinking as our thinking, we will continue to suffer (be unhappy, worry, have grievances, etc.). Likewise, as long as we continue to accept the I-thought’s thinking as our thinking, we will continue to contribute to the world’s suffering (in all of its forms).
- The only way to be in the world without following the I-thought’s thinking is to surrender to wisdom that is not part of the I-thought’s thinking. That is the purpose of surrender.
You can know the I-thought’s thinking by its will. Outward seeking is the will of the I-thought.
Judgment is a mechanism of the ego’s outward seeking loop. It judges to determine good and bad, right and wrong, desired and undesired, etcetera. And then is seeks to obtain or achieve what it determines is good for it and to avoid or destroy what it determines is bad for it.
Please take a few minutes to contemplate some things or circumstances that your mind judges as good or desired. Notice the thinking that spins in your mind about obtaining or achieving those things or circumstances.
Next, take a few minutes to contemplate some things or circumstances that your mind judges as bad or undesirable. Notice the thinking that spins in your mind about avoiding or ending those things or circumstances.
You have just observed judgment and outward seeking in the I-thought’s thought system.
Love is the nature of the true Self. Love is open allowance and acceptance of all things as they are. Love does not seek outwardly for happiness or safety. Love is fulfilled within itself. Love is eternal and invulnerable. It is not threatened by the temporary circumstances that come and go in perception.
When we practice The Loving All Method, we practice abiding as our truth. The Loving All Method is also a good foundation for surrender, since we are more likely to intuit wisdom that comes from beyond the I-thought’s thinking if we have not already believed the I-thought’s judgments.
Today, give full attention to practicing The Loving All Method and to surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana. To make today’s practice most effective, first take time to give the entire day and everything that will happen today a single purpose—the purpose of healing your mind or awakening to truth—in whatever way you feel inspired to aspire to that.
If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this meditation: