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.”
April 12, 2017 Daily Quote
“Your mind is the source of the world you experience. If you aren’t at peace, how can the world be at peace? Question all thoughts.” Rita Friedman
Growing with NTI – 4/11/17
The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI) is a scribed interpretation of the New
Testament that teaches oneness as the only truth and surrender as the practice that leads to spiritual
enlightenment. NTI has been described as a loving approach to letting go of ego. It leads us to direct
experience of the truth by teaching us how to release the obstacles that block the awareness.
Growing with NTI Schedule:
Tuesday Evenings, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm ET
Facilitated by Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert, Tom Conway, & Connie Poole
Listen to this recording
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:
April 11, 2017 Daily Quote
“Don’t go back and try to repeat a moment of clarity in the past. Ask instead, ‘What is awake right now?’ Then your attention is riveted in the present moment. You’re not discounting your past experiences but focusing on how it is showing up now. Don’t compare.” Adyashanti
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.
April 10, 2017 Daily Quote
“Ordinary people despise solitude. But the Master makes use of it, embracing her aloneness, realizing she is One with the whole universe.” Tao Te Ching
Common Ground Mini-Series: Carol Howe – Part 2 of 5
SEE HOW LIFE WORKS – PRACTICING THE PATH TO PEACE OF MIND
Listen to the recording
As the turmoil in the world appears to escalate, we are called more than ever to deepen our commitment to peace of mind as our primary goal. To that end, Carol Howe, biographer of ACIM co-scribe Bill Thetford and one of the first teachers of the Course, will share 40 years of teaching and counseling insight and experience on this all-important subject.
Carol draws from the great wealth of material covered in her highly-acclaimed video course, See How Life Works, the one-of-a kind series designed to clarify:
1) The purpose and practice of ACIM
2) The ego’s origin and process of letting it go
3) Healing relationships
4) Real forgiveness and its rewards
5) The restoring power of acceptance
6) The true path to healing
7) Cultivating trustworthy guidance
8) Choices that matter and guarantee results
A Course In Miracles is a brilliant and powerful spiritual technology, designed to help us completely reprogram our original false beliefs and conditioning. A modern masterwork based on ancient wisdom, it delivers the deep peace and safety it promises when we do what it asks. Our work this month will focus on clarifying this practice that resolves even the most difficult challenges and assures greater happiness for anyone.
Carol’s website: CarolHowe.com
4-9-17 – Gathering – Emotions – Truth Tellers or Liars
Emotions – Truth Tellers or Liars
Rev. Regina Dawn Akers will examine human emotions, their lies, their truths and how they can help us awaken.
Rev. Gloria Wells will read excerpts from Gina Lake’s newest book, All Grace.
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
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