What is the World?

Our special theme says, “As sight was made to lead away from truth, it can be redirected. … all perception can be given a new purpose by the One Whom God appointed Savior to the world. Follow His light, and see the world as He beholds it. Hear His Voice alone in all that speaks to you. And let Him give you peace and certainty, which you have thrown away …”

The “One Whom God appointed Savior to the world” was referred to as the “Thought of peace” in our last special theme, What is Salvation? That theme said, “The Thought of peace was given to God’s Son the instant that his mind had thought of war. There was no need for such a Thought before, for peace was given without opposite, and merely was. But when the mind is split there is a need of healing. So the Thought that has the power to heal the split became a part of every fragment of the mind that still was one, but failed to recognize its oneness.”

So, we turn to the Thought of peace, which is within each of our minds, and let it lead us. We do this by:

• • Recognizing the ego thought system as deception and choosing not to listen to it regardless of what its story is. We remember that Jesus referred to it as “the father of lies” in the Bible. We see it clearly as that now.

• • Choosing the purpose of healing the mind and awakening to truth, and holding steadfastly to that purpose under all circumstances.

• • Practicing the Loving All Method with the realization that the Loving All Method disregards the ego’s judgments and outward seeking

• • Practicing surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana, so that we are guided by the “Thought of peace.” We “follow His light” and “Hear His Voice alone” because we are not interested in the ego’s deception anymore.

• Focusing on awareness frequently as we anticipate the holy instant when our identity will shift to it and we are no longer identified with the ego’s deceptive thought system.

Without forgiveness I will still be blind.

When we judge others, we believe the ego’s deceptive thought system. Our mind may argue that it is justified for its way of perceiving, but it perceives without the light of truth. As our special theme has taught us, “The mechanisms of illusion have been born instead. And now they go to find what has been given them to seek. Their aim is to fulfill the purpose which the world was made to witness and make real.” That purpose is separation. It is the opposite of truth.

Instead of believing the ego’s thought system today, turn frequently to bulleted reminders above. Review them and practice them. They represent the means by which we shall awaken fully to the realization of truth as it is.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation today, I recommend this meditation:

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.

1. The ego (I-thought) will not lead us to awakening. Its purpose is the opposite of truth.
2. 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).
3. 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:

AWA Description S

What is the World?

Our special theme says, “Thus the world was meant to be a place where God could enter not, and where His Son could be apart from Him. Here was perception born, for knowledge could not cause such insane thoughts. … The mechanisms of illusion have been born instead. And now they go to find what has been given them to seek. Their aim is to fulfill the purpose which the world was made to witness and make real. … Yet everything that they report is but illusion which is kept apart from truth.”

Similarly, The Teachings of Inner Ramana says:

“Think of mind as a filter. This filter enables one to see objects where there is light. This filter enables one to distinguish differences where there are none. … Without the mind, one would be unable to experience the world. But this does not mean that one must be subject to the mind.

The mind, when believed and taken seriously, seems to define reality. But as I have just shown, the mind does not define reality. It places a veil of perception over reality so reality can be experienced in a new way. This means that the mind is a trickster or illusionist, and that which it creates is purely illusion. To believe the mind is to believe illusion. To think illusion is reality is to be completely deluded.

Again I emphasize that belief in illusion, or the process of being deluded, comes from believing the mind.

This must mean then, that the process of awakening is also the process of learning not to believe the stories of the mind.

As a filter, the mind can be used to see and experience illusion without believing it. This experience comes from maintaining knowledge that is beyond the mind. It can also be said that this knowledge is before the mind. This knowledge exists now, within the Self, at a depth that is below and at a height that is above the mind. In other words, the knowledge is always accessible and it takes only desire to remember and realize this knowledge.”

Your peace is with me, Father. I am safe.

We practice again today like we practiced yesterday. In addition to practicing awareness-watching-awareness, we take short breaks throughout the day to notice awareness as what we are. Also, we practice surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana. By asking, “What am I to do now?” we are led by intuition, which comes from truth-knowledge, instead of by thought, which is the source of delusion.

To help with today’s focus, I am recommending two meditations again today. If you can, please practice the first meditation early in the day and the second meditation later in the day.

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Just Be Natural Meditation

What is the World?

Our special theme says, “Thus the world was meant to be a place where God could enter not, and where His Son could be apart from Him. Here was perception born, for knowledge could not cause such insane thoughts. But eyes deceive, and ears hear falsely. Now mistakes become quite possible, for certainty has gone.”

The primary definition of perception is, “the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the senses.” A secondary definition is, “a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.”

In other words, perception is an outward focused way of acquiring information. When combined with personal thought, which interprets the information received from the senses, perception is also a way of conditioning the mental organism, the brain.

This is very important to see!

Simply put, perception is a means of creating and securing ignorance. In other words, as we remain focused on the world and thought, we are completely ignorant of truth. It is also fair to say we are completely deluded.

Or, as our special theme says, “The mechanisms of illusion have been born instead. And now they go to find what has been given them to seek. Their aim is to fulfill the purpose which the world was made to witness and make real. They see in its illusions but a solid base where truth exists, upheld apart from lies. Yet everything that they report is but illusion which is kept apart from truth.”

I am in danger nowhere in the world.

When we look deeply at the fact that everything we think is true is not true, we can feel very disoriented. We can even feel afraid. However, there is nothing to fear. There is nothing to fear because thought, the body and the world are not real; therefore, we are not at all vulnerable.

Yes, it is true that the imposter self is vulnerable. As we saw in yesterday’s tip, fear is an inherent part of thought, because thought is not a self. That unconscious realization is the cause of fear. But we are not thought. We are not the imposter self or its creation, the body. We are the true Self. We are that which “cannot suffer, be endangered, or experience unhappiness …”

As The Teachings of Inner Ramana says, “Fear comes simply from not knowing reality. Therefore, the only answer to fear is to let go of what is false and to remember reality as true.”

That is our focus today. In addition to practicing awareness-watching-awareness, take short breaks today to notice awareness as what you are. Notice that as awareness, you observe thought. Notice that you observe the body. However, you are prior to both of them. Notice yourself as that which is completely unaffected by anything in the realm of perception.

To help with today’s focus, I am recommending two meditations. If you can, please practice the first meditation early in the day and the second meditation later in the day.

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Recalling Attention