Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 238, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation:

Being in Love

On my decision all salvation rests.

Our decisions are made based on who we think we are. Every decision is based on the current moment’s identity. For example, if I think someone is taking advantage of me, I will react from that identified perception.

Please contemplate the sentences above, and notice this is true for you. It might help to remember two or three recent decisions or recent reactions, which are simply fast decisions. Look to see what idea you were identified with at the moment, and notice your decision came from that identification. (For example, I recently snapped at my partner. In that moment I was identified with, “I am being pulled in too many directions at once. “)

Because our decisions are based on who we think we are, it is important to realize who we are. When we know ourselves as awareness-life-presence, we naturally make decisions that are based on love. Our decisions are based on love, because awareness-life-presence is love.

Today we contemplate the love that we are. Today’s recommended meditation will help with this contemplation. The more we contemplate the love that we are, the more we realize ourselves as love. As we see love as our Self, our decisions spring forth from that instead of from misidentification. In this way, we are effortlessly “steadfast in holiness” and a natural savior in the world.

p.s., Notice that I am not asking you to try to be love. You will always make decisions based on what you think you are, so I am asking you to notice, again and again, the truth of what you are until you naturally identify with that.

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 237, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation:

Time With Your Self

Now would I be as God created me.

Today, as I write this tip, a number of events are in the American news:

The United States President faces impeachment and his personal lawyer faces prosecution for an alleged scheme to dig up dirt on a political opponent.

A Fort Worth police officer responding to a call for a welfare check shot and killed a woman through a window in her home where she was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew.

A new study estimates that the opioid epidemic has cost the U.S. economy about $631 billion over the past four years due in large part to the unrealized lifetime earnings of those who died prematurely due to drug overdoses and health care costs associated with opioid use.

Japan is struggling to recover from one of the most destructive typhoons in decades to hit the country.

Nearly a thousand prisoners with suspected terrorist ties reportedly escaped a prison camp in Syria as Turkish forces launched a massive military operation against US allies, when the US abruptly withdrew support. As troops moved deeper into their territory, those allies announced a new deal with the government in Damascus, a sworn enemy of Washington that is backed by Russia,

On the day when you read this tip, there will be something else in the news, but there will be something. There may also be a challenge occurring in your personal life.

I am reminded of something Ramana Maharshi said when bandits broke into his ashram to rob it. In the process of the robbery, they beat Ramana Maharshi. One of his devotees, upon seeing what the men had done to Maharshi, grabbed an iron instrument lying near by and wanted to go after the robbers and get revenge. Ramana Maharshi replied, “We are sadhus [spiritual disciples]. We should not give up our dharma [way of being].”

This, I feel, is the meaning of today’s workbook lesson.

Now would I be as God created me.

“Now” implies now, regardless of appearances and events. Even if I am being robbed and beaten, I will be as God created me. I will be the peace of God, because that is what I am. Through being peace, I “allow the light in me to shine upon the world throughout the day. I bring the world the tidings of salvation which I hear as God my Father speaks to me.”

Remaining as the peace that I am under all circumstances is the meaning of Jesus’ statement, “Turn the other cheek.”

Today, as you go through your day, there will be events in world news and circumstances that arise in your personal experience. As these things occur, remember to be the presence of peace. Even if you find yourself getting upset, remain the presence of peace throughout the upset by practicing rest-accept-trust or the Loving All Method.

Now would I be as God created me.

This is what the world needs from us. This is what we need from us. This is the practice of our truth, our dharma.

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 236, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth:

AWA Description N

I rule my mind, which I alone must rule.

The Teachings of Inner Ramana says, “Mind is like a tool that must be used if one is to experience this world in any way. Mind is the tool of perception. Perception can only be experienced through mind. But this is not the same as saying that mind controls perception or that one must listen to the chattering or problems and solutions of mind.”

The human mind is an incredible thing. It is also an integral part of the experience of human. This really stood out to me when I saw the movie, Jungle Book. The boy, Mowgli, thought differently than his animal friends did. His mind thought of tools that would help solve everyday challenges, like getting honey from a beehive without being stung. Some of his animal caretakers thought his human contraptions were foolish, until he was able to devise a way to rescue a baby elephant from a large hole that it had fallen into. That’s when the other animals accepted the usefulness of the human mind.

The human mind has value. The problem isn’t the human mind. It’s a neutral tool. The problem is that we’ve forgotten what we are. We aren’t the mind, and we certainly aren’t slaves to the mind’s chatter. We are awareness-life-presence.

It’s just as Michael Langford has written in The Most Direct Means to Eternal Bliss:

“As an example for clarification, you could view thinking and memory as something like a computer program. Within that computer program is a virus. The virus is called the ‘I thought’. The virus controls the program. The I thought controls all thinking. The virus pretends to be your self. The I thought pretends to be your self. The virus creates tremendous sorrow and suffering. The I thought creates tremendous sorrow and suffering. None of the sorrow or suffering is needed. What is needed is to delete the virus that pretends to be ‘I’. What is needed is to delete the imposter self. “

In other words, we need to remember what we are and what the mind is. It is a tool available for our use, but it is not our ruler.

Reflect frequently today on what you are and what the mind is. Notice when you are using the mind (just like you use a computer), and when you are allowing the mind to use you.

When you notice that you are allowing the mind to use you, step back into your Self. Remember your Self. You are primary to the mind. Abide as your Self.

If you need help shifting from identification with the mind to Self-realization, rest the mind and let help come to you. Help will come from the “Thought of peace” which “was given to God’s Son the instant that his mind had thought of war. There was no need for such a Thought before, … 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, …”

If you have time for a second meditation today, you might enjoy this meditation:

Respecting Humanness

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 235, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth

AWA Description M

God in His mercy wills that I be saved.

God wills that I be saved.  Today’s lesson says, “I need but look upon all things that seem to hurt me, and with perfect certainty assure myself, “God wills that I be saved from this …” Saved from what; and, what are those things that seem to hurt me?  Simply said “those things” are a belief in a separate identity with separate thoughts that cause doubt as to my true identity, and cause me doubt on my chosen path to discover my true identity.

According to ACIM, “The belief in ego autonomy is costing you the knowledge of your dependence on God in which your freedom lies.  The ego sees all dependency as threatening, and has twisted even your longing for God [Truth] into a means of establishing itself.  But do not be deceived by its interpretation…” because the ego’s goal is autonomy—to establish a separate self.

My goal and my true identity, however, is my Self, which is one with Truth.  Because what I am is inseparable from all that is, the separate self can never actually be established, no matter how determined the ego is to do so.  ACIM explains it in this way, “God is as dependent on you as you are on Him because His autonomy encompasses yours, and is therefore incomplete without it.  You can only establish your autonomy by identifying with Him, and fulfilling your function as it exists in Truth.”

The ego would have us doubt this interdependency or inseparability because doubt is an ego preservation strategy.  If we believe doubt we will believe we are who we are not. Worse, we won’t fully dedicate ourselves to spiritual practice. This is the goal of ego–to thwart our awakening to the truth of ourselves and thereby maintain its own existence.

Doubt seems strongest when the ego is loudest in our mind.  ACIM speaks of the tenacity of the ego and its attempts to turn us from the knowledge of our truth. “The ego can and does allow you to regard yourself as supercilious, unbelieving, ‘light-hearted’, distant, emotionally shallow, callous, uninvolved, and even desperate…”   In other words, ego is eager to tell us that we are spiritual failures.

Interestingly, when the ego is loudest is also when the ego is most vulnerable. That is when we have the best opportunity for healing the mind and transcending the ego. In other words, the ego attacks loudest when it feels itself losing control of our attention. It is fighting to “regain command and control.” (NTI Acts 14)

If despite the ego’s accusations, we can stick with our spiritual aspiration and our spiritual practices we can achieve breakthroughs.  We don’t need to succumb  to the ego’s doubts.  If we don’t let doubt get the best of us, we will realize we aren’t alone. Rather, we are the one Self and thus our will is joined with with the One Will.

Today’s lesson says, “I need but look upon all things that seem to hurt me, and with perfect certainty assure myself, ‘God wills that I be saved from this,’ …”

That faith can be very important when the ego gets loud. Remember, the Self, with all of its knowledge, wisdom and love, is right here supporting us in our efforts to awaken to our Self.

Lesson 234

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 234, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth:

AWA Description L

Father, today I am Your Son again.

Today, we will notice our true Self throughout the day. Here are some questions you can use to help shift your attention for short glimpses of awareness throughout the day.

What is here, present, that has always been here and present?

What is constant (non-changing) as what I am?

What sees this sensation/pain?

What is aware of this sound?

What is here as I while this mood is present
that was also here as I when another mood was present?

What is giving attention to these thoughts?

What is aware of the body and the environment the body is in?

Also, here are some very brief exercises that you can try at different times during your day today. I recommend taking a break from whatever you are doing at 4 different times in your day, and giving your full attention to one video during each break. Each video is under 10 minutes long. Don’t just watch the video. Try the experiments as you watch or immediately after watching the video.

Loch Kelly – Awareness of Awareness

Richard Lang – Who are we really? (1B)

Douglas Harding – Out of Body Experiment

Greg Goode – A Guided Self-Inquiry Exercise

The videos above are for breaks during the day. This last video (14 mins) is for nighttime, just before going to bed:

Rupert Spira – How Do I Practice Self-Inquiry?

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 233, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth:

AWA Description K

I give my life to God to guide today.

Nisargadatta Maharaj said that in order to realize the Self, you need the right teacher. He went on to say:

“Generally speaking, there are two ways: external and internal. Either you live with somebody who knows the Truth and submit yourself entirely to his guiding and shaping influence, or you seek the inner guide and follow the inner light wherever it takes you. In both cases your personal desires and fears must be disregarded. … If you are earnest, whatever way you choose will take you to your goal. It is the earnestness that is the decisive factor.”

Most of us don’t have a spiritual teacher that we can hang out with all day, and every day.  Most of us don’t have someone who we can submit ourselves to entirely so that we are in constant receipt of guidance.  Therefore, if we are not finding direction from external teachers like ACIM or our own personal guru, we can find what we are looking for from our Inner Guide.

Be aware however that whichever way you seek, “You cannot make decisions by yourself.” According to ACIM, Rules for Decision, “The only question really is with what you choose to make them.  You will not make decisions by yourself whatever you decide.”

Our inner guide can be either Inner Wisdom or the ego. “[A]nd which you choose will join with you, and tell you what to do.” Thus, the question that we should ask ourselves is “What is it for?”  This question lets us know with whom we are making our decisions.

Today’s workbook lesson begins with a prayer of surrender of our thoughts and our acts and our will.  Surrendering our thoughts and actions to Inner Wisdom requires trust.  We have to trust in wisdom beyond our own so that our personal desires and fears are no longer our guide for decision making.  Trusting means that you choose not to be the judge of what you do and you choose not to judge the situations you find yourself in or even the response that you will have.  True surrender transcends the personality-mind entirely.

We seek the  guidance of the inner teacher by asking, “What am I to do now?” Then we need to ask if we are following the intuition we receive or are we judging whether or not we want to follow.  Awakening requires us to commit to following the guidance we receive.  Making exceptions to following guidance only prolongs our suffering and makes it difficult to disengage from our misdirected goals.

Yesterday we recommitted to following the instructions laid out by one of our external teachers, A Course in Miracles Workbook for Students. Today, we recommit to seeking guidance from the inner teacher, and we commit to follow the guidance we receive.

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Salvation,” to contemplate Lesson 232, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth:

AWA Description J

Be in my mind, my Father, through the day.

Throughout this section of A Course in Miracles Workbooks for Students, we are using this process:

1 – Each day read and contemplate the “special theme” that we are currently working with. Currently that theme is, “What is Salvation?”

2 – Contemplate the day’s workbook lesson.

3 – Spend time in meditation.

4 – Recall the day’s workbook lesson hourly.

5 – Spend at least a brief time with the workbook lesson and/or meditation before going to bed at night.

Maybe you’ve remembered to follow all five steps in this current process, maybe you’ve forgotten part of it, or maybe you decided to skip part of the process because you thought it wasn’t important for you. Today is an opportunity to recommit to the entire process that is requested in this section of the workbook.

Today’s lesson begins with a prayer and then exhorts us to “practice the end of fear. Have faith in Him Who is your Father. Trust all things to Him. Let Him reveal all things to you, and be you undismayed because you are His Son.”

What does it mean to practice the end of fear?

Both parts of this lesson say essentially the same thing—give the same directive—rest. Rest the desire and the need to know. Rest the imagining and the railing against things as they are. Rest the movement and the motion and the objections—rest and be that which you are, which is the essence of All That Is—which is God.

Marianne Williamson famously paraphrased the Course to say, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.” Why should this be so? It is this power, this creative ability, which holds the key to our release. This is why salvation is a promise premised upon resting “the mind that still was one, but failed to recognize its oneness.” We rest the mind that “did not know itself, and thought its own Identity was lost.”

The mere (but absolute) recognition of the Truth of Being is the final thread in the story that has captivated us for far too long. It is the equivalent of a mother’s call at the end of a long, full day of play: “come home.” It is but this we resist and protest against by insisting that the play continue, by insisting upon our ignorance and powerlessness.

You are that. That Which Was and Is and Will Always Ever Be. To recognize this Fact is to recognize the Alpha and Omega and to rest in Being in All that Is. This is Salvation.

So as regards motivation, ponder the truth of what you know. See how you deny it. It matters not why; the whys of which you are aware are in themselves meaningless. What matters is that you see their ephemeral nature – the wispy mists of nothingness that would keep you from your God–and simply brush them away to swim in remembrance.

Forgive yourself by believing your self no longer. Listen not to the tales told by the confused mind. See illusion for what it is and turn within by resting in heart, free from thought and want and time. This is where salvation lies, laid bare by your desire to find her.

Today, let’s practice the end of fear by remembering our desire for salvation and recommitting to practicing the workbook lessons in the way the workbook asks us to.

Today we begin a new special theme, “What is Salvation?” Salvation is an idea that has no meaning in truth. Awareness-life-presence is unchanged, so it does not need salvation.

At the same time, attention, which is the moving aspect of presence, has the ability to taste anything it dips into. Since it has dipped deeply into thought, emotion and appearance, it has become confused about what it is. It is like sunlight that shines through a stained glass window. It has taken on the appearance of red and green and blue. However, attention has identified with the appearance, thereby forgetting that it has no color at all.

Salvation is undoing this misidentification. The means of salvation is “failing to support” the misidentification. We do that in two ways:

1. Forgiveness. Instead of believing thought, emotion and appearance, and instead of acting based on belief, we watch thought, emotion and appearance without acting from it. We abide as presence. When we are not able to do that easily, we use inquiry or another forgiveness tool to help us see through and detach from mistaken beliefs.

2. Awareness-watching-awareness meditation. Instead of going out into appearance, attention is brought back to its source. When attention pays attention to presence, it sees that it is one with presence and the same as presence. It therefore remembers itself as presence and drops the confusion that it is appearance.

Father, I will but to remember You.

Have you ever heard someone say, “I don’t feel bad for him because the predicament that he finds himself in is of his own making.”  Wait a minute, isn’t that true for all of us?  The predicament or the appearance is that we seem to have lost our way.  Salvation is the means of being saved from harm at our own hands or better said; being saved from harm or lack of peace due to misidentification.

How have we misidentified?  We believe ourselves to be separate persons with separate interests.  How do we rectify this misidentification?  How do we heal the lack of peace that we feel?

As our new theme, “What is Salvation,” tells us, it is an undoing. Salvation or healing is “failing to support the world of dreams and malice.  Thus it lets illusions go.  By not supporting them, it merely lets them quietly go down to dust.  And what they hid is now revealed…” We stop supporting the world of dreams and malice when we stop giving it our believing attention.

Gina Lake says in her book, “In The World, But Not Of It, “Once there is some space between thoughts and some capacity to witness thought, the illusion begins to break down, and your divine nature begins to shine through.” To awaken we stop believing and stop acting on our thoughts, emotions and appearances.  We want our focus to abide with presence.  This is called forgiveness.

We must make our unconscious beliefs conscious through inquiry or another forgiveness practice and disengage from our mistaken beliefs. Again, Gina Lake counsels, “The more beliefs you have that are uninvestigated and unconscious, the more identified with them you’ll be, and the more they’ll affect your emotional state, your behavior, and consequently, your life.”

When our attention is brought to its source, it pays attention to presence instead of appearances. Appearances can begin to lose their attraction and we can remember ourselves as presence.  The reward is peace, contentment, gratitude, love and joy.  This is called awareness-watching-awareness.

Forgiveness and awareness-watching-awareness demonstrate “Our will but to remember our Father.” We seek the fulfillment of knowing our Self. That is our true desire.

Today, we remember this again.

If you have 30-minutes for meditation today, and you would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation:

Desire for Truth

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Forgiveness,” to contemplate Lesson 230, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth:

AWA Description I

Today is our last day with the special theme, “What is Forgiveness?” If you have time during the day today, listen again to the audio teaching on “What is Forgiveness?”.

Now will I seek and find the peace of God.

Today’s workbook lesson says, “In peace I was created. And in peace do I remain. It is not given me to change my Self.”

Peace is what you are.

Yesterday, we learned that Love is what we are (and God is). Today, we learn that Peace is also what we are. What does that tell us about our relationship with Peace?

The common thread is that you need not seek for the attributes of “God,” for you are that. This common thread reveals the otherwise hidden meaning behind and beyond the teachings of A Course in Miracles. You do indeed experience that which you bring to any teaching, experience, thought, interaction. Thus, to rest within is the highest form of teaching, of learning and of practice.

Seek within for the peace that you are. How on heaven or earth could you fail to find that which is within you? Surely you see that to deny its presence is merely a denial of truth. Anyone who really looks, anyone, will experience the peace of God or True Nature. This is true regardless of what activities you have been engaged in, what thoughts you have been believing, regardless of …. Well, this is true regardless of all else, because this is Truth. Because it is Truth, it is ever present and changeless.

What this means is, if you are not experiencing the peace of God, you are choosing something else. To acknowledge this fully is no small accomplishment. Indeed, to acknowledge this fully is to claim the peace of God. It is to claim the Truth of Being. Once acknowledged, what other choice would you make?

It may seem difficult to acknowledge that if you feel anything other than peace, it is only because of your choice to do so. You know from past experience that this is so. This “difficulty” also, however, reveals the hidden power contained within the statement. Who would avoid this understanding but the one who would be undone by it? What other reason could we possibly have for its avoidance?

Today, as you practice awareness watching awareness, ask to be shown peace and the source of peace. Such a sincere request must, by its very nature, be met. Notice it is perfect peace. Thoughts change, and thoughts come and go, but the awareness they arise in is perfectly open, changeless peace.

Also, as you watch awareness today, notice that you are not thought. You are the perfectly open, changeless peace that thought arises in. If an emotion arises, notice you are not emotion. Like thought, emotion comes and goes; emotions change. But you are the awareness that is aware of emotion. You are the perfectly open, changeless peace that emotions arise in.

To seek and find the peace of God is merely to seek our Self. To know the peace of God is to identify with our ever-present Self, instead of identifying with the moving show of thought.

Please take time this morning to read, “What is Forgiveness,” to contemplate Lesson 229, and to spend time in meditation. If you have 30-minutes for meditation and would like a gentle audio to guide you, I recommend this meditation by Michael Langford and Karen Worth:

AWA Description H

Love, which created me, is what I am.

In her original Gentle Healing Year 1 tip for Lesson 229, Regina wrote, “Today, while observing awareness presence in meditation, notice it is love.  Notice it is incapable of being anything but love.  It has no judgement in it, no comparison, and no resistance.  Also, notice it is what you are.  This means, of course, that you are love.”

After I read this I thought, ‘What?’  I have never experienced Love in my awareness watching awareness meditation!  Am I doing it wrong? I have noticed the lack of judgement.  I have felt gratitude and even peace, but I don’t remember experiencing love, per se.

I called Jacquelyn.  I asked if she thought I was doing the awareness-watching-awareness meditation wrong?  I have not had the experience of Love in my meditation!  Jacquelyn asked about my experience.  In my meditation, I noticed that there was an awareness that saw my body as just another object in the room.  It didn’t make any judgements, it (awareness) just watched.  There is a stillness that seems to be looking.  Also there is a sense of allowance, as if everything is acceptable.  And peace seems to permeate everything.

Jacquelyn said, “Remember love is not a feeling, it is perfect allowance.  It is the blue sky in Gina Lake’s book, ‘In The World, But Not Of It.’  It is the essence of what we are.  It is the open acceptance of everything.  It is the soft edges around everything.”

I was wondering why I wasn’t having warm feelings or a feeling of personal attachment or deep affection that I associate with love, in my meditation. I looked up the “blue sky” analogy in Gina Lake’s book.  “The clear, cloudless sky, like divine nature, is always there, whether there are clouds or not.  It is pristine, ever-present, immutable, and untouched by the clouds that pass through it.”

Then I re-read Regina’s love experience as she described it in her tip.  “There were different feelings and a few thoughts that occurred during the Love Meditation, but as I concentrated on awareness in a relaxed manner, it was easy to see that I am the love that allowed the experience that occurred during the Love Meditation.  There were a few thoughts; there were feelings; I am the openness (love) that allowed them.”

Maybe I am experiencing love during my awareness watching awareness meditation.  It’s just not sappy, but I am beginning to recognize it is what I truly am.

I invite you to this same looking today. Today, notice that awareness is love and you are awareness as you practice awareness-watching-awareness.