Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 21 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today’s reading says:

Whenever you are tempted to do anything, question whether it is temptation or prompt. Temptation comes from fear, the ego, and the desire for self-will. A prompt is given by the Holy Spirit through your willingness to listen to Him.

As mentioned yesterday, you are already following spiritual intuition when you use inquiry to discover the author of your thoughts. That is discernment.

On Day 127, I told a story about an experience I had with a specific spiritual teacher. In that experience, I made the decision to leave that teacher, because he wanted me to follow him instead of following my own intuition.

Let’s look at two possible scenarios regarding that story in order to see how root cause inquiry can help us determine the authority of an idea.

Possibility #1:

Let’s imagine I am in relationship with a teacher. He has told me that what I think is my intuition is actually ego, and he wants me to disregard my intuition and follow him without questioning him. When I hear that, I think, “I need to leave.”

I take that thought into root cause inquiry to discover the motivation. I ask:

Why do I want to leave this teacher?

Am I afraid of what will happen if I stay?  – Yes.

What am I afraid of? – I am afraid of having to give up everything that is important to me.

Does that mean I am trying to protect myself? – Yes, I feel I have to protect myself. I feel at risk.

Is the desire to protect myself ego or Spirit? – It is ego.

So, who is the author of this idea? – Ego.

So, what am I going to do? – For now, I will stay. I will stay and continue to inquire into my thoughts and motivations so I can get clarity on my authority from moment-to-moment.

Possibility #2:

Again, let’s imagine I am in relationship with a teacher. He has told me that what I think is my intuition is actually ego, and he wants me to disregard my intuition and follow him without questioning him. When I hear that, I think, “I need to leave.”

I take that thought into root cause inquiry to discover the motivation. I ask:

Why do I want to leave this teacher?

Am I afraid of what will happen if I stay?  – No.

Do I feel I need to leave to protect myself from something? – No.

Do I feel that I need to trust this feeling to leave? – Yes.

Do I know what will happen if I leave? – No, it is totally unknown.

Am I trying to avoid or escape anything? – No, I don’t feel like that is the case. It just doesn’t feel right for me to stay anymore. It is time to go.

Do I feel that I need to take this step and trust the unknown. – Yes, I need to take this step and trust the unknown.

Does this willingness to trust come from ego or spiritual intuition? – The ego is fear, guilt and defense. This willingness to trust the unknown feels like spiritual intuition.

So, what am I going to do? – I will take this step, leave this teacher, and stay carefully tuned in to guidance.

In phase two, it isn’t the action that’s important. It is the motivation. In Possibility #1, the motivation to leave was ego. In Possibility #2, leaving was the guidance that came from spiritual intuition.

We can’t look at the action and determine if it’s ego or intuition. We have to look deeper and discover the motivation.

Important note: This form of root cause inquiry is always about my motivation. It is never about the storyline in the world. For example, in the possibilities above, there aren’t any questions about whether the teacher is genuine or not. To try and determine that as the basis of my decision would be looking out instead of in. If I look out instead of in, ego (judgment and thinking) will be the authority that guides me.

If you’d like to review the reasoning of ego and the right-reason of Holy Spirit, read NTI Acts 19 from (v23-41) through the end.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 20 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today, we will begin reading about the second phase of the spiritual path, which is purification. NTI calls it “letting go.” During phase two, we let go of the ego as our authority. We do that by embracing spiritual intuition as our authority.

It’s important to remember that the human always follows an authority. The human is authored, and it has an author-ity. The human believes it is an independent being, but that isn’t true. The sense that ideas are “my thoughts” is ego. Ego is the sense of an independent and separate self.

When we look at thoughts to determine their authority, we are already following the authority of spiritual intuition. Spiritual intuition guides us to discern authority and make a conscious choice. Ego simply believes “I am me” and “I am my own authority.”

Discernment is a key aspect of phase two. You cannot let go of ego without recognizing ego as ego first.

The greatest challenge in phase two is that our beliefs and the beliefs of most other humans come from living under ego’s authority. Because most humans are under ego’s authority, the world appears to live by ego’s laws. However, the world does not live by ego’s laws. The world is a reflection of how we use attention.

This is very, very important to remember in phase two, so I will repeat it again:

The world appears to operate according to specific rules, because people believe those rules. The world does not exist, meaning it has no power or authority of its own. It is a reflection of what we believe and give attention to.

For this reason, we are perfectly safe when we receive intuitive guidance that goes against the rules of the world. By trusting intuition, and by letting go of any obstacles that stand in the way of that trust, we learn that our experience in the world can be written by another author-ity. That’s how we learn that the world is not real. That’s how we awaken to consciousness as what we are and what everything is.

In order to intuit guidance, it is important that you are not attached to any desire or specific outcome. For example, one who hates to work may imagine guidance to quit her job. However, if she pauses to do root cause inquiry before quitting, she will discover the underlying motivation and realize that ego is the author of that idea and will be the author of the script that follows, if she takes that step.

That shows why pausing and asking ‘why’ is very important in phase two. It also shows why it’s important to let go of all of your individual desires. If you let go of everything except your spiritual aspiration, you can trust that your guidance is pure. If you have mixed desires, your guidance will have mixed authorities. However, a commitment to root cause inquiry to discover underlying motivations will help you to sort that out.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

One key difference between phase one of the spiritual path (the search) and phase two (purification) is that in phase one, although you are guided by spiritual intuition, you may not recognize it yet. In phase one, you are typically identified with the ego as yourself, and you may not recognize it as the ego at all. It is simply “me” and “my thoughts.”

In order to move from phase one to phase two, you need to recognize the difference between ego and spiritual intuition. You also need the clarity to decide that you don’t want ego as your authority anymore. (Reference Days 119 & 120.)

Why is that necessary?

Because phase two is purifying one’s self of ego (the false), and that can’t happen without recognizing ego as ego and choosing to let it go.

Today’s reading does a good job of teaching the difference between ego’s authority and authority that comes from spiritual intuition. Here are a few examples based on the reading:

Examples of reasoning that comes from ego as authority:

You feel stress at work as you attempt to complete a project with an impending deadline. You are afraid of your boss’ reaction if the project isn’t completed on time. (Fear of attack, driven by a sense of unworthiness)

You want to be alone, and a friend asks you out to lunch. You do not want to go, but you are afraid your friend will get upset or think badly of you, so you accept the invitation anyway. (Fear, driven by a sense of guilt)

You are invited to speak at a gathering of a local organization that shares an interest with you. You are terrified that if you get up in front of the group, they will discover you do not know as much about the topic of interest as they do. You turn down the invitation to speak. (Fear of attack, driven by a sense of unworthiness)

Examples of reasoning that comes from spiritual intuition as authority:

You are working on a project at work, and there are some challenges with it that you do not know how to resolve. You aren’t sure the project will be completed on time. You work with others to try to resolve the obstacles while feeling curious about what will happen. (Peace, acceptance, purpose of One)

You want to be alone, and a friend asks you out to lunch. You notice there is no attraction to going to lunch, and there is a strong attraction to being alone. You politely turn down your friend’s invitation. (An action of now taken in faith and trust)

You are invited to speak at a gathering of a local organization that shares an interest with you. You have no idea what you will say when the time comes, but you feel the invitation must be in the best interest of the whole. You accept the invitation and trust that what to say will be given. (Purpose of One, trusting your worth and the Hands you are in)

As you read the characteristics of the ego and the characteristics of the Holy Spirit in today’s reading, pause and look at specific examples from your own experience. It might be helpful to write the characteristics along with some examples in your journal.

Today’s reading also encourages us to discover what drives us by asking why. In other words, it asks us to practice root cause inquiry. Through root cause inquiry, we discover the underlying motivation and authority.

Previously, you learned to use root cause inquiry to uncover the cause of an upset. A different form of root cause inquiry can be used to discover underlying motivations. For example:

Why am I still attending AA meetings?

Am I afraid that I will drink again if I quit going?

Am I afraid of what others in the group will think of me if I quit going?

Am I afraid of what they will say behind my back?

Do I enjoy the meetings?

Do I enjoy being a sponsor?

Do I feel guilty about letting go of sponsoring others?

Etcetera.

By taking the time to look at why we do (or don’t do) things, we can discover when we are driven by ego and when we are guided by intuition. Once that discovery is made, as today’s reading says:

Then you can make your choice as you choose, knowing what it is that you do.

In other words, then we have clarity regarding the underlying motivation and authority, and we can choose what we want knowing which authority we are choosing.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 19 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

NTI teaches that there are four phases to the human journey known as the spiritual path. Those four phases are:

1. The Search (NTI Acts 19)
2. Purification (NTI Acts 20-21)
3. Service & Merging (NTI Acts 22)
4. True Perception/Enlightenment (NTI 1 Corinthians 15-16)

The fifth phase is not designated as a phase in NTI. That’s because a phase is something one passes through as part of a process. The fifth phase, which is not a phase at all, is awakening to the First Principle of God.

Today’s reading introduces the first phase in the awakening process, which is the search. Most of you (if not all of you) have already passed through this phase. However, you can experience some lingering phase one residue, like believing some people have clarity that you do not have within yourself. For that reason, it is helpful to read about the first phase carefully to find what’s helpful in the reading for you.

I would like to share a brief story about how I crossed over from phase one to phase two.

Like nearly everyone in phase one, I thought a teacher outside of me would be able to give me everything I needed to become enlightened myself. I came across a teacher that I believed was enlightened, and I became a part of his inner circle. From within the inner circle, I saw that things were not as they appeared from the outside.

As it turns out, he was a controlling and manipulative person. He appeared to have three primary desires: he wanted followers, property and money. He talked about these three often. He also pressured the people within the inner circle in order to achieve these goals. For example, he expected his followers to sell their personal property and donate all of the money to his foundation. If a follower chose not to do so, he told stories about that follower to others, making it appear that one was clinging to ego. It was all very manipulative. I watched as people gave everything they had to him, not because they felt guided to, but because they finally gave in to the pressure and manipulation.

During my time with this teacher, I did not give in to the pressure that he put upon me. I always followed my intuition. However, that meant that he and I came face-to-face more than once regarding a command that I would not give in to. In the end, he made it clear that he wanted me to forgo my inner guidance and follow his directions without questioning them. I knew I had to part ways with him, and I did.

It was right for me to stick with my inner guidance instead of giving in to pressure. It wasn’t easy to do, because the ego whispered, “What if he is right, and you are just clinging to ego?” Those whispers came from my sense of unworthiness and from the idea that he had something I did not have. Fortunately, I did not listen to those ideas.

The mistake I made was holding a grievance against this teacher for a few years after leaving his organization. That’s the reason I am telling this story. Today’s reading says:

Do not make the mistake of judging messages or teachers that are not for you. … Trust in Me and remember all things work together for God.

“All things work together for God” means that all things are for the healing of the Son of God, including a spiritual teacher with impure motives.

How is a manipulative and impure teacher part of our awakening to consciousness?

For me, he was a darkness catcher. I am a healing/awakening point in consciousness. My job is to purify the light of any darkness that comes my way by letting it purify in me. If I choose to hold a grievance against him, I am not doing my job.

It is as A Course in Miracles  says:

The sole responsibility of the miracle worker is to accept the atonement for himself.

It was difficult for me to let go of my grievance against the teacher in my story, because I had a belief that leaders should demonstrate the highest ethical standards. That was one of my mind-made laws. However, as we learned on Day 99, mind-made laws are ego devices that:

1. Give us a sense of identity.
2. Provide a basis for judgment and separation.

Mind-made laws are  darkness. I needed  someone to catch that darkness and toss it to me so I could heal it. This teacher did that perfectly, and I did finally heal it completely, so I am grateful to him.

NTI Matthew 18 says:

You will know that your forgiveness is complete when you love your brother with your whole heart and soul and mind, just as the angels do.

I still see that teacher every now and then. Our paths cross, usually when we are speaking at the same spiritual conference or retreat. When I do see him, I find that my heart is completely open towards him. I love him in the same way that I love my biological brother. It’s nice to see him from time-to-time. We don’t have much in common, so there isn’t much to say, but we can embrace each other, and the embrace is genuine.

Has he changed? Not that I know of, but I don’t follow him closely enough to know for sure. However, it’s important to know that my love for him has nothing to do with whether he has “cleaned up his act” or not. If it did, it wouldn’t be true forgiveness.

He is allowed to be exactly as he is. His choices do not affect my love. That’s how I know my love is pure.

The reality is consciousness. The destination for everyone is awakening, and everything along the way is perfect as it is. It is all a part of the healing/awakening process.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 18 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Yesterday we learned that there are no sides in consciousness. Regardless of appearances, everything in the Fourth Principle is:

Consciousness interacting with consciousness so that consciousness can heal and awaken to itself as consciousness.

Your function as an aspect of consciousness that has been guided to this point in NTI is to be a healing/awakening point of consciousness.

Instead of thinking of yourself as a person, as “Sally,” “Harry,” or whatever your name is, think of yourself as a healing/awakening point of consciousness.

Here’s an image to help explain your function:

Imagine consciousness as light. Within this light, there is movement—light moving within light. There are also dark clouds within the light.

You are like a mini-cyclone of light within this bigger movement of light. You are a healing/awakening point within the light.

Other aspects of light are darkness catchers. These other aspects of light move around within the light, catch the darkness within consciousness, and then toss it to you.

When darkness is tossed to you, it magnetically connects with any belief in darkness within you. When darkness connects with belief in darkness, you feel it. When the feeling occurs, it means that it is time to get to work.

As a healing/awakening point in consciousness, you do not react to darkness as if you are a person. You remember that you are a healing/awakening point in consciousness. You rest-accept-trust, and let the feelings be. As you do nothing, your natural light cyclone cleanses the light of darkness, just like the agitation and spin in a washer cleans clothes.

As you rest-accept-trust, imagine yourself as the outer frame of a washing machine, which stands still as the cleansing action occurs inside of it.

When the light is perfectly clean, the cleansed light moves out into the light, mixing with and spreading within the entire light.

 
 
In other words, as you appear to heal and awaken as an individual, all of consciousness is healing and awakening with you. You are a point in consciousness that helps the whole to awaken by performing your function as a point of healing/awakening.

Some of the other people that you meet, hear about or see on the news are working with you in awakening by gathering darkness and tossing it to you.

For example, when you feel upset by something you see on the news, those characters in the news story are gathering darkness and tossing it to you, the viewer. It’s all one function of scooping up darkness and cleansing it. All you have to do is remember your part in this process. The way to remember your part is to stay internally focused on spiritual intuition. Spiritual intuition is the guide for all healing/awakening points in consciousness.

How do you know that you are a healing/awakening point in consciousness?

You know, because you have been guided to the teachings that train you to do your job.

Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.