Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 17 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Like A Course in Miracles, NTI is a step in the awakening process. It is not the final destination. The primary goals of NTI are:

1. Purification, which is freeing one’s self from believing the mind.
2. Service, which is living by following guidance.
3. Merging, which is awakening to consciousness.

Let’s review the Four Principles of God:

First Principle of God– Pure, unmanifest, life-awareness; abstract, unlimited potentiality.

Second Principle of God– Consciousness; the unaffected, still witness. All things manifest are made of this principle; therefore, all things are consciousness.

Third Principle of God– The ongoing activity of creation, which occurs naturally through the interaction of the witnessing principle with that which is witnessed. It is how consciousness forms itself into the many temporary forms that make up the manifest universe.

Fourth Principle of God– Manifestation. Everything in this realm is temporary, and so it is often referred to as a dream. It is consciousness appearing as something other than consciousness, and so it is called illusion.

If you compare the goals of NTI with the Four Principles of God, you see that the goal of NTI is to awaken to the Second Principle of God.

I bring this to your attention, because today’s reading says:

You are the one Son of God. You have always been the one Son, and you shall always be God’s only Son, for that is what you were created to be.

In creating you, God gave everything to you. He extended Himself, which is all that He had, and He named this extension you. The you that He made was the same as I Am, so there was no difference between them.

In this context, “God” is the Second Principle of God and “you” refers to everyone and everything manifest as the Fourth Principle of God. That’s why the reading refers to “you” as “the one Son of God.” The many things in manifestation are not many things, as they appear to be. The many things are one thing, consciousness appearing as something other than consciousness.

The reading says:

There is no difference between you and I Am, … You are the Son. I Am is the Father. You are the extension of I Am. In the extension, you are I Am also.

When reading this, it is important to remember that “you” refers to everyone and everything manifest as the Fourth Principle of God. If your name is Sally, “you” does not refer to Sally alone, because there is no Sally alone. “You” refers to everyone and everything manifest.

It may be helpful to think of children’s molding clay again. The children’s molding clay represents consciousness. Now, imagine that an elaborate city is created from the clay. It includes many types of people, the birds, animals and plants that are found in a city, the buildings and automobiles that are found in a city, and so on. “You” is not one specific image of a person in the clay city. “You” is everything in the city. It is as if the clay is speaking to the clay city and saying, “You are created from me, and you are the same as I am.”

The reading also says:

And yet, there is a difference that cannot be called a difference at all. You are not the same as I Am, because you did not create you. I Am did. And that which He created is exactly as it is, and that is you exactly as you are.”

That means you are not what you think you are; you are consciousness. That’s true regardless of how the mind defines you. It doesn’t matter if the mind sees you as smart, stupid, talented, dull, athletic, clumsy, beautiful, ugly, admired, unloved, and etcetera. None of that is true about you. You are consciousness. You are not Sally or Harry (or whatever your name is.) You are the whole.

Since we are one whole—one creation of consciousness—we cannot be separated or divided. It’s impossible for some of us to be on one side wanting one thing while others are on another side wanting something different. We can’t have different or independent goals. We are consciousness, and its purpose is our purpose.

To illustrate, think of the cake batter analogy again. Is the blue cake batter on one side of a color issue—the “We want to be blue” side—while the white batter is on the other side of the color issue?

No. It is all one batter. The blue food coloring is simply spreading naturally through the batter as the batter is stirred.

In the same way, “we” are one consciousness, and consciousness is awakening to itself as consciousness. That is all that is occurring throughout the Fourth Principle of God, regardless of what appears to be occurring.

How is this helpful?

If you realize that everyone and everything in manifestation is consciousness, and its goal is awakening to consciousness, then you can see that everything has one purpose, and you can use it for that purpose. For example:

Imagine you are with a group of friends who are making plans for the day. You aren’t quite sure what has been decided, so you ask, “What are we doing?” Someone close to you gets frustrated, turns to you and says:

“You are an idiot. I am sick and tired of trying to explain everything to you all of the time. Get your head out of your ass!”

When this happens, you feel deep feelings of embarrassment, shame and unworthiness.

Why has this happened?

The person who said that to you is consciousness, and you are consciousness, but you subconsciously believe you are an idiot, shameful and unworthy. Consciousness played its role in awakening by being the accuser in order to bring up beliefs that need to be healed. Now your role as consciousness is to practice rest-accept-trust and heal those beliefs.

It’s consciousness interacting with consciousness so that consciousness, as one whole, can heal and awaken to itself as consciousness.

That is all that is occurring in the Fourth Principle now. Nothing else is happening, because consciousness, as one, only has one purpose.

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

Note:  Before reading today’s tip, read Acts 16:16-36 from the Bible or watch all of Acts 16 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Many people resist surrendering and following guidance, because they believe freedom is “doing what I want,” and surrender is giving up that freedom.

Today’s reading says:

If you leave all things to Me, I will guide you in all things. You will not need to give thought or care to anything you are to do or not do. … All that you are left to do is to willingly do as I ask and enjoy the freedom that is expressed through you.

If you pay attention to the thinking mind, you will notice it isn’t freedom. It worries. It spins and spins as it tries to figure out solutions to problems. It finds more problems in its solutions to other problems. When things do not go as it expects, it gets angry and blames others, or it decides that you are guilty and unworthy. Thinking is not freedom. It is “the prison you are in.”

When we surrender and follow guidance, we do have to give up “my way,” but what we discover is the freedom of being an empty vessel. Loves moves through and around that vessel, so that what we witness and experience is love.

Knowing love as the benevolent nature of the universe gives us a sense of freedom that we could never know with the thinking mind. It isn’t the mind’s idea of freedom, which is “doing what I want and doing it my way.” That only leads to conflict. True freedom is witnessing love, knowing the universe as love, and realizing, “I am that.”

When Paul and Silas were in prison in Macedonia, a great earthquake came, which opened the prison doors and set them free from the chains that bound them. It appeared that the earthquake set them free, because now they could go their way. Yet, that was not freedom. Their freedom was following the guidance to stay in prison—which freed the jailer from his sense of guilt and unworthiness—and welcoming their jailer into their hearts as a friend.

The freedom of befriending the jailer was greater than escaping and going their own way.

The point of the story is this:

If you go your own way, you may think you know freedom, but if you follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you will discover what freedom really is.

Freedom is being an empty vessel, because an empty vessel is free to know the benevolent heart of consciousness through:

1. Witnessing how the universe cares for us.
2. Directly experiencing free-flowing love for all things.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 15 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

On Days 99 & 100, we looked at mind-made laws and how they are obstacles to truth. We learned that mind-made laws vary by individual and serve the ego in two ways:

1. They give us a sense of identity.
2. They provide a basis for judgment and separation.

Although mind-made laws vary by individual, many of the laws we adopt are learned, which means they are part of our culture. Some mind-made laws are religious rules of behavior, some are cultural ethics, and some are the law of the land.

Today’s reading points out that as long as the ego mind’s lower vibrations rule people, laws are needed. Laws are needed, because people are not living by conscience. If people lived by conscience, laws would be unnecessary.

The reading also says something that may be shocking to some people:

When you have opened yourself to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and given your willingness that you should be led by Him, it is also time to lay the laws and rules aside as laws and rules that govern you.

This is true, because mind-made laws were created for the ego. To transcend the ego, you must transcend its vibrational level. Instead of abiding by laws that are intended to keep those at a lower vibration within some semblance of order, you are to follow inner guidance to a higher vibration.

Does that mean you are free to ignore traffic laws, stop paying taxes, steal whatever you want, etcetera?

If you are attracted to unruly living, you are listening to the lower vibration. If you are listening to the lower vibration, laws still apply to you, because you still need them.

It is interesting to note, however, that guidance could lead you to do things that are not in accordance with the law or human morals. For example, let’s look at a story about Ramana Maharshi:

Ramana says of his awakening, which occurred when he was a teenage boy:

It was quite sudden. I was sitting in a room on the first floor of my uncle’s house. I seldom had any sickness and on that day there was nothing wrong with my health, but a sudden, violent fear of death overtook me. …

The shock of the fear of death drove my mind inwards and I said to myself mentally, without actually framing the words: ‘Now death has come; what does it mean? What is it that is dying? … The body dies but the Spirit that transcends it cannot be touched by death. This means I am the deathless Spirit.’

All this was not dull thought; it flashed through me vividly as living truth which I perceived directly, almost without thought-process. ‘I’ was something very real, the only real thing about my present state, and all the conscious activity connected with my body was centred on that ‘I’. From that moment onwards the ‘I’ or Self focused attention on itself by a powerful fascination. Fear of death had vanished once and for all. Absorption in the Self continued unbroken from that time on. …

Previous to that crisis I had no clear perception of my Self and was not consciously attracted to it. I felt no perceptible or direct interest in it, much less any inclination to dwell permanently in it.”

A few weeks after that, he suddenly realized the futility of his schoolwork. He pushed the papers away, sat cross-legged and entered into deep meditation. His brother, who was observing him, remarked sarcastically, “What use is all this to such a one?” Recognizing the truth in his brother’s criticism, Ramana decided to follow an inner calling and go to the holy hill, Arunachala.

He got up and left, making the excuse that he had to return to school. His brother gave him five rupees and asked him to pay his college fees on the way to school. However, Ramana did not pay his brother’s fees. Instead, he kept three rupees for his journey to Aruncacha and left the remaining two rupees with the following note:

In search of my Father and in obedience to him, I have started from here. This is only embarking on a virtuous enterprise. Therefore, none need grieve over this affair. To trace this out, no money need be spent.

Your college fee has not been paid. Rupees two are enclosed herewith.

Thus,
_ _ _ _ _ _

The note was not signed, because his separate identity had been lost when he discovered his true identity a few weeks prior.

As you read today’s reading, pay close attention to the guidelines NTI gives about following guidance instead of mind-made laws. I recommend taking notes. When we take notes, it helps us absorb the information. Also, if you take notes you will be able to keep them for easy future reference.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 14 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Command and Control

Today’s reading begins:

Your mind is split. … And this split will seem to persist after you have made the decision to follow this path with Me. Do not let the split distress you, but do not forget to be aware of it. You must notice when the part of your mind that is not with Me seeks to regain command and control  by giving you ideas that seem appealing and useful to it. …

I have italicized part of the excerpt above. That phrase is not italicized in NTI. I added the italics, because that phrase has shown up in my mind many times over the years to help me see ego as it tried to “regain command and control” in my mind. It was really helpful to notice ego in this way, because I am well aware that I do not want it to regain command and control, so when I saw the thoughts in my mind from that perspective, it gave me the ability to remove attention from the mind and place it with intuition instead.

For example:

Let’s imagine there is a problem that needs resolution. My mind is thinking about the problem, and I am engrossed in it until this thought crosses the mind:

“The mind is seeking to regain command and control.”

“Ah, I see,” I say to myself.

A moment before, I was listening to thinking, because I thought the way to resolve the problem was through thinking, but once the reminder showed up, I saw that it is ego trying to command my obedience and control my attention.

Since I know I don’t want ego to have command and control, I shift into trust and patience. I decide to be okay with things as they are now, and wait until something is made clear through intuition or the unfolding of the universe.

Choice of Illusion

Today’s reading says:

You are the expression of freedom, and as the expression of freedom you are endowed with the choice to choose the illusion you choose to see.

What does that mean?

In Tip 77, we learned:

Everything that you see and experience, you see and experience through the filter of your mind, meaning your mind at your current vibrational level. As you rise in vibration, you still see through the filter of the mind, but how you see changes because the mind is different at a higher vibration. The mind is simply thought, so as thoughts change, perception changes too.

True perception is the highest vibrational level of perception. However, all perception is illusory. Truth is beyond perception entirely.

NTI 1 Corinthians, Chapter 15, refers to the mind that sees at the highest vibrational level as a mind in the “fourth stage” of awakening. It says:

The one that seems to be in the fourth stage is but a symbol of the truth that is. So this one must pass away also. But in its passing, you pass from a final illusion of beauty to Beauty that cannot be contained in illusion. You pass from form, which reflects Light, to Light, which shines into form.

Since perception is seen through the filter of the mind, we “choose the illusion you choose to see” by practicing discernment.

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

Note: If desired, watch all of Acts 13 from the Visual Bible movie, Acts.

Today’s reading tells us what to expect when we genuinely choose intuitive wisdom as our guide. Some of the things to expect include:

A unique path to follow. No two people follow the exact same path to awakening. One of the greatest mistakes people make is trying to copy another person’s way instead of tuning within to discern the guidance that is given specifically for him or her to follow.

Resistance. When you decide to let intuitive wisdom be your guide, an important decision has been made. However, it is unlikely that all value you’ve placed on thinking will immediately fall away. It will more likely fall away over time as your trust in intuitive wisdom increases. You will experience resistance to the degree that you still value thinking. As your trust and dependence on intuitive wisdom increases, resistance weakens.

To need a strong spiritual aspiration. As we have learned before, our spiritual aspiration is the most important factor on our path of awakening. As we go further along the path, this doesn’t become less true; it becomes truer.

To need trust and patience. The mind has its own expectations about how the spiritual path and guidance should unfold for you, but if the spiritual path and guidance unfolded in the way the mind expected, it would only reinforce the mind. Therefore, you can expect it to be different than what you expect. Because it will not be what you imagine, you will need trust and patience in order to let it unfold in its own way.

To let go of how you see. As you follow guidance, you will at first see things as you have always seen them. For example, you may see other people at fault for something that troubles you. All wrong-minded seeing comes from the wrong-mind, so you will need to learn to turn to guidance when you see with the wrong-mind. Ask guidance to help you see where you still believe the wrong-mind. Ask guidance to help you see with the right-mind. Be willing to journal and practice inquiry on your wrong-minded perceptions.

To let others be as they are. Just as you were free to value thinking as your guide until you changed your mind, others are free to value thinking as their guide. Others are free to believe their wrong-minded perceptions. Others are free to act from ignorance. When you respect their freedom, you respect truth, because our truth is life-awareness-freedom.

This list tells us what we can expect when we choose intuitive wisdom as our authority in the world.

Note: I recommend printing this tip for future reference.

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