Please read The Purpose of Surrender from The Teachings of Inner Ramana  and contemplate it with your inner teacher. Follow inner prompting regarding the best way to contemplate the reading with the inner teacher. If you don’t feel a specific prompt, ask the inner teacher to share whatever is most important for you to know, see or realize regarding this message.

If prompted, review the tip from Day 296.

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

Please read The Commentary on Mind from The Teachings of Inner Ramana  and contemplate it with your inner teacher. Follow inner prompting regarding the best way to contemplate the reading with the inner teacher. If you don’t feel a specific prompt, ask the inner teacher to share whatever is most important for you to know, see or realize regarding this message.

If prompted, review the tip from Day 295.

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

NTI teaches 7 steps to awakening. Those steps are not linear. They are more circular, like a spiral of awakening. The 7 steps are:

Step 1– An intense desire for awakening.

Step 2– Seeing through the ‘mask’ of ferociousness (attack, grievance, harshness) to the false beliefs that support and sustain it.

Step 3– Tiring of judgment.

Step 4– Letting go of the belief that life is temporary, which is also letting go of the belief that the body-mind-personality is your reality.

Step 5– Learning to trust all that is as it is.

Step 6– Letting go of perception, which is letting go of thought as me.

Step 7– Giving no meaning to anything the ego says or any experience you have as the ego dies its final death.

As we move into Gentle Healing Year 3, we will continue to progress through these 7 steps. As you commit more deeply to your inner teacher, the spiral of awakening will most likely increase in intensity. It may feel quite dramatic at times; that is the nature of a spiral before it explodes into nothing.

As I have mentioned, we will use the book, The Seven Steps to Awakening, in Year 3. The seven steps from that book are not the same as the 7 steps listed above. The book, The Seven Steps to Awakening, is a collection of 1574 quotes collected by Michael Langford. Here is what Michael shared about that collection of quotes:

Most people tend to think that when an Awakened Sage is talking to a student that everything the Sage says is a part of his or her teaching and therefore helpful for awakening. This is not true as the following saying of Sri Ramana Maharshi illustrates:

“The sage’s pure mind which beholds as a mere witness the whole world is like a mirror which reflects the foolish thoughts of those who come before him. And these thoughts are then mistaken to be his.”

… If you understand the full significance of that Ramana Maharshi quote it can completely change your approach to studying spiritual teachings. It changes everything. …

The Seven Steps to Awakening  does not include quotes that were a reflection of the foolish thoughts of the questioner.The Seven Steps does not include quotes that are distractions and detours. Look at the power of that! The Seven Steps to Awakening  is a new spiritual path.

The quotes in the book The Seven Steps to Awakening  were typed exactly as they were in the eight books the quotes were gathered from. Not one word was changed. Not one word was added. Therefore you might wonder how can The Seven Steps to Awakening  be called a new spiritual path. …

One of the most significant aspects of the book The Seven Steps to Awakening  is that the quotes have been gathered together on seven essential teachings (the steps) one subject at a time. The impostor self does not like to focus on one subject. It likes to go from one subject to the next. That is one way the impostor self preserves its imaginary self.

By having quotes by Seven Sages on One subject before going unto the next subject the mind has a chance to really absorb that teaching, that lesson, that step, that subject. By having seven sages teach on a subject you can see it was not just one sage’s teaching. Seven different styles of communication on a single subject has a much better chance of penetrating the human mind’s thousands of layers of self-deception. …

This is how The Seven Steps to Awakening  book was created: I read the eight source books one at a time. I was looking for quotes that met this criteria:

• No distractions or detours.
• Essential quotes for the Direct Path of Awareness.
• No quotes that were the reflection of the foolish thoughts of the student.
• Only the quotes that would lead toward’s the end of illusion and not towards more illusion. In other words the most helpful quotes for someone who really wanted to end the illusion and not just read about it. Quotes for those who wanted the Direct Experience and not just the theory. Quotes for those who wanted Realization and Freedom and not just more words.

After circling the quotes I wondered what category would this quote fall under? Then I wrote the category (step) in the margin of the book so I would know where to place it later. I did not start with seven categories and then look for quotes to fit them. I did not start with any category. I just circled quotes that met the criteria listed above and then wondered what category those quotes would fall under and then wrote the category in the margin. That is how the seven categories arose. I called them steps because steps are something you put into practice. Those seven steps are seven essential truths. I arranged those steps in the order that would be most helpful. For example Step One are quotes to show how to use the quotes as practice instructions and how not to take the quotes intellectually or theoretically. The reason that step is first is because if one does take the quotes in a way that just makes them into a thought journey, then all the other steps would not be effective. …

If some of you who have read the book The Seven Steps to Awakening  have noticed a power or a unity or a transmission or a revelation that is different from any other book you have read before, this very large post may help you to understand why. The Seven Steps to Awakening  has the undiluted concentrated focus of the essential essence of Seven Sages Teaching.… Seven Sages who succeeded in bringing the impostor self and all illusion and suffering to its final end.

Note on the statement that not one word was changed: in quote 1405 there was a typo in the first edition. The word “too” should have been typed as the word “to.” That has been corrected in the second edition.

Michael’s explanation of how The Seven Steps to Awakening  came about may help you see that those seven steps are not steps in the same way the 7 steps from NTI are steps. Instead, they are seven categories of teaching by seven sages. When the seven categories of teaching from The Seven Steps to Awakening  are contemplated and put into practice, they support you as you pass through the 7 steps listed in NTI. You will mature in your practice through The Seven Steps to Awakening.

Michael’s explanation of how The Seven Steps to Awakening  came about may also help you see why that book is as powerful as the books we have already used in Gentle Healing. It is a collection of key quotes from seven sages who have brought the ego and its illusion to its final end.

There are two versions of The Seven Steps to Awakening. You may use either version in Year 3, because both versions are the same except for the font size and the correction of one typo, which Michael explained above. If you haven’t ordered The Seven Steps to Awakening  yet, I recommend ordering it now.

Starting tomorrow, we will prepare ourselves to begin Year 3 by reading The Teachings of Inner Ramana again. This time, we will contemplate the messages each day with the inner teacher.

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

NTI Revelation 7 lists 12 lessons that were taught in NTI, which prepare you to “choose only that which is true.” It could also be said that these 12 lessons prepare you to fully embrace the true while ignoring the false as completely meaningless.

Here’s a review of the 12 lessons along with some commentary. The lessons are in italics.

1. You are innocent. – One of the most challenging beliefs to transcend is the ‘I am bad’ belief. That may be experienced as ‘I am less than,’ ‘I am guilty,’ ‘I am lacking,’ etcetera. The ‘I am bad’ belief and the belief that others are bad (less than, guilty, lacking, etc.) is the same belief. The glue that makes the ‘I am bad’ belief difficult to transcend is the belief that you are what you say and do. (For example, if you say something mean you are mean.) In other words, the ‘I am bad’ belief is complete identification with body-mind-personality.

The ‘I am bad’ belief is transcended by understanding that thought and circumstances are made through consciousness’ believing-attention, and by responding to that understanding by removing believing-attention from the ‘I am bad’ belief and other judgmental thoughts. Since The Loving All Method is the antidote to this type of judgment (good and bad), it also helps you to transcend the ‘I am bad’ belief.

Another useful practice that transcends the ‘I am bad’ belief is rest-accept-trust, because rest-accept-trust allows thought, emotion and circumstances that were created by previous believing-attention to pass by without giving believing-attention again. In this way, the belief is weakened instead of strengthened. It is just as important to rest-accept-trust with the idea that someone else is bad as it is to rest-accept-trust with the idea that you are bad, since both ideas are the same belief.

Because this belief is so deeply engrained, it is very important to trust that you (and others) are innocent as you practice rest-accept-trust. Alternatively, you can love the experience of thought and emotion while practicing rest-accept-trust (which is The Loving All Method).

2. You are the Son of God, and everything you experience is a gift to yourself.– The ‘Son of God’ is a symbolic term for consciousness, which is the first and only direct creation of the absolute. Everything else is created by consciousness through believing-attention and its desire for experience. Therefore, everything, regardless of what it is, is a gift to one’s self for the purpose of experience.

3. You choose the purpose for everything you see, and the purpose you choose is the one that is given to it. – Since every experience is created by consciousness as a gift to itself, consciousness (you) can decide the purpose of every experience. Consciousness can say to itself, “I gave myself this experience because, ________” and decide what purpose fills that blank.

Although there may seem to be many possible purposes, there are only two. You may choose to have an experience that is different from truth, or you may choose to realize truth. If you decide another purpose, that other purpose is a subset of the choice to have an experience different from truth; therefore, it is the choice to have an experience different from truth. For example, if you believe the purpose of an experience is to get rich, or to get love, or to gain control, etcetera, you’ve decided to have an experience that is different from truth.

4. Purpose is based on desire. Since there is only one true desire, there is only one true purpose. Anything else is illusion. – The reason there are only two purposes is because there are only two desires: the desire for experience that is different from truth and the desire for truth.

When one is immersed in ignorance, he is immersed in experience as if it is reality, and he desires certain types of experience, because he believes those experiences will bring him happiness and safety. In other words, what he really wants is happiness and safety. Since uninterrupted happiness and unaffectedness (safety) comes from knowing one’s truth, even the ignorant unconsciously desire truth.

One who is dedicated to awakening consciously desires truth, so he gives that purpose to every experience he has. He does that by living a life centered on spiritual practice.

5. You are never alone. Separation is false. The Light in the mind lends you its strength, because the Light in the mind is your strength. – Reversing the desire for illusion is not easy, because illusion is a deeply engrained habit throughout consciousness. Most people in the world unconsciously support the choice for illusion (including other spiritual students), as do most of the thoughts that stream into your mind from consciousness.

Since the outer supports illusion, you must rely heavily on inner strength if you want to transcend illusion and realize truth.

6. The illusion of the world is false. It only seems real, because you have given it your belief. But by withholding your belief, its realness must fade. – The realization that believing-attention is the power that fuels illusion is one of the most important insights you can have. One who sees this clearly knows that if she gives believing attention to thought, emotion or perception, illusion is strengthened in her mind. The only way to see beyond illusion to truth is to withhold believing-attention from illusion through faith.

7. Your faith and trust is everything, for that which you put faith in, you will experience. This is because you are the Son of God. – Reference Day 98.

8. Your true desire is Know thy Self. Any other desire is the desire not to Know thy Self, which is to choose lack and fear. You are ready to put aside the temporary experience of lack and fear and to know the completeness of truth once again.

9. Anything that is not truth is illusion. To choose illusion is to choose fantasy, but fantasy cannot change the truth.

10. Fantasy is spun within the thinking mind. By allowing the thinking mind to spin, you choose fantasy. By allowing the thinking mind to rest, you choose truth.– This is a simple, but key teaching. If you learn to rest the thinking mind instead of giving it believing-attention, regardless of what it is saying, the ego will die in you, and only truth will remain.

11. Everything that you experience is Love. There is not one exception to this statement. If you believe you look on that which is not Love, you are misperceiving. To see and to know Love as it is, let go of your misperception. – Other words for Love are consciousness, existence and Self. The mind hides Love as it divides, defines and differentiates. To experience truth directly, disregard the mind’s interpretive chatter.

A good question to continually ask yourself is this: “Will I believe the mind or do I want to find out what I can experience without it?”

12. Oneness is all that is true now. The belief in separation has always been false, so anything that is seen through the lens of that belief must be false also. There is not one exception to this statement.

If you understand these twelve lessons and you are willing to live your life according to them, I recommend progressing to Gentle Healing Year 3. I also recommend printing this page for future reference.

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

Contemplation is a time set aside to receive guidance and wisdom. Contemplation may come from reading something, and then letting further insight come to you directly from inner wisdom, or contemplation might involve asking a question and receiving insight from inner wisdom. For example, if you are experiencing a challenging relationship, and you ask inner wisdom to help you see what you need to see regarding this relationship, that is a type of contemplation. (Reference Day 328 and this article by Adyashanti.)

Meditation is a focused time of completely letting go of the false while immersing oneself deeply in the true. (Reference Days 332 and 333.)

I recommend two types of meditation:

Awareness-Watching-Awareness
Loving Consciousness Meditation

You can find Awareness-Watching-Awareness (AWA) and Loving Consciousness guided meditations on the Awakening Together website under Audios & Videos, Meditation Audios. (It may be helpful to use these audios in Gentle Healing Year 3.)

Living from devotion is being focused inward through acceptance and surrender instead of being focused outward on thought, body and world. It is living from within with intuition as the source of your perception, speech and action. (Reference Days 329 and 330.)

Contemplation and meditation are used as a means of awakening for those who are called to withdraw from the world in order to awaken. Living from devotion is also helpful whenever one called to withdraw from the world needs to interact with the world briefly, such as when going out to buy groceries.

Those who are guided to live in the world while awakening also use contemplation and meditation. Some time withdrawing from the world each day is critically important for those who live in the world. However, the one who is guided to live in the world while awakening relies heavily on devotion as his/her practice in order to be in the world without being of the world. Devotion is a way of withdrawing from the ego while still interacting with perception.

Gentle Healing Year 3 is the next step in Gentle Healing, regardless of whether you feel called to withdraw from the world now or continue living in the world. You will each be guided individually in Gentle Healing Year 3, so you will be able to go in either direction from this point forward.

How can you know if you are ready for Gentle Healing Year 3?

In Gentle Healing Year 3, you will need to:

1. Be able to hear/intuit insight from within.
2. Trust inner wisdom more than your individual thoughts and perceptions.
3. Be fully dedicated (committed) to your inner teacher.

You don’t need to be an expert at these things. You only need to be able  to do the first and be willing  for the last two in order to start Year 3.

If you contemplated the Thoughts of Awakening throughout Year 2 and wrote with inner wisdom on most days, you can feel confident that you are able to hear/intuit inner wisdom. If you also feel heartfelt willingness to trust the insight you receive from within and you are ready to dedicate yourself to your inner teacher, you are prepared for Year 3.

Are you unsure if you should progress to Gentle Healing Year 3?

Tomorrow, we will review the 12 lessons that were taught in NTI. If you have complete understanding of those 12 lessons, I recommend trying Year 3 even if you have doubts about it. Those doubts may be the ego’s way of trying to hold you back.

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