A universal assembly for true discernment
Please read and contemplate quotes #385-388 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. This is the last quote today:
That alone can be regarded as the truth which has always been and which will always be.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
The universe conspired to teach me this lesson today. I sent a barrage of emails with incorrect dates to a potential guest speaker. I missed correcting emails from Regina. I missed responding emails from the speaker. When everything was said and done, it looks like the speaker may decline the invitation.
What my thoughts said was that I really messed things up; that I was too distracted; that I was foolish for mixing up Eastern Time and Mountain Time; that next time I write these types of emails I should do this and not do that. What I heard was, “I am bad”—maybe not at first, but as the situation devolved, that was what I was left with.
If you asked me about the scenario that was a setup for this lesson, I might say, “I was given an ‘important’ task. I carried it out ‘poorly’ and we did not achieve the results we had hoped for.” That’s not really what happened. Those are all judgments, habits of thinking of the conditioned mind. Within those thoughts there is an “I” who could have succeeded or failed; a task that was more important than others; and a mission or desired outcome.
In my conditioned way of thinking, I judge events by the way in which they affect me or could affect me. If I perceive good effects, I believe that I am “good.” If things don’t work to my benefit, I am bad. In my poorly executed task yielding less than desirable results, the I am bad thought flourished.
This has not been my experience of late. The I am bad thought has become much quieter. I have seen the thought “I am bad because …” many times and rejected it as ridiculous. That was not my experience today.
NTI Luke says, “Sickness must rest and be quiet. This is the way to health. Let your sickness rest.”
This is why we want to rest. When our attention is caught up in our mind’s conditioned thought habits, the neural pathways that are related to those habits are well worn and as slippery as water slides. When we rest from our habitual way of thinking, those same neural pathways begin to dry up. Later, we will experience this as the ability to pause and discern before going into a habitual way of reacting. Or a neural pathway may be completely healed through our rest, and we will notice that our happiness is unaffected by a situation that would have upset us before.
When you rest the mind, realize you are allowing time for healing. Rest during meditation, rest when you happen to notice that thought is all wound up and also rest when you feel an upset.
For myself, today, tomorrow and as often as I am blessed to remember, “I [will] rest in God.”
Regina Dawn Akers looked at Quote #9 in The Nisargadatta Gita. She also played an audio by Roger Castillo.
Rev. Helen Avery shares candid experiences from her path of awakening.
Rev. Jacquelyn Eckert shares with honesty and passion about the ups, downs, and all-around of the spiritual journey. Jacquelyn is transparent as she shares about the impersonal awakening process we all experience. She moves us with stories from her own journey, with direct insight from inner wisdom and with guidance from spiritual masters, both contemporary and legendary.
Regina Dawn Akers reads from the Tao Te Ching in order to contemplate enlightened leadership.
Anne Blanchard shares her experience of purification and awakening, unfiltered and as it happens. Raw, reflective, brave, and infused with clarity.
Anne’s open honesty inspires us all to dive deep into the spiritual journey instead of simply skimming the surface.
July is one of the most beautiful months in the mountains, so it is the perfect time to embrace meditation and nature with a committed group of friends at the Awakening Together Retreat House in La Veta.
At this retreat, you will learn to focus on the ‘I am’ presence to the exclusion of all else as taught by Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj and his guru, Sri Siddharameshwar Maharaj.
Using guidance provided through Nisargadatta’s teachings, you will determine the difference between the ‘I am’ presence and the ego, you will observe how the ego attempts to distract you from the ‘I am’ presence, and you will learn to ignore the ego’s distractions so you can follow the direct path to awakening as Nisargadatta did. You will have ample opportunity for meditation, contemplation and journaling on your own, as well as spending time in group instruction, meditation and discussion. We will also explore how you can continue to be motivated to meditate after you go home from this retreat.
Much of this retreat will occur outdoors in beautiful Colorado.
The retreat will begin at 10am on Monday, July 22 and end at 3pm on Friday, July 26. We recommend arriving in La Veta on or before Sunday, July 21 and departing on or after Saturday, July 27.
All guests are welcome to stay at the AT Retreat House for up to 28 days. Longer stays are possible with permission.
Please read and contemplate quotes #381-384 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. This is the last quote today:
This creation is nothing but the creation of the mind: this is the truth; the rest is but a fanciful description.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
Today’s lesson says, “To learn that giving and receiving are the same has special usefulness, because it can be tried so easily and seen as true. And when this special case has proved it always works in every circumstance where it is tried, the thought behind it can be generalized to other areas of doubt and double vision. And from there it will extend, and finally arrive at the one Thought Which underlies them all.”
After reading this part of the lesson and prior to reading the whole lesson I contemplated, “What can I give (away) so that “it can be tried so easily and seen as true”? When I went on to read the entire lesson it gave some examples:
“To everyone I offer quietness.”
“To everyone I offer peace of mind.”
“To everyone I offer gentleness.”
Then it occurred to me the examples are meant to point out that the attributes that I want are what has to be offered so that they can be received. If I didn’t think to offer it, could it be received? It reminds me of the movie What The Bleep Do We Know. No one could see the ships in the harbor because they didn’t know what a ship was. And while we aren’t concerned with the physical, the point is if I felt gentleness, for example, was very, very important to me, wouldn’t I naturally be offering it to others?
Lets look at generalizing it to other areas of doubt. So what is something I really want? Happiness? Yes, I would say being happy would be at the top of my list, but I realize I don’t offer happiness to everyone, all the time, consistently, even though that is exactly what I would like to have.
Earlier tonight Jacquelyn was talking about the end and the means being the same. The Loving All Method is the means, as well as the end (thing we want). So, the means of practicing The Loving All Method, which is loving everything we perceive exactly as it is, is also the end, to love everthing exactly as it is. It is its own reward. This lesson points out the value of making The Loving All Method a way of life. The Loving All Method unifies everything so that there are no opposites. It brings about a “state of mind that has become so unified that darkness cannot be perceived at all.” If you haven’t become deeply familiar with The Loving All Method, consider reading it over 2 to 3 times this week. Soon we’ll be able say, To everyone I offer unconditional Love. I can only imagine what that experience will look like as I begin to receive what I have offered.
Here is the link to the Loving All Method for your review: https://albigen.com/uarelove/most_rapid/chapter12.htm
