A universal assembly for true discernment
Anne Blanchard guides a group of committed students through year 2 of Gentle Healing who would like to make consistent, gentle progress toward genuine peace, joy and love. This group meets weekly and all members are committed to specific assignments and practices between group meetings.
Everyone who has completed year 1 Gentle Healing and is willing to make a commitment to deepening even further into healing/awakening is invited to join this group.
Please read and contemplate quotes #245-248 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. This is the last quote today:
Only when the world-illusion goes does the blissful light of Self arrive. Life lived in this bright, blissful light is our true, natural life. Other ways of life are full of trouble and fear.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
Today’s workbook lesson says, “the ego is the physical embodiment of [its wish to replace God].” We saw how this “physical embodiment” occurs in the move, “What the Bleep Do We Know?”
First, there is the ego. It is the idea of “me.” The brain as a whole does not have this idea. It collects data from the senses and processes that data without the bias of an idea like “me.” However, because we are attached to the idea of me, we filter through the data the brain collects and processes, and we pay attention to only the very little bit of data that centers around “me.” According to “What the Bleep,” the brain processes 4,000,000,000 bits of data per second and we choose to be aware of only 2,000 bits of that data. That is a very limited perspective!
Secondly, the cells of the body are formed and reformed based on the thoughts we choose to cast our attention on. For example, if I choose to notice whenever people seem to pay more attention to others than to me, I create a “not wanted” self-image. That creates a specific chemical reaction in the body; the FEELING of not being wanted. The cells in my body drink that chemical. It tastes like Kool-Aid (or Tequila) to them, and they want more, so they reform in order to create receptors for more of the “not-wanted” cocktail. Next, they send signals that say, “Hey, give us some more of that not-wanted juice!” We pick up that signal and filter through the data the brain collects in search of “not-wanted.” When we see anything that satisfies that need, we cast attention on it, giving the cells the chemical they desire. Giddy with their addiction, they create even more receptors for that chemical, and the process continues.
The body is literally the physical embodiment of the ego, the idea of “me.” The body reinforces that idea by craving specific chemicals, and we reinforce the body’s cravings with the thoughts and perceptions we decide to cast our attention on.
Obviously, we need to be liberated from this body-me attachment.
Just like any addict, we cannot depend on the addicted self to free us from the addiction. It wants the addiction too badly, even if the addiction is terribly painful. We need to look for help from clarity, which is the non-addicted Self within, the deeper parts of the ocean of our Self.
Today’s workbook lesson is an important part of the process of being liberated from “me” and “the body.” Today we realize the addicted self cannot liberate itself, and we ask the clear Self to help. Specifically we say, “I do not know. Tell me, that I may understand.” In this way we open up to receive the realizations we need to receive in any way our clear Self can find to reach us. That means there are no limits on how this clarity may get our attention. We give it permission to come by any means, and we open ourselves to receive it.
Jacquelyn Eckert is one of 14 Presenters* in The Presenter Series offered by Teachers of God.
In this series, you will explore four primary themes:
The Presenter Series gives you:
Please read and contemplate quotes #241-244 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. This is the last quote today:
The universe out there appears when scanned. But when not scanned, it disappears. Turning away from this, search keenly for the Self within the heart, and think no more of birth.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
Today, I burst out laughing when I read, ”The role assigned to your own mind in this plan, then, is simply to determine what, other than itself, must change if you are to be saved.”
What a silly idea! This is saying that we believe suffering is salvation. To discover this for yourself, notice how you feel when your mind says, “If this were different (or if he/she/I were different), I would be saved (happy, safe, loved, etc).” Notice that as your mind chatters about what needs to be different, you aren’t happy. In that very moment, happiness is hidden from you. The thought that ‘something needs to be different’ is suffering.
Logically, can suffering be salvation?
It gets crazier, we also believe salvation is suffering. To see this, notice how you feel when you are asked to allow a situation/person to be as it is. Sometimes it seems as if allowing things to be as they are is unthinkable! Also, notice how you feel when you are asked to surrender (let go of) the way you think.
When we notice that we believe suffering is salvation and salvation is suffering, we see how confused our way of thinking is. We also see that we need help that comes from beyond our confused, habitual way of thinking.
In today’s workbook lesson, we are instructed to ask God, “What would You have me do? Where would You have me go? What would You have me say, and to whom?”
In my experience, it is entirely possible that you will hear something when you ask these questions, and it is entirely possible that you won’t. However, either situation can be success. Let me explain how.
When something was weighing on my mind, such as a grievance or fear, a time of quiet ‘asking for guidance’ led me to see the situation differently. I received guidance regarding my mind in the situation. When this type of guidance came, I wrote it down. It doesn’t matter if it was brief or a long conversation with God, I found writing it down helpful so I could reflect on it, accept it, and follow it.
However, if there was nothing weighing on my mind, I usually did not receive guidance during a quiet time of ‘asking.’ Instead, I felt peace or devotion as I sat quietly, but later in the day guidance would spontaneously arise when I needed it. I had opened a channel during the quiet time of sitting, and the channel was being used when it was needed.
We need guidance that is beyond the thinking mind. We open to this guidance by asking for it, and then by being receptive to receive it. We can use prayer, meditation and inquiry to access guidance. As we move forward with Consistent, Gentle Healing, we will incorporate all three practices into our lives more and more.
Aham and Aham-vrtti, Part 4
Rev. Jay McCormick led this group discussion with this month’s movie, Gandhi, starring Ben Kingsley, the beloved Indian leader who stood against British rule over his country. Gandhi was dedicated to the concept of nonviolent resistance. Mahatma Gandhi remains a dimly understood historical figure. A lot of us know he was a great Indian leader without quite knowing why and such is our ignorance of Eastern history and culture we may not fully realize that his movement did indeed liberate India, in one of the greatest political and economic victories of all time, achieved through nonviolent principles. This film reminds us that we are capable of the most extraordinary and wonderful achievements, simply through the use of our imagination, our will, and our sense of right.
Here is a link to the play sheet that Jay McCormick created for the movie. Read play sheet for Gandhi.
We wanted to let you know that this Saturday Morning’s NTI Circle experienced technical difficulties. If you were trying to log on and weren’t able to, we want to let you know that we are working on getting the problem resolved.
We are still on for next weeks’ NTI Circle. Please note, that NTI Circle does not broadcast over the Awakening Together Radio. If that is how you normally tune into the Sanctuary, for this Saturday program you will need to enter Zoom with this link: https://zoom.us/my/awakeningtogethersanctuary
or use the following phone numbers to enter into the Sanctuary live:
