A universal assembly for true discernment
Please read and contemplate quotes 121-124 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. This is the last quote today:
Consciousness is pure, thought is subject to confusion.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
In ACIM’s description of the tiny mad idea, we thought, what would it be like if everything was different than it was. How was it prior to this idea, you might ask. Everything was One. Oneness was (is). There was nothing outside of me (Oneness). There was no subject/object split. There was nothing distinctly separate from me. Everything was Whole. In NTI Luke, the Holy Spirit asked that you no longer accept “that there is a ‘you’ and a ‘them’ who is separate from you. This is the view the ego has of the world.”
So, it is worth repeating, there is nothing distinctly separate from me. But, in lesson 28, Jesus says “you see a lot of separate things about you, which really means you are not seeing at all. You either see or not.”
Jesus uses a table as an example in his lesson and says we are defining the table in past terms and “you will not question what you have already defined.” Isn’t this an example of the perceptual loop? Once I have an idea and I decide the idea has merit, I cast attention on the idea, I experience it the way I thought and…What I think, I see. What I see, I experience. What I experience, I think. Jesus admonishes us to let the table’s purpose be revealed to us, instead of placing our own judgement upon it.
You see, the problem is in the mind, not in the world because there is nothing outside of me. The world was an idea in my mind. As long as we cast attention on individual parts we can’t know the whole picture (Wholeness). NTI Luke 6 tells us:
We are the song as one sound together. Love the entire song. Every aspect is equally important to the whole, every aspect valuable and cherished for its part in it. Share the perspective of the song by seeing yourself as the song and by loving the entire song, just as it is, without judgement or desire that the song should be played differently.
Break the loop. Withdraw your interpretations. “The ego-mind is not aware that it interprets,” but “since the ego-mind is a split or fraction, its perspective or viewpoint is not whole. Since it is not whole, it is not Knowledge, which is why it interprets.” NTI Luke Chapter 6.
There is nothing but your mind that separates you from anything else. Let your desire to want to see things differently show you that everything is connected and shares the same purpose.
Please read and contemplate quotes 117-120 in The Seven Steps to Awakening with your inner teacher. This is the last quote today:
The fool asks irrelevant questions irreverently; and the greater fool is he who spurns the sage’s wisdom. He is surely not a sage who responds to the vain questions of a foolish questioner.
Note: The next Daily Contemplation will be available tomorrow morning after 2am ET at this link.
In this lesson, Jesus tells us that the idea for the day “expresses something stronger than mere determination. It gives vision priority among your desires.” This is why it is such a powerful practice to remind yourself throughout the day that you want to see. To want to see is to want Truth more than anything else. What desires might block my sight? Well, all of them. For example, my desire to be treated with respect, to be heard when I speak or to be seen as knowledgeable are all desires that reinforce the idea of myself as a separate individual with needs that come from the perspective of the individual.
The lesson states that “There may be a great temptation to believe that some sort of sacrifice is being asked of you when you say you want to see above all else.” To assume that I have needs that come before the truth is to assume that I am somehow lacking. It is this “threat” that entails a sense of sacrifice when we are called upon to affirm and reaffirm our true desire. You mean I should want to see more than I want to be loved? More than I want to be safe? More than I want ….?
Jesus also warns: “You may feel hesitant about using the idea, on the grounds that you are not sure you really mean it.” It is the belief that we must set about protecting ourselves lest we be alone, unloved and unsafe that might make us question our honesty as we repeat today’s lesson. What is actually required is the willingness to remember that our habitual patterns of casting attention have not brought us the happiness, safety, security and peace of mind they seem to promise. This lesson is asking us to loosen our allegiance to those old ways of being and focus on our true desire. It is asking us to take a break from believing our interpretations – to step out of the loop of “What I think I see, what I see I experience, what I experience I think.” NTI Luke 6 advises:
When you notice that you have an interpretation, take a break from what you see. Seek quiet time with Me, and share your interpretation with Me. Do not share your interpretation as if you must be right, expecting Me to support you and lead you to the righteousness of your way. Share your interpretation expecting that you are wrong, because you have seen and believed without knowledge. In such humility, you can let go of your interpretation; you will see that it is nothing of value to you. And what you receive in its place you will extend, and that which you share shall be peace and restfulness.
This peace and restfulness is the result of your desire to see above all else. This lesson seems to require faith that the truth is true: I am safe, I am loved, I cannot suffer. Your true desire IS the faith required to do the lesson. As the Holy Spirit tells us in Luke 6, “To listen to Me and practice what I say is to find true peace that cannot be shaken, because it is knowledge.” And (skipping ahead to NTI Luke 7), “As you seek, you shall find. You cannot fail to find that which you seek in honesty of faith.”
Our true desire is the desire to move beyond the self-protective mode to which we have become habituated. I am reminded of the scene from “Brother Sun, Sister Moon” where Saint Claire pleads with Saint Francis to let her join his group and tells him “I’m not seeking to be understood anymore, I want to understand. I’m not asking to be loved, I want to love. Where there is sadness, please, please help me find joy.” It is this re-prioritization of desires which this lesson asks of us. We trade the desire to be satisfied as the person for the desire to step into the Truth. As we continue in our practice, we each will come to recognize this as our true desire and the only source of lasting peace and joy.
Here is the scene from Brother Sun, Sister Moon if you would like to watch it.
The Heart is the Self, Part 2Karen Worth leads us in a deeply relaxing mediation using the quotes from The 7 Steps to Awakening.
Kate shares her experience as she goes about the business of giving up her ideas about herself and the world on her journey toward purification and awakening. Kate shares with wisdom and humor and allows us a glimpse into the beautiful and sometimes messy blossoming of life examined with an eye on Truth.
Description: Rev. Jay McCormick shares that when we go within and ask ‘What Am I?’ the first answer may be ‘I am thought’. But then when asking what is being thought, they answer may be ‘I am mind’. But not satisfied with that, going to the source of mind, what is there? God. Its all about turning within and looking with Holy eyes that see love in the face of all things. Going within simply requires willingness. It happens when no one is looking yet the effects are plain for everyone to see.
Reading: Shawna Summers read from NTI 2 Corinthians Chapter 12
In the USA, Daylight Savings Time begins at 2am on Sunday, March 10. If you are in the USA, move your clock forward (from 2am to 3am.)
If you are in Arizona or a country that is not changing clocks this weekend, check the World Clock on Sunday morning to determine the new time conversion from your time zone to Eastern Daylight Savings Time.
See you in the Sanctuary at 9:30am ET on Sunday morning for meditation with Rev. Karen Worth, followed by the Weekly Gathering at 10:15am with Rev. Jay McCormick.
We’ve made a few changes to the Audios & Videos menu on the Awakening Together website. The changes were made with new visitors in mind. We reorganized the menu so they can find their way around more easily.
Weekly Gathering Audios – These audios are now under Audios & Videos, Sanctuary Highlights. We made this change because Sanctuary Highlights is the first thing on the menu, so it is the first thing new members & friends explore. We’ve put the Weekly Gatherings right at the top of the Sanctuary Highlights menu, making it the first thing visitors see.
Jacquelyn Eckert – Jacquelyn’s audios are now located on the main menu directly under Regina Dawn Akers. We made this change because Jacquelyn leads more programs than ever before in our Sanctuary, she is beginning to represent Awakening Together through outside speaking engagements and she will offer retreats at the Retreat House. As people become curious about who Jacquelyn is and what her teachings are, they’ll be able to find her more easily under the Audios & Videos main menu.
Featured Guests – We’ve combined the Guest Satsang Interviews and other talks by guests under this one fly-out menu. This is where you will find talks by Craig Holliday, Cate Grieves, Gina Lake, Nirmala and more.
Meditation Audios – We’ve combined Awareness Watching Awareness, Loving Consciousness and Abandon Release Method meditations under one sub-menu called Direct Path Meditation. The purpose of this change is to eliminate the differentiation between three styles of Direct Path meditation by Michael Langford.
