Lesson 289

What is the Holy Spirit?

Our special theme says, “The Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it truly is at home.”

The ego is thought and judgment, so many spiritual teachings encourage the spiritual aspirant to let go of thought and judgment. Yet, spiritual intuition uses both thought and judgment to lead us toward awakening.

Let’s look at thought first. Most thought is clearly ego. Ego is best recognized by its ‘chatter’ quality. However, not all thought is chatter. There are two additional types of thought.

• Practical thought, such as the thought I am using now to select words that best communicate what I want to say. I will also use practical thought to proofread this after I finish typing it.
• Inspired thought, which comes from intuition. Inspired thought can come from everyday intuition or from spiritual intuition.

Spiritual aspirants do well to discern between the three types of thought, and then to let go of chatter and follow both practical and inspired thought. Interestingly, discerning between the three types of thought and then deciding to let go of a thought or to follow a thought is judgment. According to my dictionary, judgment is “the ability to make considered decisions or come to sensible conclusions.”

Just as spiritual aspirants are encouraged to let go of thought, spiritual aspirants are encouraged to let go of judgment. However, just as there are three types of thought, there are three types of judgment: judgments that come from ego chatter, practical judgment and inspired judgment.

• An example of judgment that comes from chatter is, “She’s stupid,” or “I’m smarter than her.”
• An example of a practical judgment is, “It will make things a lot easier if I take the time to learn how to use this App.”
• An example of inspired judgment is, “I’m becoming attached to an outcome. I need to step back and trust whatever unfolds.”

Humans have brains, and brains are made for thinking. However, listening to, believing and blindly following ego chatter is not thinking. Real thinking is using the brain’s judgment or discernment capability to decide when to listen to and follow a thought and when not to. Real thinking is the hallmark of wisdom.

The past is over. It can touch me not.

Today’s lesson talks about the past. It says, “Unless the past is over in my mind, the real world must escape my sight. For I am really looking nowhere; seeing but what is not there.”

What is the past?

According to my dictionary, it is “gone by in time and no longer existing.”

If one looks clearly for a moment, one can see that the past is not here now. It is impossible for the past to be here now. The past has already “gone by in time” and it is “no longer existing.”

The past that humans hold onto is in thought only.

The past is thought. It might have been actually experienced once, but now it is only thought.

Since the past is thought, let’s look at it as thought.

Which category of thought does the past fit into? Is it ego chatter, practical thought or inspired thought?

If you look carefully, you will see that the past can fit into all three of these categories.

• An example of the past as ego chatter is, “I’m not looking forward to seeing mom today. All she does is judge me.”
• An example of the past as a practical thought is, “Sometimes there is traffic on the highway this time of day. It might be good to leave a little early.” Another example of the past as practical thought is knowing to stop when you come to a stop sign.
• An example of the past as inspired thought is, “Last time I felt nervous like this, it turned into full blown fear. It’s a good idea for me to take a break now and inquire into these thoughts before they get worse.”

Which type of past thought is today’s lesson talking about when it says, “Father, let me not look upon a past that is not there”?

It is the past as ego chatter that is a block to clarity. Practical thought and inspired thought are not obstacles to clear seeing, even if the past is a component of those types of thoughts.

I would like to point out that there is a difference between the past as ego chatter and memory. A smell can invoke a memory. A sight or a sound can invoke a memory. Memories arise. As long as a memory does not become ego chatter, memories are simply passing phenomena that are witnessed by awareness.

Notice your thinking today. If your thinking is ego chatter, choose to let it go. Ego chatter is not at all beneficial. It is thought that you can live without. Interestingly, most thought is ego chatter, which means that you can live without the vast majority of your thoughts.

If your thinking is genuinely practical or inspired, listen to it. These thoughts either make your life easier or guide you toward awakening. Both are beneficial.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation, I recommend this meditation today:

Loving Consciousness Description T

What is the Holy Spirit?

Our special theme says, “The Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it truly is at home.”

The ego uses our attention to keep us absorbed in illusion and ignorance. Our attention is usually focused outward on the ego’s ideas (thought) and perceptions (the world as perceived through thought).

Spiritual intuition uses the same tool that the ego uses—attention. However, spiritual intuition guides us to keep attention focused inward instead of outward. We are focused inward as we ask intuition, “What am I to do now? How am I to see this?” We are also focused inward as we practice awareness-watching-awareness or loving consciousness meditation.

Outward focused attention is guided by ego.
Inward focused attention is guided by spiritual intuition.

There is a third type of attention. It is fully involved in the moment with no “I” or self in it. Examples include being absorbed in creativity or being absorbed in nature.

When we are fully in the moment without ego chatter about “me,” we are in presence. We might call that merged attention instead of outward focused attention, because instead of the idea of me as a person looking outward at a world through “my” thoughts, it is awareness and scenery all merged into one happening.

Therefore:

Outward focused attention is guided by ego.
Inward focused attention is guided by spiritual intuition.
Merged attention is presence.

Let me forget my brother’s past today.

Which type of attention is active when there is a grievance? Is it outward, inward or merged attention?

The answer is outward attention. Outward attention is attention that looks outward through thought, or more specifically, through the ego thought system. Outward attention looks at our brother through the ego’s chatter about the brother and what he did to me, or what I don’t like about him, etcetera.

If we focus our attention inwardly, we will find another thought system. It is the thought system that points toward truth. It may guide us to see our brother differently; it may guide us to inquire into our thoughts in order to see them differently; it may guide us to practice the Loving All Method with our brother and the situation; it may guide us to notice our self as unaffected awareness, etcetera. The specific guidance will vary, but the guidance will always be toward truth and away from untruth.

If our attention is merged, there will be no thought about our brother’s past and there will be no current judgments about him. There will only be this moment as it is in joy.

As you look at the three paragraphs written above, you might notice that inward focused attention is the bridge between outward focused attention and merged attention. Said another way, spiritual intuition is the means to one consciousness, which is awareness and happening as one (not “me” and other than me).

Today, whenever you notice that you are involved in outward attention, shift inward using surrender as it is taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation, I recommend this meditation today:

Loving Consciousness Description S

What is the Holy Spirit?

Our special theme says, “The Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it truly is at home.”

Yesterday we looked at the positive use of doubt. The Holy Spirit uses doubt, which is part of the ego thought system, to doubt the ego thought system itself.

Likewise, desire is part of the ego thought system. There is no desire in consciousness. But the Holy Spirit (i.e., spiritual intuition) uses desire as a means of directing our attention toward reality. We begin to desire truth, or we desire freedom from suffering, or we experience some other desire that turns attention from the world and places attention inward. In this way, desire is employed to restore us to truth realization.

As we have seen repeatedly since the beginning of Gentle Healing, desire is an important tool of awakening. That is because desire is an integral part of the ego thought system. Until we awaken, desire is activated. We could desire a new relationship, a bag of potato chips, more money, a different place to live, a new job, new shoes or anything, but the ego always desires. So the Holy Spirit takes what is there—desire—and turns it around so that it takes us to truth instead of more fully into illusion.

Here are two quotes about the importance of desiring truth:

“The desire for enlightenment is necessary because without it you will never take the necessary steps to realize the Self. A desire to walk to a particular place is necessary before you take any steps. If that desire is not present, you will never take the first step. When you realize the Self, that desire will go.” ~ Sri Annamalai Swami

“Merely to trust is not enough. You must also desire. Without desire for freedom of what use is the confidence that you can acquire freedom? Desire and confidence must go together. The stronger your desire, the easier comes the help.” ~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Some people have learned intellectually that there is no desire in consciousness, and then the spiritual self-image leads them to claim not to have any desires now. However, typically that is only a form of denial. They aren’t noticing their world-based desires, even though the world-based desires are there, talked about and pursued, and they aren’t allowing the desire for truth to become strong. Their denial of desire is an ego preservation strategy.

It is not helpful to deny desire. It is helpful to engage all of the power of desire for the purpose of awakening by realizing over and over again that your spiritual aspiration is all you truly want.

You are my goal, my Father. Only You.

Today’s lesson asks questions, which help us invoke our desire for truth. It asks:

Where would I go but Heaven? What could be a substitute for happiness? What gift could I prefer before the peace of God? What treasure would I seek and find and keep that can compare with my Identity? And would I rather live with fear than love?

Use today to inquire about desire. What are your world based desires? Notice them. Will those desires, if achieved, bring everlasting peace, happiness and clarity? What is your spiritual aspiration? Will it, if achieved, bring everlasting peace, happiness and clarity? What is your strongest heart-felt desire? What do you want above all else?

I recommend taking time to answer the preceding questions through journaling. Reading my tips is a wonderful first step, but if you merely read my tips without following the practice recommendations in the tips, you are probably not taking steps toward your spiritual aspiration. Reading, but not practicing, is another ego preservation strategy.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation, I recommend this meditation today:

Loving Consciousness Description R

What is the Holy Spirit?

The Teachings of Inner Ramana says:

When one is not world-focused, guidance within the world occurs naturally. Non-attached activity within perception is not a hindrance to awakening. Attached activity is a means of clinging to the dream.

In The Teachings of Inner Ramana, world-focus and attachment are synonymous. World-focus and attachment occur when we believe our thoughts. Believing our thoughts is a hindrance to intuition, because when we believe our thoughts, we think we are right. When we think we are right, we are not open to intuition.

Our special theme says, “The Holy Spirit understands the means you made, by which you would attain what is forever unattainable. And if you offer them to Him, He will employ the means you made for exile to restore your mind to where it truly is at home.”

Doubt is part of the ego thought system. It does not exist in consciousness. However, spiritual intuition has a positive use for doubt. Doubt can be used to doubt our thoughts. We can doubt them enough to bring them to inquiry, or we can doubt them enough to disregard them altogether.

When we doubt our thoughts, we are open to guidance that comes from intuition.

The hush of Heaven holds my heart today.

Today we practice the positive use of doubt. As we doubt our thoughts, they grow quieter. They grow quieter because we are not giving them our believing-attention.

When we live in the world with a quiet detached mind, we see the miracle of unfolding. We discover that we do not need to think about everything and figure everything out. The miracle of unfolding takes care of everything. Or, as our lesson says, “In [God] is every choice already made.”

Today we doubt our thoughts, but we do not doubt the path we are on, our intuition or “the end which God Himself as promised us. We trust in Him, and in our Self, Who still is One with Him.”

Choose to doubt wisely today.

If you have 30 minutes for meditation, I recommend this meditation:

Loving Consciousness Description Q