~ Do not allow your intent to waver in the face of distracting thoughts. … Replace them with your determination to succeed.

~ Regard these practice periods as dedications to the way, the truth, and the life.

~ You are dedicated to salvation. Be determined each day not to leave your function unfulfilled.

Repeatedly we are told, “Be determined and dedicated.” So this is the primary objective of lessons 81 – 90. We are here to gather our motivation and strength so we may continue on with increased determination and dedication.

My tips each day during this review period will not focus on the specific lessons that we are reviewing that day. Instead, I will focus on the objective of gathering motivation and strength so we can continue with increased determination and dedication. I will be our coach.

Also, I would love for you to participate in this purpose. Over the next 10 days, if you read something, receive something from within, hear a song, etc that inspires you with increased determination and dedication, please post it in the Sharing in Contemplation Facebook Group or bring it to our next Gentle Healing meeting. Let’s spend this review period motivating ourselves and one another. There is no better gift we can give now.

“Do not dwell in the desert hot of the non-self, eating arid sand. Come into the Heart, the mansion cool, shady, vast, serene and feast on the bliss of Self.” ~ The Garland of Guru’s Saying

When I did open the Course workbook and see today’s lesson, “the problem” it spoke about was clear. The lesson called it “separation,” but we experience it as thinking or mental chatter.

Things do come up that need to be handled, as they did with me today, but those things aren’t actually the problem. ‘Thinking’ (mental chatter) is the problem. ‘Thinking’ is the cause of all wars. Based on what we learned from NTI Ephesians and The Code, ‘thinking’ is even the cause of disease, weather patterns, etc.

If we look carefully at our thinking, we can see that it IS separation. After all, each of us thinks about ‘me’ and ‘mine.’ Each of us holds to a ‘personal’ point of view. We don’t find universal unity in the mind’s chatter.

Today’s workbook lesson says, “The problem of separation, which is really the only problem, has already been solved.”

Early in the Gentle Healing group, we listened to an audio by Alan Watts. In that audio, he taught that our true Self is present and fully awake right now. In order to reach it, we need to dive to where it is. In other words, we need to take our attention off of the thinking mind’s chatter and seek inwardly toward the depth of our Self.

“Perceiving the underlying constancy in all the problems that seem to confront you [& that underlying constancy is mental chatter], you would understand that you have the means to solve them all. [You can remove your attention from mental chatter and seek your truth within.] And you would use the means, because you recognize the problem. [Clarity on the problem increases the desire to use the means to end all problems forever.]”

With that said, what do you think I should do? Should I go back to work on the two technical problems that I woke up to today, or should I be happy with the little I’ve done for now and go directly from this post into meditation?

Guess which answer I’ve decided on