Willingness is the state of wanting to awaken to truth and being mentally, emotionally, and spiritually ready to do it. It is a call from awake consciousness and a direct link to awake consciousness. When we focus on our willingness, we are in direct communion with awake consciousness. By communing with awake consciousness, we merge with awake consciousness. Focusing on our willingness is the simple way to awaken.
When we focus on willingness, we are consumed with one purpose. When we focus on the mind, our attention is scattered among many purposes. These many purposes are called distractions, because they all have one thing in common: they distract our attention away from our call to awaken.
When we focus on the mind and become distracted by its thoughts, we get lost in points of experience. We experience emotions that are different from truth. Forgiveness is the process of removing attention from points of experience and returning our focus to truth.
Today’s reading teaches a process for forgiveness. It is a simple process that can be used over and over. It can be used each time we find ourselves lost or stuck in an experience that is different from truth. Here’s how the process works:
- Recognize you are experiencing an emotion that is different from truth and this is an opportunity for forgiveness.
- Put the story aside temporarily in order to quiet the mind. I do this by writing the main points about the story in a journal. Writing the main points on paper helps me empty the mind—to get the story outside of me—so I can relax into a quiet mind.
- Once the mind is quiet, or relatively quieter than before, turn your attention to your willingness or to your spiritual aspiration. I do this by asking myself, “What do I truly want?”
- Focus on your willingness. Let attention linger there. Notice what your willingness feels like. Relax into it. Let yourself go deeper into it by being with it—by communing with it.
- When you feel deeply in touch with willingness, describe the obstacle that you are ready to transcend. For example:
“I am experiencing worry and fear. I am worried that I will have to fight in order to get this project completed on time, and I don’t want to fight. I am worried that I will offend people as I do what I have to do. I am worried we will not complete the project on time. I am worried that if we do complete the project on time, they will put me in charge of the process permanently and that will just create new things to worry about.”At this step, it’s important to stay in touch with your willingness. Emotions may arise in the body as you recount the obstacle. Allow whatever arises to be there. Do not judge yourself or the emotional experience; do not attempt to manipulate it or change it. You are in a healing space now, and whatever arises is coming up for healing. Let it be, and stay with your willingness.
- Once you are in the healing space, any number of experiences may occur. I cannot tell you exactly how healing will happen. Trust whatever happens. Don’t think it is supposed to look a certain way or be different than it is. If you find yourself seeing the obstacle more clearly, look at it. Your clarity regarding the obstacle is a part of the healing process. If you begin to see the situation differently, accept the new point-of-view. If your feelings begin to morph into other feelings, allow them to shift and change. If you begin to realize guidance, trust the guidance. If you feel to grab a pen and journal, do that. If there is a prompt to practice inquiry, follow that prompt.
- Do not try to force forgiveness, and do not try to rush through the forgiveness process. Be willing to stay with the process until you feel intuitively that it is complete for now.
- Optional: I like to conclude a forgiveness process with, “Thank you.”
I recommend printing this tip for future reference.
Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.
