One who sees herself as a person subject to the world and to her experience in the world reacts to thought, emotion and perception as if it is real, which is judgment and continues the manifestation of illusory energies.
One who sees herself as the creative process chooses her way of being (discernment) by remembering that her way of being is creative spirit.
Today’s reading recommends that we remember we are the creative process by choosing our way of being. It says:
Awakening comes from the Heart, so let the Heart lead in all things. The mind is the great receiver. But with the Heart, sort through that which is received. Let the Heart and mind together give to spirit, so that the deliverer receives, always, through the Heart.
What does the previous excerpt mean when it says, “Let the Heart and mind together give to spirit”?
When NTI Ephesians refers to “mind” and “spirit,” spirit is synonymous with consciousness and mind is synonymous with manifestation, which includes thought, emotion, and perception. When NTI Ephesians refers to Heart, it refers to spiritual intuition. So, when NTI Ephesians asks us to let the “Heart and mind together give to spirit,” it asks us to practice discernment regarding every thought, emotion and perception.
As we learned on Day 36, discernment is determining the difference between:
- personal thought and self-will, which is ego
- thought and will that arise from beyond the personal self
Both options are mind, or manifestations. A Course in Miracles differentiates between them by calling them “wrong mind” and “right mind.” The Code differentiates between them by calling them “lower vibration” and “higher vibration,” yet they are both code.
Spiritual intuition (Heart) is the part of us that knows the difference between wrong-minded lower vibrations and right-minded higher vibrations. When we look at the thoughts, emotions and perceptions that are received from consciousness with spiritual intuition, we discern the higher vibrational options so we can make those choices. If we do not look at the options received from consciousness with spiritual intuition, we are likely to choose the lower vibrational options because they appeal to the personal self.
Again:
One who sees himself as a person who is subject to the world and his experience reacts to thought, emotion and perception as if it is real.
One who sees himself as the creative process chooses his way of being (discernment) by remembering that his way of being is creative spirit.
It’s beneficial to drop the idea that you are a person, adopt the idea that you are the creative process, and then use discernment to live from the right-minded higher vibrations. If you forget, and you react to conditions as if you are a person, simply return to the higher vibrational choices as soon as you remember. Don’t judge yourself for forgetting, because judgment is just another low vibrational choice.
As today’s reading says:
If you are not joyous because of what you see, ask of God (consciousness) differently by remembering who you are and how you ask.
You ‘ask’ with your believing attention. In other words, whatever you accept as true is the experience you ask for from the creative principle, and the creative principle always gives you what you ask for.
Note: When NTI says, “You may decide what you want, ask for what you want, and you will receive in kind,” it means you will receive truth (or an experience that points toward truth) or illusion.
Remember what we learned on Day 170. From consciousness’ point of view, there are only two things you can want: truth or illusion. Therefore, in every moment you are asking for one or the other, and “you will receive in kind.”
Thoughts of Awakening # 201
When you watch the mind,
watch for stories
and belief in stories.
All stories are judgments
teaching that ‘what is’
is what it is not.
If you watch the stories carefully,
you will see this is true.
You will see a him and a her,
the story of separation.
You will see a right and a wrong,
the story of judgment, sin and guilt.
When you see stories
remember they simply are not true.
Remember that stories
do not speak of what you look upon.
~From our Holy Spirit
Homework for this week
- Practice daily meditation for 30-60 minutes each day.
- Practice the “Loving All” Method.
- Thoughts of Awakening, 197-203
- Read NTI Ephesians 1- 6 & Philippians 1 – 2.