On Day 166, we learned about “points of experience.” We learned that points of experience are thoughts that give us an emotional experience, so we can have an experience that is different from truth. These thoughts typically enter the mind as stories, which we are enticed by. When we believe these stories, we experience the emotion(s) derived from the story’s thought-energy. We can also become addicted to some emotions—such as anger, jealousy, guilt and worry, to name a few—and then we tend to feel strongly compelled to believe stories with those energies as their base.
When we feel compelled to believe stories with particular energies as their base, we feel as if we are at the mercy of situations in the world. For example, if I am addicted to worry, I find many situations in the world that I believe cause me to worry. I think worry is necessary, because of everything that is going on in the world. I don’t realize that I experience worry because of the thoughts I listen to in the mind. I also don’t realize that I could have a different experience if I made different choices in the mind.
Today’s reading emphasizes that our experience comes from the choices we make in the mind, not from the world as it appears.
Every situation in the world can be interpreted through inner spiritual wisdom or it can be interpreted by the ego. The ego is the projection of the wish for experience that is different from truth, so when a situation is interpreted by ego, it will give an experience that is different from truth. However, inner spiritual wisdom’s interpretation points toward truth.
We will experience ourselves as subject to the world’s circumstances or we will see ourselves on a path of awakening, depending on the interpretation we choose in the mind.
Again, it’s not what is happening in the world that affects our experience. It is the interpretation that we listen to that affects our experience.
The empty shell listens to the silent message of truth, and so it experiences the bliss of truth realization. Before we have become the empty shell, inner spiritual wisdom interprets every event in a way that moves us towards emptiness. It interprets every event for the healing of the mind. The mind heals by letting go of what isn’t true while accepting the truth as it is.
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Thoughts of Awakening # 176
Fear will hold you back from forgiveness.
Fear will hold you back
from letting go of
a false idea as false.
Fear will tell you
that it protects you from harm
and to let go of the idea in question
is to open up to complete vulnerability
and harm.
But fear is just a story.
Fear is an illusion itself.
It promises to care for you,
but what it says isn’t true.
Look at the idea of fear.
Look at its counsel
until you see it isn’t true.
You are free to practice forgiveness
when you’ve learned
not to listen to fear.
~From our Holy Spirit
