NTI Colossians combines the teaching of NTI Ephesians and NTI Philippians, while bringing more clarity to both. You will recognize teachings from both NTI Ephesians and NTI Philippians in today’s reading. This review is really important, because the mind attempts to distract you from the realization that your way of being is creative spirit. It attempts to pull attention back toward thought, emotion and world, so that thought, emotion and world continue to be enlivened through you.
The evolutionary motion within consciousness now is a motion toward truth realization. In NTI, this motion is described as the desire to:
Know thy Self
One who accepts this motive as his/her motive is consciously and actively shifting attention so that it isn’t used to enliven illusion, but to recognize Life. Shifting attention in this way is called changing your mind. Today’s reading is full of guidance that helps us change our mind so that we support the motive of truth realization instead of mindlessly resisting it with old conditioning.
Today’s reading says:
“Praise your mistakes, that they may be corrected. For it is only in praise and acceptance that truth may be known.”
According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, to praise is to “express a favorable judgment of.”
Why are we asked to judge our mistakes favorably?
It’s our habit to judge our mistakes negatively. Sometimes, in order to change a habit, one needs to be extreme in the other direction. However, even more important than that:
A key awakening practice is the Loving All Method.
Aren’t mistakes a part of “all” in Loving All?
Therefore, aren’t they to be loved just like everything else?
You may wonder how you can praise a mistake, especially if it created a problem or hurt someone?
Here’s what works for me:
1.Shift from the head to the heart. Genuine praise comes from the heart, not from intellectual thinking or rationale, even if it’s spiritual thinking or rationale.
2. With the heart, remember that the entire creative process including every thought, emotion, perception and action comes from consciousness’ brilliant ability to want something different from truth and experience that, even though truth itself can never change. Feel gratitude for that brilliance and for the perfect freedom that allows it. (Don’t rush through this step.)
3. Realize that the mistake you made is part of that brilliance and freedom. This is the positive judgment. It is praise for consciousness as consciousness, since consciousness is brilliance and freedom.
4. Remain with the feeling of gratitude for brilliance and freedom. Remember that you have accepted the purpose of awakening now. Choose to see your mistake clearly so that you can learn from it. Feel gratitude for this opportunity to learn a lesson that further supports awakening. Realize old habits are dying through clarity and your willingness to look at mistakes.
As we learned in NTI Galatians:
“You will be tempted to think with the world. In times of unknowing, you will think and act with the world. But your willingness is in action, and so you will see what you have done. Each moment of noticing is an opportunity for immediate repentance. Repentance is nothing more than remembering what you truly want and returning joyfully to the focus of your willingness. This is the dance of love. And the dance of love is the spreading of Light within a welcome mind. …
Do not worry about your errors. They are nothing but opportunity for learning. Return to your willingness in joy. In your truth, you are Spirit.”
Note: I recommend printing this tip for future reference.
Note: The next tip will be available tomorrow morning after 3:50am ET at this link.
Thoughts of Awakening # 214
Set your small desires aside,
those personal desires
that tell you what you want to see,
how you want to be,
and what you want to have.
These desires,
although they may seem honorable
or highly coveted by the self,
are blocks
to the truth of the Heart.
If you can see
that small desires
keep true and permanent happiness
away from you,
you will relinquish small desires.
It isn’t the desires
that you desire the most.
It is the happiness that you desire,
and to you
small desires are the means to happiness.
~From our Holy Spirit
