Course Notes

Course Note #137: A Contract for Awakening

2012-01-10T12:55:00.000-08:00

A contract for awakening -- are you ready to sign?

In the book The Teachings of the Inner Ramana, there is a chapter entitled, “A contract for awakening”.* I had no desire to read that chapter, and I even had the thought that I was not ready to go there, and was not going to read the chapter until I was. Well, as I entered into a year of “letting go” on December 2, 2011, I was also prompted on that date to print the contract for awakening, and to read it, and to sign it. I knew this was true guidance, because “Sheryl” would not have even considered doing something like that! Ha!

As I read it, I knew that I was ready to go to the next step. Before I get into that though, I was prompted first to turn to a previous chapter in the book, “Looking at the False ‘I’ Thought”, where it says:

“It’s time to go beyond everything you’ve learned. Everything you’ve learned has been helpful. It’s been helpful toward willingness to take this next step. But without the step that we are taking together now, all that you’ve learned serves no real purpose toward awakening.”

This section goes on to say that all the stories in the mind are about me, myself and I! It’s amazing that we’ve missed this for so long! It’s somewhat of a rude awakening, but a liberating one as well.

Here, I’d like to comment on the word and idea of “awakening”. I don’t resonate to the idea of someday becoming awakened or enlightened. It seems to me that ego can grab a hold of this idea and make it carrot-on-a-stick, that is, another goal to be sought, but not found.

Whenever I recognize that I am listening to ego, in that moment, I am awake. As I consistently make the choice to stop listening to ego’s chatter, I begin to wake up to the truth that ego is not what I am. Such moments of awareness begin to string together like a strand of graduated pearls, one building on the next, until I awaken to the truth that I am indeed as Love created me, unlimited and free.

In the audio I share a lot more from the “contract”, but here I will share highlights from it:

Inner Teacher: What do you think I am teaching you?

Student: I understand that you want me to lay the individual thinking mind aside.

I’ve written about how I’ve been in “a period of relinquishment” for the past 5 years, and now in this year of increased letting go, I fully understand just what it is I am being asked to relinquish. This is what that section in A Course in Miracles is pointing to, laying aside the identification with the “thinking mind”, that is, the voice of the self that we are not. In the Course, the word “ego” is synonymous with “thinking mind”. You could say that the thinking mind is the voice of ego, which is simply the belief in separation.

Inner Teacher: I want you to see that it is nothing. And the Heart is everything.

It’s not that we are going to stop thinking, thoughts are always coming into the mind, however, we can make a choice to stop listening to the voice that speaks of nothing that is true. Heart is synonymous with true Self, Holy Spirit, Ramana…

In this section of the contract, more is said about clarity on the Source of the thoughts. In the audio I share a couple practices that are helpful to do this. One of them is the practice of journaling when your mind is spinning out-of-control. In that way, we put the words outside of ourselves, and can then observe them. In the observer mode, we can question whether the thoughts come from ego or the Heart. A few years ago I began to call the incessant chattering of the thinking mind, the toxic Chatty Cathy, and in doing so, it was even easier to be the observer instead of the “thinker”.

Until we start doing this deeper work, we believe our thoughts, and we think they are who we are. We are mesmerized by the thoughts in the mind, and I can now see that in these last five years, my inner teacher has been leading me to see, and I mean really see, that this voice is indeed the cause of all suffering and enslavement. Seeing this is a great impetus to give greater willingness to let it go.

Inner Teacher: Your identification with the mind is the obstacle to knowing the beauty of your true Self. It is this identity that makes you blind. When you judge Me and when you judge life by the mind’s standards, you throw a blanket over the truth, and you choose not to see.

Here I am reminded of a favorite teaching in the Course that says: It is your task to seek and find within yourself the obstacles to the awareness of the Love that You are.

Over the years I have come to see many obstacles to this awareness: the false beliefs in guilt, attack, unworthiness, to name a few, but ultimately I have come to see that the obstacle is the belief in separation; the belief that we could be separated from our Source. This false belief is kept in place with the thinking mind. The obstacle is identification with that which is false.

Inner Teacher: It is important that you accept responsibility for your own path. I will lead you most deliberately now, but you must choose to follow just as deliberately. Do you agree to follow Me and to do as I ask?

Me: Yes! I feel this with full commitment.

Inner Teacher: This may seem to be putting your self aside, but it is not, because the self that you call ‘you’ is but an illusion of the mind. Therefore you put nothing aside. The one who chooses to listen to Me and follow Me is the awakening of your true Self, so do not doubt your willingness to listen and follow Me. That is you. And by listening to that desire, you listen to your Self.

Some people have a problem with the idea of surrender, and it makes sense, because we may wonder just what it is we are surrendering to. As we do this work we come to see that Holy Spirit, the Inner Teacher, is the true Self.

Would your true Self lead you away from your joy or to your joy? See, with our attachments to our thoughts and this world, we cannot surrender to joy. What “I” really want can only be known as I am willing to let go of what “Sheryl” is attached to wanting. We are really being asked to follow that which is our truth. We will not be led to harm, but to joy…and this we must trust.

Inner Teacher: Outside voices may seem to challenge your desire to follow Me. Those outside voices will shout loudest in your own head.

Well of course we’ve heard those “outside voices”, those that come from family and friends who question where we’re headed. In the past few years as I have moved beyond the Course to the teachings in NTI and Ramana and the practices of mantra and surrender, I’ve certainly heard those “outside voices”.

Fortunately, before I even found spiritual communities on the internet, through the Course, I had established and cultivated a relationship with the Inner Teacher, and so consequently, I have learned to trust inner guidance, and that has deepened over the years.

How do we know if something is guidance? Well for me anyway, I see that Holy Spirit is totally consistent in what I am guided to, and often, it’s not something that “Sheryl” would have had interest in. I trust this guidance because now I see the fruits of that labor.

Someone said something recently about mixing spiritual paths, and I understand that. Let’s say that you get into A Course in Miracles and after awhile you feel that your life is still a mess, and Course students are still angry, and just not good examples. Then you move into Buddhism, but after awhile you find that you are still unhappy, and these Buddhist people are just in denial. See what I mean? We can jump from one spiritual path to another because the one we’re on now isn’t working for us, and it’s not working for those “other” people either!

When a spiritual path is not working for you, either you are not practicing what it says to practice, or, it may not be the one for you. Beware of getting locked into attachment to one path as being the only one. Holy Spirit is within and knows the best way to guide each one of us to our truth.

Using my own example, I have been filled deeply through all the years with ACIM. I have been filled deeply in my study of NTI. And I am being filled deeply now from the Inner Ramana. I see that the same Holy Spirit is teaching me consistently. It’s not different paths, but the same path. It’s the path of learning to remember who I am. I am Love. You are Love. We are free now. So learn to trust where the Inner Teacher leads you.

And then of course, we are all familiar with those voices that shout loudest in our own head! Ha! Holy Spirit is saying, don’t listen to that stuff.

Inner Teacher: Do not question My teachings. Do not ask why. Do not ask for explanations of how it works. Just trust your Heart and follow Me in devotion and love and desire to know your Self.

That’s what I’ve seen grow in me more than ever, the desire to know thy Self. Whatever you are being guided to, what are the fruits of your labor? For me, it doesn’t matter what those outside voices say, because I am increasingly guided from within. I am letting go of being mesmerized by the world.

Student: Alright, what would you have me practice today?

Inner Teacher: Practice all that I teach. Practice the mantra, and surrender, and the questioning of the “I” thought, and do it all through devotion. But most importantly, know your own inner devotion to these practices. Know your desire to practice them. Know your love and gratitude that such practices (gifts) have been given. And know that love, that devotion, that desire is you, and listen to your Self.

To practice through devotion is to practice from a place of “I want to”, rather than from, “I should” or “I have to.” After many months of practicing the mantra: I am that I am. I am as God, I have come to see this practice for the gift that it truly is. Increasingly, it silences the mind, and reminds me of the meaninglessness of all the stories in the mind. Learning to practice the mantra throughout the day, is without a doubt, the greatest gift that I have ever been given.

As of yet, I have not practiced surrender and self-inquiry to a great extent, but I can see that coming around when I am ready. When I am ready, I will be led there, and I trust that.

Let each one of us become increasingly willing to listen to the Voice of our Worth, the Voice that guides us truly to the knowledge of the true Self.

I want only God now.

I want nothing else.

I ask you, Universe, to help me.

I am not afraid to ask.

I understand you are benevolent-love.

I ask benevolent-love

to help me awaken

to only love,

and I trust you.

Amen.

(A Thought of Awakening 7/20/11)

*******************************

The audio teaching was recorded on 12/4/11 and is 58 min. long

* This contract can be found in its entirety at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

under monthly archives dated March 12, 2009. It is also found in the book, The Teachings of the Inner Ramana

Course Note #136: I've won the Lottery!

2012-01-09T12:56:00.000-08:00

This morning, after writing checks to pay the business bills, I fell into focusing on thoughts of lack and limitation, which is funny because I’ve just had one of the busiest months ever. My husband happened to be here with me, and I walked into his office and commented on how I wished I’d win the lottery. In order for that to happen, I’d have to start buying tickets! Ha!

I was feeling sort of dispirited, and then the mail arrived with a card from a friend. I opened it to read this:

“It’s amazing that we have to ‘let go’ to receive. I mean the Course is telling us that we have indeed won the lottery. I think we spend the entire process of ‘realizing’ this as our primary task. Why do we have such a hard time cashing in the ticket? I’m beginning to feel very safe all of the time now. Finally!”

As I read my friend’s divine message, I felt such gratitude for the connection that we all share. Yes, to receive, I need only let go of an identity with the false self – you know the one – it chatters away about how you’ll never have enough, will never be enough, blah, blah, blah.

As I write this, Natalie Merchant's “Carnival” is playing, how appropriate:

I’ve walked these streets

A virtual stage

It seemed to me

Make up on their faces

Actors took their

Places next to me.

Have I been blind

Have I been lost

Inside myself and

My own mind

Hypnotized

Mesmerized

By what my eyes have seen?

Have I been wrong

Have I been wise

To shut my eyes

And play along

Hypnotized

Paralyzed

By what my eyes have seen?

We do walk this world, mesmerized and hypnotized by what our eyes see. It does take vigilance to turn away from the carnival, and rest once again in the silence beyond it.

I have a few quotes taped above my desk, and you know how it is with that sort of thing, after awhile they become like the wallpaper, there, but not really seen. Moments before receiving the guidance to write this blog, I saw this quote from my friend Regina, one that I had snipped out of one of our email exchanges a couple years ago:

“It is truly my belief and feeling that I will always be provided for perfectly if I give no thought to money and only give thought to knowing my guidance and following that, so that is my purpose.”

This really spoke to me this morning because as I move into a year of increased silence, as in, letting my “busy doing” be guided from the silence within, I no longer wish to be mesmerized by what form appears to show me. I now want to be mesmerized and hypnotized by the truth of Who I Am ~ Love.

My purpose is to know thy Self as Love created it,

unlimited and Free.

My purpose is to be only Love,

to know only Love

and to extend only Love.

My purpose is to know my guidance
and follow that.

As I listen within the silence,

I remember who I am.

With willingness to keep true purpose in the forefront, we are then guided to the realization that, Yes! I have indeed, won the lottery!

~Thank you Jim for the reminder~

"There is no need to run outside
for better seeing,
nor to peer from a window.
Rather abide at the center of your being."
Lao-Tsu

Course Note #135: Moving into a Year of Silence...

2012-01-03T09:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

Over the last six months I have been using the tools of mantra and surrender, as they are taught in The Teachings of the Inner Ramana, to quiet the active thinking mind. In Course Note #132 I wrote about moving into a year of letting go of that which no longer serves me. A deep inner shift is occurring, one that is leading to greater ease in practicing the tools that usher in silence.

A couple weeks ago I received a gift from a friend, a biography on Ramana Maharshi entitled, Timeless in Time. That evening I sat down and read the introduction, and as I came upon this sentence, “I can feel strongly his boundless grace at work…” suddenly, I was embraced by the sweetest silence I had ever known. I rested there for what seemed to be about ten minutes or so and then I felt it lift. I later realized that in those moments, I had rested in Ramana’s Presence – the silence of the Self.

Regina Dawn Akers visited India in December, and on her flight home she received guidance to lead a year of silence in 2012. As soon as I heard her talk about this, I too, heard the inner call. Many of our friends have as well. And as you read this, you may hear the call too.

Many have wondered what “a year of silence” is to look like. Can I talk? How can I remain silent for a year?! Well surely, it will be different for each one of us. As you begin to rest in the silence, you will be guided. Regina spoke of being “actively silent”, and as I heard her say that, a teaching from A Course in Miracles on “I need do nothing" came to mind.

“This quiet center, in which you do nothing, will remain with you, giving you rest in the midst of every busy doing on which you are sent.”

I immediately felt the guidance that in this year of silence, I am to rest in the silence more frequently and to let my “busy doing” extend from there. I find that the mantra practice is a doorway into stillness and silence that I have not heretofore experienced; and that it can be used for this purpose while teaching, listening, talking, driving – basically, anytime and anywhere.

I can readily experience the difference between the “doing” that extends from silence, versus that of being so busy doing things in the world that I have no time to rest in silence.

I am sure that it is not a coincidence that on 12/2/11 I entered into a year of letting go and relinquishment, and have also heard the call to rest more deeply in the silence of the true Self as I journey through the year.

As I enter this year of relinquishment and increased silence, I am prompted to a "Single Quiet Thought" that combines the two. How Cool Is That?

~97~

Slow down between the thoughts.

Let go of definitions.

Let go of conclusions.

Let go of reliance on words.

Do not feel that silence is empty.

Silence is not empty.

Silence is the birthplace of all ideas.

Let go of the old.

Make room for the new.

Let go of your way of seeing and expecting.

Make room for Mine.

~From our Holy Spirit

Here is a link to a 30-minute recording of Regina talking about her guidance regarding the year of silence. http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/RAkers/RDAPublicFolder/IR122811.mp3

A couple months ago I felt strong guidance to buy a book for Regina entitled, The Seven Steps to Awakening, and it turned out to be right-on guidance because Regina feels that it will be a great guide for us all in this year of silence. She began teaching on this book January 2. Here's a link to the first 60-minute teaching: http://www.drivehq.com/file/df.aspx/publish/RAkers/RDAPublicFolder/1-2-12SevenSteps.mp3

The Picture on this blog is of a recent painting done by Mooji, entitled: Yogini. It is another perfect symbol as we move into a year of silence in 2012.

Mooji tells the following story of a great Yogini (a female Yogi).

          "A great Yogini was deep in meditation. Suddenly, beautiful and melodious sounds could be heard, appearing as if from nowhere and everywhere simultaneously. It was like nothing she has ever heard. She felt: this music is truly wonderful but it cannot be what I am for I am here to hear it. The music faded away. Next appeared the most exquisite colours, like no painter could paint; nor could any flower display it for it was not of this earthly realm.

          "She thought, 'this is, indeed, astonishingly beautiful. However, it cannot be who I am nor can it be real for it cannot appear if I were not here to perceive it.' This phenomenon, too, she ignored. Shortly afterwards, it also vanished in the presence of her deep and unmoving silence. Shortly after this, there appeared several beings shaped as if from pure light, floating through space and smiling lovingly at her in a welcoming manner.

          "She felt profoundly touched and filled with loving emotions but inwardly, she somehow, kept her composure. "How profound," she felt, "but this also cannot be what Is the unchanging reality, for, were I not here, who would see them?" As soon as this insight occurred, the figures vanished. Her mind entered her heart and could no more produce any effects. A deep silence prevailed as her mind merged inside her indivisible, unconquerable and essential being."

The print can be ordered here:

http://www.mooji.org/shop/products.php?product=THE-YOGINI-%252d-POSTER-%28Size-245mm-X-360mm%29

"Single Quiet Thoughts: are found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com http://www.reginadawnakers.com

Course Note #134: I Let something New be Born in Me!

2011-12-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays!

This holiday season may we pause for a moment to reflect on the many blessings that embrace our lives. Each new day is a gift ~ a present ~ wrapped just for you. And yet...most of us awaken each day to many gifts that we all too often leave unopened.

All experiences contain a gift. God is. Love is. God is in the present. When I am not resting in the present, I am not resting in the Presence, and thus, I cannot receive the presents that the present holds.

I’ve noticed that many of the Christmas stories that we have been brought up with tend to reveal a similar theme, that of transformation. There was Ebenezer Scrooge, a mean-spirited and cold-hearted man who is transformed through the power of Love.

George Bailey, sad and disheartened by the ways of the world, we watch as he returns to the remembrance that his is indeed, A Wonderful Life!

With anticipation we see Rudolph overcome his fears and move on to lead his fellow reindeer. And I mean really, we knew all along that the Grinch just could not steal Christmas!

And then…there is the Christmas story: The angel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her of a new birth. Mary represents the miraculous as she expands in consciousness to say, “Yes”.

The characters in these beloved stories came to a point of decision, and yes, transformation. Like them, we too may be facing such a fork in the road. Will we constrict into old habits and old ways of thinking? Or, will we take Mary’s lead and expand to say, "Yes! Something new can be born in me!"

We stand on the threshold of new beginnings. We are creating the future now. May we decide to create something new, to begin again, to perhaps stand forth differently than we have in the past?

Let us seek to heal old wounds with family, friends and others who have touched our lives. Let us be willing to love more fully, forgive more freely, appreciate more deeply, and to serve from our highest level of being. Easier said than done of course, but this is our task.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what we owned, accomplished, published or saved; what matters is whether or not we let Love transform us, and extend through us. What do you want to carry into the New Year? What do you want to create? The time is now.

Love whispers to you now:

This Christmas give Me everything

that would hurt you.

Let yourself be healed completely

that you may join with Me in healing.

Trust the process of life

to take you to your highest good.

Rest in the present

in peace.

Much Love to you and yours!

Course Note #133: Four Preparations on the Path

2011-12-13T11:35:00.000-08:00

Recently I was prompted to Peace Pilgram’s website, and specifically to her “Steps toward inner peace.” There she talks about the preparations, purifications and relinquishments that are necessary on the spiritual path.

She came to a point in her life where she desired to dedicate her life to service, and prayed to God to please use her. She realized that she could never go back to self-centered living. She also realized this:
“However, there’s a great deal of difference between being willing to give your life to service and actually giving your life, and for me, fifteen years of preparation and inner seeking lay between.”

I was reminded of when I too, prayed a similar prayer. And for me, it’s been twenty years of preparation, purification and relinquishment since then. Around that time, a friend said that she was talking about me to another person and said that I was so spiritual, and that I was like that naturally and did not even have to work it. I laughed-out-loud and said, I have to work really hard at it! Here I am twenty years later still needing much vigilance. I bring this up because spiritual work is hard work, and it is a process to be willing to relinquish the ego’s thought system.

Here I am reminded of a passage from The Way of Mastery, which says:

“I have said many times that the world you see is nothing more than the effect of the thoughts you have held within the mind. Therefore, awakening requires the act of vigilance and discipline. The discipline to cultivate a way of living in which you observe your own thoughts, in which you listen to the words that are coming out of your mouth, in which you observe the feelings that are evoked within your body, the reactivity that seems to own you, and to see these things as innocent and simply self-caused.”

In the previous blog I wrote about entering into a year of increased willingness to relinquish what is no longer needed. When I came across these steps by Peace Pilgrim I was inspired to talk and write about the preparations, purifications and relinquishments that are required. Here I will start with preparations, using her steps as a springboard for my own experiences regarding these steps. As usual, much more is shared in the audio, but for the sake of brevity I will share highlights here.

Four Preparations

1. Assume right attitude toward life.

Peace Pilgrim says about this step: “Stop being an escapist or a surface-liver as these attitudes can only cause disharmony in your life. Solve the problems that life sets before you, and you will find that solving them contributes to your inner growth.”

With this step, I was immediately reminded of the first two stages in the “development of trust” as outlined in the manual of A Course in Miracles.

Many have gone through experiences in their lives where it seems as if all hell is breaking loose – a time where it seems like we are loosing what we value, perhaps a job, relationship, etc. This is a time when the universe seems to be directing us into new directions.

The Course calls this “a period of undoing”, one which need not be painful, but often is because is seems that things we find valuable are being taken away. Yet it is also a time where we can learn that these changes are necessary and helpful. Once we learn this we go to the next stage, “a period of sorting out”. We are told that this stage is always somewhat difficult because through life experiences, we are being taught the difference between what is valuable and what is valueless.

“It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters and circumstances are helpful.”

The Inner Teacher uses the fabric of our very lives to teach us, and as we realize this, life becomes more interesting, meaningful and fun. Everything can be used for healing.

SQT ~1~

Accept all things given
as a gift from our Holy Spirit
for the purpose of peace
and awakening to love.

2. Live good beliefs.

Peace Pilgrim says: “The laws governing human conduct apply as rigidly as the law of gravity. …Since many of these laws are already common belief, you can begin by putting into practice all the good things you believe. No life can be in harmony unless belief and practice are in harmony.”

The workbook of the Course came to mind for me here, as it was an incredible preparation period for me which spanned three years, as I was guided to do it twice and each time took exactly 14 months.

Through the practice of the workbook we are being shown the ego thought system of guilt, attack and fear, and we are introduced to the Inner Teacher who then can help us specifically to undo the ego. We are told: "The purpose of the workbook is to train your mind in a systematic way to a different perception of everyone and everything in the world.”

It tells us not to decide for ourselves that the lessons apply to some situations and not others. I’m sure I am not the only one who has had thoughts like:

“Well I can see how remembering that “I am sustained by the Love of God” may be helpful if I am feeling in the dumps, but what-on-earth does it have to do with this horrible financial situation!?”

When mesmerized by the world of form we might not see that the lessons are applicable, but with willingness to actually apply the lessons, not just to some situations, but to all situations, we see their efficacy.

In fact, when I read this step, I immediately thought of this lesson I am sustained by the Love of God. “Here is the answer to every problem that will confront you, today and tomorrow and throughout time.”

“I am sustained by the Love of God” is a great belief to live by, one that I have personally found to be the workbook lesson for the self-employed! And my friend Teddy says that it is God’s diet plan! Ha!

3. Find your place in the Life Pattern.

Peace Pilgrim says: “You have a part in the scheme of things. What that part is you can know only from within yourself. You can seek it in receptive silence.”

Several things came up for me when I reflected on this step. First, I was directed again toward the manual, to section 9: Are Changes Required in the Life Situation of God’s Teachers?

When we embark on the spiritual path we may anticipate great changes, or we may be fearful of great changes occurring, and fear is often more likely. Twenty years ago when I became incredibly inspired to dedicate my life to service, I can still recall the trepidation I felt as I wondered if I was going to be asked to so something I didn’t really want to do, or if I would have to give up relationships or something else I valued.

Fortunately though, I had realized by then that I had lived the first 33 years of my life without God, and at that point, a year with God had made a major difference – I was not going back!

In this section in the manual of the Course, we are told that our training is always highly individualized, and that the majority are given a slowly-evolving training program. So let’s not beat up on ourselves for noticing that these steps of preparation, purification and relinquishment require decades, and maybe lifetimes!

Twenty years ago, and still today, a daily prayer for me was this prayer from ACIM:

I am here only to be truly helpful.

I am here to represent Love that sent me.

I do not have worry about what to say or what

to do, because Love that sent me,

will direct me.

I am content to be where I am, knowing

that Love goes with me.

I will be healed as I let Love teach me to heal.

Through this I was led to a deeper calling. If you who are reading this have been wondering what you are meant to do in the world and what your true purpose is, simply be willing to ask: How Can I Serve Today?

As we act on how we are inspired to serve today, then we are guided to the next step, and then the next. My true calling, my true passion is doing what I am doing right here today, letting Holy Spirit speak to me and through me about who I really am.

4. Simplify life to bring inner and outer well-being into harmony.

Peace Pilgrim says: “Many lives are cluttered not only with unnecessary possessions but also with meaningless activities. Cluttered lives are out-of-harmony lives and require simplification.”

In my self-help junkie days I learned about making goals and setting affirmations, and how this process could be used to change various aspects of my life. Even then I recognized that there were not enough hours in the day to chant affirmations about all the things I wanted to fix! What a revelation it was when I finally got to A Course in Miracles to learn that I could let go of all those useless goals and focus on one goal – God.

I have found that the very best way to simplify my life is to recognize that I need focus on only one goal, one purpose, one desire: Know thy Self as Love created it, unlimited and free.

As we are willing to do this, to seek first the Kingdom, then automatically we step into all four of these preparations to living in inner peace.

I absolutely love what Peace had to say here: “Your lower self sees you as the center of the universe – your higher Self sees you as a cell in the body of humanity.”

It’s with ego that we get caught up in what we’re meant to do or achieve, or focused on me, me, me.

Rest in today: How can I serve today? How can I be truly helpful in this moment? In this way, Love can use us as a cell in the body of humanity to serve one another.

*******************

In my next talk, I will be talking about purification.[i] In this audio I share quite a bit more on living these steps.

* SQT, Single Quiet thoughts can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

[i] I will be speaking on this on Sunday, 12/18/11 at Acimgather. Visit my website, and click on ‘lectures’ for information on how to listen in. http://www.sherylvalentine.com

Course Note #132: Time to let go of the old!

2011-12-01T16:45:00.000-08:00

In the Manual of A Course in Miracles there is a section on “The Development of Trust”. It came to my awareness in August of 2007 that I was in the third stage, “a period of relinquishment” and had entered that stage around January of that same year. Now that we’re coming up on 2012, I have been in this stage for going on five years.

It’s been a fascinating journey in these last 5 years, as Holy Spirit has used the fabric of my very life to lead me through this idea of “relinquishment”.

“The third stage to which one must go can be called “a period of relinquishment.” If this is interpreted as giving up the desirable, it will engender enormous conflict. Few escape this distress entirely. There is, however, no point in sorting out the valuable from the valueless unless the next obvious step is taken. The third step is rarely if ever begun until the second is complete. Therefore, the period of overlap is apt to be one in which the one feels called upon to sacrifice his own best interests on behalf of truth. He has not realized as yet how wholly impossible such a demand would be. He can learn this only as he actually does give up the valueless. Through this he learns that where he anticipated grief he finds a happy light-heartedness instead; where he thought something was asked of him he finds a gift bestowed on him.” (ACIM M-4.I.A.5)

I have definitely experienced “enormous conflict” and feeling like I had to sacrifice what I wanted in behalf in truth, in even the letting go of mundane lifestyle habits. So as I began to see that I was really being asked to let go of self-will and all that goes along with that, like my attachments and my thinking, well now, “enormous conflict” is an understatement.

And yet, in the areas that I have surrendered, I did see that I gave up nothing but an attachment to form. The truth is, we surrender to the true Self, which is who we really are, and so who we really are is not going to lead us to do something that we don’t want to do, this Self leads us to know our joy.

In 2007 and early 2008, I was being urged to give up certain behavioral habits. At that time, I was guided to the passage in the Bible regarding not being able to put new wine in old wineskins because if new wine is poured into old wineskins the skins will burst and thus the wine will be wasted.

My inner teacher has used these teachings at various times over the past 5 years to teach me this: “I cannot pour new power into you if you are unwilling to give up old ways of being, old attitudes and old habitual thought patterns.”

First, I was guided to give up certain habits, and then for the last few years I have been guided to look deeper than ever before at the ego thought system, and how it is kept alive through the thoughts that we think.

In August of 2009, actually while at our first “be the love” event, in the middle of the night I heard, “Now is the time to study NTI.” And so, I began to do just that. Off-and-on for a period of a couple years I was led consistently to NTI Luke. Last year, I realized why, it’s basically a guidebook to navigate through this period of relinquishment! When I was prompted to read the “overview of contents”, I had this Aha! Moment.

“NTI Luke – Focuses on judgment and separation-based thinking as obstacles that must be let go in order to realize enlightenment. Helps the reader to question the value he places on his own judgment and thinking so he will increase his willingness to let them go.”

I now see that my inner teacher has led me step-by-step, not just in the last five years, but all through my life, to the understanding of just what it is that I am to relinquish – my attachment to the false self, and specifically, to “my” thinking, which is the voice of this self.

And still, I can see how certain behavioral habits are being used, even now, to show me my attachments to form and consequently, my unwillingness to fully surrender. I’m sure I’ll have a lot to say about this in the coming year!

Supposedly, we live our lives in 9-year cycles that begin on our birthday. I have been feeling this energy to let go of old things for quite a while now, and lo and behold, on 12/2/2011 I enter into year 9, which is a year of letting go of old things, in order to move into new beginnings in the following year.

Recently when I taught on “Distractions, Practice and Devotion” I was prompted, once again, to Holy Spirit’s interpretation, through NTI, of the wineskins passages. It seems that everywhere I turn in the last few weeks, I am receiving the message to let go of the old!

So first, let’s look at NTI Luke, Chapter 5:

“Old habits must be let go, for old habits will not usher in a new day. With old habits, all things remain the same. But with new habits, all things are possible. I have come to teach you new habits. You will learn these habits by practicing them as I ask. Remember Me, and practice.”

I’d like to comment on this idea of “habits”. When I first received guidance from this passage in the Bible, and later from NTI, as I said, HS was speaking to me about lifestyle habits, but also used those habits to teach me more about habitual thought patterns.

Great spiritual literature like ACIM, NTI and the Bible meet us where we are at any point in our spiritual evolution, which is why these books can be read over-and-over again at various times in our lives, and seem to teach us totally new things.

Ultimately, these same teachings were used to reveal to me that the only habit that I really need to relinquish is the habit of listening to ego, the false self.

With old habits, all things remain the same. Until we change habits, nothing changes, and I’m sure you too, have seen the truth of this. Even so, ego uses our behavioral habits to keep us focused on changing things “out there” rather than looking at the real problem – listening to ego.

I love how my inner teacher has used habits in form to really teach me about the habit of listening to the stories in the mind, listening to the voice that crucifies, listening to the voice that judges every thing we think, say, see or do. Once we really break this habit, most likely, all the others will take care of themselves.

“Let go of old habits and old ways of thinking. They have not served you. To hold onto the old is to create a future like the past. That is not useful to you now. Listen to My Word. Hear what I say. Practice it. Then you will know what to do.” (NTI Matthew 9v14-17)

I also want to share a section from NTI Acts, Chapter 3 that speaks to me so poignantly as well:

“Do not worry about the mistakes you have made. They are based on ignorance, not reality. Be happy that you have been mistaken! Be joyous that there is another way to see! This is what it means to repent. To repent is to choose again. To repent is to decide to turn from the ways of ignorance and turn to the Voice of Knowledge. This is a joyous decision, for this is the decision that changes all things. This decision that you have made is a decision to listen to another Voice. It is the decision to let go of the thoughts you have listened to until now and to listen to another Voice, the one that comes from God. This decision is a decision to change habits you have had until now. It is a decision to see yourself through new eyes, eyes that are based on a foundation of truth.”

Even after all these years of feeling truly guided, I never cease to be amazed by it. Recently I wrote about being guided to the teachings in NTI on becoming an empty shell, which is essentially about learning to not listen to the “thinking mind” that chatters incessantly about nothing. And then being led to The Teachings of the Inner Ramana, which through its teaching on mantra and surrender, has given me tools to navigate through the next step.

So on the eve of my birthday, which will take me into a year of letting go of the old, I rest in gratitude for the help that is always here.

This is why I am here.

I am here to help you make this change

from believing in the false to

listening to the Voice of what is true.

This is the decision of your joy.

This is your path.

This is your way.

And I will help you,

until you do not need this help anymore.

(NTI Acts 3)

Thank you Holy Spirit,

To You Who is

my true Self.

Course Note #131: Mind-watching through painful experiences

2011-11-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

Recently I heard a story about a man who owned a factory. Suddenly, or so it seemed, the machines in the factory were breaking down and employees were having accidents. The owner kept trying to figure out what was going, and his mind was caught up in thinking about how to solve the problem. A rival company had made an offer to buy his business, and he was thinking of selling because it had become such a headache.

One night he went to the factory at midnight. He took a chair up to the top floor of the factory and sat down to watch. As he watched the factory from above, he saw vandals and saboteurs enter the factory. He watched as they did things to the machinery that would cause breakdowns and accidents to occur. He later found out that the rival company had sent the intruders to encourage him to sell his business.

The point of the story is that he didn’t solve the problem by thinking about it and trying to figure out a solution, he solved the problem by simply watching from above.

As we watch the mind from above with Holy Spirit, and see the saboteurs and intruders that cause us pain, we realize that they are just our thoughts. When we believe the story running through the mind that tells us something outside of us as causing our pain, then, we cannot hear the voice of Truth because we’re mesmerized by the thoughts that tell us we have a reason to be in pain. Pain is part of the story.

Awhile back, my mind was caught up in such a story, and it was around this time that my inner teacher introduced me to the practice of mantra and surrender as taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana. If you’ve been reading my blog, then you are privy to how much I have gained from the incident because in my willingness to stop listening to the story, I learned practices that are taking me deeper within.

In fact, recently I woke up one morning and heard thoughts about that story and immediately had this thought, "OMG, I am so bored with this story!” I had to laugh. Now when thoughts about that particular story come up, I immediately see that the thoughts are truly meaningless, as are the thoughts about all the stories that try to run through the mind.

This morning I had a deep meditation, and then went on a walk with my dog. During most of the walk I focused on the mantra practice, but then thoughts began to come up about my childhood, thoughts that I had not heard in a very long time. I saw the meaninglessness of the thoughts, and thought, “Sheesh! I’m going to be 55 in a few days. It’s definitely time to let go of that story.” It was obvious that ego, the voice of separation, was just throwing a curve ball into my peaceful mind. I returned to my mantra practice instead of listening to a story, and soon, the story dissolved back into the nothingness from which it came.

In this blog I will be sharing from a message from the “Be watchful with Me” series called: “Mind-watching through pain”.*

When a time of pain comes upon you, Holy Spirit in this message asks us to pay careful attention to the thoughts that rise through the pain, such as:

I am victim.

I am afraid.

Something is wrong with me.

There is no God.

I hate myself.

There is only loss.

I can certainly relate to having thought all of these thoughts in various moments of emotional pain, and I can certainly recall the desire to believe them as true. I am thankful that I know now that such thoughts come from the voice that speaks from who I am not.

HS: “Watch the thoughts that arise, and remain aware that you need not accept these thoughts. In observing the thoughts that come up through the pain, without slipping into accepting the thoughts, you release many false thoughts from the mind.”

The way the word “accept” is being used here is synonymous with the word believe, as in believing that the thoughts are true. I feel to make this clarification because there is a difference between accepting thoughts as true, and accepting that right now the thoughts of fear or loss are in my mind. When I see the thoughts in the mind, and recognize that they are the cause of my pain, I can then give willingness to let them go to healing; but to believe them and accept them as true, is to keep them. In keeping a tight hold on such thoughts I continue to create experiences of pain.

When we are willing to do this mindful work, we begin to wake from our slumber. I now find it amazing that an incident that occurred in my life that caused me much emotional pain, is something I now see as a gift that has led me to deeper healing. It was through my willingness to let go of the painful thoughts that seemed to bombard me that I allowed myself to be guided to see thoughts of victimization and unworthiness that were triggered by the incident. I gained a deeper look within. And thus, I came to a deeper understanding of acceptance (see course note #111 and 115). Then I was guided to the practices of mantra and surrender, which are without a doubt, the most helpful and powerful tools I have come across.

HS: “Use your pain to free yourself, by choosing release from the thoughts that are the basis and cause of all pain.”

Let your pain be a gift that sets you free from the prison you have made for yourself. It is truly our thoughts that enslave us. Even though we need not grow through pain, we often do as we hold onto ideas that cause pain.

“It is time to look within at the darkness that blinds you to your awareness of Life. You will see many things, all of which are false. Hold My hand, and know it is your own truth that you hold to as we look together at all you are not.” (NTI 2 Timothy 1v1)

NTI 2 Timothy has been incredibly instrumental in helping me do this. Through my work with the teachings, I have discovered that when I have been really willing to look at the pain, it’s not that painful! I mean it is for a moment…but pain becomes joy as we look at it from above the battleground, with the vision of Holy Spirit, and there we can release it to Love for healing.

“The overlooking of the battleground is now your purpose. Be lifted up, and from a higher place look down upon it. From there will your perspective be quite different. Here in the midst of it, it does seem real.” (ACIM T-23.IV.4:5)

It can be difficult to practice mind-watching when going through emotional pain, because it is a time when we can become more self-absorbed, and stuck in our story. But be willing to entertain the willingness to let the pain become a gift.

Take this moment to be quiet

and to ask Me

to look at your pain with you.

I am with you always,

but through inviting Me

you acknowledge My presence within you.

In peace we will experience your pain together.

Through peace,

we will joyously let it go.

Healing is your only purpose.

Do not be distracted.

You enjoy the process as you come to recognize its reward,

and the reward you recognize is

That Which you truly Are.

Amen.

(NTI 2 Timothy 4v16-22)

***********************

The audio was recorded on 9/11/11 and is 53 min.

and delves into more than I have shared here.

* The message can be found in its entirety at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com in the monthly archives dated 1/19/2007.

Course Note #130: Living a Thanks-in-Advance Life!

2011-11-23T08:22:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, there is Much to be Grateful for.

A few years ago while reading the biblical account of Jesus feeding five thousand people with a few loaves and fish, I was struck by the fact that he first gave thanks to God, and then, he proceeded to feed the people. Not only was there enough to feed them, but there were many basketfuls left over!

If I were in that situation it would probably go something like this: “Oh My God! There are 5,000 hungry people here, and I have only 4 loaves and 4 fish! What do I do? God, can you help me out here?”

Suddenly, loaves and fish rain down from the sky, enough to feed everyone. “Wow! Thank you!”

This is how most of us live our lives: Thanks-after-the-fact. Coming from a consciousness of lack and need, we don’t trust that our needs will be met, and when they are, it seems like a gift from God.

The biblical example, however, reveals how to live a Thanks-in-Advance life. We have already been given all that we need to live a full, abundant and meaningful life. You may not think that this is true if you currently have more bills than money, or covet something sparkly and new. The truth is that we don’t know what would make us truly happy. We can learn to live our lives with a consciousness of gratitude and trust, and then Life has a way of leading us to how we can best serve in the world, and supplying what we need to do so.

There are two ways of looking at the world: Through the eyes of fear, anger and “there’s not enough!” or through the vision of appreciation, acceptance and trust. We will see out there that which we feel within. If anger and fear encompass our thoughts, then we see a world that shows us many things to be angry about and fearful of.

The good news is that if trust and thanksgiving embrace our mind, we look upon a world that shows us many things to be grateful for. What would you see? The choice is yours.

Let’s apply this to needing a job. The mind filled with fear may tell you that you need a job for security and to pay your bills; or it may tell you that there are no jobs to be had.

How would a heart filled with Thanksgiving see it? I am thankful that I have been given what I need to serve, may Love show me how I can be used today.

Let Love Guide You.

To a certain degree, abundance and poverty have nothing to do with the numbers in your bank account, but have everything to do with thought. Thoughts of gratitude recognize inner riches and abundance, while thoughts of complaint and “I don’t have enough” are poverty. Looking at the world through the eyes of Trust and Love changes the way we live – it opens the door to seeing what was there all along.

Living a Thanks-in-Advance life is about remembering that as Love created you, you have everything, right now!

And so:

Look well to this day,

for it is life,

the very Best of Life!

In its brief course lie all

the realities and truth of existence,

the Joy of Growth,

the Splendor of Action,

the Glory of Power!

For yesterday is but a memory,

and tomorrow, only a vision

but Today well lived

makes every yesterday a memory of happiness,

and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well therefore to this day.

Ancient Sanskrit poem

**********************

On 11-19-09 I gave a 50 minute talk on this topic. In it, I cover much more than I have written here. Enjoy!

Living a Thanks-in-Advance Life!

Course Note #129: Distractions, Practice & Devotion

2011-11-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

Do you ever beat up on yourself for being distracted and forgetting to practice? Actually, I don’t do it near as much as I used to, nevertheless, it is something that I can fall into, although now, it’s much easier to step out of as I recognize that I am listening to ego. Ego loves to beat up on you for being what it deems, a bad spiritual student! – telling you that you should be nice and loving, all the time.

The thing is though, A Course in Miracles is not about being nice and loving, all the time, it’s about looking at the ego. So we can see why the ego would rather have us focus on how other people or ourselves are not being “nice and loving”, because looking at ego is the way to let go of it.

I’ve been feeling lately that I am moving into the “next step”, and have been guided to study the teachings in NTI on the empty shell (see previous blogs). It seems that I’ve had days where I have been more distracted as I move into this deeper level of practice.

I’m reminded of a passage in ACIM where it says that when you respond with love, your ego will react viciously. You know how it is, you have a very loving or peaceful moment, and the next thing you know you’re screaming at someone in a parking lot! And as one of my friends says, “Yeah, the church parking lot!” LOL.

It’s been many years since I’ve had one of those episodes, but what I recognize in my own practice at this time is that, the more I desire to know my Self as Love, and to extend that Love, the ego does become vicious.

A friend was talking to me about her recent ego sneak attacks and said, “Ego finds the loose thread and tugs at it until we separate.” So true. Ego knows what our weaknesses are, because ego is who we think we are! By watching the mind and observing ego in action, we begin to recognize that this voice is not who we are, and we learn to stop listening to it. As long as we think this voice of separation is who we are, it’s easy for it to distract and attack us.

While I have used many practices over the years, I have found the mantra practice to be such a wonderful tool to break away from listening to this voice. Just this morning, I let the mantra take me deep into stillness, something I had never experienced until I started this practice. Later, on a morning walk, it was again helpful to quiet the mind. I feel such gratitude to have been guided to this practice.

In my talk on Sunday I talked about distractions, practice and devotion, and I’ll share some of that here.

Distractions

“There are many distractions that come to keep your mind from Me. Remember that distractions are temptations put forth by your resistance, and resist the distraction instead. I have said before that it is not important what you do, but why you do it. This is an invitation to do all things for Me. If each distraction becomes an opportunity to hear My Voice, you are doing well on the path to healing.” (NTI Luke13v22-30)

This past week I’ve found myself distracted by thoughts about the future, internet conversations and assorted other things. In my recognition that I am allowing ego distraction, I was then able to use the distractions as opportunities to look at ego in my mind.

When we are asked to “resist the distraction”, this doesn’t mean necessarily that we resist the activity that we see as a distraction, but once looked at with Holy Spirit, we may be guided away from that activity or, we may be guided simply to see it differently.

Practice

This was up for me this week as I noticed that some days I remember to practice the mantra throughout the day, and on other days I forget. Willingness is everything. In the moment that I notice that I have forgotten to practice, I give my willingness to remember more. It’s ego that tells us we must do more, Holy Spirit asks us to practice when we remember. I often pray in this way:

Holy Spirit,

I give you permission to remind me throughout the day

to remember You.

Holy Spirit,

I give you permission to correct errors in my mind

throughout the day.

I find that when I do this, I do remember to practice more frequently throughout the day.

“You will seem to have many temptations. You will seem to forget My thoughts completely for a time. Do not let that distress you. The thinking you do apart from Me cannot hurt you. It can only delay your healing for a little while. So when you have forgotten, shake off the past… Now is a new moment! You help yourself by choosing My thoughts again now.” (NTI Luke 10v1-24)

Healing occurs in the present. In any present moment that we remember to let go of ego, and instead, listen to the voice of Truth, in that moment, we have stepped forward once again.

In any moment that we fall into berating ourselves, a helpful hint: Remember that you are listening to ego – choose again. We can learn to listen to the Voice that does not crucify.

“A great leader has compassion, and you are the leader within your mind. Be gentle with yourself in your own awakening… Listen within for the gentle Voice that encourages. Let that be your example. Be with yourself as that Voice is with you, and you lead yourself steadily to your own awakening.” (NTI Hebrews 5)

I love this passage because before I ever began a study of NTI, my Inner Teacher had spoken to me frequently about being a leader in my own mind. This came from a passage in the Bible: 2 Corinthians 10:5, which asks us to take every thought and purpose captive, and lead it into alignment with Love.

A question came up from someone asking how we could lead ourselves to awakening? These teachings speak to our willingness to let go of ego. Holy Spirit cannot take from us what we are unwilling to release.

In any moment that we recognize that we fell back in to the ego, in that moment, we are awake. Before we awaken fully, we have many moments of awakening. Anytime we choose to listen to the Inner Voice that encourages, that is a moment of awakening.

When you notice that you’ve fallen back into ego, in that moment, you are awake.

For you do not notice slumber when you are deep within it.

If you are noticing now,

now must be a state of awakening.

Rejoice, and use now to practice awakening.

(NTI Hebrews 5v11-14)

Look at all the years we didn’t even know that we were sleeping; we didn’t even know that we were doing it to ourselves ~ Now we know.

Ah ha! I don’t have to use my slip back into ego as an opportunity to berate myself; instead, I can use it to remind myself that I am waking up.

So often in spiritual communities we see, what I like to call, spiritual tyranny. People are judged by themselves or others, for being angry, upset, judgmental, afraid, sad or worried… Ego loves to do this, but it is just more ego.

A Course in Miracles is not a book that teaches us how to love,

more profoundly, it teaches us why we don’t.

Whenever we use now to recognize that we are mesmerized by form, and we see that we are mesmerized, even if we choose to not turn away, at least we are now aware of what we are doing. Let us remember all the years when we didn’t have a clue that we were dreaming our own nightmares!

“The guilt [unworthiness, fear…] that you feel feels eternal within your soul, but it is not. These feelings rise repeatedly to your awareness for one reason: It rises as a reminder of your desire to heal.

“You have not healed yourself because you do not fully recognize your desire to heal. You remain somewhat distracted by dreams. But your attention is turning from the distraction you have made to the desire for the remembrance of God.” (NTI Hebrews 10v1-7)

That’s why we read and listen to spiritual material; that’s why we have the desire to go deeper within…because we have chosen the desire to remember our truth. What a switch it is for me now to be able to see that feelings of guilt, lack or unworthiness are opportunities for me to remember that I am now willing to let go of false beliefs and desires. It’s so life-changing to truly see that all the stuff we do to ourselves can be used for spiritual practice. I see the desire to know my Self as Love created it, unlimited and free, is growing everyday.

Devotion

In The Teachings of the Inner Ramana, devotion is defined as the practice of slowing the mind and pulling focus inward. We can do this with the mantra, with prayer, with meditation and contemplation. As I end, I’d like to share a “Single Quiet Thought”*

~310~

Devotion is an act of silence.

It is a decision

to stop the flow of thoughts

and return to the wisdom of stillness.

Thoughts shall start again,

and your attention will drift to them,

if you are interested.

But if you are also interested in devotion,

you can again make the decision

to return to the Heart.

In this decision,

thoughts are not fed.

That which is not fed

must eventually die.

~From our Holy Spirit

********************

The Audio was recorded on 11-20-11 and is 57 min.

In it, I share so much more about what to do when we

forget to practice than I was able to share here.

* Single Quiet thoughts can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

Course Note #128: Becoming an empty shell - part deux

2011-11-17T11:36:00.000-08:00

I’ve written much about focusing on true desire, and how to let that lead our lives. While there are various ways to express this, what speaks most to me is the desire, the purpose to be only Love, to know only Love and to extend only Love ~ to know thy Self as Love created it, unlimited and free.

In this blog, I will be sharing on part two of “how to become an empty shell”[i]. In lieu of my true desire, I would like to include this entry from NTI 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13:

Why should I become an empty shell?

“Become as an empty shell to know Love. That is your reason. That is your true desire. To look on the world and divide it by judging is not Love, and so it is not what you want. Lay down what you do not want, and accept joyfully that which you do.”

How do I become an empty shell?

In the previous post I shared on practices that are helpful and here I will be delving further.

“When you do not seem to know how to become an empty shell, it is because you are focusing on your head, or better said, your thinking mind. Your thinking mind will not teach you how not to think. Your thinking mind is interested in its own survival, so it will take the time you give it to think some more.

“Your Heart, being of love, knows one purpose, and that is Love. Your head, being of thinking, knows many purposes, because that is “thinking.” Let go of the confusion of the head and focus yourself on the purpose of the Heart. Focusing on one purpose leads you clearly in one direction, but focusing on many purposes does not lead you at all.”

I remember the self-help-junkie days when I focused on setting and achieving goals and doing affirmations. I recall thinking that there simply was not enough time in the day to do affirmations for all those goals! What a relief it was when I arrived to A Course in Miracles to find that I only needed to focus on one goal: God.

It’s been over twenty years since I decided to focus on one purpose, and what I ride it’s been! While it hasn’t been a straight line, I can see how I have been steadily guided in one direction, rather than continuing down the road-to-nowhere, which is where I was headed when I focused on many worldly goals. I am grateful that I am continually guided to go deeper into living this purpose of Know thy Self.

“Your mind is willing for distractions, because your mind is split. This is why you must focus on the Heart and the leadership that is found there.”

I love this sentence: This is why you must focus on the Heart and the leadership that is found there. Yes, our true desire definitely leads us in a new and exciting direction!

Here, I’d like to bring up the twin practices of mantra and surrender. It’s been interesting since I started writing and speaking on that topic. I’ve received emails from friends who are very interested in it and love the teachings, and I have friends who are not feeling guided to the practices and wonder if I am moving away from ACIM.

As I let my Inner Teacher guide me, I have been shown how all the teachings work so well together. Both the practice of mantra and surrender are wonderful tools to refocus the mind from the head to the Heart.

I see the mantra practice as very similar to what we are taught in the workbook of ACIM, as we are urged to practice the lessons throughout the day. The mantra practice, however, has taken me to the next level, that of letting my life become a meditation. It’s a tool to use throughout the day, and I’ve found that I can talk or listen to someone, pay bills, drive, etc., and let the mantra roll slowly through my mind. It is a tool that keeps me from focusing on the meaningless stories the ego/thinking mind is constantly spinning.

It has become increasingly clear to me that listening to and believing these stories, really is the cause of suffering and pain. The practice of surrender is a way to live in the world and yet release our attachment to it.

“Everything is permissible, but do you still seek that which is untrue? If your answer is “no”, then why do you still go after it by partaking of illusory thoughts? That which you think is that which you experience. If you have tired of the experience that is untrue, stop feasting on its thoughts. Let them pass by without tasting them. In this way, you become an empty shell, free of the experience you no longer want.”

Everything is permissible…as free children of God, we are also free to experience any experience that we want. When I come to the realization that I no longer want to have experiences of lack, limitation, attack or guilt, it then becomes important to look at the thoughts I am feasting on because, those very thoughts are my experience. Through the practice of mind-watching I have learned to see the thoughts, and through the practice of mantra I have learned to let them go without tasting them.

Keep what you truly want in your mind.

Let true desire be your guide.

I find that these teachings on the empty shell are leading me to the next step to be increasingly willing to let go of the belief in separation, and to be increasingly willing to stop listening to the meaningless stories in the mind.

“Surrender is a practice I will continue to emphasize, because it is one of the most helpful of all spiritual practices. One may argue that surrender is not the only path of awakening, but this is more of an emphasis than truth. The only path of awakening is to deny the false. And the false must be denied completely.” [ii]

“Surrender is a means of doing this while still moving about in the world. Without surrender, one many deny the world by withdrawing from it. This is also a path that has worked.”

“The mantra and surrender are gentle means that allow you to break the attachment to mind while living the life that mind has given you to live.” [iii]

I find it interesting that I was lead to the practices of mantra and surrender before I was guided to go deeper with the teachings on the empty shell, as both are great tools in order to do this. By the way, in “Course note” #116, I expound on the practice of surrender, and in the audio that accompanies this post I shared a lot more about how to practice both mantra and surrender.

Sometimes we may be led to teachings that will take us to the next step, but decide not to go there because it doesn’t fit with what we are already doing. In this way we are being led by the thinking/ego mind instead of by the Heart.

As I have let Holy Spirit guide me all these years, I have been led to ideas and practices that “Sheryl” would never have been interested in, but through my willingness to listen, I recognize that I am being increasingly guided to Know thy Self.

“Trust in Me is trust in your Self. You do not give trust to something that is not you, for I am you. This is why you can trust Me. I am you, and I see you. Because I see you as Me, I know you. I am not the illusory self who leads you through blindness and fear. I am the true Self who leads you through Light and through knowledge. I will never make you suffer, because I know you cannot suffer. You can only be free. And through our freedom, I share My freedom with you.”

A problem we can have with surrender, comes through not knowing who or what we are surrender to. This can bring up fear. But if we recognize that in surrendering to Holy Spirit, we surrender to that who is our true Self, we can trust more fully.

I have felt that if I truly surrender to Holy Spirit I will be asked to do something I don’t want to do, or give up something that I don’t want to give up. Yet, when we realize that Holy Spirit is the Voice of true desire, our true Self – we can trust that will be guided to our true joy.

On a recent morning I was having a conversation with my husband about business and certain things, and I was feeling fairly negative. I realized that I was feeling negative because I was listening to thoughts that are false, as I let them go, I suddenly felt rich! I saw that this feeling came from listening to thoughts that are true. As the Course teaches us, the miracle denies the false, and affirms that which is true.

“Resting in faith and trust is the answer to all that arises. In willingness, and through true desire, prepare to become the empty shell.”[iv]

As we empty the mind of everything but trust, we become the empty shell. We become empty so that we may be filled.

Become an empty shell

To know Love.

That is your reason.

That is your true desire.

Amen.

******************************

The audio was recorded on 11/13/11 and is 57 min.

[i] Unless otherwise noted, quotations are from The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament aka NTI, 1 Corinthians

[ii] The Teachings of Inner Ramana page 31

[iii] The Teachings of Inner Ramana page 43

[iv] NTI Revelation, chapter 16v16

Course Note #127: Fire your Bodyguards!

2011-11-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

Recently while visiting my dear friend Regina, I picked up one of her books by Mooji entitled Before I am and read this**:

“Be bold and fire your bodyguards, for they cheat you out of real freedom while appearing to be your protectors.”

I am reminded of a favorite passage in A Course in Miracles that tells us that we must seek and find within ourselves the obstacles to the awareness of the Love that we are. The false thought and beliefs we harbor are like bodyguards in that we feel protected by them, but yet, they are indeed the obstacles to knowing ourselves as free.

A month or so ago I had a realization that I am hiding from something, and then a day or so after reading this passage in Mooji’s book, in meditation I asked, “What am I hiding from?” I heard, “Your unattached Self.”

At first, I wondered what that meant, as I had expected something more profound, and then I realized that it is profound. The unattached Self is the true Self that we meet through our willingness to fire the false bodyguards that rob us of our true identity.

When I returned home from my trip I was prompted to delve deeper into the teachings in NTI 1 Corinthians on becoming an empty shell. I now see that in my willingness to practice this I meet my unattached Self. So in this blog, and more fully in the attached audio, I share teachings on: What, Why and How.*

What is an empty shell?

“Your self is to be given to Me now, that any self that is not your truth may be left behind. Choose not to cling to your self as you perceive yourself to be. Choose instead to lay your self aside and to become like an empty shell. That which is emptied shall be filled by Me, and one who is filled by Me shall know his own fullness.

“As an empty shell, you are filled by Me. As an empty shell, you witness the reason that is your own. Lay down your self in service to Me, that you may serve Me and come to know your Self.”

These teachings are similar to those in Eastern philosophies on the empty rice bowl. The idea being that if you come to the table with a full rice bowl, you cannot receive, but with an empty rice bowl you can be filled by truth.

“I ask you to lay your thinking aside. This is to make yourself an empty shell. An empty shell is not the absence of you. An empty shell is the absence of delusion, which you are not. In the clarity of your emptiness, free from the delusion of false thoughts, you are free to hear your real thoughts. These are the thoughts that you recognize as Me.”

Why should I become an empty shell?

“That which has opened itself to the Spirit of God by becoming an empty shell has made a statement unto the mind that is its own. It has said, ‘I know I am not this thing I thought I was, as this thing cannot be my truth. So I put aside that which is false, that I may be open to receive only that which is true.

“When that which is false is put aside and that which is true is received and accepted, the mind listens to its truth. In its own memory, it recognizes its Self. Unto itself, it bids its Self welcome.”

How do I become an empty shell?

“Do not worry about your brother’s thought. For the thought you think he thinks is a thought within your mind. Look after your own thoughts, that you may be freed of your belief in the world. To be freed of the burden of belief is to be open to the realization of knowledge.”

This is such a great teaching! One morning several months ago, I was at the gym thinking about what I thought a friend thought of me. My “thinking mind” was in full gear as I thought about how I was going to set her straight. I like listening to audios while I’m getting ready for work, and that same morning I happened to listen to Regina teach on this very passage.

Busted!

How often do we fall into doing this without realizing that we are spinning the whole tale ourselves. We are listening to our own thoughts – the voice of the belief in separation.

For the sake of brevity I am not including all the quotes here, but it goes on to tell us that when our mind is filled with disagreements and temptations we are believing in that which is not true.

“Practice is the answer until you know yourself to be an empty shell. Know there is an effective method of practice and there is a method that will seem to make the practice less useful to you. The effective method is to clear your thoughts by letting them pass upward. The less effective method is to press them back down into the place from which they seemed to rise.”

Letting our thoughts pass upward is looking at our thoughts with Holy Spirit. A great example came to mind on this:

An incident happened in my life where I felt victimized and my thinking mind was in an uproar about it for many months. In the scheme of things it wasn’t that big of a deal, however, I was upset about it. I then had thoughts that I needed to let it go because so many people have worse things going on, and so I felt guilty for the thoughts.

I saw the thoughts with Holy Spirit and was reminded that by thinking that I didn’t have a right to feel the way I did, because other people had bigger problems, I was actually pressing the thoughts back down, which means, ultimately they will rise again in different form.

My inner teacher right then said, “Stop! Look at those thoughts. Accept that this is the way you feel right now, and that’s okay.”

Holy Spirit,

I see these thoughts of attack and victimization.

I accept that my mind is filled with such thoughts right now.

I am willing, Holy Spirit,

to let You

correct all errors in my mind.

I am willing, Holy Spirit,

to be healed.

Amen

But if I were to think, “Oh No! I shouldn’t feel this way! Look at all the people who have worse problems! Right then I have repressed and denied and not looked at the thoughts of guilt, fear, attack or unworthiness, and therefore, what happens? We continue to have similar experiences in the world where we feel attacked, afraid or guilty.

To become an empty shell is to be willing to look at the thoughts with Love, and be willing to let Love heal them and correct them for us. This is the effective method.

“To let the thoughts pass upward, you must remember to trust in Me. I have said that you are innocent. If you trust in Me you will be able to look at your thoughts and let them pass upward, out of the shell, leaving the space within the shell empty.

“But if you do not trust Me, you will fear your thoughts, and you will repress them. In this way, the shell is not emptied, and there is pressure within the shell from where the feared thought is hidden.”

In the aforementioned book, on that same page, a person in conversation with Mooji spoke about how it’s easy to feel the truth while there, but when returning to the world it was more difficult. He replies:

“If I tell you a hundred times that you are one hundred percent truth always, that you are one hundred percent free, that your nature is joy, freedom and peace, you will be delighted to hear it a hundred times, and a hundred times you will forget it. Why? Because for thousands of times, you have embraced the idea that you are not free, not yet, that you’re not ready, not worthy, that more needs to be done.”

This is so true! We may sit in meditation for a few minutes in the morning, or read spiritual books and pray spiritual prayers, but many more hours of the day we find ourselves mesmerized by the world, other people, our perceived problems… We push these thoughts down instead of seeing them for what they are and letting them pass upward.

In the Course we are told to be vigilant for the Kingdom by being vigilant against the ego. The shell is the ego, the thinking mind, and in our willingness to let it be empty we come face-to-face with the unattached Self ~ the truth of who we are.

Take the door off the hinges.

Pull down your walls.

Allow yourself to be completely undressed by grace

so that you may begin seeing

with the eyes of God.

Mooji

***************

The audio is 59 minutes and goes into more than was shared here.

** page 20 and 21

* All quoted teachings on the empty shell come from The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament aka NTI, 1 Corinthians.

Course Note #126: How to be truly useful to yourself

2011-10-25T13:35:00.000-07:00

Today I will be sharing from a “Holy Spirit’s Guides” message called “Be watchful with Me, part III”*

HS: “There is a restfulness in the task of mind-watching that is necessary if you are to watch the mind without feeling guilty. If you are judging or feeling guilty as you watch the mind, you are not being watchful. You are sleeping. You are sleeping because you believe there is an element of reality within your thoughts for which they can be judged or you can be judged and be guilty.”

As we begin to watch the mind and see thoughts of lack, fear, judgment, attack, etc., we may fall into the temptation to judge ourselves as being a bad. The next time you feel guilty about the thoughts you see in the mind, recognize that you are judging yourself, and that you are watching the mind with the ego. With such awareness, I can simply ask Holy Spirit to watch with me.

HS: “Watchfulness comes from a position of observation without attachment. When I ask you to be detached, I ask you to recognize that the thought has no inherent value of itself. It is just a thought. When you accept that a thought has no inherent value of itself, you can watch the mind with a restful sense of curiosity without judgment.”

A few years ago, as I was guided deeper into mind watching, I began to call the incessant chattering in my head the toxic chatty Cathy. Later I realized that when I did that, I had become the observer rather than being totally identified with those thoughts as being “me”. Once I recognize that this voice is not the voice of my true Self, it then follows that I can become increasingly willing to stop listening to it and believing the stories that it tells.

As I rest the mind and simply look at the thoughts, the task actually is one of curiosity, and even sort of fun as I realize that these thoughts I now see are thoughts that I have been thinking, and believing, for years! They are just thoughts, they are not the truth about me or anything else.

HS: “Many people do not know how to detach from their thoughts. They do not see how they assume inherent value and automatically judge based on that value. I will cover this now, so that those wishing to learn and practice detachment may see how to do what they feel they cannot do.

“Let’s look at something that may seem closer to your everyday experience. Let’s look at anger. When you have a thought of anger or when you act on that thought, you may judge yourself as having done something that is inherently wrong. But if all experience is merely experience for experience’s sake, can any experience be wrong? Can any experience be judged? Wasn’t the experience that was desired experienced? In that way, didn’t it happen just as it was meant to happen?

“When you accept that there is no inherent value (or right or wrong) in any thought or action, you become detached from that thought or action, because you are no longer automatically judging it. You are simply observing it.”

See, continuing with this example of anger, so often we do not really experience the anger because we deny it with thoughts and stories about why we feel angry, we see the cause as being out there. When we do not experience these feelings, they keep coming up until we become conscious enough to allow ourselves to experience them for the purpose of ultimately letting them go.

In The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament (NTI), 2 Timothy describes this idea brilliantly:**

“God has granted you the right to have experience. You have, within you, the desire to have experience. … Let’s remember that this is a course of looking within in order to heal all that is false within your mind. The world is never cause. The mind is cause.

“Now look on the world. Look without judgment. Look with curiosity. Look on the world and see it as a harmless and meaningless prop. As you do this, feelings will seem to come up in you, feelings that say, ‘The world is not a prop!’ Do not turn away from your feelings. Turn your attention, now, from the prop to the feelings it has evoked. This is the experience you deemed to have.

“Feel the feelings of injustice and anger and sadness and blame.

“…The feelings within you are not to be hidden. Do not be afraid of the feelings you find within. They do not define you. They are not who you are. They are who you are not. By looking at them and experiencing them, and not fearing them, you may release them. As they go, you shall see they were not who you are. As you release them, do not make this error:

Do not feel

that your feelings were caused

by anything in the world.

They were not.

“The feelings were in the mind first. In this way, celebrate the world. Be grateful that it can be used to show you your need for healing. Have faith in the healing process. Healing is your only purpose. Do not be distracted. You enjoy the process as you come to recognize its reward, and the reward you recognize is That Which you truly Are.”

Going back to the message, what does this have to do with mind-watching?

HS: “Observe the thoughts in the mind from a detached perspective and ask, “What do I want to experience now?” Hold your desired experience in the mind and weigh the thought against that desire. This is not judgment, but discernment. You are merely asking, “Does this thought serve me when my desire experience is ‘x’?

"If your desire experience is love, does an attack thought serve you?

If your desired experience is peace, does a fear thought serve you?

If your desire experience is joy, does a thought of grievance or judgment against another help to bring that experience to you now?

If not, let the thought go.

"This is the only way you can be truly useful to yourself:

Recognize your purpose, and

choose only the thoughts that support that purpose.

“In this way, you bring to you the experience you choose to experience instead of one you do not want to experience.”

If my true desire is to know my Self as Love created it, unlimited and free, do thoughts of lack, limitation and unworthiness support this purpose? And so I ask myself: “Do I want to continue to experience the feelings that tell me who I am not? Or, do I want to choose the experience of remembrance? Pay attention to your thoughts, each thought either supports your purpose or distracts you from it.

HS: “To choose the experience you desire to choose is wakefulness. To choose the experience you do not desire to choose is to sleep.”

Now I want to remember that when I watch my mind and see thoughts of intolerance, anger, lack and unworthiness…and I judge myself for it, I am not being watchful, I am sleeping. And in my slumber, I continue to have experiences that I really don’t want anymore. But, through watching the mind with Holy Spirit, I begin to wake up, and thus I create new experiences through wakefulness.

HS: “Remain awake. Be watchful. Choose the experience you choose to experience by choosing from your mind in alignment with your purpose. This is discernment.

This is to be watchful with Me.

************************

The audio includes much more than was shared here.

It was recorded on 9/4/11 and can be found in the previous blog,

Couse note #125, as the audio covers both that blog and this one.

All of the "Be watchful with me" audios can be found on my audio blog:

http://www.sherylvalentineaudio.blogspot.com

* This can be found in its entirety at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

under monthly archives dated, January 18, 2007. When I use the “HS” symbol, I am quoting directly from the message.

** There are 4 chapters in NTI 2 Timothy, which is too much to share here, and so I have shared excerpts from various chapters. If these ideas are interesting to you, and you have NTI, this is an amazing and life changing chapter to read with Spirit.

Course Note #125: Stay Focused on True Desire

2011-10-20T13:13:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months I did a series of teachings from the “Be Watchful with Me” series of messages, which are teachings from the “Holy Spirit Guides” series.* I have been prompted to write blogs on those teachings. This blog will be on the importance of staying focused on true desire.

Our true desire is Know thy Self. Many different words can be used, but in our heart-of-hearts, we all desire to know Self as Love created it, unlimited and free. For the most part, we we are not conscious of the fact that we also had a past desire to know ourselves as something other than a free being created by Love.

I’ve been carrying this particular message around with me for quite awhile now, ever since I realized that I create experience through the desire I give my energy to. I recognize that unconsciously, I have been giving energy to a past desire of not know thy Self! The great thing about mind watching is that it brings that which was unconscious to conscious awareness.

HS: “You are at a place where constant watchfulness is necessary. You have realized your true desire and made it known throughout the mind, yet the past desire is not yet resigned to your true desire. This is merely a time of patience, for a past desire cannot long live if new desire is not given to it. Stay focused on your true desire, which is in your heart. All remnants of past desire will fade away if you do not slip into listening to it now.”

So, I now recognize my true desire, yet the past desire to know myself as lacking and limited is still lurking in there too. I now want to create through my true desire, but let’s say I have a thought of lack like: I wonder if I will be able to pay the bills this month? I wonder if I will ever be able to retire? I wonder if I’ll be able to get a job?

As we learn to watch the mind, we see those thoughts: Ah…those are lack thoughts, and those thoughts stem from a belief in lack, and the belief comes the desire to not know thy Self. Here I see that the past desire is not totally gone. Why?

Well, because I have a split mind (not in truth), but here in time and space the mind is split between the desire to know myself as I truly am, and the desire to know myself as lacking and limited; the mind is split between a focus on truth and illusion.

I see the thoughts of lack and then I remember: Oh, that’s right! I no longer want to give energy to false beliefs and desires. Holy Spirit, I am willing to let go of this belief in lack, and let you heal it for me.

See, when we have those thoughts of lack, fear, unworthiness or guilt, we have merely slipped into listening to a past desire. We need not beat-up-on-ourselves for this, but instead be patient and return our mind to the desire that we do want to give our energy to. In this way the past desire will soon fade away.

I have to tell you that I have been working with issues around lack and limitation for decades, and while I have experienced much healing with it over the years, I did not see it begin to fade away until I began to practice exactly what I am sharing with you here. But I didn’t practice it once or twice, I have been vigilant with the practice for a couple of years now.

I got the most practice on lack and limitation beliefs by watching my mind as I drove by gas stations when gas prices were rising daily. Each time I drove by one, my mind would go into a rant about corporate greed, about those who are struggling and similar thoughts. One day, while watching these thoughts, I realized that they were thoughts stemming from a belief in lack and limitation.

Often times, while engaging in this particular rant, I wasn’t even upset about me not having money for gas, I was upset for other people who were probably forced to choose between gas and food. I realized that I was projecting my belief in lack onto my brothers! I’ve finally come to understand that I can most help my brothers as I heal the false beliefs in my own mind.

Right then and there as I drove by the gas station: First, I saw the thoughts of lack; then I recognized them as stemming from a belief in lack, which stemmed from a desire to know myself as lacking and limited. I remembered that I no longer want to create such experiences, and so I prayed:

Holy Spirit,

I am willing to let go of the belief in

lack and limitation.

I give it to You.

I trust that you will correct it for me.

Thank You.

After a few months of this, I suddenly noticed that in other areas of my life where I had previously been prone to slipping into thoughts of lack, I no longer had such thoughts, and when I did, I caught them quickly and focused on my true desire.

While I have worked with many practices over the years in regard to this belief, this is the only practice that has led to healing it. My inner teacher has led me to material over the last few years that facilitated many deeper insights, but NTI (The Holy Spirit’s Interpretation of the New Testament), and particularly NTI James, has been a life-changer.**

In James we are taught: “Be a conscious-minded teacher of yourself”. The way we do this is to bring awareness to the thoughts in the mind, and through such awareness we learn that we can choose what we really want.

The world was made through the desire to want to experience being something other than I am in truth. In this world of form we have the opportunity to experience lack, guilt, unworthiness, limitation, fear…and I say “opportunity” because, it is through willingness to really let ourselves experience it, and to look at our thoughts as we do, that we can then ask ourselves, “Do I want to continue experiencing this?” If you do, that’s fine, but if you don’t… Let’s face it; false beliefs have been creating our experiences for way too long.

“You always receive as you have asked, but you may not be aware that you are receiving because you do not know what you have asked for.

“You do not ask from God through the expression of your words or thoughts. You ask from the process of creation through the desire that you give your energy to.” (NTI James 4v1-3)

Using the lack example again: We may think that we want more money, a better job, or certain possessions, etc. – when we are not watching our thoughts, we don’t recognize that we are being led by the desire to know ourselves as lacking and limited, and so we are getting the experience that we asked for, but we don’t know it because we’re not conscious.

One of my favorite teachings in A Course in Miracles says that it is the unwatched mind that makes up the whole of the unconscious. I find this to be a wow statement. Our lives seem to be driven by unconscious forces, but when we watch our thoughts we see that it’s not unconsciousness, all the evidence as to why we do what we do is right there, rolling through the mind, and once we see it, we can then make another choice.

We ask God, we create, through the desire we give our energy to.

HS: “Be vigilant and rejoice! The time of freedom is at hand!”

**********

This audio was recorded on 9-4-11 and is part 2 of the “Be Watchful with Me” Series.

This first 20 minutes of this audio is about this blog.

* This message can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com in the monthly archive section dated, January 17, 2007. When I use the symbol “HS” I am quoting directly from the message.

On both my audio and “course note” blog I have an entry on “Be Watchful with Me” where you can find the audios, and information to Regina’s audios as well.

** I spoke and wrote a blog on NTI James in a post called “What do I want Now?”, dated 12/9/10, that can be found on my Course Notes blog, #84: http://www.sherylvalentine.blogspot.com

Course Note #124: Is Attack Possible?

2011-10-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

In this post I share from 2 messages on attack. Part two (see below), is very helpful as it reveals how to truly see the world differently.

Hi,
Recently, while reading posts on the internet, I perceived that someone else consistently feels attacked, and thus attacks others with that misperception. The next day, with those thoughts in mind, I was prompted to read a message called, “Is attack possible?”*

Question: Is attack possible?

Answer: “No, attack is not possible, because all thought is shared. Each one receives as he has asked to receive through his thought. Therefore, no one is ever attacked, and only his request is answered.

“I ask you to let go of attack thoughts, not because they are attack, but because they block true perception from your sight. As you believe in attack, you cannot see love, because you believe love is attack.

“Love cannot stop, but love can be misperceived if you believe in attack. In order to see love’s reflection through true perception, you must be willing to let go of all perception of attack. Remember this:

“When you believe you are attacking or have attacked, you are completely wrong. Give this misperception to Me, that you may see differently.

“When you believe you are attacked, you are one hundred percent wrong. Give this misperception to Me, that you may see differently.

“When you believe you see one attacking another, you are believing in attack yourself. Give this misperception to Me, that you may see differently.”

I don’t have to wonder why my Inner Teacher led me to this message on that particular day. Simply to remind me that if I see one attacking another, I still believe in attack, but this perception can be changed. It was one of those, “Oh my God, It’s me!” moments. So often we don’t want to acknowledge that what we see comes from our perception because it’s painful to the ego.

The inner teacher does not have a spiritual ego and so, I never feel that this presence is admonishing me to be any other way than I am. Holy Spirit comes into my perception to lead me out of my misperceptions of myself.

HS: “I teach that you have a choice about what you will do and how you will feel. This is true because you get to request through Spirit the experiences that shall be given you. You make this request through choosing which thoughts to believe or accept.

“If you accept that you are attacking, being attacked or seeing attack, you will have the experience of attack, because you have requested it through your perception. What you ask for is given you, always.”

Wow! When we truly begin to accept that we have requested certain experiences, and that what we ask for is always given, then we can move into living in appreciation and celebration for this classroom that allows us to see what we have requested to see.

HS: “If you see the temptation or the opportunity to perceive attack, but you choose to let that opportunity pass you by by refusing to accept the perception, you request the miracle. The miracle is a truer way of perceiving, which is seeing that there is not attack, because there is only love.”

In the Course we are taught that everything is love or a call for love. When we perceive attack, with ego in charge, we tend to attack or defend in turn. With enlightened vision, we see the call for love, our call for love, and thus we respond with love instead of attack. And yet, we can also embrace that we see attack because this can serve as a reminder that there is another way to see.

HS: “Watch your mind for your perceptions. Ask yourself, ‘What do I truly want to experience right now?’ As you answer this question, you make a conscious decision about how to see.

~Thank You~

*************************

Part two: Questions about: Is attack possible?

In lieu of the previous message on attack, someone wrote to Regina asking questions about the idea. Some of the questions are shared here:

* I find this difficult to comprehend when I see extreme expressions of attack in the world.

* There were brutal and incomprehensible acts against people in Iraq, which is now in civil war… Regardless, there is no way that the way in which those people were killed could ever be “right.”

* This is only a sub-set of atrocities that are happening… The people that suffered and suffer from these heinous acts experienced and experience them as real, as do most of us. What is an “illusion?”

* How can we ask if attack is possible? It’s happening right before our very eyes. I can’t look away and tell myself that it’s an illusion when people are inflicting pain on others, and others are experiencing it as real.

* How can I look at these atrocities with love and acceptance and with “non-judgment”? How can it be anything but wrong? Even if I can at least count to 100 long enough to know that I am judging, or try to forgive them because ‘they know not what they do’…they still did it and are still doing it. There is “no judgment”, that’s what happened and is still happening.

* So I need to ask you: Does the world look that much different when we are awake, or do we just not see these things anymore?

HS answers: The world is a brutal, vicious place as you experience it. I don’t ask you to deny that. I ask you to look at the world’s viciousness and then ask yourself, “Does this make me happy?” If it does not, and if you are willing to see differently, I can lead you to another way of seeing, because there is another way of seeing everything that you see now.

“You may ask, “How can I see brutal killing as anything other than cruel?” The answer is that you must be willing to see that you are wrong about what you think you look upon. You are completely and one hundred percent wrong about what you see. If you can give Me even a hair of willingness to see that this is true, I can lead you so that you will see it. But, I cannot lead you without your willingness. If you insist that the way you see is the only way to see, I cannot provide the miracle of showing you that you are wrong.”

In the face of another’s crisis or despair, we are not being asked to tell them that it is not real and that attack is impossible. Remember, we are always asked to accept the correction, the healing, for ourselves. I have not mastered this as I do still see attack in the world. I do still see that some news stories affect me more than other news stories. Yet, I have also experienced that in my willingness to see differently in certain situations, I do see differently.

Over the years, people have told me that they don’t believe in God because of certain atrocities that go on or have gone on in the world. Recently, while having such a discussion with a friend, I told her that I don’t totally understand the nature of this world we live in, or why certain things happen or have happened, but what I do know is that there is way more going on in this universe than I realize.

This is what Holy Spirit is asking us to see here, in essence saying: You don’t know the whole story. You don’t see the big picture. You must be willing to acknowledge that you don’t know, and then you can be guided see truly.

HS: “Within your experience, My leading you to see differently may seem to take time. How much time is up to you. The more willingness you give to see that you are wrong, the faster you will begin to see.

“I must tell you that there is nothing wrong with how you see now. You need to know this, because the feeling of guilt leads you to cling to how you see. You are perfectly innocent in this moment. I ask you to trust Me on this fact.”

Spiritual ego has probably already told you about now that you are a bad student because of the way you see. I love how Holy Spirit is so consistent in these messages, in NTI, in ACIM… telling us that we are not bad or guilty. When we hold onto the idea that we are, we are united with ego, the false self.

I must tell you that there is nothing wrong with how you see now.

You need to know this.

HS: “You ask if the world looks different when you are awake or if the awakened one simply doesn’t see atrocities any more. As long as you walk in the world, the body’s eyes will show you what the body’s eyes see, but you will have a completely different understanding about what you see. This will enable you to be most helpful, because you will not be confused, and you will know what to do in any given situation.”

When we are willing to walk in the world asking Holy Spirit to reinterpret our perceptions, then we do become more helpful to one another because we are led by truth instead of by the stories in our mind.

HS: “For now, I ask you to continue to take the little steps you are taking now, for these little steps are much, much bigger than your realize. Continue to notice that you are judging and be completely willing to see that you are wrong. Follow your inner intuition on the path of spiritual seeking. I will lead you on the path that is best for you. Give Me your trust and your patience, and give trust and patience to yourself and your world. In this way, you will be led to discover the answers that you seek, and your gratitude will be unending.”

As students of these teachings, we must cease expecting other people to tell us how to see, or to prove to us that these teachings “work”. We must become increasingly willing to go within and ask how to see differently; and how to see through the remembrance of our innocence.

All too often, we look at the world through the eyes of fear. Fear tells us that we are unlovable and bad, and through this lens we see a world of attack and defense. Let us be willing to notice how we argue for our limitations, and how we argue for the false to be true. Let us notice how we let the world tell us how to think, and how to be and how to feel. Let us be willing to let Spirit Within show us that there is truly another way, a better way, to see.

It is so liberating to finally embrace these ideas, because through seeing what we are truly doing to ourselves, we have a choice to keep doing it, or to stop. I am becoming increasingly willing to stop. Care to join me?

I can escape from the world I see by giving up attack thoughts.

Herein lies my salvation, and nowhere else.

Without attack thoughts I could not see a world of attack.

As forgiveness allows love to return to my awareness,

I will see a world of peace and safety and joy.

And it is this that I choose to see,

in place of what I look on now.

(ACIM, WBL 55)

The audio was recorded on 10/16/11 and contains

much more than what I’ve been able to share here.

* These messages on: “Is attack possible” can be found in their entirety at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com in the monthly archives dated, November 24 & 25, 2006

Course Note #123: Spiritual Chiropractic: Align with the Divine

2011-10-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

I had an experience the other day that caused a shift within. I have been practicing mantra and surrender for several months now, albeit, not with the consistency that I would like. I don’t how it is for you, but I find that in the morning I can be attuned to the practice, but as the day wears on I get caught up in the stories of the day and sometimes forget all about it.

Last week a friend and I talked and ranted about all kinds of things going on in the world. Afterward, as I went over to my desk, there was a magazine open to an article about a football player. This is not something I would normally be interested in reading, but I as I read the article, one sentence in particular stood out for me, something to the effect of: he rants about everything.

Well I gotta tell you – it was as if my inner teacher highlighted that sentence with a divine highlighter! Immediately I realized that I had just been ranting about everything! Right then and there I felt this deep shift within. I felt the increased willingness to fill my mind with mantra and surrender instead of listening to all the silly ego rants in my head. Since that day, amazingly, I find the practice of mantra and surrender to be easier than ever before, and while there are times throughout the day that I forget, for the most part I see that my practice has gone to the next level.

The idea with chiropractic is that with specific adjustments to the spine, the practitioner can align the body to the innate intelligence that governs it. This past week I realized that mantra and surrender are like specific adjustments that can be used to bring the mind back into alignment with the truth of who we are. With the mantra I can cut through the thoughts in my mind and recognize that they are meaningless, and then I can return to stillness. In this way, I find that I can remain fully engaged with life without getting caught up in listening to the fictional stories in the movie theater of my mind.

In my work as a chiropractor I use many different adjustments on the body, and so it is that there are many different practices one can use to come into alignment with the Divine. Mantra and surrender are just the practices that I am most guided to do at this time. Although it is now apparent to me that A Course in Miracles, while not using the same words, definitely gives us similar practices in that the workbook essentially contains 365 mantras, and as it teaches us to listen to another Voice, it is teaching surrender.

The other day I was on the elliptical machine in the gym with a notebook filled with “Holy Spirit Guides” messages. I had planned to read a particular one, but was instead strongly guided to the message “You are a student of feeling now”*. For a moment I had returned to listening to a story in my mind, and as I looked down to the page I read: “Let go of the past and move forward by listening to Me now”

My eyes stayed on that sentence for quite awhile as I remembered that all the stories in the mind are about the past.

Let go of the past.

Move forward

by listening to Me now.

HS: What you want to focus on learning is, the difference in the feeling of little self guidance, which comes from fear, and My guidance, which does not. …Whenever fear arises, it is because you are listening to the voice of little self. There is no fear when you listen only to Me. You may have heard My words clearly, but the little self commentary is what added the feeling of fear. Therefore, you must learn that you cannot trust the feeling of fear. When you trust “no fear”, you trust Me. I am not fear.”

When I feel fear, unworthiness, guilt, lack, etc., instead of judging myself for it, I can recognize these feelings can serve to remind me that I am out of alignment with my true Self. I can use my mantra as an adjustment to bring me back.

Ahh…I see that my mind is filled with thoughts of unworthiness. I accept that this is what I feel right now, but I am willing to rest my mind. I am willing to trust that I am being healed, even now.
I am that I am. I am as God.

I rest in the stillness. I then can practice surrender as I ask, What am I to do now?

HS: “You are a student of feeling now, not thought. You are learning to tune in at a vibrational level, not think yourself into understanding. Learn to feel and to make adjustments based on the feeling. Keep the mind focused on now. You cannot attune when the mind is going over the past or dreaming about the future. See your mantra as your most useful tool now. Use it always.”

We hear so many teachings about living in the present and living in the now. It’s time to grasp on a deep level that when we listen to the stories in the mind, we are absent from now – living in the past or the future. We can become spiritual chiropractors as we learn to use the practice of mantra and surrender as adjustments that can align the mind with truth instead of fiction.

In this way we can cease being guided by guilt, fear, unworthiness and limitation. So many of the choices we have made were guided by these false beliefs, but now we are learning that we can make another choice. We can learn to feel our feelings, and through this we can make adjustments. I recognize within me an increased desire to stop listening to the fictional stories in my mind, and stay with now – where I am that I am exists.

Bless you.

I am with you now.

I am with you always,

but I want your mind focused

on now.

Find Me now.

Always find Me in the moment

called now.

Keep looking only there.

Stay there.

Stay now.

The Audio was recorded on 10/9/11

It contains much more than I was able to share here.

* I shared two messages in this teaching from the “Holy Spirit Guides” series. One is “Your first mantra” dated 4/12/08, and the other, “You are a student of feeling now” dated 4/13/08. Both can be found at http://www.reginadawnakers.com under “monthly archives”.

Course Note #122: Enjoy playing the Game!

2011-09-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

I have been doing a series of teachings on the “Holy Spirit Guides” messages on “Be Watchful with Me.” * This one is on joy and learning to look at the beliefs that cause pain before they cause pain.

Recently I saw the movie Moneyball, and it begins with a quote by Mickey Mantle: “It’s unbelievable how much you don’t know about the game you’ve been playing your whole life.”

So true! Well here’s to learning more about how to play the game!

The message begins with Holy Spirit speaking on artificial joy, which is joy based on the world and certain outcomes. In other words, if my happiness is dependent on things being a certain way, this is not perfect joy because it follows that if things aren’t a certain way I will not be happy.

HS: “One must watch the mind for signs of artificial joy. All of the beliefs that cause pain are hidden within the search for artificial joy. In order to know true happiness, one must free the mind of beliefs that cause pain. In order to free the mind of these beliefs, one must see them and recognize them. However, one need not experience pain to see and let go of the beliefs of pain. One can mind-watch during periods of artificial joy and release beliefs that are the cause of all pain.

“First, one must be willing to be aware of artificial joy as it is experienced. One must be willing to question the mind.

Am I happy because another person is saying, or doing a specific thing?

If the situation were different, would I feel differently?

Am I feeling secure because I have or attract certain situations or things?

If these situations or things were no longer available to me,

would I feel secure?"

An example that comes to mind is the changes in the economy over the last few years. Thinking of life as a classroom is an idea that I find very helpful. I am here to learn who I am in truth; that I have already been given everything, and that I am a creation of God, free and unlimited, lacking nothing. How can I really learn this if I put my faith and trust in a retirement plan or a job or something else?

When I think that security lies in something outside of me, I am building my house on sand. “House” is symbolic of our consciousness – does your consciousness rest on the sands of illusion, or on the rock of truth?

We can probably all see that if we had a retirement plan, relationship, health or something else that made us happy, and it was lost in one way or another, of course, initially at least, we would probably feel unhappy.

On the day that I was planning to teach on this message, I woke up feeling that I didn’t want to teach on it because I didn’t fully understand it. As I pondered skipping it, my inner teacher began to explain it to me.

We are not being asked to project lack and pain into the future, but to look now at the false beliefs that create pain. We can look at false beliefs while feeling happiness so that we don’t have to create from those false beliefs in the future.

If I had a healthy retirement plan and felt happy because of that, but looked at my mind to see that I would feel unhappy if I lost it, I can see that I have false beliefs about where my future security lies. This has been an interesting one for me to look at in the last few years because many people have told me about losing a large portion of their retirement plan. I don’t even have one, and yet, I have not felt fear about that. I’m on the “let go and let God” retirement plan. We'll see how that works out. ;)

This doesn’t mean, however, that I have not had to look long and deep at the false beliefs that my financial well-being lies out there. Since I have increased my willingness to let go of the belief in lack and limitation, I have seen long held thoughts of lack fade away.

So as I look at my life and notice that I would feel unhappy if certain things changed, my inner teacher told me to ask this: “What would I have to believe to feel unhappy if…? What would I have to believe to feel unhappy if I had less money, health, beauty, love…?

HS: “When this question is asked, basic beliefs within the mind will rise to the surface to be questioned. For example:

I am lacking in myself.

I am unworthy.

There is something inherently fearful within existence

that I must be protected against.

“When one sees that specific outcomes or temporary joy are a cover or mask over these beliefs, one sees how one has built a house on shifting sands. For as long as these beliefs are held to within the mind, they must at some point manifest within the experience."

The question came up during the teaching, “Could you be happy if you had no money in the bank?” I can readily see that I would experience unhappiness if I had no money in the bank, and all I am being asked to do is to look at this fact, and then, look at the false belief underlying it. Obviously the belief in lack and limitation is at play here. Do I believe that I am not a child of God, and that I cannot really trust that I will be led to some other avenue of income, sustenance or abundance? We aren’t asked to pretend to be happy when we are not, more profoundly, we are simply asked to look deeper.

HS: “As one questions the mind during times of joy, one may uncover such thoughts if the joy is based on artificiality. This is a wonderful use of time. For when one uncovers fear thoughts at the base of artificial joy, one may choose to release those thoughts before they manifest as pain. In this way, one creates more joy within experience by removing the cause of pain and the perceived need for specific outcomes in order to be joyful.”

I love this: “this is a wonderful use of time” – we can use time to uncover false beliefs.

~ Have fun! ~

**********************

The audio of this teaching was recorded on 9/25/11

and in it I share much more than I was able to here.

* This message is called “BE watchful with Me, part V”, dated January 20^th, 2007,and can be found on this site: http://www.reginadawnakers.com under “monthly archives”. Also on this blog, in Course Note #119, I have archived all the audios in this series.

Course Note #121: Why do we listen to the ego?

2011-09-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

The short answer to “why do we listen to the ego?” is, because we want to. Over the past few months I have had more difficulty quieting the ego than I have experienced in a very long time. Through my ongoing willingness to quiet the ego, I have been led to deeper insights on acceptance and trust, as well as to teachings on the practice of mantra and surrender. In the past few weeks I have been guided back to teachings on mind-watching and letting go of ego.

The way we begin to let go of the ego is to look at it, and through looking at it we see that it is not who we are. Ego is only the belief in separation, and yet, it has a voice – the voice we think of as “my thoughts”. For me anyway, this realization was a rude awakening!

We listen to the ego because we believe it is who we are, and now we are learning to hear it so that we will realize that we don’t want to listen to it any more. If we are honest with ourselves, listening to the ego, believing what it says, and acting on it has only brought us pain. Listening to "my thoughts" is truly the cause of suffering.

In this blog I will be sharing excerpts from a message in the “Holy Spirit Guides” series on: “Why do we listen to the ego?” *

HS: “Begin to release the ego by accepting that you choose everything it says to you. Look at every fear and at every accusation it places in your mind and say to yourself, ‘I chose this thought because I wanted to know the experience.’ Then ask yourself, ‘What do I want now?’”

See, in our freedom, we were given the right to experience ourselves as something other than we are in truth, what A Course in Miracles calls “the tiny mad idea”. We wanted to experience lack and limitation, unworthiness and victimization to see what it feels like, but of course, within these experiences, we suffer.

If I feel victimized or unworthy because I believe that some person, place or thing did something to me, then I have projected the thought of victim out there so that I don’t have to see it in my own mind; nevertheless, I will still feel the pain of it. But once I see the thoughts, I see that I am playing the victim in a certain situation because I wanted to have that experience. Once I own this, then I have a choice: Okay, I wanted to have the experience of victim, but what do I want now?

HS: “Don’t ask yourself this question too lightly. Don’t let the answer come too quickly from the surface of your mind. Take the time to go deep within to the center of your true heart and ask, ‘What do I want now?’ When you find the answer to this question you will know it, because it will rise up with a recognition that will cause every cell in your body to stand with attention and sing.”

I’ve done this and found that what makes my heart sing is the desire to know my Self as God created it, unlimited and free. To know my Self as Love. To know only Love, to be only Love and to extend only Love.

HS: “Once you have the answer to the question ‘What do I want now?’ look back at the content of the ego thought in your mind.”

I’ll give you a current experience from my own life: I have been feeling that somebody did something to me. I feel victimized. I feel that the person has no consequences for his actions, and I feel that I am stuck with his actions. When HS says that I listen to the ego because I want to, in this situation I understand why I have had such a difficult time letting it go, because I really believe that the person did something wrong and so, I am unwilling to stop listening to the part of my mind that affirms this – ego.

HS: “What is it (ego thought) trying to teach you? Is it teaching you what you want to learn? If not, it is not a thought you want now. It is the residual thought of an experience you chose before, but an experience you are choosing against now.”

So when I look at the content of the ego thoughts, I see that they are teaching me that I can be unfairly treated and victimized. Is this what I want now? No! Do I want to continue to create experiences where I feel lack, limitation, unworthy or unfairly treated? No! But in the past I did. As I look at my mind, I see these residual thoughts from a past choice, but one that I don’t want to choose now.

As we look deeper at the content of the ego thoughts in the mind, the content of fear, lack, limitation, unworthiness, guilt…we recognize that all the ego thoughts teach the same thing – that we are not who we are; that we are separate from our Self and one another; they all teach that we are separate from our Source.

HS: “With this realization in mind, remember that everything you experience comes to you through your choice. Remember how you truly want to experience now, and with the power and love of God that backs every decision you make, look at the thought you do not want and say, ‘I do not choose this thought today. This is a thought I do not want now because this is not how I would experience myself any longer.’”

What do I want now?

To know my Self as God created it,

unlimited and free.

I want to know my Self

as Love.

When I set my heart’s desire next to thoughts of lack, limitation and unworthiness…I can readily see what I want to experience now. This is how we come to truly see that the ego, and the world we see through its eyes, are not real. As we choose to have the experience of truth, we begin to experience the world through the vision of truth, and thus we come to see that nothing the ego tells us about ourselves, other people or the world is true.

Here we see the power in mind-watching. The practice enables us to see how and why we create our life experiences. I find this realization to be incredibly empowering and exciting! Remember, it is through our freedom that we have the gift to experience who we are, and who we are not. Which experience will I choose today?

I am all that I am,

and that is all I am promised to be.

But I cannot limit myself through fear,

and know all that I am.

I choose to release the limits

I have chosen for myself.

In their release,

I see that I am.

“Make this the constant prayer in your heart. In purpose, step forth unto your release.” (NTI 2 Timothy, 2v11-13)

*****************

The audio was recorded on 9/20/11 and in it

I speak on much more than was shared here. Enjoy!

* This message “why do we listen to ego?” can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

in the “monthly archives” dated, August 3, 2007. You can also hear Regina teach on this if you go to the site and to the right it says “Holy Spirit guides, weeks 71+” this teaching is week 94.

Course Note #120: Letting go of the ego

2011-09-20T16:41:00.000-07:00

In a recent teaching I shared a message from “Holy Spirit Guides” on letting go of the ego.* Over the years I have learned many ways to let go of ego, through meditation, prayer and focusing on a thought given by Spirit Within. This message highlights 6 steps for letting go of the ego through the practice of mind-watching.

Step one: Watch the thoughts in your mind. Do not fall asleep and accept them without seeing them.

Here, the word “accept” can be synonymous with the word believe. To sleep, is to believe the thoughts in the mind without seeing them. Even though we don’t see them, we still listen to them, believe them and act on them. Let's say I have a thought about not having enough money. I listen to this thought, and if I believe it is true I may then act on it by feeling more fear, or feeling that I must do something to fix the situation. However, through mind-watching I come to see the thought of lack, and then I realize that I don’t have to accept such thoughts as true.

I’ve found it helpful to notice that even though it seems like I think about many things, there is often a theme for the day, which could be one of lack and limitation, unworthiness, guilt, fear, attack/defense or feeling victimized. Once I see the content of my thoughts, then…I can more readily let them go.

Step two: Choose to let ego thoughts rest and fall quiet in your mind. Give no additional power to them.

I’ve learned several practices over the years to let ego thoughts rest, but recently I have been prompted to the practice of mantra and surrender (see previous blogs on this). As I began the practice I was guided back to these messages on watching the mind. I have found that taking deep breaths and practicing the mantra very slowly has been so helpful in resting the mind and quieting the ego thoughts: I am that I am. I am as God.

In this way I cease giving power to the ego thoughts.

Step three: Ask Me for My Thoughts, and hold them Dear in your mind. Repeat them. Contemplate them. Feel gratitude for them.

This step harkens to the practice of surrender as taught in The Teachings of Inner Ramana, which I wrote about in “course note” #116. So at this point, I have watched the thoughts in my mind and quieted my mind, now I can ask: What am I to do/see/think now?

A prayer that has been helpful for me is this:

Holy Spirit,

Help me see this person/situation

through your vision of Love,

rather than through the eyes of

judgment and fear.

Of course, the workbook of A Course in Miracles contains 365 practices of mantra and surrender, and even though I didn’t think of the lessons this way previously, they were still powerful tools to redirect my mind.

Step four: Turn to your willingness. Cherish it as your Strength.

“If you will focus your willingness on the part of your mind that wants the truth above everything else, you will find that willingness will grow.” (NTI Galatians 5v2-6.4)

“Within the quiet mind, you first want to find your willingness. Rest the mind and call to your willingness. You know it is there. It has led you to this moment of asking for it. Your purpose now is only to bring it more fully into awareness. Focus on it, that it may stream more fully within you. Your focus gives it flight, so as you give it focus, it fills you.” (NTI Galatians 6v1-5.9-15)

Focus on your willingness as if it is your truth,

because it is.

Focus on your willingness as if it holds the answer to all questions,

because it does.

Focus on your willingness as if it is everything to everyone,

because it is.

Focus on your own willingness.

That is Love Alive within the world.

(NTI Galatians 5v7-12.31-35)

I certainly have nothing to add. ;)

Step five: Follow My Guidance in peace and confidence, for you are truly being led. There are no accidents. Everything works together for good.

Through learning to stop listening to the ego, we become available to hear and follow inner guidance. Trust the healing process. Trust that you are being healed, even now.

Step six: Watch the thoughts in your mind. Remember that you have a choice as to what you will believe.

Here we are again…watch the thoughts in your mind. When I see the thoughts, I realize that I then have a choice: Do I want to believe these thoughts of unworthiness, or lack and limitation? Do I want to believe these thoughts of victimization, or thoughts that I am guilty? Do I want to teach my brother through these false thoughts and beliefs? No. I am willing to choose again.

The message ends with this: “This is all I ask of you. This is the process that will usher in miracles, which will carry you to your point of full willingness. Do not worry as to when. Worry is of the ego. Let the worry rest. Be patient and love yourself, even as I love you.”

Wow, is this a wonderful message or what? Here’s to ushering in miracles! Cheers!

****************

In the audio I share more on the steps, and also on a message called “The Bus Analogy” which is more on mind-watching and resting.**

Enjoy!

* This message is called “Letting go of the ego” and can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

in the “monthly archives” dated, November 20, 2005. She also has an audio on this teaching that can be found on her site under “teachings” and it’s called: “Breaking the habit of listening to ego, part 1”

** This message can be found in the “monthly archives” dated December 8, 2007.

Course Note #119: Be Watchful with Me

2011-09-17T17:16:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I will be sharing a series of audios here on messages received by Regina Dawn Akers from Holy Spirit called, "Be Watchful with Me" (see below for more info as to how to find them). I am guided to share quite a few teachings in the coming weeks on this very important practice of learning to watch the mind.

*************

8)Recorded on 10/2/11
Be Watchful with Me -- Practicing Stillness
In this one I talk about the importance of practicing stillness. I also go into how to quiet in our mind when something that causes upset is in our face every day.

*************************************

7) Recorded on 9/25/11
Be Watchful with Me -- This one is on joy and learning to look at the beliefs that cause pain before they cause pain. Linked to course Note #122 (see link below)

***********************************
6) Recorded on 9/20/11
Why Do we Listen to Ego?
This is linked to "course note" #121 found here; http://www.sherylvalentine.blogspot.com

********************************
5) Recorded on 9/18/11, 55 min.

Letting go of the ego

This is linked to "course note" #120 found at: http://www.sherylvalentine.blogspot.com

********************************

4) Recorded on 9/11/11 53 min.

Be Watchful with Me, part 3 -- Mind-watching through pain
this is linked to Course Note #131: http://www.sherylvalentine.blogspot.com

************************************

3)Recorded on 9-4-11, 57 min.

Be Watchful with Me, part 2
In this audio I shared the BWWM messages part 2 and 3 in the series.
This is linked to "course note" #125 and #126, found here on this blog.

********************************************
2) Recorded on 8/30/11, 59 min.

Focus on the Focus and Be Watchful with Me, part 1:

In this teaching many things came up: Dealing with distractions, how to deal with both physical and emotional pain, and how we should look at doing things in the world. Good stuff!

********************************

1) Recorded on 8/23/11 on the very important practice of mind-watching.

How do I practice Mind-Watching?

**************************

The actual "Be Watchful With Me" messages can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

in the "Archives" section beginning with January 6, 2007. She has also taught on this series and has 2 different teaching on these messages, filed under "Holy Spirit Guides", one set was recorded on 7/24/07, and the other is under the same section beginning with "week 82". We share completely differently on these messages so if the topic is of interest you may want to listen to my audios as well as Regina's.

Course Note #118: How do I let go of the past?

2011-09-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Recently I did a teaching on a “Holy Spirit Guides” message called, “How do I let go of the past?”*

The message begins with a question:

“I am realizing how much I hold onto the past, and I want to learn to let it go. Letting go of the past seems challenging. I keep seeing the past in the faces that I come into contact with. Will you share some tips to help me get better at letting go of the past?”

Answer: “Letting go of the past seems difficult because you have an earthly memory. Don’t think of letting go of the past as letting go of your memories. That is not realistic for you at this time. Think of letting go of the past as releasing it from your present moment, and therefore, from your future.

“First of all, you feel guilty because you think you live too much in the past.”

I can relate to this in the sense of feeling guilty for holding onto judgment and grievances, even after many years of spiritual practice. We may not always recognize that these grievances are a way of holding onto the past. In A Course in Miracles we are taught: Look at the past, but don’t dwell there. Most of us have not only looked at the past, we’ve pitched a tent there!

The Course speaks of “shadow figures”. We react and relate to people in the present through the lens of past experiences, and in this way, we make the future continuous with the past.

In the message, HS goes on to teach us that it is impossible to live in the past because the only time is now. We are not “living” in the past, we are “thinking” of the past. The good new is that we can make another choice, now. We are free to choose a different thought or reaction now.

“Secondly, when you are reviewing the past in the present, think about your memories as a diet. We can call it a soul food diet. The diet that you select determines what you will grow in to. If you decide to feast on a diet of ego memories, you are building a future like your past. You are urged not to do this. This is what is meant by letting go of the past. However, you can select different memories as your diet and build a different future by reviewing those memories now. Choose to remember the times that you have felt your closeness to Me. Choose to remember the times that you were in your right mind. Choose to remember the helpful thoughts I have shared with you. Choose to feast on uplifting memories. Use your past to build you up and bring you closer to Me.”

We can use our past to learn that we are free. Let’s say you have a difficulty with a certain person, and every time you see or think of him or her, your grievances come up. An example came up that I delve more into in the audio, but for brevity I’ll give you the nutshell version.

Years ago, there was a particular family member who trigged a lot of grievance for me. I was determined to heal this relationship, and it was actually a process that took a few years. But on a particular holiday I decided to prepare in advance, and I did much forgiveness work in the weeks leading up to the holiday. As we traveled to our holiday destination, about ten minutes away, I began to think of everything this person had done to piss me off. Suddenly I heard the Inner Voice say: “Sheryl, that all happened in the past. She can be seen anew in this moment.” I acknowledged the truth in that, and from that moment on, I never felt an ounce of tension in her presence, and our relationship was healed.

I am reminded of a very poignant “single quiet thought” #67: **

Forgiveness frees us

from the burden

of our own thoughts.

The thoughts that we hold onto from the past are burdensome. Forgiveness is the practice of letting them go. I’ve been listening to a particular story in my mind that has a theme of feeling victimized by a particular person. As I became aware of this, I thought, “Do I want to create future experiences where I feel victimized and unfairly treated?”

“No!”

As I look at the thoughts in my mind and recognize thoughts of lack and limitation, do I want to create experiences of lack and limitation in the future? No!

No, I don’t want to continue to create a future based on the past. Then…I must be willing to let go of those false beliefs today, and let Holy Spirit heal these errors in my mind.

The message goes on to say: “Letting go of grievances is important. I’m sure that you can see from what I have already shared that when you bring a past grievance into the present, you have another opportunity to let it go. However, do not think of the past as only the distant past. If a brother says something to you that does not seem to come from Love, the moment he has said it, it is already in the past. You can choose again now. The past occurs rapidly, yet now is with you always. As you become skilled at letting go of the past immediately, you will find that you can be at peace always.”

I have found that the practice of the mantra is a great way to let go of the past in the present. I practice is slowly:

I Am that Am. I Am as God.

Often when I practice in this way I am taken into profound stillness, and this occurred as I practiced this during the teaching. Through the practice I was taken into the present moment.

“Love the present moment.

Cherish it as your opportunity

to know your Self.

This present moment is a gift.

It is a gift that is always with you,

given by Love.

Feel gratitude for the gift.

Treasure it.

It is your peace,

and like your peace,

it can never be taken away from you.”

~Thank you~

I Am that I Am. I Am as God.

**********************

The audio on this teaching was recorded on 9/13/11 and is 54 min.

How do I let go of the past?

* “Holy Spirit Guides” are messages given to Regina Dawn Akers, and they can be found on her website at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com This one is from March 7^th, 2005

** “Single Quiet Thoughts” can be found on Regina’s website.

Course Note #117: Deepening Mantra Practice

2011-08-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hi there,
Well as usual, my inner work involves deepening the practice of mind-watching and the use of mantra and surrender. I gave a powerful sharing/teachings this week on deepening the mantra practice. I will not write on it at this time because there was simply too much to share, so I will include the audio here.

Recorded on 8/28/11, 55 min.

More on Mantra & Surrender

In this audio I share how my practice with the mantra has deepened. Teddy Poppe also speaks in this one giving us more understanding on the use of the mantra. While teaching this session, through doing the mantra, I experienced a deep and profound stillness, unlike ever before experienced. Enjoy!

*************************************

Course Note #116: How Do I Practice Surrender?

2011-08-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been inspired to the book, The Teachings of Inner Ramana, and I have been focused on its teachings on practicing the mantra and surrender. This morning I was feeling confused about just what surrender is, and how I am to practice it. As usual, throughout the morning and during my teaching time today, Spirit Within guided me to the answers.

First, we are taught that the purpose of surrender is to be guided by a Voice that is not confused about reality, and to consistently check with the Voice and ask the question, “What am I to do now?”*

This question also includes:

* How am I to see this?

* How shall I listen?

* How shall I be now?

* What am I to hear?

* What would you have me know?

* What shall I think?

* How shall I respond?

* What would you have me see in me that I am not seeing?

It’s not that we must memorize these questions and use the right one at the appropriate time, the question, “What am I to do now?” fully includes all of the above.

A question prompted by my practice of A Course in Miracles that I often ask, especially when treating patients in my office is, “How can I be truly helpful?” I realized today that by asking such a question I am also practicing surrender. At least to me, this question seems to be as helpful as any of the aforementioned questions.

In the last few days I have almost forgotten about the practice of mantra and surrender, and I now realize that I have been resistant. I turned to a chapter in the book entitled, “Clarity on Practice” and it begins with this:

“Question for the Inner Teacher: Teacher, I would like it if you would speak to me more about resistance to the practice of mantra and surrender.”

Bingo!

This is a very helpful chapter and in the audio I go through it, but for the sake of brevity, here I will share highlights.

When it comes to the practice of the mantra and surrender, I had been wondering just what it was I was supposed to do all day. I wondered, “Do I just chant the mantra all day, in between asking all day, “What am I to do now?”

Here is my answer:

“’What am I to do now?’ Ask this question 1000 times per day, and you are beginning to learn the true practice of surrender.”

Ah…the answer is, yes!

It goes on to say:

“The purpose of the mantra is to still the mind. It is like turning a radio dial from the egoic radio station to the station that I am. …The purpose of the mantra is to change stations… to tune in to me. And repeated use of the mantra will help you to stay tuned in to me. But once our frequency of communication has been established, you link to me… become one with me…by asking me to guide your every thought and action.”

If I am caught up in the world right now, but I bring awareness to feelings of anger, fear or judgment, I can then decide to practice my mantra: God is Love. I am as God. Then I have changed the station from the ego’s voice of fear and confusion to the “I am” station – Holy Spirit’s voice of clarity and peace. Then I am in the space to practice surrender: “What am I to do now?” In this way, I tune into the power within me and let It guide my thoughts and actions.

We use the mantra simply to change the station. Once the station is changed, we are available to be guided through the practice of surrender. This is great stuff isn’t it?

An example on how to practice:

You see that your mind is caught up in judgment about something going on in your life or in the world, or maybe you’re caught up in fear about money, your health or relationships… So first, bring awareness to the fact that you are mesmerized by at least one particular circus act. Practice the mantra: I am that I am. I am as God or another that appeals to you. Through the practice of the mantra you leave the circus to return to the stillness of the meadow. You have changed stations. Practice surrender, “What am I to do now?”

~A prayer of awakening~ *

Let me not today

become entangled in the world I see,

in its problems

or in its pleasures.

Let me remain instead

inwardly focused

with my eye and my ear

on my Teacher,

my Guide.

Let me be led

without a thought for the world,

but only a thought

for listening and following.

This is true surrender

and this is my desire,

my goal

and my purpose now.

All of my thinking

does not matter.

It is only a way

of keeping the ego alive.

I do not deny the temptation to think,

but I surrender my thinking in gratitude,

and I ask,

“How am I to see this?”

“What am I to do?”

Take my hand and lead me.

Amen

This morning I was confused about surrender and how to practice it. I am not confused now.

~Thank You~

*****************

The audio was recorded on 8/2/11

and contains much more on the practice of surrender than I was able

to share here. Enjoy!

* This is an excerpt from The Teachings of Inner Ramana , “The Purpose of Surrender”.

* This is a combo of 2 “single quiet prayers, 332 & 336. They can be found at: http://www.reginadawnakers.com

Course Note #115: Mantras & Meadows - Part deux

2011-07-28T10:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends,

Yesterday in my “Food for Life & Spirit” blog (http://www.food-for-spirit.blogspot.com), I wrote that I was reading The Teachings of Inner Ramana in the gym in the morning. A friend asked me how I could concentrate on that sort of material in the gym.

That’s a very good question. When I was 19 I had just moved to the Los Angeles area and I met a couple that taught me transcendental meditation (TM). I was given a mantra that I have not forgotten: hah-rah-dah-ya. For about a year or so, I meditated with this mantra twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the evening.

I recall reading a book about TM around that time, and the author said that he had practiced it for a few years and found it very helpful, but later gave it up. I wondered why if it was so helpful that he gave it up. Yet, I had the same experience. In ways that I wasn't even totally aware of, I knew that the practice had been very helpful to me, but I still let it go.

It wasn't until my early 30s that I began to meditate again, and this occurred through doing the workbook of A Course in Miracles. I found that as I did the workbook, each workbook title became a sort of mantra for the day. Over the years, many of the workbook lessons have served as wonderful mantras to quiet the mind.

How does this all relate to concentrating in the gym? Well, through twenty years of off-and-on meditation, which taught mind training and discipline, I have learned to quiet my mind practically anywhere. Also, when my son was a teenager he was a DJ and into playing LOUD house music! So I had a choice: learn to tune it out or kill him. I know it sounds harsh, but I did choose learning to tune it out. My husband, however, yanked the fuse a few times. Ha!

I felt to share all this today because it is pertinent to my entrée into the Ramana teachings. I've never been one of those spiritual teachers who could just read a book and teach on it. No, my "individualized curriculum" is that I am guided to teach what I am learning at any given point in time.

If you've been reading my blog lately, then you're privy to the fact that for the past month or so I have had a very difficult time quieting and resting my mind. I have been mesmerized and hypnotized by some of the circus acts spinning through my mind. Nevertheless, through my willingness to let go of it, I have allowed Spirit Within to use it all for the healing of my mind.

In the previous blog I shared how I came to the "next step" in regard to practicing the mantra. In the past week I have found the mantra practice to be very helpful, even restful, as I let it take me from the circus to the stillness of the meadow.

The last two days, however, I have returned to the circus, big time. On a walk this morning, as my mind fell into its current obsessive loop of judgment about an event in my life, I said the mantra: God is Love. I am as God. And then, immediately my mind went back to the circus… I'd say the mantra, and then, immediately my mind went back to the circus… Again and again I said the mantra, and then immediately returned to the circus. Egads!

Holy Spirit was able to break through the cacophony: "Let's go back to acceptance."

"Ah, yes. I am willing to stop and look at these thoughts of judgment. I see these thoughts of judgment. I accept that I have been drawn back into the circus, and that in fact, I don't want to leave this particular circus act right now. But…Holy Spirit, I am willing to return to the meadow, please show me how."

Then, I understood how the mantra could be used to return the mind to stillness, and how it can also be used for the purpose of denial and repression. In the past week I had been letting the mantra rest my mind, but in the last two days I was simply using the mantra to deny and repress the judgments, and as I did this, the judgments came even faster, and I became more frustrated.

I recognized that instead of letting the mantra take me from the circus to the meadow, the mantra had become just another act in the circus! How did this occur? Aha… I was using the mantra with the "thinking mind" rather than with the Heart.

I was then reminded of the "Instructions for using the mantra" from the Ramana teachings, specifically rule number three:

"Rule three is to practice the mantra with love and devotion. Say the mantra from the Heart. I have told you that the mantra is a gift of awakening. Cherish it as a very precious gift. In the moments that you give to the mantra, give with the love that you would give to the most precious of all gifts."

Suddenly, I felt such gratitude for Holy Spirit and these teachings, and even for the event that has brought forth so much judgment in my mind. Wow.

I have returned to the meadow.

~ Thank You ~