BY NOUK SANCHEZ AND TOMAS VIEIRA
chapter 10
OPENING TO VULNERABILITY THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRUST AND UNDOING THE EGO
Trust in the Source is the most important of all necessary qualities required to reach our potential. In the early stages of spiritual development the majority of our trust is still invested in the ego-self. So, the journey to Wholeness is one whereby the trust we had in ego-self is withdrawn and shifted to the Source. This, as we said earlier, is usually achieved in stages over time. When we realize that spiritual growth in its most basic form is learning to trust in the Unified Self instead of ego-self, we are better prepared to move through the process. Whatever has been holding us back or blocking our way will be Way of the Heart
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transformed or removed and this is often revealed through contrast. How can we learn the difference between what is truly valuable and what is not without contrast as our teacher? Trusting in the Source is definitely not naive blind faith. This trust is a finely attuned balance of personal responsibility and absolute certainty. It comes from recognition of inner conflict and a willingness to surrender to the Source Who always has our best interests at heart. In times of turmoil or disappointment, Trust illuminates the situation reminding us that no matter what happens, it is always for the highest good. The wisdom that everything is always perfect comes from knowing that we will always be given what we need but not necessarily what we want. We have to remember that we do not know our own best interests; only the Source knows. The only way we can perceive the incredibly liberating and absolutely secure feeling of Trust is through the surrender of our ego-self. In the development of trust we must acknowledge that we are like little children who do not understand what they perceive and constantly ask, “What does it mean?”. As we constantly question our new perceptions and awareness, we need only remember that the Universal Inspiration is our guide and always responds to our call. We do not know our own best interests and at the first moment we see this, we must consistently commit ourselves to offering over our best interests to our Unified Self. Only then can we progress through the stages of trust without resistance. A Course in Miracles offers an analogy to help us embrace the shift from the perception of ego-self to the integration of Unified Self. “Children perceive frightening ghosts and monsters and dragons, and they are terrified. Yet if they ask someone they trust for the meaning of what they perceive, and are willing to let their own inter-pretations go in favor of reality, their fear goes with them. When a child is helped to translate his ‘ghost’ into a curtain, his ‘monster’ into a shadow, and his ‘dragon’ into a dream he is no longer afraid, and laughs happily at his own fear... For fear lies not in reality, but in the minds of children who do not understand reality. It is only their lack of understanding that frightens them, and when they learn to perceive truly they are not afraid.”
Stages of Developing Trust: Undoing Ego The next section describes the various stages in the development of Trust through the process of undoing the ego. This information is based on A Course in Miracles. 52
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The Six Stages of the Development of Trust are a guide, helping us to increase Trust and remove the blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence through egorelease. They are meant to assist in understanding the ongoing process that we call the Undoing. The more we undo, in ego terms, the more we trust in the Source. Each of these stages brings about an increasingly wide and clear perception. The more we advance, the less we invest in duality such as good and bad. “Good” becomes anything that brings us closer to Truth and “bad” is anything that pulls us away from it. There will be overlap in each of the stages. For instance, you may be experiencing many insights from Stage 4 while still struggling with some Stage 3 limitations. Cycling can sometimes occur, especially with the ego-self’s temptation to perceive sacrifice during the first three stages. The accomplishment of egorelease eradicates fear, limitation and chaos. Once these are relinquished we awaken to miracles. At each stage of developing trust, our perception of reality will change and evolve as we evolve further into our ego-release. For example, someone in Stage 2 and someone in Stage 5 who are experiencing the same event will each perceive their surroundings differently. An example of the disparity between the perceptions of people in different stages is when someone in Stage 1 takes offense when he or she experiences a person at Stage 5 being authentic. Sometimes the authentic actions and truthful speech of a person, who is at least at Stage 5 and has overcome false-humility and sacrifice, are misinterpreted as uncaring, irreverent or offensive to the ego of the person at the beginning of his or her ego-release.
At each stage of developing trust, our perception of reality will change and evolve as we evolve further into our ego-release.
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We develop Trust in our Unified Self as we unlearn our allegiance to toe ego-self. This entire process is literally the reversal of that which we automatically believed to be true and real. Whatever limited our ability to perceive love, trust, peace, joy and abundance will be undone.
Spiritual evolvement has little to do with being good and everything to do with being authentic. Growing is about acquiring self-knowledge through disciplined practice of the ‘PIQ’ formula; Presence, Inquiry and Quantum Forgiveness. It is the undoing of egoperception and the discovery of who we are under the thick layers of illusion. As we grow more in tune with our thoughts and feelings, we learn to observe and adjust to mechanics of our relationship with the world. Our lives are trans-formed as we become more authentic, and our trust is strengthened as Perception is cleansed. We develop Trust in our Unified Self as we unlearn our allegiance to toe ego-self. This entire process is literally the reversal of that which we automatically believed to be true and real. Whatever limited our ability to perceive love, trust, peace, joy and abundance will be undone. This is an experience of de-programming and re-education. It is quite literally a six-stage process aimed at the dis-identification of the ego. The only part of this entire journey that will cause discomfort is our resistance. Because we have existed, personally and globally for eons in such an extremely constricted and upsidedown belief system we unconsciously cling to what is familiar, whether or not it is detrimental to us. In other words, we do not know our own best interests except to ask for Higher Guidance. If we have an open mind that is wholly willing to recognize we know nothing, in the highest Universal sense, and wholeheartedly trust the process, we
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will move through fear to love with little resistance. Unfortunately, resistance is more common, particularly at the beginning of the undoing. Understanding ahead of time what may be the most likely reasons for our resistance will assist us in increasing trust. This guide to the Stages of Developing Trust is designed to provide you with an approximate road map that will light your way and help encourage and support your commitment as you progress.
Overview of the Six Stages of Developing Trust 1. Undoing “First, they must go through what might be called ‘a period of undoing.’ This need not be painful, but it usually is so experienced. It seems as if things are being taken away, and it is rarely understood initially that their lack of value is merely being recognized. How can lack of value be perceived unless the perceiver is in a position where he must see things in a different light? He is not yet at a point at which he can make the shift entirely internally. And so the plan will sometimes call for changes in what seem to be external circumstances. These changes are always helpful. When the teacher of God has learned that much, he goes on to the second stage.” The first stage usually begins with a wake-up call, caused by disillu-sionment such as a relationship break-up, accident, collapse of career, an identity crisis or a death. This marks a turn towards our seeking a different direction in life and is our invitation for the Universal Inspiration to initiate the Undoing process within our perception. Occasionally this stage can be brought about by a spiritual experience that strongly contrasts the meaninglessness of our life to date, thus motivating us to pursue a Higher pathway from here on. This initiates the dawning of personal responsibility and the possibility of creating our own reality. It also begins the internal conflict of the ego-self as a result of opposing the new thought system. 2. Sorting Out “Next, the teacher of God must go through ‘a period of sorting out.’ This is always somewhat difficult because, having learned that the changes in his life are always helpful, he must now decide all things on the basis of whether they increase the helpfulness or hamper it. He will find that many, if not most, of the things he valued before will merely hinder his Way of the Heart
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ability to transfer what he has learned to new situations as they arise. Because he has valued what is really valueless, he will not generalize the lesson for fear of loss and sacrifice. It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters and circum-stances are helpful. It is only to the extent to which they are helpful that any degree of reality should be accorded them in this world of illusion. The word ‘value’ can apply to nothing else.” At this point we begin to learn that changes are always helpful. We begin to sort out what we are learning to see as valueless and retain the valuable, although there is still fear of loss and sacrifice. Here there is overlap with Stage 1. 3. Relinquishment The third stage through which the teacher of God must go can be called ‘a period of relinquishment.’ If this is interpreted as giving up the desirable, it will engender enormous conflict. Few teachers of God escape this distress entirely. There is, however, no point in sorting out the valuable from the valueless unless the next obvious step is taken. Therefore, the period of overlap is apt to be one in which the teacher of God 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 lightheartedness instead; where he thought something was asked of him, he finds a gift bestowed on him.” If this stage is seen as giving up the desirable then enormous conflict can result. Here we learn to relinquish the dysfunction of special relation-ships, and this period may be perceived as being “called upon to sacrifice our best interests on behalf of truth.” By relinquishing the valueless we learn that happiness and lightheartedness replace the grief that we previously anticipated. 4. Settling Down “Now comes ‘a period of settling down.’ This is a quiet time, in which the teacher of God rests a while in reasonable peace. Now he consolidates his learning. Now he begins to see the transfer value of what he has learned. Its potential is literally staggering, and the teacher of God is now at the point in his progress at which he sees in it his whole way out. ‘Give up what you do not want, and keep what you do.’ How simple is the obvious! And how easy to do! The teacher of God needs this period of respite. He has not yet come as far as he thinks. Yet when he is ready to go on, 56
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he goes with mighty companions beside him. Now he rests a while, and gathers them before going on. He will not go on from here alone.” This is a time of consolidation and we have learned through actual relinquishment that there really is no sacrifice. We recognize the power of This new thought system and can see our way clear of all obstacles. This can be a euphoric period. Inner conflict has ended and peace is restored. This is when we usually gather mighty companions through establishing Unified (Holy) Relationships and we go on from here with them. Or if we are alone we may find out mighty companions emerging as the Universal Inspiration and Quantum forgiveness. 5. Unsettling “The next stage is indeed ‘a period of unsettling.’ Now must the teacher of God understand that he did not really know what was valuable and what was valueless. All that he really learned so far was that he did not want the valueless, and that he did want the valuable. Yet his own sorting out was meaningless in teaching him the difference. The idea of sacrifice, so central to his own thought system, had made it impossible for him to judge. He thought he learned willingness, but now he sees that he does not know what the willingness is for. And now he must attain a state that may remain impossible to reach for a long, long time. He must learn to lay all judgment aside, and ask only what he really wants in every circumstance. Were not each step in this direction so heavily reinforced, it would be hard indeed!” Here we learn to lay all judgment aside, including judging what we want, instead of asking the Universal Inspiration to reveal to us what it is that we really want. The unsettling comes from the time it seems to take to learn to apply this principle to every single circumstance that presents itself to us. This is where we finally surrender completely to the Universal inspiration’s Will and let go of any previous investment in the ego-self will. Great vigilance is necessary to complete this stage.
The teacher of God must understand that he did not really know what was valuable and what was valueless. Way of the Heart
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We cannot live peacefully or productively while we value some ego illusions over Truth. “The Truth is true and nothing else is true,” is what we find more and more as we discard our heavy ego limitations.
6. Achievement And finally, there is ‘a period of achievement.’ It is here that learning is consolidated. Now what was seen as merely shadows before become solid gains, to be counted on in all ‘emergencies’ as well as tranquil times. Indeed, the tranquility is their result; the outcome of honest learning, consistency of thought and full transfer. This is the stage of real peace, for here is Heaven’s state fully reflected. From here, the way to Heaven is open and easy. In fact, it is here. Who would ‘go’ anywhere, if peace of mind is already complete? And who would seek to change tranquility for something more desirable? What could be more desirable than this?”
Summing up: Undoing the Ego For most of us, the ego-release process takes time, and we need this time to undo or unlearn the beliefs and conditioning that made up our separated self. Unlearning is a mandatory step to the unveiling of our Infinite Unified Self. We cannot live peacefully or productively while we value some ego illusions over Truth. “The Truth is true and nothing else is true,” is what we find more and more as we discard our heavy ego limitations. As we progress, we usually have little or no recognition of our own best interests, because until now our ego has controlled what we perceive as important. It is inherently incapable of recognizing the valuable. As a consequence, it frequently attempts to convince us to value meaninglessness because that fuels the idea of separation. 58
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The best attitude to cultivate and consistently practice is, “I do not perceive my own best interests; I do not know what anything is for.” This is very important because our ego’s perception is literally upside-down in relation to Truth; thus it believes and sees an illusory reality. Humility and open-mindedness are precious to us. The journey of ego-release takes us headlong into a dimension of not-knowing, the absolute opposite of the ego’s compulsive need to know and to control. The ego has no core of truth on which to rely. Its compulsion for separation and specialness is to feed its pseudo-worthiness and false sense of security. Our Unified Self trusts implicitly that all changes are necessarily beneficial, no matter how uncomfortable they may be initially. It knows it is infinitely safe, secure, and worthy; hence it has no need for our familiar obsession with control and the need to know. It realizes that not knowing is really the only place that provides the space to deliver Truth. Universal Intelligence in the form of knowledge is realized in proportion to our release from ego. It is a paradox that can only be truly accepted when we plunge into not knowing and now moment awareness; suddenly Truth reveals Itself and Knowledge in the most Infinite context is remembered. ❂
This chapter is an excerpt taken from the new book, Take Me To Truth by Nouk Sanchez and Tomas Vieira, a wonderful insight into beliefs on becoming vulnerable through very beautifully extrapolated and simplified teachings based on A Course In Miracles – the bold text in this chapter is found in the Foundation of Inner Peace ACIM book. Take Me To Truth – highly recommended reading – is currently available through Brumby Books. Australia Email: sales@brumbybooks.com.au or Tel: 03 9761 5535. In USA/Canada Email: custerv@bnbooks.com or Tel: 1 800 462 6420. For more information regarding Nouk and Tomas and their activities and workshops in Australia and USA go to www.takemetotruth.com
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