Inner Upright Astonishment

Neville's Inner Vision

Verse 17:8 shows two currents in consciousness: the upright mind that is astonished by what appears, and the innocent within that rises to confront the hypocrite. The 'astonishment' is not fear, but a wakeful recognition that you are more than the seen. The 'hypocrite' is the mask your old self wears when you forget who you are. The innocent within is your pure awareness, stirring to reassert unity and integrity. When you dwell in the I AM—the knowing that you are awareness, not the passing scene—the revelation becomes simple: you are the one creating both the appearance and the protest against it. The outer seeming of hypocritical behavior reflects an inner split; the remedy is to embrace the state of the undivided observer who forgives, judges not, and persists in imagining the truth of oneness. In practice, treat this verse as a memo: assume the state of the upright, feel the astonishment as clarity, and let the innocent within revise the self-image until the inner voice declares, 'I am that I AM.' The result is not moral striving, but a shift in consciousness that makes the outer world follow.