The Inner Cross to Real Life

Neville's Inner Vision

Imagine that 'If any man will come after me' is not a command to perform an outward deed, but an invitation to awaken to a new state of consciousness. Denying yourself is not punishment but a resignation of the restless ego to reveal the singular I AM that already accompanies you. Take up your cross is a symbolic discipline: align your attention, decisions, and feelings with that higher self, refusing to defend every petty preference of the old self. Following me becomes the practice of living as the awareness that never changes, rather than as the inner critic that oscillates between fear and fantasy. For whoever tries to save the life of the old self loses the life that could be found—the life that flows when you stop clutching to appearances. Yet whoever loses the life for my sake—relinquishing attachment to the old story for the sake of truth—finds it: a life buoyed by the realization that all desire and fear are states within the same I AM. Your world responds to this truth as you imagine yourself into it, felt as a stable, present I AM.