But actually, we need to talk about bearing witness to Reality, bearing witness to everything in its Actuality.

When Moses came down from the mountain with the Commandments, one of the Commandments said, “Thou shalt not bear false witness”¹ . . . continuing with examples that was something not to do.

But what to do instead?  The very fact that the subject was bearing witness, means that bearing witness is the activity that needs to be engaged in correctly, instead of incorrectly.

Now, the Bible speaks about glorifying God.  Well, that’s bearing witness.  To glorify God is to bear witness to God.  Since you are the Son or Daughter of God, your function is to bear witness to your Source – That which is responsible for your Being at this very moment.  To let That which is Being You show forth, that is your divine function.  And it’s through the practice of the holy instant that this is accomplished.

Now when you’re not joined with the Holy Spirit or the Father and you are not being “in the world” from that joined place, you are being in it under the guidance and the rules of mutual agreements.  And so indeed you witness for each other, but you also witness against each other.  And always it is for the purpose of accomplishing a goal of self-improvement.  Even when you are engaged in promoting another’s self-improvement, it is always with your benefit behind it – to witness for another doesn’t mean to witness for what is Real about another or what is true about another, it means doing that which will accomplish a selfish end result – a result that will benefit you and if it is going to benefit you, well, the one you’re bearing witness for is going to end up feeling good as well, even though it’s a game of manipulation, it’s a dance the two of you engage in without ever asking of the Father or the Holy Spirit, “What is the truth about this one I’m relating to, so that I might magnify that, so that I might behave in accordance with what is Real and turn what had been a special relationship into a holy relationship.  You see?

Bearing witness . . . bearing witness.  You know, to truly bear witness is to be like a teacher.  What does a teacher do?  The teacher bears witness to that in the student, which the student is not aware of yet.  One could say that the teacher bears witness to a capacity beyond what the student thinks he has.  And he provides the environment and the encouragement for that student to access it.  And the key element of accessing it, is curiosity, isn’t it.

A true teacher doesn’t send the student to a book to learn.  A teacher puts the student in a mental environment – the student’s own mental environment – points him there and says, “Now be curious.”

You truly are to go within yourself and reach for, be curious to know what you haven’t the slightest idea about yet.  You see?  The teacher bears witness to that in the student, which the student is not yet aware of.

You see how healing that is?  You see how transformational that is?  How different that is from manipulating each other for selfish ends – witnessing for another because it will get you something instead of reveal Something already there much greater than was seen before?

And yet credibility and meaning cannot be experienced until one abandons the bearing of false witness – follows the Commandment.  See, even when you’re bearing witness for the integrity of another, if that integrity has nothing to do with an awareness of God in them, it’s just an integrity that is conceptual and it doesn’t lift anyone into a valid enduring place or way of being.

Now, you want to bear true witness for your Brother?  Well then, you shut up.  You turn your attention away from your Brother to your Father, or to the Holy Spirit – that which is nothing more than your right Mind – and you ask, “What is the truth here?” And as I said last time, you ask, “I wish to have the experience of what the truth is here so that what I do and what I say and the way I am with my Brother inspires him to let himself into that place in him where the Holy Spirit – that is nothing more than his right Mind – can enter and inspire and illuminate what he didn’t know before.  So that he ends up along with you, glorifying God, bearing witness to the Presence of God.”

There’s a lot that’s distressing going on in the world today.  And you know what?  You can’t afford to start with the way things are or the way things appear to be or the way you’re perceiving them if you want to get out of it.  You’re going to have to step out of the orphan mind-set, out of the level of manipulation, out of the level of bearing false witness and so-called true witness about the other orphans and make the connection with the Father.

That’s what it’s all about.

And so, I am engaging in witnessing for you by pointing you in the direction of that which you’re not experiencing yet but which it is your Birthright to be experiencing.  And I’m telling you to go within, into the Silence and become curious, want to know the truth, want to experience the truth.

You need some perspective.  And so I’m going to return to the example of the teacher — let’s say a professor (although it can be a teacher anywhere).  But the professor has classes in a university.  And students sign up for his classes and show up — attend the classes — and he teaches them.

There is a prerequisite to learning.  And the prerequisite to learning is the presence of curiosity . . . acted upon.  And so, when you run into resistance or sheer opposition, stop attempting to be the teacher!  Stop attempting to practice the holy instant for a planned result!  Stop using, or trying to use the holy instant as a means of control!

Be careful that you don’t use your spirituality as a higher level of control, and stay with your common sense.  Teach those who have brought their curiosity into your presence.

Now, I’ve used the example of a teacher, a teacher as a concept, a teacher as a role.  And I’m not suggesting that you scan the horizon for the best teachers you’ve had, or to do a study on what has constituted the greatest teachers in the world, so that you might emulate their behavior in the world.  You see?

If you’re being a teacher, it’s because you’re not trying to be a role.  It’s very simple.  When you listen for the truth about your Brother so that you may use it as a means of control, then you are indeed trying to be the role of a teacher. 

But when you engage in the holy instant, when you shut your ego up, when you silence your thinking and you bring your curiosity to the Father or the Holy Spirit — which is nothing more than your right Mind — then your attention isn’t on yourself and what you’re doing, at all, or what others might think you’re doing, what it looks like, whether you look foolish, or wise, or important, or unimportant, because your focus, your attention is on the truth and the experience of its Meaning.  And you’re letting that elicit your behavior, prompt your behavior toward your Brother or your Sister, whom you’re not in the least bit interested in controlling or enlightening, as it were. 

You’re being the Presence of the Father.  You’re letting the Father show up.  You’re glorifying God by bearing witness to what?  To God, not yourself.  You are bearing witness to God.  You are involved, but you’re not involved as the originator of your behavior and you’re not being a role.

And so, there’s a simple, humble, genuineness to you.  And I’ll tell you something:  That simple, humble, genuineness feels good, not only to everyone around you, but to everything . . . every plant, every animal, every rock, every object.  Because every one of them is a divine Idea, an active divine Idea in the Mind of God at this moment, bearing witness to God at this very moment.  And when you’re doing the same thing, there is what I’m going to call, a resonance with everything.  Resonance is harmony, for lack of better words, it feels good, it is that which elicits joy.

Now, this is your function: to glorify God, to bear witness to the Reality of everything as God is Being It because God is revealing to you what He is being and providing the experience of what it Means.

This is the way the Trinity collapses into a Unity.

Now, let’s be clear on something else:  Don’t even bother to try to bear witness for yourself.  You know what?  That’s what the ego is.  That is what you are suffering from.  And that is what you want to abandon.  

When you are willing to turn within to the Father, or the Holy Spirit – whose job it is to reveal to you the Father’s Meanings – you find yourself in utter harmony with everything, and everything finds itself in utter harmony with you.  And it is a conscious experience had by everything.  And that is a way of describing the Unity that is caused by or brought forth by the collapse of the Trinity.  And that’s Awakening.

Now let’s keep it simple this week.  None of you has any other job to engage in, but to bear witness to God . . . to bear witness to God in your Brother and Sister, and to not confuse yourselves by trying to compete with resistance or opposition that you run into.  And mind you, having an opinion about it is engaging in competition with it.  And it will drag you right down into the polarities of the orphan mentality.  And you’re going to have to find a way once again to be alone so that you’re not reinforcing your old habits and you can shut up without distraction, and you can return your attention to the Father so that you in your bearing witness to the Father, can allow the Father to bear witness to you in your actuality.

It’s beautiful.  It is simple.  Don’t let yourselves be discouraged.

I love you very much.  And I promise you that no matter when you might be hearing this, I am with you now.  You are not alone.  The Holy Spirit – which is nothing more than your right Mind – is with you and of course, the Father is with you because the Father is being all there is of you.

Accepting these facts, promotes the collapse, bringing about the experience of Unity.  When things seem to be rough, this is what is called for.  What is called for is, the Answer to the dissonance, or the problems, or the unfairness and so on.  You see?  So don’t be discouraged, because there’s amble opportunity to bare true witness.  It will be your joy.