#799b

When you feel the call of the inhale, you can change your way of
being.
On the exhale you were focused outward, and rightly so, because
gaining experience was your God-given purpose. It was the purpose
of the exhale.
Conversely, when the call of the inhale occurs, you can turn your
attention inward.
#799a

When the desire for truth occurs, it is not an accident.

It is a gift.
It is a calling.
It is as if the mysterious force of the universe has exhaled itself into
different forms for the sake of tasting experience, and now it is
inhaling again, calling itself back to itself for the sake of resting in
remembrance.
#798

How does one desire truth when truth is unknown to the mind?
One does not need to desire truth with the mind. One does not need
to imagine and envision, which is minds way of desiring. One does
not need to think about and plan in the way mind does when it
desires something it thinks it does not have.
There is another way of desiring.
One may simply be.
One can be present with the coolness or warmth of the air.

One can notice the present stillness-love in the heart, and rest
devotionally there.
One may reflect attention on present changeless awareness.
These are examples of how to be with ones desire for truth. One
may be with this desire always, regardless of current circumstances.
There is nothing that can distract away from this desire when one
wants, out of love, to be with it always.
#797

What is earnestness?
It is not distraction.
It is not forgetting.
It is not avoiding spiritual practice.
I have a life that includes a certain set of specifics. Right now there
is a job, a house that needs care, a dog, a boyfriend whose
interests are world-based, a daughter in college, a friend who
craves my attention, and a body I want to care for. Those are the
specifics.
Are the specifics distractions?
Do I forget purpose when I am involved with these specifics?
Do I use these specifics to avoid spiritual practice?
If so, that is not earnestness.
If not, earnestness may be present.
#796

If I want something too specific, that wanting is coming from ego.

Ego imagines and desires specifics.

This includes wanting awakening or enlightenment. When one has

very specific ideas about what that means, like the ability to heal the
sick, raise the dead and manifest material objects or circumstances,
those ideas of awakening or enlightenment are ego-driven.
There is a general desire for truth, love, beauty and goodness,
which is not specific and not selfish. This general desire feels
genuine, like a calling of the heart. The specifics can be left to the
unfolding of the universe.
#795f

Because I can trust the world and the mysterious force behind it to
answer the call of my desire, I commit to lovingly consolidating all of
my power to desire behind one true desire now.
May the force of the universe assist me in this commitment.
#795e

Is there anything else I need to look at before leaving this

contemplation?
There is this person, Regina, and her desire to project an image.
Her desire to project an image needs to be watched very carefully.
The image she chooses to project is a good one, and so without
careful watching this image-projection can be missed under the
guise of approval.
If I pay careful attention I can recognize this desire to project an
image. Its characteristics are subtle but detectable. There is the
thought of others and how they view me inherent in imageprojection.

I will watch for the subtle energy of image-projection, and when it is

detected, I will bring myself back to present intuition.