Greetings All –
I will not pity myself today. Step 123 (MP3)
[Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download folder or play from Drive –
Step PDF also.]
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| I will not pity myself today. Step 123 |
HOW
CAN YOU PITY YOURSELF when Knowledge is with you? Pity must only reassert an
old idea of yourself, which is bereft of truth, bereft of hope and bereft of
any meaningful foundation. Do not pity yourself today, for you are not pitiful.
If this day is sad or confused, it is only because you have lost contact with
Knowledge, which you may practice today to regain.
AS
YOU PRACTICE TODAY, be aware of the many subtle forms of self-pity that you
entertain. Be aware of the many subtle forms of manipulation of others as you
attempt to make them like or accept you according to a view of yourself that
you are attempting to claim. When you are with Knowledge, you do not need to
proclaim yourself; you do not need to show yourself; you do not need to control
others to like or accept you, for Knowledge is with you.
THEREFORE,
DO NOT PITY YOURSELF, for you are not pitiful. Today be a beginning student of
Knowledge, for that is anything but pitiful. A greater vantage point you cannot
imagine.
UPON
THE HOUR, THEN, REPEAT THIS IDEA. Allow it to enter your mind and consider it
for a moment. In your two practice periods, repeat this affirmation and then
enter into stillness. No being who is pitiful can enter into silence, for
silence is the experience of profound relationship, and stillness is the
acceptance of profound love. Who can be pitiful under such circumstances?
PRACTICE
123: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice
Picture: Playground
in Texas. The young child is having fun; the seated young adult is not.
Plan B - If the MP3 doesn’t work, here’s the link
to the folder: New Message - Student Spoken Steps Recordings -
Steps to Knowledge - Working file
If this is your first time seeing one of the “Steps to Knowledge”,
then welcome. There are 365 Steps, daily spiritual practices if one seeks to
complete them in a year, but that is not necessary. They can be used by people
of any religious tradition or no religious tradition. They will help one to
become mindful in the world.
The Step today is from the book: Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing. The practices were
brought to the world through Marshall Vian Summers, The Messenger for The New
Message From God. Important background for the Steps is in: “Greater Community Spirituality” and the “Wisdom Books - I and II”.
Hard copies are available from the New Knowledge Library Store. The
Society for the New Message from God also has a Free Book Project. If you need
the books now, PDF files can be found here: http://goo.gl/RJuuGP
Keeping a journal is recommended. If you have a Steps book,
write your reactions and comments, highlight or underline points that strike
you, and date the note. In this way, your Steps book can be a partial journal.
Using the PDF, you can print out pages as you need them, or use
the software to maintain a digital copy where you can enter notes and highlight
text that stands out.
Other modern methods of keeping a journal include having a
document on your PC or phone to keep notes. You could send yourself an email or
use the voice recorder function. It is important to capture insights and
reactions because it is by this means that you can understand change. Sometimes
it may just be a word or short phrase, an image or a scene.
To end this post I again offer the blessing: "May the
presence of the Teachers be with you." In the invocative language of
Knowledge this blessing is: "Nasi Novare Coram" (pronounced NAH-see
no-VAHR-ay co-RAHM)
The short form of Nasi Novare Coram used by students is NNC.
The short form of Nasi Novare Coram used by students is NNC.
NNC
P.S. Often it takes 18 months to get through the Steps once. For
this blog, the pace is one-a-day, but it really makes no difference how fast
you do it, only that you begin, persist and repeat. Posts linked below provide
a trail that may let you have a virtual companion when and if you want one. One
may have to study alone, as I did in the beginning. There are other Steps
students blogging their experience and you might find a person more like you as
a companion, or use a number of such Steps journeys.
Doing Steps with only the texts, messages and your life
experience, including what you may have studied and practiced is your journey.
I’m showing Step comments after the Step, so as not to influence anyone in
advance. It is a wilderness trek to be left to your own wits, but then you can
also listen more closely for guides, angels and teachers, always first saying:
“I surround and protect myself with the Love and the Grace of God.” Thankfully,
I was taught this practice in 1989.
