Greetings All –
WHEN YOU COMPLAIN ABOUT LIFE, you are asking for Knowledge. Knowledge has its own statement about
life, but it is very different from the lament which you hear within yourself and
around you. Therefore, as you approach Knowledge today, recognize the nature of
complaint—how it emphasizes your weakness and the world’s domination over you
and how much it is in contrast to what you are learning now. You are learning
now to discover your greatness and your domination over the world. You are in
relationship with the world. Let this relationship become healthy and meaningful. Let the world’s contribution be given to you. Let your contribution
be given to the world.
THEREFORE, THANK THE WORLD ONCE AGAIN TODAY for
what it has given to you. In your deeper meditation practices today, enter
stillness and silence. Use the word RAHN to help you enter this deeply. Use the
word RAHN to orient your mind and thinking so that your mind may become unified
with the sound of this one ancient word.
THIS IS A DAY OF IMPORTANT CONTRIBUTION. Do not
complain about this day. Recognize that everything that happens is an opportunity
for you to apply your practice and to develop the true faculties of your mind. Your
complaint would only be a denial of the world’s contribution to you. Therefore,
do not deny this. Do not complain about the world today so that you may receive
its gifts.
PRACTICE 180: Two 30-minute practice periods.
From the Journal:
8:02
A.M. – Jan 12, 2000 – 54 years for Mom, Dad and I.
S2K –
“Today I will thank the world for teaching me what is true.”
Apply
your mind to understanding how the world has supported you.
I
did the long practice w/o writing. This lesson is a different slant on our
experience here. The text says we are here to evolve, as is the world, and the
two work together. It looks like the world affects an individual more than the
reverse, but in history – individuals and groups have changed the direction of
the world, woken it up or put it to war.
>
Oh My God – there’s more a lot more. The world leaves me tired, or the way I
manage my resources in the world leaves me exhausted What should I do? Whom am
I here for?
11:06
p.m. Practice #2 – “This is a day of recognition, a day of gratitude and a day
of wisdom.”
I
will “apply my mind to understand how the world has supported you (me).”
…
But,
what has life taught, what have I learned about value? What do I value?
1.
Relationships with my children.
[no other entries]
Based on my drawing, one can see that was not
something I should do for anything other than recreation. These are deep steps,
yet I’ve recorded little. No doubt you’ve had many thoughts as a consequence of
these Steps, but it doesn’t get recorded. That is OK. We’d be writing all day.
Getting something down gives some background for the day so that, when it comes
to review, one can see actual progress – movement in thought. Will things get
great/wonderful/perfect? No, but there will be a sense of better understanding,
even when surrounded by chaos.
At Step 179, we are well into the year of Steps, so
if you’ve found this and find some appeal in this or other Steps, you should
really go to the beginning
blog post. From here you learn about Steps to Knowledge and can begin it on the day that makes sense and progress
as needed.
Often it takes 18 months to get through the Steps once. If you are
like me, you keep up with the pace of one-a-day Steps. It really makes no
difference how fast you do it, only that you begin, persist and repeat. The posts on this blog provide a trail that may let you have a virtual companion if you choose to work alone. 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 Steps journeys. These are options available.
NNC
