Greetings All –
WITH KNOWLEDGE YOU CANNOT BE AT WAR. You cannot be
at war within yourself or with others, for with Knowledge there is only
Knowledge and there is confusion in the world. Confusion does not require
attack. Therefore, with Knowledge you are not at war, for you have one mind,
one purpose, one responsibility, one direction and one meaning. The more your
mind becomes uniform, the more your external life will become uniform as well.
How can you be at war within yourself when you are following Knowledge? War is
born of ambivalence where opposing value systems conflict with each other to
gain your recognition. Competing ideas, competing emotions and competing values
all wage war on one another, and you are caught in the middle of their great
battles.
WITH KNOWLEDGE ALL OF THIS IS ESCAPED. With
Knowledge you cannot be at war within yourself. In time, all of your
self-doubt, uncertainty, fear and anxiety will wear away. As they do so, you
will increasingly feel that you are not at war and will enjoy the full benefit of
being at peace. This will enable you to turn your eyes upon the world with the
full force of your involvement, for all of your mental and physical energy will
now be available for you to contribute to the world. What you will contribute
will be greater than your actions or your words, for you will carry stillness and
peace into the world.
HERE YOU WILL NOT BE IN OPPOSITION TO ANYONE,
though others may choose to be in opposition to you. Here you will not be at
war with anyone, even if others choose to be at war with you. This will be your
greatest contribution, and this is what your life will teach through demonstration.
Here Knowledge will bestow itself upon the world and teach the great lessons
that you are now learning to receive for yourself. This teaching will occur
naturally. You need not force it upon the world, and you need not attempt to
change anyone else, for Knowledge will accomplish its true task through you.
UPON THE HOUR REALIZE THE MEANING OF TODAY’S IDEA
and realize the power of Knowledge to end all of your suffering and eventually
the suffering of the world. In your deeper practice periods, return to your
great sanctuary and once again become a recipient of Knowledge in openness and
humility. Then, you will be able to carry your abiding relationship with
Knowledge into the world with greater and greater certainty. Then, what needs
to be contributed will radiate from you effortlessly.
PRACTICE 287: Two 30-minute practice periods.
Hourly practice.
In a Steps discussion today I said, “Stillness is
as mysterious as Knowledge. We need it to get to Knowledge. To be still in the
world is contrarian. Opposite to the speed of the world.”
In the text it says:
“CARRY STILLNESS WITH YOU INTO THE WORLD. This will
enable you to be truly observant. This will enable you to see the world as it
is. This will enable you to diffuse the world’s conflict, for here you are
teaching peace by being at peace.” This is a marvelous promise in
Steps, one that we experience briefly, here and there, and which provides the
motivation to continue. To be at peace in the world is a life goal.
This is one in a series of subtle Steps. The path
rises just a bit.
The journal this day in the year 2000, says nothing
of the Step, but reflects my soul orientation.
7:30
a.m. April 28, 2000
Mom
called in the middle of my stillness time. Dad had again put her over the edge.
He's 82 – she's 75 – he's slower and more forgetful – and stubborn – according
to her.
Organize
by locality & region to enhance networking – locating peers, working with
neighbors.
Balance
the trend to fragmentation with integration. To re-wholify the world.
Holy,
Holy, Holy – Lord God Almighty – God is the whole – we are fragments of the
whole – we need to see the macro whole in the micro.
Localities,
as fragments, may experience economic growth and thus feel whole, vibrant,
center of the universe – but that will ebb and flow with shifts & changes
in population.
I
need investment for my ideas – the Regions Work initiative – or Local Planet
Regions.
11:50
p.m. Bought "The Invisible Touch" by Harry Beckworth. The goal is to
figure out my product.
I do make up words – “re-wholify,” which you may do as well. It is your journal. Make up your own
language; just remember what the words mean. Let us continue.
NNC
P.S. At Step 287, we are into Part Two 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 then progress as needed. You can
use the posts on this blog as a companion if it helps. They will remain in
order in the archives - one per Step.
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 here 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. There are options as well
through the Free School of the New Message.
