Greetings All –
BE GRATEFUL TO THOSE WHO DEMONSTRATE THE NEED for Knowledge.
Be grateful to those who teach you that it is hopeless to engage in any pursuit
in the world without Knowledge. Be grateful to those who save you time by
demonstrating the results of things you are contemplating for yourself even
now. Be grateful to those who show you your own great need in the world. Be
grateful to those who demonstrate what you must give to the world. Be grateful to
all those who seem to err against you, for they will show you what is necessary
in your life, and they will remind you that Knowledge is your one true purpose,
your one true goal and your one true expression.
IN THIS, ALL WHO ERR AGAINST YOU become your
friends, for even in their misery they serve you and will call upon you to
serve them. Here all folly, error, confusion, ambivalence, conflict and war in
the world can lead you to the conviction of Knowledge. In this way, the world
serves you, supports you and prepares you to serve it in its great need. Here
you become a recipient of the world’s accomplishments and are given a reminder
of the world’s errors. In this way, your love and compassion for the world will
be engendered.
TODAY REMIND YOURSELF UPON THE HOUR of this message
and attempt to realize its meaning in the context of all of your activities so that
everything that happens today will demonstrate the meaning of today’s idea. In
your deeper practice periods, actively engage your mind in attempting to
penetrate today’s idea. Recall every person who you think has erred against
you. See how that person has served you and will continue to serve you as a
reminder. This can save you great amounts of time and energy by bringing you
closer to Knowledge, by increasing your resolve for Knowledge and by reminding
you that there is no alternative to Knowledge. In your longer practice periods think
of every person who you feel has erred against you and realize their tremendous
service to you from this point of view.
ALLOW THIS DAY TO BE A DAY OF FORGIVENESS and a day
of acceptance where you recognize and extend your gratitude to those who have
erred against you. Life is conspiring to bring you to Knowledge. As you enter
Knowledge, you will realize the great service that life is rendering unto you,
both from its accomplishments and from its failures. Be a recipient of this
gift, for in love and gratitude you will turn to the world and wish to
contribute that which is the greatest of all contributions. Here you will give
Knowledge in gratitude and in service to the world which has served you.
PRACTICE 291: Two 30-minute practice periods.
Hourly practice.
This day I was the engaged student the Step asked
for and recorded thoughts in the journal. The only diversion was related to the
Learning Organization (LO List) and a participant from South Africa, At de
Lange – a wise man.
7:20
a.m. Tuesday, May 2, 2000 – Planetary alignment continues – whatever that may
mean for life on earth. And interesting post by At de Lange on the LO List.
Nurture can make the best of nature – it is our environment which counts.
290
– S2K I can only be a student, therefore I will be a student of Knowledge.
The
practice is to actively engage our thinking about what this means to be a
student. I have been a seeker all my life. The teaching has not always been so
clear, but this has always been my goal. I'm giving up the world in many
respects in order to be a student. I'm somewhat of the world, perhaps more than
I think. Although I'm relatively safe here physically, I feel that as temporary
– there is physical risk.
I'd
like to leave what I've pieced together or others – but it remains incomplete.
Further – the new scope of creation introduced by S2K makes each piece a tinier
part of the whole.
Still
– Wholeness is what we need – our wholeness exists within a greater wholeness
and that within another wholeness – organs – whole, yet networked elements of a
greater whole. Organization – that ability to be whole – a network node. Every
element/node/organ in the network is dealt with as whole, yet upon inspection
it is a network. This is true down to the atom – a network of energies.
The
student – playing with Legos. This is interesting. How did there get to be Legos
and students in environments?
Being
awake, alive, a mystery – the function of the region is to be invisible – an
ether.
Minutes
later – I emerge from a meditation. I have the journal to my forehead –
absorbing the energy of amazement – living in the mystery. Humble by world
standards my environment, get connected.
If I
could, I'd bring this feeling/this sense to others – it is so good. I
needed/used the physical environment to get here – the eternal student – who
are the wise ones that created the environment? May I someday be so wise as to
contribute a little to the lives of peace in the physical world primed for
conflict.
So –
as a student I continue to receive. There is no and to it – a continuous desire
to integrate – but that too has limits, so pruning takes place. Simplify – let
the rest go on in complexity.
Being
a student is work and joy. I'm a little bit teacher – but more student.
10:30
p.m. Practice #2 – All day thinking about being a student of Knowledge. Knowing
of Knowledge – what other choice is there?
Human
relationships – are they for teaching – can one find a pattern for learning.
The
LO post from At de Lange today talked about how the environment is something
that is changeable, something man can affect – but rarely does so to improve
things. There are no misfits –
Thus
– At reflects again Knowledge in the world. We don't know how amazing it is.
The
text says "… You have no choice here, for you must learn, assimilate and
demonstrate your learning."
As
the text says – this is absolutely relevant to my life –
This
student is looking to graduate at some point – but nothing seems close.
I've
nothing else to reflect.
Amen & Amen –
T-om Su-ne
The top of the page:
Fourteen years later I recognize this as a
thoughtful Step and thoughtful day. As we move up in days/Steps – 290 completed,
75 more to, there is a cumulative effect. One must start at the beginning to
get the full effect. Let us continue.
NNC
P.S. At Step 291, 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.