Greetings All –
IN YOUR LONGER PRACTICE PERIOD TODAY undertake the Review
of the past two weeks of training according to our previous instructions. This
is a very important review period, for you will be reviewing the invocations
that have been given to you, and you will be reviewing as well the potency of
the task that you are undertaking as a student of Knowledge. Recognize in these
past two weeks your own fear of Knowledge. Realize your own fear of the mystery
of your life. Recognize any attempts that you might have made to re-enter
illusion and imagination. Recognize this contrast in learning which is so
essential to your understanding.
REVIEW THIS WITH OBJECTIVITY AND COMPASSION. Know
that your ambivalence towards life must be realized and that it will continue
to express itself with ever decreasing potency as you come closer and closer to
Knowledge. Remember that Knowledge is life itself, the very essence of life. It
is changeless and yet expressing itself through change constantly. To
experience it, you must strengthen your participation as a student of Knowledge
and remember that you are a beginning student of Knowledge so that you cannot
rely upon your assumptions. You must receive the curriculum and be guided in
applying it. In this way, you will be safe from all misapplication, all
misinterpretation and thus safe from error.
THIS REVIEW IS VERY IMPORTANT, for you are now
reaching a great turning point in your participation as a student of Knowledge.
Knowledge is beginning to have potency now. You are beginning to feel its
power. You are beginning to realize its total importance to you. You who have
been partial with life in the past are now realizing that life is completely
with you and will require that you be completely with it. This is your
salvation and your redemption, for here all separation, fear and misery are
dispelled. What can you possibly lose to receive such a gift? You lose only
your imagination, which has haunted you, threatened you and frightened you. Yet,
even your imagination will be given a greater purpose with Knowledge, for it is
meant to serve you in a different way.
CARRY ON YOUR REVIEW WITH GREAT DEPTH AND SINCERITY.
Do not be concerned how long this takes. Your time cannot be better spent.
Review the past two weeks so that you may observe the advancement of Knowledge
within yourself. You will need this understanding if you are to support others
in the future in reclaiming Knowledge for themselves.
PRACTICE 308: One long practice period.
Parts of this Step stood out, leading to underlining
and comments:
KNOWLEDGE IS LIVING WITHIN YOU, and you are learning
to live with Knowledge. … As you realize the changelessness of your
true existence, you will realize how it wishes to express itself in the world
of change. (I am the Lego!) …
… with
Knowledge, you may possess things in the world without identifying with them.
You may receive them and release them according to the necessity of doing so. (receive & release) …
…remind
yourself upon the hour of the power of Knowledge … You are learning to become
natural because what could be more natural than being yourself? (Mr. Natural – afraid of that – no visible
means of support.)
Mr. Natural was a
comic book character of the 60’s and 70’s whose author Robert Crumb had drawn
shouting the charge: “Quest
into the Unknown.” As a character he wasn’t too nice. I didn’t buy the
comics, but had a poster, not the t-shirt.
At age 25, I was on my own quest
into the unknown. Thanks to Steps, more is known today. It has become a journey with friends up a mountain.
From the Journal:
Friday,
May 19, 2000
---
The
region is for everyone to use – everyone needs a regional strategy.
Everybody
needs a regional strategy
Every
town needs a regional strategy.
It
is the female bug attracting a mate and vice a versa. We have many options.
Until we look at a bigger picture we can't see. How does the tree know it is in
the forest? Communication with its environment.
What
are the boundaries of your environment – the earth travel is only limited by
physical transition zones.
5:38
p.m. Home from work – much of which calls me back. I'm feeling quite sad this
moment – like I've wasted the last 10 years. As far as my "knowledge of
regions" – I've got great material – but I've paid a high price. My pillars
were unbalanced. I feel that I was alone – much of the time, and in my
relationship with Cindy – --- I might conclude I don't do relationships well –
certainly not with money or people.
Relative
to spirit, I sought continuously and applied as I could. Financially I'm not
prepared for the future – I've not invested well. ---
Other
than "not being me" I don't know how else it might have been with the
same characters –
---
Relationships
can be highly unsafe – particularly for a naïve person like me.
Where
am I? Waking up in time? Just in time? Or into another variation of zombie.
S2K
says we’ll not work alone.
I
feel good for David and Sarah. I think I've been good for them. In fact that
was a time when I had meaning, purpose & direction. It has gotten muddy –
I'm near completion of S2K. I feel the presence of
my spiritual teachers and family. I will continue on this path – for it suits
my soul – relationships remain a challenge –
We
survive life? We are the Legos – experiencing the good and the bad in
manifestation. Either this is a true perspective S2K, or a lens – others don't
seem to live w/my perspective – they do just fine. My broader view is a burden
or a benefit? I don't know. Perhaps I can't know.
6:50
p.m. I was mistaken, but now I am doing better. I am working on the four
pillars. I am working on regional intelligence – this is a way to operate in a
greater community. I have friends and am developing more. I sense the trends
and can work with them. I need to spend my time more effectively dealing with
the small problems.
It
has taken a long time for me to become aware.
Step
307 – reading for Practice #2
"As
you realize the changelessness of your true existence, you will realize how it
wishes to express itself in the world of change."
Reading
this text I ask "Is my changeless self disappointed with my expression of
self in the world?" The answer then – when the question passed through my
mind – and now a few minutes later – is no.
My
mind is dissatisfied, but my soul is not.
---
Worked through the funk and into the meaning of the
Step so I could conclude the above: “My mind is dissatisfied, but my soul is not.” I continued
this day; let us continue now.
NNC
P.S. At Step 308, 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.
