Greetings All –
ONCE AGAIN WE AFFIRM THIS LESSON which will affirm
the reality of love and giving in the world. Your ideas concerning giving are
far too limited and small. They will need to be expanded so that you may
recognize the extent of giving in the world.
UPON THE HOUR REMIND YOURSELF to remember those who
have given to you. Do not only think of those who you are certain have given to
you, but remember those who you feel have hurt you, who have denied you or who
have stood in your way. Remember them, for they have given something to you as
well. They have given you a reminder that Knowledge is necessary, and they have
demonstrated to you a life without Knowledge. They have demonstrated to you
that Knowledge is attempting to emerge in them as well. Whether they accept or
resist this emergence, it is still present and still manifesting itself.
YOU ARE ADVANCING because others have demonstrated
their inspiration and their errors to you—their acceptance of Knowledge and
their denial of Knowledge. If there were no denial of Knowledge in the world,
you could not learn here. You could not recognize the importance of Knowledge.
Contrast in learning will teach you what is valuable and what is not, and this
will teach you to be compassionate and to be loving. Understanding this will
enable you to serve in the world.
UPON THE HOUR RECOGNIZE WHO IS GIVING TO YOU at
that moment and recognize who has given to you in the past. In this way, this
will be a day of gratitude and appreciation. You will understand how important
your preparation is and how many have given themselves to you to serve you so
that you may undertake this preparation.
IN YOUR TWO DEEPER MEDITATION PRACTICES, repeat
today’s idea and then allow to come into your mind each individual that awaits
to be recognized and blessed by you. As you do this, all individuals who need
to will present themselves to you. Look and see how they have served you and
thank them for their service to you. Thank them for helping you to recognize
your need for Knowledge. Thank them for showing you that there is no
alternative to Knowledge. And thank them for strengthening your participation
in Knowledge. Bless each one and allow the next individual to come to mind. In
this way, you will bless all who have been in your life and are in your life
currently. In this way, you will learn to appreciate your past and not condemn
it. In this way, love will emanate from you naturally, for love must be born of
gratitude, and gratitude must be born of true recognition. It is true
recognition that you will practice today.
PRACTICE 328: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly
practice.
Yesterday: Step
327 - I will be at peace today.
This Step focuses on the: “… fire of Knowledge and take comfort in its warm presence. Realize that
within this fire all things that are imaginary and harmful are consumed. The
fire of Knowledge will not burn you, but it will warm your soul. You can enter
this fire without fear of pain or harm. It will purify and cleanse you, for it
is the fire of love.”
In my journal I wrote, “I remember perceiving stillness two months ago or
so – as a warm, red glow – which S2K text for Step 327 reveals.”
A question is asked and answered: “How can you be so active and have such challenge
and still be at peace? The answer is that Knowledge is with you.” Years earlier I’d coined the term, “Peace Dynamic,” in recognition of the fact that peace itself was
a moving concept in the manifest. It is not a destination where one can reside.
There are always ups and downs. Steps confirms, for me, that perspective.
Thoughts you have had about the nature of life, existence and spirituality may
find confirmation here, as well as correction. That is why we are students
after all, beginning students at that.
From the Journal:
8:05
a.m. Thursday, June 8, 2000 – I hope my community greater has some coaching
ideas for "me finances." Popeye
tone – since I appear to have missed the earlier hints – remediation needed or
future audience that is interested in my experience – now working in exile.
10:37
a.m. Surrounded by Chaos. Cool inside – sure to fail in the eyes that are
watching – for they do not see from the center of the whirlwind.
Organizations
are fragile – people are not. I’m seeking to keep alive the organization which
is attacking me. Am I sane? Or is it just that I have no options – or that keeping
this baby alive is important to Regional DNA?
I
wish I knew. Using the still, center flame to constantly purify and consume
illusions – is that also an illusion?
I
remember perceiving stillness two months ago or so – as a warm, red glow –
which S2K text for Step 327 reveals.
I'm
alive, I'm breathing, I'm working, I'm praying – and trust ultimate community
in Knowledge.
I
assume myself to be a "middle" being – lower on the learning curve than
I want to be. To cohabitate the physical/stillness – is the
vision/lesson/study.
The
current insanity suits my learning challenge, so I recognize the challenge to Stillness/Knowledge.
It
is not what the world thinks that counts. I will be grounded in Stillness.
As much as I’d already had a sense of the fire of
Knowledge, I still asked: “Using the still, center flame to constantly purify
and consume illusions – is that also an illusion?” To be questioning is how we get to understanding. The
difference be the simply temporary existence and the illusion is really how one
deals with what we can perceive and understand about the location one currently
occupies. Let us continue. There is a long way to go. Having inner warmth as a
fundamental flame is comforting.
NNC
P.S. At Step 328, we are 37 Steps from the end –
Step 365. This is not the place to begin this Practice. If you’ve some interest
due to this or other Steps, you should go to the beginning blog post. From here you will learn about Steps to Knowledge
and can begin it on the day that makes sense; 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 post 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.
