Greetings All –
Today
I will be still. Step 8 (MP3) [Open in Drive or copy to
your Drive – Download folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]
 |
| Today I will be still. Step 8 |
IN YOUR TWO MEDITATION PRACTICES TODAY, practice
stillness for 15 minutes. Begin by taking three deep breaths and then focusing
on an internal point. It may be an imaginary point or it may be a point in your
physical body. With eyes closed, simply give this your full attention, without
judgment and evaluation. Do not be discouraged if early attempts prove
difficult. Beginning anything important in life can be difficult at first, but
if you persist, you will achieve this great goal, for in stillness all things
can be known.
PRACTICE
8: Two 15-minute practice periods.
Picture: Bench on the William E. Carson Trail located
at the Front Royal Golf Club, a public facility, along the Shenandoah River. This
is a newer trail in Warren County that I use. Finding a place to be still in
nature can be difficult. Public benches may be too much in the open. Finding a
place to sit which is out of the way often requires a pad or portable seat.
Yesterday: Step 7 – Review
Reviews will be a weekly
occurrence. If you've looked ahead, you will see that pattern. The Teachers
advise not to read ahead. The few times I did that, it didn't make any
difference, as the Step was new to me when I came to it as practice. The Steps
do build, so simply reading them is not "practice" nor can you keep
in mind what is next.
Getting two full 30 minute sessions is a challenge. I have always done what I could in a day and kept moving. I don't now expect all-at-once permanent enlightenment. There have been peak experiences over the years, but at some point they need to end.
My July 3, 1999 reviews went like this:
Step 7 - Review 1 -6 -> It suggests I give up my assumptions. Existing in the relative universe - I know that reading the environment and acting within it is based on my perceptions/assumptions. In the past two years I've been attacked - which challenged my assumptions about my PDC viability (work) ... (some new employees) were... offended by my style... As new elected officals came on board I didn't have time to build and maintain partnership relationships. I am teaching bigger picture awareness with each encounter, learning myself in the exchange. My assumption is I'm here to experience.
Steps 1 - 6 are
1 - I am w/o Knowledge now.
2 - Knowledge is with me. Where am I?
3 - What do I really know?
4 - I want what I think I know.
5 - I believe what I want to believe.
6 - I have a true foundation in the world.
Note: I often write out the Step in my journal and/or excerpts from the text as a learning method.
I believe I started at Step 2 - that awareness already.
4 - my ego/Spirit wants - though relatively minimal - need to be tested.
5 - I have awareness I don't want to accept -
6 - I had inklings and this cements it.
So
1 - I will seek to understand Knowledge as expounded here - and remain open to information which may be a wisdom messenger.
2 - Where am I? It doesn't matter for I am on my path of community and aware.
3 - I know that I seek Knowledge
4 - Until I know more, my wants are determined/limited by my scope of Knowledge - though vision - presents me with a future view - even before there is knowledge. I've been able to discern that a situation is not right, even though I don't know what it should be. I've thought, if I were God - I wouldn't do it that way. To heal the earth and the relations, a sort of communication system like the Akashic records is needed. Guides need few coordinates - Name/roughly and year of birth - approx.
5 - With ACIM [Alice Bailey / T3M (The Third Millennium)] I learned of the illusion / Maya / glamour / spell of matter and my beliefs have been minimized
6 - This helped me affirm the knowledge that had emerged so I can act to clarify that link.
Well - that was a lot to read. If you've not journaled much, please recognize that I've been doing it since college in the 1960's. If you've ever taken a writing course, you are encouraged to keep a journal - or must do so, which is often a negative experience. That's why I have written one page journaling start-up methods.
The more you let your minds speak, the more you will become comfortable with the benefit. Often I read thoughts that weren't really from my current experience, but reflected some knowledge, wisdom or even Knowledge.
You will note references to other studies. You probably have your own and beginning to sort out what does or does not reflect this New Knowledge, which is related to Holy Spirit.
Getting two full 30 minute sessions is a challenge. I have always done what I could in a day and kept moving. I don't now expect all-at-once permanent enlightenment. There have been peak experiences over the years, but at some point they need to end.
My July 3, 1999 reviews went like this:
Step 7 - Review 1 -6 -> It suggests I give up my assumptions. Existing in the relative universe - I know that reading the environment and acting within it is based on my perceptions/assumptions. In the past two years I've been attacked - which challenged my assumptions about my PDC viability (work) ... (some new employees) were... offended by my style... As new elected officals came on board I didn't have time to build and maintain partnership relationships. I am teaching bigger picture awareness with each encounter, learning myself in the exchange. My assumption is I'm here to experience.
Steps 1 - 6 are
1 - I am w/o Knowledge now.
2 - Knowledge is with me. Where am I?
3 - What do I really know?
4 - I want what I think I know.
5 - I believe what I want to believe.
6 - I have a true foundation in the world.
Note: I often write out the Step in my journal and/or excerpts from the text as a learning method.
I believe I started at Step 2 - that awareness already.
4 - my ego/Spirit wants - though relatively minimal - need to be tested.
5 - I have awareness I don't want to accept -
6 - I had inklings and this cements it.
So
1 - I will seek to understand Knowledge as expounded here - and remain open to information which may be a wisdom messenger.
2 - Where am I? It doesn't matter for I am on my path of community and aware.
3 - I know that I seek Knowledge
4 - Until I know more, my wants are determined/limited by my scope of Knowledge - though vision - presents me with a future view - even before there is knowledge. I've been able to discern that a situation is not right, even though I don't know what it should be. I've thought, if I were God - I wouldn't do it that way. To heal the earth and the relations, a sort of communication system like the Akashic records is needed. Guides need few coordinates - Name/roughly and year of birth - approx.
5 - With ACIM [Alice Bailey / T3M (The Third Millennium)] I learned of the illusion / Maya / glamour / spell of matter and my beliefs have been minimized
6 - This helped me affirm the knowledge that had emerged so I can act to clarify that link.
Well - that was a lot to read. If you've not journaled much, please recognize that I've been doing it since college in the 1960's. If you've ever taken a writing course, you are encouraged to keep a journal - or must do so, which is often a negative experience. That's why I have written one page journaling start-up methods.
The more you let your minds speak, the more you will become comfortable with the benefit. Often I read thoughts that weren't really from my current experience, but reflected some knowledge, wisdom or even Knowledge.
You will note references to other studies. You probably have your own and beginning to sort out what does or does not reflect this New Knowledge, which is related to Holy Spirit.
There is a link to a YouTube reading of Ken Cary's: "The Third Millenium," a book of truly beautiful thoughts and inspirational words. Does it have a practice or give a path? No, so it isn't a substitute, but for me, it inspired my continued search which did lead to Greater Community Spirituality and Steps.
One week done, 51 to go. It is worth the effort. That is my witness to anyone who reads this.
One week done, 51 to go. It is worth the effort. That is my witness to anyone who reads this.
NNC
Journal
2nd Time Step This is for those who have completed
Steps once. You can look here, but you may be short changing your own growth.
Doing Steps with only the texts, messages and your life experience, including
what you may have studied and practiced is your journey. I’m showing my first
year Step comments after the Step, so as not to influence you in advance. It is
a wilderness trek to be left to your own wits, but then you can also listen
more closely for guides, angels and teachers, always first saying: “I surround
and protect myself with the Love and the Grace of God.” Thankfully, I was
taught this practice in 1989.
P.S. 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.
