Greetings All –
In stillness all things can be known. Step 9 (MP3)
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Step PDF also.]
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| In stillness all things can be known. Step 9 |
STILLNESS
OF MIND ALLOWS A GREATER MIND TO EMERGE and to reveal its Wisdom. Those who
cultivate stillness with a desire for Knowledge will be preparing themselves
for greater revelation and true insight to emerge. The insight may emerge
during practice or during any normal activity. The important aspect here is
that the preparation has been made.
TWICE
TODAY PRACTICE YESTERDAY’S PRACTICE OF STILLNESS, but practice without the
expectation of a result. Do not use this practice to ask any form of question
because you are practicing stillness, in which all speculation, all questions
and all searching end. For 15 minutes, twice today, practice stillness once
again.
PRACTICE
9: Two 15-minute practice periods.
Picture: Lake Michigan beach at Two Rivers,
Wisconsin December 6, 2011
Yesterday: Step
8 – Today I will be still.
Stillness is a central practice of Steps. Is it meditation?
That is answered in the message below. About 1989, I was taught that, when
going into meditation and opening oneself, it was both wise and necessary to
protect yourself.
This was accomplished by saying: "I surround and protect
myself with the love and the grace of God." If
you've meditated before, you may know of this, so just a reminder.
To answer the question about stillness/meditation it is
best to go with The Teachers themselves:
“Practicing stillness of mind is really a prerequisite for gaining in
touch with the real undercurrent of what is going on with you and what is going
on around you. Steps to Knowledge teaches you how to think about things
in a very constructive way. We call this contemplation. It is different from
meditation. It is contemplation. You are going to contemplate a question about
life. You are going to contemplate something, not simply to come up with
exciting answers, but really to try to penetrate it. Going deeper than the
surface where everyone is so caught up. And your stillness practice is really
your meditation because it enables your awareness to go deeper and to connect
with Knowledge, which knows. And throughout Steps
to Knowledge you set the stage for this inner connection, and you have the
opportunity to build this connection every day in little increments. And your
life begins to change and your values begin to change and you become more
connected to yourself and you realize that you really want quiet more than
stimulation, and you realize you really want integrity more than thrills, and
you realize you want relationships that have real strength and real direction
rather than just exciting interludes with people. This is all the result of
refocusing your attention and redirecting your activities and exerting your
power to do this.”
This is
from: "Taking
the Steps to Knowledge" As revealed to Marshall Vian Summers on April
21, 2000 in Boulder, Colorado – The link is to a Google Drive. A .docx reader is
available from Microsoft
NNC
Journal
2nd Time Step 8. This is for those who have completed Steps once. 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 Step comments after the
Step, so as not to influence anyone 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.
