4/23/15

Step 113 - I will not be persuaded by others. (MP3) Entry for Step 112 – Review

Greetings All –

Step 113 - I will not be persuaded by others. (MP3) [Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]




"I will not be persuaded by others." Step 113

ANY MIND THAT IS MORE RESOLVED THAN YOURS can persuade you and cast an influence upon you. There is nothing very mysterious about this. It is simply the result of one mind being more concentrated or focused than another. Minds have relative degrees of influence upon one another, depending upon their concentration and depending upon the kind of influence they exert. Let Knowledge persuade you, for that is the greatness that you carry. Let not the opinions or will of others persuade you. Let only their Knowledge influence you, for only this can influence your Knowledge. This will be quite different from feeling dominated, manipulated or persuaded by others.

THEREFORE, KEEP TO YOURSELF. Follow Knowledge. If another stimulates your Knowledge, then give that individual your attention so that you may learn of the true powers of persuasion. Yet, let not the persuasions of this world—its grievances, its cherished ideals, its morality, its demands or its compromises—influence you, for you are following Knowledge, and you need not follow the persuasions of the world.

REMIND YOURSELF OF TODAY’S IDEA upon the hour and practice stillness deeply in your two meditation practices today. Allow only Knowledge to persuade you, for this is all that you need to follow in the world.

PRACTICE 113: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.

Yesterday:

From the journal: Step 112 – Review

To be added later. It is a long entry.

The above is what I posted a year ago. I never made it back to dictate the full entry and this particular day I’m away from home and can’t do so.
Today’s picture is a bit personal, so I offer some background. In 1964 I began college at the University of Wisconsin – Manitowoc County Extension, a new two year system established to deal with the baby-boomers. College was encouraged, so I went, although I didn't know exactly why. My dad had not gone to college, yet was a respected engineer. 
My rationale was quite simple: I knew that if I went to college, I would earn $10,000 and could buy a Corvette. I liked cars and a former teacher at my high school – who wasn’t much older than the students, had quit teaching; taken a better-paying job – returning in a few months driving a new red 1962 Corvette convertible. He had a college degree; he had a Corvette – thus my logic.
Later in life, I had the credit to finance purchase of a Corvette, but it wasn’t practical daily use vehicle. As a hobby car, extra insurance, garaging/maintenance and taxes, made such ego satisfying ownership too costly.
The picture above is from an auto auction where I could have gotten one of the Corvettes pictured at a special price, but I was “not persuaded” that there was any benefit to owning such a big toy.
The persuasions of others that you hear/have heard are unlikely to be the same as mine, so your mental picture may be different. The goals are not necessarily wrong at the start – as they provide motivation, but understanding from maturity/ Knowledge sidelines the goal, thus the burden of ownership need not be experienced.
Let us continue.
NNC


Journal second time x2 Step 112. 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 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.