The difficulties I see in the world today are the opportunities for me to develop discernment. Continuation Training Step 7

The difficulties I see in the world today are the opportunities for me to develop discernment. CT Step 7 (MP3)

The difficulties I see in the world today are the opportunities for me to develop discernment. CT Step 7

It is important in learning The Way of Knowledge to be able to face anything and everything that comes across your path. That does not, however, mean that you give these things equal value or meaning. There is great conflict in the world. This cannot be denied. Yet it must be understood clearly. You cannot put a happy face on it. You cannot say that it is merely a projection of your own imagination. Do not call it unreal and go seek out those things that are pleasurable instead. For in your relationship with the world, conflict is something that must be faced. If you can do this, it will give you courage and self-determination. The conflicts in the world give you the opportunity to develop true discernment - seeing what really is and knowing what really is, all without condemnation.

Look at the conflicts that cross your path today and take a moment to see them without judgment. Suspend your judgment so that you may see past what appears to be obvious at the surface and allow a deeper understanding to naturally and gradually come into being within your experience. Here you set aside all simple definitions and enter into the realm of experience. Here instead of putting labels on things, you begin to understand them.

In your practice in stillness, let your mind be free. In your hourly practices, apply the mind purposefully and meaningfully. Today look at conflict and see what you can see.

Practice 7:      One 30-minute stillness practice.

                          Contemplation practice.

                          Hourly practice.

Picture:  Holocaust Memorial Parade, Pécs, Hungary - May 26, 2010. At the time, I did not notice that the signs are names of Nazi concentration camps. The black banners indicated sadness and mourning. In 1969 – 72, as a sailor seeing Europe, I noticed people wearing black armbands. It seemed political at first until someone told me it was a sign of grieving for the death of a family member. A good time to be discerning.

Journal entry link CT Step 6x1

NNC

Note: If you’ve some interest, but this is the first time you’ve seen 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. Begin at the beginning.

If you do know about Steps, but have not done Steps twice completely, read the related materials, and have a sense of the direction of this study, you won’t get the experience. The Introduction begins:

“This is the Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training. It is designed to build upon the Steps that were learned in Steps to Knowledge to enable you to experience the grace, the power and the direction of Knowledge in your life and to become an expression of Knowledge in everything that you do. If you have completed the book, Steps to Knowledge, twice through and have followed the instructions as they were given without altering the curriculum in any way, then you are now ready to begin this more advanced study”.

If you are an independent student, that is certainly an option. 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.

My mind is here to serve Knowledge. Continuation Training Step 6

My mind is here to serve Knowledge. CT Step 6 (MP3)

My mind is here to serve Knowledge. CT Step 6

Today's lesson reinforces much of what you have learned already, and this reinforcement is necessary because the mind without a true ruler will try to rule itself, and it makes a very poor guide in this respect. Indeed, it becomes more of a tyrant, and it is abusive, arrogant and self- deprecating all at the same time. True harmony within yourself means that your mind is serving your Spirit and your body is serving your mind. Here the true value of the mind and the body are recognized. With this, all self-abuse is forgotten. And abusive relationships are left behind.

In learning The Greater Community Way of Knowledge, the mind is highly valued. It is not cast away. It is not belittled. Instead, it is given its true place in the greater hierarchy within you. If you can enter into this understanding, you will have a true appreciation of the presence and the grace of the Creator in your life. For the answer is so clear and so close at hand. That which seemed inexplicable and so difficult to obtain is ever present with you, waiting for you to experience it.

Therefore, today value your mind, but recognize that it must serve a Greater Power not a power in the world, not a power that assigns itself to you, not a power that you give yourself to without true consideration, but an inner power. Knowledge will direct you to those people that you are to serve and who can serve you. Here, if Knowledge is your guide, your relationships will be established on a true foundation and will have true promise as a result.

Today in your practice in stillness, allow your mind to serve Knowledge by yielding to Knowledge and by becoming still like Knowledge is still. Let the mind come to its temple and bow down and say, "Today I give myself to you, the Great Spirit that lives within me and beyond me and throughout the universe." This is a yielding, and this yielding is an act of surrender and grace.

Upon the hour remember this as you learn to apply Knowledge in the world. As you contemplate today’s lesson, remember that your mind is here to serve Knowledge and Knowledge can only serve the world.

Practice 6:      One 30-minute stillness practice.

                         Contemplation practice.

                         Hourly practice.

Picture: Dickey Ridge Trail, Shenandoah National Park – May 12, 2015. A place for meditation along an old stone wall, made by early settlers, whose lands were acquired by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the Park which opened in 1935. I’ve used “The Wall” as a meditation place for decades, long before I became a Steps student.

Journal entry link CT Step 5x1

NNC

Note: If you’ve some interest, but this is the first time you’ve seen 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. Begin at the beginning.

If you do know about Steps, but have not done Steps twice completely, read the related materials, and have a sense of the direction of this study, you won’t get the experience. The Introduction begins:

“This is the Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training. It is designed to build upon the Steps that were learned in Steps to Knowledge to enable you to experience the grace, the power and the direction of Knowledge in your life and to become an expression of Knowledge in everything that you do. If you have completed the book, Steps to Knowledge, twice through and have followed the instructions as they were given without altering the curriculum in any way, then you are now ready to begin this more advanced study”.

If you are an independent student, that is certainly an option. 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.

I must find my true relationships in order to know my direction. Continuation Training Step 5

I must find my true relationships in order to know my direction. CT Step 5 (MP3)

I must find my true relationships in order to know my direction. CT Step 5

A critical part of your development is finding those individuals who are destined to share your greater work in the world. Finding them, then, can preoccupy the early stages of your development. In doing this, it is often necessary to leave other involvements that do not represent this greater purpose and destiny. For some people this can take many years to accomplish. Yet until you are free to find your true companions, then you must engage in this work, in this effort. And if you have been so fortunate to find even one of your true companions, then you have a new beginning in your life. Here your development and their development become really essential. Here you become accountable to more than just yourself. For you now practice for others as well as for your own advancement. Here failure means that you fail others as well as your Spiritual Family.

Receive this not with guilt but understand that it gives you great strength and commitment, for in reality this is the case. People believe that they are weak and so they look for other powers in the universe to guide them and to protect them. But here you are learning The Way of Knowledge, which is the way of true initiation. For this you will need strong companions. And they must become strong for you and you must become strong for them. You must become strong to find them. You must become strong to join with them. And you must become strong to advance with them. This is a gift.

Today spend time thinking about the meaning of today's lesson. It holds the key to understanding human relationships. A great deal can be revealed to you if you spend time considering the meaning of today's practice.

Look upon the world without condemnation but with clear eyes. See that without a greater purpose, human relationships cannot fulfill their greater meaning and value. These relationships can only be partial, and they are at the mercy of the conflicts of those who participate within them. And because these relationships are governed by the conditioning of the world, freedom and true self-expression will not be possible within them. Understand this and you will understand your past and a great deal about what has brought you to this point.

Continue your one daily practice in stillness and your hourly practices. Think about your greater companions.

Practice 5:      One 30-minute stillness practice.

                          Contemplation practice.

                          Hourly practice.

Picture:  A concert is the sort of venue one may go to, alone or in a group, looking for a relationship. Pécs, Hungary – May 22, 2010.

Journal entry link CT Step 4x1

NNC

Note: If you’ve some interest, but this is the first time you’ve seen 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. Begin at the beginning.

If you do know about Steps, but have not done Steps twice completely, read the related materials, and have a sense of the direction of this study, you won’t get the experience. The Introduction begins:

“This is the Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training. It is designed to build upon the Steps that were learned in Steps to Knowledge to enable you to experience the grace, the power and the direction of Knowledge in your life and to become an expression of Knowledge in everything that you do. If you have completed the book, Steps to Knowledge, twice through and have followed the instructions as they were given without altering the curriculum in any way, then you are now ready to begin this more advanced study”.

If you are an independent student, that is certainly an option. 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.