Monthly Archives: July 2015

I Continue to Venture Forth

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I continue to venture forth

Two years ago, I wrote a post in this space called “I Wish to Venture Forth.”

It is short, so I take the liberty of repeating it here in full. But I will follow it with new consciousness gained during the interim.

I wish to venture forth to explore what Steps to Knowledge offers me. Step 41 was a crucial milestone for me in affirming and acknowledging the power of God. This Step calls for not being afraid of the power of God, and not only should I not be afraid, I “must venture forth to explore what is most natural.”

The day I reached this Step, my attention kept being drawn to a poem by Robert Frost called The Road Not Taken, the last lines of which I found very significant.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

To me Robert Frost’s poem is very ambiguous. I like to think the last sentence means that he made the right choice. But does it? He was ambivalent at first, he wondered if he might regret his choice, since both roads looked equally inviting and who knows where the other one might have led. He would never know, so he took a leap of faith.

So it was with me. I made a choice over twenty years ago, I ventured forth on an uncharted journey, and it has indeed made all the difference.

This is why the poem so resonated with me when I did this Step.

After stating that I must venture forth, it goes on to imply that if I do, it will be “like breaking new ground and coming home all at once.”

And it has.

I Continue to Venture Forth

Today I am living the full benefits of that choice I made over twenty years ago and am seeing how serendipitous it was to take that leap of faith and follow the road less traveled.

First, it brought me to the New Message from God in general and Steps to Knowledge in particular.

Second, it brought me to the fulfillment of my dream, a dream that began as an echo of recognition and has since blossomed in full.

venture forth

Yesterday I reached Step 349 “I Am Happy That I Can Finally Serve The Truth” for the second time.

I wrote in my journal:

“Everything you have truly wanted is being given to you now.”

This is my experience today. I am constantly thinking this, realizing that recurring thoughts, wishes, dreams are now becoming a reality. This particularly applies to what I am currently experiencing in my country home.

 

To me this is verification of the truth as I continue to venture forth.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Unexpected? Maybe, But Consistent

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The-Steps-Vigil-2015-1024x535 Unexpected? Maybe, but consistentAlisa shared some remarks of Marshall Vian Summers at the recent 2015 Steps Vigil of the New Message from God. The Steps Vigil commemorates the 20-day period in 1989 when the book Steps to Knowledge was received by Marshall Vian Summers. The Steps Vigil could be construed as a celebration of the birthday of Steps to Knowledge, as it were. Marshall said these words on the Day 11 webcast of the Steps Vigil, around the 42:55 mark

Unexpected? Maybe, but consistent

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxqPPT9tDnQ

“I’d like to say a few words about Steps to Knowledge tonight — why it is here, what it means and what it’s intended to do for all who can study it. First of all, Steps to Knowledge is an ancient teaching that has been used in the universe in many places. What we are receiving now is the version of Steps to Knowledge designed for the human family, designed for our temperament, our world, our potential, our crises, our general condition.”

I don’t blame you if you receive these words with a certain skepticism or incredulity. In fact, if you didn’t, you may not be fully paying attention. You might be asking “On what basis does he make this claim that Steps to Knowledge is an ancient teaching?” One answer is “On the basis of the text of Steps to Knowledge.” Specifically, Step 170 of Steps to Knowledge, “I am following the Ancient Rite of preparation today.” Here is a paragraph from that step.

“This preparation that you are undertaking is ancient in its origin. It has been used for centuries, in this world and in other worlds as well. It is only adapted in its language and in its relevancy to your current time, yet it prepares the mind in the way that minds have always been prepared in The Way of Knowledge, for Knowledge does not change and the preparations only adapt themselves to current events and current understanding so that they may be relevant for the recipients. Yet, the true mechanism for preparation is unchanged.”

Therefore, what Marshall is sharing is something that has been claimed by Steps to Knowledge from its arrival in 1989. Therefore, one could think of Steps to Knowledge as “The Ancient Rite of preparation, Earth Version.” Or “The Ancient Rite of preparation, Humanity Version.” Unexpected? Maybe, but consistent.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Give Humanity A Chance To Live

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jorge-luis-borges Give humanity a chance to liveThe 20th-century Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges wrote this story in 1984, while visiting Izumo in Shimane Prefecture in Japan.

Give humanity a chance to live

One autumn, one of the autumns of time, the Shinto divinities gathered, not for the first time, at Izumo. They are said to have numbered eight million. Being a shy man I would have felt a bit lost among so many. In any case, it is not convenient to deal in inconceivable numbers. Let us say there were eight, since eight is a good omen in these islands.

Taisha-6. Give humanity a chance to live.

They were downcast, but did not show it: the visages of divinities are undecipherable kanji. They seated themselves in a circle on the green crest of a hill. They had been observing mankind from their firmament or from a stone or from a snowflake. One of the divinities spoke:

Many days, or centuries, ago, we gathered here to create Japan and the world. The fishes, the seas, the seven colors of the rainbow, the generations of plants and animals have all worked out well. So that men should not be burdened with too many things, we gave them succession, issue, the plural day and the singular night. We also bestowed on them the gift of experimenting with certain variations. The bee continues repeating beehives. But man has imagined devices: the plow, the key, the kaleidoscope. He also imagined the sword and the art of war. He has just imagined an invisible weapon which could put an end to history. Before this senseless deed is done, let us wipe out men.

They remained pensive. Without haste another divinity spoke:

It’s true. They have thought up that atrocity, but there is also this something quite different, which fits in the space encompassed by seventeen syllables.

The divinity intoned them. They were in an unknown language, and I could not understand them.

The leading divinity delivered a judgment:

Let men survive.

Thus, because of a haiku, the human race was saved.

I don’t know if this story is true. I don’t even know if I want it to be true. What I want to know is the haiku that saved humanity. Borges used the word “archetype” frequently in the book in which this story appeared, Atlas. I therefore believe that the haiku intoned by the intercessory divinity was the archetypal haiku, the form from which all haikus sprung.

The New Message from God teaches that while humanity is a reckless, adolescent, destructive race, it shows a certain promise in the greater scheme of things. Therefore, God is speaking to humanity again, that it might successfully face its present and future challenges. Is success assured? No. It depends on our response. It is as if the leading divinity delivered a judgment, “Give humanity a chance to live.” (I don’t want to say “a fighting chance.”)

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Выходя за пределы своих идей и верований

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за пределы ваших идей и верований

For English version click here.

Способность выйти за пределы своих идей и верований требует открытого ума, достаточной гибкости, и, как это ни парадоксально, некоторого скептицизма. По крайней мере, это так для меня. Но я полностью допускаю, что это не так для многих, возможно, большинства людей.  А это не важно, в конце концов.

Главное для меня, это внутренний отклик. Вызывает ли то, что я читаю, слышу, или узнаю, отклик познавания, какое-то знакомое, может быть давно забытое, чувство или нет. Вот, что важно. Если вы когда-нибудь испытывали что-то подобное, то вы поймете то, о чем я говорю.

За переделы своих идей и верований

Об этом и речь в откровении, раскрыто Маршалу Виану Саммерсу 16 апреля 2011г. в Боулдере, штат Колорадо, США.

Оно называется «Соприкосновение» и открывается со следующими словами:

«Высшая Сила говорит с вами сейчас через Ангельское Присутствие, обращаясь к той части вас, которая является самым центром и источником вашего Существа, выходя за пределы ваших социальных стандартов поведения, за пределы ваших идей и верований и идей и верований вашей культуры и даже вашей религии».

Я не удивляюсь, если эти слова, сами по себе, вызывают скептицизм и сомнения, если они выходят за переделы ваших идей и верований. Я тоже скептик, но я готова выйти за переделы своих идей и верований, чтобы объять более широкую картину. Мало ли что.  И вернусь к тому понятию «внутренний отклик».

Дальше в откровении говорится:

«У Высшей Силы есть Послание для мира и для каждого человека в мире. Послание – больше, чем идея. Оно – больше, чем даже ряд идей. Оно является призывом и подтверждением, призывая вас откликнуться и тем самым подтверждая, что внутри вас и внутри всех людей мира существует более глубокая сущность. Это подтверждение является решающим в вашей способности откликнуться».

Вы готовы соприкоснуться к этой более глубокой сущности? Вы способны откликнуться?

Дальше:

«Люди хотят многого. У них есть большие страхи. У многих людей есть твердые убеждения. Но Высшая Сила говорит вне этих вещей Всем, кто видит и слышит, и кто может окликнуть на более глубоком уровне».

Про себя, могу сказать, что нет у меня никаких твердых убеждений. Лучше обойтись без них. Они мешают уму быть открытым и гибким, они мешают наслаждаться долей скептицизма.

Дальше откровение гласит:

«Чтобы понять свои более глубокие предчувствия и убеждения своего сердца, вы должны начинать слушать. Прислушиваться к себе. Прислушиваться к миру без упрека и осуждения. Прислушиваться к тому, что надвигается. Прислушиваться к тому, каким образом вы должны ответить. Прислушиваться к тому, с кем быть и с кем не быть».

Читайте «Соприкосновение» полностью тут. Может и вам удастся выйти за переделы ваших идей и верований и присоединиться к тем пробуждающимся умам в познавании истины.

Желаю успехи!

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

This Mysterious Arithmetic

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Addressing small details. This mysterious arithmetic.There is something I find curious about Steps to Knowledge, the book of spiritual practice of the New Message from God. It is the relative lack of explicit connections made between the various steps. There is a particular instance I’m considering.

This mysterious arithmetic

Step 192 (out of 365 steps) of Steps to Knowledge is “I will not neglect small things today.” Based on the context, I consider “small things” to mean “things which promote health, relationships and work.”

Much later in Steps to Knowledge, Step 312 says “There are greater problems for me to solve in the world.” The idea is that in the process of solving greater problems, the small, pathetic, personal problems over which I am obsessing will either be addressed or rendered irrelevant.

But it seemed to me to be particularly useful to put Steps 192 and 312 together, yielding “I will not neglect small things today, because there are greater problems for me to solve in the world.” This could be considered simple concatenation. This could be considered as simple addition, “putting two and two together.” This could be considered as the construction of a conditional. “If there are greater problems for me to solve in the world, then I will not neglect small things today.” I find this helpful, because in the past, I believed there were greater problems for me to solve in the world. But because of that belief, I neglected small things to my detriment.

I take great comfort and encouragement in the connection of Step 192 and Step 312. From time to time I wonder, “How is what I’m doing now going to turn out any differently from what I’ve done in the past?” One answer I have for this is “Because in the past, I hadn’t considered Step 192.” I hadn’t considered that addressing small things was part of the price of admission, as it were, for working on solving greater problems.

Marshall Vian Summers recently said this as part of the 2015 Steps Vigil:

“It [Steps to Knowledge] is a gift from the Creator of all life through the Angelic Assembly. It is being presented in a pure form as it was received. It has a series of steps that work both practically and mysteriously to re-engage you with the deeper intelligence that God has put within you which alone holds the truth about who you are and why you’re here in the world at this time, and what you’re here to achieve.”

Marshall says the Steps to Knowledge work practically. I believe he’s referring to the numerous steps that help people to slowly back away from damaging mental and emotional patterns, such as judgment, blame, assumption, etc. Perhaps this mysterious arithmetic of putting together Step 192 and Step 312, putting together addressing small things with solving greater problems, is one thing he means when he says the Steps work mysteriously.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.

Beyond Your Ideas and Beliefs

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Beyond your ideas and beliefs

The ability to reach beyond your ideas and beliefs requires an open mind, a hefty helping of flexibility and, paradoxically, some skepticism. At least, this is the way I see it. And I am totally open to this not being the way many, perhaps most, people see it. But really, does this matter, when all is said and done? The main thing for me, the clincher in fact, is whether or not it strikes a chord deep inside, a bell of recognition, a spark of memory, something elusive but very real. If this is something you have experienced, you will know what I am talking about.

One of the revelations in the New Message from God is called “The Engagement.” It was revealed to Marshall Vian Summers on April 16, 2011 in Boulder, Colorado.

It opens with the following sentence:

“The Higher Authority is speaking to you now, speaking through the Angelic Presence, speaking to a part of you that is the very center and source of your Being, speaking beyond your social conditioning, beyond your ideas and beliefs and the ideas and beliefs of your culture and even your religion.”

The very words and concepts used here may be beyond your ideas and beliefs. The very notion of a New Message from God may be beyond your ideas and beliefs. The very possibility that God has spoken again and spoken through a Messenger for these times and future times may be beyond your ideas and beliefs. I know it is often beyond mine, but I hear that chord, that bell struck, I sense that spark of memory, I recognize the calling to engage that echoes down the ancient corridors of my mind.

The revelation goes on to say:

“People want many things. They have great fears. Many people have firm beliefs. But the Higher Authority speaks beyond these things to all who can see and hear and who can respond at a deeper level.”

“Many people have firm beliefs…” yes, indeed, but are they true? I prefer not to have any firm beliefs, I prefer to reach beyond my ideas and beliefs to embrace that elusive essence that lies at a deeper level. I do not need proof, I only feel something move and resonate within me.

“Within the New Message from God, the Engagement refers to your engagement with your Spiritual Family, with the Presence, with Knowledge, and ultimately with God,” I read in The New Message from God Wiki.

Beyond your ideas and beliefs

How do I engage with these things? How do I embrace that elusive essence that lies at a deeper level?

My Step today in the spiritual practice called “Steps to Knowledge” is Step 333. “There is a presence with me. I can feel it.” I am on this step the second time around, and to tell you the truth, I am doing anything but feeling this presence today. But I discover that this is okay. It is okay to be skeptical. I find confirmation of this in the blog of another Steps student who shares his journaling on Step 189. My Spiritual Family exists in all places.

A different Step, a different day’s practice, but do you see the connection? I, personally, see the connection with Step 333 I am practicing today. I see the connection with the reference I gave about the word “engagement” as it is used in the New Message from God. And I love these synchronicities. This is the beauty of this spiritual practice, everything intertwines and blends. This gives me confidence, this eases my skepticism, this shows me that beyond my ideas and beliefs, a whole vista of enticing possibilities opens up.

Beyond your ideas and beliefs

One of my favorite authors is Amy Tan. I have read many of her books. Today I just finished reading Saving Fish from Drowning. I will not give a plot summary here, you can look at the link for that. I will only quote the last paragraph:

“I now know what’s beyond here. My friends once had a glimpse of it. It was in the breath that lifted a hundred emerald beetles. It was in the echoes that followed each beat of the drum. It was in the absolute stillness when all minds were one. I can’t say more than that, for it should remain a mystery, one that never ends.”

When you reach beyond your ideas and beliefs, you just may find the very thing you have been wishing to engage with all along. For me it is an echo that reverberates throughout the Universe and joins all awakened minds in recognition of the truth.

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Welcome to Mystery of Ascension! We are students and advocates of the the New Message from God. We are members of a worldwide community. We seek to assist the world in successfully navigating difficult times ahead. We seek to assist the world in successfully emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. You will also find some poetry. Find out more about us here. Contact us here.