Tag Archives: Dune

I Should Be Suspicious Of What I Want For The World

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Paul Atreides would avenge his father and bring the universe to its knees. I should be suspicious of what I want for the world.

Steps 65 through 67 of Steps to Knowledge have something in common.  They all contain some variation on the sentence “You have come to the world to work.”  Step 65, “I have come to work in the world,” introduces the idea.  Step 66, “I will stop complaining about the world,” gave the idea of something I need to drop if I’m going to take this idea seriously.  And now, Step 67, “I do not know what I want for the world,” brings another item from which I need to slowly back away; my designs for the world.

I should be suspicious of what I want for the world

Someone might say “I don’t demand that the world devote itself to making me happy.  I’m willing to be the change I wish to see in the world.” But what if the change you wish to see in the world sets other events in motion resulting in changes in the world you didn’t wish to see?  Are you wise enough to see it fully through?  I’m not.

Someone might say “I would make the world a more just place.”  But many who live deserve death, and some that die deserve life.  Can you give it to them?  Even people who care about strangers, who care about evil and social injustice, can be heartless and cruel and hard and cold.

I am recalling the Rumi poem which I have already shared once in this space:

Who makes these changes?
I shoot an arrow right.
It lands left.
I ride after a deer and find myself
Chased by a hog.
I plot to get what I want
And end up in prison.
I dig pits to trap others
And fall in.
I should be suspicious
Of what I want.

Someone is going to ask, “Well, what should we do then?”  Steps to Knowledge recommends at this point that we cultivate a healthy suspicion of what we want for the world.  Steps to Knowledge recommends at this point that we reserve a space for what Knowledge knows it must contribute, for the mission we have in life to fulfill, for the work we have come to the world to do.

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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.

If Fear Is The Diagnosis, What Is The Prescription?

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The Mechanism Of Fear

There seems to be a general consensus that fear disrupts people from acting as effectively as they would otherwise.  There seem to be different remedies for fear in different communities and traditions.

I recall being taught by certain Christian teachers to reject fear out of hand as an evil, ungodly spirit.  But they also spoke of the necessity of preparation, of feeding one’s faith.

I recall A Course in Miracles characterizing fear as but a illusory thought to be rejected.  Lesson 48 in the Workbook for Students is “There is nothing to fear.”

The book Das Energi by Paul Williams said to cultivate a reflex of wiping out fear.

Paul Atreides Is Tested

The Bene Gesserit sisterhood of the Dune books by Frank Herbert had a Litany Against Fear.

Steps to Knowledge teaches that while the experience of fear is real, there is a remedy of recognizing them, recognizing we don’t have to be stuck with them, and recognizing that they are not the complete story:

“In your two practice periods today, evaluate the existence of your fears and remind yourself that your reality is beyond them, but that you must recognize them to understand their damaging presence in your life. Close your eyes and repeat the idea for today; then consider each fear that arises in your mind. Remind yourself that the truth is beyond that specific fear. Allow all fears to arise and be evaluated in this way.”

Furthermore, part of the constraints of the mission we have in life to fulfill is that we live in a world full of people with different levels of susceptibility to fear.  We live in a world full of people different levels of effectiveness at dealing with fear.  We live in a world where some people make more and worse fear-driven errors than others.

“To be without fear, you must understand fear—its mechanism, its influence on people and its result in the world. You must recognize this without deception and without preference. You are a great being working in a limited context, in a limited environment. Understand the limitations of your environment and understand the limitations of your vehicle, and you will no longer hate yourself for being limited.”

The bit about being a great being in a limited context is a recap of Step 46, “I must be small to be great.”  Part of the Steps to Knowledge prescription is having compassion for people with fears.

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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.