Approve Me Or Disapprove Me

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Douglas

I am thankful to Minnesota poet Robert Bly for introducing me to the Indian poet Mirabai (1498-1546). She unwillingly married a prince of a region now part of the state of Rajasthan . During her twenties, this prince was killed in a war. She decided to go inward. She found a low-born teacher (Ravidas). At night she would tie her saris together, and climb down the castle walls to visit him. Then she would wash his old feet and drink the water. Her in-laws greatly disapproved of her and considered her an embarrassment. But Mirabai and her poems and songs are dearly beloved in India.

This poem was translated from Rajasthani into English by Robert Bly.

Why Mira Can’t Go Back To Her Old House

The colors of the Dark One [Krishna] have penetrated Mira’s body; all the
other colors washed out.
Making love with the Dark One and eating little, those are my pearls and my carnelians.
Meditation beads and the forehead streak, those are my scarves and my rings.
That’s enough feminine wiles for me. My teacher taught me this.
Approve me or disapprove me: I praise the Mountain Energy night and day.
I take the path that ecstatic human beings have taken for centuries.
I don’t steal money, I don’t hit anyone. What will you charge me with?
I have felt the swaying of the elephant’s shoulders; and now you want me to climb on a jackass? Try to be serious.

Approve me or disapprove me

I share this poem because I believe there are students of the New Message from God who are subjected to the same kind of social disapproval as Mirabai. I want to say “Approve me or disapprove me. I am a student of the great mystery of my life. I am following the Ancient Rite of Preparation. I don’t steal money, I don’t hit anyone. What will you charge me with? I have felt the power of Knowledge, and now you want me to grovel for social approval? Try to be serious.

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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.

What Happened? A Man Of Knowledge Happened!

Posted on March 27, 2018 by Douglas

The Bible reports in Genesis 41 that at a certain time, the land of Egypt experienced seven consecutive years of famine. And yet, there is no record of mass starvation. Furthermore, people from other nations came to buy grain, as the famine was regional instead of merely local.

What happened? A man of Knowledge happened!

Why was there no mass starvation? Because in the seven abundant years before the famine, someone stored a portion of the harvest each year. The mass starvation was prevented by awareness of the coming famine, seven years before it happened. How could anyone possibly know that a famine was coming in seven years? All the current signs pointed to abundance as far as the eye could see. There was a man in prison because of a false rape accusation. This man correctly interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams as a warning of the future famine. What happened? Joseph happened!

Steps to Knowledge, the book of spiritual practice of the New Message from God, describes Joseph’s prophetic interpretation as one of the outward manifestations of Knowledge.

“Let us say that Knowledge is not the things that are usually associated with it. It is not ideas. It is not a body of information. It is not a system of belief. It is not a process of self evaluation. It is the great mystery of your life. Its outward manifestations are profound intuition, great insight, inexplicable knowing, wise perception in the present and in the future and wise understanding of the past. But despite these great achievements of mind, Knowledge is greater than this. It is your True Self, a Self that is not apart from life.” (Step 10, “What is Knowledge?”)

What happened? A man of Knowledge happened! I am thinking of Joseph because March 25 is the birthday of a man who lived in my lifetime. This man had a similar accomplishment to Joseph, but by different means.

In 1968, Paul R. Ehrlich, a Stanford University biologist, wrote a best-selling book titled “The Population Bomb.” He was one of a number of individuals who noticed a significant change in world population growth.

Dr. Ehrlich’s prediction of world population reaching 7 billion by 2005 was early by only six years. Dr. Ehrlich later went on to forecast that hundreds of millions would starve to death in the 1970s, that 65 million of them would be Americans, that crowded India was essentially doomed, that odds were fair “England will not exist in the year 2000.”

Why did these predictions of disaster not come to pass? Because a man worked in Mexico, India and Pakistan to increase their ability to grow wheat. Mexico became a net exporter of wheat by 1963. Between 1965 and 1970, wheat yields nearly doubled in Pakistan and India. You can read more about his efforts here, here and here. What happened? Norman Borlaug happened!

“Knowledge activates all mental and physical abilities for good. It directs all manner of individual pursuits that are for the benefit of humanity. In the arts, in the sciences, in all endeavors, in the simplest gesture and the greatest act, Knowledge demonstrates a greater life and strengthens all of the highest qualities in individuals who are engaged with it.” (Step 234, “Knowledge serves humanity in all ways.”)

What happened? A man of Knowledge happened! I say Joseph was a man of Knowledge. I say Norman Borlaug was a man of Knowledge. They both made great contributions to their world. They both found ways to be in the right place at the right time. I desire to be a man of Knowledge. I am working on becoming a man of Knowledge. I desire to be the man of Knowledge that happened.

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We Don’t Ask For Much, Only Your Sainthood

Posted on January 26, 2018 by Douglas

I believe someone will say something like the following to me. “Douglas, you have told me countless times that there is a New Message from God in the world. I don’t believe it. However, your pig-headed devotion has convinced me you mean what you say. Therefore I am willing, possibly even curious, to know what your New Message has to say about certain things. What does the God of the New Message require of me?”

We don’t ask for much, only your sainthood

The New Message from God teaches that there is a part of you that never left God. You brought it with you when you came into the world. We call it Knowledge. The God of the New Message wants you to reclaim your Knowledge, and allow it to express itself in the world.

“How do I know such a thing is even possible?”

Because it has been done in the past. Some of the people who have accomplished this are better known than others. They followed various paths to get there. I say the greatest saints and strongest contributors of human history are people who reclaimed Knowledge.

“Why is this so important now?”

Because humanity is facing difficult times ahead, unprecedented challenges. It is standing on the threshold of emerging into a greater community of intelligent life. So it’s not just about your self-realization, but the welfare of humanity.

“What must I do to reclaim this ‘Knowledge?'”

Part of the New Message from God is a book called Steps to Knowledge. It is a book of spiritual practice. It is a book of 365 steps that lead a person in the direction of reclaiming Knowledge. I reviewed it here. I wrote about my experience of Steps to Knowledge here and here.

We don’t ask for much, only your sainthood. Maybe you have issues with the word “sainthood.” If you prefer, we don’t ask for much, only your strong contribution. There must be many strong contributors in the world now, or humanity faces a great and precipitous decline.

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My People Are Reckless Blabbermouths

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Douglas

The prophet Isaiah experienced a powerful vision of God in chapter 6 of the book of Isaiah. His response to this vision?

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5, New International Version)

My people are reckless blabbermouths

I consider Isaiah to be referring to the kingdom of Judah when he spoke of “a people of unclean lips.” I am conducting an experiment. I am keeping track of how it feels when I refer to humanity as “my people.” My people might be a people of unclean lips. My people are indisputably a people of overactive lips.

My people are reckless blabbermouths. We speak when we should be silent. We are silent when we should speak. Our speech is not informed by Knowledge, the deeper spiritual intelligence that God has placed within each person. This is how my people are a people of unclean lips. But this is not particularly newsworthy. Neither is it my primary complaint.

My people are reckless blabbermouths. My primary complaint is that my people broadcast a great deal of information about themselves into space. Radio, television, internet, it all goes out into space when it is sent to a satellite. My people send probes into interstellar space announcing ourselves. We have gone so far as beam messages into space in an attempt to contact extraterrestrial life. We act as if there will be no negative consequence to this. We act as if there could not possibly be any negative consequences to this.

My people are reckless blabbermouths. The New Message from God considers all of the above behavior to be both foolish and dangerous. Consider this paragraph from the book Life in the Universe:

“The wise remain hidden. Your world is known to a few, but not to many. You do not want to broadcast into the universe who you are and what you have. In the future, your radio technology will have to be completely changed. You cannot be broadcasting out into space. That only invites inquiry, interest and suspicion. Right now you think that there is no one else out there, that the universe is vast and empty and that there might be some distant planet somewhere that could receive your transmissions. If you understood the situation, you would see how dangerous and unwarranted this is.”

My people are reckless blabbermouths. My only consolation is that some of my people are starting to recognize the folly and danger of this. As evidence, I offer this quote from a review of the science-fiction novel “The Dark Forest” (黑暗森林) by Liu Cixin:

“At the end of the second volume [The Dark Forest is the second volume of a three-volume set], one of the main characters lays out the trilogy’s animating philosophy. No civilization should ever announce its presence to the cosmos, he says. Any other civilization that learns of its existence will perceive it as a threat to expand—as all civilizations do, eliminating their competitors until they encounter one with superior technology and are themselves eliminated. This grim cosmic outlook is called “dark-forest theory,” because it conceives of every civilization in the universe as a hunter hiding in a moonless woodland, listening for the first rustlings of a rival.”

My people are reckless blabbermouths. We will have to fix that to function successfully in a greater community of intelligent life.

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A New Message From God? Why Is It Here?

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Douglas

This is the second post in a series of posts on the New Message from God revelation “The Proclamation.” This revelation was received by Marshall Vian Summers in July of 2006. The first post in the series is here.

A New Message from God? Why is it here?

What has been declared thus far? Just as God has spoken to humanity on certain occasions, God is speaking to humanity again. God is speaking to humanity again because humanity faces unprecedented challenges. This is the sixth paragraph.

The New Message from God is here to alert, to empower and to prepare the human family—people from all nations and religious traditions, from all tribes, groups and orientations.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? I believe that the phrase “prepare the human family” means “prepare the human family to respond effectively to the grave and perilous set of challenges mentioned in the previous paragraph.“]

It has come at a time of great need, a time of great consequence. It is preparing people for things that have not even been recognized.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? In my mind’s ear, I’m hearing the song “Heaven is Ten Zillion Light Years Away” by Stevie Wonder, with the lyric “But if there is a God, we need Him now.”]

It is prophetic in alerting people to the Great Waves of change that are coming to the world and to humanity’s position in the universe, especially regarding your contact with other races.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? “The Great Waves of change” refer to an ongoing series of global-scale disruptions of what passes for normal life in the not-too-distant future, including disrupted climate, environmental degradation, declining resources, economic turmoil, involuntary human migration, wars of economic desperation, religious wars and intervention from outer space.]

It calls upon the great spiritual presence within each person—the great endowment of Knowledge that has been given to the entire human family, which must now be cultivated, strengthened and brought forth.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? Knowledge is a key technical term in the New Message from God, and is mentioned in one form or another in almost every revelation. The book Steps to Knowledge describes this phenomenon in great detail. While Knowledge is described in many ways, Step 10 of Steps to Knowledge, “What is Knowledge?” says “Let us say that Knowledge is not the things that are usually associated with it. It is not ideas. It is not a body of information. It is not a system of belief. It is not a process of self evaluation. It is the great mystery of your life. Its outward manifestations are profound intuition, great insight, inexplicable knowing, wise perception in the present and in the future and wise understanding of the past. But despite these great achievements of mind, Knowledge is greater than this. It is your True Self, a Self that is not apart from life.”]

It speaks to the great spiritual need of the individual—the need for purpose, meaning and direction.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? People are in the world for reasons beyond their preferences and anxieties. They are in the world to meet certain people, to give certain gifts, to accomplish certain tasks.]

It speaks to the great relationships that people can establish with one another, relationships representing their higher purpose in life.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? Humanity’s great accomplishments have been the result of relationships representing higher purpose in life.]

It speaks to the needs of the world and the needs of the future. In so doing, it brings purpose and recognition, unity and cooperation, wisdom and strength to all who can receive it, who can learn it, who can follow its steps, who can contribute it to others and who can share its wisdom in service to other individuals, to families, to communities, to nations and to the whole world.

[A New Message from God? Why is it here? About a dozen books of the New Message from God have already been published. Some of these books address the subject of individual development, such as Steps to Knowledge and Greater Community Spirituality. Some of these books address potential futures for humanity, such as The Great Waves of Change and Life in the Universe.]

* * *

Ready, Willing, Capable, Permitted

Posted on March 8, 2015 by Douglas

This post is my contribution to the 2015 observance of International Women’s Day. I also wish to share that the New Message from God has a number of things to say about women’s roles in a society. Furthermore, the New Message from God has some things to say on the subject that aren’t being said by very many other voices. These things appear in the revelation “The Age of Women,” received by Marshall Vian Summers in November of 2007. The New Message offers, shall we say, a larger perspective:

“It will be interesting, perhaps, for you to consider that in advanced nations in the universe—advanced nations in the Greater Community of intelligent life in which you live—that where there is a distinction between men and women, or male and female, in those particular races, the races that are not androgynous in nature, that the female is usually given priority in matters of conscience and spirituality.”

Ready, willing, capable, permitted

It’s not like women have never held these roles. Deborah judged Israel in the Old Testament book of Judges. Huldah was a prophetess in the days of Jeremiah. Priscilla was called by Paul as “one of his fellow workers in Christ Jesus.” Rabia Basri was a Sufi saint and poet.

“Clearly, if you look in the past century, you have seen in all of society’s evolution, in many places in the world, the rise of women to roles of prominence that were previously only assumed by men. This is a natural evolution and should be continued. There are now heads of state who are women, but they are still blocked from becoming religious leaders in many, many traditions and in many cultures. They can become the president of a nation, but not a priest or a rabbi or an imam, in many circumstances.”

Ready, willing, capable, permitted. I therefore wish to modify this well-known quote from the book Time Enough for Love by Robert Heinlein:

A man or woman should be ready, willing, capable, and permitted to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Ready, willing, capable, permitted. Furthermore, I wish to add a few things to Robert Heinlein’s list. A certain man or woman should be ready, willing, capable and permitted to celebrate mass, to lead Friday prayers in the mosque, initiate Buddhists as monks, say or sing the Kol Nidrei, pastor a church, prophesy, heal the sick, raise the dead, cure people with AIDS, cast out devils, display profound intuition, inexplicable knowing, wise perception of the present and future, wise understanding of the past.

Ready, willing, capable, permitted. I realize this may take a while to happen. That’s all right. It has to start somewhere.

* * *

An Antidote For Discouragement

Posted on December 31, 2014 by Douglas

I believe the ancient Israelite psalmist Asaph did the world a great favor by confessing his unhappiness and bewilderment with the prosperity of the wicked in his day. It wasn’t merely that he envied their prosperity, but something much worse. He was discouraged from being good and doing good by the success of the arrogant. He was troubled that God would permit such a discouragement to take place. In Psalm 73, Asaph wrote:

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
and have washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been afflicted,
and every morning brings new punishments.
If I had spoken out like that,
I would have betrayed your children.
When I tried to understand all this,
it troubled me deeply. (Psalm 73:13-16, New International Version)

An antidote for discouragement

When I read about the seven deadly sins, I discovered that there were two varieties of the sin of sloth. One variety of sloth is the laziness or indolence commonly associated with sloth. Another variety is the sloth of discouragement, the unwillingness to do good because of the belief that justice cannot or will not triumph.

I am pleased to share an antidote for discouragement from the New Message from God. This antidote is found in Step 245 of Steps to Knowledge. Step 245 teaches “When others fail, I am reminded of the need for Knowledge.”

I consider the word “fail” in this context to mean “fail to do the right thing, fail to demonstrate good character, fail to act consistently with one’s true self.” In this context, Knowledge is used to signify the great mystery of a person’s life, the greater aspect of mind that we have brought with us from our Ancient Home.

The very first sentence of the step seems to say to me “and by ‘the need for Knowledge,’ we mean ‘your need for Knowledge.'” As I pondered this step further, the step seemed to say to me “and by ‘your need for Knowledge,’ we mean ‘your need to practice, your need to follow the practices (stillness, inner listening, mental investigation, etc.) of Steps to Knowledge.'” It is as if this step is discouraging from looking at those who fail and saying “There for the grace of God go I.” It is as if this step is encouraging me to look at those who fail and say “There for the lack of my practice go I.” An antidote for discouragement over those who fail is to be found in the practice studio, in making the effort to become a better person.

* * *

Consider That In Your Calculations

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Douglas

In the financial world, the phrase “priced in” is frequently used as a transitive verb. Here is an example:

A client of mine who has also been bearish [expecting stock prices to decline] kept asking me if all of the bad news was already priced in as the market recovered somewhat over the past few weeks.

In this example, “priced in” means “included in the price,” or “taken into consideration when setting the price of something.”

Consider that in your calculations

Steps to Knowledge could be thought of as the book of spiritual practice of the New Message from God. It consists of 365 steps, each building on the previous steps. I am engaging with Steps to Knowledge for the second time. I recently studied Step 70, which is a review of Steps 50 through 69. As I reviewed my practice of Step 60, “I will not judge the world today,” I read these words:

“Without your judgments, Knowledge can indicate what you must do and what you must understand. Knowledge represents a greater judgment, but it is a judgment that is very different from your own, for it is not born of fear. It does not possess anger. It is always meant to serve and to nourish. It is just, in that it gives true recognition to every person’s current state without belittling their meaning or their destiny.”

As I read these words, I saw something in my mind’s eye. I saw Knowledge, the great mystery of my life, my True Self, the love of God, “pricing in” things beyond my perception when it prompts me to do something. It is as if Knowledge were pricing in a person’s current state of development when encouraging me to engage with someone. It is as if Knowledge were pricing in the lessons a person was learning, the relationships a person was reclaiming, when restraining me from engaging with a particular person.

There is a similar idea in the New Message revelation “God’s Ancient Covenant with Humanity”

Here [engagement with the deeper conscience in the individual] you cannot make absolute beliefs because Knowledge may ask one person to do one thing and tell another person not to do that. You cannot say, “My belief is the Will of God.” Because the Will of God is manifesting itself in countless ways, working through individuals from the inside out, how can you predict what is absolutely correct for everyone? You cannot. It is dishonest. It is foolish. And it ends up being destructive to the lives of people.

The Knowledge I am questing for isn’t a static rule, but a dynamic intelligence. Consider that in your calculations.

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How Shall I Prepare To Serve A Troubled World?

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Douglas

It seems to help to write Amazon reviews of the various texts of the New Message from God. It also seems to help to share those reviews here, with a little graphic embellishment. For example, here is my review of The Great Waves of Change. Between then and now, I completed the first time through the 365 steps of Steps to Knowledge. But I didn’t write a review right away. I wasn’t trying not to, it was just one of those things I didn’t get around to doing until now. Here is my Amazon review of Steps to Knowledge, with some additional commentary [in brackets].

How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world? This might help. A lot

I was one of the first students of Steps to Knowledge, receiving a copy shortly after it was received in May-June of 1989. Having studied A Course in Miracles (ACIM) in 1987, it was easy for me to think “Oh, this is like that” as Steps to Knowledge has 365 Steps, just as the Workbook for Students in ACIM has 365 lessons. Steps to Knowledge is therefore a book one practices, following the practice instructions, as opposed to a book one only reads.

[I have written a number of posts comparing and contrasting Steps to Knowledge with A Course in Miracles.]

Crystal Cave, Chihuahua, Mexico. How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world?

What is this “Knowledge” toward which we are taking steps? It is described as the great mystery of your life (Step 10). It is described as your true self, a self that is not apart from life. It is described as the love of God (Step 24).

[Step 10 “What is Knowledge?” offers a description, but Knowledge is observed from some angle in every step of Steps to Knowledge. While Step 24, “I am worthy of God’s love” doesn’t explicitly describe Knowledge as being the love of God, I am inferring that from Step 10 and the text of Step 24.]

What kind of attitude does a person need to successfully study Steps to Knowledge? A beginner’s mind, and a hunger to fulfill the purpose for which you came to the world. The language is relatively prosaic, and the readability level is roughly that of a high school freshman.

[On further review, a couple of other things are also required. Steps to Knowledge requires a student to be able to receive assistance from sources they hadn’t previously considered. Steps to Knowledge teaches that it takes a certain self-esteem to approach the great mystery of one’s life. I wrote this post on the readability level of Steps to Knowledge using various metrics.]

What kind of effect will practicing Steps to Knowledge have on a person? It will not necessarily make you rich or famous, but it might take the cravings for wealth and fame out of you. It will not get you the sexual encounter of your dreams, but it will prepare you to find the people you came into the world to find and bless. It will not necessarily put you into a position of influence, but it will definitely make you stronger, more focused, less ambivalent on the inside. Chances are good that Steps to Knowledge will suck a lot of the poison of judgment, blame and self-condemnation out of your soul. Chances are good that Steps to Knowledge will assist you in putting the events of your life in an empowering context. Chances are good that Steps to Knowledge will provide resources for serving a troubled world, while maintaining your own well-being.

[How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world? I’d like to think I’m doing so right now.]

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I Strive To Scratch The Itches Of A Ghost

Posted on July 8, 2014 by Douglas

There is something I find curious about Step 95, “How can I possibly fulfill myself?” of Steps to Knowledge. The word “possibly” is used a total of five times before Step 95, and the context is usually to cut off hope of something. For example, in Step 87, “I will not be afraid of what I know,” I am told that my personal mind cannot possibly understand my greater purpose. This is the first time the word “possibly” appears in the step itself. Steps to Knowledge frequently uses rhetorical questions, but this is the first time that the step is in the form of a rhetorical question. It is as if Steps to Knowledge is spending some of the capital it has accumulated with me by reducing my suffering in previous steps. Steps to Knowledge is questioning something that it didn’t occur to me to question, claiming that I strive to scratch the itches of a ghost.

I strive to scratch the itches of a ghost

When Steps to Knowledge says that Knowledge is my True Self in Step 10, “What is Knowledge?”, it’s not claiming that my individuality, my body and personality is a false self. Rather, it is claiming that my individuality is an incomplete self, a secondary self, a vehicle for my true self. If this is true, then the efforts I make to fulfill myself are equivalent to making efforts to fulfill a suit I wear, or a house I live in, or a car I drive.

Someone is reading this and thinking “But Douglas, that’s, that’s…” Crazy? We prefer the word “confused.” This state of affairs is the consequence of living in a world where people believe what they want to believe. This state of affairs is the consequence of living in a world where people want to be separate to be unique. I strive to scratch the itches of a ghost.

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Mystery of Ascension

A great mystery / Is my true self that I bring / From my ancient home

Tag Archives: Step 10

Approve Me Or Disapprove Me

Approve me or disapprove me

What Happened? A Man Of Knowledge Happened!

What happened? A man of Knowledge happened!

We Don’t Ask For Much, Only Your Sainthood

We don’t ask for much, only your sainthood

My People Are Reckless Blabbermouths

My people are reckless blabbermouths

A New Message From God? Why Is It Here?

A New Message from God? Why is it here?

Ready, Willing, Capable, Permitted

Ready, willing, capable, permitted

An Antidote For Discouragement

An antidote for discouragement

Consider That In Your Calculations

Consider that in your calculations

How Shall I Prepare To Serve A Troubled World?

How shall I prepare to serve a troubled world? This might help. A lot

I Strive To Scratch The Itches Of A Ghost

I strive to scratch the itches of a ghost