Tag Archives: Step 60

Consider That In Your Calculations

Posted on by
Reply

put-option-vs-call-option Consider that in your calculations.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.

* * *

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.

The World Needs Knowledge

Posted on by
Reply

When I affirm that the world needs knowledge, I mean the world needs Knowledge as it is referred to in the many revelations of the New Message from God in general and in Steps to Knowledge in particular.

What precisely is meant by this Knowledge may still be puzzling to some. It is hard to define. It is easier to say what it is not, rather than what it is. It is not facts and figures, it is not a body of data to be found in books or on other information carriers, it is not something that can be charted or systemized. For me, it is an inner knowing that transcends all understanding.

I find a very satisfactory definition in one of the New Message books called Greater Community Spirituality. Chapter Four is titled “What is Knowledge?”

What is Knowledge? In the Greater Community, Knowledge is the essence and substance of all religious experience. It transcends the expressions of this experience in terms of theology, devotional ritual and spiritual practices, which vary considerably from one world to another world. However, the essence of spirituality—the motivating factor in religion, the real call of religious experience—is Knowledge. Knowledge represents your bond and your intrinsic relationship with all life. Yet Knowledge has a specific mission for you in this life—a mission which you are encouraged to discover, to accept, to integrate and to fulfill.

In other words, Knowledge is not everything within you; Knowledge is your connection to everything. Knowledge is intelligent; it is here for a purpose. Knowledge is the part of your mind that is spiritual and permanent. It is the part of your mind that knows who you are and why you have come here, who you must reach and what you must accomplish. Knowledge is within you now, but you cannot lay hold to it. It is not there for you to acquire and to use. Rather, you have an opportunity to come back into relationship with Knowledge.

This coming back into relationship with Knowledge is not an intellectual pursuit, it is something that requires practice.

Another extremely enlightening book is Wisdom from the Greater Community. In Vol. 2, Chapter 34: Walking the Way of Knowledge, it says:

Knowledge is like a garden. It will emerge naturally within you as you are capable of receiving it, accepting it and experiencing it. This requires desire and capacity. Progressing in The Way of Knowledge requires desire. This cannot be a casual interest or a fleeting impulse. This must be something that you feel is important.

I feel this is important, which is why I am taking Steps to Knowledge and attempting to internalize what they are teaching me. I see this as part of a greater endeavor to sow the seeds of Knowledge in the world. For the world needs Knowledge.

The world needs Knowledge

In another chapter from Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 23: How is Knowledge translated in the Greater Community? I read:

This will give you the satisfaction of experiencing and expressing a greater purpose in life, a satisfaction that is unparalleled by any pleasure or any advantage that the world can bestow upon you.

In this context, I recalled something I wrote a while back in reference to my blogging in this space, “I have found my participation in this venture to be one of the most fulfilling and satisfying things I have ever done.”

I reiterate these words today as I practice Step 60 of Steps to Knowledge: The Book of Inner Knowing “I Will Not Judge the World Today.”

Once the world has been recognized, you will realize how much it needs you and how much you will want to give to it. The world does not need blame. It needs service. It needs truth. And above all, it needs Knowledge.

I wish to make my contribution to a world that needs Knowledge.

* * *

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.

Today I Will Keep Looking And Wondering

Posted on by
1

Today I will keep looking and wondering. The older brother of the prodigal son had stopped.

Without the habit of moral sloth known as judgment, you can see. If I don’t make a declaration regarding the being of another based on a momentary snapshot of their behavior, then I can learn. Without ceasing to observe and wonder about the potential motivations of someone’s behavior, your mind becomes open.

Step 76, “Today I will not judge another” of Steps to Knowledge directs students to contemplate the contrast between the judging which occurs in the normal course of events, and the experience of looking without judgment. I am told that without judgment, I will not suffer under my own crown of thorns.

Today I will keep looking and wondering

In Step 60, “I will not judge the world today,” I practiced not judging the world on an hourly basis. Step 76 asks for a little bit more, asking me to practice not judging the people in my world on an hourly basis.

I hereby confess to you that at the time I did this step (in the summer of 2010), I was fully persuaded that President Obama would lie awake at night, savoring his successes and plotting his next assault on American values and freedom. When I did this step, I saw a picture for a few moments of a bewildered President Obama desiring divine assistance and guidance. My mind was a little bit more open for a little while.

One way the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi could be worded is “O Divine Master, grant that I might seek not so much to not be judged, as to not judge another, not so much to be looked at and wondered about, as to look at and wonder about.” Today I will keep looking and wondering.

* * *

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.

I Will Let Love Rule Today

Posted on by
Reply

This is the second in a series of three posts regarding the Step 70 review of Steps to Knowledge. In this review, three weeks worth of practice, from Step 50 to Step 69.  The first post in the series covered the Step 70 review of Steps 50 through 55. Step 56 was a review. This post will examine my Step 70 review of Steps 57 through 62, with some commentary.

I will let love rule today

Step 57 – “Freedom is with me today” – “I was not very good on hourly practice in this or any of the steps before Step 70 requiring hourly practice.” In my Step 63 review of this Step, I wrote “Freedom is doing what I know, being my True Self. Slavery is to follow my surface thoughts, the surface thoughts of others.” Between then and now, I’ve gotten more consistent at hourly practice by using my cell phone as an hourly alarm.

Step 58 – “Knowledge is with me” – “It is encouraging to even contemplate the possibility that Knowledge knows I’m approaching it, and likes it.” In my Step 63 review of this Step, I wrote “Knowledge desires to enfold my little self in itself. Someone on the inside has heard about it. My little efforts of my little part has caught the attention of Knowledge, my True Self, the God Seed within me. That is a comforting and encouraging thought.” The line “Someone on the inside has heard about it” comes from Minnesota poet Robert Bly, describing the experience of someone starting on a spiritual path.

Step 59 – “Today I will learn patience” – “Observe me without judgment. Observe the world without judgment. Repeat until eternity.” In my Step 63 review of this Step, I wrote “I am so impatient! I want half of America to change its beliefs right now! I damn myself for not going straight toward Knowledge right now! Time and time again I am told to observe without judgment.” I was much more politically opinionated when I did this Step than I am now. Is this a good thing? Maybe. I know I am suffering less about the things politicians say and do. Am I being more patient with politicians? Maybe.

Step 60 – “I will not judge the world today” – “See above. [the commentary on the previous step]” In my Step 63 review of this Step, I wrote “My standard m. o. [modus operandi, way of doing things when left to my own devices] is to judge, judge, judge. When I think that this is the world I have come to serve, I hear the voice of Timon in The Lion King saying ‘Whoa! Talk about your fixer upper!’ Every so often I hear ‘America is in need of the New Message’ not judging America as it plunges toward ruin.”

Step 61 – “Love gives of itself through me” – “Not judging is letting love rule, express itself.” I’m not a big Lenny Kravitz fan, but this song got me. If I don’t judge today, I will let love rule today.

Step 62 – “Today I will learn to listen to life” – “Being present is not judging is letting love rule.” If I am present with others, I will let love rule today.

* * *

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.

Judgment Departs, Love Remains

Posted on by
Reply

Mercy triumphs over judgment - judgment departs love remains

Once upon a time, I heard a Christian preacher make the following argument: 1) Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1, NIV), 2) God is love (1 John 4:8, NIV), 3) Love is patient, kind, and numerous other desirable qualities (1 Corinthians 13), 4) Therefore, it is consistent for a Christian to affirm or confess that they possess the desirable qualities of 1 Corinthians 13, since they are born of the source of those qualities.

Steps to Knowledge expands upon statement 1).  We were told back in Step 24, “I am worthy of God’s love,” that at the very core of ourselves, we are God’s love:

“You are indeed worthy of God’s love. In fact, you really are God’s love. Without pretense of any kind, at the very core of yourself, this is your True Self. It is not the Self you yet experience, and until you do experience it, do not pretend that this is your experience. But hold in true awareness that this is your Self. You are a person, but you are greater than a person. How can you be unworthy of God’s love if that is what you are?”

It’s not just people who believe certain things that are born of God; people are born of God.  It takes some effort to reclaim one’s birthright.

Judgment departs, love remains

Step 61, “Love gives of itself through me,” follows from Step 60, “I will not judge the world today,” in my opinion.  The point is not to make an explicit effort to be loving, but to open to love’s expressing itself.  The Step didn’t say this, but I got the idea that love could express itself more freely in the absence of judgment.

As I pondered this Step, I saw a picture in my mind’s eye.  In this picture, the pronouns in the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear were replaced with the word “Love,” and the word “fear” was replaced with the word “judgment.”  It made the last three lines like this.

Love will permit judgment to pass over love and through love
And when judgment has gone past, love will turn the inner eye to see judgment’s path
Where the judgment has gone there will be nothing…Only love will remain.

Judgment departs, love remains.  Try it on and see how it feels.

* * *

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.

Judge Not The World

Posted on by
1

Judge Not The World

Some of the teachings of Steps to Knowledge challenge the habits of a lifetime.  Steps to Knowledge seems to recognize this, and repeats certain teachings from different angles from time to time.  Step 60, “I will not judge the world today” is an instance of this.  The idea of observing without judgment was introduced in Step 29, “I will observe myself today to learn of Knowledge.”  Where does judgment come from?  Reality is weighed against our ideals and found wanting.  Therefore, to escape judgment, I need to become less invested in my ideals.  This is the idea behind Step 55, “I will accept the world as it is.”

Judge not the world

I do not consider this to be a novel teaching.

I consider this teaching to follow from the teaching of Jesus, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.” (Matthew 7:1, New International Version)

I consider this teaching to be a confirmation of the words of Mother Teresa (“Blessed Teresa of Kolkata” to you), “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”  In my mind, putting Matthew 7:1 and the words of Mother Teresa together yields “Love, and you too will be loved.”

I consider this teaching to confirm the teaching of Lesson 352 of the Workbook for Students in A Course in Miracles, “Judgment and love are opposites. From one come all the sorrows of the world.  But from the other comes the peace of God Himself.”

When someone tells a lie, they have to go to substantial efforts to keep the rest of their testimony consistent with that lie.  When someone judges someone else, it is a certainty that someone else will have the opposite judgment.  It therefore follows that people go to substantial efforts to justify their own judgments.  I know, for I have made these substantial efforts.  I had to find out the hard way that it wasn’t worth it.

*

* * *

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.