Tag Archives: Step 95

Step 2. Knowledge is with me. Where am I? – Photoquoting

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Step2-Triathlon-WordPress-FitThe people in this picture are actually trying to get somewhere. They’re trying to get to the end of the swimming portion of a triathlon. But this picture captured my answer to the question of Step 2 “Knowledge is with me. Where am I?” of Steps to Knowledge. I was thrashing and flailing on the turbulent surface of my mind.

Knowledge is with me. Where am I?

It seems to be a good thing to think about the steps in both words and pictures. It seems to be a good thing to put a post with this picture along with the other posts which mention Step 2.

I am currently on the Step 42 Review, the second time through Steps to Knowledge.

I am currently blogging about Step 95, “How can I possibly fulfill myself?” I seem to be on a bit of a dither. I am confronted with the inadequacy of my words to convey the experience. If I write something about Step 95, and someone reads it, without grasping the significant amount of preparation that has taken place in Steps 1 through 94, have I helped?

I have made photoquotes for Step 1 through Step 16, “Beyond my mind is Knowledge,” without doing the Review steps (Steps 7 and 14). I’m managing to keep the photoquotes page current, more or less. I am experiencing a certain flow of enthusiasm regarding photoquotes.

I have only made posts of photoquotes for the first two steps. This may take a while, but I’d like to believe I’ll get around to it.

Knowledge is with me. Where am I? I am a little of the way up the mountain. I am a student. I am a marginally competent student. I am a student who is increasing in competence. I am someone who is doing the work of reclaiming Knowledge. I am someone who is learning to learn without fear, without ambition. If Knowledge possesses a perfect utilization of my nature, then where do I sign up?

Alisa writes:

This picture shows up on many spiritual websites that address purpose, meaning and direction in life, but I do not know who made it. It resonated with me because when I did Step 2, I saw myself standing at the bottom of a stairway, a stairway leading upwards, with something gleaming and beckoning at the top. Knowledge shines like a beacon and I have the urge to reach it. Where am I? I am at the bottom ready to ascend.

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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.

I Strive To Scratch The Itches Of A Ghost

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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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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.

Don’t Let Me Forget

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Rabindranath Tagore. Don't let me forgetI recalled this poem by Rabindranath Tagore as I contemplated Step 95 “How can I possibly fulfill myself?” of Steps to Knowledge. Here is the portion of Step 95 which sparked a memory:

“Only in fantasy and imagination can you possibly even entertain the idea of fulfilling yourself. There is no fulfillment here, only increasing confusion. As the years progress, you will feel a growing darkness within you, as if a great opportunity has been lost. Do not lose this opportunity to realize life as it truly exists and to receive fulfillment as it is truly offered to you.”

Don’t let me forget

I recall Step 95 having a significant impact on me when I did it in October of 2011. I consider this another step to be addressed in a series of posts, like Step 26, “My errors give birth to my Knowledge,” and Step 51, “Let me recognize my fears so that I may see beyond them.” I am letting Rabindranath Tagore open the discussion. This is a slightly modernized version provided by Robert Bly. The original version is here.

If I am not to meet you again in this life then I want to feel that I have missed the meeting, don’t let me forget, let me feel the pain of it in my dreams and while awake.

As the time passes in the black dust of the body, and I get fat with money, I want to feel that I have gotten nothing out of it all — don’t let me forget, I want to feel the slivers of pain in my dreams and while awake.

When I walk up the steps, exhausted and tense after a long trip, or when I climb into some lonely bed, I want to feel that the long trip is still ahead of me — don’t let me forget, I want to feel the pain in my legs both while asleep and while awake.

When my house is all cleaned, and drinks are set here and there, and I hear people laughing, I want to feel that I haven’t invited you to my house — don’t let me forget, I want to feel the pain of that grief both while asleep and while awake.

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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.