Step One Hundred and Ninety-Six

Step 196. Review

Today review the past two weeks of preparation. Read each day’s instructions and then review your experience of practice for that day. Begin with the first day in the two-week period, and follow each day step by step. You will now begin to review your preparation in two-week intervals. This is given you to do now because your perception and comprehension are beginning to bud and to grow.

Remember each day. Try to recall your practice and experience. The lessons themselves will recall this experience to you if you have forgotten. Try to see the progression of learning so that you may understand how to learn. Try to see that which confirms Knowledge and that which denies Knowledge within yourself so that you may learn to work with these tendencies.

Becoming a true student of Knowledge will require greater self-discipline, greater consistency of application and greater acceptance of worth than anything you have undertaken thus far. Following prepares you to become a leader, for all great leaders are great followers. If the source of your leadership represents goodness and truth, then you surely must learn to follow it. And to follow it, you must learn how to learn of it, how to receive it and how to give it.

Let your long review time today, which may exceed two hours of involvement, be a review of the past two weeks, keeping all of these things in mind. Become objective about your life. There is no condemnation that is necessary here, for you are learning to learn, you are learning to follow and you are learning to employ Knowledge, as Knowledge will certainly employ you. Here Knowledge and you come together in true matrimony and in true harmony. Then Knowledge is more powerful, and you are more powerful. There is no inequality here, and all things find their natural course of expression.

Use this review to further and deepen your comprehension of your preparation, keeping in mind that understanding always comes in hindsight. This is a great truth in The Way of Knowledge.

Practice 196: One long practice period.

Here you will find the entire book free for download http://stepstoknowledge.com/

Here you will find pointers for getting started if this is your first encounter with this practice: Taking the Steps to Knowledge.

September 29, 2013 Round One: I’ve spent quite a while on this review (going on two weeks) and many things are revealing themselves in sharper relief. I am beginning to distinguish between “that which confirms Knowledge and that which denies Knowledge” within myself. And I am beginning to appreciate the vastness of the tasks posed – “greater self-discipline, greater consistency of application and greater acceptance of worth.” Quite a challenge!

There are so many powerful practices that these two weeks of Steps call on me to become engaged in – experiencing Spiritual Family, entering the Greater Community, learning to listen to others without judgment, and understanding that although I am small, I have the potential for greatness and it would be very unwise not to use this gift.

Very pertinent words for me in this review are "keeping in mind that understanding always comes in hindsight." Now how true is that!

I feel ready to go on.

February 14, 2015 Round Two: Armed with the understanding I have gained in hindsight, I am more aware of and more in tune with Knowledge this time. That which confirms Knowledge and that which denies Knowledge are coming into ever sharper focus. The words “Here Knowledge and you come together in true matrimony and in true harmony” stand out for me.

This has been two weeks of powerful Steps. The shift has moved in Part Two from myself to a more expansive view of my place in the world, and not only in this world, but in the universe, in the Greater Community of worlds. This review has brought the realization that I have come into the world at this important turning point in its evolution for a specific reason. It is no accident that I am here now. What will I do with this realization? I will do my own small part.

January 14, 2019 Round Three: I keep in mind that understanding always comes in hindsight. This is a great truth in The Way of Knowledge. I will take some time to do this review.

January 14, 2019 Step 183. I seek experience not answers. I did this Step on January 1 and was feeling calm, harmonious and in balance, looking forward to what 2019 will bring. I decided to withdraw to the extent possible from the NM worldwide community and just do what is needed for the Russian translation of the NM and engage with the people involved in that. I can do that without getting bogged down in personal relationships. I understand this Step to mean that I should not be analyzing things too much, but just allowing life to happen, just being in the moment and experiencing what I am experiencing. I do not need definitions, or plans, or schemes. I know the general direction I am headed and just need to get on with my daily life. I ask questions of Knowledge and then receive the experience Knowledge gives me.


January 15, 2019 Step 184. My questions are greater than I had realized before. I did this Step on January 2, the day I received an email from Doug about MoA and the blocked IP addresses in Russia and his message on FB about writing a post to reflect the progress in Russian translation of the NM. I was flummoxed and it confirmed my decision to withdraw. I have always wanted to know why and asked a lot of questions – I still do. But now I realize that questions only skim the surface, there is much more I just need to experience and then I will know. This sentence spoke to me as I read the Step again: “…you are seeking to find the preparation that will enable you to contribute your gifts so that your work in the world may be complete.” I had not zoned in on this before. I truly am seeking to accomplish what I am meant to do in the world this time, so I don’t have to come back.

Step 185. I have come into the world for a purpose. My purpose may not be to build a house. And I will not allow myself to become too tied up with the financial aspect. I will go with the flow and trust that enough money will be there to do what is necessary. The builders have named 200,000 rubles (approx. $3000) for dismantling the old walls and replacing the roof. There is work to be done and it must be paid for. I have to reconcile myself to that and know that all will be provided as needed. If my purpose is to do something else, it will be shown to me in good time. I did this Step on January 3, the day the boys all came to visit. Greg gave us $1500 toward the house expenses. I am doing this for the family as much as for myself. For their future. I just realized the connection between receiving this extra money and what I am writing here.

Step 186. I am born of an Ancient Heritage. I did this Step on January 4. I came to a deeper understanding of Spiritual Family and the importance of reclaiming relationships while I am in the world to be carried forward beyond my life here. I feel a deeper connection with my sister, my sons, and my daughter. I understand the concept of working with a small group and when we are ready, we join with other groups to form larger bodies of Knowledge. I am here this time to work towards this understanding and reclaim the relationships necessary for this. It is mysterious and cannot be analyzed. I am going with the flow. I enjoyed the boys being with me on this day, the ease and harmony and peace I felt in their presence. It confirmed what this Step is teaching.

The builders began working on the plot, removing the roof to dismantle the old logs. They named a price of 265,000 rubles (approx. $4000) for all the dismantling and replacing the roof.

January 16, 2019 Step 187. I am a citizen of the Greater Community of Worlds. I did this Step on January 5, the day my husband and the boys left for Moscow. It was a short but sweet visit and I felt a bit down and sad after they left.

I am a Greater Community person. This I know, but I cannot conjure up pictures about this, since reality is always greater than imagination. But I know I am here to help humanity make its transition at this time. If not by specific action, but by my mentality and understanding of what is happening. I am contributing to the mental environment, which is a powerful environment. I am reclaiming Knowledge, which is the answer to all our dilemmas. I am doing my small part, just because I am consciously aware of this. “Understanding is born of true affinity and experience.”

Step 188. My life in this world is more important than I had realized. I did this Step on January 6, feeling blah and not with it, but my hunches are proving true. I do realize that my life in this world is important, something greater than I can imagine, and I am not here by accident. This greatness is what I carry within me. “It may be expressed in the simplest of lifestyles and in the simplest of activities.” I understand how the small can serve the great. My personal mind and physical body are small and are meant to serve the greatness of Knowledge. I get this. It integrates me. My mind is either actively engaged in investigation, or it is still.

Step 189. My Spiritual Family exists in all places. I did this Step on January 7. I came to a greater understanding of my spiritual family and its potential members in this world with me at this time. I appreciate what it says in this step about health being important for the body and application/utilization important for the personal mind. I am focusing on these things in my life – healthy body, healthy mind. I understand that I am more than a human being, I have a connection beyond this world and am merely spending time in a physical body here to develop more understanding and resolution. I am not caught up in human assumptions, values and goals, so I am able to see the world’s purpose and evolution and appreciate that I am a citizen of a greater life.

The workers dismantled the old logs and found them wanting. Many are too rotten to use for the smaller house. Pavel calculated how much it would cost to build using new logs – he named a price of 400,000 rubles (about $6000). Seems too cheap to me, but we shall see. Things are moving along.

January 17, 2019 Step 190. The world is emerging into the Greater Community of worlds and that is why I have come. I have come into the world at this important turning point to contribute and do my part. The crucial concept here is “turning point.” The world needs to unite to accomplish this great transition. We are not there yet, it will be going on for years to come. I am here to help it on its way. I can do this by reclaiming Knowledge and living the Way of Knowledge. I did this Step on January 8, the day my husband arrived back safe and sound from Moscow with a load more stuff.

Step 191. My Knowledge is greater than my humanity. I did this Step on January 9. I like what I wrote in my journal for this Step. “[My] humanity is without meaning unless it serves a greater context and is a part of a Greater Reality.” This sits well with me. I take advantage of the opportunity to be in a body in order to serve in a specific way. This expresses my greatness and prevents me from feeling the restraint of being in a body and my physical existence. I am greater than my humanity, so I am free to serve.

Step 192. I will not neglect small things today. I did this Step on January 10. I appreciate the concept of doing small things without complaint because they do not belittle me, but allow me to express my greatness. Because I am greater than my humanity, I can take joy in doing small things and through small activities my life becomes stable and progresses properly. This feels sound and solid.

January 18, 2019 Step 193. I shall listen to others without judgment today. I am not trying to control the world – this jumped out at me today. And it is appropriate for what I was experiencing the day I did this Step on January 11. I was listening to the builders, but I was not saying anything, I was not interfering or trying to control. My task is to experience myself in life and to allow Knowledge to arise, for Knowledge will give itself when and where it is appropriate. I feel this is what I am doing now. I am experiencing myself in life and not trying to control the outcome. I am going where Knowledge is taking me. I feel the builders are good and all will be well.

Step 194. I will go where I am needed today. I went where I was needed the day I did this Step (January 12). I was able to access the community site after a long hiatus. I must be independent of false things to follow that which is true. I understand this Step. I understand about not placing artificial demands on myself, not doing things that are not really right for me out of a sense of guilt and obligation.

January 19, 2019 Step 195. Knowledge is more powerful than I realize. I am strengthening my resolve to feel the power of Knowledge, and thus my self-discipline. I totally accept that Knowledge is more powerful than I realize and I cannot fathom things for myself. I need to trust that Knowledge will take me where I need to go and ultimately show me the truth. I did this Step on January 13 when we were still not sure how all would go with the builders. Now they have dismantled the old logs and put the roof back on. Now they have given us an estimate for building the house we want just now (700,000 rubles, or approx. $10,000 - which includes doing the second floor and roof). Sasha has gone to Moscow to get the money. It is enough to do what we need to do at this stage. All is going in the right direction. I trust the power of Knowledge. I know that it is capable of doing things in my life beyond my wildest imagination.