PART  2| MAY 2018 | THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE

Study and Learn

Read and/or listen to the revelation The Power of Knowledge. This revelation will be part of the forthcoming One Book of the New Message from God, Volume 1, Book 6: The Power of Knowledge. Explore further the revelation The Return – which presents the bigger picture of what our studenthood in The Way of Knowledge is really about and where it is taking us.

Write down or highlight any important passages that you find speak to you specifically or for which you have questions, issues or concerns. Several times a week, re-read these passages and be with these statements and bring them to the weekly Free School Campfire Chat.

Practice and Apply

Deepen your practice of Steps to Knowledge:

What is Steps to Knowledge to you?

Whether you are currently doing Steps or are looking to begin, spend time considering what this pathway of preparation really is. Spend time with the Introduction, the index of Steps and the text of the book itself. What is this preparation that you are undertaking and what is really happening through your studenthood and application of it? Come back to the truth of what you are doing here as a student.

What is the condition of your practice now and how can you proceed?

Step back and take stock of the condition of your studenthood. Whether you feel your studenthood is strong or weak at this time, an honest assessment is important in establishing your starting point at this moment and finding your commitment to continue on, or get back up, or begin anew—whatever the need is for you now. Consider what your needs are as a student now in light of where you stand.

How can you renew your Steps practice into your life?

Now look at how you can bring Steps back into your daily life. Whether it is more presence of mind, compassion or holding back certain tendencies, what is it you could do that would bring Steps into your day? How can you bring the hourly practice into your day? How can you come back to the title or question or core truth presented in each Step throughout the day? Consider what kind of personal organization or structured system, journal, calendar or reminder will help you maintain awareness of your studenthood and of Knowledge throughout the day. Consider what will strengthen your conviction and determination as a student.

Integrate your meditation practice into your day:

During this session of The Free School, we have the opportunity to renew our commitment to stillness practice and the powerful effect it can have on our lives. Work to integrate one or two meditation practices into your daily life. How can this happen? What needs to change to allow stillness and meditation to be at the center of your life? Along with the Steps Vigil, we have an opportunity these two months to re-establish our Steps and meditation practice amidst the many commitments and activities of our lives.

Deeper Practice:

Self-Knowledge Process

Take an inventory of the different influences in your life that either support or stand in the way of your taking the Steps to Knowledge.

• People, places and things: What is supporting and what is hindering you from going in the direction you must go?
• Fears and desires in the mind: Take an inventory of these two kinds of fears and see how your desires and fears are connected:
  • Fear of not being, doing or having what you want.
  • Fear of losing what you are already doing and have.
• Habits and tendencies: Take an inventory of the habits and tendencies within you that are either supporting you or hindering you from building your connection with Knowledge.
• Write everything down in your Steps Journal and share the results of this process of inquiry with others, if appropriate, in The Free School Campfire Chat or on The Free School Forum.

The revelations that comprise the New Message from God are a multi-level communication.

You can gain access to the many layers of this communication by developing a personal methodology for deeper study.

You can use the criteria below or create your own criteria to explore or “map” the contents of a specific revelation. Or find your own way of deeply engaging with the revelation—through writing, through art, through song or another means of deeply engaging with the New Message. A methodology or tool like this may help you recognize, remember and learn more from the experience of reading the revelations and listening to the Voice of the New Message.

Capture anything that comes up for you in reading or listening to the revelation as it pertains to the criteria you want to use. Preserve these entries in some way for future reference, for example, in a journal or log dedicated to the revelations to which you have applied this methodology. This practice could help bring greater clarity and order to your studenthood.

Sample criteria for Deep Study of the revelations:

• How the revelation speaks to what I must do / not do.
• What the revelation is asking of me.
• Specific teachings presented in this revelation.
• The promises or possibilities spoken of in this particular revelation.
• Human tendencies—what people tend to do.
• Human condition— the physical, mental or emotional challenges that characterize our state and internal/external existence.
• What problems does this revelation reveal — needs, demands, requirements, necessities, crises, difficulties?
• Questions asked of me in this revelation.
• Questions this revelation answers.
• Next steps I see I need to take.
• Practices this revelation calls for me to engage in.
• Terms: specific words or phrases used in this revelation that I want to understand more fully (example: ‘The Great Coordination’).
• What really matters and what does not matter (priorities, timing, imperatives, the ‘must’).
• Does this revelation have special personal meaning for me?
• What may it mean for the Messenger to present this revelation to the world?
• What is the one thing I must do in light of what this revelation is saying to me?