Step Eighteen

Pohutu Geyser can be accessed via the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute in Rotorua, New Zealand.

Step 18. Today I Feel The Truth Arising Within Myself.

The truth must be fully experienced. It is not merely an idea; it is not merely an image, though images and ideas may accompany it. It is an experience, and so it is something that is deeply felt. It may manifest in slightly different ways for those who are beginning to penetrate it, but nonetheless it will arise. It is something you must feel. To have a feeling orientation, your mind must be still. Truth is something you will feel with your entire body, with your entire being.

Knowledge does not speak to you at every moment, but it always holds a message for you. To come into the proximity of Knowledge means that you become more and more like Knowledge itself—more whole, more consistent, more honest, more devoted, more concentrated, more self-disciplined, more compassionate and more self-loving. All of these qualities are developed as you approach that which is the source of these qualities.

It is in this direction that you will practice moving today as you feel the truth arising within yourself. This will join all aspects of you, giving you a uniform experience of yourself. In your three 15- minute practice periods, give your full attention to feeling the truth arising within yourself. Practice in stillness, and do not be discouraged if it is difficult at first. Simply practice and you will proceed.

Throughout the day as well, without doubt or hesitation, pursue your true goal in life. From this true goal will come all of the important things that you will need to accomplish and the great power of vision and discernment that will allow you to find those individuals that you have come into the world to find.

Practice 18: Three 15-minute practice periods.

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.

November 20, 2012 Round One: “The truth must be fully experienced ... It is an experience, and so it is something that is deeply felt. ... Truth is something you will feel with your entire body, with your entire being.”

This confirms for me my own experience with knowing the Truth so far, for me it is just something you know and cannot describe. Words I used to try and describe this feeling in the past are "I just feel it in the core of my being" "feel it in the marrow of my bones." It has to be experienced, felt, and then you just know. That is how it is with me.

July 17, 2014 Round Two: Feeling the truth with my entire being is something I wish to cultivate. This is not something new for me, since I have often had that feeling in the past, when I just “know” with every cell of my body that something is right, this is the right way to go, this is the right thing to do. This is usually because it is already happening and buoying me along, making me feel good, giving me a sense that all is right with the world. There is nothing to question, nothing to doubt, because it is happening and it is good.

First practice – I am feeling ambivalence about my work. I am not enjoying it as I used to, I am not putting in as much effort and time. I want to get it done and out of the way so I can concentrate on New Message projects and related things. I feel my priorities shifting as I continue practicing Steps to Knowledge.

Second practice – “To have a feeling orientation, your mind must be still.” Sometimes thoughts arise after I have drifted off to sleep. I awaken again and often find the thoughts that creep in disturbing. I am not sure if they are true, but they compel me to take a different view of things I have not paid deep enough attention to before. I am asking for clarity and for the truth to arise within me.

Third practice – my true goal in life is to share Knowledge, so this is what I am pursuing today. I wish to allow the truth to arise as it will, without jumping to any foregone conclusions. The truth always becomes apparent in time, I just need to relax, go with the flow, stop worrying about things. This is easier said than done. It is easy to go off on tangents that lead nowhere. The truth is constant and immutable, however. It stays with me no matter where else my mind might take me. The truth will be known in the end.

July 5, 2018 Round Three: I am to experience and feel this truth, not have ideas or images about it, although they may accompany it. This struck me in relation to my dream. The basement may still be an idea or an image, but it is a real place and I feel the reality if being there to weather out a natural disaster--with other people. Village people.

First 15-min practice - 4.56-5.11 - sitting on bench in the garden. It was overcast with some heavy rain clouds on the horizon. Cooler, so no mosquitoes. Masha was jumping around on and off my lap. I went to a place where a geyser was gushing up (like the image in my photoquote for this step), envisioning the truth arising. I still do not know what the truth is but I know from the past that when I experience the truth I feel it to my core and it never fails me.

I got time to do two more 15-min practices during the day - 12.07-12.22 and 16.07-16.22, although I was interrupted right before the end of the third practice by Sasha coming in looking for me because he needed help picking the red currants in the garden. When he asked what I was doing and I told him “meditating,” that was obviously not the right answer. He said he wished he had time to meditate every time he wanted, to which I thought “well let’s count the times you stop for a smoke break.” I think it would amount to more than 3 15-min meditation practices during the day.

I did not have any special insights about the truth arising in me. I feel the truth arises in me fairly regularly since I am open to hearing it and have the desire to know it.