Step Two Hundred and Eighty-Six

Lake Vorobenets, Valdai National Park, Russia

Step 286. I Carry Stillness Into The World With Me Today.

Carry stillness with you. Allow your inner life to be quiet as you move in the world of turbulence and confusion. There is nothing for you to resolve in your thoughts now, for you are learning to be with Knowledge. Knowledge will organize your thinking and give it true uniformity and direction. Carry stillness with you and be certain that all of your internal conflicts will be resolved through Knowledge, for you are following the source of their resolution. Each day will bring you closer to peace and fulfillment. And that which haunted you before and cast great dark clouds over your mind will simply be escaped as you walk the path of Knowledge.

Carry stillness with you into the world. This will enable you to be truly observant. This will enable you to see the world as it is. This will enable you to diffuse the world’s conflict, for here you are teaching peace by being at peace. This is not a false peace that you are teaching. It is born of a true association with Knowledge, for you are following Knowledge here. You are allowing Knowledge to provide the direction. You can only do this in stillness.

Think not that stillness will render you incapable of genuine activity in the world. You will be active in the world, and you will participate in its mechanism, but you may be still inside as you do so. You will find, to your great delight, that you will be far more competent, more effective and far more responsive to others, with greater involvement and productivity as you carry this stillness into the world. Here your energy may be expressed in the world in a meaningful way. Here all the powers of your mind and your body are being contributed and are not wasted in internal conflict. Therefore, you become more powerful and effective, more certain and productive as you carry stillness into the world.

Throughout the day remind yourself that you are carrying stillness into the world, and in your two deep meditation practices seek the refuge of stillness. Escape the world that your senses report, and enter the serenity and the sanctuary of stillness and Knowledge. You will find as you proceed that your two longer practice periods will be times of great rest and relief, great moments of rejuvenation. They are where you attend the holy chapel of the Holy Spirit each day. They are where you and God meet through Knowledge

These practice periods, then, become the highlight of each day as you learn to receive the gifts that are being presented to you. You will look forward to your practice sessions as an opportunity to regenerate and to refresh yourself, to find true inspiration and comfort and to enable your mind to become stronger and stronger with Knowledge so that you may carry peace and stillness into the world.

Practice 286: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.

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.

March 22, 2014 Round One: This Step holds so much hope and promise. I love the thought of carrying stillness with me into the world, of operating from this place of stillness from which emanates peace.

"There is nothing for you to resolve in your thoughts now, for you are learning to be with Knowledge."

I can stop beating against the current and be still, confident that all will be revealed in due time, for I trust Knowledge to guide and direct me.

"This will enable you to diffuse the world’s conflict, for here you are teaching peace by being at peace."

I have been visualizing during my practice this wave of peace going out into the world, an all-encompassing stillness that is all-nurturing and all-healing.

"You will find, to your great delight, that you will be far more competent, more effective and far more responsive to others, with greater involvement and productivity as you carry this stillness into the world. Here your energy may be expressed in the world in a meaningful way."

I am holding onto these words, this is what I wish for, this is what I strive for.

"You will find as you proceed that your two longer practice periods will be times of great rest and relief, great moments of rejuvenation."

Yes indeed! This is my experience. I usually do this practice out in the woods, in a grove of silver birches. I have always called this place my "sanctuary," the place where I commune with the God of my understanding, "where [I] attend the holy chapel of the Holy Spirit each day," "where [I] and God meet through Knowledge." I can identify with this so much.

May 23, 2015 Round Two: Again this is the perfect Step for me today. It fills me with great calm and reassurance after my inner turmoil and negative thoughts yesterday.

“Carry stillness with you and be certain that all of your internal conflicts will be resolved through Knowledge, for you are following the source of their resolution.”

This is my answer, and today I feel at peace.

“And that which haunted you before and cast great dark clouds over your mind will simply be escaped as you walk the path of Knowledge.”

This is my experience today.

And I do look forward to my practice periods as times of rejuvenation and refreshment, a time when I gain inspiration and new energy. I attend the holy chapel and find rest and relief.

“These practice periods, then, become the highlight of each day as you learn to receive the gifts that are being presented to you.”

I recalled a song from way back, one I remember listening to a lot as a teenager. One of those oldies but goodies that never dies. It resonates with this Step for me.

April 21, 2019 Round Three: I am feeling in a much better frame of mind today. Whatever was haunting me and casting great dark clouds over my mind has dissipated and I feel as though I am back at the helm, in control of my emotions and anchored to my inner life. I am to allow my inner life to be quiet as I move in the world of turbulence and confusion. There is nothing for me to resolve in my thoughts now. I will be certain that all my internal conflicts will be resolved through Knowledge. My stillness practices are times when I attend the holy chapel of the Holy Spirit each day. They are where I and God meet through Knowledge. I am appreciating this today. I am grateful for this time of having the money to continue building our house without driving myself to work. I will work when the time comes, but for now I am enjoying the rest and reprieve while still moving along with the building. I continue to conjure up images of living in our house on our plot and how magnificent it will be. Knowledge is calling me there.