Step Three Hundred and Seven

Guest house at the back of my garden with grapevine and white peonies

Step 307. Knowledge Is Living Within Me Now.

Knowledge is living within you, and you are learning to live with Knowledge. Thus, all darkness and illusion are dispelled from your mind as you come to realize what your life has always been and will always be. As you realize the changelessness of your true existence, you will realize how it wishes to express itself in the world of change. Your Knowledge is greater than your mind, greater than your body and greater than your definitions of yourself. It is changeless yet ever changing in its expression. Beyond fear, doubt and destruction it abides within you, and as you learn to abide with it, all of its qualities will become your own.

There is nothing that the world can provide that can in any way compare to this, for all the world’s gifts are momentary and transitory. As you honor them, your fear of losing them will increase. As you hold them to yourself, your anxiety about death and destruction will be enhanced, and you will re-enter confusion and frustration. But with Knowledge, you may possess things in the world without identifying with them. You may receive them and release them according to the necessity of doing so. Then, the great anxiety of the world will not affect you, but the power of Knowledge that you carry will affect the world. In this way, you will affect the world more than it affects you. In this way, you will be a contributor to the world. In this way, the world will be blessed.

Rejuvenate yourself in Knowledge in your deeper practice periods in stillness and remind yourself upon the hour of the power of Knowledge that you carry this day. Let not any doubt or uncertainty dissuade you, for here doubt and uncertainty are completely unnatural. You are learning to become natural because what could be more natural than being yourself? And what could be more yourself than Knowledge itself?

Practice 307: 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.

April 16, 2014 Round One: This is one of those mysterious Steps full of wondrous words and concepts that can only be soaked in rather than understood and analyzed. Steps often says that students should not try to understand, for much of what Steps is teaching is beyond comprehension. As a student I can only trust that as I progress the mysterious things that Steps teaches will become clear and known to me. I wish to be a vehicle of Knowledge in the world and carry the power of Knowledge into the world, knowing that nothing the world can give me can compare with the gifts of Knowledge. This is not something I can expect my mind to fully grasp today, but I trust it will be my experience as I continue.

June 13, 2015 Round Two: I felt confusion and anxiety for a while today after hearing my husband’s commentary following a phone call from Volodya (the owner of the house we are living in). He called to clarify the plans for July when people will be gathering here to commemorate the first anniversary of his wife’s passing. He has spoken of this event from the very beginning and said he will be here for a couple of weeks in July. I have been seeking a natural way to sidestep this event, the most natural being for us to go on our annual fishing/camping trip at this time. So this is what we will do. However, my husband has been voicing negative thoughts about how stable our presence here is and about the possibility of Volodya changing his mind and deciding he doesn’t need us here any more. I get sucked in and his fears infect me. I also know that our situation here may not be permanent, things can change in an instant, and I must be ready for this. So I will just enjoy the blessings while I can.

And today I read in this Step:

“But with Knowledge, you may possess things in the world without identifying with them. You may receive them and release them according to the necessity of doing so.”

So perfect. And deep down I know that the blessings will continue.

Day 19 of the 2015 Steps Vigil hosted by James with a testimonial by Keiko (Italy), Patricia (Denmark), and Jeffrey (Georgia). So validating for me.

P.S. I also found validation today in Tom C.’s Steps to Knowledge blog:

Wisdom from the Greater Community, Vol. I, p. 367 “Knowledge is very close at hand, but you cannot grasp it. Yet, it is available when you begin to ask what you know about things.”

May 11, 2019 Round Three: My true existence is changeless, Knowledge is changeless, yet ever changing in its expression. I do not identify with my possessions, so I may receive them and release them according to the necessity of doing so. So the great anxiety of the world will not affect me and I can become a contributor to the world. I am not sure what all this means. Is my house in the country a possession? I feel it is more a symbol of my life, the work I have put in to achieve something, but not for myself, for the future, for my children and beyond. I need to build this house to have a place to live so I can save for the big house. Living in Volodya’s house does not provide us with a strong foundation, it is too precarious, it is not long-lasting. But I do not want to be invested in this house to the extent I cannot let it go. I wish our house to serve me in the world, contribute to my service in the world.