The world

Directives

"Do not, then, condemn the world when in fact it creates the right conditions for your redemption."

"When you are out in the world, you should be focused on your environment. Do not be listening to music on your headset. Do not be talking endlessly on your telephone. Do not be dreaming and imagining your mind far away from where you are. You must be watching and listening.

When you step out the door of your home, you must be paying attention to your environment, to discern what is occurring there, to discern any hazards or any changes in approach that are necessary for you. If people would do this, they would make far fewer mistakes and avoid terrible catastrophes. It only takes one moment of not paying attention to end your life or to alter it completely. The animals know this. They are paying attention. People do not know this. They are not paying attention. So, in spite of their greater intelligence and capabilities, they are far more prone to make foolish and unnecessary mistakes."

Excerpts

"In some traditions the Earth itself is considered sacred—-the entire Earth, not one particular place. But the Earth is not sacred; it is just the Earth."

"The world, in its great change, can serve you if you can approach it correctly. The shock of the world can prepare you. It can shake you out of your dreams of happiness and disaster. It can bring you to your senses. It can call upon your strengths and your determination and most certainly your compassion for people."

"The world has what you need only insofar as it can give you the opportunity to give, to engage yourself fully and to avoid the little preoccupations, addictions and difficulties that keep people in chains here."

"What people think and where the world is going are not the same."

"This world is such a beautiful place, so rich biologically, with so many important resources that are difficult to find in a universe of barren worlds."

"Anything can happen to you while you are here. Yet Knowledge will protect you if you can respond to it. Knowledge will lead you to the right people and will develop slowly and carefully the right understanding if you are patient, persistent and honest in your approach."

"You must come to life. Life is waiting for you. You must come to the world because the world needs you. The world needs the gifts that you have brought with you, and you need to give these gifts to realize your value and your purpose here. There is no other way to come to terms with the contradictions of your life, your personality and your relationships."

"The world is a place where you have come to serve, to give and to reunite with those whom you are destined to meet, to know and to participate with.... The world is primarily a place to give.... You have come from beyond the world bearing gifts for the world.... Instead of a place to proclaim yourself and to establish yourself, it is a place to get something done behind the scenes, in secret, without recognition and acclaim."

"God is not managing the world. God is not creating the catastrophes, the storms, the earthquakes, the floods, the droughts. God is watching to see how humanity will deal with a world it has changed—a new world, a new and unpredictable world."

"Many people around the world are feeling a great discomfort, a great uneasiness about the condition of the world, and have grave concern for the future of the world and for the future of humanity. They sense and feel and know that they are living at a time of great power, a time that will determine the fate and the outcome for humanity. This is not an intellectual understanding as much as it is a visceral experience, a powerful recognition, an innate sense of awareness—all of which come from Knowledge within people."

"God is calling you to respond, both within yourself and to the signs of the world. To see the signs, you must be looking and paying attention, not just here and there, but continuously. Like the birds in the air and the animals in the field, you are watching your environment. Just like them, you have a great need to do this. Everything you value—your future, the people you care about, even your own life—will depend upon this. It is not looking with fear. It is not living in a state of trepidation. It is looking with clear eyes, with the power and the presence of Knowledge. That will make all the difference in whether you can see or not and whether you can look upon the world with dread and anxiety or with certainty, compassion and determination."

"Honor the world because without your judgment you will realize it is a place of grace, a place of beauty and a place that blesses you as you learn to bless it."

"Why would you escape the world when it holds part of the answer that you yourself cannot provide? Why would you seek to become spiritually superior to everyone else when The Way of Knowledge will join you with everyone else and emphasize that which is common to all?

Further Study

• Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 2: What Is the World?
• Living The Way of Knowledge, Chapter 1