Steps to Knowledge
Description
Steps to Knowledge is the core book of practices for building desire and capacity for Knowledge. It is one of the many Sacred Texts of The New Message from God. It consists of 365 lessons, to be practiced one a day. After practicing Steps twice through, the Steps to Knowledge Continuation Training is recommended for further practice.
History
Marshall Vian Summers received Steps to Knowledge in a state of revelation during the days and nights of May 26 to June 14, 1989, in the garden level of a small house by a golf course in Albany, New York. It was recorded onto 11 audio cassettes and then transcribed into text. The period of the Steps to Knowledge revelation is celebrated annually since 2010 as the Steps Anniversary.
Steps to Knowledge was nearly the first book received, after seven years of preparation. "In case anything had happened to me."
Steps was originally hand bound on an ironing board, by Marshall Vian Summers, Patricia Summers and their companions. It was later printed professionally for the book trade and is now in its third edition.
Steps to Knowledge has been available online as a PDF at http://www.newmessage.org/pdf/steps-to-knowledge.pdf for no charge since about 2005. It was e-published as a Kindle book in 2011.
Why it Was Received
Our world is at the threshold of emerging into a Greater Community of intelligent life in the universe around us. Therefore, a more universal understanding and perspective on relationships, spirituality and human advancement are needed at this time. Steps to Knowledge is provided for those who show promise of being the primary contributors during the next great period in human history, where humanity begins to encounter other intelligent races from the Greater community. This is the greatest threshold that we have ever faced. Yet from a Great Community perspective, it is clear that humanity is not prepared. This has set the stage for a new spiritual understanding and teaching to be given to the world, for the Creator would not leave us alone and unprepared for our emergence into the Greater Community. Thus, a spiritual preparation of a very unique kind has been given which can enable men and women to gain the power, the compassion and the skill needed to serve a world in transition. To prepare these individuals to find their greater calling in life, Steps to Knowledge and its companion books have been provided as a quide and a resource.
How to Work with Steps
Consider these following recommendations to enable you to receive the maximum benefit from your study of Steps to Knowledge.
- Steps to Knowledge is a complete program of study. Each step takes you higher and closer to your self-discovery. Therefore, plan to go the whole way. If you don't stop, you will advance.
- Though Steps to Knowledge is a self-study program, it is recommended that you find others with whom you can share your practice and experience. This maximizes your opportunity for learning and provides a meaningful basis for new relationships to form.
- Follow the Steps in Steps to Knowledge exactly as they are given. Do not alter the practices in any way. This is very important. You may stay on one lesson for more than a day if you wish, but do not stay on any lesson for too long or you may lose pace with the curriculum.
- Do not skip ahead or alter the sequence to practice lessons that you find to be attractive. Each lesson is designed to take you one step at a time. This provides a safe and successful passage in your approach to Knowledge. Follow and utilize the step for the day. It is perfect for that day.
- Read the lesson both in the morning when you arise and later in the day. You may also read the lesson in the first person, on one of these occasions, if you wish to personalize the message for yourself.
- Steps to Knowledge will teach you how to practice and how to develop effective study habits. At times you may find that staying with the practices will be quite a challenge. Yet remember that Steps will build both your strength and self-awareness through its practices. You are able to do these practices and doing them will harmonize and transform your life.
- Set aside regular practice times each day. Do not let circumstances dictate your availability to practice. Practice is essential for building an environment for Knowledge to emerge. Practice times have been added at the bottom of each step to assist you in integrating the practice for the day.
- Keeping a journal is extremely valuable in tracking your progress and in seeing how each step plays a part in serving you every day. The journal is a powerful tool for self-discovery and will assist you in applying the steps. Keeping a journal also will greatly help you in using the REVIEW pracitices that occur througout the curriculum.
- Be patient and allow the steps to work for you. It is amazingly powerful if you follow the sequence of the steps as they are given. This takes time. A great journey is made up of many little steps. Each one is necessary.
- If you miss a day, simply return to practice. Do not condemn yourself (or the program). You need only continue in Steps to receive its full benefit.
- Steps to Knowledge is a gift to you from God through The Unseen Ones who serve humanity. It is a gift for you to receive and to give.
Excerpts
"Let Knowledge be your guide and let the world tell you where it is going and what is emerging on the horizon. Be watchful. Still your mind. Set aside your desires and your constant fear by taking the Steps to Knowledge. Receive the Revelation, the New Message for Humanity. You are blessed to even know of this." [1]
"If Knowledge cannot be brought into your relationships and into your decisions regarding relationships, then Knowledge remains only a potential within you." [2]
"Become dedicated to finding Knowledge and you will find Knowledge. And you will find those relationships that are based upon Knowledge. And those relationships will empower you and enable you to develop the other three pillars of your life." [2]
"Taking the steps to Knowledge ... will teach you how to listen within yourself. They will teach you how to become patient and observant. They will help you to settle down and become less restless. They will relieve you of your anxiety, which drives you constantly in life. They will enable you to experience your deeper feelings and emotions and to forgive those individuals and those circumstances that you feel have wounded you in the past. Now you are learning to listen, and you are listening for the deeper current of your life. Now you are listening to others. This listening is so important because people need to be heard. Even the person ranting at the railway station who seems to be mad and crazy, even they are trying to be heard, and no one will listen to them. They are trying to be heard. And they are trying to be heard because they need recognition—not for who they think they are, not for their ideas, but for who they really are underneath all of that." [3]
References
- ↑ The Shock of the Future (April 30, 2011)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Living The Way of Knowledge, Chapter 3
- ↑ Deeper Recognition in Relationships (September 11, 2008)
See also
Talk:Steps to Knowledge for Suggested Guidelines for Steps Study Groups
Further Study
Downloads
Steps to Knowledge Introduction document