Difference between revisions of "The Way of Knowledge"
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"Until you have received and learned The Way of Knowledge, you cannot give it because it is not you who will do the giving. It is Knowledge itself that will do the giving." [1]
The Greater Community Way of Knowledge is "not the only way for everyone. It is a special way for certain people."[2]
Identification
"The Way of Knowledge is being given through secret and mysterious means to individuals everywhere, in all races, cultures and worlds. This represents the work of the Divine. Beyond the tribal interpretations of any young race in any world, this represents pure Knowledge and pure spirituality. It is unalloyed with the traditions of any world to which it is sent. Thus, it represents a real challenge in learning and a great opportunity for true understanding and greater ability." [3]
Integrating one's life
"The Way of Knowledge is about the restoration and rejuvenation of the mind. This is a complete process, and it takes a great deal of time. It takes time because it works; it is natural; it follows a natural progression." [4]
"If Knowledge cannot be brought into your relationships and into your decisions regarding relationships, then Knowledge remains only a potential within you."" [5]
"Do not be worried if this is different from your religious tradition because this is the heart and soul of all religious traditions. But even if you were raised in another tradition, if the New Message is your calling, it is your calling. There is none other. You cannot invent your calling if it is to be genuine and authentic. It is your calling." [6]
Changing perspective
"You will find as you proceed in The Way of Knowledge that you will value things that others do not value, see things that others do not see and know things that others do not know or will not know. What seems obvious to you will not be obvious to them. You will see both their gifts and their disabilities. They may see neither. You will have higher standards for yourself, but these standards will not be shared by other people. You will value a deeper experience of honesty, but you will not be able to communicate this freely with others. Again and again you will find out the limits that other people set before you and around you." [4]
"As you advance in The Way of Knowledge, you will come to the understanding that it is what you can do with people that is the important thing. Can you participate together? Can you accomplish things together? Can you share a life together? Can you work together? Are you free and encouraged to return to Knowledge in the presence of that person? Or are you afraid, afraid that you will find out something you do not want to hear or to know? Do you welcome the truth or do you live in trepidation of it? Is the truth your friend in this relationship or does it threaten what you have established together?"[5]
"In order to have a greater experience, to feel greater meaning, and to find a greater purpose, you must step out of your mind, out of the limits of your own perspective, and re-engage yourself with life. This is what it means to live The Way of Knowledge. The Way of Knowledge brings you to what is known and essential. It makes everything else unnecessary for your happiness." [7]
Sharing The Way
"When people share The Way of Knowledge with others, often they are shocked to find that people are not as open as they thought they were. They are shocked to find that people are resistant or concerned or anxious or uncomfortable. If this Teaching were not great and comprehensive, there would not be this response. But because it is real and substantive, the recipient has only three choices in how they can respond: They can go towards the Teaching, they can go away from it or they can fight against it. In the face of Knowledge, the mind can only do one of these three things. A few come forward, a few fight, and most try to find escape. This reveals people’s general position in life, regardless of the impression that they try to make to the contrary." [8]
Relinquishment of ambition in The Way of Knowledge
"It takes great courage to undertake The Greater Community Way of Knowledge, for here you are preparing for something you can barely understand. Here your personal ambitions will fail you or it will seem that they cannot be fulfilled by undertaking the Greater Community preparation. But you go on because Knowledge prompts you. This requires courage. This is choosing truth over pleasure."[9]
"Your incentive for this must come from within you, from Knowledge, for only Knowledge can take you to Knowledge. All other goals and ambitions sooner or later will fall away. What carries you on beyond them is the desire for truth, the need to know your purpose, the need to find genuine relationships and the need to answer the fundamental questions and solve the greater problems of life. It is within you to do this." [2]
"To be a student means you are not a master and you cannot take this Teaching and try to make money with it or do something with it or use it to be significant in the eyes of others. Whatever ambitions may exist, even unknowingly within you, will be flushed out over time." [6]
"You learn The Way of Knowledge because you must, not because it holds some big promise at the end. With a greater motivation that is not contingent upon your ambitions, your feelings, your changing attitudes or the ideas or prevailing beliefs in the world, you will have a strength that the world does not possess. You will have a certainty that the world does not possess. This is evidence of Knowledge." [10]
"The simplest act can express the Wisdom of the universe. When Knowledge is working through you, you will be as much in marvel of it as anyone else could be and perhaps more so because it is happening through your mind and body. For this to take place, ambitions must be left aside. Goals and desires for a happy, unfettered and uncomplicated life will either have to be abandoned completely or greatly altered. That is not to say you are choosing difficulty and duress. You are simply saying, 'I must do this and I will accept what comes.'"[9]
A Journey
"The more you can honor what Knowledge has given you already, the more you will open yourself to what Knowledge has yet to give you and what Knowledge will give you as you proceed. This is following The Way of Knowledge, a greater journey. Here God will send to you a preparation once you are ready to commit yourself to a spiritual practice."[11]
Metaphors
"The path is not difficult so much as it is exacting. Like following a footpath through a dense jungle, you must watch your steps carefully and be very attentive to your environment as it changes. You cannot go running ahead, proclaiming yourself or your ideas, trying to improve people or situations. You must follow the way carefully and slowly. In this way, the dangers of the jungle will not affect you. In this way, you will foresee danger and difficulty and will find a way to avoid them or to change them if that is possible." [1]
"Your mind must be emptied. It must be opened. How can you receive if your mind is full of a whole mass of information? The mind must be free. It is as if your house were stuffed to the ceiling with all the possessions you have ever owned—everything—and you had not thrown away anything. It is all in there, things great and small, filling your every room and hallway. And you say, 'Well, I want to bring new things into my house, but there is no room. I want to create a new feeling and atmosphere in my house, but there is no space for it.' Everything is cluttered, and your house becomes increasingly uncomfortable. Your experience of being in it is imprisoning, and you find yourself spending all of your time maintaining all of these possessions." ... "The Way of Knowledge takes you out of your house and brings you back with a greater understanding. Then you will see how intolerable it is to live there and how much must be redeemed and restored. And you start throwing things away here and there, cleaning out the attics, cleaning out the basement, finding old and forgotten things here and there and getting rid of them. Then your realize that your house can be completely redone and needs to be completely redone, for it does not reflect your new experience." [4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 8: Who is Wisdom meant for?
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book 2, Chapter 11: Spiritual Practice
- ↑ Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 11: What is your preparation for?
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Greater Community Spirituality, Chapter 14: What Must Be Avoided?
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Living The Way of Knowledge], Chapter 3: The Pillar of Relationships
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 The Worldwide Community of the New Message from God, Chapter 5: Being a Student of the New Message
- ↑ Living The Way of Knowledge, Chapter 1: Living in an Emerging World
- ↑ Living The Way of Knowledge, Chapter 9: Sharing The Way of Knowledge With Others
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book 2, Chapter 19: Courage
- ↑ Wisdom from the Greater Community, Book 2, Chapter 33: Perseverance
- ↑ The Journey to a New Life, Chapter 1: The Awakening
See also
Greater Community Way of Knowledge
Further Study
- The Journey to a New Life, Chapter 1: The Awakening