---
# --- identity
title: "Step 13: I want to be separate to be unique."
work: "The New Message from God"
locale: "en"
# --- place in the work
volume: 3
book: "Steps to Knowledge"
step: 13
# --- provenance
received_by: "Marshall Vian Summers"
# --- addresses: cite `url`, fetch `markdown_url`
url: "https://newmessage.org/the-message/volume-3/steps-knowledge/step-13-i-want-to-be-separate-to-be-unique/"
markdown_url: "https://newmessage.org/the-message/volume-3/steps-knowledge/step-13-i-want-to-be-separate-to-be-unique.md"
markdown_url_pattern: "https://newmessage.org/{locale}/the-message/volume-3/steps-knowledge/step-13-i-want-to-be-separate-to-be-unique.md"
translations: ["fr", "es", "it", "nl", "da", "bg", "id", "ko", "pl", "vi", "ru", "ar"]
# --- terms
usage: "Read and quote freely. Name the source and link to the canonical URL."
---

# Step 13: I want to be separate to be unique.

> Step 13 of *Steps to Knowledge*, Volume 3 of **The New Message from God**.
> Source: https://newmessage.org/the-message/volume-3/steps-knowledge/step-13-i-want-to-be-separate-to-be-unique/
> Read and quote freely. Name the source and link to the canonical URL.

This thought represents the true motive for separation, yet it is unnecessary. We do not give it here as an affirmation but as an expression of your current state. You want to be separate because this defines your self; your self is defined in terms of separation, not in terms of inclusion. Separation is the source of all your pain and confusion of mind. Your physical life demonstrates a separate life but only from a certain point of view. Given another point of view, it does not demonstrate separation at all. It demonstrates a unique expression of a Greater Reality.

On two occasions today, spend 15 minutes concentrating upon the idea for today. Think seriously about what this lesson means and call upon your own experience to reflect upon its relevance to your life. Reflect upon what your desire for separation has cost you in time, energy and pain. Realize your motivation for separation and you will know that you want to be free.

## Practice 13

Two 15-minute practice periods.