Ruth said:
was wondering what people consider to be the most important.... becoming STO or getting (somehow) to 4th density?
Both, STO and 4th density are secondary to truth though. You cannot be STO without having knowledge. You also cannot get to 4th density without Knowledge. It doesn't make sense to me to consider going to 4th density as "important" if we don't know what 4th density is and why we need to go there, and what we can and cannot do there, etc. I do see Knowledge and the Work as important since it is at the root of everything - in order to choose or do or to be anything, you NEED knowledge. And I trust that if there is a higher level of awareness, then Knowledge and refinement of our being (the Work) is most likely what gets us there.
Using the 3rd grade analogy, let's pretend that high school education is not just a bunch of brainwashing sillyness but is useful and important for our development. Then I'd say that graduating from 3rd grade isn't important, it is the knowledge that you learn in 3rd grade that's important. Graduation is just a natural consequence of learning that knowledge, and it wouldn't mean anything or do you any good without that knowledge, since you won't "fit" in 4th grade until you master 3rd grade.
As for STO I also am not sure if it can be defined as "important" or "not important". If it's in you to share knowledge by networking and helping others, great. If it's not, then that's fine too, though you may find it difficult if not impossible to meaningfully "work" with those of the opposite persuation, due to conflicting interests.
PepperFritz said:
In other words, DESIRE is meaningless. It's ACTIONS that count. What do my daily actions and behaviour say about my orientation? That's what we should all be concentrating on.
I agree, I don't think we become STO by seeking to become STO, we become STO by doing what is in us to do. I think that goes hand in hand with what Ark said about identifying which principle to serve, and serving it. I guess one way to put it is, if you say "I want to be STO" and someone asks "Why?", then the reasons you come up with to answer that question (if they are honest) would be your true motivation, and not so much the general idea of "becoming STO" in and of itself.
If for example one of those reasons is, "Because I don't have any reason to pretend that one being (myself) is any more important than any other being in the universe" that would be one possible "reason" that drives you to not choose "STS" and instead be more "STO". So STO is then just a description of who you are (based on what you do), but in and of itself it is not the "reason" why you do what you do and why you are who you are, if that makes sense.