An introduction

["David Yeh" <ldreamr@...>]

Hi there,

My name's David, I've been lurking about on this forum for a couple 
of months now and so I thought I would introduce myself because I've 
gotten a lot out of other people's questions and answers.

I started IIH just over two months ago and I'm about halfway done, I 
would say. (Probably the easy half.) It looks like a tremendous 
system for growth and experience and awareness, which was what I was 
looking for. Initially, being mostly unfamiliar with Western magic, 
I was kind of turned off by the whole idea because I had this 
stereotype that Western magic was just Eastern religion "lite." I 
guess that is not the case. :)

I came from doing a lot of inner work using Toltec concepts 
(Castaneda et al). I find it very complementary with Hermetics, 
though from my perspective (at my lofty viewpoint of Step One, ha ha) 
Hermetics provides a lot of techniques to practice in one's own time 
and space, where Toltec techniques seem to be better adapted for use 
in everyday situations. But then again they are all fingers pointing 
at the moon, to overuse a Buddhist cliche.

I have of course run into some snags. The main thing is that I can't 
#$&*@%! get out of my head during the day. (Please excuse my 
inappropriate punctuation.) I can do it fine when I am in my own 
space, but once I get out and about my mind kind of overflows its 
boundaries. I like the "segment intending" idea I've read about, for 
the thought discipline part of Step One, but it's hard for me to 
implement. I also find that though I can hold a focus quite well, 
it's difficult for me to do so in a relaxed state. I guess learning 
to relax physically while focusing mentally is my big lesson here; 
it's also part of why I've made no progress on improving my vision 
even though I took a natural vision improvement class four years 
ago. But at any rate, I guess there is nothing to do but stick with 
it.

By the way, perhaps someone could answer this question ... I'm 
assuming from what I've read here that counting one's breath would 
not be a good way to practice one-pointedness, right?

I've also had difficulty sticking with the eucharistic magic, the 
amgic of food. Has anyone else had this problem? Social concerns, 
or just too damn tired or needing distraction. Reading or talking 
while eating is a deeply ingrained habit and mealtimes are often one 
of the rare moments that I can connect with my partner, but then I 
can't put my attention fully into my food. I'm not sure what to do 
about that.

Well thanks for reading all of my complaining. I could say more of 
course but I think I'll just leave my introduction on a good whine. :)


David