Re: requesting help with chapter 1 of IIH

["Vernon" <djhuti_ankh@...>]

Maria,

This is my third go at IIH and I'm on chapter one as well. But I am having a 
fairly good time with it. There are some things I've learned and practiced 
along the way that are of assistance to me. Some of all of these may have been 
included in other people's responses. 

First, many of the exercises in IIH have appeared elsewhere. Some people poo 
poo Bardon for this, but I don't see it as a problem...no one person owns a 
tradition or set of exercises. Bardon's assembly of these into a cohesive whole 
with his own insights and additions makes IIH the one book I would not want to 
be without.

With that said, several of the exercises in IIH appear in a little blue book 
called Raja Yoga (RY) or Mental Development by Yogi Ramacharaka. All of the 
mental exercises of IIH Step I are included in RY and some of attention and 
concentration work is there as well. I've worked off and on with RY for a 
number of years. It only gives the mental side as the title suggest and lack 
the three-sided balance of the IIH. However, in the first chapter of RY the 
author speaks explicitly about the "I" and part of the quest of the book is the 
attainment of "I" consciousness. The exercises of the first couple of chapters 
aim at helping the student distinguish the "I" from the "Not I" things with 
which we may identify, i.e. the body, the mind/thoughts, and the 
emotional/passional mechanism and all that it can produce. Success with the 
first Step I of IIH results in some degree of "I" consciousness. We come to 
realize that we are independent of the body, the emotions, and the mind; that 
in a sense we cannot be that which we observe. (I think it was at this group 
that someone mentioned the "I" and "Me" of the Kybalion. It think the division 
is similar.

With all that said, it's still difficult to achieve and retain detachment from 
the many thoughts and ideas and feelings that rush in upon us as we try to 
practice the exercise. It is sometimes like practicing non-response to children 
who are acting up on the theory that the attention will only make them act up 
more. "Just ignore her," my wife says to me when our 4-year old does her thing. 
I have an easier time with my thoughts :). 

My mind tells me that it wants to be mastered. With each evening of exercises, 
it seems sets new challenges. There are thought that arise that have a greater 
emotional charge or implication so as to trigger a response. They're kind of 
like the pesky tourist trying to get a response out of the stoic and silent 
guards outside of Buckingham Palace. What I have also experienced with the 
thoughts that arise during my thought observation exercise is that, so to 
speak, there is a ripple in the mind substance and it require involvement from 
the "I" to rise into more than a ripple. If I remain the stony, detached 
observer then not much more becomes of it and the ripple dies down. 

In any case, what may eventually happen is a "realization" of the "I" in 
relationship to the body-mind-emotions. Meditating upon some of the 
affirmations in RY may be useful in triggering this realization and may be a 
good supplement to IIH Step I.

Hope this was useful.

Cheers,

Vernon

--- In BardonPraxis@yahoogroups.com, "mariaclearwater333" 
<mariaclearwater333@y...> wrote:
> Hi everybody
> I am new to this group. For a very long time now (years), I am 
> working every day very diligently on chapter 1 and wasn't able to 
> stay for 10 minutes without thoughts. I feel quite desperate and am 
> reaching out for your help. What helped you? How did you get to the 
> place of having control over your thoughts?
> 
> I am very thankful for specific help: Maria