Hi Regulus, You bring up an interesting issue that I have been looking at lately, and that is the quality of my "wanting." To a large extent, I've been finding that a lot of my "wanting" has to do with ego-grasping, and that's part of why I've found myself glossing over some exercises. It's the part of me that wants to accumulate experiences, in the belief that the more I have the better I am; rather than experiencing each aspect of life for what it is, and thereby not only enjoy life but be fully in the moment and learn the most. The most deceptive thing is that I considered myself not very materialistic, because I was "spiritual." But it was spiritual materialism all the same. So lately I have been thinking more in terms of enjoying myself and being present. This is a major, major imbalance I see in my soul mirror, and actually the root of or related to the majority of the items on there. (Did I do that wrong, I wonder? To have one basic root for the majority of the negative traits in my soul mirror?) I have too much negative Earth and Fire, it sucks me down and burns me out and I don't leave anything left for feeling and enjoying and being light and humorous with myself. On the whole, though, I think the main reason that I would stick with this path is precisely because it makes me face my patterns and where I am stuck. I don't imagine that the advanced magician is supposed to be spiritually "mature" to the point where he can't enjoy life; I would think that it would be quite the opposite. But I am realizing that maybe the reason these spiritual paths feel so difficult is because they require you to give up your attachments and enjoy life as it is, even while working hard toward some goal you may never attain. Controlled folly, don Juan called it. David --- In BardonPraxis@yahoogroups.com, "Regulus Magus" > Dear David: > > I might add that the "wanting" is in the context of all the other things you > might want. I like to think of it in terms of "opportunity cost" (in > essence, every hour you invest doing one thing is an hour you are not doing > other things). You have to make a considered decision about what you value > more. Do you want to spend an hour doing the IIH exercises more than an hour > spent playing with your kids? Reading a good book? Walking in the park? If > so, why? > > I think answering these kinds of questions relates to your work on soul > mirrors. In my opinion, Bardon's work defines a kind of "fast track" to > spiritual maturity. In my own case, I left this path because deep down, I am > enjoying my spiritual youth and would rather be playing with the kids, > reading, walking and so on, than spending the time it would take to master > the 10 steps. It's a choice each of us has to make (and again, in my > opinion, step 2 seems to be the point where most people make this decision). > > Respectfully, /RM/