Re: [BardonPraxis] Another Eight Temples question

["Rawn Clark" <rawnclark@...>]

Dear David,

[Thank you Aleksander and Peter for answering David's questions about
the 8T in my absence! :) I'll have to go away more often! ;-)]

>> Broadly, I find that my ability to visualize steadily isn't very
good -- my mind jumps around, gets distracted, does quirky things
like viewing a scene from different angles a la movie cameras; I
can't remember all the Hebrew at once, etc. My meditations don't go
for an hour as Rawn hints at in the book, they're more like half an
hour. Is there more value to waiting to do these meditations until
my mind is better trained (i.e. past Step One), or are the details
and the timing of the meditations less important than the intent? <<
>> That, I think, was part of my question. I have been doing one
meditation a month and plan to go back and explore the temples in
more depth. Is it then more worthwhile to stop and spend a lot of
time getting my bearings and developing my visualization abilities,
or is it better to explore them all and afterwards go back and
explore? It seems that the latter is the aim of Eight Temples, but I
can see your point about taking my time. No use to rush. <<

I suggest that you stop worrying about your skills being "good enough"
and about whether or not your experiences are "deep enough", etc. With
the 8T, you will get out of it whatever you put into it and if you're
putting your best into it then what you get out of it is perfect for
*you* at this point in your life. :)

The 8T is not just a one-shot deal where you go through the meditations
once and you're done with it. It's intended to be a *life-long* tool
for self- and universal-exploration. As such, I think you'll find that
your experience of the Temples will deepen over time. This is true even
for those who have had very deep experiences during their first pursuit
of the meditation rituals.

And as you surmised, my recommendation is indeed that one perform each
of the eight meditation rituals in sequence, one per month (i.e.,
lunation) until all eight have been experienced. *Then* go back and
start over and spend quality, in-depth time with each Temple in
sequence. The length of time you spend with your re-visits is entirely
in your hands and can range from weeks to months, depending upon your
own needs and likes. It's this self-directed work with the 8T that is
most beneficial to one's process of initiation -- the first round is
mostly about introducing you to the structure of the 8 Temples.

My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
25 Sept 2004
rawnclark@...
rawn@...
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