temporaryreality | Entries tagged with mystic will

Simple seems to be best.

Following CGL's Mystic Will method to remember my dreams, last year I'd plugged "Tomorrow I will remember my dreams" into my falling-asleep phase. The results were sporadic (and skewed by the fact that I moved on to other suggestions not long afterward).

Based on a much more direct affirmation JMG directed to an inquirer to the Magic Monday post either last week or the week before, I started using "I remember my dreams" four nights ago. I've woken up each of the subsequent mornings remembering either full scenarios or at least snippets. Prior to trying this, I'd remembered maybe 3 in the last six months.

I'll keep it up.

As an aside, two of the four dreams involved tropical freshwater fish - last night's spilled on a carpeted floor but I saved them (and the lovely little frogs that were there as well).

update 08/17: I've recalled dreams from 8 of the last 11 nights usng this simple affirmation.

I let this blog go dormant for awhile. It started out mostly as a sounding-board as I worked through the Mystic Will instructions. Partly as a consequence of the actual strengthening of will achieved through those instructions and partly through recognition that I had less of a problem than I thought, I ended up not really putting in consistent MW-inspired practice. Instead, I just developed daily habits of the things I wanted to be doing on a daily (or near-daily) basis, including the SOP, physical exercise, maintaining a calendar/to-do-list, reading, etc. Now I keep the MW method on reserve - ready when I need it, should I need it.

I'm considering converting this space to more general blogging - mostly regarding efforts on my part to retrain some less-than-fruitful modes of thinking, but maybe also allowing it to serve as a space to do some general musing on the topics and themes that arise from my baby-steps spiritual practice and other self-improvement efforts.

Current Mood: determined
Current Location: under the shade of an ash tree
Current Music: my husband's clicketyclack typing

Full title (too lengthy for the text box) of this post is

"it gains in power as it runs long," or, as the I Ching says in Hexagram 26, 大畜 (da chu), Great Accumulates.

Thanks to

syfen; for drawing my attention again to Leland's quoting of a Latin idiom - it turns out to be mindblowingly relevant on a personal level.

Attempting brevity, here's the gist of the message I'm being handed this week:

Perseverance hasn't been my strong suit but fully recognizing the limitations of my flighty non-commital ways, I'm working to change that. Hence my study of self-discipline as quasi-prerequisite for starting JMG's DMH. I'm at a point where an engine overhaul seems indicated, rather than just tinkering with superficial gussy-ups, so a religious/spiritual tradition with its attendant tools for self-development (etc.) is the direction I'm headed.

I have a (beginner-level) working relationship with the I Ching and so about 6-7 months ago I naturally inquired into how it would take my learning of a new divination system attached to work in another tradition (Druidry) and if, essentially, I had permission. The answer was "yes, but..." with a series of steps in a process to get to a point of readiness.

I worked my way through the steps until reaching a point that indicated I should revisit the question and check on timing.

So, four days ago, I was given Hexagram 26, which, in the translation I use*, is called Great Accumulates.

Its key points are: "concentrate, focus on one idea; accumulate energy, support, nourish; bring everything together; great effort and great achievement. Advantageous to step into the Great Stream."

It didn't hit me until I read

syfen's comment - but Great Accumulates really sums up what Leland is saying and what I haven't given myself an opportunity to learn yet: a consistent practice or sustained effort builds on or with "de" (德) or inherent power/virtue. Starting small is natural but so is allowing something to grow/accumulate to its full potential.

The text continues, "The hexagram figure shows creative force accumulating within...If you let yourself be led you can realise your hidden potential. Put your purpose in order and use it as an accumulating point. It is the right time to act. Assimilate the records of what your many predecessors have done and go on from there... Renew your power, your virtue and your connection to the Way every day. Have a firm overriding purpose. Honour what has moral and intellectual power. Stabilise what endures and correct your focus..."

I couldn't be more convinced that my initial fear, that working with Leland's book was yet more evidence of dabbling on my part, was misplaced. I see the lessons in The Mystic Will as being part of the "records of what your many predecessors have done," and will use the admonishment to "renew your power, your virtue and your connection to the Way every day" as my starting point for strengthening will and as I gain in perseverance.**

---------------
*Karcher, Stephen. Total I Ching in conjunction with his larger I Ching translation with a concordance - seriously folks, his work is brilliant and fecund and gets deep into the mythic imagery that is lost to later Confucian-derived translations.

**If I can do it with flossing, I can do it with a daily ritual practice!

Current Mood: determined

For purposes of this book club, this post will be a periodically updated collection of the The Mystic Will quotes that catch my attention, an online version of something I've long done both on paper and in assorted word-processing documents often eventually printed out for reflection and use. Newest (most recently read) quotes will be at the top.

For as I hope clearly to prove it is an easy matter to create a strong will, or strengthen that which we have, to a marvelous extent, yet he who would do this must first give his Attention firmly and fixedly to his intent or want, for which purpose it is absolutely necessary that he shall first know his own mind regarding what he means to do, and therefore meditate upon it, not dreamily, or vaguely, but earnestly. And this done he must assure himself that he takes a real interest in the subject, since if such be the case I may declare that his success is well nigh certain....For there would in very truth be few failures in life if those who undertake anything first gave to it long and careful consideration by leading observation into every detail, and, in fact, becoming familiar with the idea, and not trusting to acquire interest and perseverance in the future. Nine-tenths of the difficulty and doubt or ill-at-easeness which beginners experience...and which often inspires them to retreat is due entirely to not having begun by training the Attention or awakened and Interest in the subject.(pp. 25-26)

That is simply to say, there is active or passive observation -- the things which we seek or which come to us unsought. And the "seeking for," or spontaneous action can be materially aided and made persevering, if before we begin the search or set about devoting attention to anything, we pause, as it were, to determine or resolve that we will be thorough, and not leave off until we have mastered it. For strange as it may seem, the doing this actually has in most cases a positive, and very often remarkable result, as the reader may very easily verify for himself. This Forethought is far more easily awakened, or exerted, than Attention itself, but it prepares it, just as Attention prepares Interest. (p. 21)

[an interesting point - thinking of the things I accomplish, there's an un-thought thought that I'm just going to complete the activity, whereas the things that remain dangling tend to be approached with "I'm going to work on ____" which is probably why breaking larger things into their many smaller steps is so helpful to me. So, not "Today I will work on a short story" but "I will write a scene" or "I will write 500 words." My earlier attempt at putting this book's lessons into practice was probably unaccompanied by such forethought or small-step consideration.]

Chapter 1 starts off with the story of "the screw pencil" - describing an incident in which the author mistook something for another until attention revealed it for what it was. He says,

There is an exact spiritual parallel for this incident...in innumerable ideas, at which well-nigh everybody in the hurrying stream of life has glanced, yet no one has ever examined, until someone with a poetic spirit of curiosity, or inspired by quaint superstition, pauses, picks one up, looks into it, and finds that it has ingenious use, and is far more than it appeared to be. Thus, if I declare that by special attention to a subject, earnestly turning it over and thinking deeply into it, very remarkable results may be produced, as regards result in knowledge, every human being will assent to it as the veriest truism ever uttered; in the fullest belief that he or she assuredly knows all that. (pp.19-20)

[the example he uses sounds to me like discursive meditation]

Here's the text I'm working with:

Leland, Charles Godfrey. The Mystic Will*. Yogi Publication Society, Chicago. 1907.

available here: http://www.iapsop.com/ssoc/1907__leland___the_mystic_will.pdf
or here: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17749

or as audio, here: https://librivox.org/the-mystic-will-by-charles-godfrey-leland/

It's also possible, if one is so inclined, to enrich an unspecified entity through purchase of this freely available public domain work on a certain website for around $26 for a hardback or $19 for the audio. :snort:

*for thoroughness, let me add the subtitle: A method of developing and strengthening the faculties of the mind, through the awakened will, by a simple, scientific process possible to any person of ordinary intelligence

Immediately upon re-engaging with the Mystic Will text (listened to the intro while washing dishes), I have commenced wondering a few things.

First, I'm not sure exactly what will means (to me) and second, while my default is to assume I'm lacking in ability or am somehow deficient and that that's the cause of my failing to attain several goals I've set (or, frankly, to do much of anything "with my life"), I wonder if it's more likely that I don't have enough hours in the day and yet have too many things I want to do. Perhaps that's what a problem with will looks like? A kind of inability to settle down to the few things I can manage and a flailing about toward all sorts of desires?

It's the middle of the night and I'm not going to be capable of figuring out what will means right now, so I'll have to save that for another time.

Meanwhile, it's the middle of the night and I'm uncharacteristically up and on the computer - a situation that reveals some of the problem. I'm a relatively light sleeper and though I fall asleep quickly, if I'm not careful, a little too much awake-ness (due to being disturbed by noise or pain most frequently lately, though sometimes by "spear memories," as

syfen called them, or by forgotten-to-do things suddenly being remembered, etc.) turns into not enough sleep-ness. The dilemma at some point in the night becomes: do I lie here and try to fall back asleep, even though its been an hour already or should I just get up, do something productive and then head back to bed for a last attempt closer to dawn?

My days are cram packed, usually. I work part time at a restaurant in the next town over, so most weekdays I spend several hours there, plus there's some commute time (longer when I go by bus, shorter when I drive or get a ride). Then there's the basic household upkeep to manage. It's not an immense amount, but my husband works overseas, so everything is on me on this end. Youngest kid is relatively independent so the quasi-single-parenthood is easier than it was in previous years. I'm still the main cook/housekeeper, though, so evenings are generally relegated to that. In the interstices, I fit my "electives."

One of those electives is the side hustle, editing, that uses up my morning hour(s) before starting the day. My brain is fresher in the morning and there are too many opportunities for time to be derailed later in the day, so it's a kind of guarantee for uninterrupted concentration.

That's where the not-enough sleep problem comes in. If I don't get up by 5:30 or 6:00, then I lose that time. The rest of the day, from 6:45 until 9:45pm is spent mostly on my feet, doing the things that need doing with a little side helping of combination things I need and LIKE to do, like gardening, food preservation/prep, some craft projects, coming up with another side hustle, and maybe some reading. I have very little social life, and my "time wasters" include my tendency to want to read all the comments over at both the

ecosophia sites, and conversations with my cats. No comment about my decision to start this journal.

Other competitors for my morning hours, though, sulk a bit because they don't get sufficient consistency from me.

This is what leads me to think I've got a problem of will. If I had a strong enough will, I wouldn't sleep in until 6:45 some days, I'd just get up earlier. Or, you know, if the drive to write were strong enough and my commitment to finishing projects up to snuff, I'd be writing in the morning when my brain and creativity are functional or at the least, grabbing minutes whenever I could and working on my languishing stories. Or, I wouldn't have a problem starting the course in the Druid Magic Handbook because I'd have the required time in the morning...Except for when I have an editing job. Or... haven't slept well.

I don't have my notebook with me, but I'm pretty sure that there are quite a few entries on the page on which I wrote down (as per Mystic Will) what I willed for the next day that read, "wake early, refreshed and energetic."

Current Mood: sadly, wide awake
Current Location: at the desk I could clean while I'm awake
Current Music: listening to the mockingbird that woke me up

dfr1973 (https://dfr1973.dreamwidth.org) started up a book club to read/discuss William Walker Atkinson's books and because he was associated with Charles Godfrey Leland, I thought to "append" my own thoughts to their main conversation.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I started Leland's "Mystic Will" but didn't finish the course of study. Yes, sign of a systemic problem, so much so that I harbor the thought that it's a bad idea to "join" this book club, even in my loosely defined notion of joining. I don't really need to start new projects that'll just peter out. Then again, a bit of accountability is a good thing and maybe I can use this loose connection to give a little fuel to my flagging practice.

This is fundamental (to accomplishing much of anything) and fundamentally related to a direction I want to take in the near future. Not to mention that I have numerous things I'm trying to accomplish and need to cultivate continuity and discipline.

Current Mood: scattered
Current Location: at a messy desk
Current Music: birdsong

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Page Summary

A little affirmation data
repurposing
"It gains in power as it runs long," or, as the I Ching says...
an online Mystic Will commonplace book
source materials
is insufficient will the problem?
tentatively joining a book club

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