College of Thelema: Thelemic Education

Thanks, both of you.

Would using a seiza stool kind of defeat the purpose of the asana though? Isn't part of it working past the physical discomfort? I can handle the feeling of numbness, that's no problem, I'm just concerned due to that footnote in Book Four if it could be causing some sort of nerve or blood vessel damage.

I will try that with a physical tatwa. Is just drawing one on paper sufficient?

I'm sure everyone will experience some misbehavior of the tatwa, but to what extent is this typical? Just starting out, how long can most people keep focused? Also, is it a good idea to always use the same tatwa or to use a different one each time?

Solitarius, do you also experience numbness when doing the dragon? If so, to what extent and after how long? Perhaps I am not "poised" enough; next time I will try adjusting my weight forward as you said.

I have two questions/problems regarding asana.

I use the dragon posture. After I get past the 15-20 minute mark I usually start experiencing numbness in my feet. I wasn't too concerned about this until I read this footnote in Book Four: "Also beware of constricted circulation, which produces numbness more than it does pain. " Does anyone else experience this issue, and what can be done to alleviate it? I'd rather not have to change asanas, as the dragon posture seems to produce the best results for me. The thunderbolt is nearly impossible for me to do, I can't keep my balance well in the ibis, and the god is somewhat too simple for me and the fact that it requires a chair has the potential to be an inconvenience if a chair is not available.

Also, when I am practicing Dharana I find that it is quite difficult for me to stay focused on the tatwa. One of the biggest issues I have is that it tends to start shifting shape or changing size. I've tried forcing it back to the intended shape and size, but that only seems to make it worse. I've also tried just letting it shift around but then that tends to cause my mind to start wandering. I also tend to have a lot of wandering thoughts, although I suppose this is getting a slight bit better as time goes on. Interestingly, the times when my thoughts start wandering are the times when I most seem to lose awareness of my body.

Thanks.

Greetings,

I'm 18 and live in northern California (though I'm currently in Virginia staying with family for the summer). I've been familiar with Thelema and the occult for a several years now. Believe it or not I first began performing the LBRP daily when I was only 11 years old. I was just too young then to understand what I was really doing, and I ended up stirring up parts of my mind that I just wasn't capable of dealing with, which led to me abandoning my practice and study. Over the following years I would sometimes resume study, but it never lasted for long. I have now however begun a serious occult study.

I'm very much attracted to the philosophy of Thelema because it seems to be the only spiritual path that has a careful balance of skepticism and confidence. In addition, there are many morals and ethics of other religions and spiritual paths that I can see no reason for unless one first accepts that religion, but Thelema with its philosophy of "Do what thou wilt" is the only one that seems to acknowledge and work around this predicament that afflicts most, if not all other paths.

It seems to me that people believe in a religion because they find one that makes sense, and upon reaching this realization they think it to be the "right" one. The unfortunate part is that most people stop there. Yet if you look deeply enough they all make sense in their own way. If they all make sense, then it seems most logical to then compare them and find the similarities and find the message that they all are attempting to convey, while throwing out the dogma that inevitably gets added in and differs from religion to religion. Thelema, again, seems to acknowledge this and work around it.

My current routine consists of daily yoga and qabalistic cross. I'll be adding other rituals soon. I've begun studying the Qabalah as well. I'm joining this forum to get direction and hopefully help others as well, as I really don't know anyone else who is involved in Thelema.