In the open

 There are many appealing things about introducing Eastern concepts to your practice. The philosophies and methods of consciousness change are interesting subjects for scrutiny. Then eventually practice. Crowley was very attracted to Buddhism for a while. I grew up with Buddhism in my life as a child. My Mother belongs to nichiren daishonin buddhism. I have been listening to the mantra Nam Myoho Renge Kyo since being in the womb. It is still a very powerful mantra to me today. I keep an Omamori Gohonzon in with me in my pocket.

. The appeal of the East is strong. Most who encounter it are seduced by it's logic or simplistic tenants. The truth of the matter is that it is riddled with superstition and other non-sense just like other religious memes. Christopher Hitchens made a good point of observing the Eastern philosophies with condemnation for some of their practices. In terms of cultural appropriation, one is left not feeling sorry for it after reading his essay. 

Samsara is also called Chapel Perilous. A Dark Night of the soul. A portion of a natural cycle. The Black Sun in Alchemy. Not that all life is suffering like many translate the First Noble Truth. 

 "...puts  the  sensory  spiritual appetites  to
 
           sleep, deadens them,  and deprives them of the ability  to find pleas-
 
           ure in  anything.  It binds the imagination, and impeeds it from doing
 
           any  good  discursive work.  It makes the  memory cease, the intellect
 
           become   dark and unable to  understand anything, and hence  it causes
 
           the will to become arrid and constrained, and all  the faculties empty
 
           and useless. And over this hangs  a dense and burdensome cloud,  which
 
           afflicts the soul, and keeps it withdrawn from the good."  

I rarely quote from the Saints but this one was good. It is the stage in the cycle preceding great transformation. Christianity and Buddhism are both dead currents. The next stage is to evolve beyond. One of the reasons I am not on board with Buddhism and fine with Transhumanism. The Ten worlds call the lowest realm Hell. It is a state of life condition where one is in misery. In Western Occult medicine and alchemy, we would try to establish the characteristics of the situation and treat it accordingly. 

Instead of detaching from it we become one with it in Western practices. This is similar to the rituals constructed by Chöd Buddhism. There are exceptions to the rule in both polarities, but the general attitudes and mores withstanding. Letting go of the "thirst" is part of the Noble Truths. In Thelema this isn't necessary. This thirst is a primal drive and should persist as long as the magickian fights to survive. At the end he or she or they will have a last standing with Death. 

“If a dying warrior has limited power, his dance is short; if his power is grandiose, his dance is magnificent. But regardless of whether his power is small or magnificent, death must stop to witness his last stand on earth. Death cannot overtake the warrior who is recounting the toil of his life for the last time until he has finished his dance.” -Don Juan Matus

A thirst is a good thing. Just don't drink from the River Lathe. 

"And in your last dance you will tell of your struggle, of the battles you have won and of those you have lost; you will tell of your joys and bewilderment upon encountering personal power. Your dance will tell about the secrets and about the marvels you have stored. And your death will sit here and watch you."

The Eight Trigrams. The Eightfold Path lost interest after discovering the Eight Limbs of Yoga. I admit the Path never really held any connection for me. Yoga I found much more attractive and interesting. I have come to finally understand, from age, that I am not suited for Yoga. I am better suited for Tantra. This portal into Eastern methods has opened numerous opportunities for mysticism and growth. With Hindu memes, I fall into the category of Aghori. Avadhuta Gita. With Chinese influence you can over come the nature of duality also. 

The I Ching in particular encodes a great deal of information. I am interested in reading this book to gather more ideas. Also I have some books I want to read on Chinese hand analysis. Western Palmistry is not that interesting so far. 

I Ching is written just like the genetic code. Thinking along these lines leads to a post terrestrial circuit activation on the Eight Circuit model. This unity in binary is expressed physically as well as psychically. 

First 52 blocks, now 64 postures. Looks fun. 

Martial arts books are hit and miss. Some have elegant descriptions but lack illustration. 

I forgot to cover this one in the metric post. "It doesn’t take years to learn real self defense. It takes days. When it comes to learning everything you need to know about punching and blocking with your hands and arms it only takes hours using the Jim Wagner Metric Arm Striking & Blocking system, then it is up to the student to perfect and maintain their skills. What does it mean “Metric System” when referring to self-defense? We all know that the mathematical metric system is based on the number 10, such as 10 millimeters in one centimeter. In the Reality-Based Personal Protection there are only 10 ways to strike a person, 10 blocking angles, 10 directions in which the human body can move from one point to another, and this rule holds true whether you are a housewife protecting yourself with a knife against an intruder or a counterterrorist operator moving in on a target. The 10 primary directions are forward, backward, horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. Jim Wagner takes you step-by-step through all 10 strikes and blocks. For those in traditional-based and sport-based systems Jim Wagner’s discovery is liberating, and you come to realize that there are not “thousands” of blocks and punches. It all boils down to 10. "

This one is a video. Which I will get. I discovered Wagner's metric system in one of my books and watched him demonstrate online. He is easy to follow. That's the thing. If you can follow the appropriate gestures you can assemble a sort of dance. 

Jeet Kune Do had a definite impact on me. I first encountered it while in the Army. In terms of flow and movement it has a great deal to say. More of an esoteric work really. Eastern influence none the less.

The opposite of katas is espoused. 

 

These are the Ten Non-Virtues of Buddhism:

1. taking life
2. taking what is not given
3. sexual misconduct
4. lying
5. sowing discord
6. harsh speech
7. idle gossip (or worthless chatter)
8. covetousness
9. ill will (or wishing harm on others)
10. wrong views

They form a view for deeds and mirror the Ten Virtues. I can see instances of my behavior that come up when reading these. They correlate to the tree of life just as their listed. Jim Wagner also has a background in JKD. 

There are a couple of JKD books that are of interest. Dealing mainly with trapping and grappling range. This is a very rough territory and can be tackled with further exploration. I Introduce the Devil's Handshake:

It gets the message across. Sometimes you can turn a passive gesture into intimidation and compliance. A Dark Art. 

There are several yogic practices that I find unsuited for my lifestyle. I have adopted Tantra instead. I smoke. I drink. I fuck. I like these things and Tantra embraces them. So does the Aghori path. 

This is an excellent manual for Tantra. 

This last one I haven't read.

There is a passage from the Avadhut Gita that says: "34. Some there be that prize non-dualism, others hold to dualism. They know not the truth, which is above both. "

To make the first rank you have to master some fundamentals. There are four rituals to get down. Liber Resh vel Helios. The Star Ruby ritual. The Star Sapphire ritual. Then Liber Samekh. Then you can open the doorways to Daath, Choronzon, and Aethyrs. Additionally, the prayer to the moon. Lunar Yonic Solar Phallic. 

This small booklet is what I recite from. It is different from Liber Samekh in a good way. It just suits me better.

I recite The Bornless One after Resh just to memorize. "this is thy true name handed down to the prophets of ALBION" Albion could mean humanity according to Blake. I do the Star Ruby and Star Sapphire from Future Ritual. I have never read the book, I just find it conveniently has both rituals in there. I have been writing in this blog but not in my journal. I admit much of the information would be the same contained within. The practice begins today. I have a journal that I have set down that I can use to write smoke letters and write in again. 

It is three days in to the New Moon.  It is a good time. I will get to it.