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Post by lucofthelight on Jul 10, 2010 17:18:18 GMT -6
Greetings everyone,
I just thought I'd write a post explaining how things have have developed since starting the fourth way back in January.
My first reading of the The Fourth Way by P.D.Ouspensky was officially finished last night and I am relieved to have gotten through it. I know I'm a slow reader but I thought it was best to take my time with this tome.
After I finally put down the book my girlfriend/partner of 4 years asked me why I'm so happy. She also asked me why I find the Cult of Cthulhu so intriguing. She get's stuck on the whole Cthulhu thing and can't understand why someone would want to worship such horrible monstrous deities. "Life is suffering enough", she said, "so why would people want to make more suffering and bring back entities that want to destroy everything and everyone".
I basically explained that primarily the Cult operates as a fourth way school and that literal belief in the Lovecraftian deities are an optional extra depending on the person, and acts as a focal point for the religion and paradigm. That's where the chaos magic side comes in. One can use the mythos as a believable paradigm for the universe he finds himself in. I then went on to explain universe A and universe B and that we are stuck in a world of suffering in universe A. The idea of the fourth way is to lessen our suffering and to develop ourselves to become more conscious so that over time we may be free from the law of accident, at least in the first phase of the great work.
She then went on to say, " how has it helped you? We are still struggling financially and instead of trying to better yourself to find a better paying job you seem to want to impress a bunch of people on the internet by trying to develop your intellect and writing posts and working on music", etc,etc.
She got me thinking that's for sure. Your probably thinking, 'women', right?, but she had a very valid point. How has all this helped me personally and how has any of this improved my life? If my life improves by all this I want it to be verifiable by those closest to me. I want them to also benefit. However, one shouldn't look at the work in terms of financial gain as a motive. One must be willing to shatter all illusions about oneself and find out what is really going on. No stone left unturned.
This leads me to the next part. What has changed for me since beginning the Great Work?
*I'm beginning to view things in terms of chunks of time. Time is limited, even more so for people trying to awaken. I'm beginning to set aside that half hour period for this and that one hour period for that so as to progressively get things done and cut down on wasting this precious thing called time. Before I used to just drift through my days working on this or that and getting distracted very easily. I am a lot more focused since practicing self observation and try to manage my time more effectively and efficiently.
*My negative emotions have decreased dramatically since beginning the Great Work. I have put special effort into not venting them and now it is becoming part of my personality not to get upset, so as a side effect I tend to stride through life now with more calm, poise and confidence. I also see very clearly in my mind how useless venting them is in many situations. Now if something annoying happens I acknowledge it, yet take it for what it is and just focus on the solution or what can be done and discard the useless emotion attached to it.
* I used to have an almost permanent pain/tension in my neck from stress. Over the last several months I've observed this repeatedly and tried to guage what thoughts trigger this tension, what emotions cause it. Now I can say it has pretty much vanished. It seems to be true that to observe something changes it.
* Another thing which was hard for me to go through at the start was the letting go of layers of false personality. It is getting easier now and is giving me much more energy to use for work. I was wasting a lot of energy keeping up appearances, talking about things that I wasn't interested in or had no idea about. Trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about. I understand now that I don't understand many things and that it is wiser to be quiet in this case than to fill in the empty spaces with talk. I am feeling more centered and at ease with myself, as I don't have to waste time pretending. I can also see where some conversations are just going nowhere, or lead one down a negative path. I prefer to not talk as much and to do more.
* Anther thing that has been happening which is quite interesting is the idea of thought transference. It seems that my thoughts have a bit more power behind them now. Because I've let go of a lot of negativity, when I'm walking through the mall or going about my daily activities I seem to attract more attention or friendly gazes from people. It seems more common now that when I see someone, instead of thinking something negative about them, I now think of something positive about them. Almost always when this happens now, when they meet me with their gaze they look at me very positively and give me a big smile or a nod of hello,etc. I use to just get ignored by most people, so this is an interesting development.
So there you have it. Quite a few interesting, small, but very undeniable changes in my life thanks to The Cult of Cthulhu and the fourth way teachings.
If anyone has had anything similar happen I would love to hear about it.
Awake!
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Post by K'zin Z'tari on Jul 11, 2010 10:48:41 GMT -6
Greetings everyone, I just thought I'd write a post explaining how things have have developed since starting the fourth way back in January. My first reading of the The Fourth Way by P.D.Ouspensky was officially finished last night and I am relieved to have gotten through it. I know I'm a slow reader but I thought it was best to take my time with this tome. After I finally put down the book my girlfriend/partner of 4 years asked me why I'm so happy. She also asked me why I find the Cult of Cthulhu so intriguing. She get's stuck on the whole Cthulhu thing and can't understand why someone would want to worship such horrible monstrous deities. "Life is suffering enough", she said, "so why would people want to make more suffering and bring back entities that want to destroy everything and everyone". I basically explained that primarily the Cult operates as a fourth way school and that literal belief in the Lovecraftian deities are an optional extra depending on the person, and acts as a focal point for the religion and paradigm. That's where the chaos magic side comes in. One can use the mythos as a believable paradigm for the universe he finds himself in. I then went on to explain universe A and universe B and that we are stuck in a world of suffering in universe A. The idea of the fourth way is to lessen our suffering and to develop ourselves to become more conscious so that over time we may be free from the law of accident, at least in the first phase of the great work. She then went on to say, " how has it helped you? We are still struggling financially and instead of trying to better yourself to find a better paying job you seem to want to impress a bunch of people on the internet by trying to develop your intellect and writing posts and working on music", etc,etc. She got me thinking that's for sure. Your probably thinking, 'women', right?, but she had a very valid point. How has all this helped me personally and how has any of this improved my life? If my life improves by all this I want it to be verifiable by those closest to me. I want them to also benefit. However, one shouldn't look at the work in terms of financial gain as a motive. One must be willing to shatter all illusions about oneself and find out what is really going on. No stone left unturned. This leads me to the next part. What has changed for me since beginning the Great Work? *I'm beginning to view things in terms of chunks of time. Time is limited, even more so for people trying to awaken. I'm beginning to set aside that half hour period for this and that one hour period for that so as to progressively get things done and cut down on wasting this precious thing called time. Before I used to just drift through my days working on this or that and getting distracted very easily. I am a lot more focused since practicing self observation and try to manage my time more effectively and efficiently. *My negative emotions have decreased dramatically since beginning the Great Work. I have put special effort into not venting them and now it is becoming part of my personality not to get upset, so as a side effect I tend to stride through life now with more calm, poise and confidence. I also see very clearly in my mind how useless venting them is in many situations. Now if something annoying happens I acknowledge it, yet take it for what it is and just focus on the solution or what can be done and discard the useless emotion attached to it. * I used to have an almost permanent pain/tension in my neck from stress. Over the last several months I've observed this repeatedly and tried to guage what thoughts trigger this tension, what emotions cause it. Now I can say it has pretty much vanished. It seems to be true that to observe something changes it. * Another thing which was hard for me to go through at the start was the letting go of layers of false personality. It is getting easier now and is giving me much more energy to use for work. I was wasting a lot of energy keeping up appearances, talking about things that I wasn't interested in or had no idea about. Trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about. I understand now that I don't understand many things and that it is wiser to be quiet in this case than to fill in the empty spaces with talk. I am feeling more centered and at ease with myself, as I don't have to waste time pretending. I can also see where some conversations are just going nowhere, or lead one down a negative path. I prefer to not talk as much and to do more. * Anther thing that has been happening which is quite interesting is the idea of thought transference. It seems that my thoughts have a bit more power behind them now. Because I've let go of a lot of negativity, when I'm walking through the mall or going about my daily activities I seem to attract more attention or friendly gazes from people. It seems more common now that when I see someone, instead of thinking something negative about them, I now think of something positive about them. Almost always when this happens now, when they meet me with their gaze they look at me very positively and give me a big smile or a nod of hello,etc. I use to just get ignored by most people, so this is an interesting development. So there you have it. Quite a few interesting, small, but very undeniable changes in my life thanks to The Cult of Cthulhu and the fourth way teachings. If anyone has had anything similar happen I would love to hear about it. Awake! Yes,much of what you say is much similar to what I am going through,so much is happening or its like I notice more around me and about me that I didn´t notice before and I am more focused in so many ways. I have also noticed the change in people around me,things are more relaxed,and I sometimes notice people staring and the look on their faces is just like they can´t believe their eyes,yes exactly whatever they see about my person seems to be something extraordinary or maybe its just my new green jacket,its really cool I am glad to know that you are doing so well,I have also read your post"Chief feature"and I could also relate to much of what I read there. Keep up the good work Ia Ia Cthulhu fhtagn
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Post by lucofthelight on Jul 11, 2010 15:16:18 GMT -6
Greetings everyone, I just thought I'd write a post explaining how things have have developed since starting the fourth way back in January. My first reading of the The Fourth Way by P.D.Ouspensky was officially finished last night and I am relieved to have gotten through it. I know I'm a slow reader but I thought it was best to take my time with this tome. After I finally put down the book my girlfriend/partner of 4 years asked me why I'm so happy. She also asked me why I find the Cult of Cthulhu so intriguing. She get's stuck on the whole Cthulhu thing and can't understand why someone would want to worship such horrible monstrous deities. "Life is suffering enough", she said, "so why would people want to make more suffering and bring back entities that want to destroy everything and everyone". I basically explained that primarily the Cult operates as a fourth way school and that literal belief in the Lovecraftian deities are an optional extra depending on the person, and acts as a focal point for the religion and paradigm. That's where the chaos magic side comes in. One can use the mythos as a believable paradigm for the universe he finds himself in. I then went on to explain universe A and universe B and that we are stuck in a world of suffering in universe A. The idea of the fourth way is to lessen our suffering and to develop ourselves to become more conscious so that over time we may be free from the law of accident, at least in the first phase of the great work. She then went on to say, " how has it helped you? We are still struggling financially and instead of trying to better yourself to find a better paying job you seem to want to impress a bunch of people on the internet by trying to develop your intellect and writing posts and working on music", etc,etc. She got me thinking that's for sure. Your probably thinking, 'women', right?, but she had a very valid point. How has all this helped me personally and how has any of this improved my life? If my life improves by all this I want it to be verifiable by those closest to me. I want them to also benefit. However, one shouldn't look at the work in terms of financial gain as a motive. One must be willing to shatter all illusions about oneself and find out what is really going on. No stone left unturned. This leads me to the next part. What has changed for me since beginning the Great Work? *I'm beginning to view things in terms of chunks of time. Time is limited, even more so for people trying to awaken. I'm beginning to set aside that half hour period for this and that one hour period for that so as to progressively get things done and cut down on wasting this precious thing called time. Before I used to just drift through my days working on this or that and getting distracted very easily. I am a lot more focused since practicing self observation and try to manage my time more effectively and efficiently. *My negative emotions have decreased dramatically since beginning the Great Work. I have put special effort into not venting them and now it is becoming part of my personality not to get upset, so as a side effect I tend to stride through life now with more calm, poise and confidence. I also see very clearly in my mind how useless venting them is in many situations. Now if something annoying happens I acknowledge it, yet take it for what it is and just focus on the solution or what can be done and discard the useless emotion attached to it. * I used to have an almost permanent pain/tension in my neck from stress. Over the last several months I've observed this repeatedly and tried to guage what thoughts trigger this tension, what emotions cause it. Now I can say it has pretty much vanished. It seems to be true that to observe something changes it. * Another thing which was hard for me to go through at the start was the letting go of layers of false personality. It is getting easier now and is giving me much more energy to use for work. I was wasting a lot of energy keeping up appearances, talking about things that I wasn't interested in or had no idea about. Trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about. I understand now that I don't understand many things and that it is wiser to be quiet in this case than to fill in the empty spaces with talk. I am feeling more centered and at ease with myself, as I don't have to waste time pretending. I can also see where some conversations are just going nowhere, or lead one down a negative path. I prefer to not talk as much and to do more. * Anther thing that has been happening which is quite interesting is the idea of thought transference. It seems that my thoughts have a bit more power behind them now. Because I've let go of a lot of negativity, when I'm walking through the mall or going about my daily activities I seem to attract more attention or friendly gazes from people. It seems more common now that when I see someone, instead of thinking something negative about them, I now think of something positive about them. Almost always when this happens now, when they meet me with their gaze they look at me very positively and give me a big smile or a nod of hello,etc. I use to just get ignored by most people, so this is an interesting development. So there you have it. Quite a few interesting, small, but very undeniable changes in my life thanks to The Cult of Cthulhu and the fourth way teachings. If anyone has had anything similar happen I would love to hear about it. Awake! Yes,much of what you say is much similar to what I am going through,so much is happening or its like I notice more around me and about me that I didn´t notice before and I am more focused in so many ways. I have also noticed the change in people around me,things are more relaxed,and I sometimes notice people staring and the look on their faces is just like they can´t believe their eyes,yes exactly whatever they see about my person seems to be something extraordinary or maybe its just my new green jacket,its really cool I am glad to know that you are doing so well,I have also read your post"Chief feature"and I could also relate to much of what I read there. Keep up the good work Ia Ia Cthulhu fhtagn Thanks Krunki, the part where you said the look on their faces is spot on. It's just like that. They can't believe their eyes for some extraordinary reason. I'm glad we are working on similar aspects of the work. It helps to verify that it's working. I've also noticed that I see aspects of my personality in other people more often. Perhaps I'm having an influence on some of the people around me because I see there mannerisms resemble my own sometimes when speaking with them. It's quite interesting. Awake!
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Post by egodiabolus on Jul 11, 2010 21:08:22 GMT -6
She then went on to say, " how has it helped you? We are still struggling financially and instead of trying to better yourself to find a better paying job you seem to want to impress a bunch of people on the internet by trying to develop your intellect and writing posts and working on music", etc,etc. She got me thinking that's for sure. Your probably thinking, 'women', right?, but she had a very valid point. How has all this helped me personally and how has any of this improved my life? If my life improves by all this I want it to be verifiable by those closest to me. I want them to also benefit. However, one shouldn't look at the work in terms of financial gain as a motive. One must be willing to shatter all illusions about oneself and find out what is really going on. No stone left unturned. K'ara Kaiul,
Your gains through your efforts in the Work continue to be impressive. Clearly, you have a strong grasp of our effort here at the Cult of Cthulhu and how you benefit by participating.
I am also happy to read that you are in a relationship with a partner that cares and is concerned about your efforts. My girlfriend and I also had these same conversations recently, though she was less concerned about how my focus is being drawn from things she feels I need to be involved with. She was enjoying the changes that I was experiencing, but had concerns about the obligations that I might feel a need to engage in the future.
She is now a participating member of this forum, studying the Fourth Way, and seeking these benefits for herself.
Your girlfriend points out that you are focusing time in this process when you are still struggling financially; apparently suggesting you would be better served earning a living in a traditional manner than seeking personal evolution. If you are denying your real world obligations in pursuit of your evolution, then you will have a more difficult time succeeding. Your girlfriend is right, you cannot abandon your real-world obligations, but I cannot see why the two cannot co-exist.
I am a fan of Maslow's Hierarchy of Need. This is a simple psychological theory that states that our needs can be divided into various tiers; physiological needs are at the base, then security, then a sense of belonging, then self-esteem, and finally self-actualization at the top. The theory is that you cannot really achieve any success on one tier until you have successfully fulfilled the needs of the tier below. Paying your bills is right at the base in the first and second tiers.
I am not saying that it cannot be done, you can become self-actualized while living in your mother's basement perpetually unemployed and never even filling out an application for a job, but the odds are so stacked against you! The Fourth Way is the way of the sly man, it is a way that works within the system while also working outside of it. It is far easier to do what you need to do to satisfy your real needs in order to support your pursuit of evolution than to totally abandon your real needs and bet it all on a spiritual lottery ticket. I believe, especially in the beginning, the satisfying of your material needs and the satisfying of your spiritual needs should be symbiotic. Becoming better at taking care of your material needs in turn makes the material needs less pressing on your time and gives you the option of focusing more on the spiritual.
I have long been a supporter of individuals in the Left Hand Path not only seeking means to satisfy their material needs through the spiritual efforts, but also in forming an economy as a part of our culture that is distinct from the economy we engage in the greater society. "Buy Satanist" was my clarion call years ago, and though the idea has evolved in my mind, it is no less relevant. I have been poor, and I have been wealthy, and I can tell you from personal experience I much prefer to be wealthy. Wealth is not a noble goal in our pursuit, but having a little more than enough certainly eases our process.
So, what I am getting at is this: part of the Work should include the real world effort of satisfying your basic needs. Once your needs are met and you are secure in them, then escalate your pursuit of evolution. How we do this is going to vary from individual to individual; your needs are not mine, and what will satisfy you may not satisfy me. Still, there will be many tangents and parallels between all of us, worth further discussion. Perhaps by putting our heads together we can help each other out.
Awake!
Ego Diabolus Priest of R'lyeh Cult of Cthulhu
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Post by lucofthelight on Jul 12, 2010 8:42:22 GMT -6
Thankyou Master Diabolus,
I hadn't heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Need before. I will study this and begin to prioritize accordingly. I know that from observing myself often, I do naturally prefer to handle base priorities first these days so my mind is free to do more creative things afterward. Before I began all this I was a lot more tardy with my responsibilities. I'm at least seeing that I am unorganized now compared to thinking I was ok, which is a big step towards changing things.
I like your thinking in regards to working along two lines.
I' also glad your girlfriend is getting involved. That would be awesome having that level of support. I'm slowly introducing mine to the idea of the Fourth way as well so we'll see what happens I guess. She is supportive of my path so I do appreciate that. She is from a wiccan/pagan type occult background but in the past 5 years or so has discarded most of that and prefers a more LaVeyan/ Self styled approach, without all the white light bullshit.
In regards to my financial situation, it's not that I earn a terrible wage, but I made several stupid financial mistakes in the distant past. I've been paying a personal loan back for the whole time we've been together and it has only 6 more months to go, and things will be right again. I cover my responsibilities but just don't have a lot to save and spend on doing cool things at the moment. Things will get better next year. Understandably she gets frustrated at this. I can't blame her.
I think further discussion of ideas for mutual benefit would be great.
Awake!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 12, 2010 14:25:30 GMT -6
I have also noticed the change in people around me,things are more relaxed,and I sometimes notice people staring and the look on their faces is just like they can´t believe their eyes,yes exactly whatever they see about my person seems to be something extraordinary or maybe its just my new green jacket,its really cool I put emphasis on this, if you evolve then the change is seen by the others, else there is no change. ___________________________ When the stars are right.
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Post by ragnafa on Jul 12, 2010 15:53:35 GMT -6
I wish my wife was more understanding about my beliefs, she thinks I worship some giant Squid.
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Post by lisbent on Jul 31, 2010 1:09:56 GMT -6
I wish my wife was more understanding about my beliefs, she thinks I worship some giant Squid. Perhaps if you initiated her in the finer aspects of your beliefs she would not? Or perhaps you have and she simply did not get it?
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