Akenu's Initiation

This is a part tutorial and part rant about one of the early steps of Bardon's IIH, so brace yourself. Before we begin, let me give you two very simple methods of quieting your mind, so you can taste what it feels like to have no thoughts. "Taste" is definitely a pun for the first method. Easy method of quieting your mind Try this. Stick your tongue out and grab it between your index finger and thumb; now pull it out a little. Your mental chatter should disappear; isn't that cool? Well, if you are an inner-monologue type of person, that is. If your thought process is visual instead of auditory. This didn't do anything for you. The reason is that auditory thinkers do move their tongues a tiny bit while thinking. This method stiffens the tongue and makes these microscopic movements way harder. Don't worry, you will appreciate the second method a bit more. Visual method of quieting your mind Now relax and close your eyes. Imagine a completely empty white room. Th...

 While working on my trataka practice, I've decided to add a bit of a color to the after image. This is what the focus image looks like: And this is what the afterimage should look like: From my personal experience, the colors are a bit paler during the afterimage focus, and eg the red outline is not visible, at all.

 One thing that suffers a lot after a long hiatus from the practice is definitely the imagination. The imagination used for Magick is a bit different than the one humans typically use. You know, I could ask you to imagine your favorite place or a scene from a movie. You wouldn't have a problem with that. However, that kind of imagination always feels like it exists somewhere else. The imagination used for Magick exists right before you, right before your eyes, or around your body. That's why the word visualization is often used to explain the concept a bit more correctly. What is also interesting, if you focus on the properly visualized image for long enough, this image will actually burn into your retina and cause an afterimage. So, how to develop and strengthen this type of imagination? The best method I have found so far is the trataka meditation. Trataka is great for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it's a focal meditation, allowing you to learn how to tame your...