This post is a Response to Jason’s post #5512, and also #5508 ANTHONYBAHLIBI, which is a response to #5504 Seba Dja
This post is a also continuation of the dialogue of following posts:
#5494 KaMaat-Amentat,
#5492 Jason W,
#5491 ANTHONYBAHLIBI,
#5487 Jason W,
#5482 ANTHONYBAHLIBI,
#5455 ANTHONYBAHLIBI
Ny Jason & Anthony,
Instead of beating oneself up about not reflecting on the Self, why not just reflect on the Self and skip the beating up part? I know…simple, but not easy! That’s the story of mystical practice…sounds simple..You are the Self! But it is not easy to attain:
KMT Proverb: “The path of immortality is hard, and only a few find it…”
This negative way of responding to oneself..by beating oneself up for what one is not doing…is negative conditioning learned over lifetimes…but it is not effective and even counter productive.
KMT Proverb: “Virtues fail that are frustrated by passion at every turn.”
So be aware to take note of which of the Shedy disciplines is your “in road”….most in line with your personality…easiest for you to do. (action/Maat Ari, Devotion/Uashu, Being quiet/Meditation/Uaa, reading/studying/contemplating/reflecting/Wisdom/Rekh.
That Shedy that is in tune with your current personality will be your main focus; it’s your “way in”.
While you are taking the course, Shedy Rekh may be your predominant Shedy practice.
You will still practice the others in a formal manner, for some minimum designated time…because it is important to work on all the different aspects of the personality, cultivating each, so that no aspect gets left so far behind, that it pulls you down in the future. For example, some aspirants get heavily into meditation, only to find they are not progressing integrally after years of practice because they ignored their devotional practice. Some aspirants get so heavily into their action aspect, that they don’t take them to practice formal meditation, and find it hard to be still and to experience the type of transcendence that is experienced in formal meditation. So, this pulls them back and they have to work on this to build it up. Thus, it is good to try to work on all 4 Shedy disciplines…at the same time, but also realizing and understanding that some will have a greater focus at certain times.
So, you can spend more time doing the Shedy discipline that is most in harmony with your personality…this is okay…this is your way into the deeper practice of the disciplines.
For integral practice Minimum:
First: Pick a minimum time…that NO MATTER WHAT…you can achieve it:
Think of your “worst/craziest” day….when you are the most tired and lack the most time. On such a day, what is the minimum time that you can commit to your Shedy practice?
What is the time…that NO MATTER WHAT…you can ALWAYS…100% achieve it? Honesty with Self, not ego-talk, is important here. Don’t let ego tell you what it should be.
1 minute (ny…don’t laugh…it could be 1 minute)? 4 minutes (one min per discipline?) 5 min? 7 min? 10 min?
The idea is to pick a minimum for formal Shedy…1 minute/discipline = 4 minutes. Do it as described….every day. This is your very minimum…and set your will that you will not go below this amount regardless of your circumstances.
The 1 minute formal Integral Shedy disciplines practice:
Shedy Maui/Uaa – concentration/meditation: The 3 fold chanting of Om Amun Ra Ptah can also be done as a min for concentration/meditation…and if done with devotional feeling, would also fulfill the inner Uashu/Devotional worship practice.
The minimum meditation time I have recommended is even shorter than the 3-fold daily worship…it is something that I feel should be possible no matter what is going on in life, and that is, to have one’s minimum Shedy practice be: simply sitting before your altar and chanting one OM…yes, one OM…as your minimum!
Uashu: Devotion can be chanting your hekau for 1/2 minute (inner practice). 1/2 Min: The outer devotional practice can be a concentrated focus on serving someone in your family or at work with the thought I’m serving the Self in this/these person(s).
Shedy Rekh: 1 min: Study of the teachings could be reading one proverb from the proverb book or reading a short paragraph in whatever text you are studying…then contemplating/reflecting on it for a few seconds.
Shedy Maat Ari: 1 min: 30 sec: Outer practice: This can be a focused effort to do something for someone in your family, or at work, with the focused thought, I’m not the doer…it is the Self that is doing this action. 30 Sec: Inner practice: Maat Ari is also doing one of the Sema Tawi Egyptian Yoga Postures with the feeling of the divinity of the posture as the doer of the posture. Ex. Doing any of the Aset Poses, such as the Aset Embrace, while repeating hekau, Nuk Aset (I am Aset) feeling it is the divine in the form of Aset that is the doer of the posture.
The above is a 4 minute Shedy that is Integral…and doable….and should be doable no matter what is going on in one’s life.
So…this seemingly minimum can be the seed from which your tree of Shedy grows…sprouting one leaf, then another, then a new branch, then several branches with more leaves, etc.
However, you are NOT limited to this 4 minutes….these 4 minutes are just for your formal…NO MATTER WHAT…commitment.
During the course of your day, you will continue to integrate the principles of informal Shedy (Maat Ari, Rekh, Uashu) to the best of your ability into your daily duties…cultivating a 24/7/365 practice.
AND ALSO, when your time allows, you can have a longer formal practice for any one or all four of the Shedy disciplines…more than 1 minute each…up to any time you wish.
When you do your KU work…this is Shedy [Rekh, Maat Ari (if you feel it is the divine doing the work though you)]…and definitely pushes you over your 4 min on those days.
THE KEY IS…SET A TIME…SUCH THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES…YOU CAN ACHIEVE THIS GOAL. So if it needs to be 4 min, or 5 min, or 10 min…what ever…this is the min that you will NEVER go below…no matter what is going on in your life, but you can always go above and beyond this time; it is not to limit you when you want to do more. Create a schedule with a daily checklist such as the one I have above…email me if you would want a copy or the template to alter the times: hemuudja@gmail.com
Then when you have consistently met the min time you set…say for 1 month…you were 100% successful in achieving your minimum, then you can decide to increase it a little…again, not much..maybe add 2 or 3 or 5 min…and again, you can always do more, but never less.
If on the other hand, you were not able to be 100% successful with your minimal set time for formal practice, then reduce the time even further…whatever time it needs to be for now, for you to achieve 100% success.
In this way, you are setting yourself up for success in your spiritual practice…and for ongoing growth with success, without the need for frustration, because you will ALWAYS be meeting your minimum…and at times exceeding it…and building on it.
If you try this, let us know how it is working for you in a month.
HTP,
S. Dja
