Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

Clockwork Ghost
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Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

Post by Clockwork Ghost »

This exercise relates to the The disciplines of Magickal Trance thread in the Common Room. Please refer to that thread for the full lesson plan, which includes some specific required equipment.

We will be discussing our experiences with Liber MMM here, especially any interesting outcomes or questions which arise. I will require you to report in whenever possible with your progress, as this is a daily exercise that you should do at a point in your day where you have at least half an hour to yourselves. Try to practice the exercises in Liber MMM by yourself and in private. It is definitely possible to do all the exercises even in a crowded room, but if you can remove distractions you will find it much easier. This study takes a full six months, and I will be doing it with you.
Arrange the body in any comfortable position and try to remain in that position for as long as possible. Try not to blink or move the tongue or fingers or any part of the body at all. Do not let the mind run away on long trains of thought but rather observe oneself passively. What appeared to be a comfortable position may become agonizing with time, but persist! Set aside some time each day for this practice and take advantage of any opportunity of inactivity which may arise. One should not be satisfied with less than five minutes. When fifteen have been achieved, proceed to regulation of the breathing.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

Post by Clockwork Ghost »

Please let me know when you have gathered all the component tools and we will begin. [thumbup]

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Eremita
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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Reporting for duty!

How many have signed up to be students here, I wonder?

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Eremita wrote:Reporting for duty!

How many have signed up to be students here, I wonder?
Three students currently enrolled. You can find out who is in what group on the forum by clicking on the group names at the bottom of the forum front page.

You guys may want to read this too - it's Bluefluke's Psychonaut Field Manual. It mentions the practices in Liber MMM, but it's also good for better understanding Chaos Magick. http://ultraculture.org/blog/2015/01/12 ... os-magick/

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EternalReturn
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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Here!

But this is the case. I may not be able to do this every day, and there could be 1-2 day in the course of the week. Will this present a problem?

It is due to the family, noise, and not having some time for myself without interruptions unless they're working. And the explanations - I don't know if there is a way to explain them this.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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That's fine. I also have kids, and find the best time for Liber MMM is about half an hour before you get up in the morning, or when you first go to bed. Even if you can just go hang out somewhere quiet in your lunch break, remember that you will have your journal with you, so just record the results in that and then transfer them across later to your computer.

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EternalReturn
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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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That's good. But I've read somewhere that meditation of any kind before going to sleep is not recommended. First time I did it I haven't been able to sleep for a few hours. I did Quraeia meditation - relaxation, third eye opening using your right hand as a pressure point where you focus your thoughts, white-black smoke inhalation-exhalation.

If this is not true for this exercise, then I can do it every day.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Liber MMM isn't strictly a meditation exercise, it teaches the elements of magickal trance. Take a look through the PDF - the first lesson is simply keeping still, then breathing correctly. You do each discipline in turn, each one building upon the last. It seems frightfully basic at first glance, but combined the disciplines are extremely effective for allowing the mind to focus.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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FIRST DISCIPLINE - MOTIONLESSNESS

Arrange the body in any comfortable position and try to remain in that position for as long as possible. Try not to blink or move the tongue or fingers or any part of the body at all. Do not let the mind run away on long trains of thought but rather observe oneself passively. What appeared to be a comfortable position may become agonizing with time, but persist!

Set aside some time each day for this practice and take advantage of any opportunity of inactivity which may arise. Record the results in the magical diary.

One should not be satisfied with less than five minutes. When fifteen have been achieved, you will be ready to move to the next discipline. Please record how you go below.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Last night I achieved seven minutes of motionlessness. My concentration became broken when a fly landed on my face.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Nine and a half minutes of motionlessness before an itch drove me completely crazy. The key to this exercise is to make sure you're lying somewhere extremely resisting, but not too hard. If you're lying somewhere too soft then you're going to end up getting cramps, I reckon. Lie somewhere too hard and you just get a sore back. I do this on trains sometimes, sitting absolutely still on the seat. Its also good to do outside in parks.

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Eremita
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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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11 minutes of motionless on first attempt (with the obvious exception of breath, though this became slower as the session progressed). About 3-4 minutes in, I became aware that saliva building up in my mouth was becoming very uncomfortable. I persisted until about the 11 minute mark, when I involuntarily choked a little. I then relented and swallowed (absolute bliss [rofl]).

I'm looking forward to this program. Reading your notes adds to my motivation.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Eremita wrote:11 minutes of motionless on first attempt (with the obvious exception of breath, though this became slower as the session progressed). About 3-4 minutes in, I became aware that saliva building up in my mouth was becoming very uncomfortable. I persisted until about the 11 minute mark, when I involuntarily choked a little. I then relented and swallowed (absolute bliss [rofl]).

I'm looking forward to this program. Reading your notes adds to my motivation.
Fantastic! Well done Eremita! Keep the momentum up - try the exercise again tomorrow, but maybe try lying curled on your side. That way you won't choke if there is too much saliva. If you do lie on your side, consider a foetal position, as it helps support your spine. [thumbup]

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Re: Liber MMM discussion

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Here! Will perform motionless exercise for the first time tonight after the family go to bed.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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I've changed the format of how we will be studying this a little bit. I'll post separate threads for each discipline, that way people can go at their own pace.

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EternalReturn
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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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First try, 5 minutes but same as Eremita I had to swallow my saliva, and I did automatically. Other movement was blinking as little possible, and slight jaw movements. Interestingly enough, seems to me that my no-mind experiments in day-to-day life have reached certain results. My mind was pretty quiet after I focused on the silence.

But I see that I have failed to do it how it was written in the course, so I will try again.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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EternalReturn wrote:First try, 5 minutes but same as Eremita I had to swallow my saliva, and I did automatically. Other movement was blinking as little possible, and slight jaw movements. Interestingly enough, seems to me that my no-mind experiments in day-to-day life have reached certain results. My mind was pretty quiet after I focused on the silence.

But I see that I have failed to do it how it was written in the course, so I will try again.
Excellent first try EternalReturn - anything over five minutes is great! Try this with your eyes closed if possible, as it reduces eye strain. If you do do this with closed eyes, try to fully relax your eyes so they don't dance about under your eyelids in a search for stimulus.

Although it seems rather pedestrian, try to focus on Motionlessness before you move on to other disciplines. Each discipline builds upon the one before it, so no-mind becomes exponentially easier to achieve for longer periods when you get your breathing and stillness fully down pat.

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Maya The Generator
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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

Post by Maya The Generator »

I restarted Liber MMM practice, 6 days ago. I got 6 minutes but often itch is a beach. My best is 8 but only once done and as always itchy nose got me.
Illusion is the first of the pleasures.
The bomb of entropic chaos.
If some assholes levels a twelve gauge your way, you drain him, skin him and bash in his skull. Self-preservation is vital part of humanity after all. My favorite part, in fact
My mind is telling me NOOO but my BODY, MY BODY is telling me YEAS

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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Sixteen full minutes! Lying on my side, on a couch. I did eight minutes at work too before I had to take a call. I think the guy sitting next to me thought I'd gone to sleep... [grin]

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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...I hope everyone is recording their exercises in their online diary!

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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Maya The Generator wrote:I restarted Liber MMM practice, 6 days ago. I got 6 minutes but often itch is a beach. My best is 8 but only once done and as always itchy nose got me.
If you develop an itch, focus upon it and make it your whole world, don't try to ignore it. If you ignore it then it will cause you to react subconsciously, if you focus on it and recognise it then you can tell your conscious mind that you will deal with it later.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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17 minutes stillness tonight, broken by involuntarily swallowing, whereupon my eyes snapped open. I sat in a cross-legged position in my office chair, with hands resting in my lap. I experienced some very strange bodily sensations - lost awareness of my right hand, which isn't unusual for me, but I also had a pleasant pulsing sensation in my throat, and for the last 5 minutes or so my lips felt simultaneously chilled and non-existent... if that makes any sense at all. I think the last two both related to residual toothpaste from brushing my teeth recently.

Concentrating so hard on remaining perfectly still was quite a strain. The last few minutes I could feel myself getting warmer and a light sweat forming (it's a very warm night down here in Australia). Whereas typing this now, I'm much cooler.

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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P.S. I feel now is a good time to say thank you very much for organising this class, Clockwork Ghost. I began working on Liber MMM last year, but stopped at step 3. I'm looking forward to following it through with you guys this time. :)

[thumbup]

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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Attempted motionless three times last night. Nine minutes the first time; broken by involuntary itching (got lost in thought for a moment and then realized my arm is itching the other arm), nine minutes the second time broken by the angriest itch I've ever felt that came out of nowhere, third time 14.5 minutes broken by involuntary swallowing. Minimal thoughts rose each time and only got lost in a couple thought runs. Did *not* feel any symptoms that I have in the past (waves of warmness, sinking/falling feeling); body and mind both stayed awake. Will attempt tonight again.

And I agree on thanking you for putting this class together - it's MUCH easier to stick with knowing that I'm accountable to other people! [thumbup]

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Re: Liber MMM discussion - Discipline 1: Motionlessness

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First time I tried it today I did 3 minutes, because I was interrupted. Few moments ago I did a 11 minute motionlessness, but with some involuntary muscle twitching and blink per minute.


edit: I sat leaning my upper body forward and supporting it's weight with my arms folded and held on knees. I don't know how it never occurred to me that this might hurt after a while. It did and it was the main reason why I stopped. I think I could've reached 15 minutes without breaking a sweat.

But it was very warm at one moment.

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