I am doing the preparatory work from the course but the time frame and the number of repetitions confuse me. Koetting says that we should do the exercises 3-5 times. Does it mean that we should do them in the row? Like first do 3-5 times cyceling the light, then 3-5 times watching the river and so on. Or should be do all the exercises once first and then start all over again and do them again? I got this idea that we are supposed to do the same exercise 3-5 and then move on but I am not sure.
The other thing I was wondering is that how do I know when to move on? I am really a beginner in meditation so all these exercises have been quite difficult. I don’t want to jump into the next section too early but I want to make some progress but I don’t want to do these exercises for ages either.
[quote=“AcidKing, post:2, topic:4199”]3-5 minutes each, not times[/quote] EA explains in the videos to perform the exercises 3-5 times, so that you solidify them as a practice. In other words, do them 3-5 times until you’re sure you’ve grasped them, then move on. If you grasp them right away, then no repetition is necessary. So, cycle light, watch the river, and the pendulum, bring yourself back to normal, then do them again, if possible. That is my understanding. They are preparatory practices you will be using throughout the course so you want to get them down pat.
I don’t have this course, so I can’t speak from a position of experience with this course. However, if it is a preliminary working, unless it is stated that this is something you can breeze through, I would suggest staying with those exercises until you are sure you have a reliable proficiency with them. Even if you have initial success, it might not mean that you completely mastered it. Once you got it down, I’m pretty sure you’ll know for sure that you got that command over it.
^ Can’t fault that advice - the time you spend putting in the groundwork now is time you WON’T spend being frustrated further along when you run into a block due to not having your basics down.
Yup, that dedication is something you have to put forth at some point, along with the reciprocal patience. It’s better to do it with the elementary, baby steps than to wait when stuff gets more in-depth. It’s something that I have seen with people who tried out Franz’s Bardon’s IIH system; those who put in the bare minimum with the first 3 steps got canned once step 4 or 5 came in. However, those who had roaring success with it spent as much as 1 year on EACH of the first 3 steps. Once they did that, the rest of the program was simple to practice and wrap their head around.
Not saying that such a period of time is necessary for anything, however it demonstrates that patience is the name of the game, along with dedication and immersion.