The suffering in the process comes from realizing the fact that something is and has stopped you from doing the things that you want and having the experiences you want… and you have no idea why…

We have too many programs in the head space competing for attention, none of which has any real consideration for what “you” the small part inside that is still “you”, really wants

Before we can have any hope at all of mastering ourselves we have to undergo a couple of initial steps. The first is the realisation that we are asleep; essentially mechanical beings as produced by society.

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1236/states1.html (second state of conciousness)

Next we have to see that we are not one individual, but are made up of many competing elements that totally drown out our authentic self and create much conflict in our lives;

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1236/manyis1.html

In my opinion the greatest tool giver of recent times was G. Gurdjieff.

You just have to ask yourself, how much of what you think “the right thing to do” is actually the right thing for others. And how much is actually the right thing for yourself?

This is termed external consideration by Gurdjieffians-

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/1236/considerouter3.html

In my opinion, Gurdjieff’s work was heading towards ossification even within his own lifetime, and he realised this, as signalled by the title of his book “Beezlebub’s Tales To His Grandson”.

Well, I think we are his grandkids and great grandkids. The traditional Gurdjieff groups have petrified into the curse of the dead word, and have lost sight of the “terror of the situation”, that we are prisoners of our sleepwalk, and also, in my opinion, the hinted at idea that there are forces that actively work to keep us this way, and perhaps trying to ultimately subsume humanity into a borg situation (I think he left this open for later, when the evidence became clear, folks in his time were just not ready for this).

In my mind Tim is continuing the Gurdjieffian tradition in the way he intended. Focusing on, and expanding methods of self-remembering using today’s paradigm of information and fluid group interaction and communication created by the internet and actively experimenting with reality in your life. Also, encouraging others to modify and create their own works, which is absolutely essential to the individuation process.

I am not a Gurdjieffian in that I don’t belong to a group, and I consider his work as just part of a core of tools to work with. I think the Gurdjieff teachings may prove valuable for others here, it is kind of a technical language for the science of individuation that helps build common reference points between us and others and also for our own mechanism’s use.

Tim’s exercise in left-hand writing is a perfect example of creatively consciously pressuring the mechanical self so that it may expand into a formerly empty space ( and also synchronise, as Tim also points out. It is a form of conscious suffering, because, particularly initially, it makes your brain uncomfortable, triggering unpleasant emotions. All of this kind of process is valuable to observe within ourselves.

Here is another source for tool ideas-

http://www.kesdjan.com/4th.html

Research has shown that repeated action, learning, and memory can actually change the nervous system physically, altering both synaptic strength and connections. Such changes may be brought about by cultivated change in emotion and action; they will, in turn, change subsequent experience.

In all of the elements of the Noble Eightfold Path, the word “right” is a translation of the word samyañc (Sanskrit) or sammā (Pāli), which denotes completion, togetherness, and coherence, and which can also carry the sense of “perfect” or “ideal”.

WHAT WORKS BEST: BEST POSSIBLE