[Help] Looking For Practical Step By Step Training Systems Similar To Initiation Into Hermetics (I've Already Seen Quareia)

[Al-Zalaam]

Heydi said:
Oh nononono, do not do this.
I don't wish to sound rude, but this is very bad practice, and may be part of why you are moving slowly.

Distractions in the Thought Discipline exercise are entirely expected - you are meant to persevere through them and continue your practice, just as you would during Thought Control.
That is how you most efficiently condition your mind.

So basically, mark the time where I failed at the exercise and then continue to do the exercise for an extended duration anyways for the sake of building up a tolerance.

Ok, makes sense.

Roughly, yes.

These exercises aren't like an exam where you either pass or fail and just keep retaking the test hoping for a better result next time. They're mental conditioning exercises, much like a gymnast who conditions their flexibility.
Each Mental exercise in Step I gradually transforms the structure of the mind, and even potentially the brain itself, over extended time and practice.

And just like a gymnast doesn't attempt to perform a split and then immediately cease when he discovers he can't, you shouldn't be stopping your exercises at the first distraction.
You need to immerse your mind into practice and give your brain the chance develop, just as gymnasts hold stretches to condition their ligaments and increase their flexibility.

I never bothered to keep track of my "first distraction" when I was going through any of these exercises, because I understood that the results would often be erratic and all that was important was that I keep up practice and deepen my conditioning.
One day you may get distracted in the first minute, the next maybe the third, and then backwards toward the second etc.
It's of little consequence which specific point you get distracted. The mind is fluid, not a machine, and sometimes it deviates by random chance.
What is important, though, is how many times you get distracted during an exercise. This is a far better way to keep track of your progress.
In the later stages of my practice of these exercises, I would sometimes get accidentally distracted within the first one or two minutes, but then I would perform the next seven or eight perfectly.
On the other hand, there were times in the early stages where I would succeed in not getting distracted for 5 whole minutes, but then after I got distracted that first time, I would get distracted many more times in the remaining five minutes.

Which one is better?
The first case, where I got distracted once in the first two minutes but performed the rest perfectly, or the second case, where I did not get distracted until the five minute mark, but then had many more for the remainder of the exercise?
Obviously the first case is more proficient.

Anyways, as I've said, I didn't really keep track of when I got distracted, only roughly how many times I did.
Eventually at some point, I would notice that there were no distractions at all within 10 minutes, and that would be the end of it.
This isn't necessary, but I always pushed it further and aimed for 15 and later 30 minutes, just to make sure that my mastery and development of these exercises were truly complete.
The progress in these exercises are strangely exponential, though. Once you can reach a perfect 10 minutes with any of these exercises, you reach a point of mastery where it is quite easy to reach for 15 or 30 minutes.
Basically, the difficulty of developing the first 5 or 10 minutes is much, much more difficult than reaching for 30 minutes after you have already perfected 10 minutes.
It was not uncommon for me to reach 30 minutes after only a few tries after I had reached the original goal of 10 minutes.

According to others I have spoken with, this seems to be a universal experience.

Lol dude, he is not the worst one. The worst comment I've seen on reddit is from a guy who said he COMPLETED the entire IIH training, then when I clicked on one of his YouTube videos he says in it that you should move on to the next step even if you haven't mastered the current one. I was dumbfounded.

It's crazy how some people can use mental gymnastics to rationalize things. His idea of "completing the training" is simply moving on whenever he feels like, regardless of whether or not he gets the results.

Oh yes, I've seen many people claim to have completed the IIH in my time, and I scoff at every single one of them.
If you really completed the IIH, you'd rival Jesus Christ in power and would have much better things to do than hang out on the internet killing time on forums.
At the very least, you'd be a well-respected and decorated teacher on one, if you bothered to be online at all.

 

[Diluculo_DelFuego]

So how is the duration of the course determined, in self accountability with IIH?

 

[Al-Zalaam]

So how is the duration of the course determined, in self accountability with IIH?

Are you asking how long the course of the IIH can take to completion?
If so, then it depends on prior experience. Not necessarily in this life alone, but previous lives as well.

If you were an adept or advanced magician in a previous life, then it's hypothetically possible to pick up the IIH and complete it all the way through in a single year.
But, for the vast majority of people who have anything less than adept-level skill, it can take anywhere from 2-3 years to an entire lifetime.
It can also be highly influenced by whether or not you have a teacher or peer that can assist you through it as well. I didn't have that, and as a result, I suffered through unnecessary mistakes which cost a great amount of time when otherwise I could have advanced reasonably quickly.

The first 1-3 steps tend to be the gauntlet which weeds out those who succeed with those who don't.
If you can make it through the first 3 steps, then you'll likely have no issue completing the rest of initiation in a reasonable manner, but getting through the first three steps is the crux which many don't ever pass in the first place, and if they do, it's usually the longest part of the IIH.
It's like the "exam" portion which determines if you are worthy of the rest of initiation.

Otherwise, in terms of the exercises themselves, they all have very clear cut standards that need to be completed in order to be eligible to move on to the next, so it's a very linear, methodical course going through it.
If I misunderstood your question, let me know.

 

[MehenVox]

I gotta say, IIH is probably the best magical training system out there right now. But if you're looking to expand your knowledge and maybe explore some Chaos Magick at the same time, I'd recommend checking out "The New Hermetics" course by Jason Augustus Newcomb.

It's a self-initiation path with different levels, some exercises are the same as Bardon's course, so you can go at your own pace and are easy to be integrated into your own routine. You should be able to find it easily online with a quick Google search. And if you end up liking it, you can always support the creator by buying it officially.

Hope this helps, and happy exploring!