The Commanding Self

Indeed.

I think I should just point out that in the Sufi conception the term 'The Commanding Self' actually refers to the 'obstacle' of the false / unconsciously created personality. So not the same thing as the 'metaprogrammer' at all.

The Self-Metaprogrammer's moto being 'Have a word with yourself'.

Noel Emits said:

Isn't this exactly what G.I. Gurdjieff, Aleister Crowley, Timothy Leary, John Lilly et al contend you can do?

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i don't belive in putting artificial limits on yourself. you can acheive anything, including remoulding the core of what makes you, you. i'd have thought that peoples experiences with mdma and other drugs at a minimum would have taught them that. its certainly opened my eyes to what i can be. i hate to paraphrase rumsfeld of all people, but its possible to make your own reality. people do this routinely every day whether they are concious of it or not.

I was doing some reading on magic, trying to understand some of the things paul meme talks about, and I wonder whether this is in fact the core of it - all those rituals, its almost like self-hypnosis. would be very interested in paul shedding some light on this - all i've got from him in the past is that "magic is not about belief"

i wasn't specifically addressing you luka. just trying to clarify terms for the sake of discussion. or to make things clear in my own head. no offence meant.

Ta! I found that D Lessing article very interesting - the idea of an ideology without an agenda or a structure totally appeals to me and resonates very much with my experience of spirituality, kabongggggg!
(apologies for the hippydippy jargon btw)

Re: the self control issue, i stopped smoking tabs thru sheer strength of personality, it was excruciating i must admit, but it was interesting in terms of being quite a cerebral experience, difficult to share or express (except by grinding teeth) weed seems to be drifting out of my life with less effort, i seem to be sidestepping that habit thru a few changes in schedule, location...

I'm always amazed that there is such a capacity for denial and self-delusion in people, perhaps this is the subconscious in control, rather than straight self-control, but it's endlessly surprising to me how people who participate in the same society can have totally different perspectives and attitudes - e.g i find it very difficult to understand how people can come from the other side of a polarised debate like immigration, i can relate to them as people but not to their opinions...

sherief said:

I think that the benefits of anti-humanism have showed us that there isn't always a self there, or that it isn't always all 'ours' to begin with. The struggle arises because, speaking ambiguously, you are not you, you are a composite of many different influences, discourses, environmental fac tors, social determinants, and desires to say the least. This isn't to encourage passivity or shift responsibility off the individual, but I think it speaks to the difficulty of any task we would undertake.

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luka said:

thats what i would have said 5, 6 years ago. and theres some truth in it too, but as you say, its not a productive beleif,and not only isit it unproductive its also no closer to the truth than the belief that there is a single true coherent self.

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I think it can be productive, liberating even, to recognise selfhood as multiple, conflicting, composed of or through all the influences sherief talks about. it certainly felt like a liberation of sorts to me to accept the tensions (wanting/not-wanting and so on) rather than trying to figure out who the 'real me' was. and thats not a passive or unproductive position, you can still exercise will while recognising all that resists it. maybe only really exercise will/ego/ commanding self by acknowledging everything that resists it