Episode 123

Awakening Practices from PRACTICAL WORK ON SELF, "Mentation", Part One

In this episode, THE THREE-HEADED MAN explores the concept of mentation, defined as the disciplined focus of attention to activate higher mental centers and move beyond mechanical thinking.

PRACTICAL WORK ON SELF contrasts the automatic associations of the ordinary mind—often distracted by primal desires like sex—with the intentional processing of ideas, using the analogy of a blacksmith skillfully shaping hot metal. Achieving this state requires a special form of will to maintain a singular line of thought, such as focusing unremittingly on a specific object like an ashtray or a peppermint leaf. This practice serves as a functional tool rather than an end goal, acting as a "transship" that can transport an individual between different states of consciousness.

Ultimately, THE THREE-HEADED MAN suggests that such mental rigor is necessary to reach deeper levels of conscience and self-awareness, potentially leading to transformative internal experiences described through metaphors like the planet purgatory.

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The Three-Headed Man
Talking To Ourselves For Over 25 Years

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About your host

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Fred M Schill

I like to do. I like to make things. And, I like telling stories. I tell stories to myself and to others.

First, a short biography, which is, of course, is a story. I was born in Cleveland, played sports, and attended university. Later, after a few years in the radio business, I returned to university to study education and literature.

With a teaching certificate in my file folder, I began working in high schools, first as a strike-breaking scab substitute teacher in Cleveland's far suburbs, and then in Chicago, mostly in private high schools.

Cleveland and Chicago. My two main towns, and I escaped them both. Presently, I live in a tiny, isolated, mountain village in Spain. I am reluctant to write the name of the town because I don't like tourists. When the tourists arrive, they look at me as if I am an animal in a zoo.