QUOTE(DeathStalker @ Sep 24 2006, 07:48 AM)
After much book study and forum lurking i've learned a lot, but i've ne'er practiced yet!
Well there you go. If you don't practice, all you'll ever have are questions, and no answers.
You can gather all the information you want, get answers for all the intellectual questions you have, but if you aren't actually doing the work to achieve the things you've been reading about, you'll never get anywhere.
You've made forty posts at this time to this forum, and like you say, you've been reading and lurking a lot. The time for study is over, start practicing right now.
A lot of initiates tend to make the mistake of gathering the basic information along with the intermeditate and advanced stuff. It's matter of curiosity, of course, and perfectly understandable, but due to the lack of resources in the way of reliable personal teachers out there, no one has been there to monitor and guide your progress. Unfortunately, that means you're going to have a hard time of moving forward - you've packed so much theory of what is 'supposed' to happen into your brain, that there's very little room for what is going to happen on its own, naturally, and in a personal way.
Don't take it as a rebuke, more of a gentle reminder - too much theory, before you're ready to understand it all experientially, can impede your progress. Go practice, try to forget, consciously, everything you've learned so far, and allow your body, mind, and spirit to evolve naturally in the course of real, dedicated practice.
Good luck
peace