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Carlos Castaneda and his relationship with Don Juan Matus is one of the most interesting associations in the history of anthropological accounts. I had access to the writings more than 20 years ago and even today, it seems to me one of the most impressive collections of books that have passed through my hands.
Work that mark the twentieth century
His work is considered, as one of the works of reference of the twentieth century, marking radically, especially in the decade of the 60, when the hippie movement at world level was on the rise. His books were taken as a flag by this movement, as in his text mentions the use of power plants by the indigenous tribes of northern Mexico, in ceremonial rituals, as a means of access to altered states of consciousness.
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In the decade of the 60, Carlos Castaneda and was a young man who studied anthropology at the University of California, and went to the most renowned scholars in that institution, requesting guidance on whether to do field work, for his thesis degree.
One by one, they were, desmotivándolo to perform this activity, something that was about to be taken into account by Castaneda. Alleging that this activity, was not taken seriously in the anthropological circles of those times and that on the contrary, could be disqualified, and its author to fall in disgrace in the academic spaces.
Castaneda's Long Way
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His thesis was based on the use of Peyote, tribes such as Taraumara, Yoris, and Yaki. This plant is not seen as such by the natives. For them the plant is a conscious individual, which has the faculty, to provide guidance in the everyday world. But approaching the plant is a somewhat risky work, because being a power plant and having consciousness, she perceives whether the person is really in search of knowledge or just want a time of recreational travel through the psychotropic effects that she has.
Fortunately, a acquaintance who was also an anthropologist, I encourage him to accompany him, to take a trip through the towns of northern Mexico, to visit the places where he had been, at different opportunities, and to be able to exchange with the people who had Received at the time when looking for guidance in their initial field work.
Carlos accepted the friend's invitation to make the trip. And at a bus terminal, Greyhound, this one indicated that there was an old man on a bench, waiting to embark. I commented that this old man, was an Indian, who knew the plant, and could provide information, but had to be cautious since John, was somewhat eccentric, and only saw the person but did not say anything, and so could pass the whole meeting.
The fact of seeing the person, and not saying a word was considered a disair by the interlocutor. What they didn't know was that John was seeing the person, and that was because of his energetic aura.
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The persections of Don Juan
In the case of Castaneda, John could realize that this was an ideal candidate for nagual, and therefore the perfect person, to bequeath his knowledge and take it as an apprentice. Castaneda, possessed a double luminous compartment in his aura, which gave him the condition of nagual. Usually all beings have a luminous compartment, where our energy is stored, but Carlos possessed a double luminous sphere, and this made him a different human being than the rest, which is a basic condition to be nagual.
Nagual, is the person who is chosen by means of the spirit to be intermediary between him and the common men. Nagual's condition endows it with characteristics such as: sobriety, impeccability, patience and balance. It is the one who is called to be a driver of apprentices and therefore a counselor and channeler in the path of knowledge.
The world of shamans is based in terms of energy. Energy is the currency of legal tender, in these spaces. The terms in which shamans manage the everyday world differ, radically from the way men see and manage the environment. Shamans see and do not look. There is a big difference between seeing and looking, which is why they are psychic. They can capture a person's energy configurations through sight.
That's where he started a relationship between anthropologist and shaman that lasted about 20 years, and where they left about 10 books. The first with the title "The Teachings of Don Juan" is a somewhat technical book in its conception and where Castaneda strove in the scientific names of the plants.
In this book Don Juan tells him of the 4 great enemies that appear in the way of the man who seeks the knowledge.
The first great enemy is fear. But there are two types of fear. The fear of the unknown and the fear of internal change.
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The two of them step out simultaneously. To the unknown because this man has never seen things that begin to manifest as he progresses and in terms of fear of internal change, man can not address the path of the warrior with all the miseries he carries internally. If he did so he would be defeated at first without being able to advance to the other rungs of knowledge.
If the person remains impeccable, he defeats the fear and accesses the second enemy, which would be clarity.
Clarity is an enemy more powerful than fear, as it plays with the ego of the Warrior and puts it to the test.
In defeating Fear, the warrior can realize something meaningful.: See the world clear and diaphanous. Fear acted like a barrier, which did not allow him to see things clear. In this way the man begins to think that it is infallible by the mere fact of seeing the world clear. And this is his greatest weakness, for he begins to commit recklessness, by the excess of confidence. Then the most predictable thing is that this man is defeated by his ego, which makes him think, that being a step higher than the common man is superior to them. At that time is when you should be more cautious and each step given should be well measured.
Then I will refer to the subsequent deliveries to the remaining enemies, which are more devastating and dangerous than fear and clarity.
Quotations from the teachings of Don Juan:Fear and learning
What you learn is never what one believed. And so you start to get scared. Knowledge is never what one expects.
There's nothing wrong with being afraid. When you fear, you see things differently.
Fear is the first natural enemy a man must defeat in the way of knowing.
But maybe you should learn to lose your fear to understand what I mean.
The Journey to Learning
Man lives only to learn. And if he learns it is because that is the nature of his fate, for better or for worse.
Does this road have a heart? If you have, the road is good; If not, it's no use. No road leads anywhere, but one has a heart and the other doesn't. One makes the journey joyful; As long as you follow him, you're one with him. The other one will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; The other one weakens you.
Man should only reflect and wish until the moment his body is ready to undertake the journey.
It is in the footsteps where man finds strength. Without them we are nothing.
It takes time to really see and understand what Mescalito means; You have to think about your lessons until they get clear.
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A big greeting.