The essence of Castaneda's teachings is not easy to express in a couple of phrases. I read all his books (some more than once), and repeatedly successfully applied the practices described there. And to the question “What is the point?” Of course, I will give my answer. I will also explain the basic concepts of the teachings of this great writer. You just need to keep in mind that Castaneda’s works are multi-layered and multifaceted, any shortcuts will be a simplification.
Just magic
If you want simple, understandable answers, then it would be easier to say that the teachings of Carlos Castaneda are the transfer of magical knowledge and skills, the essence of which is to comprehend the Unknown.
But Carlos Castaneda himself never simplified to such an extent.
The teaching is presented in detail in the books of this author, the main characters of which are Carlos himself and his teacher, the Indian shaman Don Juan. Actually, the teachings of Castaneda are actually the teachings of don Juan. Throughout the action of all the books, the author is precisely a student - and far from the most understanding and capable.
The difficulty is precisely that it is impossible to perceive don Juan’s knowledge from the position of an ordinary person, guided by the usual logic and stereotypes. Everything that don Juan teaches is magic in its purest form; it is incomprehensible to the mind. This is not throwing fireballs or turning stone into gold - it has no material purpose. You could say it's magic for magic's sake. No not like this, this is magic for the sake of Freedom - in the broadest and even transcendental sense of the word.
Below are some of my thoughts on the veracity of Castaneda’s books, a list of books in chronological order and a brief summary of them. If you want a quick summary of Castaneda's teachings, skip straight to chapter
True or not?
It is unknown whether Don Juan actually existed. And if he was, how true is everything said about him in the books. After all, there he is a powerful shaman, capable of doing completely impossible things. He even manages to deceive death.
Castaneda tried to confuse everyone - it is impossible to accurately describe the events of his own biography, it is impossible to confirm or deny the very fact of his travels to South America, where basically all the action took place. And the personality of don Juan remains even more elusive for truth seekers.
I, like many skeptics, am inclined to think that Castaneda is one of the greatest mystifiers of all times, who managed to invent and describe in detail the world of magic, seriously and for a long time capturing the minds of millions of people. Thousands and thousands of followers preach his teachings and apply the practices described in the books. Carlos Castaneda definitely wrote his name in history.
The difficulty for those who seek to get to the bottom of the truth also lies in the fact that his books are not fiction, this is not a fairy tale that one wants to listen to with reverence and in which one wants to believe. No matter which translation you take of Castaneda, you will see complex, muddled language. This is most similar to documentary, to real notes from a person who has been faced with the incomprehensible for a long time and strives to master this incomprehensible. It seems that everything is written incredibly honestly - all the complexes, troubles, and fears of the author come to the surface.
Detailed (sometimes rather tedious) descriptions of magical practices, the meaning of which the author himself cannot fully understand, a detailed description of the sensations during these practices - all this was difficult to simply “invent.”
I see it as akin to poetry. I know talented poets who are able to write beautiful, complex poetry in a state of flow. They may contain words that the author does not even know. In fact, one of my friends writes excellent poems, but she sometimes finds out their meaning only when she looks on the Internet to “decipher” what she has written. Words from dead or rare languages may appear there.
There is also such a phenomenon as channeling, when people, using their brains, communicate with beings from the immaterial world, who can dictate entire volumes of their thoughts, as if without the participation of the person himself.
As I said, recently I have become a skeptic and I would say that all these texts come from somewhere, but I will only say that we still do not know the capabilities of our own brain, but it is capable of a lot. And even “inventing worlds” is far from the limit.
There are those who claim that everything described is simply hallucinations captured on paper, resulting from the use of psychedelic substances. But this is said either by those who have not read these books at all, or who have read only the very first ones, called “The Teachings of Don Juan” (1968) and “A Separate Reality” (1971). There the author actually describes the use of the substance mescaline, extracted from a cactus called “Peyote”. But in the same books it was repeatedly mentioned that for Castaneda these were a kind of “crutches” that accelerated the process of entering an altered state of consciousness, but which could have been completely dispensed with.
Skeptics' take on the life of Carlos Castaneda in the BBC film:
Books
Here I will give a list of Carlos Castaneda's books in order - in the chronology in which they were originally published and give a brief description.
"The Teachings of Don Juan" (1968)
Perhaps the most difficult work of Castaneda to understand.
If you want to get acquainted with his teachings, but you do not want to wade through the jungle
meanings and long strange descriptions, DO NOT start with this book.
In general, in my opinion, the best book to start dating
with Castaneda is the ninth book in the series: “The Art of Dreaming”.
It is interesting that “The Teaching” is a dissertation on anthropology, which makes it easy to readobviously does not add.
The author, while a student at the University of California, in search of information about medicinal plants, meets an Indian from the Yaqui tribe, Don Juan Matus. A year later, don Juan tells the author that he has magical knowledge and that he chose Carlos as his student.
Having collected a significant part of the material from the shaman’s stories, the author understands that the only path to true comprehension of Knowledge is the experience of magical reality. This path leads to the acquisition of Power. Some of the helpers in this are the so-called “allies”, certain magical entities that you interact with. A warrior (a person who has taken the path of magic) comprehends this new reality and gains Power.
"Separate Reality" (1971)
The author turns out to be not ready to accept the new reality, which did not fit into the usual picture of the world at all. After writing his first book, Carlos tries to forget everything he experienced. But a couple of years after the last events described in the previous book, he still returns.
The next stage of magical training begins. Carlos is being reinitiated. We are introduced to a new character - another shaman, a friend of don Juan, don Genaro. A significant part of the book is devoted to the mental processes associated with “vision” - one of the superpowers that the author is taught. Carlos watches the so-called “peyote ceremony” and enters into a discussion with don Juan and his relatives (it’s funny that many of them consider the shaman to be just a crazy old man). They talk about magic and other things - even politics. Don Juan introduces Carlos to one of the key concepts of his teaching - Controlled Stupidity.
This book largely repeats what has already been described in the previous one - this is quite typical for Castaneda. He often returns to what he said and looks at it from slightly different angles.
In general, it’s worth saying that Castaneda’s books are endowed with some amazing quality: you can read the work for the tenth time in a row, immersing yourself in events and dialogues that seem to be well known to you, but each time you don’t exactly discover something for yourself. something completely new... No - you are amazed that it is as if you are reading certain passages for the first time. And this happens again and again when you pick up a book that has been read to holes.
“A Separate Reality,” just like the first book, will seem very difficult for a beginner to understand.
"Journey to Ixtlan" (1972)
The title of the book is an allegory told to the author by Don Genaro. Ixtlan in his story is the homeland to which a magician who has acquired Knowledge is trying to return. But it turns out that returning to the previous way of life, having become a different person, is no longer possible. Being in the old picture of the world, communicating with ordinary people who now seem like ghosts, becomes completely uninteresting.
The book describes the stages of the Path of the Warrior - a magician who hunts for Power. In search of her, Carlos travels with don Juan through the mountains of Mexico. Continuing to describe his training with his mentor, Castaneda talks about the practices of Stopping the World, Erasing Personal History and Dreaming.
Carlos tries his best to be a skeptic and explain the unusual things happening to him from a rational perspective. In the end, he still gives up clinging to the usual picture of the world and “stops the world.”
"Tales of Power" (1974)
One of the most interesting works of the master.
Don Juan teaches Carlos to enter an altered state of consciousness using the Stop. Carlos learns that magicians can be in two places at the same time by creating a double (Double). Don Juan also talks about Tonal and the Nagual.
Carlos's training is coming to an end and he needs to make a real leap into the abyss - together with two other students, he must jump from the top of the mountain. Don Juan and don Genaro themselves leave this world forever.
"Second Ring of Power" (1977)
Jumping from a cliff into an abyss, Carlos survived. He returns to Mexico and meets several of don Juan's students. He discovers the ability to leave his own body, continues to realize and remember much of what don Juan taught him... Everything goes towards Carlos taking on the functions of the leader of a new detachment of magicians.
"Eagle's Gift" (1981)
Carlos decides to become the leader of a squad of magicians, but things don't go very well. Students begin to remember events that did not exist in the world of habitual perception of reality. Castaneda quarrels with his charges. As a result, it turns out that Carlos cannot be a leader due to the unusual structure of his energy body.
The students leave Castaneda, and he himself heads to Los Angeles.
"Fire from Within" (1984)
Carlos is going through a new stage - another revolution is taking place in the perception of don Juan's teachings. As the author shifts his Assemblage Point into a state of heightened awareness, he continues to recall events related to his training. The reader is introduced to the concept of Petty Tyrants, which provides the opportunity to view any negative situation as a learning tool.
"The Power of Silence" (1987)
Continuations of Carlos' memories, in which don Juan talks about his teachers, about Intention - the main force in the universe, about Stalking - the art of Warrior behavior in the ordinary world.
“The Art of Dreaming” (1995)
This book reveals techniques for entering a lucid dream and using it to travel to other worlds. Carlos's visits to other realities and meetings with their inhabitants - inorganic beings - are described. At the end of the book, the author meets with an ancient shaman - the Death Defier.
"The Active Side of Infinity" (1995)
This book is interesting because it does not contain not only the already familiar conversations with don Juan and magical practices, but also a description of the author’s life and work in Los Angeles - in conditions that are far from magical.
"Wheel of Time" (1998)
This is no longer a full-fledged work, but a collection of quotes.
"Magic Passes" (1998)
Here Castaneda describes the Tancegrity system of energy exercises. The origin and technique of performing magical passes is described.
It is also worth mentioning that in addition to Castaneda’s books, there are books by his students, known under the pseudonyms Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner.
Basics of Castaneda's teachings
Basic concepts of Castaneda's teachings
Path of the Warrior- a way of living, the goal of which is to achieve complete freedom and endless awareness. This is the path from the world of imposed beliefs, values, stereotypes to the world of freedom. A set of certain life attitudes leads a person who has chosen the path of magic (“Warrior”) through life (“Battlefield”). A warrior who has passed the Path becomes a Man of Knowledge and reaches the highest degree of awareness. Infinite awareness implies that a person retains all acquired knowledge and continues to be aware of himself even when he leaves this world forever.
Unbreakable Intent- one of the key qualities that a Warrior possesses and without which it is impossible to achieve his goal.
“Intention is one of those forces that exist in the universe. Magicians call upon Intention and it comes to them. Intention paves the way to achieving a goal. This means that magicians always achieve their goals..."
Knowledge- the art of mastering Intention, searching for complete freedom, magic.
Personal Power- what allows the Warrior to move along his Path. Everything a person does is determined by the level of his Personal Power. We can say that this is a kind of energy resource that a magician can collect and accumulate in various ways.
Indulgence- in a broad sense, this is what replaces an action adequate to the moment. (for example, reflection, fear) Indulgence takes as much or even more Personal Power than is required to perform the action.
Sense of Self-Importance- one of the key problems that prevents the magician from achieving his goal. Castaneda describes FSA as a feeling of superiority over someone or something, the importance of oneself and one’s actions.
Controlled Stupidity- this is detachment from one’s “I”and the Sense of Self-Importance associated with it. Controlled Stupidity allows the Warrior to interact with society and its representatives.
Assemblage point- this is the point at which the perception of a living being is formed. Described as a rounded spot of intense luminosity at a subtle level. By shifting the Assemblage Point, the magician changes his perception (or moves to a different reality altogether) - he enters an altered state of consciousness, in which he is able to otherwise perform actions that are impossible for him in his normal state.
Not doing- a magical practice that involves performing absurd actions. Its goal is to move the Assemblage Point.
Stalkers And Dreamers- types into which magicians are divided depending on the magical practices performed.
Dreamers interact with the world through . With its help, they move between worlds, can be in different places at the same time, turn into animals and do other incredible things.
Stalkers interact with reality with the help of Controlled Stupidity. From the point of view of the average person, Stalkers do not do anything supernatural. For example, they can very naturally and believably play the role of a completely different person, easily negotiate with people and generally get what they need within the confines of normal everyday reality.
Dream is a practice known as Lucid Dreaming. According to Castaneda, however, this is a broader phenomenon. He distinguishes seven Dream Gates, which refer to the level of mastery of the dreamer. The fourth gate, for example, refers to the ability, leaving one’s own body, to travel to other places - that is, essentially Astral Flights in esoteric terminology.
Tonal- in fact, all the perception that a person can in any way voice and designate.
Nagual- everything that lies beyond any comprehension. Everything that is beyond the limits of reason and feelings. That which cannot be named or defined.
Castaneda also often uses the concept of Nagual in a different meaning: he is a teacher, a leader of magicians (Warriors), leading them to comprehend the unknown.
Energy body – a satellite of the physical body, which is a ghostly configuration that consists of pure energy. It has an external appearance (vaguely reminiscent of an egg), which can be seen by magicians (using, in fact, Vision) - a Glowing Cocoon.
Inorganic beings- beings in the form of formless energy fields with awareness.
Allies(Ollies) are inorganic creatures that inhabit the Earth along with organic ones, which magicians can use to deepen Knowledge and accumulate Personal Power.
How will Castaneda's teachings help in ordinary real life?
If you are not going to follow the Path of the Warrior for the sake of a not very clear goal, sacrificing your usual reality, without any guaranteed “benefits,” you should be wondering whether at least something from Castaneda’s teachings can be used in your everyday life. Let's say you're just interested in self-development. You don’t want to plunge into the wilds, but you want to learn some useful skills. Well, here's something for you:
Stop indulging!
The most obvious “usefulness” of Castaneda’s teachings. Here, it would seem, everything is simple: Instead of being afraid, worrying, or thinking a lot about any matter, you just need to take it and do it. Follow the path that you have chosen, no matter what. But in fact, we all engage in indulgence all the time. Carlos himself in his works is simply a source of uninterrupted indulgence. One way to avoid indulging is
“Don Juan to Castaneda: “Carlos, stop indulging - people are watching”” Joke
Stopping Internal Dialogue
It would be more correct to call it an internal monologue. It's just the flow of our thoughts. The theme of stopping the incessant “talking” in our heads is not new at all and existed long before Castaneda - mainly in Eastern spiritual teachings. It is obvious that 90 percent (or even more) of all the reflection that occurs in the head and accompanies our entire life is useless mental garbage that does not carry any constructiveness. It only wastes energy and distracts from the main thing. Getting rid of internal dialogue, at least for a while, can bring calm, clarity, and fulfillment.
The methods of stopping Internal Dialogue that Castaneda gives are unlikely to be mega-effective for beginners. Easier to use.
In any case, only regular training will bring tangible results. And you can start them right now, without Castaneda and without yoga. Just relax, focus on your breathing and take a few seconds to feel the silence and get rid of thoughts in your head. For the same few seconds - after all, the “talker” will immediately return to you. But if you do this regularly, little by little, calmly, without fanaticism, the effect will not be long in coming.
The Practice of Revising Personal History
Personal History is everything you know about yourself and your life. Castaneda's teachings presuppose its Erasure, and Revision is only a step towards this. But still useful. The complete Erasure of Personal History can be questioned. But many psychologists consider Revision to be a rather useful practice. What is she? This is remembering all the more or less significant moments of your life.
Moreover, you don’t just remember everything - you relive it all again, reproduce all your thoughts and feelings that took place during this or that event.
At the same time, you seem to remove the energy charge from everything you have experienced and return this energy to yourself. You can imagine and talk through this process. It makes sense to linger longer on strong, especially negative, memories.
Upon completion, if you did everything correctly, you will receive an unprecedented energy boost - a resourceful state.
The practice is long-term. You will have to devote many hours - or rather, even days - to this. You will have to use a pen and notepad to write down all the memories, dwell on each one in more detail, work through it carefully, take breaks and return to the starting point.
Before going to bed, I myself sometimes use the practice of reviewing the past day. I remember everything that happened to me that day, from waking up to the current moment. I also focus more carefully on the most significant and emotional moments. I remove the “energy charge” - for simplicity, I often accompany this with a deep inhalation and exhalation.
Important!
This practice can also be useful in the context of a separate event that just happened to you. For example, you had a fight with someone. You can become aware and practice Revision this event - regain the energy you spent, restore your calm, balance and continue doing your business.
Get rid of the Sense of Self-Importance
A sense of Self-Importance does not allow us to adequately perceive the world around us and ourselves in this world, and becomes the cause of resentment and irritation. HSV is comparable to such a concept as Pride. Although Castaneda interprets it somewhat more broadly. EHS gives rise to an overly serious attitude towards one’s thoughts, feelings and, in general, everything that happens.
Anxiety is accompanied by anxiety and fear of doing something wrong. In general, a huge amount of tension accumulates if you consider something important. This tension binds and prevents you from acting in a relaxed, impartial manner.
"I asked, meansIs it that he never acts sincerely, and that his actions are just acting.
“My actions are always sincere,” don Juan replied. —But they are not more, how acting a game.
- But after all Then absolutely Allwhat you do mustbecontrolled stupidity, -I was amazed.
Yes, t“Yes, it is,” he confirmed.”
The practice of Controlled Stupidity, when you treat what you do consciously and easily, helps to get rid of emotional distress. More precisely, you yourself choose how to relate to something. If, for example, something bad happened, you turn on awareness and choose for yourself exactly what you want to feel and how you want to relate to what happened: to experience grief, joy or indifference.
Constant practice of Controlled Stupidity allows you to treat life as a game and thereby makes life much easier.
Regular, calm awareness of the fact that you are mortal helps to get rid of emergency situations. Don Juan calls death the best adviser to the Warrior and calls to constantly remember it.
The listed practices relate to Stalking - essentially the art of interacting with everyday reality, according to the teachings of Castaneda.
Lucid dreaming
It makes sense to highlight them separately. Lucid dreams, i.e. Dreams in which you are fully aware of yourself and are able to control events, can enrich and brighten your life. However, it is hardly worth starting with Castaneda - he can frighten a beginner and instill considerable fear of the OS. If you want to do them, I suggest reading articles about.
It is worth saying that the very teachings of Don Juan in the light of Castaneda’s works sometimes look quite frightening. Just look at the inorganic creatures that are capable of not only killing, but also kidnapping and forever locking your subtle body in their worlds. During the learning process, Carlos is almost always afraid of something, apprehensive, or at least perplexed. So, if you are approaching these books with a practical purpose, filter the information.
At the same time, Don Juan appears more in the form of a cheerful old man-provocateur, who constantly laughs at his incompetent student and plots all sorts of intrigues for him.
Bottom line
Despite the abundance of interesting philosophical opinions and magical practices, the essence of Castaneda’s teachings cannot be reduced to either one or the other. Yes, if you set out to find as many wise thoughts as possible, you will find them. If you want to engage in self-development, there are techniques here.
Just like there are mystical revelations, adventures, funny dialogues, although, I repeat, this literature can be called easy to read with a stretch.
There is a common saying that yogis often cite when they want to tell what the essence of their teaching is. They say that there is a Path and there are flowers that grow along this path. The flowers are wonderfully beautiful and smell magical. But they are not the purpose of the journey, they are only a kind of “bonus” to this journey. Moreover, it is not always present.
Also, the magical world described by Castaneda, with movements in space and between worlds, with transformations into animals, with communication with incredible creatures - these are the same “flowers”.
All these incredible possibilities and superpowers attract the average person. Especially if his reality is gray and ordinary. He strives into this magical world, sometimes collecting along the way everything that Castaneda warned against, further increasing his Sense of Self-Importance, boasting of his achievements (to himself and others), indulging at every step,
According to Castaneda, the ultimate goal of the path is Freedom. Including freedom from the need for self-affirmation, recognition, consolation. The Warrior's path is always uncertainty and loneliness.
Many eastern practices involve performing exercises aimed at forming a strong connection between the physical shell and the human soul.
It is believed that only through the perfection of the body can a sufficient level of enlightenment be achieved. As they say, “a healthy mind in a healthy body.”
Tensegrity - a gift from Carlos Castaneda
One of these eastern techniques aimed at strengthening the body is called “tensegrity”. The 12 basic movements that you need to master at the beginning of studying this practice will help you get rid of most common health problems - in particular, strengthen your immune system, and feel the body at the deepest, animal level.
It is believed that this practice has some kind of magical power; it is no coincidence that the common name for tensegrity movements is magical passes. The roots of this practice go back to the knowledge of Mexican shamans.
They were kept secret from other people for a long time, and only thanks to the serious work of Carlos Castaneda they became available to the general public.
Castaneda reveals the knowledge accumulated by Mexican shamans in his books.
A separate book is devoted to the study of tensegrity. Video, however, makes this technique more accessible to understand and master. Therefore, if it is not possible to practice under the guidance of a qualified instructor, it is better to follow the instructions of the instructor on the video recording - this will reduce the likelihood of making numerous mistakes.
These exercises allow you to get rid of most common health problems - in particular, strengthen the immune system, and feel the body at the deepest, animal level.
Tensegrity magical passes - the heritage of the wise Mexicans
The ancient Mexicans used these movements to restore health to the body and get rid of energetic dirt.
12 basic movements allow you to get rid of common health problems - strengthen your immune system, and feel the body at the deepest, animal level.
Of course, now they are used in a more simplified form, adapted for the average person, but it still cannot be denied that regularly performing such movements has a noticeable effect on the body.
Tensegrity magical passes of Castaneda (video):
Tensegrity internal style video (film about practice and description of exercises):
Tensegrity of Carlos Castaneda part I (the exercises themselves):
Tensegrity of Carlos Castaneda part II (the exercises themselves):
Tensegrity of Carlos Castaneda part III (the exercises themselves):
Transegrity (Expanding the boundaries of perception):
Tensegrity magical passes (connection of left and right bodies):
Transegrity - “unbending intention”
Groups with a Tensegrity trainer
Saint Petersburg:
Group “Constellation” - weekly classes on Thursdays
Tensegrity: reviews from practitioners
Many modern people have already experienced the beneficial effects of tensegrity. Feedback from practitioners is that this technique fills the body with energy, brings it into tone, into balance with the outside world.
Here is what Ellina, 36 years old, writes about the practice:
“This is a very useful experience of self-knowledge and self-improvement. This is more than a set of physical exercises, it is the ability to control emotions, not allow negative sediment to fill the space of the soul, it is the management of internal energy and the ability to direct it to achieve a goal!”
Another review from Maxim, 43 years old:
“I started working out and got noticeably slimmer. Health problems are gone, high blood pressure is not a concern, I always feel great. My business is booming and I feel full of strength to realize all my intentions. There is no feeling that time is slipping through your fingers while you are inactive.”
Now you have a unique opportunity to experience the magical effect of tensegrity for yourself. Turn on the video and start practicing!
Meditation is the basis for acquiring true knowledge. Without this practice, we communicate only with illusions and other people's knowledge and revelations."
Martynov V.V., international class master of the martial art of Wing Chun, President of the All-Russian Wing Chun Federation.
Features of human consciousness
Consciousness as a category distinct from the psyche was highlighted in the philosophical concept created by Descartes and Locke. “Consciousness is the perception of what happens to a person in his own mind,” wrote Locke, thereby separating consciousness from the direct perception of external objects and considering it as one of the functions of the mental.
The development of psychology has raised the question of the factors that determine consciousness, the framework within which a person’s awareness of the surrounding reality occurs. Modern psychology considers this problem in the light of the cultural-historical concept of the origin of higher mental functions (L.S. Vygotsky). The development of the psyche, according to Vygotsky, is determined mainly not by the laws of biological evolution, but by the laws of the historical development of society. Higher mental functions are formed as a result of interiorization - the transformation of external means of controlling behavior (signs) into internal ones. Thanks to the connection and correlation of these functions, consciousness has a systemic structure. A sign (primarily a word" with its meaning mediates the process of direct sensory internal reflection of the world. Individual consciousness is social in nature, since in the process of communication it assimilates meanings already developed in society.
So, individual consciousness perceives and comprehends reality to the extent that the abilities formed by this same socially and culturally determined reality allow it. We perceive reality not as it really is, but through a certain prism created by upbringing and environment. This is the so-called “reality by agreement,” a model of the world that exists in our minds and, generally speaking, is a distortion of reality. Any of us has noticed how persistently our psyche rejects unwanted, unpleasant situations that happen to us. In the future, we either forget them or try to interpret events in such a way that they fit into our “coordinate system” and do not frighten or upset us. This is the so-called phenomenon of “perceptual defense” or selective perception. It is expressed in the fact that people are more ready to understand and see what they would like to understand and see, and strive not to see what they consider undesirable.
Of course, such a perception of the surrounding reality imposes a number of restrictions on a person’s mental abilities. For the author, as for any creatively thinking person, it is of interest to try to go beyond the limitations of one’s own consciousness and thinking, to discover enormous opportunities for creativity in all its diversity. One of the ways to discover and develop the hidden capabilities of the human psyche is meditation.
Meditation as a method of changing consciousness
Meditation as a method of revealing non-standard human capabilities, as a method of spiritual development and self-improvement, has been used in Eastern culture since ancient times. This work does not aim to examine the entire diversity of Eastern practices; Therefore, we will limit ourselves to describing the general features of meditation using the example of the Buddhist teachings of Zen. One of the meanings of the word “Zen” is meditation.
At the same time, Zen Buddhism interprets the word “Zen” as the Ultimate Absolute or Supreme Reality “which is beyond words.” This mystical experience that a meditator acquires, “a flash of comprehension beyond time and beyond the limitations of individual consciousness” (1, p. 24), is called awakening, “satori.” In Zen Buddhism there are many ways to achieve satori; We will highlight two main approaches: the Zen of the Thus Come One and the Zen of the Patriarchs.
In Thus Come Zen the emphasis is on achieving a state of single-pointedness of mind through concentration and contemplation. This type of meditation is called “meditation within a tradition.” In the Zen of the Patriarchs, the emphasis is on merging with emptiness through emptying the mind. Typically this type of meditation is not found in Buddhist sutras and is therefore often referred to as meditation outside the tradition. The Zen of the Patriarchs (in this case meaning the Zen of the inspired flash of awareness of the Cosmic Reality) is transmitted from teacher to student, “from heart to heart.”
Some modern researchers offer an erroneous interpretation of the teachings of Zen as a kind of sect, where in the process of teaching teachers allow themselves to beat and insult students, supposedly in order to achieve enlightenment. This interpretation was created in the process of incorrect interpretation of koans - short instructive stories in which the basic principles of Zen teaching are allegorically explained. In fact, in order to allow the student to go beyond ordinary consciousness, the Zen teacher deliberately tries to put the student in a non-standard situation that requires a non-standard solution. In this way the disciple achieves awakening.
In all the variety of approaches to meditation, one can identify the main characteristic features. The beginning of any meditation is concentration, concentration of the mind, detachment from all internal, extraneous thoughts and experiences. Starting with the concentration of the mind on an object and passing through the stage of penetration into the object, the practitioner completely dissolves in it, merges with it - the object fills the space of consciousness. At this stage, a feeling of enthusiasm and satisfaction dominates, sometimes luminous images and unusual bodily sensations appear. As concentration deepens, a moment comes when ordinary consciousness disappears, sensations and extraneous thoughts completely dissipate. At the deepest level of meditation, the practitioner experiences a feeling of delight and bliss, a consciousness of the infinite.
Carlos Castaneda and the revival of shamanic psychotechnics
All stages of meditative practice are described very clearly in the works of Carlos Castaneda. In essence, his works are the diary of a researcher practicing altered states of consciousness, describing in detail and analyzing his individual experience. The main premise made by Castaneda in his works is the idea of a reality consisting of energy fields (“Eagle emanations”); a human being is also an energy structure that interacts with the surrounding world (which has already been proven by modern scientific research). That which determines which emanations will be selected at a given moment of perception is called the assemblage point. The assemblage point can be defined as the property of awareness to select appropriate emanations to ensure the simultaneous perception of all elements that currently form the world. According to Castaneda, the main goal of the practitioner of this psychotechnics is to develop the ability to consciously move the assemblage point in order to go beyond the ordinary perception of reality. This is the focus of don Juan's teachings.
The main mechanism for fixing a person’s awareness is a special internal state called internal dialogue. Inner dialogue is the mental conversation we constantly have with ourselves and is a direct expression of the reality that each of us perceives. Its main task is to defend the generally accepted description of reality, feeding it with its own content (thoughts) and facilitating the commission of actions that fit into this interpretation of reality. The practitioner's task is to stop the internal dialogue. Don Juan speaks of stopping the internal dialogue as the key that opens the door between worlds, that same breakthrough from the realm of the everyday to the depths of the subconscious. An important stage for a breakthrough to the subconscious is “erasing personal history.” Don Juan says: “All personal history must be erased in order ... to free ourselves from the restrictions that other people impose on us with their thoughts.”
In essence, this is a description of the practice of meditation - liberation from externally imposed attitudes and images, seeing the world as it really is.
One of the central themes of Castaneda's books is the path to Personal Power or the path of the warrior. The warrior is in a constant struggle with his own weaknesses and limitations, fighting against the forces that hinder the growth of his knowledge and Personal Power, and these forces are generated by our personal history and external circumstances. With the help of will, which is an emanation of his own “I,” the warrior cognizes the world and actively influences it.” Don Juan calls on the warrior to “open up to the Force” and gain freedom. Freedom is the exit to another reality. Don Juan points out two paths leading to a shift in the assemblage point:
the art of dreaming and the art of stalking. The art of stalking is applied in everyday reality; it consists of extremely careful and competent handling of ordinary reality, while the ultimate goal of the stalker is to enter another reality. Warrior
or the stalker turns the everyday world into a battlefield, where his every action, every interaction with other people becomes part of
strategies. Don Juan says: "The warrior is determined to survive, and he survives by choosing the most optimal course of action."
Stalking is a strategy for controlling our own behavior. Its scope is interactions between people in everyday reality. Therefore, the stalker does not avoid social life, he immerses himself in it and uses it to educate the spirit, acquire energy and go beyond the limits of limited consciousness. Don Juan says: “The warrior’s intention is unshakable, his judgments are final, and no one can force him to act contrary to himself” (4, p. 569). The actions of a stalker are based on observation, and not on what he thinks, not on the opinions of other people. As a result, his perception of reality expands as the assemblage point shifts. Not doing is the main strategy that a warrior uses to enter another reality. Non-doing of one’s own “I”, i.e. giving up the sense of self-importance is one of the most important tasks of a warrior, since this feeling absorbs most of his energy. Because of our sense of self-importance, we learn to perceive the world in such a way that we find ourselves constantly having to protect our personality (ego). By achieving Personal Power, a warrior releases a huge amount of energy, which he directs to new achievements.
One of the two main areas of warrior practice is controlled dreams. Dreaming or meditation is the best way to gain Power. Don Juan says: “A dream becomes a reality when a person gains the ability to focus his eyes on any object. Then there is no difference between what you do when you sleep and what you do when you are awake.”
(4, p.546). During a dream, a smooth shift of the assemblage point occurs, it becomes mobile, while in the waking state a person forcibly fixes his assemblage point in its usual position. During meditation, the practitioner shifts his assemblage point while remaining awake, controlling and directing the process of displacement.
Meditative practices. Application
Stressful situations, psychosomatic illnesses, information overload, fast pace of life and environmental problems - this is not a complete list of “gifts” that modern civilization presents to people every day. Unfortunately, the technical achievements of modern science have not contributed to the development of the spiritual component of man. The problem of human development as a thinking, spiritualized being, the problem of spiritual growth remains relevant and acquires new aspects in the light of the crisis of technocratic civilization.
Meditation psychotechniques and their components are widely used by European scientists to treat mental illnesses, relieve neuropsychic tension, and relieve depression. Regardless of the ideological background, meditation practitioners learn to control and manage themselves, their consciousness, which leads to improved memory, attention, acquire a sense of inner peace, learn relaxation, improve mental functioning, which leads to an improvement in their overall somatic state. People who meditate regularly cope with stress more easily and have fewer conflicts. The human cardiovascular system is also affected by meditation; During meditation, the heart rate slows down and blood pressure decreases. As a component, meditation is included in autogenic training in its various modifications, and is used in self-hypnosis and some other methods of mental self-regulation.
The dynamic meditative state is well known to professional athletes. This is a state of composure and readiness for the upcoming competition. Usually this state is characterized as inner peace, the absence of any extraneous thoughts other than the dominant image of the goal, a feeling of calm, joyful self-confidence, in one’s strengths and capabilities against the background of slight pleasant excitement.
Meditation is widely practiced by people who study martial arts (the author of this essay is one of them). Some schools practice meditation at the beginning and end of each workout, combining it with special breathing exercises. Other directions connect meditation with the student’s independent studies. In the process of meditation, the practitioner learns to control his feelings, emotional and motor reactions, instantly and adequately perceive external impulses, and manage his internal energy. Meditative practices are a necessary and very important stage in the development of a student, the formation of his personality and self-knowledge.
All of the listed effects of meditation are certainly important. But the main goal of meditation is to achieve a state of “satori” - enlightenment, insight, going beyond ordinary perception, a breakthrough into the unconscious, to the deep layers of one’s being. Practitioners of meditation constantly discover enormous possibilities in themselves, both physically and mentally; abilities for clairvoyance, telepathy, and healing appear, and a huge reserve for creativity and cognition is released. Don Juan says: “A warrior is a perfect hunter who hunts for power. If his hunt is successful, he may become a man of knowledge."
When applied to the creative process, this phenomenon is correlated in psychology with the onset of insight, or illumination. Insight is a short-term culminating moment of the creative process, the moment a solution to a problem enters the mind of the creator. The author considers it possible to make an assumption based on his own observations and confirmed by the testimony of people who have experienced this state: using meditative psychotechniques, a person can induce and control a state of creative insight, directing it in the right direction to achieve the desired result. It all depends on the preparedness of the consciousness to perceive and remember images dictated by the subconscious. And of course, the sincere desire of the person himself is necessary!
In light of all of the above, the practical application of meditative practices for the spiritual and physical development of a person, for the purpose of self-improvement, creativity and knowledge of the world, seems very interesting and promising.
The administration of “HIGHER SCHOOL” thanks Snezhana Anatolyevna Demenova for providing the materials for the article.
Basic practices (magical techniques) by K. Castaneda
All magical practices can, with some degree of convention, be divided into two groups:
1. First group- these are the practices of ergonomics - the extraction, saving and distribution of energy necessary to move the assemblage point. The need for such techniques arose due to the fact that the assemblage point of modern man is firmly fixed in a certain area peculiar only to man, corresponding to the perception of the ordinary familiar world (the “poor little child’s” point), and in order to stir it up, a supply of free personal energy is needed. strength.
2. Second group– techniques for controlled shifting of the assemblage point and holding it in a new position.
👉Stopping internal dialogue
Internal dialogue is a way of keeping the assemblage point in a position corresponding to the perception of the ordinary human world. In addition, internal dialogue distracts a fair amount of a person’s free energy. By stopping the internal dialogue, a person, firstly, frees his assemblage point from rigid fixation, and secondly, releases a certain amount of energy. Since internal dialogue becomes a habit from a very early age, it cannot be stopped by just wanting to; There are many techniques for this, mostly boiling down to non-doing in its various forms. Some of them are listed below.
👉NOT-Doing
Focusing attention on objects of the world that are usually outside the scope of normal attention, and, accordingly, perception and awareness. Those that do NOT make up the picture of the world. For example, consider not objects, but their shadows, not leaves, but the gaps between them, until a new picture is formed, composed of non-elements.
Generally speaking, non-doing can be practiced by performing any action or omission that is not part of the standard inventory - for example, performing ordinary actions in an unusual way. This is what one of the ways of not walking looks like (“Tales of Strength,” words by JH): “By bending his fingers in a special way, the warrior draws attention to his hands; then, directing his defocused gaze to a point directly in front of him above the horizon, he literally floods his tonal with information. The tonal, without one-on-one interaction with the elements of description, is unable to talk to itself and therefore becomes silent."
👉Gazing
A special technique, a “way of looking” without focusing on any part of what is visible. At the same time, you see everything... and nothing in particular. In modifications it can be used in the practice of “not doing”, for example, looking at a tree, a person makes this tree - finds its trunk, branches, leaves, i.e. records those list elements of which, in his opinion, the TREE should consist. In the practice of “inactive contemplation” the goal is NOT to build a tree, and as a cunning trick to build an “image” not from familiar concepts. For example, look not at the leaves, but at the gaps between them, not at the branches, but at the space limited by these branches. Thus, a kind of “ghost tree”, “anti-tree”, “donut hole” is obtained. Such things are not allocated special conceptual structures in the human inventory list, therefore the usual course of internal dialogue is disrupted.
👉The Right Way of Walking
Curling your fingers, paying attention to your hands, walk, directing your gaze forward, not specifically focusing on anything, so as to simultaneously see the entire space ahead. This method “fills” the tonal’s attention with information; it turns out to be unable to maintain the connection between the elements of the world and their individual descriptions in its usual “piecemeal” manner, when one description corresponds to one element. This slows down the internal dialogue, and the tonal becomes silent.
Practically, non-doing can be applied to any conceivable type of human activity. Mentions of different types of not doing are scattered throughout all nine of Castaneda's books.
👉Dreaming
The practice of using the natural drift of the TS (assemblage point) that occurs during falling asleep and dreams.
Using the natural shift of the assemblage point while falling asleep. Together with the destruction of templates and non-doing, it is a high road to learning new ways of perceiving the world. Gives the warrior the opportunity to perform absolutely incredible actions and knowledge of the “dream” world. The most accessible method for moving the assemblage point to the masses. It requires a very high concentration of intention and perfection, expressed primarily in great patience. However, this technique already requires a certain reserve of personal strength.
Dreaming is practically the only safe (as far as one can even talk about safety in magic) way of entering magical worlds. In addition, this is a kind of testing ground where you can hone the control of intention, since in dreams nothing (except the creatures present there) has its own strength, will, and so on. For example, when shooting from a pistol in a dream, you cannot be sure that the bullet will fly out of the barrel at all, since there it is driven solely by the intention of the shooter, and not by the “power of powder gases.”
In witchcraft, mastering the art of dreaming has its practical significance - through it both influence on a person and obtain the necessary information about something in the so-called real world.
👉Dream Gate
The Seven Gates of Dreaming are “energy levels” of personal power, upon reaching which qualitatively new possibilities of perception and awareness are acquired. This is reflected in the “quality” of dreams, and can be tracked by changes in them.
👉Losing Self-Importance
Another aspect of eliminating the human habit of feeling sorry for oneself. Conceit, a sense of self-importance, is one of the main energy “anchors” of the assemblage point. Just as internal dialogue deprives the assemblage point of mobility, so the sense of self-importance absorbs almost all of a person’s free energy. The feeling of self-importance is omnipresent, multifaceted and all-pervasive, and getting rid of it is far from a trivial task. The KK books talk about this in sufficient detail.
👉Action without reference to the result
An action is not performed for the sake of achieving anything, but simply because an action is performed.
👉Erasing personal history
By erasing personal history, one removes the “traces” left in the world, making oneself inaccessible in the sense of freeing oneself from the traps of other people’s attention. This event helps eliminate feelings of self-importance and self-pity from your world.
A person is connected with the world and society by thousands of threads. As a rule, a person has many attachments - to people, memories, some kind of social connections. Destroying ties to the outside world, achieving inaccessibility frees you from the trap of other people's attention. It is also a good remedy for self-pity, which manifests itself in the form of the “poor kid” syndrome. It is usually practiced using the following methods:
👉Recapitulation
Used to release the power captured by the world. It is carried out through the restoration of past events, a return to those past moments of life (which shifts the vehicle to its previous position) where the released force is taken back, and the force captured from the world is returned.
👉Disrupting the Routines of Life
Stopping “schematic” behavior – eliminating habits. Habits are what allow death to track us. Like a hunter, knowing the habits of his game, knows where to lie in wait for his prey.
Patterns of behavior are, as a rule, determined by the presence of a personal history and are a means of maintaining it. Thus, the destruction of everyday habits is not making personal history and a way of remaining inaccessible to the world.
Assuming Responsibility
It involves taking responsibility for all your own actions instead of wasting energy on searching for supposedly objective reasons that supposedly forced you to perform (or not perform) certain actions (that is, indulgence).
Acceptance of responsibility for every action committed in this world, renunciation of all regrets about its commission and detached acceptance of any of its consequences; refusal of any excuses and self-justifications for any reason.
This technique is put in contrast to the inherent human policy of not accepting responsibility for oneself, preferring to portray the assumption of someone else's responsibility.
👉Stalking
1. Fixation of the vehicle in the current position, providing a stable perception of the world specific to this particular position of the vehicle.
2. The practice of “noticing yourself” in all states of consciousness, whether in “everyday life”, in dreams or anywhere else.
In short - using the world of everyday life as a hunting ground. In essence, stalking is a way to remain inaccessible in the world in general and in a specific situation in particular, but at the same time achieve your goals. Another thing is that in the generally accepted sense, a warrior practicing stalking has no goals, since the warrior applies controlled stupidity to everything without exception.
👉Controlled Folly
Stalking in practical application. Since the “man of knowledge” sees and knows that there is nothing that would be more important than something else, he does not motivate his selectivity in actions by the importance of this or that action. It's a matter of controlled stupidity - acting like it's important.
The man of knowledge “sees” and knows that there is not one thing that is more important than any other thing; he has only his controlled stupidity, and he acts without expecting a result, practicing controlled stupidity. In other words, controlled stupidity is the non-doing of everyday ordinary behavior in a social environment; in this case, it does not matter at all whether the practitioner is a seer or not.
👉Using Death as an Advisor
Treat every action as if it were your last battle. It doesn’t matter whether you win this battle or lose – you act without giving up. This replaces the usual “adviser”, which is pity for one’s own person. In the face of Death it is clear that there is no thing that is more important than another thing.
The greatest hunter in this world is death. She can tap anyone on the shoulder at any time. Therefore, the most reasonable course of action is to approach every action as the last battle. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, you will never lose yourself, even in the face of death. Instead of self-pity, death should be your advisor. The actions suggested by death as an adviser are full of power. By practicing the above techniques, a person gets the opportunity to enter the mood of a warrior.
👉Mood of a Warrior
Steady retention of the assemblage point in a position that ensures inaccessibility, lack of self-pity, and detachment. This position of the vehicle has its own name “Place Without Pity”.
Realizing his Death as an “observer” who at any moment can slap you on the shoulder and say “Hello!”, the warrior treats each of his actions as the last he performs, as the last battle on this earth.
The meaning is to avoid wasting energy, to open the channels of perception to the maximum possible in a particular situation. A way to maintain and enhance a warrior’s mood is stalking.
List of works:
1968 - The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
1971 - A Separate Reality
1972 - Journey to Ixtlan
1974 - Tales of Power
1977 - The Second Ring of Power
1981 - The Eagle’s Gift
1984 - The Fire From Within
1987 - The Power of Silence
1993 - The Art of Dreaming
1997 - The Active Side of Infinity
1998 - The Wheel of Time
1998 - Magical Passes of the Sorcerers of Ancient Mexico
All magical practices can, with some degree of convention, be divided into two groups:
1. First group - these are practices for preserving, extracting, saving, multiplying and distributing the energy necessary to move the assemblage point (AP). The need for such techniques arose due to the fact that the assemblage point of an ordinary person is firmly fixed in one specific position, corresponding to the perception of the ordinary everyday world, and in order to move it to another position, a colossal supply of energy (personal strength) is needed.
2. Second group - These are techniques for controlled shifting of the assemblage point and holding it in a new position.
Stopping internal dialogue.
Internal dialogue — a way of holding the assemblage point in a position that corresponds to the perception of the ordinary human world. Constant internal chatter takes up most of a person’s free energy. By stopping the internal dialogue, a person, firstly, gets the opportunity to move his assemblage point from a rigid fixation, and secondly — releases a large amount of energy. But since internal dialogue has been our habit since early childhood, it cannot be stopped with just one desire: for this there are various techniques, mainly boiling down to non-doing in its various forms. Some of them are listed below.
NOT-Doing.
Non-doing includes focusing attention on objects of the daily world, which usually fall outside the scope of normal attention, and, accordingly, perception and awareness. To those elements that do not make up our daily picture of the world. For example, instead of observing objects, you can examine their shadows, not leaves, but the gaps between the leaves, until a new picture emerges.
Non-doing can be practiced by performing any action or inaction that is not included in the standard inventory —
for example, performing ordinary actions in an unusual way. This is what one of the ways of not walking looks like (“Tales of Strength,” words by JH): “By bending his fingers in a special way, the warrior draws attention to his hands; then, directing his defocused gaze to a point directly in front of him above the horizon, he literally floods his tonal with information. The tonal, without one-on-one interaction with the elements of description, is unable to talk to itself and therefore becomes silent."
The Right Way of Walking.
This is a movement with curled fingers and attention on the hands, in which you need to direct your gaze forward, without specifically focusing on anything, in order to see the entire space in front of you at the same time. This method “overwhelms” the tonal’s attention with information, and it turns out to be unable to maintain the connection between the elements of the world. This slows down the internal dialogue, and the tonal becomes silent.
Contemplation (Gazing).
A special technique, a “way of looking” without focusing on any one part of what is visible. When you contemplate, you see everything... and nothing in particular. Contemplation can be used in the practice of “not doing”, for example, by looking at a tree, a person creates this tree — finds its trunk, branches, leaves, i.e. captures those key elements of which, in his experience, a TREE should consist. In the practice of “contemplation,” one can look not at the leaves themselves, but at the gaps between them, not at the branches, but at the space limited by these branches. Thus, a kind of “ghost tree”, “donut hole” is obtained. Such things are not allocated special descriptive structures in the human inventory list, so the usual course of internal dialogue changes, which in itself shifts the Assemblage Point (AP).
Lucid dreaming OS (Dreaming).
The practice of using the natural shift of the TS (assemblage point) that occurs during sleep. Lucid dreaming is the ability to perceive new worlds. Gives the warrior the ability to perform incredible actions in the world of dreams. In order to start practicing OS, you need not only a reserve of Personal Power (PS), but also a lot of patience. Without a certain supply of drugs, a person will not be able to enter a lucid dream. Dream — practically the only conditionally safe (as far as one can even talk about safety in magic) way of entering other worlds. In addition, OS — this is a kind of training ground where you can learn to control intention, since in dreams nothing (except the creatures present there) has its own power and will. For example, when shooting from a gun in a dream, you cannot be sure that the bullet will fly out of the barrel at all, since there it is driven only by the intention of the shooter, and not by the “power of gunpowder.” In magic, mastering the art of dreaming has its practical significance — through it it is possible to both influence another person and obtain the necessary information about something.
Getting rid of the feeling of self-importance and self-pity ChSV-ChSZH (Losing Self-Importance).
One of the key aspects without which any spiritual growth is hardly possible. Getting rid of ChSV, ChSZh — this is the awareness that we have the habit of feeling sorry for ourselves in order to reduce and then completely eradicate this habit. Conceit, a sense of self-importance — one of the main energy “anchors” of the assemblage point. Just as internal dialogue deprives the assemblage point of mobility, so the sense of self-importance absorbs almost all of a person’s free energy. Self-importance is multifaceted and pervasive, and its elimination — is far from an easy task. The KK books talk about this in sufficient detail.
Action without connection to the result.
An action is performed not for the sake of achieving something, but for the sake of the action itself. In Castaneda’s books, a lot is written about the so-called “impeccability of a warrior.” Doing for the sake of action, moving for the sake of the path, and so on.
Erasing personal history.
With the help of practices of erasing personal history, the “traces” left in the world are removed. This makes war inaccessible and makes it possible to free oneself from the traps of other people's attention. These techniques help release feelings of self-importance and self-pity. A person is connected with the world and society by thousands of threads. As a rule, a person has many destructive attachments — to people of the past, memories, some social connections. The destruction of ties to the outside world helps to achieve impeccability and freedom and makes war inaccessible to the attention of others.
Erasing personal history (PHE) is usually practiced using the following techniques:
REVIEW (Recapitulation).
A technique that allows you to plunge into and relive the events of the past (up to the prenatal period) and take back your strength left in those events. It is best practiced in a dark, compressed space along with proper breathing. In fact, the technique is used to release power that is captured by the world. In addition to Castaneda’s books, the technique is described in great detail in V. Sanchez’s book “The Toltec Way. Recapitulation".
Disrupting the Routines of Life.
Stopping “schematic” behavior begins first of all with eliminating habits. Habits — this is what allows death to track us. Patterns of behavior are, as a rule, determined by the presence of a personal history and are a means of maintaining and creating it. Thus, the destruction of everyday habits — it is not making a personal story and a way of remaining inaccessible to the world. We highly recommend subscribing to a free seminar on the topic of breaking free from habits (you can subscribe to it on the main page of our website below).
Assuming Responsibility.
It involves awareness of full responsibility for one’s own actions and results, instead of wasting energy on searching for supposedly objective reasons that prevented one from performing correctly (or not performing) certain actions (that is, indulgence). Accepting responsibility for every action committed in this world, renouncing all regrets about its commission and accepting any of its consequences; refusal of any excuses and self-justifications for any reason. This technique helps to eradicate the habit that people have of blaming others for their problems.
Stalking.
1. Fixation of the vehicle in the current position, providing a stable perception of the world, which is specific to this particular position of the vehicle.
2. The practice of “noticing yourself” in all states of consciousness, whether in “everyday life”, in dreams or anywhere. The stalker uses the world of everyday life as a hunting ground. Essentially stalking — a way to remain unavailable in the world, but still achieve your goals. Although in the generally accepted sense, a warrior practicing stalking has no goals, since the warrior applies controlled stupidity to everything without exception.
Controlled Folly.
Stalking in practical application. Since the “man of knowledge” understands that there is nothing that is more important than something else —
through controlled stupidity he acts as if it matters.
The man of knowledge “sees” and knows that there is not one thing that is more important than any other thing; he has only his controlled stupidity, and he acts without expecting a result, practicing controlled stupidity. In other words, controlled stupidity —
This is the non-doing of everyday ordinary behavior in a social environment, and at the same time it does not matter at all whether the practitioner is a seer or not.
Using Death as an Advisor.
Treat every action as if it were your last battle. It doesn't matter if you win this battle or lose —
act without ever lowering your hand. This method replaces the usual “advisor” for a person, which is self-pity.
The greatest hunter in this world —
death. She can touch each of us on the shoulder at any moment. Therefore, the most reasonable course of action —
approaching each of your actions as if it were the last battle. Actions prompted by death as an advisor are filled with power. By practicing the above techniques, a person gets the opportunity to enter the mood of a warrior.
You're just filled to the brim with all sorts of nonsense! —
he exclaimed.
The only truly wise adviser we have is death. Every time you feel, as often happens to you, that everything is going very badly and you are on the verge of complete collapse, turn to the left and ask your death if this is so. And your death will answer that you are wrong, and that apart from its touch there is nothing that really matters. Your death will say: “But I haven’t touched you yet!”
Mood of a Warrior.
Steady holding of the assemblage point in a position in which there is no self-pity, but impeccability. This position of the vehicle is called “Place Without Pity”.
Realizing his Death as an “adviser” who can touch your shoulder at any moment, the warrior treats every action as if it were his last. —
like the last battle on this earth. These techniques help accumulate energy without wasting it, as is common among ordinary people, and provide the maximum possible, in a particular situation, opening of the channels of perception. Stalking helps strengthen and maintain the mood of war.