The magical passes were treated by the shamans of ancient Mexico as something unique, not as exercises for developing musculature. Don Juan described the “magic” of the movements as a subtle change practitioners experience, a “touch of the spirit” that reestablishes an unused link with the life force. “Because of this quality,” don Juan said, “the passes must be practiced not as exercises, but as a way of beckoning power”.
Tensegrity, the modernized version, is taught as a system of movements for a modern setting. Don Juan, following sorcerers’ tradition, saturated his disciples’ kinesthetic memory with a profusion of movements. His contention was that if they kept practicing despite the confusion, they would attain inner silence. In inner silence, everything becomes clear, and a practitioner knows exactly what to do with the movements without guidance.
“Human beings are on a journey of awareness, which has been momentarily interrupted by strenuous forces,” don Juan said. “Believe me, we are travelers. If we don’t have traveling, we have nothing”.
Tensegrity must be practiced with the idea that its benefit comes by itself. At the beginner’s level, there is no way to direct the effect of the passes. The goal of the saturation with movements is to lead the practitioner to inner silence, from where they can decide the next step.
(Carlos Castaneda, The Warrior’s Way – A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics)
