26 May
Book excerpts, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan

Part One: Stopping the World – Assuming Responsibility

Don Juan continues to dismantle Castaneda’s conventional worldview by stressing the uselessness of personal history and self-importance, linking his own wisdom to having shed these burdens and emphasizing the constant presence of death as a hunter. He challenges Castaneda’s reluctance to take responsibility for his actions and decisions, using an analogy of Castaneda’s father and a parable of a young man and a “spirit deer” to illustrate the importance of commitment and the understanding that all decisions, regardless of apparent significance, are made in the face of death.

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26 May
Book excerpts, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan

Part One: Stopping the World – Death is an Adviser

Don Juan continues to challenge Castaneda’s academic approach by refusing to be a conventional informant and instead pushing him to abandon self-importance and personal history. Through a vivid recollection of Castaneda’s childhood encounter with a white falcon, Don Juan introduces the concept of death as an eternal companion and wise advisor, always present and capable of stripping away pettiness. This intense interaction, marked by don Juan’s unsettling gaze and the perception of omens, profoundly shifts Castaneda’s perspective, leading him to appreciate the desert’s mysteries and the importance of experiencing reality beyond intellectualizing it.

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26 May
Book excerpts, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan

Part One: Stopping the World – Erasing Personal History

In this part of his apprenticeship, Castaneda attempts to gather ethnographic data from don Juan, but the sorcerer consistently deflects his academic inquiries, especially concerning personal history, which he claims to have “dropped.” Don Juan asserts that shedding one’s past frees individuals from the constraints of others’ perceptions and cultivates a “fog” of mystery. He challenges Castaneda’s self-importance and rigid worldview through perplexing pronouncements and unconventional actions, such as interacting with plants and interpreting environmental cues as “omens” and “agreements.” Don Juan emphasizes that true learning involves relinquishing preconceived notions and adopting a state of constant alertness, rather than relying on external knowledge or conventional methods of understanding.

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