Arquivos stopping the world

The Active Side of Infinity – The Breaking Point

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Active side of Infinity / By Carlos Castaneda / 20 minutes of reading

In this chapter, don Juan explains that sorcerers need a “breaking point” for inner silence to truly set in. He tells Castaneda that his breaking point is to leave his friends and his entire way of life, proposing that he “die” by isolating himself in a dilapidated hotel room until his “person”—his mind and its attachments—is gone. Castaneda initially refuses, and don Juan leaves him, seemingly for good. After a period of feeling elated and free, Castaneda’s old life resumes until his complete and frightening identification with a self-sabotaging friend pushes him to his own breaking point. He spontaneously rents a room in a Hollywood hotel and stays for months until his old self “dies.” Later, mired in a new, meaningless life and contemplating suicide, don Juan reappears. He tells Castaneda that he has finally reached his breaking point and gives him one hour to dissolve his current life before meeting him in Mexico. Failing to meet the deadline, Castaneda uses a technique to achieve inner silence and “dreams” he is with don Juan, who confirms he made the journey not through a dream, but through his inner silence.

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The Active Side of Infinity – The Clear View

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, The Active side of Infinity / By Carlos Castaneda / 22 minutes of reading

In this final chapter of the book, Castaneda finds himself in a quandary, unable to deal with the world of everyday people after being influenced by don Juan. His new perception causes him to judge everyone by don Juan’s standards of impeccability, leading to a crisis in his academic and personal life. He recounts his experiences with a kind but passive boss, Ernest Lipton, whose helplessness reminds him of his own father, forcing him to quit his job. Don Juan advises him that the issue is not with others but with his own “self-reflection,” and that the challenge is to accept people as they are. The climax occurs one day on the UCLA campus when Castaneda is overcome by a strange tremor, loses his normal sight, and for the first time, consciously “sees” energy directly—perceiving people as luminous, furry spheres. He has the shocking realization that he has always perceived energy this way but was never aware of it. The experience ends with him inexplicably waking up in his apartment miles away. Don Juan confirms that he “stopped the world,” traveled from inner silence, and experienced “the clear view” or “losing the human form,” where human pettiness vanishes, leaving him with the maddening question of what had prevented him from accessing this perception all his life.

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Journal of Applied Hermeneutics – Queries about the Warriors’ Way: When am I going to see? Are you doing something to me?

A Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda / By Carlos Castaneda / 4 minutes of reading

In this section, Castaneda addresses two common questions. The first concerns when a practitioner will achieve “seeing,” the direct perception of energy. He explains that while practices are important, the crucial element is to “intend” the outcome—the state sorcerers call “stopping the world,” which is achieved by obliterating self-importance. The second question is about fear over strange physical sensations during Tensegrity. Castaneda recounts how don Juan Matus explained such feelings not as external manipulation, but as natural physiological responses or a product of one’s own victim mentality. Don Juan’s advice was to counter fear by being “impeccable”.

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Silent Knowledge – Inner Silence

Ancient Cycle, Authors, Carlos Castaneda, Silent Knowledge / By Carlos Castaneda / 3 minutes of reading

This chapter focuses on “inner silence,” the ultimate goal for the sorcerers of ancient Mexico and the culmination of the other four practices. Don Juan defined it as a natural state of perception free from the internal dialogue, where awareness becomes sharper and knowledge is instantaneous. This state is the matrix for an evolutionary leap called “silent knowledge”. Castaneda explains that it is achieved through the disciplined practice of forcing oneself to be silent for accumulating periods of time, until a personal threshold is crossed. He then recounts his own experience of reaching this threshold, which resulted in “stopping the world” and becoming consciously aware, for the first time, that he was *seeing* energy directly. Don Juan clarified that this was not a new perception, but rather becoming deliberately conscious of an awareness that had always been present.

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Part One: Stopping the World – Erasing Personal History

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Nagualismo / 26 minutes of reading

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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Part One: Stopping the World – Reaffirmations from the World Around Us

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Nagualismo / 13 minutes of reading

During their initial meetings, Castaneda attempts to interview don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian, about hallucinogenic plants. Don Juan, however, subtly challenges Castaneda’s academic approach and preconceived notions, demonstrating his unique wisdom through cryptic remarks and a powerful, unsettling gaze that silences Castaneda. Don Juan uses a parable to illustrate the futility of rigid preparation and repeatedly asserts that “the world” (including nature and inanimate objects) “agrees” with him, implying a deeper, interconnected understanding. He refuses to be recorded or photographed, emphasizing that the crucial element for understanding is “the spirit,” not external tools, and sets the stage for a different kind of learning.

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Introduction

Ancient Cycle, Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan / By Carlos Castaneda / 12 minutes of reading

This introduction clarifies Castaneda’s decade-long apprenticeship with Yaqui sorcerer don Juan Matus, culminating in the “stopping of the world”—a state of altered perception crucial to sorcery, which he initially misunderstood as reliant on psychotropic plants. Don Juan’s teachings, which redefine reality as merely a “description,” involve “seeing” beyond conventional “looking,” and he employs unique, often shocking, tactics to break ingrained perceptions. The narrative details how Castaneda’s early notes, previously discarded due to their lack of focus on hallucinogens, are now reinstated as foundational to understanding don Juan’s method of teaching a new “description of the world” that challenges and ultimately transcends ordinary reality.

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