Second Ring of Power, 226
Both the tonal and the nagual were present in everything at all times. It was appropriate, therefore, for a sorcerer to say that "looking" consisted viewing the tonal which is in everything, and "seeing," on the other hand, consisted of viewing the nagual which is also in everything.
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These two modes of perception, looking and seeing, are associated with two separate parts of our being. The goal isn't to learn to see, because part of us already knows how to see. The goal is to unify the separate parts. The task is similar to re-unifying a fragmented personality. Imagine someone with a split personality where each persona has no awareness of the other. What does it take to heal a split personality?
It's the same with dreaming vs. waking. It's not so much about becoming lucid when either dreaming or awake, it's about bringing waking awareness into the dream state and dream awareness into the waking state. In other words, re-unification. The dream self takes for granted that the world is fluid and doesn't question when the environment morphs or a jump is made to a new timeline; at the same time, solidity is elusive. The waking self has the reverse problem. Merging these two selves would result in a unified being who can be solid or fluid at will.
So, how to unify fragments of the self? What is the most powerful unifying force?
Love, Understanding, and certain sense of Indifference...
From Ch 10 of 'A Separate Reality' - 'The Task of Seeing'
What isn't present in the Castaneda works is the sense of "peace, love and understanding," born of the 60's. Don Juan talks about love of the earth, affection for others, but not turning a blind eye or "forgive and forget," so to speak.
A sense of indifference would also be better understood as a sense of detachment.
Agreed on both points!
I feel that Don Juan's world view was largely shaped by his experiences as a persecuted minority and his rural-isolated upbringing and that this is shown in his formulation of life/death scenarios.
Framed in that context his attitudes make great sense, but that level of distrust just doesn't translate (in terms of human relationships) to the urban environment. The degrees of interrelationship and exchanges of energy that take place in the modern setting don't provide the same buffer space to constantly engage in the same high-stakes psychodrama.
Without sensible adaptation of his teachings one will find themselves at war with the world (👍) , but also at war against the world (👎)
From Dreaming, pg 176, "The grand task of sorcerers is to bring about the idea that, in order to evolve, man must first free his awareness from its bindings to the social order."
I have thought about how Castaneda's particular circumstances, personality, and position affected Don Juan's approach with him, for example, having him live in a weekly-pay hotel (probably while he was already a millionaire from his first book).
From The Second Ring of Power, pg 205, "The Art of Stalking was to be inconspicuous even in the midst of people...they learned to become unnoticeable in the middle of all of this."
As an urban warrior, I think it is this, to minimize the taxing interactions and strain on the energy body. Being on-gaurd is more important, because there is greater opportunity for unnecessary stress, conflict, and (as Don Juan may say) stupidity.
From A Separate Reality, pg 88, "A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide awake, with fear, with respect and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it will live to regret his steps."
From your earlier post,
I think you have a unique perspective and I would like to hear more. How would you or how have you adapted his teachings?
Likewise ! <3
This question has prompted me to pause for deep recapitulation. I'll PM you soon.
Found a pleasing allegorical parallel in an article about Mr. Rogers -- The Ministry of Mr. Rogers
Beautiful!
I think the quote speaks to the difference in language. What Castaneda is pointing out is that when Don Juan is saying, "looking," he is emphasizing the tonal, or the world of everyday affairs. What an average man can literally see, that is. When he's saying, "seeing" he is referring to what the sorcerers "sees" (which may or may not be visual) and that is emphasizing the nagual, or the world of non ordinary affairs.
It is inaccurate to relegate dreaming entirely to the nagual and waking to the tonal, for certainly the average man has the dreams of an average man. Also, we learn first to "see" in dreaming.
As mode of perceptions, saying one is associated with the "solid" or what you may call "spirit" (my word) is also misleading. Certainly, fluidity is at play, but I think it is a mistake or confuse "fluidity" as the opposite of, or paired with, the physical world of "solid" objects.
What happens here is that the assemblage point is assumed to move or stay stationary. Fluidity in terms of movement of the assemblage point may or may not be associated with something physical, which again falls into the art of dreaming, making the assemblage point move.
The most powerful unifying force, in Don Juan terms, is awareness as we strive to "grab on to" or "let go of" various filaments within our luminous cocoon (which is another way of saying we move the assemblage point).
That's going to be one helluva NYE party.
My statement that the goal is not to learn to see is backed by this excerpt from chapter 15 in The Active Side of Infinity.
There are some apparent inconsistencies in Castaneda's works, which is understandable.
I was describing perception of the dreaming/waking environment when I used the words fluid/solid. The usage is accurate in that context (second paragraph). I used "mode of perception" when referring to looking/seeing (first paragraph).
I disagree. When I discussed fluidity/solidity it was in the context of the perceived dreaming/waking environment, not the movement/fixation of the assemblage point per se. But to clarify any confusion, consider the first gate of dreaming task. When looking at your hands while dreaming, they are fluid, meaning they change shape, whereas when awake, hands are solid, do not change shape. However, if one wakes while still dreaming, the hands can be held solid. If one dreams while awake, hands can become fluid, I believe. I have not experienced the latter, but Robert Butts did when Seth caused Jane Roberts hand to morph. The goal is being-in-dreaming, as Florinda (who I met in person) would say, and which I take to be the underlying unity state.
I was amazed to read u/sad_cosmic_joke's comment about Mr. Rogers. I believed he grasped the essence of my intended meaning and connected it to a beautiful metaphor.
To elaborate further, I believe that the nagual/tonal and dreaming/waking dualities along with many other dualities such as yin/yang, wave/particle, etc. have an underlying unity which is, as Pauli wrote about the psychic/physical duality, somehow both and somehow neither. If true, some insights gained about any duality such as dreaming/waking might be applicable to all dualities, including seeing/looking. Which duality to focus upon is a matter of one's predilection; they all lead to oneness. For me, dreaming is a path with heart.
When I said that we first learn to see in dreaming, I did not infer that as the goal of dreaming.
Even to pair fluidity/solidity as synonymous or somehow corollary with dreaming/awake can hinder you, because we strive to be fluid in the world of solid objects, and not to attach ourselves to anything as in "material attachments" or "circumstances." Circumstances include such things as, "When I am dreaming, my hands will visually wobble." It is about the movement, displacement, and position or fixation of the assemblage point. That is the distinction Castaneda/Don Juan makes when dealing with modes of perception, whether that be heightened awareness, dreaming, dreaming awake, or ordinary awareness.
The average man may see a duality in awake/dreaming, but the sorcerer would see degrees of perception as dictated by the position of the assemblage point. "Everything sorcerer's did was a consequence of the movement of the assemblage point, ruled by the amount of energy at their command" (Silence, 149).
Hey, it occurred to me that finding your hands in dreaming is not the "end all" either. When we see our hands, we are supposed to move on to the exercise of paying attention of finding objects, looking for specific features, like buildings or roads, etc. (Ring, 278).
Don't get lost in your hands and don't wait for the next step to come to you as a measure of success. Keep exploring.
In the Second Ring of Power, La Gorda talks about finding her hands once, then moving on.
Of the time, Stephen LeBarge talked about becoming "lucid" as a the "game" of dreaming. In Castaneda, the goal is volition in dreaming.
Are you referring to this excerpt from chapter 16 of The Active Side of Infinity?
If so, in this context, the goal is to hold onto the binding energy (unifying force) that holds together the filaments, not the filaments themselves. This force, I believe, is love in the fundamental love/freedom duality which overlays the One. Love is the restorative force which counterbalances freedom in creation. It is like physical gravity that way, and gravity is stronger than all other physical forces at the cosmic scale. Moving the assemblage point intentionally is an expression true freedom.
Castaneda avoided the use of the word "love" in his writings intentionally so as to avoid confusion with the conventional meanings, and he said as much in a workshop that I attended. But metaphysically speaking, love is the highest vibration and the greatest binding force.
In the context of dreaming, I have had the greatest success by far, not using any technique such as holding the shape of my dream hands, but by applying love to unify the waking and dreaming aspects of my being. This is the most important point I want to share.
I wasn't referring to the flyer's mind. I was referring to awareness, "What stops death is awareness; all living beings are struggling to die." (FIRE, 72) but then you got me thinking and I remembered the rolling force, that which constantly hits us until such a day when we "crack open" and die.
What you describe here sounds like the circular force (not to be confused with the rolling force), but is a part of it. This topic is covered in the Fire from With (I can't find any quotes that are relevant atm.)
With your veracity and enthusiasm, I feel you've happened upon the Riddle of the Mind. You can read about these and the other three riddles (as well as the riddle of the dreamer dreamed) in Silence, prologue, pg xv.