Hello, I’m a religious studies major in college right now and I have to write a paper on religious conversion. I became really interested in the practices that Carlos Castaneda teaches on a spiritual level after I read many of his books and I’ve been following this community ever since. I’ve been working on the darkroom practice but have had trouble staying awake and being silent. I believe It will come, but in the meantime I’m starting to work on stalking. I wanted to write about my own conversion into these practices but don’t feel like I’ve made much progress. I was wondering if any of you wanted to share with me your story of how you became interested in Castaneda and where it lead you. What was the moment you truly believed that his practices could reap real results? How did this community or other people/sources help you to discover this practice? How do you consider yourself changed after following this community and becoming a warrior? Did you leave any practices or religious beliefs behind when you joined this community? Would you consider your transition into the work of Castaneda a conversion story? I know this isn’t like most posts in here, but I hope this will produce interesting conversation!:) Or I’d love to personally message a few of you who’d be interested in sharing your story with me. thank you all
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Find the source, accept no intermediaries. That's how I'd phrase it. That was the motivation before finding the work of Castaneda. It was, in some ways, tracking all the standout concepts from film and books over the past 50 years back to their origin, without anyone ever coming right out and actually giving credit.
This, and the fact I'm one of those stubborn people that always refused to buy-into the narratives and worldviews that were shoved upon me from preschool onward. A larger-than-normal percentage of intellectual rebellion as it were.
Or maybe not rebellion, but disdain?
Most of the direct confirmatory experiences have occurred in the past year and a half...though there were certainly a few strong standouts in years past. Enough to not 'give up the ghost.'
aw thank you for this explanation! I am also a deviant! I will never accept the general viewpoint and narrative that is given to me. Yes, I'd say I hold disdain for people who believe that only their one "true" mindset exists, everything should be questioned. That's so exciting for you!
>but have had trouble staying awake
You need to be able to walk around in a dark room. Then do some mild tensegrity (don't tire yourself or move so much it messes up your silence).
Once you "get over the hump", you can return to whatever you're doing. But you need to see your first, "Holy Shit!!!!" as soon as possible.
> but in the meantime I’m starting to work on stalking.
Probably most of your stalking information is wrong. There wasn't much on it in the books, and the community invented an imaginary path using stalking.
Stalking is for stabilizing the position of the assemblage point, once it's moved.
If it hasn't moved, it's a good way to get a giant ego and become even more obsessed with the "self", which will make it impossible to get silent.
This should not be a religion. If it is, it's not going to work.
It's technology.
Once someone starts thinking of it as a "belief system", they might as well go find something else more suitable to that outlook.
There's absolutely no point to Castanda's sorcery, if you turn it into a belief system.
Buddhism got spoiled that way. Originally it was the same as what we're doing, except the Buddha was quite confused by his Hindu inventory.
Then it got turned into a belief system, and we ended up with Zen masters claiming there's no such thing as magic.
That's what the buddha was doing, magic. Not religion.
"Do not believe in what you have heard; do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations; do not believe in anything because it is rumoured and spoken by many; do not believe merely because a written statement of some old sage is produced; do not believe in conjectures; do not believe in that as truth to which you have become attached from habit; do not believe merely the authority of your teachers and elders. After observation and analysis, when it agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and gain of one and all, then accept it and live up to it."
Gautama Buddha ; Source
Good advice, but he didn't follow it himself!
Or at least, what we know of him doesn't follow that advice.
Also, a better quote would include, "Do not believe merely the authority of your teachers and elders because they're all lying to you about their knowledge, and the techniques and explanations they give you are designed to maximize profit, not help you. In fact, none of them can do what they claim and they're only after money or to avoid getting a real job."
As I recently learned, Buddha didn't describe life as suffering...but rather 'filled with anxiety:'
"On "life is suffering" translation of Buddha
Good grief!
Suffering is a blatant mistranslation of Dukkha. The first Buddhist texts to be translated into English were the product of an Englishman, who thought of himself as a Hindu and really did have no idea what he was saying...
...Dukkha is the anxiety that springs from the human condition. It has many aspects and whole volumes have been written to shed light on what it means.
If you have to translate Dukkha at all, anxiety is as close as you can get."
So, hinting that the Buddha actually imparted that the internal monologue, the root of anxiety (over-thinking), was what must be overcome to "end suffering."
(though some have dysfunctional brain chemistry as the root of their anxiety, with it causing the amped-up monologue)
Did Buddha believe in demons and re-incarnation?
Really, let's be honest. If you believe those things, you didn't get very far.
Or maybe he was trapped in the Hindu intent?
I posted that technique to visit heaven because it's going to happen to anyone who had Judeo/Christian upbringing.
You'll intercept the intent of heaven.
It's out there. Complete with purgatory and blue sky meadows of flowers.
Trouble is, if you keep learning you return there until you realize it's not what it seems.
It's too "cozy" is the first clue.
And it doesn't match the Buddhist heaven, or the Daoist heaven, or the Hindu heaven.
All of which you can also visit just by reading some of their writings.
So while the Buddha seems wiser than the average Rabbit, that's about it.
If I had him here I'd have to ask, "What's up Doc???? You hunting rabbits?"
(Old guy reference to Elmer Fudd).
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This is an interesting story from Alexandra David-Neel from her book "Magic and mystery in Tibet". She is talking with an ascetic through an interpreter. She is interested in him because he had mocked the Dalai Lama. In a way you can see the difference between plain belief and true power/magic:
[“Tell him I have come to ask why he mocked at the crowd seeking the benediction of the Dalai Lama.”
“Puffed up with a sense of their own importance and the importance of what they are doing. Insects fluttering in the dung,” muttered the naljorpa between his teeth.
This was vague, but the kind of language one expects from such men.
“And you,” I replied, “are you free from all defilement?”
He laughed noisily. “He who tries to get out only sinks in deeper. I roll in it like a pig. I digest it and turn it into golden dust, into a brook of pure water. To fashion stars out of dog dung, that is the Great Work!”
Evidently my friend was enjoying himself. This was his way of posing as a superman.
“Are these pilgrims not right, to profit by the presence of the Dalai Lama and obtain his blessing? They are simple folk incapable of aspiring to the knowledge of the higher doctrines - - -“
But the naljorpa interrupted me.
"For a blessing to be efficacious, he who gives it must possess the power that he professes to communicate.
Would the Precious Protector (the Dalai Lama) need soldiers to fight the Chinese or other enemies if he possessed such a power? Could he not drive anyone he liked out of the country and surround Tibet with an invisible barrier that none could pass?
The Guru who is born in a lotus (Padmasambhâva, who preached in Tibet in the eighth century. ) had such a power and his blessing still reaches those who worship him, even though he lives in the distant land of the Rakshasas. I am only a humble disciple, and yet - - -“
It appeared to me that the “humble disciple” was maybe a little mad and certainly very conceited, for his “and yet” had been accompanied by a glance that suggested many things. My interpreter meanwhile was visibly uneasy. He profoundly respected the Dalai Lama and disliked to hear him criticized. On the other hand, the man who could “create stars out of dog dung” inspired him with a superstitious fear.
I proposed to leave, but as I understood that the lama was going away the next morning, I handed Dawasandup a few rupees for the traveller to help him on his way. This present displeased the naljorpa. He refused it, saying he had already received more provisions than he could carry. Dawasandup thought it right to insist. He took a few steps forward, intending to place the money on a table near the lama. Then I saw him stagger, fall backward and strike his back against the wall as if he had been violently pushed.
He uttered a cry and clutched at his stomach. The naljorpa got up and, sneering, left the room. “I feel as if I had received a terrible blow,” said Dawasandup.]
So he went to live with the inorganic beings, to avoid dying?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rakshasa
Rakshasa
Rakshasa (Sanskrit: राक्षस, rākṣasa) is a supernatural being in Hindu mythology. As this mythology influenced other religions, the rakshasa was later incorporated into Buddhism.
From wikipedia also:
"Rakshasas were most often depicted as shape-shifting, fierce-looking and enormous creatures"
IOB for sure.
I guess Tibetan Buddhists follow the old sorcerers?
Or they never discovered the 3rd attention, due to placing limits on what they were willing to explore?
Something I ponder as well. Geography. 10,000 years is a long time, time enough for remote/disparate populations to hook into that intent . Like when different groups living in different time periods and on different continents end up inventing basically the same exact solution to a problem.
Also, if you believe in the existence of a global interconnected civilization in prehistory (see tobacco and cocaine traces in ancient Egyptian mummies) then maybe we should take out the "of ancient Mexico?"
And just call it "the intent of the ancient sorcerer's?" Because some of them may not have been of meso-american heritage.
It's recommended, in Castaneda lineage (sect), to veer off their path at the end and go into the unknown anyway, which is a different intent from the ancients.
Buddhists haven't conceived of the assemblage point yet. So the 3rd attention is not available to them. Given that, the IOB realm is the only escape for them.
I was hoping dropping that last bit might stop some of the future feathered-headdress wearing pantominers. A fools wish, perhaps.
Good idea.
But I'd have to see some knowledge of the assemblage point, to assume there was any ancient connection.
And according to don Juan, they're the only ones to have "conceived" of it.
Have you heard of the rainbow body phenomenon? Apparently when a Bonpo monk is ready to leave/die their physical body, in a matter of days, begins to shrink until it disappears; usually only nails and hair is left behind. What do you think that is about? Could that be related to burning from the fire from within?
Yea, I heard of that one.
Beats me! I'm not even sure when you burn from within, that you take your physical matter along with you.
Don't anyone quote me that "boots and all". I've walked through walls too many times, clothes and all.
And there's no way I really did. So the boots and all just means, you aren't naked when you get where you're going.
In dark room gazing all kinds of impossible stuff happens, and all you can do is report it the way you experienced it.
Like leaping into a portal on your wall.
That's what happened subjectively.
But it can't be! You'd hit the wall.
Then there's all the stuff about not revealing where a sorcerer is buried.
So we just don't know about that issue.
Certainly it caused people to criticize Carlos after his death.
Even hurt the feelings of some from private classes.
Giant babies as they were.
This quote suggests either move to another Great Band or doing "complete" assembly, possibly assisted by Earth, is the way to do it "with boots and all".
FFW:
Then something imprisoned me again. I moved at the same pace as the two blobs of light by my sides. Gradually they began to lose their brilliance, then became opaque, and finally they were don Juan and Genaro. We were walking on a deserted side street away from the main square. Then we turned back.
„Genaro just helped you to align your emanations with those emanations at large that belong to another band,” don Juan said to me. „Alignment has to be a very peaceful, unnoticeable act. No flying away, no great fuss.”
He said that the sobriety needed to let the assemblage point assemble other worlds is something that cannot be improvised. Sobriety has to mature and become a force in itself before warriors can break the barrier of perception with impunity.
We were coming closer to the main square. Genaro had not said a word. He walked in silence, as if absorbed in thought. Just before we came into the square, don Juan said that Genaro wanted to show me one more thing: that the position of the assemblage point is everything, and that the world it makes us perceive is so real that it does not leave room for anything except realness.
„Genaro will let his assemblage point assemble another world just for your benefit,” don Juan said to me. „And then you’ll realize that as he perceives it, the force of his perception will leave room for nothing else.”
Genaro walked ahead of us, and don Juan ordered me to roll my eyes in a counterclockwise direction while I looked at Genaro, to avoid being dragged with him. I obeyed him. Genaro was five or six feet away from me. Suddenly his shape became diffuse and in one instant he was gone like a puff of air.
I thought of the science fiction movies I had seen and wondered whether we are subliminally aware of our possibilities.
„Genaro is separated from us at this moment by the force of perception,” don Juan said quietly. „When the assemblage point assembles a world, that world is total. This is the marvel that the old seers stumbled upon and never realized what it was: the awareness of the earth can give us a boost to align other great bands of emanations, and the force of that new alignment makes the world vanish.
„Every time the old seers made a new alignment they believed they had descended to the depths’ or ascended to the heavens above. They never knew that the world disappears like a puff of air when a new total alignment makes us perceive another total world.”
I believe that only comes from turning off the internal dialogue all day long, and even then only over time. And you can sort of hear it in what someone who's succeeded says. No unnecessairy competition going on.
Wow, very cool find! I was hoping you could vanish for someone, the way Taisha said Emilito did.
When it comes to taking the physical matter along, I'm not sure why I care about that. You won't have an organic body where we're going, so no need for physical matter.
I guess it's just a desire to "prove" things, which is something best given up in the dark room. What happens is what happened. What you experienced.
That's good enough.
I'm lucky Cholita despises me. When I run into her in her dreaming body, there's no way to verify it unless she drops a piece of new info.
If she despised me just a tiny bit less, so that I could talk to her, I'm sure she'd deny anything just out of spite.
She seems to like running away to the beach. She gets parking tickets. I'm not sure whether to give her a hard time over them. At least I know where she was.
Last time we were at the beach, we were following cobwebs in the darkness.
wow that makes so much sense honestly! Anxiety = overthinking !
Nirvana = Inner Silence confirmed?
Nope. Nirvana is a position of the assamblage point, somewhere in the front side of the J curve of it (according to the path sown by Carlos).
Inner silence is what allows the assamblage point to move.
But yes, in Nirvana you won't have an inner dialogue.
ah
ahhh this is very interesting. I can see how this is different now thank you! and I will try walking around tonight. I understand you've mentioned before that by becoming silent we can save our energy. But as someone who is still working on this, I still do not have the energy to stay awake for 3 hours every night with my schedule. So maybe it might take me a long time to get to this point.
After an hour, your assemblage point will move enough that you are no longer tired.
But not at first.
I have no idea how long I sleep each night these days.
Could be only 4 hours.
But since heightened awareness is sleep walking, I don't suffer from lack of sleep as much as one would expect.
On point.
Mmmm, it would be better if we help you to learn, and you check yourself it all works. So you can do a cool work, telling how real sorcery is.
Yes, I've been trying to read all the helpful posts in here, and I am really excited to learn! I began to believe in the power of using energy after practicing the law of attraction and now I'm interested in this more tangible approach.
You will find that sorcery can take you to the places you were looking with religion. In my opinion, religions have a very real background, with a bad approach to succed.
For instance, you might find that deep heightened awareness is the same as "paradise". Dan even say there is a "heaven" place. Not kidding.
They have a bad approach because they forgot you need to develope consciousness for achieving it.
Wouldn't it be interesting to tell your mates you found a way to met god?
The name "sorcery" has a negative thing, but it is actually what most of the people search, without knowing it.
Just feel free to ask anywhere in the subreddit what you need for practice.
I don't think Castaneda is something to believe in.
Like Dan said, is a technology. You either use it or don't.
Again it has nothing to do with belief, but results. The results came almost immediately. Bear in mind, I ran into Castaneda's work at age 15. I jus got attracted to one of his books in a bookstore and bought it. I'm sure my life changed forever that day.
Not when I joined the community, but when I began exploring the practices in the books; I just confirmed what I had always felt regarding religion.
I've always disliked religious zealots. I really really disliked going to church and was something I got into arguments with my parents a lot.
I feel so fucking free from religions.
LOL. Amen! God bless Carlitos.
Joking aside, the technology in the books can help you free yourself from the perceptual prison we're in, and all the fucking shitty brainwashing boring magic-less society we live in.
wow you're lucky you found this stuff at 15! Amazing
About 28 years ago, I had an interest in LSD and was in my local library researching Albert Hofmann. I was a young teenager at the time and was surprised by how helpful the librarian was on the topic.
He was an older guy and suggested all kinds of books. Finally, right before I left, he called me over and said he had another book that he thought I'd be interested in. He lead me to the fiction section, picked up "The Teachings of Don Juan" and said I should read it.
I was only looking for non-fiction at the time, but since he had been so helpful and made an extra effort to point out this one particular book, I decided to give it a try.
The drug experiences, described in the book, were okay, but what really caught my attention was the warrior's spirit / path. It hooked me, and I spent the next few years in used book shops hunting down and reading the rest of his books.
A year later, "The Art of Dreaming" came out. I bought it right away and read it the same night. This introduced me to the concept of finding my hands in my dreams. I practiced this and a week later I found them.
It shocked me to my core. If this was real, then what else in his books are real?! Until then, I was only seeing the books as a philosphical way of living, and this introduced me to actual, real magic.
It also started my passion for lucid dreaming and is something I have been practicing for the last 20+ years. However during this time, it always nagged me that there must be something deeper in his books, that I was missing.
One thing that I noticed with my lucid dreaming was the scouts. Any time I was getting close to being lucid in a dream they would appear. They are these black, shape-shifting, humanoid beings who try to hide behind characters in my dreams and/or chase me down and cause anger or fear.
If I confronted them in a dream then I would become lucid instantly and they would disappear. There was no need to find my hands when they were around, and that always intrigued me.
To me, that's what the darkroom practice is all about. It is a more direct way of experiencing these beings. So my focus lately has been to establish a communication with them.
I haven't been very successful so far. There has, no doubt, been some crazy contact experiences, more real than any of my lucid dreams, but the meaning behind it all is still pretty abstract.
Having said that, I am starting to get a gut feeling recently that these beings are a distraction. They may eventually give you access to unimaginable knowledge or power, but the real freedom comes from the "windows of reality" that you sometimes see when doing this practice.
If we can step into one of those and can come back whole, then we begin to mold our own reality. I think this is the true power that eventually comes from all of this.
No, I have never followed any specific, religous doctrine. I would say my belief system is similar to Pantheism, but with a personal set of morals and responsibility tied into it.
Feel free to message me any time.
Juan and Dan both benefited from having allies that are IOBs. I agree that it would better to use "windows of reality" but if you need guidance i think IOBs are the way to go. Also your telling of your experience with scouts makes me rethink some of the dreams I have had in the past. I have possibly encountered them as well
wow scouts sound really really interesting! I will try to look for them in my dreams:) thank you, yes I can't wait to discover more
When I started reading the books in the early 1990s, the first couple of books were really heavy on Omens, signs, receiving agreements from the spirit and how to slow down the world in order to see them.
I got a little into I think the second book, one in which Carlos was still dating his experiences with Don Juan. Turns out one of his experiences he dated was October 3/ 1968... my birthday.
So I took that as a sign.
Turns out it is still one of the most powerful chapters in my opinion and it is to this day the only thing that I know of which happened on Oct 3, 1968 other then me being born.
As a religious studies major you're pretty much guaranteed to be fascinated by this:
JRE #1543 - BRIAN MURARESKU & GRAHAM HANCOCK
Words can't express how ecstatic I would be to see entheogenic wine/sacrament back at the altar of a Christian denomination.
Oh yes. The recent Joe Rogan interview with Kanye was also super interesting
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I still don’t believe in it, but someone told me that it works even if you don’t believe in it.
The funny thing is, it does!