magazine_interviews/lectores_del_infinito/mexico_news_oct_1998
Learning about Ancient Wisdom - Interview with Miles Reid - The Mexico News - October 11, 1998
by Blanca Robleda - Journalist for The News
For the shamans of ancient Mexico, both magical passes and recapitulation were key tools in their quest for freedom - the ability to perceive energy directly as it flows in the Universe.
Carlos Castaneda learned this knowledge with the shaman Juan Matus. Castaneda later passed on what he knew of his apprentices, such as Miles Reid, and also explained this wisdom in his many books.
For those who do not know anything about this wisdom, and for those who want to learn more, the workshop "The freedom of the Warrior: The legacy of the shamans of ancient Mexico" will be held in Mexico City on the 7th and 8th. November 1998.
Some of the Tensegrity instructors - as Miles Reid explains in this interview - who were Castaneda students, will lead the workshop. In a recent interview with The News, Miles spoke about Don Juan and Castaneda's legacy:
Q: What kind of relationship did you have with Carlos Castaneda?
I am an apprentice of Carlos Castaneda. He imparted to me, along with other apprentices, in every way he could, the knowledge of the shamans of his lineage. In the years that he was with us, he taught us hundreds of magical passes. And he started us with the practice of recapitulation. More importantly, he made a phenomenal effort to imbue us with what he called "The Way of the Warrior." For him, this meant that there should be no contradictions between what we said and what we did. He was the total embodiment of that path, the only one we have ever met, apart from his colleagues, whose words and actions were totally unified.
Q: What are the magic passes, and which of them will be taught in the workshop of Mexico?
The magical passes are dream movements, I mean that they were discovered by the shamans of the Don Juan lineage while they were in states of heightened consciousness, called daydreams. My colleagues and I are discovering that they are truly magical passes: if we allow movements to guide us, they are gateways to other states of consciousness.
The magical passes that will be taught in Mexico include the series called "Wheel of Time", another sequence that is practiced in pairs called "The wings of Affection" and the "Recapitulation".
Q: What exactly is recap and how can it be done?
The recapitulation is a specialized magical pass that consists of systematically reliving one's life, accompanied by a specific way of breathing.
Through the recapitulation breath, we can let go of old thoughts and behaviors that have been lodged in our being, and return this awareness to the universe, leaving us free to move into the realms of perception and action.
When I first heard about this, I protested that it would take years. Carlos Castaneda replied that it was the task of a lifetime. But so what? He asked me. What is the point of living without being aware of our actions?
Q: I understand that both recapitulation and magical passes are tools used by shamans in their quest for freedom. What do they understand by freedom?
Freedom, for the shamans of the Don Juan lineage, means the ability to see energy directly as it flows in the universe, free from the bonds of socialization. For shamans, the world as we know it is an agreement. If we go outside the limits of this agreement, the world becomes a wonder, and other worlds open to our perception.
Q: What is Tensegrity?
Tensegrity is the modern version of the magical passes, rescued from the secret and from the adaptations that were made for each specific practitioner. The word Tensegrity, borrowed from architecture, is a combination of tension and integrity, the main forces of magical passes.
Q: Who or what was a warrior in the perception of Juan Matus?
For Don Juan Matus, the warrior was a being who lived each moment as if it were the last. From this starting point, the warrior has nothing to lose, and he has no time. Carlos Castaneda told us over and over again, "the warrior only has time for freedom."
Q: Now that Castaneda is dead, how will his knowledge be preserved?
Carlos Castaneda set out on what shamans call the definitive journey, meaning that he left the world in the same way that Don Juan Matus did: with shoes and fully conscious.
Before leaving, Carlos Castaneda made his knowledge known in every possible way. He told the story of his learning in 11 books and provided a wealth of tools in another: "The Magical Passes." Through all of this and the Tensegrity workshops, he created a unified body of practitioners - instructors and participants - who continue to work diligently, both alone and in practice groups, to realize the dream of the shamans of ancient Mexico: the dream. of freedom.
The three female students of Don Juan Matus: Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar and Carol Tiggs, will oversee the instruction and development of the magical passes in this context.
Q: Can this knowledge undergo changes?
Yes, in the sense that magical passes have to be used or adapted to our time and way of life. These movements, as they were originally practiced by the shamans of ancient Mexico, were very vigorous - those shamans did not lead sedentary lives, urban lives. Unlike them, we start from our sedentary state to perform the magical passes.
He used to annoy Carlos Castaneda: "But, Nagual, last week, when he showed us this movement, the palms of his hands were facing the ground …"
I was very upset.
For shamans, the only certainty is change, and only a tradition that remains alive and flowing can survive.
Q: What should people expect from workshops?
People can expect instructors to give their best and thus provide participants with a context to practice recapping. They are going to teach the participants how to practice Tensegrity to be an aid to recapitulation, as a way to help them enter the path of the warrior seeking freedom.
In another aspect, people should not expect anything, so everything will be new. This is what the shamans of ancient Mexico were looking for, a state of being in which the expectations of the social order about us and everything around us cease to exist. They can really see and act from a new starting point. They are truly free.