Carlos Castaneda

[scout1]

It was like that..



One of the people in the room asked him why, if the passing into awareness is the final

objective of sorcerers, he had fought to retain his individual self today, instead of taking

advantage of the opportunity.



With a roguish smile, Carlos told us that the question made him remember one of his

ancestors, a Portuguese, who devoted himself to the business of transporting people to Brazil,

with the story of the promised land. The man made a small fortune that way, and he did a

great job creating propaganda about the advantages of Brazil, but he had never been there.



"And here I am, transporting you!"



After we had laughed at his anecdote, Carlos changed the expression on his face. In a very

formal tone, he explained that warriors don't act for reasons of self-importance, and therefore,

their decisions are not theirs.



"Don Juan told me how some men of knowledge, after a life of impeccable fight, decide to

remain, while others dissolve like a puff of wind into infinity.

"The thing that makes some warriors fight to retain their self, is something unrelated to

personal concerns. To belong to a lineage of power implies bonds of such a deep nature that

our personality is annulled. It becomes just a minuscule detail in an energy structure that the

new seers call 'the Rule'.



"In that situation, individual choice no longer exists for the warrior, properly speaking. All he

can do is accept his destiny and fulfill the commands of the Rule; anything else would just

lead to his extinction."