03-25-2011, 12:02 AM
Gonzo wrote:
True shamans had a practical use for entheogens, which had nothing to do with their own self-aggrandizement, another point missed by many, those who wish to be recognized and acknowledged as some spiritually achieved, extraordinary person.
So. In my opinion, the whole business of expanded powers, extraordinary abilities, "sorcery", and so on are essentially cons. The problem is the real goal of don Juan's teachings is far too simple and folk need to be tricked into going for it. So they are seduced into thinking about power, and being powerful, and more powerful than their peers. Eventually, perhaps, they re-read "Tales of Power" and the phrase that the goal is to reach the totality of self...NOT to be a super-powerful Nagual.
Gonzo,
I don't know what to say here, however, it makes sense that they are focused on power, they have none. They don't know they don't want a boyfriend and so cannot act impeccably; they can't make a relationship work with an in-law; they have to painstakingly sort through whether they are being conned or not, in each of those scense there is no power. It is almost like their brains are running in slow-motion and they are missing most of the details. You are perhaps not moving as slow as they are and are perhaps seeing more of the details. But they are focused so intently on power because that is what they need to survive. Don't mistake their quest for power to mean anything other than they don't have any. In another context it is the same as freedom is for slaves; power is for people who don't have any.
True shamans had a practical use for entheogens, which had nothing to do with their own self-aggrandizement, another point missed by many, those who wish to be recognized and acknowledged as some spiritually achieved, extraordinary person.
So. In my opinion, the whole business of expanded powers, extraordinary abilities, "sorcery", and so on are essentially cons. The problem is the real goal of don Juan's teachings is far too simple and folk need to be tricked into going for it. So they are seduced into thinking about power, and being powerful, and more powerful than their peers. Eventually, perhaps, they re-read "Tales of Power" and the phrase that the goal is to reach the totality of self...NOT to be a super-powerful Nagual.
Gonzo,
I don't know what to say here, however, it makes sense that they are focused on power, they have none. They don't know they don't want a boyfriend and so cannot act impeccably; they can't make a relationship work with an in-law; they have to painstakingly sort through whether they are being conned or not, in each of those scense there is no power. It is almost like their brains are running in slow-motion and they are missing most of the details. You are perhaps not moving as slow as they are and are perhaps seeing more of the details. But they are focused so intently on power because that is what they need to survive. Don't mistake their quest for power to mean anything other than they don't have any. In another context it is the same as freedom is for slaves; power is for people who don't have any.