04-18-2003, 12:00 AM
Although I feel far from officially qualified, I will now give my assessment of the usefulness of the principles of stalking as outlined in the books of Carlos Castaneda. Lets begin by sharing those essential principles:
The 7 Principles of Stalking from Castaneda's book the Eagle's Gift:
1. Carefully choose your "battleground"
2. Discard everything that is not essential
3. Put your life on the line with every decision
4. Relax, abandon yourself
5. Enter a new mood of optimism, self-confidence
6. Compress time
7. Never push yourself to the front
MY COMMENTARY:
It is my belief that these principles are for maximizing efficient impeccability in all thoughts, words, actions and reactions towards the purpose of saving and storing as much energy as possible. I believe successful moment-by-moment living is the direct result of the proper use of energy. When concentrated and focused, like a magnifying glass focusing the rays of the sun, a person can become equally exhilarated and empowered by every action performed in the face of his or her impending death. A high level of consistent energy usually manifests itself in the form of energetic happiness and well-being. A low level of consistent energy usually manifests itself as slow, depressed and lethargic actions.
I am in the midst of setting up our living environment as a place of inspirational power. I see this house as a reflection of my hopes, dreams and overall state of mind. As such It has become equally important to me as everything else in my life for any action I may perform in the face of my impending death is just as important to my energetic level as any other action.
I see stalking as the act of successfully dealing with oneself. By successfully dealing with oneself a person paves the proverbial way towards successfully dealing with others. Just as if you cannot properly love yourself you cannot properly love others, if you cannot successfully deal with yourself you cannot successfully deal with others.
Many are those who treat themselves like trash. Their lifestyles are a testimony of abusive living devoid of the self-respect their bodies and minds deserve. They are devoid of wholesome abstract purposes in life. This means that they usually see themselves as small and separate from the universe. To properly stalk a person must have equal respect for him or herself and everything else equally. Successful stalkers must be moving towards the direction of a sense of harmonious oneness with the entire universe; being equally important to everything as a whole.
According to Castaneda's book The Power of Silence, there are four moods of stalking:
Ruthless
Cunning
Patient
Sweet
The balanced and successful stalker applies these moods in a fluid manner adapting to all situations equally as those situations require. To be easily offended by the acts of our fellow man and life as it unfolds is to become rigid, lose a sense of fluidity and to close oneself off and reject responsibility for the life entrusted to us. Facing the oncoming time of life as it unfolds rather than the receding time of life as we have judged it to be is crucial in living successfully and moving towards a harmonious and happy existence.
So, in the face of my impending death, the best way to wash dishes or clean the house in a manner that propels me inexorably forward towards greater strength and success in life is to do so in a manner that applies all these principles of stalking:
1. Carefully choose your "battleground"
2. Discard everything that is not essential
3. Put your life on the line with every decision
4. Relax, abandon yourself
5. Enter a new mood of optimism, self-confidence
6. Compress time
7. Never push yourself to the front
I remember reading how don Juan would conduct lessons on stalking when a person was in heightened awareness because he felt that it imbued staking with a mystique that it didnt really have. Stalking, according to don Juan, was successfully dealing with people. I tend to disagree. I believe stalking to be successfully dealing with oneself and as a result successfully dealing with people. Properly using the basic principles of stalking towards all thoughts, words, actions and reactions equally can transform any act into an exciting act of power.
How about we bring the stalking principles into an action most people can relate to. Namely: washing the dishes. Can you not see that washing the dishes does not have to be a meaningless and mundane chore having nothing whatsoever to do with being a successful warrior? When applying the principles of stalking to the act of washing the dishes it can be transformed into an act of power as exhilaratingly exciting as any other act of power.
Rather than just a sink full of dishes it can be transformed into the chosen battleground where energy will be channeled, focused, stored and harnessed. The determination to perform the job with powerfully impeccable precision that generates excited exhilaration rather than boring weakness becomes the abstract purpose making the process a magical act of power.
To transform the act into a magical act of power all thoughts and actions not essential to the act must be discarded and only those thoughts and actions essential towards a total victory in the warrior battle with oneself must be entertained and deliberately used.
Who is to say that you will not have a heart attack in the midst of the act of washing the dishes, eh? If you knew that it would be your last act on the face of the Earth the act of washing those particular dishes would be magical indeed. So to put ones life on the line means that in each and every moment you are ready for death to tap you. Properly done such an attitude makes all actions extremely powerful and exciting.
To relax and abandon myself as much as possible and enter a new mood of optimism means that I am the master of the act. No one in the world can convince me that some other act is more important than the one I am performing right now. I hurry without hurrying in order to compress time while entertaining a brand new mood of relaxed optimism secure in the victory over myself.
To me, the stalking principle never push yourself to the front means that if I push myself to the front I make myself more important than what I am doing. If I push myself to the front my self-importance will most probably cause me to complain and think of other things I would rather be doing thus destroying the victory I could have had if I kept myself in a position of equality to everything. Who in an actual war would be eager to push himself to the front, eh? To push oneself to the front is just asking to be killed. No, in a war a wise warrior will do his best to blend in with everything else thus making himself a much more difficult target to pinpoint.
The only way I have found to transform an act like washing dishes into a real and exhilarating act of power is to compress time by accelerating the velocity of my actions to the point where I am moving as fast as I possibly can without splashing soapy water all over the place. Unless I compress time chances are I will give myself too much time to think of other things I would rather be doing. Once I surrender to such thoughts I automatically push myself to the front and strip the act of all the magical power it would have had.
In order to master my thoughts the moods of stalking are always applied and shifted in a fluid manner deliberately done as required to make any act magical and excitingly powerful. So being
Ruthless
Cunning
Patient
Sweet
is essential in mastering myself and my thoughts so that all actions are transformed into acts that are equal in the face of my impending death.
Whenever I do not treat each and every act as a warrior stalking maneuver I sacrifice my energetic happiness and well-being in the process. If I was always determined to properly stalk myself and live like a successful warrior I would be much happier and that happiness would grow in direct proportion with my concentrated refined determination for that happiness to grow.
I am preparing to apply the principles of stalking towards cleaning the fish tank. That is the battlefield I have now chosen.
SPECIAL EDIT:
I believe there is at least one more principle of stalking that was left out of the 7 shared by Carlos Castaneda:
STALKING PRINCIPLE #8:
In all movements and actions
strive to be extremely centered and properly grounded
in a fluid and relaxed manner
COMMENTARY:
If a person is not properly balanced/centered and deliberately grounded he or she cannot function at his or her best. Each act should be treated as an exhilarating battle for ones life and energy should be pulled from all directions equally (from below the feet as well) and stored with ruthlessly impeccable precision. To be off balance and not properly grounded when performing any act diminishes the effectiveness of that act.
To advance upon the stalkers principles in theory is the best I can do at the moment. I wont pretend that, as an American, I never indulge in anything. Where to draw the line between enjoyment and indulgence that is harmful to the being is a mystery to me. Id say I am guilty of indulging on many fronts. I would attempt to excuse myself by saying that I live in a society of people who are psychologically programmed to indulge, but that is just a cheap excuse. So what I am writing here on stalking is what I feel are the ideal observations towards applying the principles to moment-by-moment living.
*******************************************
I have discovered an alternative stalking method in which the mind is manipulated so that whatever is being done is done with an attitude of Ive been waiting for such a long time to perform this wonderful task. Finally, I have the time to do it. When such an attitude is properly cultivated the task then becomes the most wonderful task in the world and the velocity of movement may slow in order to effectively sip the task like a luxurious fine wine. I just got through performing a stalking task in this manner and found it to be quite satisfying. Lets see how things progress.
Commit to Constant And Never-ending Improvement
The 7 Principles of Stalking from Castaneda's book the Eagle's Gift:
1. Carefully choose your "battleground"
2. Discard everything that is not essential
3. Put your life on the line with every decision
4. Relax, abandon yourself
5. Enter a new mood of optimism, self-confidence
6. Compress time
7. Never push yourself to the front
MY COMMENTARY:
It is my belief that these principles are for maximizing efficient impeccability in all thoughts, words, actions and reactions towards the purpose of saving and storing as much energy as possible. I believe successful moment-by-moment living is the direct result of the proper use of energy. When concentrated and focused, like a magnifying glass focusing the rays of the sun, a person can become equally exhilarated and empowered by every action performed in the face of his or her impending death. A high level of consistent energy usually manifests itself in the form of energetic happiness and well-being. A low level of consistent energy usually manifests itself as slow, depressed and lethargic actions.
I am in the midst of setting up our living environment as a place of inspirational power. I see this house as a reflection of my hopes, dreams and overall state of mind. As such It has become equally important to me as everything else in my life for any action I may perform in the face of my impending death is just as important to my energetic level as any other action.
I see stalking as the act of successfully dealing with oneself. By successfully dealing with oneself a person paves the proverbial way towards successfully dealing with others. Just as if you cannot properly love yourself you cannot properly love others, if you cannot successfully deal with yourself you cannot successfully deal with others.
Many are those who treat themselves like trash. Their lifestyles are a testimony of abusive living devoid of the self-respect their bodies and minds deserve. They are devoid of wholesome abstract purposes in life. This means that they usually see themselves as small and separate from the universe. To properly stalk a person must have equal respect for him or herself and everything else equally. Successful stalkers must be moving towards the direction of a sense of harmonious oneness with the entire universe; being equally important to everything as a whole.
According to Castaneda's book The Power of Silence, there are four moods of stalking:
Ruthless
Cunning
Patient
Sweet
The balanced and successful stalker applies these moods in a fluid manner adapting to all situations equally as those situations require. To be easily offended by the acts of our fellow man and life as it unfolds is to become rigid, lose a sense of fluidity and to close oneself off and reject responsibility for the life entrusted to us. Facing the oncoming time of life as it unfolds rather than the receding time of life as we have judged it to be is crucial in living successfully and moving towards a harmonious and happy existence.
So, in the face of my impending death, the best way to wash dishes or clean the house in a manner that propels me inexorably forward towards greater strength and success in life is to do so in a manner that applies all these principles of stalking:
1. Carefully choose your "battleground"
2. Discard everything that is not essential
3. Put your life on the line with every decision
4. Relax, abandon yourself
5. Enter a new mood of optimism, self-confidence
6. Compress time
7. Never push yourself to the front
I remember reading how don Juan would conduct lessons on stalking when a person was in heightened awareness because he felt that it imbued staking with a mystique that it didnt really have. Stalking, according to don Juan, was successfully dealing with people. I tend to disagree. I believe stalking to be successfully dealing with oneself and as a result successfully dealing with people. Properly using the basic principles of stalking towards all thoughts, words, actions and reactions equally can transform any act into an exciting act of power.
How about we bring the stalking principles into an action most people can relate to. Namely: washing the dishes. Can you not see that washing the dishes does not have to be a meaningless and mundane chore having nothing whatsoever to do with being a successful warrior? When applying the principles of stalking to the act of washing the dishes it can be transformed into an act of power as exhilaratingly exciting as any other act of power.
Rather than just a sink full of dishes it can be transformed into the chosen battleground where energy will be channeled, focused, stored and harnessed. The determination to perform the job with powerfully impeccable precision that generates excited exhilaration rather than boring weakness becomes the abstract purpose making the process a magical act of power.
To transform the act into a magical act of power all thoughts and actions not essential to the act must be discarded and only those thoughts and actions essential towards a total victory in the warrior battle with oneself must be entertained and deliberately used.
Who is to say that you will not have a heart attack in the midst of the act of washing the dishes, eh? If you knew that it would be your last act on the face of the Earth the act of washing those particular dishes would be magical indeed. So to put ones life on the line means that in each and every moment you are ready for death to tap you. Properly done such an attitude makes all actions extremely powerful and exciting.
To relax and abandon myself as much as possible and enter a new mood of optimism means that I am the master of the act. No one in the world can convince me that some other act is more important than the one I am performing right now. I hurry without hurrying in order to compress time while entertaining a brand new mood of relaxed optimism secure in the victory over myself.
To me, the stalking principle never push yourself to the front means that if I push myself to the front I make myself more important than what I am doing. If I push myself to the front my self-importance will most probably cause me to complain and think of other things I would rather be doing thus destroying the victory I could have had if I kept myself in a position of equality to everything. Who in an actual war would be eager to push himself to the front, eh? To push oneself to the front is just asking to be killed. No, in a war a wise warrior will do his best to blend in with everything else thus making himself a much more difficult target to pinpoint.
The only way I have found to transform an act like washing dishes into a real and exhilarating act of power is to compress time by accelerating the velocity of my actions to the point where I am moving as fast as I possibly can without splashing soapy water all over the place. Unless I compress time chances are I will give myself too much time to think of other things I would rather be doing. Once I surrender to such thoughts I automatically push myself to the front and strip the act of all the magical power it would have had.
In order to master my thoughts the moods of stalking are always applied and shifted in a fluid manner deliberately done as required to make any act magical and excitingly powerful. So being
Ruthless
Cunning
Patient
Sweet
is essential in mastering myself and my thoughts so that all actions are transformed into acts that are equal in the face of my impending death.
Whenever I do not treat each and every act as a warrior stalking maneuver I sacrifice my energetic happiness and well-being in the process. If I was always determined to properly stalk myself and live like a successful warrior I would be much happier and that happiness would grow in direct proportion with my concentrated refined determination for that happiness to grow.
I am preparing to apply the principles of stalking towards cleaning the fish tank. That is the battlefield I have now chosen.
SPECIAL EDIT:
I believe there is at least one more principle of stalking that was left out of the 7 shared by Carlos Castaneda:
STALKING PRINCIPLE #8:
In all movements and actions
strive to be extremely centered and properly grounded
in a fluid and relaxed manner
COMMENTARY:
If a person is not properly balanced/centered and deliberately grounded he or she cannot function at his or her best. Each act should be treated as an exhilarating battle for ones life and energy should be pulled from all directions equally (from below the feet as well) and stored with ruthlessly impeccable precision. To be off balance and not properly grounded when performing any act diminishes the effectiveness of that act.
To advance upon the stalkers principles in theory is the best I can do at the moment. I wont pretend that, as an American, I never indulge in anything. Where to draw the line between enjoyment and indulgence that is harmful to the being is a mystery to me. Id say I am guilty of indulging on many fronts. I would attempt to excuse myself by saying that I live in a society of people who are psychologically programmed to indulge, but that is just a cheap excuse. So what I am writing here on stalking is what I feel are the ideal observations towards applying the principles to moment-by-moment living.
*******************************************
I have discovered an alternative stalking method in which the mind is manipulated so that whatever is being done is done with an attitude of Ive been waiting for such a long time to perform this wonderful task. Finally, I have the time to do it. When such an attitude is properly cultivated the task then becomes the most wonderful task in the world and the velocity of movement may slow in order to effectively sip the task like a luxurious fine wine. I just got through performing a stalking task in this manner and found it to be quite satisfying. Lets see how things progress.
Commit to Constant And Never-ending Improvement