02-18-2010, 12:00 AM
"Encounters With The Nagual" - ©2004 by Armando Torres
Part I. A Romance with Knowledge
The Path of the Warrior
One morning I received a phone call, and to my surprise it was Carlos. He
told me that he would arrive at the airport in Mexico City in four hours, and
asked me if I could pick him up. I told him it would be a pleasure. He gave me
the number of his flight, and I figured that he was calling from the airport in
Los Angeles, since that would fit the time required for the trip.
When he arrived, I accompanied him on some errands related to the printing of
his book. Afterwards, we went to a cafe for a chat. Before saying goodbye, we
agreed to meet at the place where he was giving a lecture that night.
The weather was terrible: Perhaps that was why, when I arrived at the house
where the appointment was, I found that just a few people had arrived. I placed
my coat, sopping wet, over the back of a seat, and sat down in a corner near
Carlos.
The core of his statements that evening was that the universe in its great
entirety is feminine, and of a predatory nature, and there is a tenacious battle
of consciousness going on, where, as always, the strongest absorbs the weakest.
"On the cosmic scale, the strength of a being is not measured by its physical
capability, but by its capacity to manipulate awareness. It follows that if we
are to take the next evolutionary step, it must be done by means of discipline,
determination, and strategy. Those are our weapons.
"Through their seeing, sorcerers witness that struggle, and they take their
place in it; ready for the worst, and without complaining about the result. For
their ever-ready disposition for combat, they take as a title 'warriors'.
"A warrior considers the world we live in to be a great mystery; and knows
that the mystery is there to be revealed to those who deliberately look for it.
That attitude of audacity will occasionally move the tentacles of the unknown;
making the spirit manifest itself."
He explained to us that the warriors' audacity is born out of contact with
their imminent death.
He told us the story of a girl who one day arrived at his editor's office,
put a small mat down on the floor, sat down on it, and told the editor: 'I won't
leave until I speak to Carlos Castaneda!' All attempts to discourage her were
useless: The girl remained inflexible. Finally, the editor called Carlos and
told him that a crazy girl demanded his presence.
"What could I do? I went there and met her. When I asked her the reason for
her strange behavior, she told me that, being deadly sick, she had gone to the
desert to die. But, while she meditated in solitude, she understood that she had
still not tried everything, and she decided to play her last card. For her, that
meant to know the nagual in person.
"Impressed by her story, I made her a unique proposition: 'Leave everything
and come to the world of the sorcerers'. She answered at once: 'I'm game!' When
I heard her answer, my hair stood on end, because Don Juan used to say the same
thing to me:
'If we're going to play, then let's play! But we play to the
death'.
Part I. A Romance with Knowledge
The Path of the Warrior
One morning I received a phone call, and to my surprise it was Carlos. He
told me that he would arrive at the airport in Mexico City in four hours, and
asked me if I could pick him up. I told him it would be a pleasure. He gave me
the number of his flight, and I figured that he was calling from the airport in
Los Angeles, since that would fit the time required for the trip.
When he arrived, I accompanied him on some errands related to the printing of
his book. Afterwards, we went to a cafe for a chat. Before saying goodbye, we
agreed to meet at the place where he was giving a lecture that night.
The weather was terrible: Perhaps that was why, when I arrived at the house
where the appointment was, I found that just a few people had arrived. I placed
my coat, sopping wet, over the back of a seat, and sat down in a corner near
Carlos.
The core of his statements that evening was that the universe in its great
entirety is feminine, and of a predatory nature, and there is a tenacious battle
of consciousness going on, where, as always, the strongest absorbs the weakest.
"On the cosmic scale, the strength of a being is not measured by its physical
capability, but by its capacity to manipulate awareness. It follows that if we
are to take the next evolutionary step, it must be done by means of discipline,
determination, and strategy. Those are our weapons.
"Through their seeing, sorcerers witness that struggle, and they take their
place in it; ready for the worst, and without complaining about the result. For
their ever-ready disposition for combat, they take as a title 'warriors'.
"A warrior considers the world we live in to be a great mystery; and knows
that the mystery is there to be revealed to those who deliberately look for it.
That attitude of audacity will occasionally move the tentacles of the unknown;
making the spirit manifest itself."
He explained to us that the warriors' audacity is born out of contact with
their imminent death.
He told us the story of a girl who one day arrived at his editor's office,
put a small mat down on the floor, sat down on it, and told the editor: 'I won't
leave until I speak to Carlos Castaneda!' All attempts to discourage her were
useless: The girl remained inflexible. Finally, the editor called Carlos and
told him that a crazy girl demanded his presence.
"What could I do? I went there and met her. When I asked her the reason for
her strange behavior, she told me that, being deadly sick, she had gone to the
desert to die. But, while she meditated in solitude, she understood that she had
still not tried everything, and she decided to play her last card. For her, that
meant to know the nagual in person.
"Impressed by her story, I made her a unique proposition: 'Leave everything
and come to the world of the sorcerers'. She answered at once: 'I'm game!' When
I heard her answer, my hair stood on end, because Don Juan used to say the same
thing to me:
'If we're going to play, then let's play! But we play to the
death'.