getting physical

[ovdeto]

Before sorcery, I've been practicing meditation for nine years. So, there I was, every day meditated for one hour, contemplating about the universe, myself and rules of existence. To me than, in order to reach inner silence, there were only two enemies to battle with: (the so called dualism) mind & body. But, as I ran onto Castaneda, everything has changed. Here is how it went:
One day, ten years ago, the phone rang:
-"Hello?"
-"Hey, Tony here. What are you doing this afternoon? I need to show you something..."
-"What?"
-"You now Carlos Castaneda?"
-"Yeah, read some stuff ten years ago. Why? Is he still alive?"
-"Yes, not only that. There is some practice that he teaches, some movements. A couple of my friends showed it to me. Would you like to see it?"
-"Yeah, why not. See you in half an hour."
We drove for a couple of miles to the river and found beautiful spot on the grass field. I urged him to show me what's it all about, feeling some strange anxiety in my stomach.
-"OK. I don't know much about it, only that these movements are kept as secrecy for all these years and have a lot to do of what he wrote in his books. They are called tensegrity."
-"Tense... what?"
-"Yeah, what", he went on laughing...
Then, suddenly he started to move sharply with his hands, striking in forward, like kicking some sand bag with noisy breathing. Then, he did "braking the ball of energy" movement. I was stoned! Felt like a child who has just seen a chocolate. My heart started to bit like nuts. My friend Tony otherwise, was very thin like a toothpick, known by his depression and pessimism. Seeing him doing those movements was astonishing sight: the man completely changed! It almost seemed like somebody else is there. I couldn't believe my eyes. The transformation took place; he became different. For a moment I saw a true Intent in action, manifestation of Power, determination, a hard solid rock, an act beyond any syntax.
-"What is it?" I asked pretty excited.
-"The lobsters strike", he answered puff-panting.
It indeed reminded as lobster's pliers snapping at something. And when I tried it...oh man...that was it! I was stuck. Caught on, glued, welded.
-"OK, quickly, I want everything, give me the phone numbers, books, addresses, socks numbers...", I started to yell panicle. And he did.
Pretty soon, I bought the magical passes book and all three videos. As I read/watch them, I felt a true lust, a hunger for more, my body was screaming to do these passes. So, slowly within a year, I learned the whole book and videos.
This was huge change for me, I was never physical person, lousy in sport, not good in any games, pretty lazy in general. But, the sudden hunger for attention to my body took over, I had no option but to follow it. The passion followed my effort to learn movements just from the photographs and explanations in the book. When failed, I would get angry, when succeed I would get very happy. Slowly, I began to understand concepts like "body memory" - the memory in movement (kinesthetic) which was responsible for picking passes up as they go. I started to focus on muscles, on tension, pressure and relief all over the body. At first few years I practiced tensegrity a lot - sometimes three hours a day for every day! I just couldn't stop! Later, when finally stop, I would be very tired for the rest of the day. I led huge battles over amount of gestures to perform and ways of doing them. Of course, I don't do that any more, it was silly :-) but, this aggression in those years was the key to cross over the threshold of laziness, that is, to travel from fearfulness toward the unbending Intent. When I finally felt this transition, I've changed the strategy, drastically :-)
I'm not gonna get into advertising magical passes here, just a small glimpse :-)
The thing is, I wouldn't be able to do this without physical involvement. I would still be sitting there in asana, meditating and kept my fears ignored. Attention on the body changed my perspective entirely. I have learned to listen the body, recognized it's intelligence and the dualism body-mind is no longer valid. There can't be two, only one. Attention on the body brings attention on the wholeness. It stirs the swamp of individual and collective memory which is hidden within all of us, by default. It's in our blood, muscles, water we are built from, Intent we are shaped of in order to evolve, to exist, to survive.
About five years ago, while cleaning my bookcase, I saw a book, "Yoga and sport" written by Selvajaran Yesudian, an Indian man. I got intrigued by this book, it was infectious. It talked about the body as the key of perception which opens the door for freedom. The secret was in breath and the body postures that go along. I did a lot of breathing in tensegrity already, but this was different, this was breathing with attention. So, what could I do, I simply couldn't resist - I learned the whole book again, lol :-)
Practicing yoga was/is another great experience for me. As I slowly inhaled-exhaled and stretched in various combinations, I have discovered great deal about my body and attention. Firstly, as one takes certain body position he stretches it and becomes aware of that particular point. Also, that engages of what dJ called tendon energy. To enrich it, I added awareness at that point Intending it to "evolve" even more.
Secondly, I discovered a huge noise of memory all over the place! In tensegrity it is said that kinesthetic memory lies on back muscles of our thighs, so it must be put on constant slight tension in order to release it. But, I have found out there are other places which holds this noise of memory as I call it, thanks to the postures and attention. For instances, muscles of upper parts of the back are full of it! Muscles of shoulder blades, too. Lover parts of the back, when stretched upwards release dreaming memory, memories from very old dreams. For tensegrity it has been said they have been dreamt. Therefore, these yoga postures are also dreamt, since they provoke fluidity of AP and lead to certain positions achieved long time ago.
Also, breathing is of a great help for remembering dreams. That is why in recapitulation it is important to breath, it acts directly on AP, relates to feeling or moods, all kind of "tune" we were in particular time, since, breathing reflects or reacts to the body condition instantly.
Stirring kinesthetic memory is of a great help with recap, as well. I noticed that when recapping after physical practice it is huge different in quality, then when doing without it. Memory comes easier, you have the feeling like these glimpses from life float around you and you just need to grab them with your breath. Breathing is indeed a freeway to Freedom: it is important to breath deep and with attention.
Thirdly - the greatest change - attention to the body leads to action. In my case, from contemplation I moved to action, which is evident in my daily life. Before, if I needed to do something I would sit, have a cigarette and think about it. Now, I get up and act (the cigarette thing is gone, it was sad, pathetic routine). This changed my life very much. It gave sense of the battlefield and concept of being a warrior. It also, gives you an excellent health, general well being, excellent body condition and personal Power. It clears channels with Intent, helps to achieve inner silence, an actual fact that the state of inner silence is not the state of the mind, but the body.
I believe, everybody should, as the first step, recapitulate the part of his/her personal history which relates with the ways of his/her appointment with Nagual. I've learned, I must never allow myself to forget the passion of that first moment. Now, I realize: the passion is the key and the mean of the true Intent. It is evolution within.
This place we are now, is consequence of certain decisions we brought in distant past and we must find them in our memory. Actually, we must recall did we have any choice at all? Could we be anything else than warrior?
I couldn't.
There are many options to study oneself and the world around us. We need each other to discover and teach what have we learned. How do we find out what we really are? It takes a lot to do this and there is no time. How to narrow yourself out of the ocean to within? That's what we are doing right now, finding out.
regards

[Mornings Son]

Thanks Ovedeto for a most inspiring tale of Power!!
MS

[Eilias123]

i might see if theres a tensigrity group in my area.

[Nagual LoneWolf]

A powerful post indeed. We now a magical passes teacher amoung us. I too, used the passes to broaden my area of influence.
The passes teach movement within the lines with can be greatly utilized in dreaming as well. By taking the movements into dreaming worlds can be accessed.

[Aranno Way]

ovdeto you seem to be just what this forum needs since your strong involvement and practice of the exercises will help everyone take it to a new level.
Me personally I do them but not as much as I should and never did the advanced ones as much as I should since I have been venturing with my dreaming or energy body.
I know by focusing on them warriors should do them in their dreaming, I only do the basic ones in dreaming and had really good results and what makes me mad is that I know I should be able do do all of them since I would have something to focus on while dreaming and what a better thing to do than movements of intent and power.
Good post ovdeto and thumbs up.
Aranno.

[Aranno Way]

Something that I have to do is convert my tensegrety VHS tapes into the DVD format.
Thats whats been keeping me from seeing them again.
I was thinking that I could post some of the exercises with the new software that I now have.

[seeitall]

great post indeed.
I was doing MP years ago, but I never liked them.
It was more a burden than something I would enjoy.
The only physical exercise I like is running.
I guess I did it wrong but I still do not know how to do it right.

[Singer]

Thanks, Ovdeto! I was moved by your post. Passion is the key, indeed! I have recently thought about obtaining some of the Tensegrity or Magical Passes materials. Which book or video would be the best place to start?
Singer

[ovdeto]

In my experience, practicing magical passes had greater influence in tonal than in Dreaming. What happened is, they helped the "flow of tonal", that is, the essence of action to evolve. With complex movements one needs to engage sides of his tonal s/he haven't been using so far which makes her/him as some sort of witness of new powers within. I've never attended any cleargreen workshop. I think the individuality in my part, the lack of influence of any instructor has actually led to such an impact on me by those passes. In the world, there are various reflections on them, some like them, other curse them. In my opinion, the problem is in expectations which usually goes along organized workshops or similar gathering. I also think, that CC and Co. made a mistake when associated descriptions and "what they do to you" to the particular movement. For instance, at the beginning I did a lot of passes for Dreaming which slowly grew into expectation that I'll better Dream, thus came the disappointment when I didn't. I wouldn't say that passes for Decision make you master in making Decisions, it's rather that stirred energy and the fluidity, the attention on bodily involvement helps you to bring the Decision with this "new" source, rather than thinking about it, which was the usual way of making that decision, if you know what I mean. The point is in change of perception in practitioner, actually, the usage of new sources to perceive reality which are hidden within the body. You don't lean on the mind so meaningfully as before.
Some people here called me few years ago and wanted me to teach them tensegrity. It was about ten of them, sometimes more or less. So, every Tuesday we would gather and practice passes. But, the problem was, first day I told a little theory about Castaneda and passes in general and most of the questions were "what these passes do to you?" It was hard for me to reply because I always like to emphasize the abstraction in them, rather than description. But no one likes abstraction, they wanted facts (which is the reason I believe CC did it in his MP book, to attract more people). So I gave them "facts". But, "the facts" destroyed the abstraction and killed the magic. So, the passion was gone quite soon. They lost it and couldn't perform at home, just when I was there, it was mess, they couldn't remember a thing, would yawn in the middle of it. After a while, only two left and they came out of habit. Finally, I said thank you and closed it.
In my experience, the magic in passes is in their fluidity, in performance of senseless movements which one cannot associate with anything familiar and yet you do them. I agree in the explanations that passes redeploy one's energy. I think the greatest power in them is confrontation with our mind which is the strongest against it. That is why it is easier to practice in groups than alone, the group forces your mind to accept the flow, rather than to embarrass itself in stubborn declining of the magic.
I believe this is the reason why the strongest problem for one is to begin with this practice from the book. The fortress of the mind is too big to cross! Therefore, one must be a trickster and find the magic, to trick the analytical mind. I think the best way to do this is to witness it by yourself, to be there physically, like I witnessed it with my friend Tony.
Therefore, my advice is for anyone who cannot learn from the book - go somewhere find the group, make it as a mission, a task and witness the feeling. If you find the group and like the magic, your body reacts with passion - half of the work is done. But, if there is no passion, you leave the group empty, feeling nothing - don't practice tensegrity, it is not for you. Find something else, do Thai-chi, yoga, kung fu, whatever, make it as a mission till you find what. But, don't cling on its description, I never did yoga in order to reach Nirvikalpa Samadhi, but to explore, to Dream, to Stalk, to loose the human form - to be abstract in any sense. Whatever you do - make your own Intent of doing it!
I did perform passes in dreams several times. Once, I was taught by some woman in dreams and she gave me entirely new way of doing them, which was fascinating. It included a lot of bending, writhing, ending the pass on the other side of the room. Later when I did them this way in real, they appeared very fluid, like dancing and the most important - each pass was different totally inventive, I could never repeat it again. Quite nice :-)

[SSilhouette]

Well, to be fair, CC did say in the intro to Magical Passes that they should never, "under any circumstances" be taught or discussed with anyone. Then he went on to publish a book teaching them to the masses...
I still think it was his tongue-in-cheek way of saying, "if you read this book and do these things as I've taught you, your not a warrior."
That's the only way his comment in the intro can be interpreted.
Magical passes are highly personal and can only be felt or accessed via the dreaming body. I do a few of them, mostly with my hands. I will never show them to anyone because to do so would be meaningless to them. They will not find the same power in them that I do. They must find their own.

[Aranno Way]

Carlos had to disclose the magical passes because his lineage came to an end therefor he mentioned that he would reveal them to everyone other wise they would vanish with him.

[SSilhouette]

Where did he publish this statement? And would this be one exception to "under no circumstances"?
Here's the passage and I think I see the loophole that CC went for:
Quote:"He recommended to me, however, that under no circumstances should I talk about the magical passes with any of his disciples or with people in general. His reasons were that the magical passes pertained exclusively to each person, and that their effect was so shattering, it was better just to practice them without discussing them.."~ Magical Passes Introduction
Somewhere else in the books don Juan told CC that he had to find his own magical passes via dreaming, or seeing...I forget which. I think it was either one. Or maybe both. "Recommended" was the loophole that enabled the writing of the book. Maybe CC did feel his time was at an end and decided to go against the recommendation out of fear that the magical passes would go undiscovered.
IMHO, he should've written a book about magical passes, or at least a chapter, telling how to find them for oneself...the steps to seeing them or dreaming about them. But it would've been a short book indeed.
I still think it's very very odd that he would introduce a book on a forbidden subject with a reiteration that it was forbidden, but also a de facto circumvention of that taboo evidenced by the fact that the book was published.
I think don Juan's reasons are sound. Cutting corners especially modifying such an abstract core as the personal nature of the discovery of magical passes is a crucial unhinging of sorcery itself.
It is why I bought the book, read the introduction through a couple of times and then put it back on the shelf never having read it. How I access my particular magical passes is by relaxing and allowing myself to shift into heightened awareness and then a force comes along and "plays" with my arms, positioning them this or that way. Or perhaps if I'm standing, I'll suddenly shift, for no apparent reason, and adopt a stance that feels like I'm concentrating my energy, or projecting it, or whatever I'm up to that specific time.

[seeitall]

Quote:Where did he publish this statement? And would this be one exception to "under no circumstances"?
It was the instruction in times when Castaneda was an
apprentice. I'm sure he was also instructed not to talk
under any circumstances
about flyers at that time.
but then DJ lelf this world and CC mission was to
end the lineage. His burden was to decide what to do
with the knowledge. there were no such rules left. He made the decisions, one
of them was to try to generalize the MP.
We can argue if this was right or wrong, but your argument
with "under no circumstances" seems irrelevant.

[SSilhouette]

Quote:It was the instruction in times when Castaneda was an
apprentice. I'm sure he was also instructed not to talk
under any circumstances
about flyers at that time.
but then DJ lelf this world and CC mission was to
end the lineage. His burden was to decide what to do
with the knowledge. there were no such rules left. He made the decisions, one
of them was to try to generalize the MP.
We can argue if this was right or wrong, but your argument
with "under no circumstances" seems irrelevant.~ seeitall
"It was the instruction in times when Castaneda was an
apprentice. I'm sure he was also instructed not to talk
under any circumstances
about flyers at that time."
*****
How can you be sure if CC wrote stuff directly contradicting what you assume here?
"but then DJ lelf this world and CC mission was to
end the lineage. His burden was to decide what to do
with the knowledge."
*****
It was all of our burdens. And the knowledge is what is written for us to read in CC's books. Only from there do we jump off and see for ourselves what's what. I heartily counsel you against sort of having a grasp on what's in the books and then declaring you've seen what's what. Clearly you are taking liberty with what CC wrote and interjecting a personal agenda, whether or not you're aware of it.
"He made the decisions, one
of them was to try to generalize the MP.
We can argue if this was right or wrong, but your argument
with "under no circumstances" seems irrelevant"
********
Irrelevant to whom? I was quoting from Magical Passes, word for word. Have you decided also that what CC wrote was erroneous? That don Juan was talking out of his ass?
Quote:He had suggested once that if I wanted to give my body healing rest I should take long naps, lying on my stomach with my face turned to the left and my feet over the foot of the bed. In order to avoid being cold, he recommended I put a soft pillow over my shoulders, away from my neck, and wear heavy socks, or just leave my shoes on.
When I first heard his suggestion, I thought he was being funny, but later changed my mind. Sleeping in that position helped me rest extraordinarily well. When I commented on the surprising results, he advised that I follow his suggestions to the letter without bothering to believe or disbelieve him...
..[and later]
..His reply sounded metaphorical to me. What I didn't know then was that don Juan meant everything he said literally...~ The Power Of Silence The Knock Of The Spirit
And again..
Quote:He recommended to me, however, that under no circumstances whould I talk about the magical passes with any of his disciples or with people in general.~ Magical Passes Introduction
Carlos Castaneda was not an impeccable sorcerer. This must be kept in mind. One of his glaring aberrations was a lust for personal granduer. Early on when he was in seclusion, he seemed to still feel the influence of don Juan's impeccability. But as time went on and riches kept flowing in from his books, he reverted back to his crappy self and went against the suggestions of his master, under the influence of the FI that was never eradicated from his own life. Part of that FI was the notion instilled in him that he was just a "small brown man", in a world of more powerful anglos. This gnawed at his impeccability until it took the driver's seat.
That is something not assembled in a book, but is easily seen from reading quotes, eyewitness accounts and finally in reading the intro of Magical Passes wherein he flatly states that he is diverting from the impeccable path of his predecessor, don Juan, and "doing things his own way".
Which in the case of aberration makes for a poor prognosis. At least he warned us in the intro. Beware to those who follow an aberrant sorcerer. He was an intermediary. Don Juan's words are my nagual. He took prisoners. That was don Juan's assessment of him. Don Juan recognized early on that CC was akin to the old and aberrant sorcerers, not members of the New Seers. Stating flatly that he recognized that the magical passes were dangerous, aka forbidden for him to discuss, and then doing so anyway is a big red flag of aberration.
Am I the only one who sees this?

[Nagual LoneWolf]

SSIl...Your insights are very good and well thought out. I, myself see Castaneda as a relayer and sorceror. He walked the walk..that he was bent is part of the human foly. How many of us when reading the books thought CC was slow at "getting it"?
Still without his fantastic writing we would have nothing.

[seeitall]

Quote:"It was the instruction in times when Castaneda was an
apprentice. I'm sure he was also instructed not to talk
under any circumstances
about flyers at that time."
*****
How can you be sure if CC wrote stuff directly contradicting what you assume here?
what stuff did he wrote that contradicts it ? I'm aware of none, but there sure may be something I missed.
Quote:I heartily counsel you against sort of having a grasp on what's in the books and then declaring you've seen what's what.
Did I do that ? everything here are my personal opinions. I do not declare what's what.
Quote:Clearly you are taking liberty with what CC wrote and interjecting a personal agenda, whether or not you're aware of it.
So you do, so everybody does. you have your agenda and I have mine.
Quote:Irrelevant to whom?
to me of course. I'm not talking for anybody else.
Quote:I was quoting from Magical Passes, word for word. Have you decided also that what CC wrote was erroneous? That don Juan was talking out of his ass?
so you're now "word for word" warrior.
DJ played many tricks on CC, you cannot take them
all "word for word". When you tell 5 year old child
he cannot "under no circumstatnces" open the door
to anyone, do yo think you have to apply this
rule when you're twenty of more ? Are you
suggesting he should blindly repeat everything
he was taught ad nauseum? what kind of warrior would he be then ?

Quote:Carlos Castaneda was not an impeccable sorcerer. This must be kept in mind. One of his glaring aberrations was a lust for personal granduer. Early on when he was in seclusion, he seemed to still feel the influence of don Juan's impeccability. But as time went on and riches kept flowing in from his books, he reverted back to his crappy self and went against the suggestions of his master, under the influence of the FI that was never eradicated from his own life. Part of that FI was the notion instilled in him that he was just a "small brown man", in a world of more powerful anglos. This gnawed at his impeccability until it took the driver's seat.
That is something not assembled in a book, but is easily seen from reading quotes, eyewitness accounts and finally in reading the intro of Magical Passes wherein he flatly states that he is diverting from the impeccable path of his predecessor, don Juan, and "doing things his own way".
OMG. I cannot believe what I just read.
you had to be too long on Sustained Reaction site.
seems they are doing a great job.

you-only-live-twice quote:

But what does Castaneda do during the day?
Talks to the crazy apes. For now, anyway---in private homes, ballet studios, bookstores. They make pilgrimages from the world over: icons of New Awareness past, present, and future, energy groupies, shrinks and shamans, lawyers, Deadheads, drummers, debunkers and lucid dreamers, scholars, socialites and seducers, channelers, meditators and moguls, even lovers and cronies "from 10,000 years ago." Furious note takers come, junior naguals in the making. Some will write books about him; the lazier ones, chapters. Others will give seminars---that is, for a fee. "They come to listen for a few hours, "he says, "and the next weekend they are giving lectures on Castaneda. That's the ape." He stands before them hours at a time enticing and exhorting their energy bodies," and the effect is hot and cold all at once, like dry ice. With numinous finesse, he wrests savage tales of freedom and power like scarves from the empty funnel---moving, elegant, obscene, hilarious, bloodcurdling, and surgically precise. Ask me anything! comes the entreaty. What would you like to know?

[seeitall]

one more thought. What is the best way to suppress the truth ?
To slander the messenger.
When I ever try to speak about CC with someone, the first
thing I hear is he was raving drug adict. Or they heard
the BS spread by Amy Walace & Co. They know nothing
about what he had writen, but they for sure know from media he was on drugs, he was pervert, nobody cares what he is talking about. And those who care , they take only
the half. If they do not like something, they say
"it was not in the first 4 books" and the rest is a BS
that CC invented in times, when he was a bitter insane old man rejected from the DJ group". You want reincarnation ?
no problem. flyers do not exist ? no problem too ! all
this are post inventions of CC only. DJ was almost
saint ( because you can hardly find anybody
who could slander DJ - that would be hardly to believe ), but it's extremely easy to find some
disapointed apprentice, that will say CC
was corrupted by money, fame, power. They can even make nice money by publishing books about it. And now we all know
that:
Quote:Carlos Castaneda was not an impeccable sorcerer. This must be kept in mind. One of his glaring aberrations was a lust for personal granduer. Early on when he was in seclusion, he seemed to still feel the influence of don Juan's impeccability. But as time went on and riches kept flowing in from his books, he reverted back to his crappy self and went against the suggestions of his master, under the influence of the FI that was never eradicated from his own life. Part of that FI was the notion instilled in him that he was just a "small brown man", in a world of more powerful anglos. This gnawed at his impeccability until it took the driver's seat.
Disgrace Castaneda ? Go for it. I don't care,
because for me, he stayed consistent in what he was talking
about till the end.

[seeitall]

Quote:How many of us when reading the books thought CC was slow at "getting it"?
you've got the point wolf. he had no talent, so he
had to wage a great war. having a talent is a mixed blessing.
everything comes too easy, no war.
do you really believe that after this years of warriorism he threw everything away and returned to crappy life of greed and egomania ???

[Nagual LoneWolf]

do you really believe that after this years of warriorism he threw everything away and returned to crappy life of greed and egomania ???
I answer not at all. CC was way past ever returning to anything such as egomania or greed. The lies spread by Sustained Reaction or purely the work of the flyer minds.

[SSilhouette]

Quote:Still without his fantastic writing we would have nothing.~ LW
Yes. Just like don Juan appreciated and acknowledged the accomplishments of past Toltecs, I recognize and appreciate Carlos Castaneda's contributions. That being a messenger of an immense body of knowledge that might likely had been lost to us without his books.
I am ultimately reverent of his part in the play.
Yet I also see that he, like the past sorcerers, was aberrant in some of his ways. So I choose not to follow them simultaneous with my respect for his overall contribution.
Thanks for spurring me to clarify that LW.

[Guest]