05-07-2010, 12:00 AM
~
Quotes, when they are posted, always bring to mind an interesting line from an author I enjoy, once again, Brother Jed.
This is in regard to the Buddha, yet substitute don Juan and you'll see what I mean. If not, I'll explain a bit further.
“To begin with, neither one of us has the slightest idea what the Buddha said because he didn't write it down and get it notarized. And since he's not here to explain, we're on our own."
Keep in mind that writings are about the Buddha, Jesus and don Juan. None were written by any of them. Do we really know what Juanito told Carlos? We're only left with Carlos' interpretation of what Juanito told him, right? A bit more....
“Andrew was wide-eyed at this heresy. I sensed that he was thinking about getting up and leaving.”
"Hey, this is good news. What I'm saying is that you don't have to rely on the highly suspect teachings of someone who's been dead for thousands of years. You can rely on yourself. If Prince Siddhartha made it on his own, you can too, right? The Buddha was just some guy who got serious and figured it out for himself, so maybe that's his real teaching - that you can figure it out for yourself. Maybe the point isn't that he was some sort of deity or superman, but that he wasn't. That he was just a guy like you or me."
"In the process of waking yourself up, you quickly realize that there's no outside authority. You have to verify everything yourself. If you adopt something someone else said, it's only after you have verified it for yourself. If Jesus, Buddha, or Lao-Tzu made it, you can make it. There's no choice about this-you can't walk in someone else's shoes and there are no turnkey solutions.”
Ah yes, good points, but still more quotes, correct? Where do quotes come from? Well, if you’re an old fucker like me, they come from books.
This now leads us to an older post that touches on this topic, book learning. It pains me to keep dragging this one out, yet it seems needed.
Book learning, like any other sort of second-hand learning, while perfect for things of an academic nature, is far, far less than perfect for things of an experiential nature.
Two downsides of book learning concerning things of an experiential nature are: (1) less than the full experience itself gets into the book and (2) things other than the experience itself become identified as the experience. The struggle of Carlos Castaneda in this regard can be seen in his reinterpretation of events described in early books when he wrote the later books.
An intellectualization of the experience results for the reader. The serious reader who attempts to take it all to heart can become the academic king of the words in the books and still not get the message, for the study of the books relies on linear thought while the subject and message are completely non-linear.
Dillucidation is the de-intellectualization of the experience, the process through which the reader can build his or her own bridge to the experience. It, the experience itself, is available. Getting it through the intellectualizations of the writer is the challenge, and Carlos Castaneda is a very intellectual fellow.
Yet "getting it" is only the beginning of the challenge. Getting that you got it is the other half.
"Getting it" itself will happen to any reader who gives a few hours to the writings of Carlos Castaneda, briefly, from time to time, when something happens in the reader's life which takes him or her back to the moments of the similar experience which the writer shared. That "getting it" lasts until something happens, although the reader will accumulate a string of such moments over time if the thoughts of the writer stick within his or her awareness. From that string of moments of "getting it" the reader builds confidence that what he or she got is "it".
A reader may even come to believe that they got it. That is a pity. All they have is a structure which supports itself. That self-supporting structure they can carry around and draw from to show themselves and others how everything all fits so well into that intellectual understanding of the non-linear they derived from their reading. They have nothing. The very structure they carry around is the enemy of the purpose(s) which brought about the writings in the first place.
Their academic success in the mastery of the finer points of the intellectualizations in the writings, in their mains, makes them immune to the basic tests which don Juan put forth for Carlos Castaneda to face early on, the enemies.
Fear makes them hold on to their book learning.
Clarity makes their book learning seem adequate.
Power results from their mastery of the intellectualizations in the books.
Knowledge, to some extent, comes with that package as well. There they are, thinking they are the masters of the teachings, and they are stuck before all the enemies yet once again.
What a pity. Dillucidation is their way out. Yet they are terrified of dillucidation. They would have to turn in their diploma and start all over again, learning to unwalk the rules in order to find the truths beneath them that bind them altogether with a simple picture that holds it all yet has no rules. Only then do they truly get it and get that they got it. Until then their plight is such a great pity.
Please note that this entire post is mental masterbation.
We are all doing The Work, so I KNOW this post doesn't apply to you.
SHM
Quotes, when they are posted, always bring to mind an interesting line from an author I enjoy, once again, Brother Jed.
This is in regard to the Buddha, yet substitute don Juan and you'll see what I mean. If not, I'll explain a bit further.
“To begin with, neither one of us has the slightest idea what the Buddha said because he didn't write it down and get it notarized. And since he's not here to explain, we're on our own."
Keep in mind that writings are about the Buddha, Jesus and don Juan. None were written by any of them. Do we really know what Juanito told Carlos? We're only left with Carlos' interpretation of what Juanito told him, right? A bit more....
“Andrew was wide-eyed at this heresy. I sensed that he was thinking about getting up and leaving.”
"Hey, this is good news. What I'm saying is that you don't have to rely on the highly suspect teachings of someone who's been dead for thousands of years. You can rely on yourself. If Prince Siddhartha made it on his own, you can too, right? The Buddha was just some guy who got serious and figured it out for himself, so maybe that's his real teaching - that you can figure it out for yourself. Maybe the point isn't that he was some sort of deity or superman, but that he wasn't. That he was just a guy like you or me."
"In the process of waking yourself up, you quickly realize that there's no outside authority. You have to verify everything yourself. If you adopt something someone else said, it's only after you have verified it for yourself. If Jesus, Buddha, or Lao-Tzu made it, you can make it. There's no choice about this-you can't walk in someone else's shoes and there are no turnkey solutions.”
Ah yes, good points, but still more quotes, correct? Where do quotes come from? Well, if you’re an old fucker like me, they come from books.
This now leads us to an older post that touches on this topic, book learning. It pains me to keep dragging this one out, yet it seems needed.
Book learning, like any other sort of second-hand learning, while perfect for things of an academic nature, is far, far less than perfect for things of an experiential nature.
Two downsides of book learning concerning things of an experiential nature are: (1) less than the full experience itself gets into the book and (2) things other than the experience itself become identified as the experience. The struggle of Carlos Castaneda in this regard can be seen in his reinterpretation of events described in early books when he wrote the later books.
An intellectualization of the experience results for the reader. The serious reader who attempts to take it all to heart can become the academic king of the words in the books and still not get the message, for the study of the books relies on linear thought while the subject and message are completely non-linear.
Dillucidation is the de-intellectualization of the experience, the process through which the reader can build his or her own bridge to the experience. It, the experience itself, is available. Getting it through the intellectualizations of the writer is the challenge, and Carlos Castaneda is a very intellectual fellow.
Yet "getting it" is only the beginning of the challenge. Getting that you got it is the other half.
"Getting it" itself will happen to any reader who gives a few hours to the writings of Carlos Castaneda, briefly, from time to time, when something happens in the reader's life which takes him or her back to the moments of the similar experience which the writer shared. That "getting it" lasts until something happens, although the reader will accumulate a string of such moments over time if the thoughts of the writer stick within his or her awareness. From that string of moments of "getting it" the reader builds confidence that what he or she got is "it".
A reader may even come to believe that they got it. That is a pity. All they have is a structure which supports itself. That self-supporting structure they can carry around and draw from to show themselves and others how everything all fits so well into that intellectual understanding of the non-linear they derived from their reading. They have nothing. The very structure they carry around is the enemy of the purpose(s) which brought about the writings in the first place.
Their academic success in the mastery of the finer points of the intellectualizations in the writings, in their mains, makes them immune to the basic tests which don Juan put forth for Carlos Castaneda to face early on, the enemies.
Fear makes them hold on to their book learning.
Clarity makes their book learning seem adequate.
Power results from their mastery of the intellectualizations in the books.
Knowledge, to some extent, comes with that package as well. There they are, thinking they are the masters of the teachings, and they are stuck before all the enemies yet once again.
What a pity. Dillucidation is their way out. Yet they are terrified of dillucidation. They would have to turn in their diploma and start all over again, learning to unwalk the rules in order to find the truths beneath them that bind them altogether with a simple picture that holds it all yet has no rules. Only then do they truly get it and get that they got it. Until then their plight is such a great pity.
Please note that this entire post is mental masterbation.
We are all doing The Work, so I KNOW this post doesn't apply to you.
SHM