01-26-2010, 12:00 AM
Don Juan explained to me that ruthlessness, cunning, patience, and sweetness were the essence of stalking. They were the basics that with all their ramifications had to be taught in careful, meticulous steps.
"The very first principle of stalking is that a warrior stalks himself," he said. "He stalks himself ruthlessly, cunningly, patiently, and sweetly."
Very succinctly he defined stalking as the art of using behavior in novel ways for specific purposes. He said that normal human behavior in the world of everyday life was routine. Any behavior that broke from routine caused an unusual effect on our total being. That unusual effect was what sorcerers sought, because it was cumulative.
He explained that the sorcerer seers of ancient times, through their seeing, had first noticed that unusual behavior produced a tremor in the assemblage point. They soon discovered that if unusual behavior was practiced systematically and directed wisely, it eventually forced the assemblage point to move.
A warrior is never under siege. To be under siege implies that one has personal possessions that could be blockaded. A warrior has nothing in the world except his impeccability, and impeccability cannot be threatened.
The first principle of the art of stalking is that warriors choose their battleground. A warrior never goes into battle without knowing what the surroundings are.
To discard everything that is unnecessary is the second principle of the art of stalking. A warrior doesn't complicate things. He aims at being simple.
A warrior applies all the concentration he has to decide whether or not to enter into battle, for any battle is a battle for his life.
This is the third principle of the art of stalking. A warrior must be willing and ready to make his last stand here and now. But not in a helter-skelter way.
A warrior relaxes and abandons himself. He fears nothing. Only then will the powers that guide human beings open the road for a warrior and aid him. Only-then. That is the fourth principle of the art of stalking.
When faced with odds that cannot be dealt with, warriors retreat for a moment. They let their minds meander. They occupy their time with something else. Anything would do. That is the fifth principle of the art of stalking.
Warriors compress time. This is the sixth principle of the art of stalking. Even an instant counts. In a battle for your life, a second is an eternity, an eternity that may decide the outcome. Warriors aim at succeeding, therefore they compress time. Warriors don't waste an instant.
In order to apply the seventh principle of the art of stalking, one has to apply the other six: a stalker never pushes himself to the front. He is always looking on from behind the scenes.
Applying these principles brings about three results. The first is that stalkers learn never to take themselves seriously. They learn to laugh at themselves. If they are not afraid of being a fool, they can fool anyone. The second is that stalkers learn to have endless patience. Stalkers are never in a hurry, they never fret. And the third is that stalkers learn to have an endless capacity to improvise.
Warriors face the oncoming time. Normally we face time as it recedes from us. Only warriors can change that and face time as it advances on them.
Aditional Quotes:
Warriors have only one thing in mind: their freedom.
Warriors can never make a bridge to join the people of the world. But, if people desire to do so, they have to make a bridge to join warriors.
In order for the mysteries of shamanism to be available to anyone, the spirit must descend onto whoever is interested. The spirit lets its presence by itself move the man's assemblage point to a specific position. This precise spot is known to shamans as the place of no pity.
Any movement of the assemblage point means a movement away from an excessive concern with the individual self. Shamans believe it is the position of the assemblage point which makes modern man a homicidal egotist; a being totally involved with his self-image. Having lost hope of ever returning to the source of everything, the average man seeks solace in his selfishness.
The thrust of the warriors' way is to dethrone self-importance. And everything warriors do is directed toward accomplishing this goal.
Shamans have unmasked self-importance and found that it is self-pity masquerading as something else.
A warrior, as a teacher, must first of all teach about the possibility of acting without believing; without expecting rewards- acting just for the hell of it. His success as a teacher depends on how well and how harmoniously he guides his wards in this specific respect.
In order to help his ward to erase personal history, the warrior as a teacher teaches three techniques: losing self-importance, assuming responsibility for one's acts, and using death as an adviser. Without the beneficial effect of these three techniques, erasing personal history would involve being shifty, evasive and unnecessarily dubious about oneself and one's actions.
A warrior has no honor, no dignity, no family, no name, no country: He has only life to be lived. Under these circumstances, his only tie to his fellow men is his controlled folly.
A person wisely goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance.
Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake. Whoever makes that mistake- if he or she lives through it- will regret the error.
When we have fulfilled all four of these requisites- to be wide awake, to have fear, respect, and absolute assurance- there are no mistakes for which we will have to account; under such conditions our actions lose the blundering quality of the acts of a fool.
If we fail or suffers a defeat, we will have lost only a battle, and there will be no pitiful regrets over that.
A man has four natural enemies: fear. clarity, power, and old age. Fear, clarity, and power can be overcome, but not old age. Its effect can be postponed, but it can never be overcome.
"The very first principle of stalking is that a warrior stalks himself," he said. "He stalks himself ruthlessly, cunningly, patiently, and sweetly."
Very succinctly he defined stalking as the art of using behavior in novel ways for specific purposes. He said that normal human behavior in the world of everyday life was routine. Any behavior that broke from routine caused an unusual effect on our total being. That unusual effect was what sorcerers sought, because it was cumulative.
He explained that the sorcerer seers of ancient times, through their seeing, had first noticed that unusual behavior produced a tremor in the assemblage point. They soon discovered that if unusual behavior was practiced systematically and directed wisely, it eventually forced the assemblage point to move.
A warrior is never under siege. To be under siege implies that one has personal possessions that could be blockaded. A warrior has nothing in the world except his impeccability, and impeccability cannot be threatened.
The first principle of the art of stalking is that warriors choose their battleground. A warrior never goes into battle without knowing what the surroundings are.
To discard everything that is unnecessary is the second principle of the art of stalking. A warrior doesn't complicate things. He aims at being simple.
A warrior applies all the concentration he has to decide whether or not to enter into battle, for any battle is a battle for his life.
This is the third principle of the art of stalking. A warrior must be willing and ready to make his last stand here and now. But not in a helter-skelter way.
A warrior relaxes and abandons himself. He fears nothing. Only then will the powers that guide human beings open the road for a warrior and aid him. Only-then. That is the fourth principle of the art of stalking.
When faced with odds that cannot be dealt with, warriors retreat for a moment. They let their minds meander. They occupy their time with something else. Anything would do. That is the fifth principle of the art of stalking.
Warriors compress time. This is the sixth principle of the art of stalking. Even an instant counts. In a battle for your life, a second is an eternity, an eternity that may decide the outcome. Warriors aim at succeeding, therefore they compress time. Warriors don't waste an instant.
In order to apply the seventh principle of the art of stalking, one has to apply the other six: a stalker never pushes himself to the front. He is always looking on from behind the scenes.
Applying these principles brings about three results. The first is that stalkers learn never to take themselves seriously. They learn to laugh at themselves. If they are not afraid of being a fool, they can fool anyone. The second is that stalkers learn to have endless patience. Stalkers are never in a hurry, they never fret. And the third is that stalkers learn to have an endless capacity to improvise.
Warriors face the oncoming time. Normally we face time as it recedes from us. Only warriors can change that and face time as it advances on them.
Aditional Quotes:
Warriors have only one thing in mind: their freedom.
Warriors can never make a bridge to join the people of the world. But, if people desire to do so, they have to make a bridge to join warriors.
In order for the mysteries of shamanism to be available to anyone, the spirit must descend onto whoever is interested. The spirit lets its presence by itself move the man's assemblage point to a specific position. This precise spot is known to shamans as the place of no pity.
Any movement of the assemblage point means a movement away from an excessive concern with the individual self. Shamans believe it is the position of the assemblage point which makes modern man a homicidal egotist; a being totally involved with his self-image. Having lost hope of ever returning to the source of everything, the average man seeks solace in his selfishness.
The thrust of the warriors' way is to dethrone self-importance. And everything warriors do is directed toward accomplishing this goal.
Shamans have unmasked self-importance and found that it is self-pity masquerading as something else.
A warrior, as a teacher, must first of all teach about the possibility of acting without believing; without expecting rewards- acting just for the hell of it. His success as a teacher depends on how well and how harmoniously he guides his wards in this specific respect.
In order to help his ward to erase personal history, the warrior as a teacher teaches three techniques: losing self-importance, assuming responsibility for one's acts, and using death as an adviser. Without the beneficial effect of these three techniques, erasing personal history would involve being shifty, evasive and unnecessarily dubious about oneself and one's actions.
A warrior has no honor, no dignity, no family, no name, no country: He has only life to be lived. Under these circumstances, his only tie to his fellow men is his controlled folly.
A person wisely goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance.
Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake. Whoever makes that mistake- if he or she lives through it- will regret the error.
When we have fulfilled all four of these requisites- to be wide awake, to have fear, respect, and absolute assurance- there are no mistakes for which we will have to account; under such conditions our actions lose the blundering quality of the acts of a fool.
If we fail or suffers a defeat, we will have lost only a battle, and there will be no pitiful regrets over that.
A man has four natural enemies: fear. clarity, power, and old age. Fear, clarity, and power can be overcome, but not old age. Its effect can be postponed, but it can never be overcome.