I posted this on the blog with Peter (from here on out, known as P/H's), but really wanted you to see this interesting line from the Don Juan book.
"Fear is the first natural enemy a man must overcome on his path to knowledge."
From The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda.
(H)
I'll have more to say the further along I get in the book, but here's an initial reaction:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Don Juan. Fear seems to be one of the most fundamental aspects of one's search for knowledge, in the courage to face the task of discernment between what is true and what is an illusion. Whether in the knowledge of Self or the knowledge of intimacy with another person, fear can be likened to the lock on the door. One cannot get very far with proceeding through the door into the real work of knowledge if one cannot unlock it. What is the object of this fear? The unknown, yes. But also it is the fear of seeing one's illusions go up in flames and, more to the point, the responsibilities that the truth holds. Knowledge and truth go hand in hand with responsibility, and thus maturity.
Knowledge is power, we hear. Power, whether in the form of a firearm, money, or information requires responsibility to be handled wisely.
In the depths of intimacy with a partner, the more one faces truth and shuns illusion, the more responsibility is required of the partners. You wouldn't give a child a porcelain vase to carry--he is not mature or responsible enough; you cannot trust him to bear what he has been given. The souls of the partners, their truth, is exchanged, and the relationship relies on trust and maturity to carry this knowledge safely.
Overcoming the fear of responsibility and the task of discernment opens the doors to knowledge.
(J)
p. 58:
ReplyDelete"Once a man has vanquished fear, he is free from it for the rest of his life because, instead of fear, he has acquired clarity--a clarity of mind which erases fear. By then a man knows his desires; he knows how to satisfy those desires. He can anticipate the new steps of learning, and a sharp clarity surrounds everything. The man feels that nothing is concealed.
"And thus he has encountered his second enemy: "Clarity! That clarity of mind, which is so hard to obtain, dispels fear, but also blinds.
"It forces the man never to doubt himself. It gives him the assurance he can do anything he pleases, for he sees clearly into everything. And he courageous because he is clear, and he stops at nothing because he is clear. But all that is a mistake; it is like something incomplete. If the man yields to this make-believe power, he has succumbed to his second enemy and will fumble with learning. He will rush when he should patient, or he will be patient when he should rush. And he will fumble with learning until he winds up incapable of learning more."
Lots to unpack here. First: "He can anticipate the new steps of learning." Don Juan is wise to point out the possible danger of being able to anticipate or plan the next steps on his path to knowledge, whatever that knowledge. The sense of clarity that don Juan is talking about has a certain falsity to it, because it can lead one to believe that a) the problem is basically solved or b) the seeker knows what to do from here on out. This is misleading because once this conviction is reached, the seeker begins to assume too much, and is no longer in the mindset he was at the beginning of the quest. Referring to the other quote you posted, it seems that this is one of the reasons Juan compares this process with going to war. In war, even you have overcome the initial fear of entering the war, you can't just decide that the war is over because you have a certain level of "clarity," after one battle, let's say. The war is much bigger than you and mostly out of your control.
I am reminded of Proverbs 16:9: The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps. Or even Robert Burns' "The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley" (go often awry).
And the use of the word "anticipate" is apt--when you anticipate, you project what you expect to happen, a process that is often informed by your desires and emotions (we often anticipate what we WANT to happen, or what we FEAR will happen). This can be a source of illusion, and can block one from seeing the truth, if one's anticipations continue to get in the way.
How can clarity also blind? Perhaps because the clarity don Juan speaks of is more a feeling of clarity, a premature clarity. I recently watched the movie Insignificance (very odd, in a Punch-Drunk Love sort of way)--in one of the scenes, two characters representing Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe are having a conversation, and Einstein says something along the lines of "If you think you know, then you can no longer learn." Something like that. This sentiment has been echoed by many others, but it was particularly apt coming from him, considering his place in the history of physics. At the time he was working, physics had, on the whole, come to the conclusion of clarity that don Juan is talking about--the dominant opinion was that the problem of the physical universe was pretty much solved, and all there was left to do was to fill in some minor details. The developments of Einstein, Schroedinger, and co. showed how premature this clarity was.
(J)
Lastly, I love what don Juan says about rushing when one needs to patient and being patient when one needs to rush. This is something I constantly need to remind myself, when I catch myself trying to make the various processes and paths of my life conform to a single time-scale. Different endeavors take different amounts of and approaches to time. Again, the "anticipation" don Juan speaks of can hinder this appreciation of going slower or faster.
ReplyDelete(J)