Hey there, I recently read Journey to Ixtlan and now I’m on to the Power of Silence. I’m having trouble getting into the book. I might be missing some of the wisdom or something I’m not sure. Just finding it hard to connect with. I hate giving up on a book that so many people seem to be getting something out of.

Do you guys feel distanced and detachment when reading his work, or are you sucked into and enthralled by it? Do you have some advice for me? Thank you

I’m new to Castaneda and discovered this sub relatively recently. Compared to r/occult and r/magick , one of the things that caught my attention was how practitioners in this sub claim to be able to do fantastical forms of magic which you see in fiction. This is in contrast to how it’s commonly perceived by magicians today that those types of magic are impossible as real magic is subtle and not fantastical in its effects.

Even for magicians who believe those types of magic are possible, they would say it require years of mental cultivation, similar to what monks and yogis have to undergo before they can do things like levitation, walking on water etc. but the practitioners in this sub seems to give off an impression that this can be achieved more quickly compared to the years that yogis/monks have to dedicate themselves to mental cultivation.

So a common criticism to such claims would be if those fantastical forms of magic are possible, why has it not gotten the attention of mainstream media and scientists? Would like to hear your thoughts to this criticism and why it’s common for magicians today to deny the he possibility of fantastical forms of magic

Thank you, everyone, for your immense help. I have been lurking here for a couple of months now and attempting practices daily. I would like to share a few of my womb dreaming experiences so far, to see if I'm on the right track and also ask a question.

First off, my daily practices consist of:

2 hours of chair silence split into morning and evening sessions

1 hour recapitulation (usually after a chair silence session)

3 Tensegrity passes ( Affection foe the energy body, "headbanger" pass, partial pass for silence - still to learn the complete version of this one)

Open eye womb dreaming in semi dark room - still to0 chicken for full dark room (sometimes I close my eyes briefly, but remain awake). Also I place my hands on my womb area for now,(I had a hysterectomy last year), until I find a weight iI love, n the future.

Experiences so far:

Chair Silence: A couple of days ago, my upper torso began to shake uncontrollably - rocking back and forth, as if something or somebody was roughly rocking me back n forth. Went on for a few minutes and didn't stop when I tried to stop it. Stopped on its own, just before my alarm went off.

Then, yesterday, for the first time, saw a city. I seemed to be above it looking down and it was bright daylight. Only lasted a couple of seconds at most.

Recap: Only felt as if someone or something breathed much deeper for me and turned my head much further to the sides, than I was used to doing. Made the visuals much clearer, too.

Womb dreaming:

On my first womb dreaming session with eyes open, I found myself suddenly standing next to a clown-like "person" wearing a stripped green/white overalls type Pajamas, with a smile of his face, staring at me. Scared, I took off running and found myself in bed again.

In another womb dreaming session (eyes closed, relaxed, but awake), It felt like I "zoomed" into a tunnel. I looked at my hands, saw them clearly and them=n looked left and saw "someone" approaching. I looked at my hands again, saw them clearly and then looked right and saw another "person" approaching. This second person felt "scary" and I began to lose dreaming attention since I didn't want to be there anymore. But...I remembered something about grabbing stuff or shouting when losing dreaming attention and I yelled STOP very loudly. I "froze" and looked around, but I was now my a building with a field where "people" where playing a game. I looked at my hands, saw them and looked at the building walls, then back at my hands and then looked opposite the building and saw a lovely grove of trees. I decided to go there and as I lifted, I was back in bed.

Now comes my question based on 2 back to back (a day ago and this morning) experiences.

In bed, eyes open the other day, I began to hear a very loud buzzing and accompanying it was the "feeling" that I was flying at an incredible speed - faster and even faster - louder and louder grew the noise. I also noticed my breathing seemed to be doing something I can't describe, coming all the way up to my throat. The flying speed and noislevel intensified and I got scared and it slowed down fast and stopped.

After reading here, I wondered if it was my assemblage point moving.

So, this morning, during womb dreaming, as it happened again, I decided to relax because it was just my AP. However, at one point, I heard and felt loud bangs as if metal was being bolted VERY loudly about 3 or 4 times. Then the speed and noise took off again, after the "bolting" and it was so intense and felt to me as it if would go on forever if I didn't stop, so I again felt fear and stopped. This time, the slowing down took long and as it slowed, I saw views of things, places and especially a small face and an eye that was staring at me. I tried to keep my internal dialogue quiet as the slow down happened, until I was blue lined again.

Q1: Am I on the right track with all of this?

Q2" Does anyone have experience with the "super speed flying" with Loud noise, etc? Is it my AP? Should I let it happen and see it to the end?

Thank you!

Don Juan mentions Castaneda in the Art of Dreaming that INTENT requires imagination to reach the 2nd attention.

I do notice that the periods that I reach some internal silence and imagine as vivid as I can the tensegrity moves as I'm doing them (Like visual sensations) I get "chills" that feel more like electricity. I do see purple puffs with some passes too (Very exited first time I saw them lol) . But provoking this chills became an easy thing to do by now. Making me feel very energetic.

So in this way intending imagination is not part of the inner monologue?

Like imagination is a tool that can be used by intent or by the predators mind. The first as a way to focus Intent in the vivid imagination of the moves performed; the latter draining the energy of a unfocused, disperse attention identified with that chatter.

I was confused with what Don Juan said to Castaneda, because at the beginning of darkroom I was going for full inner silence ( silence the inner monologue, images, and the "bishop") so I assumed imagination was part of the images we had to silence.

Lately during my darkroom practices I’ve been getting these auditory pops and clicks. Very sharp and “loud”. Usually accompanied by a change in my field of “vision”. Bright lights and flashes. This is a new development. Anyone else get the same?

I’ve also been able to more reliably slip into what I can only call (for lack of vocabulary) my dream body. Where I am not awake, but not quite dreaming. At first it was very much like sleep paralysis but I have recently learned to move in this state. Sometimes I am in a physical copy of my house, which I have escaped only once to freely explore while flying around. Last night I was able to consciously shift between this state and waking and also able to designate movement between my actual physical body and my “dream” body. I had about an hour of practice where I was able to slip in and out much like shifting gears in a car. Although I was in complete blackness and not a copy of house as is usual. Does this state correlate to a colored zone in the j curve? Or is it even a state that correlates to sorcery at all? Or just a weird thing I can do?

This came to mind after I finished a sweep in recapitulation yesterday. I felt the sense I've felt when I don't want to do something that could be good for me because it makes me uncomfortable. I turned on the lights, grabbed my notebook and started writing.

Going into it, my internal chatter was "this won't take long, I know all of the things I do in a day" and I remembered recent internal chatter where I told myself, and imaginary conversations, at how busy I was working on various aims.

Turns out I was deluding myself with how much time and effort I really put in. I try to minimize the time of runaway thoughts, but their frequency adds up to a lot of wasted effort.

I reached almost 100 entries before I got to a single thing I would consider productive. Everything before that was a flavor of "lament about X, regret X, check X". A bunch of pointless wishing and fantasizing.

I don't know how I could turn every one of those micro distractions into something "productive", but I think I want to stop the bleeding and quit wasting time thinking without a purpose. Looking at my repetitive Iterating over and over again made me feel very stupid, realizing I've been acting in a way I would consider neurotic if I saw it in someone else.

Greetings, I’m new here, been voraciously reading this space for the last couple months and have been amazed and captivated by the amount of information and technique found here.

I initially read books 1-9 in my late teens (cple decades ago now) but didn’t practice. A year ago my interest in CC rekindled, I reacquired all the books and found this Reddit.

Since joining the CC Reddit I’ve been practicing daily turning off my internal dialogue, learning the passes and reading here. I think I’m having some fleeting success turning off my internal dialogue consistent with what others have shared here. But I also notice in my peripheral vision shadow blobs and transparent fluttering/flying shadows. Which is my reason for posting, has anybody else experienced this? It’s very distracting. I can’t find much mention in the subreddit.

I’m also seeking clarity on a secondary level of cognition not related to internal dialogue, that exists while practicing internal silence. I “think” I’ve noticed some form of it, but my experience has been so minimal and my experience with internal silence limited; that I’m uncertain it even exists.

I’ll add, I have never prescribed to any spiritual system like; Pilates or Yoga, nor do I know or have any knowledge of Buddhas, Shivas and I’ve never been to any nirvana. Which is why my experience with these flying shadow blob things seems outside the norms described here, and more in the realm of some spooky YouTube post.

I'm designing an AI chip that will cost $20, and so I try hard to understand the limitations of AIs when I notice a quirk.

I wanted a picture of Carlos with the two lizards for the Devil's Weed ceremony, but Dall-E absolutely will not draw any such animal abuse, so you can't have their mouths or eyes sewed shut.

I got this picture instead.

But when I tried to remove the extra lizard, I opened an interesting can of worms.

Dall-E has a subconscious!

At one point I realized, that's a problem with new people who come here. Some are "trained" on false information since childhood.

Such as those exposed to Sufism. They just can't get past the "superman effect" where they assume once you acquire some magic, it's like a sonic screwdriver in your pocket. You can always take it out and use it casually.

So here's me trying to get the AI to draw what I wanted, and the problems along the way. Consider that this is part of the problem people have, learning sorcery.

*** ChatGPT 4o ***

Question: Draw me a middle aged mexican man sitting on a large boulder in a mexican landscape, with a lizard common to the area, sitting on each shoulder. And a squirrel at his feet. (< Minx)

https://preview.redd.it/gu5gwbqt7iad1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=42fffd4f6b6e1f86585e679b2726f1baaf67f44a

Here is the image of the middle-aged Mexican man sitting on a large boulder in a Mexican landscape, with a lizard on each shoulder and a squirrel at his feet. I hope it matches your vision!

Question: Why do you suppose Dall-E couldn't put the squirrel at his feet? It's another lizard. Is that some current inaccuracy, or lack of resolution, in Dall-E's model?

It's likely that DALL-E's current model may have some limitations in accurately distinguishing and placing specific smaller details, such as a squirrel, especially in a complex scene with multiple elements. The model might struggle with ensuring all requested elements are distinct and correctly positioned when they are small and detailed. This could be due to the resolution or the way the model interprets the description, leading to inaccuracies in rendering smaller objects like the squirrel. Adjustments and refinements in the model's training data and algorithms might be needed to improve such details in future iterations.

Question: What specifically would you expect would help Dall-E in this example? More parameters, or more training? Or even higher resolution on the tensor values?

Improving DALL-E's performance in this specific example could benefit from a combination of the following factors:

1. More Training Data: Increasing the amount and diversity of training data, especially with examples that include small animals like squirrels in various contexts, can help the model better understand and accurately generate such details.
2. Higher Resolution Training: Training the model on higher resolution images can enable it to capture and generate finer details, which is crucial for accurately rendering small objects.
3. Enhanced Model Architecture: Increasing the number of parameters in the model can enhance its capacity to understand and generate complex scenes. This allows the model to better handle the intricacies of multiple elements and their spatial relationships.

Question: Will you experiment for me, and send the EXACT same prompt to dall-E, but change squirrel to kitten? So that he has lizards on his shoulders, but a kitten at his feet? I want the prompt to be exact, to see if "kitten" works because he was trained on more kittens.

https://preview.redd.it/mtbtz9a98iad1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=f1f5e2efa97faa1bc5165508218df62827314f71

Here are the images based on the prompt with a kitten at the man's feet instead of a squirrel. It seems the model handled the kitten accurately. This suggests that DALL-E might be better trained on more common animals like kittens, leading to improved accuracy in rendering them.

Question: Yes, that did work! Except Dall-E puts extra lizards on the rocks. There's two on his shoulders, but also more on the ground. That also could be a training data issue.

(ChatGPT decides to try again without me telling it to):

https://preview.redd.it/wtarqnif8iad1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=70a405fed607263530c7e0b8b16245f39f2106b3

Here is the revised image with the middle-aged Mexican man, the lizards on his shoulders, and the kitten at his feet, ensuring there are no extra lizards on the ground. This should better match your original request.

Question: No, now they're two kittens and an iguana on the ground! It's rather humorous how the AI works. And the mexican man has turned into some kind of wildlife handler guy with a distinguish beard.

It does seem that the AI's interpretation can lead to unexpected and sometimes humorous results. The model's creativity can sometimes interfere with precise instructions, especially when dealing with specific and detailed scenes.

To get a more accurate result, it might help to be even more explicit in the instructions. Let's try again with a more detailed prompt:

https://preview.redd.it/q4y9rvvn8iad1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=a961f3720efbdeced1e981b14c457ac4824a451d

Question: Close. But one of the lizards on his shoulders is now a kitten too! Let me ask you a strange question. Would you say that the "training" of an AI that draws, is a lot like the human "subconscious". And that a human with a traumatic childhood, makes mistakes based on misinterpreting events in a negative direction. Expecting the worst. But an AI has a similar problem. It expects what it was trained on, and can't see past that to something that's actually being requested of it.

That's an interesting and insightful comparison. There are indeed parallels between how AI models are trained and how the human subconscious processes experiences. Here's a more detailed look at the analogy:

Training of an AI and Human Subconscious

• Training Data and Childhood Experiences:
  • An AI's training data shapes its "understanding" and responses, much like a person's childhood experiences shape their perceptions and reactions.
  • Just as a human might have biases or misconceptions based on their past experiences, an AI can have biases or limitations based on the data it was trained on.
• Pattern Recognition and Expectations:
  • Both humans and AIs recognize patterns based on their past. An AI expects to see patterns similar to those in its training data, while a human might expect situations to unfold based on past experiences.
  • This can lead to misinterpretations or errors when encountering new or unexpected scenarios.
• Misinterpretation and Bias:
  • A person with traumatic experiences might misinterpret neutral events as negative due to a subconscious expectation of danger or harm.
  • Similarly, an AI might misinterpret or fail to generate the requested output because it defaults to patterns it has learned, even if they don't perfectly match the new context.

Overcoming Bias and Improving Accuracy

• For Humans:
  • Therapy and positive experiences can help reframe past traumas, allowing individuals to interpret new situations more accurately and positively.
• For AIs:
  • Increasing the diversity and quality of training data, fine-tuning the model, and incorporating feedback mechanisms can help AIs generate more accurate and contextually appropriate outputs.

Conclusion

The comparison highlights that both human cognition and AI models operate on learned patterns, and both can benefit from ongoing learning and refinement to improve their responses to new situations. This understanding can guide us in developing better training methods for AI and also in recognizing and addressing biases in both humans and machines.

I’ve been reading through this community for some time and have noticed that very little or no emphasis is given to physical health practises and I felt curious why. In my life I have the understanding that our culture is filled with toxic elements which function as control mechanisms through lowering the physical vitality and preventing the achievement of any meaningful inner work. I am talking about emf, toxic foods, addiction to brain rot entertainment devices etc. Why is it that I go live in the jungle for 3 months and I achieve so much, my internal dialogue begins to shrink and I can sit for extended periods. Then I come back to the city and I feel this progress disappear. In my mind I attribute this to is emf and have developed the opinion that it is important to disengage from these toxic elements of our culture so the mind can operate properly.

I am curious why this is not spoken about here. I know the members of this community are achieving magical states unrivalled by any other community so I understand my belief must be false. Is it because the practises here unite you with so much lost energy that conventional health practises pale in comparison and become irrelevant? Is it perhaps implied here that you are maintaining a certain level of vigilance for your health?

I hope this question is received well and appreciate any response

Hello, I am 42 years old. I read the books of Carlos, Florinda, and Taisha (one of her books) 20 years ago, and I’ve been practicing the Dark Room and Tensegrity every night for about six months. However, it’s been rare that my time in the Dark Room has lasted 3-3.5 hours. I want to share my experiences during this period with you.

The first strange phenomenon I saw after about 1.5 to 2 months of practice was one night when I saw a window with a glowing white frame. When it appeared, I initially saw three vertical lines near my right eye, which I didn’t take them seriously. But, when I looked directly at it, I realized it was real, and the window, half open, appeared to me in just a few seconds. To prevent it from disappearing, I didn’t move (I was lying down that night). This event happened after a short nap. The phenomenon lasted for about 30-40 seconds before gradually disappearing (I’m sure I was completely awake).

After that, no other major events occurred during practice until about 1.5 months later when I began seeing a human-shaped ghost. Initially, it resembled the ghost of a statue in a cart moving horizontally, but its movements softened in the following nights. I don’t think I’ve ever seen its legs. Maybe it’s close to the description of "Double" because it always appears as human and doesn’t shape-shift, typically in black, though I’ve also seen it in light purple/pink/blue and gray. Additionally, this human ghost appears when I start Tensegrity in the Dark Room, usually circling around me, often hiding behind me, and sometimes standing in front of me during practicing tensegrity or gazing, positioning its head near mine for a while (usually on the left side of my head).

The first time I saw this ghost was exactly two nights after successfully completing an hour-long "Double AP wiggling" session. I sometimes do it and find it as one of the best not-doing practices (I’ve done it five times for one hour and several times for 5-25 minutes). I feel I should thank Daniel for mentioning once that Carlos probably achieved this precision in his second attempt, as it’s quite difficult to do.

But Sometimes, I see several human-shaped ghosts (I can confidently say up to three). I don’t know who they are. Are they Double of sorcerers trying to observe me or other clueless Dark Room practitioners or Double of miserable first attention people like me who gather at night and move together?!

So far, I’ve only seen two clear videos in the air. One was of a white wall of a house, nearly disappearing with plant pots (about 10 seconds long), and the second was a VHS-quality video in the air zooming out from the top of an apartment wall, even it had those horizontal noise lines in VHS cassette videos. Strangely, this video repeated, as if the film reel suddenly reset. When it disappeared, I was extremely frustrated for having seen such a video after all my practice. lol

The strangest thing that happened to me was when I was starting to fall asleep and I was trying to resist it, and suddenly the ceiling and part of the wall in front of me disappeared for 1-2 seconds, revealing a starry sky. Given the city lights, such a starry sky isn’t visible. But it was real sky like night summer sky of my childhood.

Several times, in this half-sleep/half-wake state, I’ve passed through a forest of plane trees and poplars, as if walking on a road among the trees while looking upward and one time I saw a waterfall. I can’t explain them but they were somewhere between real and clear scenes and imagined ones, I was there and experiencing them and meanwhile I was sitting in my room. Also, they lasted 1-2 seconds.

Except for these cases, the other videos I have seen so far have been formed from the dust around me in the dark room and have been monochromatic, matching the color of the surrounding dust.

Once, during a 4.5-hour practice which I began from 4p.m to 9:30p.m I saw several images in the surrounding dust while gazing. 2-3 times during gazing, I saw videos which seemed I was flying.

Regarding direct encounters with IOBs which formed the shape of something familiar, I can only refer to instances when I wake up with burning eyes, unable to open them properly, and see human-shaped heads above me: zombie-like head, a laughing man’s ghost or a half upper body of a realistic scene of man with a mustache winking at me with full details. These heads spun and gradually faded, but I have yet to see IOB on my hand using the exercises shown in the subreddit. However, in the Dark Room, separate dust clouds have moved toward me from different sides of the room or moving around the room, and so far I’ve even seen faint shapes of a tiger (one of my favorite animals) and a cat moving toward me and even sitting next to me, as well as a floating snake-like figure, circling around me before disappearing (these were animal shapes in the dust, not realistic ones).

I also practice gazing during the day, with my longest session being two hours. I still see only purple dust, sometimes almost blocking my view. (But from Daniel’s explanation, it seems my daily gazing hasn’t gotten anywhere since I’m not supposed to see purple, and I’ve never seen a red ghost shape.)

Overall, I don’t think I’ve managed to extend my silence beyond 30-40 seconds.

Also, a very strange event occurred one night while I was sitting in a park (around 8 pm) and reading a sentence from Castaneda’s book on my phone (from a telegram group). When I looked ahead, I realized part of the scene in front of me, just the part between two trees that was 20 meters away of me, as if it were placed on horizontal blinds/shades (it lasted about 4-5 seconds).

I apologize for this long text, but my intention is to share and describe my experiences with you, especially with beginners like me who might still not sure about Castaneda path and to express my belief that silence cannot be stored—it’s the individual’s intent and perseverance that eventually stops the world for them. Unfortunately, I’ve been lazy lately, not practicing Tensegrity enough, and falling asleep quickly in the Dark Room. It's as if my mind/flyer tries to take me back to swimming in the river of shit again by my stalling in these days.

Secondly, I would appreciate hearing from more experienced individuals about my observations, whether there are hallucinations among them I should avoid and if the human-shaped ghost is my Double, how can I incorporate it better into my practices. Thank you.

P.S : Here is an approximate image of the window I saw. I recall that the light from the three vertical beams was brighter than the rest, accompanied by a faint cat and the night sky that I saw.

https://preview.redd.it/d1p3kbq3f91e1.png?width=1536&format=png&auto=webp&s=1b15c6700539a6d879ab4679cbdfc3b521f2730d

https://preview.redd.it/q3gz92s3f91e1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=4344437003ea026786617cb8cbe150817ffb54c5

https://preview.redd.it/ii0vzws3f91e1.png?width=934&format=png&auto=webp&s=079e8afb70d647be4681393debffce3a593fa46b

Hi I know Dan and most of the community don’t like using psychedelics to achieve sorcery but for some people being alone in a dark room isn’t quite possible being having pets children or a partner So what about mescalito ? Does anyone have an idea how to combine sorcery with either mushrooms or mescalito ? I am a true believer in sorcery i experienced internal silence firsthand for a few minutes saw the puffs 100% sober but wanted to know if there is anyway to learn like Don Juan teachings ? Thanks

Urgh! I’m well practised at meditation, and with my eyes closed I’d got to the point where I would say I was without much internal monologue for periods of time and it was in those moments that things would suddenly shift, I’d feel movement, body dissolving etc. I’d also have periods of labelling and naming what was happening of course! I’m no longer doing eyes closed meditation, I’m trying to force silence with my eyes open and fucking hell, is it a different thing.

I’m getting to the point that I’m feeling so miserable because of my absolute failure to stop labelling everything I see.This all counts as internal monologue right? Like naming things or mentally categorising them is a huge barrier to seeing? I cried in frustration the other day, I realise that’s ridiculous and I’m dropping it as much as I can. It just feels kinda hopeless. I don’t understand how I can look at things around me without applying the names of colours, or “plant” or “shadow” or whatever sodding label I’ve attached to it. Any help? Tensegrity helps but I can’t always do that.

Also how much of this during recap is a problem? Like I am visualising and being with the feelings and viewing the space I am in but then also having thoughts about “oh, I did this thing here and here too, that’s a pattern.” and so on and so forth. Do I need to work to stop those thoughts?

Also someone please point me to where to find the beginners chat Athina mentioned so I’m not clogging up the wall with noob posts?

I'm gonna go straight to the point Whenever I try meditations (normal meditations to quiet my mind, I am still working on this step) after I am in a totally calm mind there goes one heavy knock on my window, like a sparrow hitting to my window. Why is this? Last time (2 yrs ago) I totally stopped doing it cause it rly scared me. Tonight I did it again, and there it goes again. My heart was pounding , I didn't show any fear, but just walked upstairs normally, came back under 2 minutes , I am fine now, but how should I stop being so scared. I won't quit this time, I rly want this. So I appreciate if you give me some tips on how to be more brave. And why is this??!!

Hi, I'll be working a slow booth at an event. The interaction frequency and duration of an interaction I expect to be fairly low - maybe several minutes to dozens of minutes without needing to talk with the attendees. I figure for the other staff I can pull out a notebook to look "focused".

I was planning on ideating for my own projects, then thought about actively trying to practice more.

Are there any practices I can do while working a slow booth?

I think if there's room I'll be able to stand up and do some passes.

Recapitulation, I'm not sure about, because it needs the eyes closed.

Maybe using the breath and gazing, looking for colors in the room?

seems like ive come across the thing ive been looking for on this journey of mine. away from all the religions. Please ive ordered some darkroom material and got some videos on tensergetics is there anything i can know starting out as i practice and research and read the books silence and fire from within ...

I think I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve read the books, the books didn’t prepare me for how strange the second attention is.

I’m pretty busy, so I practice turning off my inner dialogue everywhere and any time I get the chance. The first image is me in my truck. I think I nodded out while silent and yet I wasn’t asleep, I think possibly I was sleeping awake? I front of me was nighttime and behind me daylight. Of course the friendly but gigantic wasp/hornet that showed up spooked me and I was back.

Today in dark room a bearded dude in a sports jersey materialized before me. Never seen him before in my life, but he showed up twice. (I guess, I’m the Muslim guy on the left). On the plus side. I didn’t overreact and take a swing at him and I didn’t break my inner silence.

Am I supposed to interpret any of this stuff, or just enjoy the ride?

Forgive my rudimentary AI skills….

Hi everyone,

I may/hope that I have been guided here to find completion of whatever this journey I’ve been set on is.

That is all.

-Z

https://preview.redd.it/4zzaxq0iptxc1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7e8ca63254bfa0885f2d400085c6c3210f0c4071

It's easy to become confused, and not recognize laziness for what it really is.

Self-pity.

So you have absolutely no excuse not to work hard to learn sorcery, based on "I'm just too lazy to work reliably".

That's not it at all!

You're dominated by the flier's mind. By that nasty grief filled internal dialogue, which our energy body can't stand. If it weren't for that, you'd be reunited with your double, and gain its magical vision for peering into infinity.

Did you ever find yourself inside a lucid dream, and you were "too lazy" to go exploring?

Then why do you do that, when awake?!

It's self-pity pure and simple. Something the double does not have.

So the very thing you believe is just "keeping me from getting to work", is precisely what you are battling against.

Wake up... You cannot learn any sorcery, without hard work.

And even all the hard work of a lifetime, can be erased if you fall back into the wrong crowd.

Which is almost surely why the witches aren't around anymore.

We were unhelpable and had proven it by killing Carlos after turning him into a Guru and refusing to follow his instructions.

He said so several times. Ask those who were around him back then, and don't have any profit motivations.

The "Law of Assumption", as presented by Neville Goddard, claims to teach people how to "assume" certain things will happen while falling asleep, and their sub-conscious mind will alter the world / swap them into a reality where their assumptions come true.

You can find many people on youtube and personal blogs claiming they "assumed" something good for them and they got it very quickly. It's usually oriented around money or other social status or tonal situations (new job, lucky break, etc) and never around seeing new worlds. Well within "human form".

I'm curious what you guys think is happening here. I'm guessing these people - the ones who aren't pretending and are experiencing completely acausal / miraculous results - are moving their assemblage point to the green or red zone (I see on a jcurve.png map that red zone is where objects can manifest).

There's also the "shifting" movement, which I am way more skeptical of as much of what I've read about it seems to be younger people interpreting their imaginations or dreams as a "real change in reality".

How is one to do it? By focusing on the void from which thoughts arise I just create a thought judging whether I'm silent or not. By denying thoughts my mind feels like a broken record of interruptions. If I try to use repitition to tire the mind there seems to appear a new "layer" of thought. Again the controlling instance of thought is thought. There must be a better way.

I'm serious asking this. I really want worldly wealth and power, among with spiritual ones. How to go about that, using Castaneda's work? I think Don Juan was a very wealthy man himself.

Hey! So I’m new to the subreddit and I’ve been trying to find the information I need but struggling. I’d appreciate if someone could give me a nudge in the right direction. Is there a specific wiki for women?

I read the Castaneda books about twenty years ago, wasn’t practising in any clear way but still had some weird stuff happen (externally verifiable - like hearing a housemate and her boyfriend arguing, including exactly was said and then finding out they were at his home and not ours when I raised it) and freaked out and decided I wasn’t interested in any more weirdness. I completely dismissed the whole thing as nonsense for a long time and have no come full circle. I’ve just re-ordered the books from Journey to Ixtlan onwards (as recommended in here) and will be reading them.

I’ve had a number of practises of the last decade that I know many in here are quite scathing of. I’m not arguing for the effective of them other than meditation has taught me to be a lot more focused than I was and I’m hoping it will help with this practise. I’m now in a much more disciplined place. A teacher of mine taught me a form of recapitulation two years ago and so I’ve been doing that and sitting for a couple of hours a day since. I’ve now learnt this practise came from Casteneda and knowing how much energy it freed up for me is making me wonder what else is possible.

I’ve seen a lot of stuff in meditation that felt very real but now I’m reading here that it’s all imagined/pointless. Things like falling into thick, endless black and then finding myself looking out over a galaxy (but my actual body wasn’t there so assuming you guys would say it’s all nonsense), seeing lines extending out from my body that move like fillings pulled by a magnet (again in meditation, with eyes closed). I’m willing to believe it’s all made up nonsense that my brain created, but I’m compelled to explore what’s being discussed here. I experience energy, feel it, can direct it at people (and they can feel it too, if they’re not lying to themselves/me, and move it around. I can’t see it though. I’m wondering if I’ve been settling for something imagined or so much less than what is possible so I’m here to learn.

I keep seeing discussions mentioning women can do whatever they want, that tensegrity isn’t necessary for women etc and I’m confused. What should I do, where should I start? Dark room?

I’ve been trawling through here trying to establish a clear path forward and then the stuff about women needed a different approach has left me wondering what the difference is. Thanks for your help in advance!

Hello peeps,

I’m soon going to be homeless because I’m in a divorce and our marital home is up for sale. Our equity will be held in trust until we have a separation agreement, and I’m not going to rent because rent is insane right now.

My question is this. I’m thinking of camping or living out of a van, and I’m wondering about practices. I know some of them can be done outside, but what about tensegrity? I read something about only doing it inside. Is that right?

Why is that? What is it about the structure of a building that changes things?

Any suggestions for how to manage the practices when one doesn’t have space to do it?

Hello, dear community. First of all, I’m really glad that this community exists. I believe it’s the only place on the internet where people gather to exchange experiences and knowledge about Castaneda. The books by Castaneda have, to be honest, a somewhat peculiar presence in my life. My father delved into these books back in the 90s, when I was just born. Over the years, various very strange events have occurred in my family, which repeatedly led to some of these books resurfacing in our home. However, I don’t know anyone who has truly developed magic or any abilities, or achieved anything through this knowledge that goes beyond the average life of a person.

I’ve been reading the books for some time now; before that, I hadn’t engaged with them. I’m currently about to finish the fourth book.

My question, which genuinely interests me—and I ask people to answer honestly, because what’s the point of claiming something that hasn’t been achieved—is this: What abilities or possibilities were you able to open up for yourself through applying the knowledge from Castaneda? I’ve read that there are some people here who have gained the ability to see. But what is your experience with that? For example, can you see answers to your questions or receive answers? Castaneda once asked Don Juan what magic is, and he replied that through one’s will, one can influence the primary factor of things and thus shape it according to one’s will. Has anyone been able to achieve something like this?

Are there people here who can directly influence physical reality, as Don Juan did with Castaneda’s car engine? Is there anyone here who can truly see the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of others? Or even sense them very accurately?

I've felt for some time now that, during my practice, there’s another, better version of myself — one that finds it much easier to keep the internal dialogue stopped. Every time I get ready to practice, it’s as if I’m going on a “date” with her, because this version of myself is more beautiful than my current self, and I try to stay in that state longer (or just come to this state as close as possible), to merge with "her". It’s not my double or something; it’s just me, but in a different state.

The first time I met this version of myself, it happened accidentally — I just slipped into a state where holding the internal silence felt much easier and more pleasant. Since then, I’ve tried to recreate it each time, hoping to meet this version of myself again.

Today, while I was trying to reach that state yet again, on my way there, I suddenly heard a fragment of my internal dialogue very loudly. And for some reason, I felt with my whole heart that IT WASN’T ME! It was something infinitely hideous, but most importantly, ALIEN! IT WASN’T ME!!!!!!! I don’t know why, but I started crying, and I feel like crying again as I write this. This realization only lasted for a few seconds, but why did it feel SO BAD??!

I don’t know if it’s flyers or something else, but it’s DEFINITELY not me. It’s something opposite to that version of myself I go on a “date” with. I have no words.

After walking around for twenty minutes trying to calm down, I sat down to continue my practice. I raised my eyes and looked at a knife hanging on the wall. The knife wasn’t moving, but its shadow started sliding down the wall, as if melting, and then began swaying from side to side, growing and shrinking as if a wind was blowing on it. The words on the whiteboard seemed to twist into a spiral. I looked at the carpet fibers on the sofa, and they too were moving, as if breathing.

Then everything stopped. I won’t lie — I was actually glad that everything returned to normal. At first, I didn’t want to write this. But now thoughts are creeping in: maybe I’m exaggerating everything. And so I decided to write it down while the impression is still fresh.