Carlos Castañeda Quotes

Πρώτα από όλα θα θελα να πω ότι όσα κάνω για σένα είναι τσάμπα. Δεν χρειάζεται να πληρώσεις. Όπως ξέρεις, υπήρξα άψογος μαζί σου και όπως ξέρεις, επίσης αυτό δεν έχει καμία σχέση με τις δικές μου επενδύσεις. Παίρνω όμως κάτι ανυπολόγιστης αξίας από τη σχέση μας, ένα είδος ανταμοιβής που φέρομαι άψογα. Και αυτό που παίρνω είναι εκείνο ακριβώς το πράγμα που δεν θα καταλάβεις ή δεν θα σ αρέσει. Αν με κρίνεις σύμφωνα με τις πράξεις μου σε σχέση με σένα, θα πρέπει να παραδεχτείς ότι υπήρξα ένα υπόδειγμα υπομονής και συνέπειας. Εκείνο όμως που δεν ξέρεις είναι ότι για να το καταφέρω αυτό πάλεψα για να μαι άψογος όπως δεν έχω παλέψει ποτέ στη ζωή μου. Για να περνώ το χρόνο μου μαζί σου, έπρεπε να μετασχηματίζω τον εαυτό μου σε καθημερινή βάση, περιοριζόμενος με συντριπτική προσπάθεια. Είσαι μικρόψυχος, σπάταλος, προκατειλημμένος, καταναγκαστικός, ανυπόμονος, ξιπασμένος. Είσαι δύστροπος, υπολογιστής και αγνώμων. Έχεις μια ανεξάντλητη ικανότητα να ευχαριστείς τον εαυτό σου και το χειρότερο απ όλα έχεις μια τρομερή ιδέα για τον εαυτό σου που δεν μαζεύεται με τίποτα. Θα μπορούσα να πω ειλικρινά ότι και η απλή σου παρουσία με κάνει να θέλω να ξεράσω. Οι λόγοι των πολεμιστών είναι πολύ απλοί, η λεπτότητά τους όμως είναι εξαιρετική. Είναι μια σπάνια ευκαιρία για έναν πολεμιστή να του δοθεί η ευκαιρία να είναι άψογος, ενάντια στα αισθήματά του. Εσύ μου έδωσες αυτή τη μοναδική ευκαιρία. Η πράξη του να προσφέρω ελεύθερα και άψογα με ανανεώνει και ανανεώνει και το ενδιαφέρον μου. Αυτά που παίρνω από τη σχέση μας έχουν πραγματικά ανυπολόγιστη αξία για μένα. Σου χρωστάω πολλά.»

An average man is too concerned with liking people or with being liked himself. A warrior likes, that's all. He likes whatever or whomever he wants for the hell of it.

Научившись видеть, человек обнаруживает, что одинок в мире. Больше нет никого и ничего, кроме той глупости, о которой мы говорим,

There are lots of things a warrior can do at a certain time which he couldn't do years before. Those things themselves did not change; what changed was his idea of himself.

For instance, we need to look with our eyes to laugh,” he said, “because only when we look at things can we catch the funny edge of the world. On the other hand, when our eyes see, everything is so equal that nothing is funny.

For a warrior, the spirit is an abstract only because he knows it without words or even thoughts. It's an abstract because he can't conceive what the spirit is. Yet, without the slightest chance or desire to understand it, a warrior handles the spirit. He recognizes it, beckons it, entices it, becomes familiar with it, and expresses it with his acts.

He explained that the leaf had fallen over and over from that same tree so I would stop trying to understand.

Δεν έχει σημασία ποιο μονοπάτι θα διαλέξεις. Υπάρχουν ένα εκατομμύριο μονοπάτια και όλα είναι ίδια γιατί δεν οδηγούν πουθενά. Αρκεί το μονοπάτι να το ακολουθήσεις χωρίς φόβο και χωρίς φιλοδοξία. Και αρκεί το μονοπάτι να έχει καρδιά.

Вещи, которые делают люди, ни при каких условиях не могут быть более важными, чем мир. И, таким образом, воин относится к миру как к бесконечной тайне, а к тому, что делают люди, — как к бесконечной глупости.

As long as man feels that he is the most important thing in the world, he cannot really appreciate the world around him. He is like a horse with blinders; all he sees is himself, apart from everything else.

The memorable events of a shaman's album are affairs that will stand the test of time because they have nothing to do with him, and yet he is in the thick of them. He'll always be in the thick of them, for the duration of his life, and perhaps beyond, but not quite personally.

In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shamans call "intent," and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to "intent" by a connecting link. Warriors are concerned with discussing, understanding, and employing that connecting link. They are especially concerned with cleaning it of the numbing effects brought about by the ordinary concerns of their everyday lives. Shamanism at this level can be defined as the procedure of cleaning one's connecting link to "intent."

Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.

This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.

Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.

The dying sun will glow on you without burning, as it has done today. The wind will be soft and mellow and your hilltop will tremble. As you reach the end of your dance you will look at the sun, for you will never see it again in waking or in dreaming, and then your death will point to the south. To the vastness.

The dreaming body is as real as anything we deal with in the world. The second attention is unavoidably drawn to focus on our total being as a field of energy, and transforms that energy into anything suitable. The easiest thing is, of course, the image of the physical body, with which we are already thoroughly familiar from our daily lives and the use of our first attention.