The Active Side Of Infinity

 

 

        Introduction to Essay ref. Carlos Castaneda

This article was written and first published more than six years ago, but was surely meant for today. While some might feel that ‘the shaman’s way’ can have little meaning to societies caught-up in the abstracted, material and technological mayhem pervading this historical moment, my view is that it has never been more needed precisely because of the current dystopia!

Never more needed so as to pierce through the largely superficial and sterile preoccupations encumbering any advance in the evolutionary consciousness of a large proportion of mankind.

The shaman is a spiritual warrior. The spiritual warrior is an individual at the cutting edge of the defense of Truth. A predilection for heroism, for unique acts of bravery and for truth – ought to be at the forefront of our great stepping-forward into 2021. To get us into the mood, let us harken to the uncompromising, illuminating and earthy shamanic wisdom which Castaneda faithfully notated and published. It brings us a glimpse of a world we ourselves cannot avoid grappling with if we are to be true initiates in the ‘exploration of infinity’ and fear-free standard bearers of universal justice.

Julian Rose 18/12/2020

 

 

 

 

 

The Active Side Of Infinity

By Julian Rose

 

 

“Every one of us human beings has two minds.

One is totally ours,  it is like a faint voice that always brings us order, directness, purpose.

The other is a foreign installation.

It brings us conflict, self-assertion, doubts, hopelessness:

it’s ourselves as the ‘me-me’ center of the world.”

 

Part 1

Shamanism and Intuition

November 7, 2014

Thus spoke Carlos Castaneda in ‘The Active Side of infinity‘ which is part of the ‘Teachings of Don Juan‘ series.

And I’m going to give you more excerpts from The Active Side of Infinity. Because I believe that these writings present Shamanic teachings to us in a direct, powerful way – and at a time when we most need them.

Thus spoke Carlos Castaneda in ‘The Active Side of infinity’ which is part of the ‘Teachings of Don Juan’ series. And I’m going to give you more excerpts from The Active Side of Infinity. Because I believe that these writings present Shamanic teachings to us in a direct, powerful way – and at a time when we most need them.

The deft fusing of spirit and earth which rises up out of these writings, is a powerful native tradition in South America – as it is also amongst the native North American Indian tribes. Jumping into Castaneda’s writings is special, maybe particularly because they go straight to the gut, whereas many more contemplative esoteric traditions (of East and West) tend to home-in on the intellectual and heart chakra levels.

I believe we need a good dose of gut centred experience at this particular time, so as to get anchored and earthed – while all around mind oriented activities are throwing-up a thousand refractions of information – that in the end clog the neurons of the neo- cortex and render us permanently on the brink of overload.

At times like these one needs to reconnect with an older, native kind of intuition that has its nest in the solar plexus; the place where the umbilical cord once bought essential nourishment to our tiny forming bodies.

“Infinity is everything that surrounds us: the spirit, the dark sea of awareness. It is something that exists out there and rules our lives. My steps and yours are ruled by infinity.  The circumstances that seem to be ruled by chance are in essence ruled by the active side of infinity: intent. What put you and me together was the intent of infinity. It is impossible to determine what this intent of infinity is, yet it is there, as palpable as you and I are.”

“Sorcerers say there is a tremor in the air. The advantage of sorcerers is to know that the tremor in the air exists, and to acquiesce to it without further ado. For sorcerers there is no pondering, wandering or speculating.  They know all they have is the possibility of merging with the intent of infinity, and they just do it.”

To know the tremor in the air – and to acquiesce to it. That is a great call. It is that ‘tremor’ which guides our inner and outer ‘intent’, as Castaneda names it. I experience it as a subtle type of tension which keeps one on one’s toes and open to any eventuality.

“You are not alert. You never learned to be alert, anyway.  To be alert doesn’t mean to be watchful. For sorcerers, to be alert means to be aware of the fabric of the everyday world that seems extraneous to the interaction of the moment.  Don’t hide yourself behind banalities. Stand up, assume responsibility for what you know. Don’t get lost in the extraneous fabric of the world around you, extraneous to what’s going on.  Don’t be so concerned with yourself and your problems.”

Wow – that’s a strong call to drop our ‘lesser self”s’ deadening baggage. Hiding behind banalities is indeed a classic defensive position in this day and age. Why be on the defensive? Why not go on the offensive! So much to achieve in such a short time..

“Sorcerers never say things idly. I am most careful what I say to you or to anybody else.  The difference between you and me is that I don’t have any time at all, and I act accordingly. You, on the other hand, believe you have all the time in the world, and act accordingly. The end result of our individual behaviours is that I measure everything I do and say, and you don’t.

You’re looking for a sorcerer’s medication to remove everything annoying from you, with no effort at all on your part. You want ‘results potion’ – and you’re cured.   Sorcerers face things in a different way. Since they don’t have any time to spare they give themselves fully to what’s in front of them.   Your turmoil is the result of your lack of sobriety.”

‘Sorcerers don’t have any time to spare’. Powerful insight into the commitment which comes with full engagement. We are bamboozled with anything and everything designed to take our eyes off the ball. But every time we do, a sense of loss accompanies our ‘inaction’. We want heaven – but can only manage half an hour a day to bring it about. Turmoil is bound to ensue – and it does!

“The nagual Elias and the nagual Julian were astoundingly alike in that there was nothing inside them. They were empty. The nagual Elias was a collection of astounding, haunting stories of regions unknown.  The nagual Julian was a collection of stories that would have anybody in stitches, sprawled on the ground laughing. Each of the two men had his flair, but the end result was just the same: emptiness, an emptiness that reflected not the world, but infinity.”

Had to put that one in! Must admit – I was most curious to find the name Julian in this shamanic context.

“Sadness, for sorcerers, is not personal.  It is not quite sadness. It’s a wave of energy that comes from the depths of the cosmos, and hits sorcerers when they are receptive, when they act like radios, catching radio waves.  The sorcerers of olden times, who gave us the entire format of sorcery, believed that there is sadness in the universe, as a force, a condition, like light, like intent, and that this perennial force acts especially on sorcerers because they no longer have any defensive shields.  They cannot hide behind their friends or studies. They cannot hide behind love, or hatred, or happiness, or misery. They can’t hide behind anything. The condition of sorcerers is that sadness, for them, is abstract.  It doesn’t come from coveting or lacking something, or from self importance.  It doesn’t come from me. It comes from infinity.”

Have you ever had that feeling – when an almost overwhelming sense of sadness sweeps over you – that you can’t place where it is coming from? Castaneda links this experience directly to an actual ‘state of being’ – a universal one – which is a rather remarkable conclusion. Yet it is at one with our recognition that we are intertwined with the living universe – and it enables us to share with this living universe a special kind of compassionate resonance. The sense that ‘sadness’ is a condition built into the fabric of creation – is deeply moving and gives us the motivation to reflect on the profundity of this often tragic-beautiful thing called life.

“Inner silence is a peculiar state of being in which thoughts are cancelled out and one can function from a level other than that of daily awareness. Inner silence means suspension of the inner dialogue.  What is at work during inner silence is another faculty that man has, the faculty that makes him a magical being, the very faculty that has been curtailed, not by man himself, but by some extraneous influence.”

Here, once again, is this key issue for all of us: that we have had our magical powers ‘curtailed’ by an extraneous influence. So, armed with this knowledge, we must work to free ourselves from this vampiric force by whatever means possible. Here, the method suggested is the achievement of a deep inner silence. The deep meditation state that can put one in touch with essence.

“The desired result is what the old sorcerers called stopping the world, the moment when everything around us ceases to be what it’s always been.  This is the moment when sorcerers return to the true nature of man. The old sorcerers also called it total freedom. It is the moment when the man slave becomes man the free being, capable of feats of perception that defy our linear imagination.  Inner silence is the avenue that leads to a true suspension of judgment, to a moment when sensory data emanation from the universe at large ceases to be interpreted by the senses; a moment when cognition ceases to be the force which, through usage and repetition, decides the nature of the world.”

Here it is possible to link-in all truly ‘seeking’ spiritual persuasions. Reaching the inner silence appears critical in overcoming our extraneous tormentors – and even our
own laxness – lack of sobriety. We get beyond their radar when immersed in universal stillness. But the trick is, to then re-emerge into this present temporal existence still holding onto – embodying – this enriched depth of being. Only this way can we confront, directly, the false agenda in which we find ourselves each day. Face it with courage, and set about changing it. Thus we express – in action – this deepening conviction which is etched ever more generously into our universal souls.
It is the widespread human failure to take action which is holding back the removal from the seats of power of our hidden and not so hidden oppressors, thus prolonging the age of destruction – in spite of much chatter about growing and awakening.

“Sorcerers need a breaking point for the workings of inner silence to set-in…It is very important that you yourself deliberately arrive at this breaking point, or that you create it artificially and intelligently. Your breaking point is to discontinue your life as you know it. You have done everything I’ve told you dutifully and accurately.  If you are talented, you never show it. That seems to be your style. You’re not slow, but you act as if you were. You’re very sure of yourself, but you act as though you were insecure. You’re not timid, and yet you act as though you were afraid of people.

Everything you do points to one single spot: you need to break all that, ruthlessly.

I think everything boils down to one act: you must leave your friends. You must say goodbye to them, for good. It’s not possible to continue on the warrior’s path carrying your personal history with you, and unless you discontinue your way of life, I won’t be able to go ahead with my instruction.  Your friends and family are your points of reference. Therefore they have to go.  Sorcerers have only one point of reference: infinity.”

This advice may appear daunting – yet it’s hard to refute. If our friends and family remain a significant point of reference, we are locked into a relationship that precludes following the path of truth. It is impossible to retain emotional attachment to family and friends and to simultaneously give one’s self over to the call of the universe. This is a stumbling block for many. By committing one hundred percent to the path of truth, we re-align our relationship with family and friends. It becomes a new relationship and a much more singular and defined one. When one does meet – the warmth is retained – but the taken for granted mutual acceptances have been superseded. The message may be harsh, but truth doesn’t come wrapped in pink paper sprinkled with sugar.

“The end of an era means that the units of a foreign cognition are beginning to take hold. The units of our normal cognition, no matter how pleasant and rewarding they are for you, are beginning to fade. A grave moment in the life of a man!

Don’t admire people from afar. That is the surest way to create mythological beings. Get close to them, talk to them, see what they are like as people. Test them. If their behavior is the result of their conviction that they are a being who is going to die, then everything they do, no matter how strange, must be premeditated and final.

If what they say turns out to be just words, they’re not worth a hoot.

Human beings are beings that are going to die. Sorcerers firmly believe that the only way to have a grip on our world, and what we do in it, is by fully accepting that we are on the way to dying. Without this basic acceptance, our lives, our doings, and the world in which we live are unmanageable affairs.  The acceptance of this is far-reaching. However, it’s not the mere acceptance that does the trick. We have to embody that acceptance and live it all the way through.   Sorcerers throughout the ages have said that the view of our death is the most sobering view that exists.”

Part 2

The Appointment With Infinity

November 24, 2014

“The practicalities that scientists are interested in are conducive to building more and more machines. They are not geared to reaching the vastness of the universe as a personal, experiential affair.”

 

“Someday I’ll tell you more about the forces that drive man to act like an ass. Some of us make sense when we talk because we are prepared to use words accurately. But most of us are not prepared to take ourselves seriously as men who are going to die.

 

Being immortal, we wouldn’t know how to do that. It makes no difference what complex machines scientists can build. The machines can in no way help anyone face the unavoidable appointment: the appointment with infinity.”

Infinity – ‘the voice of the spirit’ as Castaneda also calls it . That ‘appointment’ is a day of reckoning. It is a space in which we look back and see what we really made of our short span of Earthly life. By anticipating that this will happen to each of us at death, we can scroll back to now, regroup wayward tendencies, and gain greater intent – a truer focus on our purpose for being here.

“The nagual Julian used to tell me about the conquering generals of ancient Rome. When they would return victorious, gigantic parades were staged to honor them. Riding with them was always a slave whose job was to whisper in their ear that all fame and glory are but transitory.

If we are victorious in any way we don’t have anyone to whisper in our ear that everything is ephemeral. The whisperer is death, the infallible advisor, the only one who won’t tell you a lie.”

So our sense of finiteness keeps us humble. But once we start puffing-up with egotistical claims upon knowledge, spiritual awareness, sporting prowess, money making, war heroics, or any type of matrix ‘achievements’, we will no doubt dread our ‘appointment with infinity’ – the great leveller.

“The sorcerers of ancient Mexico saw that the universe at large is composed of energy fields in the form of luminous filaments. They saw zillions of them, wherever they turned to see. They also saw that those energy fields arranged themselves into currents of luminous fibres, streams that are constant, perennial forces in the universe.”

“The sorcerers also found out that every creature in the universe is attached to the dark sea of awareness at a round point of luminosity that was apparent when those creatures were perceived as energy.  On that point of luminosity, which the sorcerers of ancient Mexico called the assemblage point of human beings, zillions of energy fields from the universe at large, in the form of luminous filaments, converge and pass through it.   These energy fields are converted into sensory data, and the sensory data is then converted, interpreted and perceived as the world we know.   What turns the luminous fibres into sensory data is the dark sea of awareness. Sorcerers see the transformation and call it the glow of awareness, a sheen that extends like a halo around the assemblage point.”

Nikola Tesla  once said that if you want to find the secrets of the universe you should think in terms of ‘energy, frequency and vibration’. In the above passage we get an explanation of this phenomena, something that  David Icke and others have recently also picked up on, namely: that it is only because we humans have a decoding system within our neocortex, that we are able to formulate physical three dimensional images from those ‘zillions of energy fields’ – and experience them as material forms – our physical world.

‘Luminous filaments’ converge and pass through the ‘assemblage point’, according to the sorcerers. An assemblage point is something that ‘pulls all things together’ and assembles them. Very interesting. Thus we humans, when we are tuned to the vibratory levels of universal energy – are receptors of these luminous filaments of energy – and turn them into thought forms and material solidity. Into named objects and physical manifestations. ‘The dark sea of awareness’ seems to be a sort of filter, which helps order and interpret the data being received. The higher the vibratory rates of the receiver – the closer to the essence (of energy) one gets. This is about inspiration, creativity, craftsmanship. About turning these inflowing energies into living sculptural interpretations; into physical manifestations of the divine source from whence they came. This is what ‘Life’ is supposed to be .. and look what it has become!

“Today you may remember an event that sums up your total life.  We are always faced with a situation that is the same as the one we never resolved. Infinity always puts us in the terrible position of having to choose. We want infinity, but at the same time we want to run away from it.  You want to tell me to go jump in a lake, but at the same time you are compelled to stay. It would be infinitely easier for you to just be compelled to stay.”

This passage highlights the dilemma common to us humans: ‘we are always faced by a situation that is the same as the one we never resolved’. The Achilles Heel factor plays out – sometimes over and over again during our life time’s, until we finally wrestle it to the ground – and can then move on, freed and lightened.

“What is at stake is the advent of a disintegrating force. But not a force that is disintegrating you; I don’t mean it that way.  It is disintegrating what the sorcerers call the foreign installation, which exists in you and in every other human being. The affect of the force that is descending on you, which is disintegrating the foreign installation, is that it pulls sorcerers out of their syntax.

I know how difficult it is for you to deal with this facet of your life. Every sorcerer that I know has gone through it. The males going through it suffer infinitely more damage than the females. I suppose it’s the condition of women to be more durable.   The sorcerers of ancient Mexico, acting as a group, tried to buttress the impact of this disintegrating force. In our day we have no way of acting as a group so we must brace ourselves to face in solitude a force which will sweep us away from language, for there is no way to describe adequately what is going on.

Sorcerers face the unknown in the most common incidents one can imagine.   When they are confronted with it, and cannot interpret what they are perceiving, they have to rely on an outside force for direction. I’ve called that voice infinity, or the voice of the spirit.  If sorcerers don’t try to be rational about what can’t be rationalized, the spirit unerringly tells them what’s what.”

‘Disintegrating the foreign installation’ in us, that is our task. There’s things it really doesn’t like: love, passion, self belief, manifestations of spirit, conscious awareness and ‘intent’, for starters. These are the same qualities that will depose the masters of control who cling to power on this planet. These people are, after all, receptive to the commands of the ‘foreign installation’ and take their cues accordingly. As we gain confidence in our powers, so we must channel them into actions designed to throw our oppressors off their thrones and give our Earth the breathing space to heal.

Using the rational mind to try to comprehend or control the Divine force is what most of the past three to four centuries have been about – and no doubt before. Trying to pin down a force that is essentially fluid, mysterious and always surprising, is largely a male preoccupation, and one which has got both men and women into a lot of trouble – not to mention the subtle fabric of our living planet. To get ‘a fix’ on something one has to see it from (or on) the outside; and seeing something from/on the outside is to place that object ‘outside’ of one’s self. Beyond one. Whereas Divine is both within and without and can only be accessed via placing the rational mind at the service of the Divine mind. Then all the possibilities start to unfold and we gain real ‘life direction’ in all we do. This is the great change. The metamorphosis which heralds a new era in the evolution of mankind.

“Everything you do has to be an act of sorcery. An act free from encroaching expectations, fears of failure, hopes of success. Free from the cult of me; everything you do has to be impromptu, a work of magic where you freely open yourself to the impulses of the infinite.”

“There’s nothing gentle about sorcerers or sorcery. The first time infinity descends on you it may be a total take-over of your faculties.”

“Choice for the warrior-travelers is not really an act of choosing, but rather an act of acquiescing elegantly to the solicitations of infinity.”

“It’s pitch black around us, but if you look out of the corner of your eye, you will see fleeting shadows jumping all around you. You have arrived, by your effort alone, to what the shamans of ancient Mexico called the topic of topics.  I have been beating around the bush all this time, insinuating to you that something is holding us prisoner. Indeed we are held prisoner! This was an energetic fact for the sorcerers of ancient Mexico. There is an explanation that is the simplest explanation in the world.  They took over because we are food for them, and they squeeze us mercilessly because we are their sustenance. Just as we rear chickens in chicken coups, the predators rear us in human coops. Therefore their food is always available to them.”

“Sorcerers believe that the predators have given us our systems of beliefs, our ideas of good and evil, our social mores.  They are the ones who set up our hopes and expectations and dreams of success or failure. They have given us covetousness, greed, and cowardice. It is the predators who make us complacent, followers of routine, and egomaniacs.  In order to keep us obedient and meek and weak, the predators engaged themselves in a stupendous maneuver; stupendous, of course, from the point of view of a fighting strategist. A horrendous maneuver from the point of view of those that suffer it.  They gave us their mind! Do you here me?

The predators gave us their mind, which becomes our mind. The predator’s mind is baroque, contradictory, morose, filled with the fear of being discovered any minute now.

I know that although you have never suffered hunger you have food anxiety, which is none other than the anxiety of the predator who fears that any moment now its maneuver is going to be uncovered and food is going to be denied. Through the mind, which, after all, is their mind, the predators inject into the lives of human beings whatever is convenient for them.  And they insure, in this manner, a degree of security to act as a buffer against their fear.”

‘The predators give us their mind – which becomes our mind’. An act which is referred to as ‘stupendous’ from the point of view of a fighting strategy.  Osho‘s description of enlightenment comes to mind concerning this dilemma in which we find ourselves:

“Enlightenment is a destructive process. It has nothing to do with becoming better or being happier. Enlightenment is the crumbling away of untruth. It is seeing through the facade of pretence. It’s the complete eradication of everything we imagined to be true.”

Castaneda:

“The sorcerers of Ancient Mexico saw the predator.  They called it the flyer because it leaps through the air. It is not a pretty sight. It is a big shadow, impenetrably dark, a black shadow that leaps through the air. Then it lands flat on the ground.  The sorcerers of ancient Mexico were quite ill at ease with the idea of when it made its appearance on Earth.  They reasoned that man must have been a complete being at one point, with stupendous insights, feats of awareness that are mythological legends nowadays.  And then everything seems to disappear, and we have now a sedated man.

What I’m saying is that what we’re up against is not a simple predator. It is very smart, and organized. It follows a methodical path to render us useless. Man, the magical being that he is destined to be, is no longer magical. He’s an average piece of meat.  There are no more dreams for man but the dreams of an animal who is being raised to become a piece of meat: trite, conventional, imbecilic.”

Extraordinary passage. The ‘flyer’ goes under other names in other cultures: such as jinn, archon and vampire. Many of us have experienced them in some form or other.

They can be pretty vicious, but since they fear their own downfall, will flee when directly confronted by manifestations of truth. However, while the majority of mankind is manifesting itself as ‘an average piece of meat’, the type of courage needed to solicit such a confrontation seems highly unlikely to emerge.

“Soon you will be entering infinity by the force of your own personal power.  Once you have entered into infinity, you can’t depend on anyone to bring you back. Your decision is needed then. Only you can decide whether or not to return. I must warn you that few warrior – travellers survive this type of encounter with infinity.  Infinity is enticing beyond belief. A warrior-traveler finds that to return to the world of disorder, compulsion, noise and pain is a most unappealing affair. You must know that your decision to stay or return is not a matter of reasonable choice, but a matter of intending it.”

“We are warrior-travelers. Only energetic facts are meaningful for us.  All the rest are trimmings that have no importance at all. Our normal cognition requires a linear explanation in order to be satisfied, and linear explanations are not possible. That is the crux in the interruption of   continuity.  The interruption is the sorcerer. In order for you to stay behind, you need all your strength, all your forbearance, and above all, a warrior-traveler’s guts of steel.”