Category Archives: ephemera

an authentic state of freedom

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I know people who were able to stop their internal dialogue, and they no longer interpret, they are pure perception; they are never disappointed or regretful, because everything they do starts from the center for decisions. They have learned to deal with their mind in terms of authority, and they live in the most authentic state of freedom. ~ Carlos Castaneda, Encounters with the Nagual

From the time of birth, human beings are bombarded with words that contain entire sets of cultural customs, theoretical paradigms, and oftentimes, deluded concepts. Entire realities are imprinted upon people and each individual methodically devises their reality in order to conform to these patterns through preconceived ideas and conceptual notions. These realities are the result of the words and definitions they have received. These words become thought forms and are upheld by most.

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the challenges of facebook for a warrior

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We the luminous beings are born with two rings of power, but we use only one to create the world. That ring which is hooked very soon after we are born is ‘reason’, and its companion is ‘talking’. Between the two they concoct and maintain the world. So, in essence, the world that your ‘reason’ wants to sustain is the world created by a description, and its dogmatic and inviolable rules; a description which ‘reason’ learns to accept and defend. – Don Juan, Tales of Power

Facebook is the constant bombardment of words and descriptions consisting of perpetual talking backed by individual reasoning and justification. Everyone on Facebook takes the opportunity to express their viewpoint from the fixated position of their assemblage point with the hopes of solidifying that position for themselves and for others. Whether it’s the constant flow of activism, self-aggrandizement, journeys into the past, or the constant flow of memes for Buddha, Jesus, or any other kind of spirituality, the attempt is basically the same, to coerce other people into aligning with their position of the assemblage point.

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How Do You Define What You Can’t Explain?

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It is not definable. When you practice it, you perceive it. If you try to understand it, you block it. Don’t see it as something difficult or complex, because it is not something from another world; it is just silencing the mind. ~ Carlos Castaneda, Encounters with the Nagual

I have to admit that no matter how hard I have been trying there are just no words coming so I am posting some quotes that I find valuable. Feedback, thoughts and your quotes welcome, thanks for reading!

This is the nature of sorcerers’ knowledge; take it or leave it. You cannot reason it out; it is not possible to “verify it” intellectually. The only thing we can do with it is to put it into practice, exploring the extraordinary possibilities within our being.The power that governs us has granted us a choice. Either we spend life prowling around our familiar habits, or we encourage ourselves to get to know other worlds. The only thing which can give us the necessary jolt is the awareness of death.

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Riding the Plumed Serpent

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Quetzalcoatl. Mention that name and the plumed serpent comes to mind because that’s what Quetzalcoatl means. Along with many stories and interpretations of them. Quetzalcoatl has arrived, for all intents and purposes, as the next salvation myth. Creator sky god, bringer of peace and harmony, representative of good and light. Bridge between heaven and earth, priest of learning and knowledge. Symbol of authority. Heck, I even found a Wikipedia link that actually says, Some Mormon scholars believe that Quetzalcoatl, who has been described as a white, bearded god who came from the sky and promised to return, was actually Jesus Christ. Whatever gets you through the night.

On my recent journey to the Yucatan I became inspired to do a piece of artwork that incorporates the plumed serpent. I’ve been sitting with the image in my mind for some time because what I saw does not look like the interpreted art that has been created. In fact, I don’t even know if I will be able to draw the image shown to me because it is so abstract.

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Life’s How-To Guide

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The thing that makes some warriors fight to retain their self is something unrelated to personal concerns. To belong to a lineage of power implies bonds of such a deep nature that our personality is annulled. In that situation, individual choice no longer exists for the warrior, properly speaking. All he can do is accept his destiny and fulfill the commands of the Rule; anything else would just lead to his extinction. ~ Don Juan, Encounters with the Nagual

Awaken to your life’s purpose, be patient, forgive, embrace pain, meditate, transform, transcend, go-within, change, release, heal, pray, focus, create your reality, believe, hope, be positive, do yoga, find inner peace, let go of desire… in other words become like everyone else in a spiritual way. There are guidebooks, gurus, classes, workshops and how-to-guides all over the internet including instructions on How to Become More Spiritual on eHow, rated as “moderately easy”.

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The End of an Era

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Your world is coming to an end, Don Juan said. It is the end of an era for you. Do you think that the world you have known all your life is going to leave you peacefully, without any fuss or muss? No! It will wriggle underneath you, and hit you with its tail. ~ The Active Side of Infinity

The end of an era does not come in like a fog on little cat feet. Funny that this line happened to roll in now. It’s from the first poem I had ever memorized and I was in 1st grade. I have forgotten it so I just googled it and want to share it here because it fits.

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The Gift of the Petty Tyrant

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The warrior who stumbles on a petty tyrant is a lucky one. You’re fortunate if you come upon one in your path, because if you don’t you have to go out and look for one. ~ don Juan, The Fire from Within

I’ve been thinking about petty tyrants for the past week or so. I guess I wouldn’t have been if one had not come into my perceptual field. Petty tyrants are the button pushers and often self-important characters whom we meet in our lives that impose their will upon us in their attempts to assert their sense of superiority. How we react to them is determinate upon our own levels of button pushing and self-importance. I wrote about them a couple of years ago in an article called The Petty Tyrant.

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What do you Cling to?

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But why? Why do you need prophets to tell you how you ought to live? Why do you need anyone to tell you how you ought to live? ~ Daniel Quinn

It’s getting harder and harder for me to write anything. I have come to realize through my many journeys and numerous life experiences that the more I come to know the less I actually know. This is a good thing, a very good thing. For me, it provides me with the satisfaction that I am succeeding in the choices that I have made to fully be myself on a path of freedom, free from the patterns and expectations, content to just observe this amazing world unfold. I don’t have as many opinions anymore because I have come to know that everything is true, right and correct, at least from the perspective of the person who holds those beliefs. And that’s okay; it is, after all, their world and we can’t possibly know what they’ve been through or what they are doing to maintain it. And unless they ask, there is nothing we can tell ‘em.

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The Trap of Ignorance

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Today is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent. Wikipedia defines Ash Wednesday as the “Christian practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God” and Lent as “a time of sacrifice for Jesus”. I didn’t know that this religious holiday was today until a 20 year-old came into my office with ashes on her forehead and lamented that she is giving up chocolate, again, for Lent and expressed how much this pains her. So I asked her, “why”?

She was surprised by the question and said, well, um, because I like chocolate a lot. “Yes,” I said, “but why are you giving it up?” Well, um, because you’re supposed to give up what you like the most for Lent. “Yes, but why?” Well, um, so you can appreciate it more after 40 days of not having it. “Okay, but why are you doing this? I mean, what is the purpose of Lent, why was it created?” Well, um, I don’t really know but it’s part of my faith and that’s how I grew up. “So you just do it because that’s what’s always been done?” Well, um, yeah, I guess so. I suggested she just keep eating chocolate, Jesus would probably be happier to know she was enjoying herself.

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Awakening to Your Authentic Self

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Nagualism is at once taking off one mask and wearing another. Naguals take off the mask that makes us see ourselves and the world we live in as ordinary, lusterless, predictable, and repetitious and put on the second mask, the one that helps us see ourselves – and our surroundings – for what we really are – breathtaking events that bloom into transitory existence and are never to be repeated again. ~ Florinda Donner, The Witch’s Dream

Someone who reads my blog recently emailed me and said, “You’ve mentioned “authentic self” and “being authentic” and so on. How so?” My short response was, “In freedom, of course, free from the patterns and impositions from others that attempt to force us into compliance of how or who we should be. Finding innermost passions and allowing those to flow freely as an expression of one’s self.”

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