Tonight I felt inspired by a short quote from Castaneda’s book, Journey To Ixtlan.
Chapter 4, “Death Is An Adviser,” presents a difficult discussion between Castaneda and his teacher, don Juan. Don Juan attempts to convince him that each person’s own death always lurks just over her or his left shoulder.
Don Juan says,
“How can anyone feel so important when we know that death is stalking us?”
He continues,
“The thing to do when you’re impatient,” he proceeded, “is to turn to your left and ask advice from your death. An immense amount of pettiness is dropped if your death makes a gesture to you, or if you catch a glimpse of it, or if you just have the feeling that your companion is there watching you.”
The last bit I will share goes like this,
“Death is the only wise adviser that we have. Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you’re about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you’re wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, ‘I haven’t touched you yet.’”
There you have it. This information provides more than enough for me to contemplate this evening.
Best of luck in your journeys, both here and beyond.
Enjoy,
-GTD
Tags: advice, castaneda, contemplation, death, don Juan
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