When a man starts to learn, never know what going to find. Their purpose is poor, his intent is vague. hopes for rewards that never materialize, for he knows nothing of the work it takes to learn.
"But you learn so little by little at first, then more and more . And their thoughts are given to butting and sink into nothingness. What you learn is never what you thought. And so begins to be afraid. The knowledge is never what you expected. Every step of learning is a quagmire, and the fear that man experiences begins to grow without mercy, without compromise. His purpose becomes a battlefield.
"And so it has encountered the first of their natural enemies: fear! A terrible enemy, treacherous and tangled as the thistles. It is hidden in every corner of the road, watching, waiting. And if the man, terrified in its presence, runs away, his enemy will have put an end to your search.
- What happens to a man if he runs in fear?
- Nothing happens, only ever learn. Never become a man of knowledge. Become a crook, or a coward either, a harmless man, frightened, in any way, will be a defeated man. His first enemy will have put an end to his cravings.
- What can you do to overcome fear?
- The answer is simple. You should not run. Must defy his fear, and although he must take the next step in their learning, and the next and the next. Must be full of fear, but should not stop. That is the rule! And there comes a time when his first enemy retreats. The man begins to feel confident. Its purpose is strengthened. Learning is no longer a frightening task.
"When this joyful moment comes, man can say without hesitation that he has conquered his first natural enemy.
[...] Once man has conquered fear, is free from it for the rest of his life, because, instead of fear has acquired clarity: clarity of mind which erases fear. By then, a man knows his desires; knows how to satisfy those desires. Can anticipate the new steps of learning, and a sharp clarity surrounds everything. The man feels that nothing is hidden.
"And thus he has encountered his second enemy: the clarity! That clarity of mind, so difficult to obtain, dispels fear, but also blind.
"It forces the man never to doubt him. It gives you confidence that you can do whatever he pleases, because everything he sees he sees clearly. And is valuable because it clearly. But all that is wrong, it's as if he saw something clear but incomplete. If the man yields to the illusion of power, has succumbed to his second enemy and will be awkward to learn. It will speed up when it should be patient, and be patient when I had to hurry. With learning and silly, until the end unable to learn anything else.
[...]¿ what to do to avoid defeat?
- must do what he did with fear: he must defy his clarity and use it just to see, and wait with patience and tact measure before taking other steps, must think, above all, clarity is almost a mistake. And there will come a time to understand that his clarity was only a point before his eyes. And thus he will overcome his second enemy, and reach a position where nothing can damage it. This is not a mistake nor an illusion. There is only one point before his eyes. That will be his true power.
"You will know then that power so long is finally his persecution. You can do with as he pleases. His ally is at your service. His wish is the rule. Is clear and steady all that is around. But it has also come across his third enemy: Power!
"Power is the strongest of all enemies. Naturally, the easier it is to surrender, after all, the real man is invincible. He commands: start taking calculated risks and ends up making rules because the love of power. A man at this stage hardly notices his third enemy closing in on him. And suddenly, without knowing, he will certainly have lost the battle. Your enemy will have turned into a cruel, capricious man.
[...] A man is defeated by power dies without really knowing how to handle it. The power is only a burden upon his fate. Such a man has no self-control, or say how or when to use his power.
[...][ To beat the third enemy is that] challenge him on purpose. You have to realize that the power he has seemingly conquered is in reality never his. Should be in check at all hours, driving cautiously and with faith everything you've learned. If you can see that without self-control, clarity and power are worse than mistakes, there will come a point where everything is mastered. Then you know how and when to use his power. And so he will have defeated his third enemy.
"The man will, by then, the end of their journey on the road knowledge, and almost without warning last encounter with his enemy of old age! This enemy is the cruelest of all, the only one that can not be completely overcome, the enemy that may only scare for a moment.
"This is the time when a man has no fears, no longer has clearly impatient, a time when everything is under control, but also the time that has a desire to rest. If he gives himself entirely to his desire to lie down and forget, if he soothes himself in tiredness, he will have lost the last assault, and your enemy will be reduced to a feeble old creature. His desire to retreat will overrule all his clarity, his power and knowledge.
"But if the man sloughs off his tiredness, and lives his fate through, can then be called a man of knowledge, if only because those little while it succeeds in fighting off the last enemy, the enemy invincible. Those moments of clarity, power and knowledge are sufficient.
Excerpt from "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda
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