Page:Para leer a Carlos Castaneda.djvu/56

 a knowledge degree and wish to place them as another people, such as the Maya or Zapotec.

Surely the knowledge that Don Juan transmits to Castaneda, originated with the Olmecs fifteen centuries before the Christian era and that what today we call archaeological sites of the classic period, were not "palaces, cities or fortresses", but knowledge centers, where wisdom developed to achieve "total freedom", superior vertex of all ancient civilizations with autonomous origin.

Also, the same author, in the introduction to the book "Toltecáyotl" —Nahuatl culture aspects— notes: "Toltecáyotl, literally translated means; Toltequity: essence and set of Toltec creations. But the richness of its connotations should be unraveled. Of abstract and collective sense, this term derives from toltécatl. The ancient Mexican used it to cover what they considered their heritage, their inspiration seed and factor of further achievements..." Don Juan knew through oral tradition, that he was a Toltec and that his practices and knowledge were called Toltequity. One of the apprentices said that Don Juan probably did not know that Toltec was a culture; Don Juan was simply loyal to tradition and in his teachings said that an apprentice becomes Toltec when he learns the mysteries of "stalking and reverie", and with that the apprentice will retain these mysteries in his body.

Don Juan said that the core of our being was the act of perceiving, and from perception reached being conscious; these states (perception and consciousness) function as a single unit; this unit had two spheres: one was the "tonal attention" or "the first power ring", the world of reason and thoughts. And the other was the " nagual attention" or "the second ring of power", the world of the will and acts. Don Juan pointed out that the only freedom the warrior had in the everyday world was having an impeccable conduct. The most difficult thing a warrior faces in the everyday world is letting others be, and if others "cannot", the warrior must be impeccable and not say a single word. At the end of the book the apprentices and Castaneda make a strange Toltec power exercise: assume a position whose description exactly matches the so-called Tula Atlantes, stone figures representing Toltec warriors located in Tula, Hidalgo, Mexico.

This book is the transition of the author work between the teachings of the right side or the tonal island and lessons for the left side or the nagual world. Castaneda will have to "remember", and with this the acquired knowledge will take its due place. If this book has low literary quality and knowledge information is because the author was "confused" or began his "remembering" task. In the remaining books this task is performed with increasing efficiency; Castaneda readers could also "somehow" "understand" or "assemble" the complete works.

1. Doña Soledad transformation

"Wanted to know if I correctly understood don Juan when he said that everything was possible if one had a firm purpose...

For them, of course, the question was change or die. But that is the case for all of us, one thing or the other... Don Juan had always insisted that our worst enemy was the inability to accept the reality of what happens to us...