Blog 8

First of all, I find Don Juan's "character" to be one of the more interesting individuals I have ever come across. The way he thinks and speaks (as represented by Castaneda) reminds me of someone who truly knows and understands themselves and their world. It is an awesome feeling to be in the presence of one of these people and I cannot help but comment on my one and only experience with a person like this.
About two years ago, I was living in Augusta, GA and had the opportunity to see the Dalai Lama speak in Centennial Park in Atlanta. It was one of the most moving experiences of my life. It wasn't particularly mind-blowing to hear what he had to say, but just how very TOTALLY simple his message was had such an affect on me, it is indescribable. What was so amazing was that, what he had to say, when examined uninterrupted, it should be innately understand by us all but since we spend too much time consumed by the constant noise, vice and anxiety that we feel in our world we miss the richness of its simplicity. What he said was this: Life a good life, do well to yourself and to others, take every single day to be a gift and love... truly love with all of your heart all that you know and see and hope to know and see. (There was more, but that's the condensed version.)
That's when it hit me... (back up a bit... I actually felt this feeling I am about to describe the moment I saw him) We have the ability to create our own outlooks, perceptions and views on life, or at the least, we are susceptible to the moods, ideas, emotions, perceptions, etc. of others around us. Normally we are surrounded by like individuals... all clawing about, aimlessly trying to make any sense they can out of life and in the process, we add to the collective misunderstanding and anxiety of society as a whole. This all hit me when I met him... (to be fair I didn't even really get to meet him. I was sitting on the lawn of the open-air space about a football fields length away from him)... It was incredible. He has such a command over himself and his perceptions/beliefs that he just emanated positivity and good will. Being there, it made me feel like all was right in the world and that goodness was above all to those who could see it and share it with others. Amazing.
I have never before felt so at ease and clear in my entire life, and all I did was listen to him speak! Imagine the serenity one would feel being able to learn from someone like him! Which brings me to Don Juan. While I do not feel the awe and total admiration for Don Juan that I felt for the Dalai Lama that day, I see, in essence, the same convictions and strength of character. When he explains things to Castaneda about ally's, teachers, etc. He sees these things from a stand point of total belief and understanding. When Castaneda asks him questions like, if someone not in a non reality state were to see my fly, would I actually be flying? He laughs at this idea because to him it seems ludicrous because he understands the simplicity of it and the truth of it, even though most of us can sympathize with Castaneda and try and look for the empirical data to back up the experience.
I think I may be losing my train of thought here but I will try to make this make sense..
What I feel about Don Juan is #1: I want to meet him and talk to him and #2 He is genuine in his beliefs. I respect this very much. I have come around to the opinion, that, as what we have been reading has said or hinted to, is that it does not matter what you believe, it just matters that you truly, utterly and from the bottom of your heart believe it. I could get into my viewpoint on extremists and fundamentalists and how I feel that they are not true believers but seekers of power who have found a way to obtain that power through the name of God... no matter how off their propaganda is from the true and heartfelt beliefs that they say that they adhere to... I digress. Where I wanted to go with this was back to the account Castaneda gives us of his battle to win back his soul. You can see that while through most of his experience he does not seem to be wholeheartedly into what he is doing in the way you would assume an apprentice would be into his journey. He kind of just tries to get through it without any "normal" person seeing him in order to escape an embarrassing encounter. But here, you see him take shelter in the teachings of Don Juan. He takes Don Juans conviction of his believes and uses them to protect him. He feeds off of the knowledge and devotion of mind that Don Juan has for the situation and starts to believe (or at least really experience it) in a very real sense that to him cannot be tossed away as frivolous or nonsensical. This surrender to the ways Don Juan is teaching him is what manages to save him from either death or insanity. This is the raw stuff people. Belief, trust, understanding... These are all keys to a deeper understanding.
As far as creativity goes... I think that what we saw in the video the other day gave me the best source of my opinion of creativity and it is just reintroduced in all that we are reading. I think that, if I understood it correctly, that creativity is innate in us all and that all we need to do is find a way of accessing it. For some, it is as natural as breathing to tap into that collective creativity and understanding and are able to produce beautiful works of all kinds... funny enough, these people are also very often times deemed to be not quite right, crazy, insane, etc. Then there are those of us who need assistance to tap into that creativity. Meditation, sleep, social celebrations, rituals, mind-altering substances... all these things can help up tap into a different view on reality that we can then (like a shaman) bring back to our own reality and share with others. This sense of communal understanding or creativity may help to explain certain world wide views of art, architecture, architypes, heroes, etc that occur in unconnected parts of the world. Like for instance, how is it that there are dragons in the mythology of different groups from England to China? Things to ponder.

Hannah