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"The problem happens because you confuse the objective of sorcerers with an ideal. The
concept of 'silence' is too delicate for a mind like yours, accustomed to classifications. It
is obvious that you have thought about the exercise in auditory terms, as a lack of sound.
But that's not what it is about.
"What sorcerers want is something simpler. They try to resist the suggestions, and that's
all. If you are able to make yourself the owner of your mind, and to think properly,
without prejudice or false convictions, you will be able to cancel out the domesticated
part of your nature, a supreme achievement. Otherwise, you will not even understand
what the exercise is about.
"Once we learn how to prevent them, without being offended by them nor giving them
any kind of attention, the commands of the mind will stay in our interior for some time,
but eventually they will leave. So it is not a question of getting rid of them, but rather
killing them with boredom.
"To reach that state, you have to rattle your inventory of ideas. I asked you to begin with
your beliefs, but it would have worked equally well if, for example, you had listed all
your relationships and affections, or the most attractive elements in your personal history,
or your- hopes, goals, and concerns,. or your likes, preferences, and aversions. The
important thing is that you become aware of your thought patterns.
"The magic of all inventories is based in the order of its components. When we rattle that
order, when it lacks some of the pieces that we gave it, the whole pattern begins to
crumble. This is the way it is with routines of the mind; you change one parameter -
suddenly there is an open door where it should be a wall - and that changes everything.
The mind trembles!
"That is what you have been experiencing as an extraordinary activation of your interior
dialogue. You didn't even notice it before, but now you know it is there. Some day that
presence will be so heavy that you will do something about it. That day you will stop
being an ordinary man and will become a sorcerer."
The Minimal Chance
In a lecture in which he was explaining to us various methods naguals used to help their
apprentices, one of the present, interrupting him, threw this at him:
"Carlos, you always say that without the nagual there is no freedom, but that's because
you had a teacher! What can we do, those of us who weren't so lucky?"
He exploded:
"It is not true, you have all the information you need! What more do you want? Do you
hope to get everything for free, without any effort? If you believe that somebody else will
do the work for you, you are fucked up!"
In a reproachful tone, he made fun of the human laziness which makes us hope that
others will do things and give us the greatest possible advantage. He called this 'the
antithesis of a warrior's behavior."
"All that a man needs is the minimal chance: To be made aware of the possibilities
discovered by sorcerers. A warrior doesn't go around hoping they will come and kick him
in the butt to make him move; he is ahead and he says: 'I can do it! And I can do it
alone!'"
There Is No Need For Teachers
Another time, I asked him:
"Carlos, what determines an ordinary man's access to the sorcerers' knowledge?"
"Intent," he answered. "Man's intent has to make an offer to the spirit, and spirit must
accept it, putting the means of evolution in his path. In other times, the only available
way was to be directly pointed out to a nagual. Nowadays, an ordinary man has the
opportunity to be guided through publications.
"When seeking access to the world of sorcerers, one must be prepared. An accidental
encounter with power won't lead to anything, except to a brutal fright for the seeker who,
from then on, will swear that sorcery is demon's work, or that everything is sheer
falsehood.
"But a poorly conducted preparation, one which foments self- importance instead of
increasing wonder and a desire to learn, becomes a near total obstacle for the apprentice.
One who comes to the nagual saturated with beliefs on almost everything won't get the
chance to continue.
"Therefore, the next requirement before entering the path of knowledge is a profound
honesty. It is necessary to empty the harbor to make room for the new ship arriving, and
to recognize that when it comes down to it, we don't know anything. Once that degree of
preparation has been reached, the rest is a matter of luck. The spirit determines who will
be chosen and who won't.
"The answer of the spirit is inscrutable. It happens in unexpected ways and in terms that
are almost always incomprehensible to our reason. All we can do is be attentive to the
signs, placing ourselves deliberately in their path. When man's intent seals an alliance
with the spirit, it is unavoidable that the teacher appears."
I asked him if the nagual could be considered a teacher in the same way as the oriental
instructors.
He answered emphatically:
"No! There is no comparison for a very simple reason: A nagual never chooses his
apprentices. The spirit is the one who determines through omens who can and who can't
be part of a lineage.
"A real teacher is an impeccable warrior who has lost his human form and has a very
clear bond with the abstract. So, he doesn't accept volunteers.
"Education systems based on the seeker's spontaneous desire don't get very far, because
they are not geared towards realization, but towards the concerns of the ego. All the
followers do is to imitate and that doesn't lead anywhere. Therefore, there is no need for
teachers.
"After years of learning, I am convinced that all a seeker needs is the opportunity to be
made aware of his possibilities, and a commitment to the death with his purpose."
I observed that his statements were contradicting his repeated statements about how,
without Don Juan, he would not have achieved anything. He replied:
"Sorcerers make a clear distinction between the concepts of 'spiritual guide' and 'nagual
teacher1. The first is an individual who specializes in directing flocks, and the other is an
impeccable warrior who knows that his role is limited to serving as a connection with the
spirit. The first one will tell you what you want to hear and he will give you the miracles
that you want to see, because you interest him as an acolyte; while the second will be
guided by commands of an impersonal power. His help is not altruistic, but a way of
paying his old debt with the spirit of man.
"The nagual is not a benevolent type; he doesn't come to please us, but to wake us up, and
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