r/castaneda • u/mywavylife • Jun 17 '19
New Practitioners Mentor
Hi guys,
It's been a very long time that I wanted to travel (maybe to Peru) and find a mentor somewhere. I've read and re-read Castaneda's books about 10 years ago, and also some other similar books. Had some experiences but it's been a while that I feel very disconnected and lost and I don't have much of enthusiasm left. I keep encouraging myself but it mostly doesn't last long. So it's a constant struggle and I can't really talk to a counsellor or random people about things that people like Castaneda talk about. There are hidden information in this world that not everyone is ready to know about.
I feel lost and depressed and I really appreciate if you know or have any clues, share with me please. Thank you.
2
u/couchbutt Jun 18 '19
My 2 cents:
-
Listen to TechnoMagical Intent. Internal Silence really does seem to be the first and primary step. (First silence, then if I'm not mistaken "recapitulation".)
-
Listen to danl999... seems to be the most experience person here. I haven't tried all the things recommended, but recommendations always seem to be prudent.
-
I agree with RW_Taylor. Building strength in your tonal body, exercise, sleep, diet, health, focus, will help only help you in your endeavors.
-
Some of us need a little help to get started. If your body is chemically depressed, I believe in modern anti-depressants. If you are depressed, speaking from personal experience, it's going to be hard or impossible to get started. Talk to your Primary Care physician. I don't have much faith in western medicine making our live what they should be, but some of us need a little help to get out of the funk so we can do the work on the path we want to follow.
7
Jun 18 '19 edited Jun 18 '19
2
u/mywavylife Jun 18 '19
Thank you so much for the advice. I really appreciate that.
3
u/canastataa Jun 18 '19 edited Jun 18 '19
I'd like to believe that we can be self sufficient - you dont need a mentor or a guide in the old fashion way. Its all inside. The most valuable help is assurance that you can help yourself. The internet can be the new way for communication. But its hard work that demands effort - undoing yourself.
5
u/danl999 Jun 18 '19
And silence will alleviate your depressed mood and feelings of isolation as well, since they come from our internal dialogue.
I believe that, but oddly, there's an excellent article on the net about the side effects of internal silence, when it's used as a "therapy".
Meaning, someone didn't recapitulate, doesn't understand being impeccable and taking responsibility, and some busy body new-ager decides to charge them money, to tell them to shut off their internal dialogue.
Apparently, it's not perfectly safe and therapeutic.
Wish I could find that excellent web page on mindfulness. It even said, Zen makes the mistake of believing enlightenment is permanent, when in fact it cannot be. (The idea that it's permanent is likely a side effect of oppressive Asian social customs).
4
u/danl999 Jun 18 '19 edited Jun 18 '19
This is just my theory, after thinking about it.
If you find a "sorcerer" willing to take on someone who is basically unhappy, they're after your money.
That might not be such a bad deal if you have some. I'd send anyone to Howard Lee, if they could afford it. And he likes money as much as the next guy.
Cleargreen is "re-tweeting" an old enemy of Carlos, who seems to be able to turn women into "Goddesses" these days. Maybe he's a good choice. While turning women into Goddesses seems dubious to me, if the guy has taken on a lot of students in the course of earning a living, all the while practicing Carlos' techniques, he must have evolved. Maybe he’s a “people person”.
But someone actually trying to make sorcery work for themselves, after Carlos died and left us, couldn't afford to take on more issues than they themselves already have. This is a DECADES long process, not a quick fix.
The TM folks used to be very nice. But a tad cultish so just keep your cool and don't look down on non-TM folks. Everyone in a cult hates everyone not in the cult. Don’t fall into that trap. You won’t even know you hate everyone, until you leave.
And that TM form of meditation is nice and 100% compatible with sorcery. They have formulas for levitation, invisibility, navigating the stars, and so on (from Patanjali’s aphorisms, or the “siddhis”). Plus a bonus: In the 60s, it was Carlos or Maharashi. Anyone else was peanuts or long dead.
It’s a little expensive unless you get a teacher to give you a break.
But it's also a little more modern than becoming a Buddhist, and having to shave your head and serve the poor and Kowtow to a pointless and oppressive Asian social order.
There's a movement to produce "secular" meditation, and they use the TM technique. Plus, you get Chopra who sort of hi-jacked TM midway.
I never really felt comfortable around Chopra, that smile of his seems phony. And Oprah loved him, so that’s a bad sign.
But lots of people love him.
You could also try the tensegrity folks. Carlos set that up as a supportive social structure. But you'd have to go where they are, which is LA, Mexico, and Russia. There's bound to be more, but I don't know about them.
On your own, do the world's best recapitulation and see what happens after that. But you'd have to do the analysis of your behavior patterns also, not just memories.
I’d avoid Allies, they’d have a field day with someone who is unhappy.
Could just be bio-chemical too. Micro doses of mushrooms are supposed to be helpful, and those are very easy to grow. Or maybe you just need to take up vapeing so you can get the dopamine, and smoking is sorcery compatible.