The Teachings of Don Juan Quotes

“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary.

This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.


Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length--and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. ... Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Seek and see all the marvels around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else. - Don Juan”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow, you must not stay with it under any circumstances.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“I had been experiencing brief flashes of disassociation, or shallow states of non-ordinary reality.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Power rests on the kind of knowledge one holds. What is the sense of knowing things that are useless?”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Añadió que nada en este mundo era un regalo: todo cuanto hubiera que aprender debía aprenderse por el camino difícil.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“No tienes que hacer nada para caer bien o mal. O te acepta o te tira de lado.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. His purpose is faulty; his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialise, for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning.

He slowly begins to learn — bit by bit at first, then in big chunks. And his thoughts soon clash. What he learns is never what he pictured, or imagined, and so he begins to be afraid. Learning is never what one expects. Every step of learning is a new task, and the fear the man is experiencing begins to mount mercilessly, unyieldingly.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions....

Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“You are a serious person, but your seriousness is attached to what you do, not to what goes on outside you. You dwell upon yourself too much. That’s the trouble. And that produces a terrible fatigue."
"But what else can anyone do, don Juan?"
"Seek and see the marvels all around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone,
and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else.”
― Carlos Castañeda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“The awakening to serious, sober consciousness, was genuinely shocking. I had forgotten I was a man! The sadness of such an irreconcilable situation was so intense that I wept.”
― Carlos Castañeda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“The journey by itself was sufficient; any hope of arriving at a permanent position was outside the boundaries of his knowledge.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“I really felt I had lost my body, don Juan."
"You did."
"You mean, I really didn't have a body?"
"What do you think yourself?"
"well, I don't know. All I can tell you is what I felt."
That is all there is in reality - what you felt.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“No!" he said emphatically. "Power rests on the kind of knowledge one holds. What is the sense of knowing
things that are useless?”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Un hombre va al saber como a la guerra: bien despierto, con miedo, con respeto y con absoluta confianza.”
― Carlos Castañeda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“You are a serious person, but your seriousness is attached to what you do, not to what goes on outside you. You dwell upon yourself too much. That’s the trouble. And that produces a terrible fatigue."
"But what else can anyone do, don Juan?"
"Seek and see the marvels all around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone, and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else.”
― Carlos Castañeda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Я никогда ни на кого не сержусь. Ни один человек не может сделать ничего такого, что заслуживало бы такой моей реакции. На людей сердишься, когда чувствуешь, что их поступки важны. Ничего подобного я давно не чувствую.”
― Carlos Castaneda, Учения Дона Хуана: Путь знания индейцев Яки (Кастанеда Book 1)

“Нужно искать и видеть чудеса, которых полно вокруг тебя. Ты умрешь от усталости, не интересуясь ничем, кроме себя самого; именно от этой усталости ты глух и слеп ко всему остальному.”
― Carlos Castaneda, Учения Дона Хуана: Путь знания индейцев Яки (Кастанеда Book 1)

“For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length-and there I travel looking, looking breathlessly.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“- Birds fly like birds and a man who has taken the devil's weed flies as such.
- As birds do?
- No, he flies as a man who has taken the weed.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“تو وقتی از مردم عصبانی می شوی که احساس کنی عملشان مهم است .v”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“¡la claridad! Esa claridad de mente, tan difícil de obtener, dispersa el miedo, pero también ciega.
"Fuerza al hombre a no dudar nunca de sí. Le da la seguridad de que puede hacer cuanto se le antoje, porque todo lo ve con claridad. Y tiene valor porque tiene claridad, y no se detiene en nada porque tiene claridad. Pero todo eso es un error; es como si viera algo claro pero incompleto. Si el hombre se rinde a esa ilusión de poder, ha sucumbido a su segundo enemigo y será torpe para aprender. Se apurará cuando debía ser paciente, o será paciente cuando debería apurarse. Y tonteará con el aprendizaje, hasta que termine incapaz de aprender nada más.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“A man who is defeated by power dies without really knowing how to handle it. Power is only a burden upon his fate. Such a man has no command over himself, and cannot tell when or how to use his power.”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Dan Juan: a Yaqui Way of Knowledge by Carlos Castaneda

“What is the sense of knowing things that are useless?”
― Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“You are a serious person, but your seriousness is attached to what you do, not to what goes on outside you. You dwell upon yourself too much. That’s the trouble. And that produces a terrible fatigue.”
"But what else can anyone do, don Juan?"
"Seek and see the marvels all around you. You will get tired of looking at yourself alone,
and that fatigue will make you deaf and blind to everything else.”
― Carlos Castañeda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

“Путь без сердца никогда не бывает радостным. Уже для того, чтобы на него выйти, приходится тяжело работать. Напротив, путь, у которого есть сердце, всегда легкий; чтобы его полюбить, не нужно особых усилий.”
― Carlos Castaneda, Учения Дона Хуана: Путь знания индейцев Яки (Кастанеда Book 1)

“существует множество вещей, способных свести с ума, в особенности если у тебя нет решимости, нет устремленности, необходимой для обучения; но если намерение человека непоколебимо, то никакие эмоции не могут быть препятствием, потому что он способен держать их в узде.”
― Carlos Castaneda, Учения Дона Хуана: Путь знания индейцев Яки (Кастанеда Book 1)