There are some writers
who compel you to read all their works.
You stumble upon one which captivates you and you move on to the next
and the next. One such writer whom I
fell in love with in my late twenties was Carlos Castaneda.
I was working as a
teacher in Shillong. I discovered
Castaneda purely by chance in the State Central Library. The
Teachings of Don Juan was, I think, the first book of his that I read. It bewitched me so much that I went on to
read all the books of Castaneda that were available in that library. The library had five or six of his books
though he wrote 12 all of which went on to become best sellers.
Castaneda was an
anthropologist who learnt shamanism. He
wrote as if Don Juan, the shaman guru of all the wisdom in his books, was a
real person. Years after I read the
books I came to know that Don Juan was a fictional creation of the author. Castaneda’s integrity was called into
question. That did affect my admiration
for the books.
Years later, again, I
came across a quote from one of those books.
Here is the quote:
“The self-confidence of the warrior is not the
self-confidence of the average man. The average man seeks certainty in the eyes
of the onlooker and calls that self-confidence. The warrior seeks impeccability
in his own eyes and calls that humbleness. The average man is hooked to his
fellow men, while the warrior is hooked only to infinity.”
An urge to read Castaneda
again is taking shape in an alcove of my subconscious mind. It doesn’t matter to me whether Don Juan was
real or not. Castaneda was real. That’s enough for me. I don’t care why Castaneda made Don Juan
appear to be real. I don’t care what the
world thinks of Castaneda. The infinity
he touched is what bewitches me.
Self-confidence of the infinity.
Related
post: Self-importance
Great quote. Really inspiring.
ReplyDeleteBetter to put in the work for our own betterment.
Glad you like it.
DeleteThats extraordinarily insightful.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
Delete