Clearing Space for the Energy Body
"The energy body," Carlos Castaneda told his apprentices, "is the twin of the physical body, made out of energy, and you need to create a dwelling for it to come."
The seers of his lineage, he said, believed that we are not complete until the energy body, or the dreaming body, is with us. The art of dreaming-of entering other worlds of perception which exist alongside our own-was Don Juan Matus told him, "the art of tempering the energy body, of making it supple and coherent by gradually exercising it." He said that what draws the energy body to us is the self-confidence of the warrior-the confidence that comes not from the eyes of the onlooker, but from the warrior's own impeccability-his ability to follow the flow of energy in the universe.
He maintained that in order to perceive and follow the flow of energy in the universe, we have to suspend judgement-to set aside our a priori interpretations of the world. Seers clean out their inventory of these interpretations through the recapitulation: the seers' means of recounting the events of their lives, coupled with a specific sweeping breath. Don Juan told Carlos Castaneda, "If you are filled to the brim with the items of everyday life, there's no space for anything new. That space must be built . . .The sorcerers of olden times believed that the recapitulation made that space."
He said that the recapitulation can bring the abstract view of the energy body-and its affectionate touch-to our interactions: "The touch of warrior-travelers is very light, although it is cultivated. The hand of a warrior-traveler begins as a heavy, gripping iron hand but becomes like the hand of a ghost, a hand made of gossamer. Warrior-travelers leave no marks, no tracks. That's the challenge for warrior-travelers."
The seers of his lineage, he said, believed that we are not complete until the energy body, or the dreaming body, is with us. The art of dreaming-of entering other worlds of perception which exist alongside our own-was Don Juan Matus told him, "the art of tempering the energy body, of making it supple and coherent by gradually exercising it." He said that what draws the energy body to us is the self-confidence of the warrior-the confidence that comes not from the eyes of the onlooker, but from the warrior's own impeccability-his ability to follow the flow of energy in the universe.
He maintained that in order to perceive and follow the flow of energy in the universe, we have to suspend judgement-to set aside our a priori interpretations of the world. Seers clean out their inventory of these interpretations through the recapitulation: the seers' means of recounting the events of their lives, coupled with a specific sweeping breath. Don Juan told Carlos Castaneda, "If you are filled to the brim with the items of everyday life, there's no space for anything new. That space must be built . . .The sorcerers of olden times believed that the recapitulation made that space."
He said that the recapitulation can bring the abstract view of the energy body-and its affectionate touch-to our interactions: "The touch of warrior-travelers is very light, although it is cultivated. The hand of a warrior-traveler begins as a heavy, gripping iron hand but becomes like the hand of a ghost, a hand made of gossamer. Warrior-travelers leave no marks, no tracks. That's the challenge for warrior-travelers."