The Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda Read Free Book Online Page B

given a purpose.
Its coming into play is not really a process, as one would normally understand
a process: an ongoing system of operations or a series of actions or functions
that bring about an end result. It is rather an awakening. Something dormant
becomes suddenly functional.
     

 
3. - The Second Gate of Dreaming
    I found out
by means of my dreaming practices that a dreaming teacher must
create a didactic synthesis in order to emphasize a given point. In essence,
what don Juan wanted with my first task was to exercise my dreaming
attention by focusing it on the items of my dreams. To this effect he used
as a spearhead the idea of being aware of falling asleep. His subterfuge was to
say that the only way to be aware of falling asleep is to examine the elements
of one's dreams.
    I realized,
almost as soon as I had begun my dreaming practices, that exercising the dreaming attention is the essential point in dreaming . To the
mind, however, it seems impossible that one can train oneself to be aware at
the level of dreams. Don Juan said that the active element of such training is
persistence, and that the mind and all its rational defenses cannot cope with
persistence. Sooner or later, he said, the mind's barriers fall, under its
impact, and the dreaming attention blooms.
    As I
practiced focusing and holding my dreaming attention on the items of my
dreams, I began to feel a peculiar self-confidence so remarkable that I sought
a comment from don Juan.
    "It's
your entering into the second attention that gives you that sense of self-assurance,"
he said. "This calls for even more sobriety on your part. Go slowly, but
don't stop, and above all, don't talk about it. Just do it!"
    I told him
that in practice I had corroborated what he had already told me, that if one
takes short glances at everything in a dream, the images do not dissolve. I
commented that the difficult part is to break the initial barrier that prevents
us from bringing dreams to our conscious attention. I asked don Juan to give me
his opinion on this matter, for I earnestly believed that this barrier is a
psychological one created by our socialization, which puts a premium on
disregarding dreams.
    "The
barrier is more than socialization," he replied. "It's the first gate
of dreaming . Now that you've overcome it, it seems stupid to you that we
can't stop at will and pay attention to the items of our dreams. That's a false
certainty. The first gate of dreaming has to do with the flow of energy
in the universe. It's a natural obstacle."
    Don Juan
made me agree then that we would talk about dreaming only in the second
attention and as he saw fit. He encouraged me to practice in the meantime and
promised no interference on his part.
    As I gained
proficiency in setting up dreaming , I repeatedly experienced sensations
that I deemed of great importance, such as the feeling that I was rolling into
a ditch just as I was falling asleep. Don Juan never told me that they were
nonsensical sensations but let me record them in my notes. I realize now how
absurd I must have appeared to him. Today, if I were teaching dreaming ,
I would definitely discourage such a behavior. Don Juan merely made fun of me,
calling me a covert egomaniac who professed to be fighting self-importance yet
kept a meticulous, superpersonal diary called "My Dreams."
    Every time
he had an opportunity, don Juan pointed out that the energy needed to release
our dreaming attention from its socialization prison comes from
redeploying our existing energy. Nothing could have been truer. The emergence
of our dreaming attention is a direct corollary of revamping our lives.
Since we have, as don Juan said, no way to plug into any external source for a
boost of energy, we must redeploy our existing energy, by any means available.
    Don Juan
insisted that the sorcerers' way is the best means to oil, so to speak, the
wheels of energy redeployment, and that of all the items in the sorcerers' way,
the most effective is