Naturally, you felt afraid and revolted; you were
examining alien energy for the first time in your life.
"You
have a proclivity for behaving like the sorcerers of antiquity. The moment you
have the chance, you let your assemblage point go. That time your assemblage
point shifted quite a distance. The result was that you, like the old
sorcerers, journeyed beyond the world we know. A most real but dangerous
journey."
I bypassed
the meaning of his statements in favor of my own interest and asked him,
"Was that city perhaps on another planet?"
"You
can't explain dreaming by way of things you know or suspect you
know," he said. "All I can tell you is that the city you visited was
not in this world."
"Where
was it, then?"
"Out
of this world, of course. You're not that stupid. That was the first thing you
noticed. What got you going in circles is that you can't imagine anything being
out of this world."
"Where
is out of this world, don Juan?"
"Believe
me, the most extravagant feature of sorcery is that configuration "called
out of this world". For instance, you assumed that I was seeing the same
things you did. The proof is that you never asked me what I saw. You and only
you saw a city and people in that city. I didn't see anything of the sort. I
saw energy. So, out of this world was, for you alone, on that occasion, a
city."
"But
then, don Juan, it wasn't a real city. It existed only for me, in my
mind."
"No.
That's not the case. Now you want to reduce something transcendental to
something mundane. You can't do that. That journey was real. You saw it as a
city. I saw it as energy. Neither of us is right or wrong."
"My
confusion comes when you talk about things being real. You said before that we
reached a real place. But if it was real, how can we have two versions of
it?"
"Very
simple. We have two versions because we had, at that time, two different rates
of uniformity and cohesion. I have explained to you that those two attributes
are the key to perceiving."
"Do
you think that I can go back to that particular city?"
"You
got me there. I don't know. Or perhaps I do know but can't explain it. Or
perhaps I can explain it but I don't want to. You'll have to wait and figure
out for yourself which is the case."
He refused
any further discussion.
"Let's
get on with our business," he said. "You reach the second gate of
dreaming when you wake up from a dream into another dream. You can have as
many dreams as you want or as many as you are capable of, but you must exercise
adequate control and not wake up in the world we know."
I had a
jolt of panic. "Are you saying that I should never wake up in this
world?" I asked.
"No, I
didn't mean that. But now that you have pointed it out, I have to tell you that
it is an alternative. The sorcerers of antiquity used to do that, never wake up
in the world we know. Some of the sorcerers of my line have done it too. It
certainly can be done, but I don't recommend it. What I want is for you to wake
up naturally when you are through with dreaming , but while you are dreaming ,
I want you to dream that you wake up in another dream."
I heard
myself asking the same question I had asked the first time he told me about
setting up dreaming . "But is it possible to do that?"
Don Juan
obviously caught on to my mindlessness and laughingly repeated the answer he
had given me before. "Of course it's possible. This control is no
different from the control we have over any situation in our daily lives."
I quickly
got over my embarrassment and was ready to ask more questions, but don Juan anticipated
me and began to explain facets of the second gate of dreaming , an
explanation that made me yet more uneasy.
"There's
one problem with the second gate," he said. "It's a problem that can
be serious, depending on one's bent of character. If our tendency is to indulge
in clinging to things or situations, we are in for a sock in the jaw."
"In
what way, don Juan?"
"Think
for a moment. You've already
examining alien energy for the first time in your life.
"You
have a proclivity for behaving like the sorcerers of antiquity. The moment you
have the chance, you let your assemblage point go. That time your assemblage
point shifted quite a distance. The result was that you, like the old
sorcerers, journeyed beyond the world we know. A most real but dangerous
journey."
I bypassed
the meaning of his statements in favor of my own interest and asked him,
"Was that city perhaps on another planet?"
"You
can't explain dreaming by way of things you know or suspect you
know," he said. "All I can tell you is that the city you visited was
not in this world."
"Where
was it, then?"
"Out
of this world, of course. You're not that stupid. That was the first thing you
noticed. What got you going in circles is that you can't imagine anything being
out of this world."
"Where
is out of this world, don Juan?"
"Believe
me, the most extravagant feature of sorcery is that configuration "called
out of this world". For instance, you assumed that I was seeing the same
things you did. The proof is that you never asked me what I saw. You and only
you saw a city and people in that city. I didn't see anything of the sort. I
saw energy. So, out of this world was, for you alone, on that occasion, a
city."
"But
then, don Juan, it wasn't a real city. It existed only for me, in my
mind."
"No.
That's not the case. Now you want to reduce something transcendental to
something mundane. You can't do that. That journey was real. You saw it as a
city. I saw it as energy. Neither of us is right or wrong."
"My
confusion comes when you talk about things being real. You said before that we
reached a real place. But if it was real, how can we have two versions of
it?"
"Very
simple. We have two versions because we had, at that time, two different rates
of uniformity and cohesion. I have explained to you that those two attributes
are the key to perceiving."
"Do
you think that I can go back to that particular city?"
"You
got me there. I don't know. Or perhaps I do know but can't explain it. Or
perhaps I can explain it but I don't want to. You'll have to wait and figure
out for yourself which is the case."
He refused
any further discussion.
"Let's
get on with our business," he said. "You reach the second gate of
dreaming when you wake up from a dream into another dream. You can have as
many dreams as you want or as many as you are capable of, but you must exercise
adequate control and not wake up in the world we know."
I had a
jolt of panic. "Are you saying that I should never wake up in this
world?" I asked.
"No, I
didn't mean that. But now that you have pointed it out, I have to tell you that
it is an alternative. The sorcerers of antiquity used to do that, never wake up
in the world we know. Some of the sorcerers of my line have done it too. It
certainly can be done, but I don't recommend it. What I want is for you to wake
up naturally when you are through with dreaming , but while you are dreaming ,
I want you to dream that you wake up in another dream."
I heard
myself asking the same question I had asked the first time he told me about
setting up dreaming . "But is it possible to do that?"
Don Juan
obviously caught on to my mindlessness and laughingly repeated the answer he
had given me before. "Of course it's possible. This control is no
different from the control we have over any situation in our daily lives."
I quickly
got over my embarrassment and was ready to ask more questions, but don Juan anticipated
me and began to explain facets of the second gate of dreaming , an
explanation that made me yet more uneasy.
"There's
one problem with the second gate," he said. "It's a problem that can
be serious, depending on one's bent of character. If our tendency is to indulge
in clinging to things or situations, we are in for a sock in the jaw."
"In
what way, don Juan?"
"Think
for a moment. You've already
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