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eugzol в посте Metapractice (оригинал в ЖЖ)
forces that are inexplicable and unbending. The average man, in ignorance, believes that those
forces can be explained or changed; he doesn't really know how to do that, but he expects that
the actions of mankind will explain them or change them sooner or later.
The sorcerer, on the other hand, does not think of explaining or changing them; instead, he
learns to use such forces by redirecting himself and adapting to their direction. That's his
trick. There is very little to sorcery once you find out its trick. A sorcerer is only slightly
better off than the average man. Sorcery does not help him to live a better life; in fact I should
say that sorcery hinders him; it makes his life cumbersome, precarious. By opening himself to
knowledge a sorcerer becomes more vulnerable than the average man.
On the one hand his fellow men hate him and fear him and will strive to end his life; on the
other hand the inexplicable and unbending forces that surround every one of us, by right of
our being alive, are for a sorcerer a source of even greater danger. To be pierced by a fellow
man is indeed painful, but nothing in comparison to being touched by an ally. A sorcerer, by
opening himself to knowledge, falls prey to such forces and has only one means of balancing
himself, his will; thus he must feel and act like a warrior. I will repeat this once more: Only as
a warrior can one survive the path of knowledge. What helps a sorcerer live a better life is the
strength of being a warrior.
"It is my commitment to teach you to see. Not because I personally want to do so but because
you were chosen; you were pointed out to me by Mescalito. I am compelled by my personal
desire, however, to teach you to feel and act like a warrior. I personally believe that to be a
warrior is more suitable than anything else. Therefore I have endeavored to show you those
forces as a sorcerer perceives them, because only under their terrifying impact can one
become a warrior. To see without first being a warrior would make you weak; it would give
you a false meekness, a desire to retreat; your body would decay because you would become
indifferent. It is my personal commitment to make you a warrior so you won't crumble.
"I have heard you say time and time again that you are always prepared to die. I don't regard
that feeling as necessary. I think it is a useless indulgence. A warrior should be prepared only
to battle. I have also heard you say that your parents injured your spirit. I think the spirit of
man is something that can be injured very easily, although not by the same acts you yourself
call injurious. I believe that your parents did injure you by making you indulgent and soft and
given to dwelling.
"The spirit of a warrior is not geared to indulging and complaining, nor is it geared to winning
or losing. The spirit of a warrior is geared only to struggle, and every struggle is a warrior's
last battle on earth. Thus the outcome matters very little to him. In his last battle on earth a
warrior lets his spirit flow free and clear. And as he wages his battle, knowing that his will is
impeccable, a warrior laughs and laughs."
I finished writing and looked up. Don Juan was staring at me. He shook his head from side to
side and smiled.
"You really write everything?" he asked in an incredulous tone. "Genaro says that he can
never be serious with you because you're always writing. He's right; how can anyone be
serious if you're always writing?"
He chuckled and I tried to defend my position.
"It doesn't matter," he said, "If you ever learn to see, I suppose you must do it your own weird
way."