Indulgence

I finished my second Carlos Castaneda book last night and it definitely made me stoked for the next one. It ended by introducing Carlos (this is non-fiction, remember) to the concept of there being 8 worlds that we have access to, 2 of which are feelings and understanding. Carlos always tries to rationalize and analyze things, so it's kept him chained to the world of understanding. The world of feelings is something we are all, of course, quite familiar with. When we think of indulging, we generally think of good things taken too far. Eating too much chocolate, smoking too many doobies in a day, snorting too much coke off hookers' yatches, the usual; however, in this book (A Separate Reality), the shaman constantly scorns Carlos for indulging in negative emotions. This would include doubt, fear, self-pity, and anger, for example. By indulging, we become paralyzed and get swept away in the emotion. Now it makes sense to involve yourself in these feelings as little as possible, but I think if you think about it, often times we succumb to these emotions quite voluntarily. The shaman was trying to teach Carlos how to live like a Warrior and, as thus, he would not have time to waste indulging on such a counter-productive feeling as Fear. He didn't help Carlos figure out how to eliminate fear, he was simply expected to just stop from indulging in it, apparently by exercising self-control/discipline. Usually I try to rationalize (this is where the world of Understanding comes in) practical solutions as to how to reduce certain feelings, thoughts, etc, but perhaps logic isn't necessary. As soon as we identify that we are thinking about these things (fear, doubt, etc), perhaps we can just stop as easy them right in their tracks. Now I'm usually the last one to say something like that, but something like fear, at least in certain situations, arises instantly. So perhaps certain feelings we can't simply reverse as easily, but when we can positively identify it's beginning, perhaps we are better armed to deal with it. Alright, this is verging on rambling now, so I'll leave you with that to ponder....