A Dialogue Between Carlos Castaneda and Master Sosan

[Lois]

 

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A Dialogue Between Carlos Castaneda and Master Sosan

Carlos:
I came for knowledge. Don Juan would say it isn’t given for free — but I’ve heard that your teaching is different. You speak of the Oneness of all things… but how do you feel it in action, not just talk about it?

Master Sosan:
You seek what you already have. As long as you look outward, you pass by the door. You can enter only by leaving the search.

Carlos:
Leave the search? But the warrior’s path is continuous effort: stalking, not-doing, impeccability… If I stop searching — wouldn’t that be the death of spirit?

Sosan:
When the search ends, seeing begins.
Effort is useful to sharpen attention, but useless when you’re already at the destination.
You hold a mirror in your hands, yet you ask for directions to your own reflection.

Carlos:
But the world is opaque. It pushes me in different directions. Energies, intent, the shadow of the human form… it’s all so complicated.

Sosan:
Complication is what the mind creates to feel necessary.
In reality there is neither simple nor complex — only what is happening.
And it doesn’t resist you, unless you clash with it head-on.

Carlos:
Don Juan would say you speak like someone who has lost the sense of importance of his personal story.

Sosan (smiling):
A story is a dream. But you can sleep consciously or unconsciously.
The difference lies in a single thought: “this is mine.”

Carlos:
But what about the path? What about intent? Without it, we lose direction.

Sosan:
Direction exists only when there is someone who walks.
But when Being itself is walking — where could it possibly go?
You want to control the wind, but the wind is already blowing.
Stop trying to point its way — and you will become its movement.

Carlos:
What you’re saying… sounds like not-doing, but distilled to its very essence.

Sosan:
Not-doing is just another name for naturalness.
You try to “not do,” yet even that becomes doing.
I say: stop clinging.
Then everything will be done through you.

Carlos:
You claim there is no path and no walker. Then why are we talking?

Sosan:
To hear the silence between the words.
Once you hear it — the conversation becomes unnecessary.

Carlos:
Still… how will I know that I’ve understood?

Sosan:
When you stop asking.
Understanding is not an answer — it’s the disappearance of the need for an answer.

Carlos:
So… everything I’ve studied, all the techniques, all the experiences — they’re just ripples on the water?

Sosan:
Ripples do not prevent the water from being water.
Your practices do not prevent Truth from being Truth.
But stop calling the ripples deep and important — and then you will see the water itself.

Carlos (after a pause):
I see… but I can’t say I understand.

Sosan:
Then that is the first real step.

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[Sanity Check]

I personally dislike Castenada.

 

He told one of his followers if they needed to find him (post humously) they only needed to drive their sports car as fast as possible into the desert.

 

Remains of said followers were later found in the desert. 

 

Uncool bruh.

[stirling]

AI I am guessing. Carlos comes off as obtuse in this fiction.Is "Sosan" S'eng Tsan? If so, despite the correctness of his replies, I would expect greater depth.

[Lois]

2 hours ago, stirling said:

Is "Sosan" S'eng Tsan?

 

This is the third patriarch of Zen