Book Review: The Wheel of Time
The Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Mexico, Their Thoughts About Life, Death, and the Universe By Carlos Castaneda
If you know who Carlos Castañeda is, and you like his work, AND you enjoy books that have excerpts of wisdom – this book is for you.
The Wheel of Time collects quotes and short pieces from other Castaneda books, and puts them together in an easy-to-read manner.
This is one of those books you can turn to when you have a problem for which you want guidance. Close your eyes, think of your problem, ask for clarity, and then open the book. An answer should be there for you on whatever page you open. (I’ve tried this with numerous books and found that it does work – sometimes.)
Castaneda focuses on the Toltec Warrior – A person who engages in a battle for personal power, viewing everything in life as a challenge as he/she strives to live impeccably, accepting life’s challenges with humility and courage. It’s a good book to own, refer to for inner strength, and approach for clarity. However, it’s not an easy book to review, in the general sense of reviews, so I’ll just share some of my favorite quotes and you can decide if it aligns with where you are (or are trying to go) at this point in your life.
“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 struggles 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 intent is impeccable, a warrior laughs and laughs.”
“Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore, a warrior must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if he feels that he should not follow it, he must not stay with it under any conditions. His decision to keep on that path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. He must look at every path closely and deliberately. There is a question that a warrior has to ask, mandatorily: ‘Does this path have a heart?’
“Dwelling up the self too much produces a terrible fatigue. A man in that position is deaf and blind to everything else. The fatigue itself makes him cease to see the marvels all around him.”
“The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
