“Stopping the World” and the Journey to Ixtlan – Br. Shankara

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April 5, 2020

In March, we departed from our usual routine of taking up one of the four yogas for detailed study. Instead, over four weeks we introduced a parallel tradition of spiritual discernment and realization, as taught by a brujo of the Toltec lineage — don Juan Matus. This is the final talk in this series.

We know from our study of the Upanishads, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, and the lives of avatars and saints, that there is a level of awareness far beyond the experiences of everyday life. It has various names: Samadhi, Turiya — Swami Vivekananda spoke of it as superconsciousness. Don Juan called it “stopping the world.” He taught his apprentices techniques for accomplishing this feat, and helped them prepare for the awesome next step. His apprentice Carlos Castaneda wrote of that complete life transformation as The Journey to Ixtlan. This Sunday morning we will conclude our study of don Juan and his teachings with an exploration of what it means to stop the world, and complete that journey to freedom.