“He slowly begins to learn – bit by bit at first, then in big chunks. His purpose is faulty his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialize, for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning.” “When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. He hesitated for a while, but then began to talk. I argued that I could not return for some time, and it would be a good idea to write down what he had to say and then think about it while I was away. I insisted again, but he dropped the subject and started to talk about something else.Īs I was getting ready to leave, I decided to ask him once more about the enemies of a man of knowledge. “You must tell me, don Juan, what kind of enemies they are.” Rather, one becomes a man of knowledge for a very brief instant, after defeating the four natural enemies.” One is never a man of knowledge, not really. “To be a man of knowledge has no permanence. When I asked him to explain this point, he replied: He flatly stated that the result of the struggle could not be foreseen by any means, because becoming a man of knowledge was a temporary thing. I asked him if he could use witchcraft or divination to see the outcome of the battle. He said it would depend on my battle against the four enemies – whether I could defeat them or would be defeated by them – but it was impossible to foretell the outcome of that fight. But I insisted on knowing if there were any clues he could use to determine whether or not I had a chance of becoming a man of knowledge. He said no man could possibly tell that for sure. I tried to keep the topic alive and asked him if he thought I could become a man of knowledge. He said it would be a long time before the subject would make any sense to me. “What kind of enemies are they, don Juan?” The enemies a man encounters on the path of learning to become a man of knowledge are truly formidable most men succumb to them.” Anyone can try to become a man of knowledge very few men actually succeed, but that is only natural. “But are there any special requirements a man must fulfill before fighting with these enemies?” “Anybody who defeats them becomes a man of knowledge” “Then, can anybody who defeats these enemies be a man of knowledge?”

A man can call himself a man of knowledge only if he is capable of defeating all four of them.” “Will he be a man of knowledge after defeating these four enemies?” “He must challenge and defeat his four natural enemies.” “Then what must a man do to become a man of knowledge?” “A man who has, without rushing or without faltering, gone as far as he can in unravelling the secrets of power and knowledge.” “A man of knowledge is one who has followed truthfully the hardships of learning,” he said. In our conversations, don Juan consistently used or referred to the phrase “man of knowledge”, but never explained what he meant by it.

The teachings of don juan