“A man of knowledge begins with fear. When he overcomes fear he develops clarity. This allows him to see the not so obvious and to peer into hidden agendas. The clarity can be blinding and frightening that many revert back into fear. The seeker of knowledge breaks through to power and this can become a trap. It intoxicates him into becoming a tyrant using his knowledge. The man of knowledge develops power over power.”
Don Juan Matus
This is my distillation of the writings of Carlos Castaneda that I was forced to read many years ago to become an apprentice of a “Man of Knowledge.” Today, I was inspired to return to our noble project we started last year as graduates of Wizard Academy’s 2008, World Changers.
In my own experience I was affected by life’s circumstances and got stuck in the second stage, blinding clarity. I lost my innocence and pervasive optimism by seeing into just how deeply racism exists in our great country.
Angel Escalane the little wizard
Today watching legendary New York Times columnist, Thomas L. Friedman give his take on global warming I was infused with a shot of “fear and apathy be gone.” The essence of his comment was, “If you wake me up in the middle of the night and ask me are we screwed? I’d say yes. Once I begin to wake up and look at my daughters, I’d say no. We have the hope of mankind to lead us in the right direction.
Which leads me back to why a committed group of writers banded together to change the world and provide our antidote to racism. Keep in mind this was pre-election of our first Black president.
Where does this noble project go from here, I don’t know. But I can assure you the last thing to die is hope. This comes on the heels of losing my father. He was not perfect but in his own way he was a man of knowledge. Thanks for keeping the fire burning Mr. Oz.
~Victor
