Castaneda's "Not Doing"

*Ok, I realize this subject involves Castaneda, and the first instinct most people have is to shove this into beyond dreaming. But paranormal and supernatural doesn't necessarily mean bullshit, only that there isn't enough scientific knowledge to fully explain what's happening.

In this instance, I've believe I've come up with a very logical and relevant explanation, so don't anyone fucking dare shove this into the bullshit section.

I believe this topic can be discussed rationally and would really appreciate hearing what normal "sane" people think of this concept.

And thanks to SpiritOfTheWolf for making me think of this. That's why I love this site. So many people with so many different views really gets you thinking.


When going over your dreams, you find TONS of dream signs that should have tipped you off that you are dreaming. But they usually don't, we go along with them like we're on autopilot or something. Learning to recognize those dream signs is a minor form of "not doing".

I recently heard that the average person spends about 85% of their day on autopilot. To use a dreaming analogy, that means we are only lucid about 15% of the time on an average day. The rest of the time we react out of habit, which requires absolutely no conscious thought. That autopilot is the exact opposite of lucidity.

Those percentages are reflected in our dreams, which is what makes it difficult to get lucid. To increase the odds of getting lucid, we need to drastically cut down that 85% of autopilot time.

This is what "Not Doing" was designed to do. "Not doing" consists of consciously not doing all those things we do mindlessly out of habit on autopilot mode. It doesn't necessarily mean not doing all those things, it can mean doing them differently. It can be as simple as brushing your teeth with your left hand instead of your right hand.

The point is you have use conscious thought to come up with something new, thereby breaking up those extended periods of autopilot syndrome. This will slowly increase your amount of RL lucid time and diminish the amount of time you spend in mindless autopilot mode.

All reality checks are in fact a form of "Not Doing". The problem with reality checks is that they are limited to one small portion of your daily autopilot routine. I would think that even the most devoted reality checkers only manage to lower the percentage of autopilot time by a few points.

The goal should be to get that percentage of autopilot time from 85% down to under 50% in order to acheive real results. And asking yourself if you're dreaming isn't even really necessary, only staying conscious.

This method should not only increase the frequency of your lucid dreams, but also considerably extend the length of them as well.

Seems obvious, but really isn't. Definately true though about being on autopilot so it makes logical sense to be more aware in the waking world = more aware in the dream one.

Interesting point.

Wow, this has just blown my mind. I truly believe that the reason I have been good/productive at LDing since day 1 is because I rarely do "routine" things. I'm one of those people that don't like to plan ahead. I often go places and do things on the spur of the moment. I also change plans that I already have quite often, lol. I never shower/eat/get dressed at the same time as previous days. I'm very unorganized and random. Really the only routine thing I do is smoke. That is a nice observation Cusp.

Is this really a Castaneda thing? It sounds like general awareness, to me. I'm not a real fan, but I don't remember him making a point about this. I always took his "not doing" as an existentialist view of the world.

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Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

Is this really a Castaneda thing? It sounds like general awareness, to me. I'm not a real fan, but I don't remember him making a point about this. I always took his "not doing" as an existentialist view of the world.

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I agree, this is more common sense in a manner of speaking, not something anyone can take credit for.

I can see how it all relates. Especially with the holistic view of the world and dreaming that you seem to share, Cusp. The idea that stopping thought can let you more fully experience the world is common to many philosophies. I just never, specifically, got the connection to dreaming from Castaneda's writings. That is probably my oversight. Like I said, I was never that into his stuff.

Which book would you suggest I re-read to get a better picture of this concept? I'm way into this from a Buddhist perspective, and would love to get a fresh view on it.

i really enjoyed that post. nice work Cusp!

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Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

Which book would you suggest I re-read to get a better picture of this concept? I'm way into this from a Buddhist perspective, and would love to get a fresh view on it.

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Beats me, been too long since I read them all. I doubt there is any one of his books that goes into it that much, since Castaneda himself didn't seem to understand what it was about. To him it was only something he was told to do.

this topic inspired a quote i just came up with.
"How can you be aware that you're dreaming, if you're never aware that you're awake?"

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Originally Posted by JamesLD

this topic inspired a quote i just came up with.
"How can you be aware that you're dreaming, if you're never aware that you're awake?"

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I like that!

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Originally Posted by The Cusp

I like that!

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Thank you for the inspiration!

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Originally Posted by The Cusp

Beats me, been too long since I read them all. I doubt there is any one of his books that goes into it that much, since Castaneda himself didn't seem to understand what it was about. To him it was only something he was told to do.

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Told by whom?

Don Juan Matus do not exist. He is fiction.

It is quite obvious when one uses critical analysis, the plagiarism is extensive, the obvious errors about the Yaqui people and traditions, and the logical and chronological errors in his narrative.

Now, you can accept his concepts and philosophies and still see his work as creative fiction, but ignoring the blatant lie is :boggle:

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Originally Posted by Specialis Sapientia

Told by whom?

Don Juan Matus do not exist. He is fiction.

It is quite obvious when one uses critical analysis, the plagiarism is extensive, the obvious errors about the Yaqui people and traditions, and the logical and chronological errors in his narrative.

Now, you can accept his concepts and philosophies and still see his work as creative fiction, but ignoring the blatant lie is :boggle:

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That's not what this thread is about in the least.

What a fascinating post, The Cusp. Very thought provoking. This really has me thinking: How can we get out of autopilot? Perhaps we could start a separate thread with ideas?

One possibility I'm thinking of is Dicing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice_Living

Dicing is where you write down say, six options, and roll a dice to decide which to do.

eg: 1) Walk dog
2) Drink coffee
3) Watch TV
4, 5, 6

You could also, perhaps, write six further options to decide HOW you carry out the task. Eg: Walking Dog

1) Don't take a ball, let him find a stick
2) Let him off the lead and run
3) Make it a longer walk than usual
4) Go a different route
5) Stop off at the shops and buy him a treat
6) Ask your partner if they want to come

Of course, you probably wouldn't want to take a dice and pen/paper with you everywhere, so maybe you could create some "prompters" (similar to dream signs, I guess) that decide your behaviour. Eg, "another dog owner" could be a prompter, so you could create the option: "I won't let him off the lead until I see another dog owner." So, you'd be more aware in the moment while you look out for another dog owner.

Also, there's mindfulness, where you use all your senses to enhance your awareness in the present moment.

Also, there's false limitations. So, when you're doing something, you could, for example, see how you manage doing the task with your eyes shut for 30 seconds. Or you say, do a menial task (like washing dishes) but set yourself the limitation of holding the sponge with only four fingers etc.

I shall have to think about this!

Another simple one you can do is to set out to double or half the amount of an action you do in a specified time.

For example, once I was at a party and bored. I picked a time duration: the next hour, and thought about what behaviour I could double or half in the next hour. I chose: talking. So, in the next hour I was constantly looking for ways to start conversations and continue them. I'm pretty sure this would be a good way to get out of autopilot and make you aware in the moment. (Interestingly, at the party I think I did more than double the amount of talking I did; my girlfriend asked me why I was talking so much :lol: )

Great thread, makes sense.

Try gazing at shadows instead of looking at the objects

Try walking backwards.

Gaze at mountains, clouds.

Journey to Ixtlan is the best book to read if you want to find out about Not Doing.

to get out of auto pilot the last couple days ive just been a lot more aware of the world around me, trying as much as i can to be lucid in waking life.

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Originally Posted by Robot_Butler

Is this really a Castaneda thing? It sounds like general awareness, to me.

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Quite. Actually no need to mention Castaneda at all in the initial section.

But then most cults do like to plant kernels of truth into the bullshit to sweeten the pill.

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Originally Posted by JamesLD

to get out of auto pilot the last couple days ive just been a lot more aware of the world around me, trying as much as i can to be lucid in waking life.

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yesterday I shaved and brushed my teeth with my left instead of right hand. That does force you to pay attention to what you are doing.

This is really very interesting, Im going to have to try this :) nice work!

This sounds like a challenge, but I'll try to think more about my actions.
The dice thing by TheWeirdness is epic :D

It's a good point. I don't know that the real problem is the autopilot, though.

There is a good reason for having an autopilot to begin with. When you learn any new skill, at the beginning it takes conscious control to exercise it, and therefore it absorbs most of your conscious attention. For example, learning to walk is a big effort to begin with, requiring a deliberate effort to move various muscles in coordination, maintain balance, etc. Driving is also the same kind of experience, operating the clutch, looking at the road signs, etc.

The final part of the learning process for any new skill is to automate it, meaning to let the unconscious deal with the details, so that your conscious mind is freed up to learn new stuff.

I think the problem is not the automation mechanism, but the fact that you stop learning new things. You carry out existing tasks in an automated way using your acquired skills, and you learn nothing new, because you are lazy, lack curiosity, are tired, whatever. In that case you go through most of your adult life in a daze, since your conscious mind is not occupied in any way.

What is the solution, though? To go backwards, returning to manual mode in relation to tasks that are already on auto-pilot? I don't think so. The solution is to become curious again about the world, as you were all during childhood, and in that way your conscious mind becomes engaged again throughout the day.

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Originally Posted by soreal

Journey to Ixtlan is the best book to read if you want to find out about Not Doing.

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Journey to Ixtlan is also the best book to start with if you want to read Castaneda. In addition to "not-doing", he also stressed disrupting routines as important.

It's tricky, as once you get used to disrupting your routine, it's easy to lapse into doing it in a routine way. You can break autopilot for a while, but then you get used to it and you're back in autopilot. Difficult to stay fresh.