Turn to your left and ask advice from your death. It was part of a conversation Castaneda had with the Yaqui sorcerer don Juan Matus. This meaningful sentence is a very powerful message: We have to be aware of the uselessness of our self-importance and of our personal history. Death is our eternal companion, it is always to our left, at an arm’s length. How can anyone feel so important when we know that death is stalking us?
The thing to do when you’re impatient is to turn to your left and ask advice from your death.
(Journey to Ixtlan)
Whenever you feel, as you always do, that everything is going wrong and you’re about to be annihilated, turn to your death and ask if that is so. Your death will tell you that you’re wrong; that nothing really matters outside its touch. Your death will tell you, I haven’t touched you yet.
(Journey to Ixtlan).
Being aware of the importance of such an advisor is a true process to a real awakening to live your life. Let’s imagine the path of a caterpillar:
As the caterpillar dies it’s born into its fullest nature as the butterfly.
