Monday, January 28, 1963

Anything is one of a million paths [*un camino entre cantidades de
caminos*].  Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is
only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, then you must not
stay with it under any conditions.  To have such clarity you must
lead a disciplined life.  Only then will you know that any path is
only a path, and therefore is no affront, to oneself or to others,
in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do.  But your
decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or
ambition.  I warn you.  Look at every path closely and deliberately.
Try it as many times as you think necesary.  This question is one
that only a very old man asks. [...] Does this path have a heart?  

All paths are the same: they lead nowhere.  They are paths going
through the bush, or into the bush.  Does this path have a heart?
if it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use.  Both
paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, and the other doesn't.  One
makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with
it.  The other will make you curse your life.  One makes you strong;
the other weakens you.

	Don Juan, in 
	*The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge*
	by Carlos Castaneda.