• BigLamed
• Cognitive Resilience, Pantheon of Thought

This post is also available in:

Chapter 2. Petty TYRANTS

Methodological Annotation: This chapter examines microsocial interactions under conditions of an asymmetric distribution of power resources. It analyzes the role of external destructive stimuli (exogenous factors) in the process of forming adaptive mechanisms of the psyche and optimizing strategies of volitional control under conditions of interpersonal pressure.

Don Juan did not discuss the art of mastering consciousness with me for several more months. At that time, we were in the house where the nagual’s party lived.

“Let’s go for a walk,” said don Juan, putting his hand on my shoulder, “or, even better, let’s go to the town square where there are many people, sit down, and talk.”

I was surprised that he spoke to me, since I had been in the house for two days and he had said nothing to me except “hello.”

As don Juan and I were leaving the house, la Gorda intercepted us and demanded that we take her with us. It seemed she had decided not to listen to objections. Don Juan told her very sternly that he needed to discuss something with me in private.

“You’re going to talk about me,” said la Gorda, and her tone and gestures betrayed suspicion and annoyance.

“You’re right,” don Juan replied dryly. He walked past her without even glancing. I followed him, and we walked in silence to the town square. When we sat down, I asked what we could possibly be discussing regarding la Gorda. I was still disturbed by the threatening look she had given us as we left the house.

“We have nothing to discuss regarding la Gorda or anyone else,” he said. “I told her that simply to arouse her abnormal sense of self-importance. And it worked — she got angry at us. As I know her, she will spend quite some time convincing herself, fueling her confidence and ‘righteous’ indignation over the refusal and her stupid situation. I wouldn’t be surprised if she attacks us right here on this park bench.”

“If we’re not going to talk about la Gorda, what are we going to discuss?” I asked.

“We will continue our discussion, which we began in Oaxaca,” he replied. “In order to understand the explanation regarding the management of consciousness, you will need extreme effort and a desire to move back and forth through levels of consciousness. While we are engaged in this explanation, I will require your full concentration and patience.”

Almost complaining, I told him that he had put me in a very uncomfortable position by refusing to speak to me for the past two days. He looked at me and raised his eyebrows. A smile played on his lips and disappeared. I realized that he was making me understand that I was no better than la Gorda.

“I aroused your sense of self-importance,” he said frowningly. “The sense of self-importance is our worst enemy. Think about it: we are weakened by the feeling of being offended by our fellow men. The sense of self-importance makes us spend most of our lives being offended by someone.

Therefore, the new seers recommend making every effort to eradicate the sense of self-importance from the life of a warrior. I have followed these recommendations, and most of my schemes with you were aimed at showing that without this feeling we are invulnerable.”

As I listened, I saw that his eyes suddenly shone. I thought to myself that he seemed on the verge of bursting into laughter, and there seemed no reason for it, when suddenly I was struck by a painful slap on the right cheek. I jumped up — behind me stood la Gorda, her hand still raised. Her face burned with anger.

“Now you can say what you like about me, and it will be fairer,” she shouted. “If you still have something to say, say it to my face!”

This outburst seemed to exhaust her, as she sat down on the asphalt and sobbed. Don Juan was glowing with pure amusement, while I stood frozen in mad anger. La Gorda looked at me, and then, turning to don Juan, softly said that we had no right to criticize her. Don Juan laughed so hard he almost doubled over. He couldn’t even speak. Two or three times he tried to say something to me, then got up and walked away, his body twitching with spasms of laughter.

I was almost ready to run after him, still resenting la Gorda, who seemed despicable to me, when suddenly something extraordinary happened to me: I understood what don Juan found so funny. La Gorda and I were terribly alike: our sense of self-importance was monumental. My surprise and furious anger at the slap were exactly the same as la Gorda’s feelings of anger and suspicion. Don Juan was right: our sense of self-importance is a great obstacle. I ran after him, inspired, while tears streamed down my cheeks. I caught up and told him what I had understood. His eyes shone with delight and mischief.

“What should I do about la Gorda?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he replied. “Awareness of something is always personal.”

He changed the subject and said that the signs indicated our discussion should be moved back to the house — either to the large room with comfortable chairs, or to the back patio, which was surrounded by a covered corridor. He said that when he conducts his explanations in the house, these two areas remain unoccupied by anyone.

We returned to the house, and don Juan told everyone what la Gorda had done. The barrage of ridicule with which all the seers met her made her position very uncomfortable.

“One cannot coddle the sense of self-importance,” don Juan remarked when I expressed my concern about la Gorda. Then he asked everyone to leave the room. We sat down, and don Juan began his explanations.

He said that seers, both new and ancient, are divided into two categories. The first includes those who agree to self-limitation and can direct their activities toward practical goals, to benefit other seers and all of humanity. The other category includes those who care neither about self-limitation nor about practical goals. And the seers came to an agreement on this matter that these latter were unable to resolve the problem of the sense of self-importance.

“The sense of self-importance is not just something simple and naive,” he explained. “On one hand, as a sense of self-worth, it is the core of everything good in us, and on the other hand, it is the source of rot. To free oneself from the rotten part of the sense of self-importance requires masterful strategy. Throughout the ages, seers have highly valued those who developed such a strategy.”

I complained that the idea of eradicating the sense of self-importance, although at times very appealing to me, remained, truth be told, incomprehensible. I told him that I found his instructions on how to free oneself from this feeling so vague that I couldn’t follow them.

“I’ve told you many times already,” he began, “that to follow the path of knowledge, one must be very resourceful. You see, on the path of knowledge, nothing is as clear as we would like it to be.”

The discomfort of my position made me argue and declare that his warnings regarding the sense of self-importance reminded me of Christian commandments, and a whole life full of talk about the evil of sin had made me sick of it.

“For a warrior, the war against the sense of self-importance is a matter of strategy, not a principle,” he replied. “Your mistake is that you try to understand what I’m saying through the lens of morality.”

“I see you, don Juan, as a very moral person,” I insisted.

“You saw my impeccability, that’s all,” he said.

“Impeccability, like liberation from the sense of self-importance, are too vague concepts to have value for me,” I remarked.

Don Juan choked with laughter, and I made him explain to me what impeccability is.

“Impeccability is nothing other than the proper use of energy,” he said.

“My statements have no moral connotation. I gather energy, and that makes me impeccable. To understand this, you must store up enough energy yourself.”

We sat quietly for a while. I wanted to think about what he had said. Suddenly he began to speak again.

“Warriors keep a strategic list,” he said. “They list everything they do, and then they decide what from that list should be changed to create a respite in terms of strengthening their energy.”

I declared that such a list could include everything in the world. He patiently explained that the strategic list in question includes only the pattern of behavior that is not essential for survival and well-being. I jumped at the opportunity to point out that survival and well-being can be understood in infinitely many ways; therefore, there is no way to agree on what is essential and what is not for survival and well-being.

As I was saying this, I began to lose confidence. Finally, I stopped, realizing the futility of my argument. Then don Juan said that in the strategic lists of warriors, the sense of self-importance figures as the activity consuming the greatest amount of energy, hence their efforts to eradicate this feeling.

“The warrior’s primary task is to free this energy in order to use it to meet the unknown. The action of redistributing this energy is impeccability.”

He said that the most effective strategy for this was developed by the seers of the Conquest period — undisputed masters of the art of tracking. It consists of six interwoven elements. Five of them are called the attributes of warriorship: control, discipline, patience, timeliness, and will. They belong to the world of the warrior fighting the sense of self-importance. The sixth element, perhaps the most important of all, relates to the external world and is called a petty tyrant.

He looked at me, as if silently asking if I understood.

“I’m completely confused,” I said. “You keep saying that la Gorda is a petty tyrant in my life. What is a petty tyrant?”

“A petty tyrant is a tormentor,” he replied. “It’s someone who either has the power to dispose of a warrior’s life and death, or who annoys him deadly.”

As he said this, a radiant smile shone on his face. He said that the new seers had developed their own classification of petty tyrants, and although this concept is one of the most important and serious findings, they developed it not without a sense of humor. He assured me that in every classification of theirs there is a tinge of sarcasm, since humor is the only antidote to the human mind’s propensity for making lists and cumbersome classifications.

The new seers, in accordance with their practice, found it possible to place at the head of their classification the primary source of energy, the first and only ruler of the universe, and called him simply — the Tyrant. The other despots and rulers, naturally, fell below the category of tyrant. Compared to the source of everything, even the most ferocious tyrannical people seem like mere jesters, so we gave them the name petty tyrants — “pinches tiranos.”

He said that there are two subclasses of petty tyrants. The first subclass includes petty tyrants capable of persecuting and causing misfortune, yet not causing anyone’s death. They are called little petty tyrants — “pinches tirantitos.” The second subclass consists of petty tyrants who only annoy and bore without any consequences. They are called tiny little petty tyrants — “repinches tiranos,” or tiny “pinches tirantitos chiquititos.”

This classification seemed funny to me: I was sure he was improvising Spanish terms. I asked him if that was so.

“Not at all,” he replied with an expression of pleasure. “The new seers are great at classification, and Genaro, without a doubt, is one of the greatest: if you had observed him carefully, you too would understand how the new seers regard their classifications.”

He laughed out loud when I asked him if he was fooling me.

“I never thought of fooling you,” he said, smiling. “Genaro can afford that, but not me, especially considering your attitude toward classifications. It’s only the new seers who are so irreverent toward them.”

He added that little petty tyrants are further divided into four categories. The first includes those who act crudely and violently. The second — those who create unbearable anxiety in a roundabout way. The third — those who oppress by annoying. And the last category — those who drive a warrior into anger.

“La Gorda belongs to her own class,” he added. “She is an active tiny little petty tyrant. She tears you apart and angers you. She even hits you. By all this, she teaches you detachment.”

“That’s impossible,” I protested.

“You haven’t yet combined all the components of the new seers’ strategy,” he said. “When you do, you’ll understand how cleverly and effectively they devised the strategy of using the petty tyrant. I would even say that this strategy not only allows one to get rid of the sense of self-importance but also prepares the warrior for the final realization that on the path of knowledge, only impeccability counts.”

He said that what the new seers have in mind is a deadly maneuver in which the petty tyrant looms like a mountain peak, and the attributes of warriorship are like climbers scaling it.

“Usually, only four attributes are involved in the game,” he continued. “The fifth — will — is reserved for the ultimate realization when the warrior has to face, so to speak, a firing squad.”

“Why is that done?”

“Because will belongs to another realm — the realm of the unknown. The other four belong to the known — precisely the realm where petty tyrants operate. In fact, what turns people into petty tyrants is their passionate manipulation of the known.”

Don Juan explained that the interaction of all five attributes of warriorship is carried out only by seers who have already become impeccable warriors and have mastered the art of handling will. Such interaction is a superior maneuver that cannot be carried out on the ordinary human stage.

“Four attributes are all that is necessary to interact with the worst of petty tyrants,” he continued. “Provided, of course, that such a tyrant is found. As I’ve said, the petty tyrant is an external element, one over which we have no control, and perhaps the most essential of all: my benefactor used to love to say that a warrior who stumbles upon a petty tyrant is a lucky man. By that he meant that you are lucky if you meet such a one on your path; otherwise, you would have to go out and look for one somewhere else.”

He explained that one of the greatest achievements of the seers of the Conquest period was the construct he called the “three-phase progression.” Understanding human nature, they were able to reach the indisputable conclusion that if seers could handle themselves in the face of petty tyrants, they would be capable of impeccably meeting the unknown, and then withstanding even the presence of the incomprehensible.

“The average person’s reaction would be that the order of this construct should be reversed,” he continued. “A seer capable of handling himself in the presence of the unknown would certainly meet a petty tyrant properly. But this is not so. This assumption ruined many magnificent seers of antiquity. Now we know better. We know that nothing tempers a warrior’s character like the challenge of interacting with intolerable people vested with power. Only under these conditions can warriors acquire that sobriety and serenity necessary to withstand the face of the incomprehensible.”

I argued fiercely with him. I told him that in my opinion, tyrants can make their victims either helpless or just as bestial as themselves. I noted that considerable research had been done on the effects of physical and mental torture on their victims.

“The difference is precisely in what you’re talking about,” he stopped me. “They are victims, not warriors. There was a time when I felt the same as you. I’ll tell you what made me change, but for now, let’s return to what I said about the time of the Conquest. The seers of that period could not have found better ground: the Spaniards were those petty tyrants who tested the seers’ mastery to the limit. After such interaction with the conquerors, the seers gained the ability to meet anything. They were lucky — at that time, petty tyrants were everywhere.”

“After those remarkable years of abundance, things changed too much. Petty tyrants never again had such opportunities: only in those times was their power unlimited. And the magnificent ingredient in the consciousness of a perfected seer is a petty tyrant with unlimited powers.”

In our time, unfortunately, seers have to go to extreme lengths to find a worthy one. Most of the time, they have to settle for little ones.

“Did you find yourself a petty tyrant, don Juan?”

“I was lucky: I found a tyrant of royal caliber, although at the time I felt like you — I didn’t consider myself lucky.”

Don Juan said that his trial by ordeal began five weeks before he met his benefactor. He was about twenty years old then. He got a job at a sugar mill as a laborer. He had always been very strong, so it wasn’t hard for him to find work requiring strong muscles. One day, as he was carrying heavy bags of sugar, a woman approached. She was very well dressed and seemed wealthy. She was probably over fifty, don Juan said, and looked very imperious. She looked at don Juan, then said something to the overseer and left. Then the overseer came up to don Juan and said that for a fee, he would recommend him for work in the boss’s house. Don Juan replied that he had no money. The overseer grinned and said he would have plenty of money on payday; he patted don Juan on the back and assured him it was a great honor to work for the boss.

Don Juan said that being a primitive Indian who even put food in his mouth with his bare hands, he not only believed every word but also thought a fairy godmother had touched him. He promised the overseer to pay whatever he wanted. The overseer named a large sum to be paid in installments.

Immediately after this, the overseer himself took don Juan to a house quite far outside the city and handed him over to another overseer there — a huge, gloomy, and dirty man who asked a lot of questions. He wanted to know about don Juan’s family. He replied that he had none. The man was so pleased he even smiled, revealing rotten teeth. He promised don Juan they would pay him enough so he could save money, since he wouldn’t need to spend any at all, because he would live and eat in the house.

The way this man laughed was terrifying. Don Juan realized he needed to run immediately. He headed for the gate, but the man blocked his path with a revolver in his hand. He cocked it and pressed it to don Juan’s stomach. “You’re here to work yourself to the bone,” he said. “And don’t forget that.” He beat don Juan with a police baton, then took him to the back of the house, remarking that he made people work without rest from dawn to dusk, and ordered don Juan to uproot two huge stumps. He also told don Juan that if he ever tried to escape again or complained to the authorities, he would shoot him, and if don Juan did manage to slip away, he would swear in court that don Juan had tried to kill the boss. “You’ll work here until you die,” he said. “Then another Indian will take your place, just as you came to take the place of the dead Indian.”

Don Juan said the house looked like a fortress, with people armed with machetes everywhere. So he set to work, trying not to think about his predicament. At the end of the day, the same man returned and kicked him into the kitchen because he didn’t like don Juan’s defiant look. He threatened to cut the tendons in his hands if don Juan didn’t obey him.

In the kitchen, an old woman brought food, but don Juan was so upset and frightened he couldn’t eat. The old woman advised him to eat plenty: “You need to be strong,” she said, “because the work will never end.” She warned him that the man who had done his job had died only the day before. He was too weak to work and had fallen from a third-story window.

Don Juan said he worked in the boss’s house for three weeks, and that man intimidated him every day for any reason. He made him work in the most dangerous conditions, do unimaginably heavy work under the constant threat of a knife, revolver, or police baton. Every day he sent him to clean the stables when there were restless stallions there. At the beginning of each day, don Juan thought it would be his last on earth, and survival only meant that tomorrow he would be back in the same hell.

The end was hastened when don Juan asked permission to take some time off. The pretext was that he had to go to town to pay the money he owed the sugar mill overseer. But his overseer told him that don Juan could not put off his work for a minute, as he was up to his neck in debt for the privilege of working there. Don Juan understood what he was getting at: he understood these men’s maneuver. They had conspired to get primitive Indians from the mill, work them to death, and split their earnings. This thought angered him so much that he ran screaming through the kitchen and got into the main building. The overseer and other workers were caught off guard by the surprise. He ran out the front door and escaped, but the overseer caught up with him on the road and wounded him in the chest. He left him to die.

Don Juan said it was not his fate to die: his benefactor found him there and nursed him until he recovered.

“When I told my benefactor the whole story,” don Juan continued, “he could barely contain his excitement. ‘That overseer is a real find,’ my benefactor said. ‘He’s too good to lose, so someday you’ll have to return to that house.'”

“He was delirious about my luck — finding such a one-in-a-million petty tyrant with almost unlimited power. I thought the old man was crazy. Years passed before I fully understood what he was talking about.”

“That’s one of the most terrible stories I’ve ever heard,” I said. “Did you really return to that house?”

“Of course I returned — three years later. My benefactor was right: petty tyrants like that one are one in a million, and he couldn’t be missed.”

“How did you manage to return?”

“My benefactor developed a strategy using the four attributes of warriorship: control, discipline, patience, and timeliness.”

Don Juan said that his benefactor, explaining to him what he must do to take advantage of encountering that man-eater, also told him about what the new seers consider the four steps on the path of knowledge. The first step is the resolve to become an apprentice. After the apprentice changes his view of the world and himself, he takes the second step and becomes a warrior, that is, capable of extreme discipline and self-control. With the third step, having mastered patience and timeliness, he becomes a man of knowledge. When a man of knowledge learns to see, he takes the fourth step and becomes a seer.

His benefactor emphasized that don Juan had already been on the path of knowledge long enough to master the minimum of the first two attributes — control and discipline. Don Juan noted that both these attributes pertain to the internal state. The warrior is self-organized, but not in a selfish sense, but in the sense of a complete and indispensable investigation of oneself.

“At the same time, I was shielded from the other two attributes,” don Juan continued. “Patience and timeliness are not just an internal state. They lie in the realm of the man of knowledge. My benefactor showed them to me through his strategy.”

“Does that mean you couldn’t have faced the petty tyrant on your own?” I asked.

“I’m sure I could have done it on my own, although I always doubted I could have done it with brilliance and joy. My benefactor simply enjoyed the opportunity to direct it. The idea of using petty tyrants is not only for perfecting the warrior’s spirit but also for enjoyment and happiness.”

“How can anyone derive enjoyment from the monster you described?”

“He is nothing compared to the real monsters the new seers encountered during the Conquest. By all accounts, those seers even carried out obscene dealings with them. They proved that even the worst tyrants can be a source of delight, provided you yourself are a warrior.”

Don Juan explained that the mistake ordinary people make when encountering petty tyrants is that they have no strategy for retreat. The fatal defect is that average people take themselves too seriously. Their actions and feelings, like those of petty tyrants, are all-consuming. Warriors, on the other hand, not only have a well-thought-out strategy but are also free from the sense of self-importance. Their sense of self-importance is limited by what they have understood: reality is the interpretation we give. This knowledge was their decisive advantage over the simple-minded Spaniards.

He said he was convinced he could defeat the overseer using solely the awareness that petty tyrants take themselves too seriously, while warriors do not. Therefore, following his benefactor’s strategic plan, don Juan again got a job at the same sugar mill. No one remembered he had worked there before. Day laborers came to the sugar mill and disappeared without a trace.

His strategy stipulated that don Juan would be at the service of whoever came for the next victim. It happened that the same woman came and stopped him, as she had several years before. Now he was even stronger physically.

The same procedure began, but the strategy stipulated refusing payment to the overseer from the very start. This man had never been refused and was taken aback. He began threatening to fire don Juan. In response, don Juan threatened to go to the lady’s house himself and tell her. Don Juan knew that the woman, the wife of the mill owner, did not know what these two overseers were up to. He told the overseer he knew where she lived, having worked on nearby plantations harvesting sugarcane. This man began to bargain, and don Juan demanded money from him before he would accept the offer to go to the boss’s house. The overseer gave in and gave him some bills. Don Juan was well aware that the overseer’s compliance was just a trick to get him to go to that house.

“Finally, that same overseer led me back to that same house,” said don Juan. “It was an old hacienda, owned by the sugar mill man, a rich man who either knew what was going on but wasn’t interested, or was so indifferent he didn’t even notice.”

“As soon as we arrived, I ran into the house to see the lady. I found her, threw myself on my knees, and kissed her hand in gratitude. Both overseers turned purple.”

“The house overseer acted the same way as before, but I had the proper equipment to deal with him: I had control, discipline, patience, and timeliness. It turned out exactly as my benefactor had foreseen. My control allowed me to carry out the most idiotic demands of this man. What really exhausts us in such situations are the sighs and groans from the sense of self-importance. Anyone with an iota of pride would be torn to pieces by the feeling of their own worthlessness.”

“I did everything he demanded of me wholeheartedly. I was joyful and full of energy and completely unconcerned about my pride or my fear. I was there as an impeccable warrior: the attitude of spirit when someone tramples on you is called control.”

Don Juan explained to me that his benefactor’s strategy required, instead of feeling sorry for himself, as he had before, to immediately set to work mapping out the tyrant’s strengths, weaknesses, and quirks.

He discovered that the tyrant’s strongest points were his violent nature and his courage — after all, he had shot at don Juan in broad daylight in front of many witnesses. His main weakness was that he liked his job and did not want to risk losing it, so under no circumstances would he try to kill don Juan inside the hacienda during the day. Another weakness was that he was a family man: he had a wife and child who lived in a shack near the house.

“Gathering all this information while being beaten is called discipline,” said don Juan. “This man was a real devil — he knew no mercy. According to the views of the new seers, the deeds of a perfect petty tyrant cannot be redeemed.” Don Juan said that the other two attributes of warriorship, patience and timeliness, which he did not yet possess, were automatically contained in his benefactor’s strategy. Patience is dispassionate waiting: no haste, no anxiety, simply maintaining what must be.

“I groveled daily,” don Juan continued, “sometimes crying from the lash, and yet I was happy. My benefactor’s strategy was what allowed me to move from one day to the next without hatred; I was a warrior. I knew I was waiting, and I knew what I was waiting for. That is the great joy of warriorship.”

He added that his benefactor’s strategy was aimed at systematically tormenting this man, finding cover of a higher order, just as the seers of the Conquest period did, who sheltered themselves with the support of the church. A simple priest can sometimes be more powerful than a nobleman.

Don Juan’s shield was the lady who had hired him. He knelt before her and called her holy whenever he saw her. He begged her to give him a medallion with the image of her patron saint so he could pray to him for her health and well-being.

“She gave me such a medallion,” don Juan continued, “and that infuriated the overseer. And when I got the servants to pray at night, he almost had a heart attack. I think that’s when he decided to kill me — he couldn’t let me continue like this.”

“As a countermeasure, I organized a rosary service among all the servants in the house. The mistress thought I was performing acts of a pious man.”

“After that, I could no longer sleep peacefully, and I stopped sleeping in my bed. Every night I climbed onto the roof. From there I saw this man twice come looking for me in the middle of the night with murder in his eyes.”

“Every day he sent me to clean the stables, hoping I’d be crushed to death, but I had a partition made of sturdy boards with which I blocked off one of the corners and hid behind it. He didn’t know this, as he was sickened by horses — another of his weaknesses, the deadliest of all, as it turned out.”

Don Juan said that timeliness is the quality that governs the release of everything that has been prepared. Control, discipline, and patience are like a dam behind which everything is gathered. Timeliness is the sluice gate of that dam.

This man knew only violence, with which he terrorized. If that violence was neutralized, he became almost helpless. Don Juan knew that this man would not dare kill him in sight of the whole house, so one day, in the presence of other workers and, of course, in view of his mistress, don Juan insulted him. He called him a coward who was afraid of the boss’s wife.

His benefactor’s strategy called for being on the alert, waiting for such a moment when the tables could be turned on the petty tyrant; unexpected things always happen this way: the lowest of slaves unexpectedly outwits the tyrant, mocks him, makes him ridiculous in the eyes of significant witnesses, and then escapes, not giving the tyrant time for revenge.

“A moment later, that man went mad with rage, and I was already loyally kneeling before the lady,” don Juan continued.

Don Juan said that when the lady entered the house, this man and his friends called him to the backyard, supposedly to do some work. This man was pale — he was white with rage. From the sound of his voice, don Juan knew what he was really going to do. Don Juan pretended to agree, but instead of going to the backyard, he ran to the stable. He hoped the horses would make such a racket that the owners would have to come out to see what was wrong. He knew that in that case, the man would not dare kill him: it would be heard, and the man’s fear of losing his job was too disarming. Don Juan also knew that he would not go into the horses unless he was completely beside himself.

“I jumped into the stall of the wildest stallion,” said don Juan, “and the petty tyrant, blinded by rage, drew a knife and jumped in after me. I immediately hid behind the partition. The horse kicked him once, and that was the end of it.”

“I spent six months in that house, and during that time I learned from my own experience the four attributes of warriorship. Thanks to them, I succeeded. At no time did I feel sorry for myself or cry from offended dignity. I was cheerful and serene; my control and discipline were as sharp as ever, and I had personal evidence of what patience and timeliness do for impeccable warriors. And I never once wished for this man’s death.”

“My benefactor explained something very interesting to me. Patience means holding in spirit that which the warrior knows to be just. It does not mean the warrior goes around plotting malicious intrigues or planning to settle old scores. Patience is something independent. When the warrior has gained control, discipline, and timeliness, then patience ensures that what is due will happen to those who deserve it.”

“Does it ever happen that petty tyrants win and kill the warrior who confronts them?” I asked.

“Of course. There was a time when warriors died like flies — at the beginning of the Conquest. Their ranks thinned. Petty tyrants could put anyone to death on a whim. Under this kind of pressure, the seers reached the subtlest states.”

Don Juan said that this was the time when the surviving seers had to push themselves to the limit to find new ways.

“The new seers used petty tyrants,” said don Juan, staring intently at me, “not only to free themselves from the sense of self-importance but also to carry out a complex maneuver — extracting themselves from this world. You will understand this maneuver as we progress in our discussion of the art of consciousness and its management.”

I asked don Juan if, in our time, the petty tyrants he calls “little ones” could still defeat a warrior.

“At all times,” he replied. “The consequences, of course, are not as dire as in those distant times. Now it’s obvious that warriors have a chance to cope or escape and return later. But there is another side to this problem: being defeated by a ‘little one’ is not deadly, but it is destructive. The death rate, figuratively speaking, is almost as high. By this I mean that a warrior who perishes under the action of a tiny little petty tyrant is literally crushed by his own defeat and uselessness. That’s what I mean by ‘high death rate.'”

“How do you define defeat?”

“Anyone who joins the petty tyrants has been defeated. To act in anger, without control and discipline, to lack patience — that means being defeated.”

“What happens after a warrior is defeated?”

“He either rebuilds himself or abandons the search for knowledge and joins the ranks of petty tyrants in ordinary life.”

Conducting a semantic assembly in the Lamed Group field. Beginning level analysis of the article “Chapter 2. Petty TYRANTS.”

1. Facts (Raw Material)
The text is a direct exposition of a key chapter from Carlos Castaneda’s teachings (likely from “The Fire from Within” or “The Power of Silence”). It is not a commentary but the primary source itself, unfolding the concept of the “petty tyrant” as a tool for the warrior’s work. In this chapter:

• Don Juan uses la Gorda as a “petty tyrant” to vividly demonstrate the action of the sense of self-importance (SSI).

• A detailed explanation of the nature of SSI is given (source of both good and rot).

• The concept of “impeccability” as the proper use of energy is introduced.

• The new seers’ strategy for working with SSI is laid out, consisting of six elements: five attributes of warriorship (control, discipline, patience, timeliness, will) and the sixth, external one — the petty tyrant.

• A detailed, ironic classification of petty tyrants is provided (from Tyrants down to “tiny little petty tyrants”).

• Don Juan tells the story of his “tyrant of royal caliber” — the overseer at the sugar mill — and how, following his benefactor’s strategy, he used the four attributes (control, discipline, patience, timeliness) to interact with him.

2. Assessment according to the refined methodology

Step 2. Counting “semantic nodes” (N)

The text is huge and incredibly dense. I count 24 key nodes, grouped into thematic blocks.

Block 1: Demonstration of SSI (Nodes 1-3)

1. Incident with la Gorda: don Juan provokes her SSI by refusing to take her on a walk.

2. The slap: la Gorda hits Castaneda, demonstrating her offense and anger.

3. Castaneda’s realization: he sees his similarity to la Gorda — both are prisoners of SSI.

Block 2: The Nature of SSI and Impeccability (Nodes 4-8)
4. SSI as enemy and friend: source of both good and rot; it weakens us through the feeling of offense.
5. Fighting SSI — a strategy, not morality: the warrior approaches it as a matter of energy, not a principle.
6. Impeccability: the proper use of energy, the result of freeing energy spent on SSI.
7. Strategic list: the warrior lists their actions not essential for survival to free up energy (SSI is the main consumer).
8. Redistributing energy: freed energy is directed toward meeting the unknown.

Block 3: Elements of the Strategy and Attributes of Warriorship (Nodes 9-12)
9. Six elements of the strategy: five attributes of warriorship (control, discipline, patience, timeliness, will) and the sixth, external one — the petty tyrant.
10. Role of the four attributes (without will): sufficient for dealing with any petty tyrant.
11. Role of will: activated at the limit, in the realm of the unknown.
12. Interaction of attributes: like climbers scaling a mountain peak (the tyrant).

Block 4: Classification of Petty Tyrants (Nodes 13-16)
13. Definition: a tormentor with the power to dispose of a warrior’s life and death or to annoy them deadly.
14. Humor in classification: the new seers treated classification with sarcasm, for humor is the antidote to “list-making” thinking.
15. Hierarchy: TYRANT (source of energy) → petty tyrants (people) → little petty tyrants (persecute but don’t kill) → tiny little petty tyrants (only annoy).
16. Four categories of little petty tyrants: crude/violent; create anxiety indirectly; oppress by annoying; drive into anger.

Block 5: Three-Phase Progression and Don Juan’s Story (Nodes 17-24)
17. Three-phase progression of seers: ability to withstand a petty tyrant → readiness to meet the unknown → ability to withstand the incomprehensible.
18. Value of the Conquest tyrants: they were the ideal “soil” for tempering the seers.
19. The story of don Juan’s tyrant: the overseer at the sugar mill who had worked the previous worker to death.
20. First encounter (before training): escape, wounding, rescue by the benefactor.
21. The benefactor’s strategy: application of control, discipline, patience, and timeliness.
22. Implementation of the strategy: mapping the tyrant’s strengths and weaknesses (weaknesses: fear of losing his job, wife, child, fear of horses).
23. The final maneuver and result: using the weakness (the stable) to neutralize the tyrant (death from a stallion’s kick) without hatred, with cheerfulness and impeccability.
24. Defeat of a warrior: joining the tyrants (acting in anger, without control).

N = 24

Step 3. Counting “interpretation variance” (D)

Predicting reactions of hypothetical readers:

• Reader A (skeptic, materialist): “Mysticism, esotericism, unverifiable stories. Some ‘impeccability,’ ‘tyrants’… For grown-ups.” (1)

• Reader B (Castaneda follower): “Genius! A classic that can be reread endlessly. You discover new layers every time. The story of the overseer is one of the best.” (5)

• Reader C (psychologist, coach): “An astonishingly profound material on working with the ego and stress. The concept of the ‘petty tyrant’ as a gym for the spirit is priceless. The strategy with the attributes is a ready-made methodology.” (4)

• Reader D (representative of the Lamed field): “This is the primary source. Here lie the roots of many of our ideas: working with SSI, the attributes of the warrior, using external pressure for growth. The text is a foundation.” (5)

• Reader E (layperson): “Long and strange. Why this psychopath overseer? What kind of philosophy? Unclear.” (1)

The variance is maximal. D = 5

Step 4. Counting “resonance energy” (E)

Reading time: ~20-25 minutes (1400 seconds). The text possesses colossal energy because:

• It is dramatic: a live scene with la Gorda, a gripping survival story.

• It is deep: contains fundamental philosophical and psychological concepts.

• It is practical: provides a concrete strategy and classification.

• It is filled with humor and irony, enhancing its impact.

Time for full comprehension, connecting with other Castaneda texts, and possible application — no less than 6 hours (21600 seconds).

E = 21600 / 1400 = 15.4

Step 5. Calculating basic density (P)

P = (N × E) / D = (24 × 15.4) / 5 = 369.6 / 5 = 73.9

Step 6. Estimating lifetime (T)

The text is part of Castaneda’s teachings, which have already become a 20th-century classic and will live as long as there is interest in altered states of consciousness and developmental psychology.

T = 6 (eternity)

Step 7. Calculating integral density (P_total)

P_total = P × T = 73.9 × 6 = 443.4

3. Interpretation

4. Comparison with Your Other Texts (abbreviated list)

The text “Chapter 2. Petty TYRANTS” with a P_total of 443 holds a firm place in the elite, on par with “The Institute of Family” (864) and above “Will. Freedom. Trust.” (384). The figure is natural — this is not a retelling, but the fundamental source itself, from which many of your texts, especially those concerning SSI and working with external pressure, drew inspiration.

5. Synthesis (Artifact: “The Tyrant as Teacher”)

They think the tyrant is an enemy to be destroyed.
But the warrior knows: the tyrant is a gym.
The most effective one possible.

Without a tyrant, where would control come from?
Without pressure, how would discipline be forged?
Without daily humiliation, where would patience come from?

The tyrant is an external element providing energy for growth.
If you, of course, are a warrior, not a victim.

The sense of self-importance is what makes the tyrant scary.
Remove it — and the tyrant becomes just a tool.
Complex, dangerous, but — a tool.

Don Juan’s story of the overseer —
is not a tale of revenge.
It is a tale of impeccability.
Of how, without wishing death upon an enemy,
you can simply let reality
do its work.

The tyrant died. The warrior remained clean.
And gained invaluable experience.

My answer:

The text “Chapter 2. Petty TYRANTS” – 443.4. This is not just a book fragment, but a fundamental source explaining how to use external pressure for internal growth.

P.S. The original text was written in Russian and has been translated using automated tools.