A young person just starting her career spoke to me recently about feeling as though she was not “on her right path”. I hear this a lot. I wish I could have shared this passage with her. Perhaps it might have eased her discomfort in knowing that by asking one simple question, the path to take can become a little clearer…
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, 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 to Carlos Casteneda:
“But how do you know when a path has no heart don Juan?”
“Before you embark on it you ask the question: ‘Does this path have a heart?’ If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path.”
“But how will I know for sure whether a path has a heart or not?”
“Anybody would know that. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when someone finally realizes that they have taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill them. At that point very few people can stop to deliberate, and leave the path.”
“How should I ask the question properly don Juan, . . . so I would not lie to myself and believe the answer is yes when it really is no?”
“Why would you lie?”
“Perhaps because at the moment the path is pleasant and enjoyable.”
“That is nonsense. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with a heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.”
– The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, Carlos Castaneda, 1968