Don Juan speaks of the island of the tonal as something that's in the middle of the ocean ... the nagual.

It is really hard to talk about reincarnation because you have always been and you will always be. You just experience different things in different ways.

All the universes are bound together by a web, a matrix, which is our perception. And our perception actually has colors; it has bands. We call them bands of attention.

When you could be sloppy, you're not. When you could be indulgent, you're not. When you could be sad, you laugh instead. If you fall down, you pick yourself up again and again and again.

The nagual gives you the unknown; it gives you reality; it leads you to the totality of yourself.

Wisdom is seeing that there are templates in the universe that you can follow. They will show you what to do and what not to do. In order to see them you have to make your mind very quiet, very still.

It is as important to monitor your mind constantly as it is to sit down and practice meditation.