Controlled Folly

Written in

Oct 22, 2019

I’ve always had hard time understanding Controlled Folly as Castaneda means it. Trying to know what he is talking about is a little frustrating, especially since Don Juan refers to this more than a few times. I found this quote, which helps clear it up.

Controlled Folly means to apply the seven rules of stalking to whatever you do, from the most trivial acts to life and death situations. (Eagle, 291)

Here are the Seven Principles of Stalking, in order. (Eagle, 278)

Know your surroundings.
Discard the unnecessary.
Apply your concentration to deciding.
Relax, fear nothing, abandon yourself.
Retreat for a moment, when needed.
Compress time; never waste an instant.
Never push yourself to the front.

I came up with my own version of Controlled Folly before finding this. It goes something like this:

Act “right for the moment” despite distractions, including your feelings about the situation.

I guess what my definition lacks is clarity about what is “right” because we don’t want to be pressured into a situation by socialization, but be guided by will, intent, Spirit or Infinity. Knowing these things is a different story. Also at hand is your impeccability.

You can find an example of Controlled Folly in action in The Eagle’s Gift, page 290, where Florinda meets Don Juan and he shows her how to get away from her husband–who is poisoning her–so that she not only has a chance to heal, but to separate from him permanently. Florinda’s case is pretty clear-cut as a life or death choice, but what about a situation dealing, say for instance, with a gas-lighting family member or an obnoxious co-worker? I can think of a few scenarios where you would have to know your intent ahead of time and keep it in the forefront of your mind all the while.

By practicing these principles from the most mundane activity to the life or death situations serves to impress upon you the rules so you can move through them quickly, so you internalize them.

You can read some related quotes here.

10 responses to “Controlled Folly”

L

January 29, 2021

I read all of Castaneda’s books in the 80s. All my books were stolen while in storage – a whole other story – but I’ve been looking for a reference to controlled folly for many years without having to buy all the books again. And, thank you, now I know which book to go to. Controlled folly, in my memory of understanding it, is like juggling people’s conditioning, misperceptions, delusions, etc., to a higher purpose which implies of course the juggler has the awareness and strength of intent and will to maintain the juggling until the goal or purpose is reached without causing harm.

LikeLike

Reply
1. Kay
  
  October 14, 2022
  
  Is this like walking and waving high to the neighbors that just steers at you and walking on the road looking at people to play with energy?
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
2. Kay
  
  October 14, 2022
  
  Is this like walking and waving high to the neighbors that just steers at you and walking on the road looking at people to play with energy?
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
3. Anonymous
  
  November 26, 2023
  
  My interpretation is that, when a warrior learns to stop the world, self importance drops away. A man of knowledge now knows that the universe is no longer in a time/space causal realm, his assemblage point has moved from that position. He now must pretend that he lives in a causal world even though he now knows he doesn’t. He is free and plays along, a folly, but controlled. An impeccable warrior.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
C

June 6, 2022

@L: I would call that just simple manipulation.

For me controlled folly is more like handling every situation in a way that is best for you at large. As far as I remember even the dancing of one of don juan’s “friends” was called controlled folly, along with juan’s and genaros’ goofing around all the time. It is the way of conducting yourself so that you can walk your path optimally.

LikeLike

Reply
Anonymous

July 27, 2022

For me, Controlled Folly is the same as the Bodhisattva’s decision to play the game of society, as described in Alan Watts’ Psychotherapy East and West. It’s easy to see this when you take the panoramic view of Buddhism, aided by science, and pan out to see our planet in the solar system, in the galaxy, and we’re nothing but complicated moss growing on a wet stone. It’s our body that keeps us dwelling on the past and future.

LikeLike

Reply
1. Anonymous
  
  July 27, 2022
  
  Don Miguel Ruiz seemed to find a similar state of being once he came down from the pyramid, in Beyond Fear.
  
  LikeLike
  
  Reply
Anonymous

September 16, 2022

playing along knowing that you’re playing along.

LikeLike

Reply
The Number 117 – Wisdom from the Yew Tree Part 1 – Hedge Druid blog

February 28, 2023

[…] sense that is difficult to explain because the reader needs to understand Castaneda’s use of “controlled folly” to understand the…how can I say it, funny side of this. Let me have a […]

LikeLike

Reply
Anonymous

February 8, 2024

(…) My past experiences with him gave me the certainty that somehow he was making everything fit into some mysterious scheme of his. After a long silence I turned to him. His eyes were closed. He began to talk without opening them.

“That man is about to die now,” he said. “You don’t believe it, though, do you?”
He opened his eyes and stared at me for a second. His look was so penetrating that it stunned
me.

“No. I don’t believe it,” I said.

I really felt that the whole thing was too easy. We had come to sit in the park and right there,
as if everything were being staged, was a man dying.

“The world adjusts itself to itself,” don Juan said after listening to my doubts. “This is not a
setup. This is an omen, an act of power. (…)

Carlos did not pay attention to two interesting things about what controlled folly could be at that moment. Understanding what controlled folly is, is hard for Carlos because he felt that the whole thing was too easy.

Unfortunately we all struggle with the fact that controlled folly can be so easy to practice. Then , how can he figured out the difference between ” a setup” and an “omen, an act of power”? By the way Don Juan Matus did not say “There is no setup” he clearly said “This is not a setup. Somehow he does not deny that a setup exists.

Carlos on his side, was confused about the certainty he felt but talked about doubts. Bro, what’s going on ? Couldn’t you see how close to understand controlled folly you are ? Damn !

You can’t control without certainty. Folly is the word we often use to describe what is out of controll of the Tonal life. Then, controlled folly is the hability to apply rules of the Nagual onto the Tonal. But what are those rules or what do those rules refer to ? Carlos gives himself the answer without really catching it.

That is amazing how Carlos prefers to ask question about his douts instead of demand answers about his certainty.

LikeLike

Reply