Something I have always been interested in are Not-Doings. Carlos and others have mentioned a few specific examples of not-doings in their books and lectures. Things such as tying your shoes from the opposite direction, walking backwards, acting like a barking dog when someone knocks at your door, or acting like an answering machine when someone calls you.

I believe some not doings can be for specific purposes such as la Gorda stuffing a sponge in her mouth to avoid eating. Also in the Eagle’s Gift, Carlos mentions that Silvio Manuel gave him some not-doings that involved being buried and harnessed. And others can be for no other purpose than to create cognative dissonance, such as don Juan having Carlos draw concentric circles in the dirt circling his house.

I know that not-doings generally can be of a very personal nature. But I’d really like to know if anyone out there would feel like mentioning some not-doings that they’ve come accross that may be of interest to others.