the "not-doing" of the self

From Journey to Ixtlan, this segment of Carlos Castenada's book had me jumping up and down in my seat. To separate the real you from your opinion of you is both difficult and necessary on the journey to an awakened state of being.

From now on and for the period of eight days I want you to lie to yourself. Instead of telling yourself the truth, that you are ugly and rotten and inadequate, you will tell yourself that you are the complete opposite, knowing that you are lying and that you are absolutely beyond hope.

But what would be the point of lying like that, don Juan?

It may hook you to another doing and then you may realise that both doings are lies, unreal, and that to hinge yourself to either one is a waste of time, because the only thing that is real is the being in you that is going to die. To arrive at that being is the not-doing of the self.