Average customer rating:
- Hmmm....
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- Best guide for introducing Toltec wisdom.
- Journey as Allegory
- Not very helpful
|
Journey To Ixtlan
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Castaneda, Carlos
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Similar Items:
-
Separate Reality
-
Tales of Power
-
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
-
The Second Ring of Power
-
Fire from Within
ASIN: 0671732463 |
Book Description
This volume shows the reader the means by which a "man of power" sees, as opposed to merely looking, and how by his concentrated "seeing" he can, indeed must, "stop the world." In it, Carlos Castaneda describes the lessons, the omens, the exercises of the will and body, the arduous trials and tests, the simple yet mysterious demonstrations, the extraordinary visions and experiences by which don Juan, his mentor and friend, prepares him for the task of perceiving things as they are, instead of describing them by the words, conventions and standards of conventional, a priori ideas and language. Here, in the high mountains and in the bright arid desert, Castaneda reaches for power in a series of startling encounters with the unknown--a confrontation with death and the past in the form of an albino falcon, with the twilight wind, with a flesh-and-blood mountain lion, with a mountain fog--and learns the techniques, the concentration, the compassion of the hunter, the man who is "without routines, free, fluid."
Customer Reviews:
Hmmm...........2007-07-01
Probably the most significant book I have ever read. That doesn't say a lot but hey I never like the bible. For some its almost petty to the number of polished novels and books already on the market and waiting for you pocket book. I must say though, this is quite the exquisite example of whats possible in our world or reality to get metaphyiscal. Many of the writes or teachings of castaneda are just that but this book to some is a starting point from which to begin the journey. The not-doings and small samples are just a small example for what in it. I highly recommend this book for anybody. Maybe you'll get hooked maybe not. Either way, some may care to read it.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
Best guide for introducing Toltec wisdom. .......2007-05-30
Over the years, I've read all of Castaneda's books multiple times trying to extract the wisdom embedded within. Along the way, I have also supplemented my reading in other Toltec Lineages: Mares, Eagle Feather, and Ruiz, to name a few. Different lineages branch out in different directions covering diverse ground and the inevitable snipping across boarders of those who negatively critique Castaneda. While all the various traditions offer some insight, I find Castaneda to be the most compelling.
Like the previous commentator, this book contains a distillation of all of Castaneda's books with regards the concepts and exercises for transforming one's life from a common man into that of a warrior. I differ with the reviewer below in that allegory (in my view) is not a major component of Castaneda's book - at least this one! I say that based on my experience and mentorship with Tom Brown ("the Tracker") and living with other indigenous peoples all over the world.
The stories conveyed by Castaneda conducted in the wilderness, on hunting, tracking power, and so forth, ring true with the other teachings I've been exposed to by those indigenous peoples still living in their original ways. The insights and practices on the spirit-that-moves-through-all-things is a common element of all native teachings cross culturally. (And if one doubts that, I invite you to enter an original culture to corroborate the experience yourself!)
My advice is to read this book through a couple of times, and then again a third time, in an attempt to discern the propositions offered. The key is to live out the propositions. Make them your own. The deeper you can engage these concepts into praxis, the deeper the transformation will manifest in your life. Herein the rub: no small task by any means.
I recognize some people will need teachers to engage this system. And for those you have who do need that, an abundance of "teachers" in the Ruiz lineage hang their shingle out, and offer their services for huge fees. If you need that, that is certainly one option. But, you can also do it on your own. Victor Sanchez is another author who has used these propositions on his own and offers a good summary in his many books.
If you do not need someone holding your hand for you, then these insights can be learned directly from the books with a little dirt time. I would also recommend supplementing these books with Tom Browns books and if able to attend his workshops.
Journey as Allegory.......2007-02-17
Journey to Ixtlan, almost summarily, contains most of the wisdom and core ideas found throughout the Castaneda books. This book is really the only one you need to read, in the sense that the best of the storytelling and lesson summaries are all here. Regardless of your opinion of Castaneda's personal life, the lucidity of this storytelling stands on its own merits.
The journey is an allegory, a metaphorical map for one's own journey through life. Cogent lessons from the first 2 Castaneda books are expanded and reiterated here: Becoming Accessible to Power; Using Death as an Advisor; Losing Self-Importance; Not-Doing (Taoist connection); Assuming Responsibility etc.
The fundamental question this book insists on is: How will reading it change you through changing your perceptions of everyday reality? This one bears re-reading several times. Highly recommended.
Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
Not very helpful.......2007-02-09
Don Juan attempts to teach Carlos Castaneda vague lessons by engaging him in a series of nonsensical activities. Many of the themes are common to other spiritual traditions (e.g. breaking routines, becoming inaccessible, not doing, or stopping the world--in the language of this book) and because of this, the reader may have a clue as to what Don Juan is getting at. However, Don Juan consistently spurns Castaneda when he asks for explanations, insisting on showing him instead. Unfortunately, the demonstrations seem to be pointless and nonsensical. Maybe, that's the point, but it gets tiresome to endure this over and over again throughout the book. I'm a big fan of psychedelic drugs and solipsistic thinking, and I approached this book with a great amount of focus but finished it mostly disappointed.
Average customer rating:
- The Fire from Within
- Castaneda
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- Forget your self-help books: try this guide to business survival
- Impeccability and the Art of Facing Infinity...
|
Fire from Within
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Native American
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Shamanism
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Castaneda, Carlos
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Similar Items:
-
Power of Silence
-
The Eagle's Gift
-
The Second Ring of Power
-
The Active Side of Infinity
-
The Art of Dreaming
ASIN: 0671732501 |
Book Description
Each of Carlos Castaneda's books is a brilliant and tantalizing burst of illumination into the depths of our deepest mysteries, like a sudden flash of light, like a burst of lightning over the desert at night, which shows us a world that is both alien and totally familiar -- the landscape of our dreams.
Fire from Within is the author's most brilliant thought-provoking and unusual book, one in which Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan and his "disciples," at last constructs, from the teachings of don Juan and his own experiences, a stunning portrait of the "sorcerer's world" that is crystal-clear and dizzying in its implications.
Customer Reviews:
The Fire from Within.......2007-08-01
I have been a fan of Carlos Castanda since his first novel, the teaching of Don Juan. This book is easily to grapse and interesting to learn about the life of a socery of Don Juan. Carlos experience so many vision in the fire from within. Being abstract, Carlos explain to the reader about his appreanticeship with Don Juan. From his hiliarous antic, Don Juan display his experience growing up as a seer. The book is highly recommended for any type of reader.
Castaneda.......2007-07-01
Like all his books. Difficult subject to discuss. People read it to either follow his path or follow for themselves. Either or great book.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
Forget your self-help books: try this guide to business survival.......2007-05-10
I am very happy to write a short review of this fabulous book which I hope will peak the interest of potential readers.
"The Fire From Within" has a timeless quality like other great works. Although much controversy surrounded Castenada as an Academic who became a student to don Juan Matus to learn the way of the Toltec seers, you cannot criticize Castenada's priceless images of the interactions between him and his benefactors.
As if the entertainment value is not enough, many of the "principles" within don Juan's teachings have high application in the corporate world and for personal success - believe it or not.
You can't discover this unless you read Castenada for yourself, but it should be clear that developing Unbending Intent; becoming Impeccable and gaining control over our Internal Dialogue and Sobriety can have powerful meaning to anyone hoping to focus their lives in a world where good leadership is hard to find and victims are too many.
I would leave my comments at this except for the debate about whether Castenda's tales are fiction or not. I don't think that it matters. Maybe it is just an extreme coincidence that Castenada's ideas can blossom into usefulness. Take the concept of Self Importance, for example. Anyone in America's corporate workplace has seen individuals self-destruct as a result of an over-inflated ego. How about Petty Tyrants? Isn't there always someone in the company who uses their position to torment weaker members of a group?
And what about the achievers who really pull it off? Can you see how their Unbending Intent, Impeccability and Sobriety, were big factors in their success? Of course!
Roy Cuzner, WorldsTallestAgent, Arizona
Impeccability and the Art of Facing Infinity..........2007-05-01
Castenda gives hints and clues toward and ancient philosophy. Specifically he deal's with "Petty Tyrants" - those who use their position and abilities to enslave or torment others - and teaches the reader the art of facing them without flinching.
It is thought, that if one can do this successfully, repeatedly, he can face anything the universe can throw at him. This is the subtle art of becoming Impeccable.
Also reccomended in the superhero 101 collection is Bouris Mouravieff's Gnosis I, Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous, and everything by Georges Gurdjieff.
Fight the Future, Save the World.
Average customer rating:
- Castaneda
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- Words cannot explain
- Dreaming truly is an art...
- Buy it
|
The Art of Dreaming
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Shamanism
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Similar Items:
-
Power of Silence
-
Fire from Within
-
The Active Side of Infinity
-
Separate Reality
-
The Eagle's Gift
ASIN: 006092554X |
Book Description
Bestselling author Carlos Castaneda introduces readers to the worlds that exist within their dreams.
Customer Reviews:
Castaneda.......2007-07-01
Not the greatest but who's to say. Lists some practical guides for dreaming and is still a bit criptive to those not fully involve with the sorcerer's path. Still a recommended read for those not too inclined but interested. Don't know what else to say.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
Words cannot explain.......2007-02-05
The art of dreaming is a book that can help you understand an increase your awareness into the world of dreaming. Once you begin down that path you will never see things the same or experience things with quite the same thoughts or perception. If you can become aware of your dreams you will enrich a large part of your life you once thought of as nothing more than sleep or time away, after you master dreaming... you will never truly be asleep, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to approach the world of dreaming for knowledge and perception and a life long journey.
Dreaming truly is an art..........2007-01-10
Castaneda has shared again the Don's teachings, this time on the dream realm. Other than a dream guide, it is an unusual journey, and reveals a path for shamanic dreaming. This book could put you to sleep - if you want to test his words.
Buy it.......2006-11-17
Buy this book, RIGHT NOW. After you buy it, go buy THE Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep by Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche. Then go buy whatever looks good after that. These books are ESSENTIAL. I NEED CAPS TO EMPHASIS THIS!!!
Average customer rating:
- Surprisingly Good
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- A great read and re-read
- Great Fantasy Novel
- Caveat for Castaneda's first book
|
The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, The Original Teachings in a Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: University of California Press
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Similar Items:
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Separate Reality
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Journey To Ixtlan
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Tales of Power
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Power of Silence
-
Fire from Within
ASIN: 0520217551 |
Book Description
Thirty years ago the University of California Press published an unusual manuscript by an anthropology student named Carlos Castaneda. The Teachings of Don Juan initiated a generation of seekers dissatisfied with the limitations of the Western worldview. Castaneda's now classic book remains controversial for the alternative way of seeing that it presents and the revolution in cognition it demands.
In a series of fascinating dialogues, Castaneda sets forth his partial initiation with don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian shaman from the state of Sonora, Mexico. He describes don Juan's perception and mastery of the "non-ordinary reality" and how peyote along with other plants sacred to the Mexican Indians were used as gateways to the mysteries of "dread," "clarity," and "power." The Teachings of Don Juan is the story of a remarkable journey that has left an indelible impression on the life of more than a million readers around the world.
"For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking breathlessly."--Don Juan
"Carlos Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan, takes us through the moment of twilight, through the crack in the universe between daylight and dark into a world not merely other than our own, but of an entirely different order of reality."--Walter Goldschmidt, from the Foreword
Customer Reviews:
Surprisingly Good.......2007-08-19
I decided to read this book because it is one of the only texts I know of that deals with the spirit of datura. I did so reluctantly because of all I had read in the past about Castaneda being a fraud--either making up the figure of the teacher don Juan or importing his LSD experiences into the background of shamanism, etc. I had also been given a copy of one of his books years ago and thought it was just a lot of gobbledy-gook. But this book is worth reading.
There is good information in this book about at least one person's work with the plant spirits of psilocybin mushrooms, peyote, and datura. I can't speak about the other plants, but the descriptions of how the datura spirit behaves deepened my understanding of this plant. I only wish that the information had been more specific. I am sure also that those interested in working with psilocybin mushroom spirit would have liked to know what the five plants were that were combined with the mushroom to make "the little smoke." A lot of detail is missing.
But this book is also just a good read. The descriptions of his emotions when he is met with various "nonordinary realities" is very good. I found myself drawn in and could hardly put the book down.
The structural analysis of the experience at the end of the book is not well done. It seems clumsily imposed on the material and does not reveal anything more than an attentive reading shows. That part does read like a grad student paper written to fulfill an assignment rather than to elucidate a subject.
The rest of the book makes up for it, though.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
A great read and re-read.......2007-01-05
Read this when it was first published and again last week.
The most interesting thing was to see how my own perceptions have changed over the years but in parallel with this book.
It does question our own belief systems and for that reason I would recommend it for my friends.
With a little luck I'll be around to read it again in another 20 years !
Great Fantasy Novel.......2007-01-04
The Teachings Of Don Juan is the first of Carlos Castaneda's epic, nine-book fantasy saga centered on the mythical Yaqui Indian "brujo" (wizard) Don Juan Matus. In the first novel, Castaneda casts himself as the novice who stumbles upon Don Juan and his ancient magical wisdom, becoming the wizard's apprentice. This is hardly original stuff, we've seen it from Star Wars to The Matrix and in countless space-operas and sword/sorcery epics. Two things make this series unique:
1] As in Frank Herbert's "Dune" saga, psychoactive drugs (mostly peyote and mushrooms) are used to access amazing, superhuman powers. This lends the whole series a hallucinogenic quality, somewhere between psychedelic science-fiction and primitive mythology.
2] Castaneda writes in first person, creating an elaborate mythology from his anthropological studies at various Californian Universities in the 1960's, and perhaps a little personal experience. Written as a first-person journal, you follow the Hero on every step of his journey to self discovery. Of course, Castaneda eventually discovers that he is the Chosen One, and takes the place of Don Juan as "Nagual", or high wizard. Harry Potter, anyone?
The not-so bright side of all this is that Castaneda passed these obvious fabrications off as fact, creating a cult of personality around himself. Former members of his cult went on to write memoirs about their experiences with the "Nagual". It seems that Castaneda, despite being a gifted myth-maker and talented writer, led a self-centered life which hurt many of the people around him.
At any rate, if you enjoy genre epics such as Lord of the Rings and Dune, you will enjoy the unique and transporting saga of Don Juan and Carlos Castaneda. But for true anthropology, look elsewhere. This is just fiction.
Caveat for Castaneda's first book.......2006-05-15
I waited until I had read books 2 - 8 before I read this first book, and I was glad I did, because I wouldn't have read the other books if I'd read this one first. But with the others under my belt, I was able to see what Castaneda was demonstrating out of his bag of tricks, and also could appreciate his maturing by the time he wrote his subsequent works.
My view is that each word in the title is misleading, especially to someone new to Castaneda. The information and perspectives are not from Yaqui tradition, and this book does not represent what don Juan actually taught.
Customer Reviews:
How to get from Here to There (and where to stop in between).......2000-02-24
This book was one of the most important references my wife and I used on our passage from Seattle to Skagway. Not only did it give us ideas on where to go the next day, but where to hide in case the weather didn't cooperate. A must have reference for every boater cruising the Inside Passage.
Average customer rating:
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- The master gives his all.
- Carlos Castaneda's "Active Side of Infinity"
- enthralling
- The Active Side of Infinity
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The Active Side of Infinity
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0060192208 |
Book Description
"Ordinarily, events that change our path are impersonal affairs, and yet extremely personal.
"My teacher, don Juan Matus, said this in guiding me as his apprentice to collect what I considered to be the memorable events of my life. Don Juan Matus was a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico; he was a nagual, a leader of a group of fifteen men and women shamans who traced their lineage to the shamans who lived in Mexico in ancient times. Over the course of thirteen years, don Juan ushered me into the cognitive world of those shamans, a world which was, according to him, ruled by a different system of cognition than the one which rules our world of everyday life.
"Writing The Active Side of Infinity was a response to don Juan's directive to collect such an album of memorable events. Though it seemed at the time that don Juan had given me this instruction on the spur of the moment, as time went by he revealed to me that gathering such a collection was a traditional task given by the shamans of his lineage to their apprentices. Don Juan said that it was called a collection or an album because it was like an album of pictures made out of the recollection of events that had profound significance in the shaman's life, events that changed things for him, that illuminated his path. Don Juan stated that to formulate an album of this nature demanded such discipline and impartiality that it was, in essence, an act of war.
"Don Juan described the total goal of the shamanistic knowledge that he handled as the preparation for facing the definitive journey: the journey that every human being has to take at the end of his life. He said that what modern man referred to vaguely as 'life after death' was, for those shamans, a concrete region filled to capacity with practical affairs of a different order than the practical affairs of daily life, yet bearing a similar functional practicality. Don Juan considered that to collect the memorable events in their lives was, for shamans, the preparation for their entrance into that concrete region, which they called the a active side of infinity.
In this book written in the final years of preparation for his definitive journey, anthropologist and shaman Carlos Castaneda gives us his most autobiographical and intimately revealing work ever, the fruit of a lifetime of experience and perhaps the most moving volume in his oeuvre.
Customer Reviews:
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
The master gives his all. .......2007-01-10
You have to read all the previous works to see how simple it is, otherwise you miss the profundity. He could have been a trickster at one point, but that ws long ago. Don't even dream of starting Castaneda with these later books. Take the time to ground yourself with his earlier works.
Carlos Castaneda's "Active Side of Infinity".......2007-01-04
This is a wonderful book giving many details not chronicled in his previous books of his encounters with his guide don Juan Matus. He wrote this book just before his death, and it gives the reader a great inside glimpse or more into his mind-set at that point in his enlightenment process. Much of what he details in this book happened much earlier in his process. I truly enjoyed reading this and all of the other books I have previously read that he wrote earlier, but this book is one that I intend to keep for further reference and rereading.
enthralling.......2006-06-04
After reading all Castaneda's other works, this one seems to tie them all together in a most favorable way. Read start to finish, randomly, backwards or just a bit at a time. All of Don Juan Matus' remarks are truly magical.
The Active Side of Infinity.......2006-03-16
I have read and enjoyed all of the books written by Carlos Castaneda, with the exception of The Second Ring of Power. However, for the first time, in his book The Active Side of Infinity, I felt that Carlos Castaneda was revealing more about himself, than he had ever done in any of his previous works. I found this book to be an excellent synopsis of his life both before his apprenticeship and during his apprenticeship with don Juan. If you, like me, have been bedazzled by all of the information contained in his earlier works, you will find this a marvellous book for consolidating much of the information that you have read but not truly internalised.
Book Description
In Myths of Modern Individualism, the renowned critic Ian Watt treats Don Juan, Don Quixote, Faust, and Robinson Crusoe as "individualists," pursuing their own views of what they should be. The original Counter Reformation myths saw the individualism of Don Juan, Don Quixote, and Faust as a problem to be quelled by death or mockery. However, the Romantic period, a time more favorably disposed toward myth, saw their dissension not as unacceptable disorder, but rather as admirable and heroic behavior. This incisive study traces attitudes toward these figures and the Romantic product Robinson Crusoe from disapproval to awe to skepticism, examining them as icons of such problems as solitude, narcissism, and the claims of the self versus the claims of the community. Pointedly, none of these figures marries or has a lasting relationship, save for the selfless devotion of a single male servant. Watt argues that the myths of Don Juan, Don Quixote, Faust, and Robinson Crusoe remain the distinctive products of Western society, embodying the most basic values of modern culture.
Customer Reviews:
A Quick Read.......2000-04-10
Watt examines four famous characters from Western literature who have been reincarnated numerous times: Faust, Don Quixote, Don Juan, and Robinson Crusoe. He treats each individually in the first half of the book, and makes comparisions and discusses recent reworkings in the second half. The depth and breadth of Watt's knowledge of his four myths is readily apparent. Still, though, it's an easy read, intended perhaps for the non-expert. Even if you haven't read the original works yourself, it's easy to follow. The book hints at provocative issues in the creation and meaning of myth as well as "individualism," though Watt's theoretical musings aren't as rewarding or complete as his close analysis of the four figures. The work of history and translation on the transformation of myth is a fascinating subject, but Watt's book suggests far more questions than it answers.
Book Description
Drawing liberally from physics, psychology, aboriginal beliefs, and shamanism, this spiritual guide defines, explores, and applies both earth-based psychology and the related idea of path awareness—the innate ability to sense where to turn at a given moment. By drawing together disparate elements of contemporary science and ancient wisdom, it is shown here that new methods emerge of determining the best direction through inner turmoil, relationship trouble, team and community issues, and world issues. Jung's work is taken further and linked with diverse disciplines and wisdom traditions, making scientific ideas accessible to nontechnical readers. Theory and experiential exercises are presented in a simple, imaginative manner, with diagrams and illustrations to strengthen lessons for readers.
Amazon.com
Carlos Castaneda's intelligence shines through as clearly in his updated commentary in the 30th anniversary edition of The Teachings of Don Juan as it does in his original story. It is impossible to encapsulate what Castaneda has achieved with his first book about the teachings of the enigmatic Don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian sorcerer who shared his ancient knowledge with Castaneda. The academic character of The Teachings of Don Juan is evident in Castaneda's in-depth analysis (and sometimes overanalysis) of his experiences with Don Juan, and readers who lack an interest in anthropological analysis may find this section a bit tedious. However, Castaneda's journal accounts flow effortlessly, the current carrying us through his conversations with Don Juan and opening doors to an astounding realm outside the bounds of everyday life. The phrases "life changing" and "earth shattering" come to mind, and perhaps these are just metaphors, but what Castaneda offered in the 1960s is still for many an entirely new perception of reality. --Brian Patterson
Book Description
Thirty years ago the University of California Press published an unusual manuscript by an anthropology student named Carlos Castaneda. The Teachings of Don Juan initiated a generation of seekers dissatisfied with the limitations of the Western worldview. Castaneda's now classic book remains controversial for the alternative way of seeing that it presents and the revolution in cognition it demands.
In a series of fascinating dialogues, Castaneda sets forth his partial initiation with don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian shaman from the state of Sonora, Mexico. He describes don Juan's perception and mastery of the "non-ordinary reality" and how peyote along with other plants sacred to the Mexican Indians were used as gateways to the mysteries of "dread," "clarity," and "power." The Teachings of Don Juan is the story of a remarkable journey that has left an indelible impression on the life of more than a million readers around the world.
"For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking breathlessly."--Don Juan
"Carlos Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan, takes us through the moment of twilight, through the crack in the universe between daylight and dark into a world not merely other than our own, but of an entirely different order of reality."--Walter Goldschmidt, from the Foreword
Customer Reviews:
Beginners excellence!.......2007-10-01
An excellent beginners entry into the world of American Indian sorcery. Relating some pinnacle moments and experiences in the book with my own gave me extra insight into the world of dreams and sorcery. A must read for those that seek more than the boring real world.
Either Way You Win.......2007-04-20
The basics of this book are simple and by now legendary: In the 1960s, a UCLA anthropologist with a rather plodding intellect and disposition meets a mercurial Yaqui Indian sorcerer who astounds him, baffles him, terrifies him, and ultimately -- over the course of many books -- transforms him. The whole story is presented as the unvarnished truth. But is it a true tale or is it a tall tale? There's the rub.
This was the first book in the series, and in many ways, the best. Castaneda was to Don Juan what Boswell was to Johnson, which leaves Don Juan free to do things that absolutely defy physics and rational thought. In the end, the old Yaqui Indian must be either one of the most remarkable people who ever lived, or one of the most vivid characters ever to appear in a work of fiction. But can you trust the author? Unfortunately, Castaneda is dead, so he can no longer be consulted, but this reviewer had a chance once to hear him speak.
Shortly after the publication of The Teachings of Don Juan, Castaneda went on a brief promotional tour. I happened to be attending one of the campuses where he made an appearance. It was around 11 AM and I was drinking a cup of coffee over the student newspaper when I read the notice that Carlos Castaneda would be appearing at noon. I dropped what I was doing and ran over to the auditorium. Though I was a half an hour early, the seats were already almost gone.
Like everyone else, I had read The Teachings of Don Juan, and was hoping for some further mind-bending tales, as well as a chance to "feel the vibe" of this sorcerer's apprentice. Unfortunately, Castaneda turned out to be a far better writer than he was a speaker. As a sorcerer's apprentice, he was most unlikely and unconvincing. Pudgy, soft-spoken, looking stiff and sweaty in a suit and tie, he droned on and on about the "structure" of Don Juan's teachings. In essence, he confined his lecture to the latter third of the book, the part that was most like an academic thesis. From the beginning he gave us precious little that was new or even interesting about Don Juan. There was no chink in the academic armor through which to glimpse the lurking truth.
Since he was still defining himself as an anthropologist at the time, Castaneda might have felt obliged to talk like a professor, or, if you're a skeptic, perhaps he had other motivations, such as pressing the hoax further. It's impossible to say. Most of the audience had met the hookah-smoking caterpillar in person, and were eager to hear something, anything that would enlighten them about Don Juan. A half an hour into the lecture, I was unable to suppress a yawn.
The hall continued to fill during the talk, overflowing into the aisles, and Castaneda called upon everyone to migrate to the lawn behind the University Center. Much to my regret, I took advantage of the opportunity to bow out. If I had known that this was to be one of the only public appearances that Castaneda would ever make, I would have followed the Pied Piper, and perhaps I would be able to recall one word that would help me to settle the question that has gone on nagging me and millions of other people ever since.
In the intervening years I have read all the discussion of Castaneda, pro and con, and now, as I reread The Teachings, I find that I am no closer to an answer. However, I have come to a decision: Since it is impossible to do more than speculate, I have decided to abandon the quest. My enjoyment of the book has expanded as a result. Whether it is a work of imagination or a journal of real-life events, it is a success. To quote one of my professors, "Books are not life, but then what is?" If Don Juan is fictional, he is still real enough. Throughout this book and the others, his persona and behavior are remarkably consistent, and consistently wise and startling. It seems to me that this argues for his reality, though it doesn't rise to the level of a proof.
If you have ever been out in the Southwestern desert at twilight -- what Don Juan called the crack between the worlds -- and felt the awesome silence, then you know that while implausible, the fantastic glimpses of an alternate reality that Castaneda describes can't be dismissed out of hand. The droll manner in which he narrates the incredible encounters with Don Juan and various transcendental, terrifying beings only amplifies their intensity. The effect is enough to pull a grown-up, habitually skeptical Westerner right through the Looking Glass. That is the worth of the Teachings of Don Juan: it reawakens a sense of wonder at the mystery of creation. It breathes new life into Shakespeare's often-quoted, but timeless line that there are things in heaven and earth undreamt of in our philosophy. If Castaneda was telling the truth, then the strangeness is even stranger, but either way, Teachings of Don Juan succeeds. That is why I say that true or false, this book is a five-star experience.
The drama of The Teachings is the confrontation between scientific rationality and the unfathomable mystery of Creation. Perhaps the two are irreconcilable, or perhaps scientific inquiry begins with a sense of wonder, and therein lies synthesis and reconciliation. This is a book that can take you to the brink of the ultimate mystery in an armchair -- without datura, without psilocybin, without peyote. It's mind-altering, and it's safe.
That's a unique achievement, and well worth the trip, if you'll excuse the expression.
since when did smoking weed make you smarter?.......2006-10-27
This so-called "Way of Knowledge" is certainly not a "Way of Wisdom." Before we delve too deeply in these ideas of "becoming a man of knowledge" and all the wacky implications of "alternative realities," let's not forget that knowledge is one thing, and wisdom is quite another. Knowledge is knowing about things - facts, you might say. Wisdom, on the other hand, is knowing how to apply these facts in a sensible way to our own lives. Whenever something like this comes around, we must ask ourselves this question: Is it really wise to throw commonly held, proven, and traditional wisdom in favor of some new, "revolutionary" claims to knowledge?
As far as I am concerned, this don Juan is little more than a 20th century witch-doctor who has smoked too much weed for his own good. Whenever you read an author who is proporting that hallucinogenic drugs can give you knowledge, remember this little tidbit of proven, scientific, empirical information - drugs kill brain cells. His theories of overcoming the "4 enemies" are certainly intriguing. That is, they hold a great deal of truth in any aspect of life, for any human endeavor. The problem is, the endeavor that is undertaken in this book is experimenting with illicit drugs in order to "understand" an ambiguous form of "knowledge" and "reality" that we do not ordinarily percieve. Well of course! When you get yourself high, you hallucinate and see weird stuff. So do people with mental disorders. It's called a disorder for a reason, folks.
While this book may be readable, intriguing, and at times fascinating, I don't buy into a bit of it. Books about Mexican drug-lords posturing as wizards and wiseguys are not for me. I'll stick to the classics, thank you very much - to quality literature that has proven itself to be true over the span of time.
The 1960's were a period of temporary insanity in our culture. In 2006, we've learned the error of our ways, grown up, and sobered up. Let's leave this experimental nonsense where it belongs: in the funny farm.
An excellent read!.......2006-08-17
I found the first half of the book to be extremely interesting and informative. The second half of the book, or strucutaral ananlysis, was not so interesting and made alot of redundant points. With that said i still found the book to be one of the most interesting books i have ever read and i look forward to passing it on to my loved ones.
Fiction or Anthropology.......2006-04-27
This is Castaneda's first book introducing his long apprenticeship with the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan Matus.
Over eight million copies of Castaneda's books have been sold. Although critics have said his work is fiction (not ethnographically accurate), Castaneda maintained his writings were anthropology. In 1973 he was granted a Ph.D. in anthropology by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The value of the teachings is undeniable, no matter how they are classified. By the way, his books repeatedly made the top of the best seller lists for non-fiction books. Castaneda died in 1998.
His first three books include many vivid instances of the use of hallucinatory plants to open doorways into profound experiences of non-ordinary reality. Such magical encounters forced Castaneda to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about what it means to be a man and a human being. By far the most important messages from these accounts are the lessons Don Juan patiently teaches Castaneda about being an "impeccable warrior" following a path "with heart."
In his later years, Castaneda introduced a new way to expand consciousness called Tensegrity, which includes meditations, physical movement exercises, and the integration of a body of shamanic teachings.
Book Description
Carlos Castaneda’s personal history revealed. His Don Juan hoax proved and evaluated. Thirty scholars and laymen celebrate or bemoan his influence on academic disciplines and private lives. 43 chapters; Glossary; 470 References.
“Ethical implications and scientific value”
—Journal of Anthropological Research
“Intellectually stimulating”
—New York Times
“Fresh, lively, and even funny”
—Los Angeles Times
Customer Reviews:
Hilarious hoax-busting.......2003-12-05
The author argues, and convincingly demonstrates, that with his series of bestselling books Castaneda perpetrated "the greatest anthropological hoax since the Piltdown Man." This is a very well written book and among the funniest I have ever read. Perhaps a little more credit should have been given Castaneda as an author of imaginative fiction. His "Journey to Ixtlan" is a masterpiece.
A valuable book on a controversial subject.......1999-05-12
This is a collection of essays critiquing the claims of Carlos Castaneda, whose series of books about the Yaqui 'brujo', Don Juan Matus, have been spiritual bestsellers.
In a series of books beginning with 'The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge' Castaneda presents what he claims are factual interviews with a Yaqui shaman in northern Mexico. The first book recounts Castaneda's inculcation into Yaqui shamanism through a peyote ceremony. The later books downplay the hallucinogenic aspect and present a sort of fantastic mystic existentialism.
de Mille and his contributors assert that the accounts are fabulations. Other accounts of Yaqui shamanism are quite different. Environmental conditions and animal behaviour described are inconsistent with existing conditions in the Sonoran desert. Yaqui use of hallucinogens is asserted to differ from that described by Castaneda. Finally, some critics suggest that the author is a poor stylist.
de Mille discusses Castaneda's academic milieu and possible influences upon the spiritual ideas he presents. While it is plain that de Mille (and most of his contributors) have their minds made up much of the material presented should be of interest even to Castaneda's many fans.
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