Excerpt from The Wheel of Time, by Carlos Castaneda

[Apech]

I can't accept any of the arguments made here about CC. With the exception of Magical Passes - which I regard as a commercial enterprise - all the books are startlingly alive and full of ideas which have an immediate impact on the reader (supposing the reader is receptive to them). He himself on the other hand shows all the qualities of a man not up to the task ... the task being that of acting as the Nagual for others. Its not the 'lies' but the manipulation and sexual jealousy (the Wallace book) that demonstrate this ... in fact this mirrors exactly the fate of the so called three-pronged Nagual which he is supposed to have become in the books.

 

In the books there are a multitude of accurate and meaningful observations and practices which are, no matter how much he a a writer may have lied, in themselves true. I do not accept that the assemblage point is a fantasy as another poster put it and his descriptions of altered states of consiousness ring true (although in the later books the 'blue scout' and the flyers do seem to be the products of increasing imbalance).

 

I have no way of proving it or otherwise but I have always felt that CC did meet someone - (or possibly some people) - who did know what they were doing - and this inspired him and gave him valid teachings. What failed was his attempt to perpetuate those teachings properly. I do not accept that the whole of what is in the books is just bits and pieces gleaned from other writers and sources. Some of it is just too accurate.

Edited December 9, 2010 by Apech
spelling

[al.]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8575648331106173390#

This is an admirable investigation into what went wrong.

Also of interest- Howard Y. Lee. This qiqong master tought Carlos Casteneda qigong!
Note the dedication in 'The Eagle's Gift' to HYL.

a

[Vajrahridaya]

This is a good exposure of the truth of CC's abuse and fraudulent claims.

[Mark Foote]

Thanks for the video; as I reflect on it, I think the most interesting part of it for me was the set of movements that he taught. I taught myself Xing Yi stretches out of a book, and I still like the set of 16. I took Tai-chi briefly when it was taught free in a local park, and I still practice and enjoy the first part of Chen Man-Ch'ing's set. I still feel that my well-being draws me to "make the inside as the outside, and the outside as the inside", and the lotus is my teacher, but so is rock and roll. I love the American Indian belief that plants have a teaching for us, and yet I only feel safe in the distinction of inbreath and outbreath as a practice. Movement beyond doubt; is that not the life of integrity that was the centerpiece of Don Juan's teaching?

[Vajrahridaya]

Movement beyond doubt; is that not the life of integrity that was the centerpiece of Don Juan's teaching?

 

There is no question that he stole from great teachings and utilized them in his fraud.

 

The thing is, is that he didn't get permission to do this from the people who's teachings he exploited for his own gain.

 

These people don't like him for saying the things he said as he did mis-represent them. That might just be there own ego talking, but still. It's funny and sad that people are still coming around those villages and asking for Don Juan, a person who never existed except in CC's own imagination.

 

Anything can be inspiring and one Guru said that a great disciple can learn great things from a false Guru. So, it has everything to do with you, but that doesn't justify his actions. Also, poor villagers man! Come on!

 

But yeah... keep breathing! I like that space between breathes.

[Mark Foote]

 

But yeah... keep breathing! I like that space between breathes.

 

 

The video made clear that some American Indian tribes have suffered because of Castenada's accounts. I believe the US Supreme Court has ruled that tribes here are not exempt from laws that criminalize the use of peyote and other psychotropic plants, just to further the U.S. contempt for the sovereignty of the Indian nations. Hemp is outlawed too, and you can't trust the water downstream from a white man.

 

The space between breaths is exactly where I find the occurrence of consciousness impacts the fascial stretch to generate the feeling that allows the realization of the length of the particular movement of breath.

[Vajrahridaya]

The video made clear that some American Indian tribes have suffered because of Castenada's accounts. I believe the US Supreme Court has ruled that tribes here are not exempt from laws that criminalize the use of peyote and other psychotropic plants, just to further the U.S. contempt for the sovereignty of the Indian nations. Hemp is outlawed too, and you can't trust the water downstream from a white man.

 

Hmmm, state law in NY allows for it within ceremonial settings. I guess they're law contradicts federal law. Same as the California Cannibus Clubs?

 

The space between breaths is exactly where I find the occurrence of consciousness impacts the fascial stretch to generate the feeling that allows the realization of the length of the particular movement of breath.

 

Or something like that... hehe! I like that tingling relaxation, that instant first jhana feeling you get when you hold that space for a split second longer than usual and rush the prana through the body.

[宁]

http://www.thetaobums.com/index.php?/topic/5348-encounters-with-the-nagual/

 

 

Welcome to my truth!

[Mark Foote]

Hmmm, state law in NY allows for it within ceremonial settings. I guess they're law contradicts federal law. Same as the California Cannibus Clubs?

 

 

 

Or something like that... hehe! I like that tingling relaxation, that instant first jhana feeling you get when you hold that space for a split second longer than usual and rush the prana through the body.

 

Interestin', 'bout NY law! Yes, it's strange, the medical marijuana thing in California, and I think in 2011 1oz gets a traffic citation here...

 

I think we are talking the same experience, on the first jhana, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I can make it happen. I do think it has to do with the breath; when I practiced hypnosis on friends in my high school years, and on myself, the patter was all about the breath- relaxing on in-breath, on out-breath. And when you say hold the space, for me I look to realize a stretch in the movement of breath solely as a part of realizing the length of the breath. This doesn't happen unless I am open to my mind being placed by these autonomic respirations, the one in the stretch (cranial-sacral) and the one in the breath. I look for that absorption and ease, and that's classical first jhana, and I look to be able to dance on or walk on- fool that I am! Prana through the body, a? maybe... just looking for the feeling I need in this funny life, like a Tinkerbelle light!

[Vajrahridaya]

 

I think we are talking the same experience, on the first jhana, but I wouldn't go so far as to say I can make it happen. I do think it has to do with the breath; when I practiced hypnosis on friends in my high school years, and on myself, the patter was all about the breath- relaxing on in-breath, on out-breath. And when you say hold the space, for me I look to realize a stretch in the movement of breath solely as a part of realizing the length of the breath. This doesn't happen unless I am open to my mind being placed by these autonomic respirations, the one in the stretch (cranial-sacral) and the one in the breath. I look for that absorption and ease, and that's classical first jhana, and I look to be able to dance on or walk on- fool that I am! Prana through the body, a? maybe... just looking for the feeling I need in this funny life, like a Tinkerbelle light!

 

Yes, that's exactly it. You say it very well... Too funny... yes... like the tinkerbelle dust.

[manitou]

Apparently Castaneda brings up some deep emotions in people; pro and con.

 

I guess my final thought is this - the series of books, I don't believe, was ever intended for anyone to take the events literally. At the first of the series, Carlos makes it clear that don Juan Mateus was not a real person, and this was a made-up name. To the best of my recollection without going back and getting my old books out, Carlos was never shy about telling us these things happened in a separate reality. One of the books, in fact, was titled A Separate Reality. This is merely the realm of lucid dreaming, which many on this site are capable of doing, if we are to believe what our friends say. Don Juan, the fictional character, was probably a compilation of many sources of the Toltec wisdom; the important thing is that it's getting passed down. However, to say these things didn't happen, just because they didn't happen in this particular sphere or reality, isn't quite right. They did happen in a parallel and separate reality. This was the reality that Carlos first found through use of hallucinogens and later without the need for them. don Juan had gotten to the point, as a nagual, that he was capable of including Carlos in his dreams with Carlos' awareness. They had a twin experience. We know that we can go out of body; no doubt everyone here has their own method for journeying. East and West share these teachings. And we also know that one who can manipulate his dreams can also develop the skill of including others in the lucid dream.

But the underlying path to self realization is contained within the series of books. Here are a few of the concepts that come to mind; there are probably others that I'm not thinking of at the moment. These concepts are all vital for self-realization or self-awareness.

 

KNOCK OFF THE INTERNAL DIALOG.

 

This was a constant and recurrent theme in the books. It's one we discuss often on this website. The volley of words that stream between our ears at any given moment, our consciousness, is the very thing that don Juan repeatedly had to instruct Carlos about. This must be stopped for any Truth to get through. This goes to stopping the judgments, the superstitions, the bad words we silently say when someone cuts us off in traffic. This was a huge requirement in his shamanic instruction. It doesn't differ from any other road to self-awareness that I can see. And this, of course, is what meditation is all about.

 

LOSE THE SELF-IMPORTANCE

 

This is huge. It means finding a way to push ego out of the way and not let it control us, our actions, our words. Carlos had a lot of losing of his self-identity (anthropoligist) to do; he came to don Juan (or whomever)full of himself and sure of his tight-as-a-wound-spring left brain mental capacities. Those were the very things that were getting in the way of Carlos' development; the old identity and the pride that went along with it. Carlos lost his up-tight identity in a pretty big way during the first book or two when he was ingesting copious quantities of hallucinogens at the beginning of his quest. But not only did the hallucinations aid him in seeing the separate reality of don Juan's creation, but they must have gone a long way in tamping down his ego. After all, how cool can you think you are when you come to in the desert repeatedly, often with bodily secretions present and accounted for. I almost felt Carlos' pain during the gradual death of his ego, which was a slow and painful death.

 

THE RECAPITULATION OF A LIFE

 

This is huge too. Having been in a recovery program for a long time, I personally know the power of taking one's own inventory. don Juan had him remember all the way back through his life - writing everything he could think of as to his behavior in every situation. This process took years for Carlos to complete. Periodically he would mention working on it throughout the series. The Carlos that started writing the series in the 60's was not the same Carlos that finished the series in the 80's. He had become a self-realized man, a self-aware man.

 

LOSING THE SUPERSTITION OF RELIGION

 

I remember reading one mention, and one mention only, where don Juan responds to something dumb Carlos said (as usual) about some Catholic religious practice, and don Juan's reply was "That's idiotic. There is no God." I was a little surprised that it wasn't more predominant as a theme throughout the books. But it wasn't. It was only there once. But the loss of structure was the very thing that Carlos had to lose. Apparently he did.

 

AWAKENING THE RIGHT BRAIN

 

Carlos was all left brain before his apprenticeship. It was through the lucid dreaming and the hallucinogens that his right brain was activated; he began inhabiting a world where Newtonian physics were not the operative thing. Once the connection was established by repetition with the hallucinogens (and the discussions with don Juan or whomever) the hallucinogens were no longer required for extended stays in the separate reality. He was able to do it with Intent within the realm of his lucid dreams. And he learned how to manipulate his lucid dreams; how to break off of one lucid dream into another, and into another; then to return in reverse through each lucid dream bubble. It took years for Carlos to be able to do this. Heck, it took years for him to be able to see his hands in his dreams. But once he broke through that thick left brain, he was able to do it.

 

 

As to Tensegrity, I wish I had something to offer here. I was not motivated to learn the so-called magical passes. First of all, I hate the name. And I don't think passes are magical. I don't think any one QiGong is the only way, either. I think everyone has to find their own way of dealing with this sexual earth energy in any way that they can. That's my opinion now. I've read and tried so many different magical ways of moving one's hands and moving the energy! I do have my own way now, but it's what comes up in my mind's eye when I'm doing something that requires the earth magic. I've come to the conclusion that They're All Good! What the variable is, is how prepared we are internally to move the energy. If we have been earnest in removing every blockage we can find that affects our mental attitude, our energy flow, our inner dialog, then once you've emptied yourself out, stilled the mind, stilled the body, and allowed the energy to enter your channels, the next step is to plant the seed of high Intent. Energy follows Thought. I think that's really all we have to know. Anything physical beyond that is certainly beneficial for the healing or the ceremony or the mindset of the person in the circle; but it's almost a trapping, as I see it.

Actually, although I don't like the name, Tensegrity must be a cross between 'tension' and 'integrity'. Using that line of logic, perhaps Tensegrity started out more purely when it was first Intended. Maybe it emphasized losing the things that needed to be lost (as discussed above) Things have a way of losing their essense, just like a row of kids sitting on a bench playing the telephone game.

Edited December 12, 2010 by manitou

[fiveelementtao]

 

Hi Manitou,

You've put alot of effort into this post and made some very intelligent arguments in favor of Castaneda. But, I'm not completetely clear on what your stance is now in regards to his authenticity. It sounds as though you want to portray him as authentic. I gather from this post that you did not watch the hour long documentary about Castaneda embedded in this thread. I think if you do, it will discuss many of the things you seem to be defending in this post.

 

You say you think that he never intended us to think of Don Juan as a real person. I read each of his books very intensely. at least four to five times each. (I still have most of my collection complete with dog eared pages and underlines) He very clearly posits the idea that Don Juan is a real person that both he and his four closest students trained directly under for years. Both in normal consciousness and in the "second attention."

 

As I said, I think the documentary would be very enlightening. It pretty conclusively proves that there was no one person that he based Don Juan on. It is pretty convincingly shows that Don Juan Matus was not a real person nor was it a pseudonym for a real person. He was a completely fictional character that Castaneda invented. In fact the one Native Woman who does remember Castaneda claims he never was interested in any of their ways. He only chased women. None of what he writes in any of his books corresponds to any native cultural practices or beliefs in the americas. If you watch the film, you will see that his writings result in very serious negative effects on the Yaqui and huichtol indians of mexico. He caused their cultures some very serious damage spreading false info about them which resulted in many people going to jail because castaneda brought their (huichtol) peyote rituals into public light.

 

You list some of the key concepts of Castaneda's works. But as the evidence shows, he stole all those concepts from other spiritual writings. Sometimes verbatim. "stopping the internal dialogue" is an East Indian meditative technique as well as taoist. "losing self importance" is also found in both East Indian and taoist teachings. "The recapitulation" breath and meditation is actually a meditation technique found in Kundalini yoga. I found this out while I was studying Kundalini yoga while simultaneously studying Castaneda's books. At the time I thought it unusual that the exact breath movement and "recapitulation" of past memories was found in yogic meditation. At the time, I chalked it up to coincidence. But, now I think he stole that too. None of his teachings came from Native american or mexican sources. He stole alot of his stuff from east Indian and Chinese mysticism and repackaged it as "toltec."

 

His dreaming practices are stolen directly from tibetan and taoist dream yoga. His teachngs for the left side, do correspond to accessing the right brain, so I agree with you there. But his energy map of the human being does not correspond with any known energy teaching anywhere on the planet.

 

In terms of god and religion. He actually has Don Juan state that there is no god many different times. To be precise, he claims that according to Toltec teachings the supreme being is called the Eagle because when a person dies their awareness is swallowed up and consumed by an enormous being that looks like an eagle. He also states that everyone in the Universe will be swallowed up by this entity and lose their entire awareness and cease to exist in any form whatsoever. According to Castaneda, only those people who are accepted into a "warrior party" and practice his teachings under the direct guidance of a nagual (castaneda) will survive death. (that means that everyone else on the planet including those who read his books are doomed to be eaten by the eagle and cease to exist.) As far as Don Juan goes, in one of his later books, Castaneda claims that when Don Juan transferred his consciousness into Infinity, he really shrunk himself down and took up residence in an ant hill. He even has a toltec version of the devil. This is found very late in the series where he claims that every person is being constantly attacked by interdimensional demons who are sucking the lifeforce out of us and causing our deaths. He claims that these demons are responsible for our lower base human emotions like hate, greed etc. He is not being metaphoric though. He wants us to believe some outside forces are killing us.

 

In terms of tensgrity, That is a really bad ripoff of taoist Qigong. He created tensegrity after studing Tai Chi and Qigong with a Qigong teacher. As I said, I bought those tapes and tried that stuff for a few weeks. I can't speak for anyone else, but it was completely worthless for me. Five minutes of any actual qigong will achieve more energy results than that stuff, IME and IMO.

 

You claim that Castaneda became a self realized man. I think if you actually look at the real evidence of his life you will see that he was anything but self-realized. He was married to two of his students at the same time. He was having a sexual relationship with at least two more of his female students. He had an incestuous sexual relationship with his adopted daughter who committed suicide after Castaneda's death. He claimed that his sperm would climb up into their brains and grant them magical powers.

 

He was a brilliant, extremely perceptive person. But all cult leader are. That's how they get disciples. In the end, though, Castaneda died of liver cancer and apparently also had diabetes. In my very limited understanding of liver issues according to taoist thought, he must have been harboring intense resentment and anger in order to give himself liver cancer. This was not a man who was energy master.

 

Although his writings and most of the concepts ( in the early works at least) share some extremely powerful spiritual concepts. And though he wrotes them beautifully, for me, knowing how cruel he was in life, I cannot ever read his books again. IMO, I believe people are better served looking for the original teachings from Taoism and East Indian mysticism in the original contexts.

[manitou]

I just can't argue with you guys. All I know are the odd things that happened to me, things I can't even begin to describe, while reading those books. It happened with my husband as well. I know that your arguments must be right - there are too many of you extremely intelligent and aware people telling me otherwise. It's like trying to convince someone that just ate a chocolate truffle that chocolate actually tastes awful. But your arguments are, intellectually.....overwhelming.

[Vajrahridaya]

I just can't argue with you guys. All I know are the odd things that happened to me, things I can't even begin to describe, while reading those books. It happened with my husband as well. I know that your arguments must be right - there are too many of you extremely intelligent and aware people telling me otherwise. It's like trying to convince someone that just ate a chocolate truffle that chocolate actually tastes awful. But your arguments are, intellectually.....overwhelming.

 

Your experience of his books really has nothing to do with Castanedas' merit and everything to do with your own. He did elaborate on some very true and important concepts in his books that are valid on their own and I think you connected to these truths due to your own openness to do so. This really has nothing to do with Castanedas though. As one Guru said, "A true disciple can have true awakening from a false Guru who says true things."

Edited December 13, 2010 by Vajrahridaya

[fiveelementtao]

I just can't argue with you guys. All I know are the odd things that happened to me, things I can't even begin to describe, while reading those books. It happened with my husband as well. I know that your arguments must be right - there are too many of you extremely intelligent and aware people telling me otherwise. It's like trying to convince someone that just ate a chocolate truffle that chocolate actually tastes awful. But your arguments are, intellectually.....overwhelming.

Manitou, My friend..

there is no need for argument. You can have your experiences AND castaneda can still be a fraud. Nobody is trying to take your experiences away from you. This is a completely different issue. If you simply talked about your personal experiences without trying to salvage Castaneda's reputation in the process, there would be nothing to say. I recommend sharing those experiences. You don't need Castaneda's reputation to validate your own experiences. I'm sure many people would love to hear about them.

But do you see the difference? No one has denied the validity of some of his teachings. That is because they come from legitimate sources. For me, I would not have even weighed in on the subject if you hadn't tried to prove castaneda was not a fraud. Because personal experiences are just that. Just like feelings. No can tell you that your feelings are wrong. Have you considered why you feel the need to validate castaneda's reputation to validate your personal experiences? I had to go through this when I investigated him...

For the record, I had very powerful experiences myself while reading his books. So, I completely share your experiences, but I also don;t feel the need to salvage his reputation especially when I discovered that what he teaches does come from real mystical teachings.

Does that make sense?

Mike

[Aaron]

There is no doubt (in my mind) that Carlos Castaneda was a cult leader or that he was a fraud. Although he may have written some tidbits of useful information, the immense harm and suffering he caused others close to him makes me question the validity of his work. The accounts of his actual life, the hidden nature of his compound, the requirement for the female members to cut all ties with their family and cut their hair short and dye it blonde, the perverse sex games he forced them to participate in, scary, scary stuff. Add to that the fact that "Blue Scout" died less than a month after Castaneda, and you really start to wonder what the heck was going on there (or you could read "The Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life with Carlos Castaneda" by Amy Wallace and find out for yourself.) All of this can be found on Wikipedia by the way.

 

I'm not saying this to dissuade anyone from reading his books, I would just recommend you take them with the same grain of salt that you would "Dianetics".

 

Aaron

 

edit- Blue Scout's car was found abandoned two weeks after Castandeda's death, but apparently her body wasn't found until 2003.

Edited December 13, 2010 by Twinner

[Mark Foote]

Actually, although I don't like the name, Tensegrity must be a cross between 'tension' and 'integrity'. Using that line of logic, perhaps Tensegrity started out more purely when it was first Intended. Maybe it emphasized losing the things that needed to be lost (as discussed above) Things have a way of losing their essense, just like a row of kids sitting on a bench playing the telephone game.

 

I really like your post here, manitou, well-thought out and I think I agree with most of it. I also agree from watching the video that he had a cult thing going at the end, and the inner circle that built lives around him must have had a hard go of it- not to mention the bad press and invasive tourism for American Indians. But he certainly contributed to my sense of purpose and my acceptance of a world of spirit beyond the world that I readily perceive, and I still find that valuable.

 

The word tensegrity and the sight of the exercises made me think of tensile integrity, which is surface integrity. And it's true that according to Chen Man-Ch'ing, the famous Tai-Ch'i teacher, the chi reaches the sinews, penetrates to the bone marrow, fills the diaphragm and extends to the skin and hair. Ultimately a surface kind of thing, and this is echoed in the Buddha's description of the feeling of the fourth jhana or material meditative absorption as like a strip of cloth wrapped around the head and the entire body. I never practiced these exercises, but I agree with you that perhaps almost anything that flows into stretch and out again without extra effort could help physically and mentally.

 

Curious that Carlos predicated so much of his effort on his death, what he would take into dying. Even though the bodhisatva vow may have originated in the great schism in Buddhism that resulted from the argument over whether arahants could have wet dreams (or whether that automatically meant one was not arahant), I still feel intuitively that it is right to aim at moving toward the liberation of all; maybe I forgive myself too much and take too much for granted about dying, but it helps me to relax and feel toward my compassionate heart.

 

Rather than energy follows thought, I think in terms of energy follows mind, as in heart-mind, or mind-that-is-that-it-is. The mind leads the ch'i, but it's not the Western idea of mind that's referred to here- I had trouble with understanding because I didn't realize that for a while. That's probably what Carlos meant. The part about Intent, I never read that far in his books; I don't know what he meant by that, but for me the cessation of activity that takes place through the exercise of intent is more suitable to my old age than the opposite... I'll have to wonder what he meant, I lost interest by the fourth book I think.

[Stigweard]

I think this has been an excellent discussion ... good job everybody !!!

 

Regardless of authenticity, the effects of CC's works stand as testimony that they were indeed an act of power. For good or ill, directly or indirectly, reading the series has transformed the perspective of thousands of people.

 

If there was ever any "one good thing" that I see has come out of CC's efforts is that, by presenting a believable alternate view of the world, a solid blow has been delivered to the fixated Western perception. A blow whose ripples can still be tangibly seen and felt in today's popular exploration of spiritual evolution.

 

So yep, there is seemingly irrefutable evidence that CC was a fraud, and this makes the reliability of his works questionable at best.

 

But there is also this ... the alignment of power that sparks the transformation of consciousness can come from any source ... a holy book ... the words of a master ... the gentle caress of a lover's hand ... a sunset that inflames the horizon ... or the fraudulent babblings of a sex-starved, ego-centric try-hard.

 

It all depends on one's own personal power and impeccability.

 

[宁]

double post

Edited December 13, 2010 by Little1

[宁]

In the end, though, Castaneda died of liver cancer and apparently also had diabetes. In my very limited understanding of liver issues according to taoist thought, he must have been harboring intense resentment and anger in order to give himself liver cancer. This was not a man who was energy master.

 

Morihei Ueshiba died of liver cancer.

[King Kabalabhati]

Morihei Ueshiba died of liver cancer.

 

Once your time is up it's up.. No matter if you're a master or not.

[fiveelementtao]

I think this has been an excellent discussion ... good job everybody !!!

 

Regardless of authenticity, the effects of CC's works stand as testimony that they were indeed an act of power. For good or ill, directly or indirectly, reading the series has transformed the perspective of thousands of people.

 

If there was ever any "one good thing" that I see has come out of CC's efforts is that, by presenting a believable alternate view of the world, a solid blow has been delivered to the fixated Western perception. A blow whose ripples can still be tangibly seen and felt in today's popular exploration of spiritual evolution.

 

So yep, there is seemingly irrefutable evidence that CC was a fraud, and this makes the reliability of his works questionable at best.

 

But there is also this ... the alignment of power that sparks the transformation of consciousness can come from any source ... a holy book ... the words of a master ... the gentle caress of a lover's hand ... a sunset that inflames the horizon ... or the fraudulent babblings of a sex-starved, ego-centric try-hard.

 

It all depends on one's own personal power and impeccability.

 

@ Stig I don't think your points are in question. I agree with them and with Ya Mus' points that the Universe is holographic in nature and we do not know all the why's of it all. I am able to accept those truths and still want to take a good, hard, objective, critical look at the entire teaching. As someone stated earlier even a bad guru can teach truth to a good student.

 

Castaneda's personal failings and fraud aside, there are also some very destructive elements to his books that come out later in the series and I believe it is helpful to make a distinction between castaneda, the legitimate traditions he borrowed from and his made up teachings. As is exemplified by a very understandable human desire to exonerate Castaneda in order to validate our own experiences, there is also(IMO) a very real danger that people will mistake the messenger for the message swallow the whole ball of wax and become dependent on the poisonous aspects of the entire context of his teachings.

 

I understand people's desire to want to protect fans of castaneda from those of us who may look like we are trying to minimize their experiences. That is not my desire at all...

I believe, however that if someone only reads a couple of his books or reads them casually, they might miss the distinction between his borrowed teachings and the stuff he made up himself. The teachings that we all resonated with and that propelled us into opening our perceptions to other realities and that he so very eloquently and beautifully expressed are borrowed from existing teachings within established spiritual traditions already in existence.

The stuff he made up however IMO are NOT helpful to spiritual evolution and encourage spiritual dependence. Especially if people feel a dependence on Castaneda himself. He uses the legitmate teachings to legitimize his destructive made-up teachings.

 

By pointing out the difference between the man, the real teachings and the made up teachings, then we are forced to go back through the concepts he wrote about and make critical judgements about what works and what doesn't.

For instance, when I was reading his books I remember having very powerful experiences when digesting his teachings about impeccability, stopping the world, the recapitulation exercise etc...

But the stuff he made up about the assemblage point, the warrior having to cut themself off from all personal relationships, the denying of emotions, the mindless eagle who devours human awareness, creating an almost daibolical attachment to "inorganic beings," Don Juan avoiding the Eagle by hiding in an ant hill and other things, had a distinctly unpleasant, limiting and different feel to them than what I believe are legitimate teachings that he borrowed. I remember being very excited when tensegrity came out. When I watched the tapes, Florinda Grau and the other witches had a very.... "disfunctional" look about them. I remember getting the feeling that they were emotionally stunted and repressed. At the time, it bothered me and fostered alot of doubts that I had been ignoring because I wanted the freedom that Don Juan talked about so much. But I told myself it was because they were "impeccable warriors." But I remember seeing what looked like repressed fear and anger in their eyes. Of course it could just be my projection, but with everything we know about what happened, my perception make more sense to me now.

 

By the end of the series, especially in the last two books "The art of dreaming" and "The active side of Infinity," Castaneda had moved away from the really cool liberating stuff in the first few books and was teaching stuff that still reminds me of Fundamentalist christianity. The "mud shadow" Demons that feed off of human emotion, the need to join his warrior group to "escape" the Eagle, the addiction to the inorganic beings, there were many other things that IMO fostered only fear, cynicism and existential dependance. The liberating quest for freedom in the first books by the last books had devolved into a frantic, fear based quest for salvation from a cruel, empty lifeless universe bent on devouring us clueless humans. And instead of enjoying the quest for freedom that he introduced in the first books with the Tibetan, Taoist and Hindu teachings, he borrowed, the craziness and fear he was teaching in order to promote his cult was IMO very destructive.

So, while some may resent what I and others are saying , It is not from a desire to destroy anyone's enjoyment of the truths he did teach, but to hopefully spur people to make an effort to distinguish the real teachings that do not depend on any guru to impart but are freely available to us all and the other stuff, that IMO breed fear insecurity and dependence.

[Jetsun]

Personally I never got the impression that Castaneda presented himself as an impeccable flawless teacher, for a start there is the issue of being the three pronged Nagual which meant he was energetically different or strange and it was never clear what the implications of that were, also there are times when he describes terrifying the "witches" with his rage and instability. So I see no problem with separating the big intent of the work with the life and personality of Castaneda.

[宁]

I'm not convinced that the action took place only in the second attention.

Needless to say, I don't agree with the other versions either.

 

I'd like to think about CC's story as being a subject worth investigating, when I will have the proper 'tools' to do it..

 

L1

[三江源]

I cant believe I'm the only one who found him unreadable because his books just reeked of ersatzness.