Interview with Carlos Castaneda's friends

I leave this interview of 2016 that I think is quite interesting, because it's made to two direct Carlos Castaneda's friends (and "disciples", Aerin Alexander and Miles Reid), until a little before of his departure from this world. And I say this, because we are accustomed to hear opinions and speculations about Castaneda by people who say they knew him, and not by people actually closer to him as in this case. It is a rather simple, human and close look about the Nagual, and of which there is not talk so much. :)

Since we are having problems with internet, could you tell me the highlights of what is said?

Laura - I hope my recall is helpful. I have just finished watching/listening and was 'all ears' as was fascinating.

It is a lovely sharing and recall of two of his students and discussing many parts of his teachings and also about the man Casteneda himself. From his books you don't get the feed back about Casteneda the person. Humility being the overall trait they both agreed about him.

Also there was referral to studying Gurdjieff when Aerin recalls methods of study. She mentions the Gurdjieffian dancing and the similarities of the teachings.

Mentions the pitfalls of fear, power, clarity and old age

I think everyone will benefit from watching this, even if it is just as a refresher - but you will gain more than that!

There was a description about 2/3rds the way through where I felt their description of something Casteneda was explaining to them seems very similar to the Law of 3. Perhaps peeps and clarify that or otherwise.

Another interesting aspect was the reference to the stars and pointing out the importance of the Plaideian, Orian and a couple of others I cannot recall. The first corroborating what the C's have said!

Plus the importance of 'connection' (receivership capabilities). Going with the flow and being happy go lucky of attitude. But learning/doing something NEW every day.

(strangely I have had this flow/connection recently and 'followed' it without question - nor anticipation. It sure works when it happens. 2x this week!). Urges to go somewhere/see someone 'maybe'.... .. flow.

I watched the video and found it a little fishy (or maybe creepy?). The protagonists talk mainly of themselves as in self-promotion. Basically their message is that they knew Castaneda and that the Universe guided them to meet him, and he approved of their worth. Some quick googling gives this:

Wikipedia said:

On October 5, 2011 Miles Reid and Aerin Alexander filed a lawsuit against Cleargreen Incorporated for the right to teach and copyright their own variation of the movements being taught at the Cleargreen sponsored Tensegrity seminars. In their complaint they asserted, "In an attempt to disrupt a scheduled health workshop in Europe offered by Miles Reid and Aerin Alexander, Cleargreen's directors, officers, agents and or representatives contacted several of the prospective attendees and disseminated false information urging these individuals not to attend the workshop."[3]

On May 19, the lawsuit was settled out of court and the case was dismissed with prejudice.[4]

Click to expand...

Here is the website to their business: _http://energylifesciences.com/

Nice quote.. I didn't find it creepy/fishy, just, as posted, an honorium on CC... most of the first half speaks of their own life that led to them meeting CC... then a few minutes before the half point, they start talking about their interaction with him... a few points of interest, but nothing new... overall, pleasant, if you have an hour to kill. ;)

link=topic=44147.msg714484#msg714484 date=1494111839] I watched the video and found it a little fishy (or maybe creepy?). The protagonists talk mainly of themselves as in self-promotion. Basically their message is that they knew Castaneda and that the Universe guided them to meet him said:

Another interesting aspect was the reference to the stars and pointing out the importance of the Plaideian, Orian and a couple of others I cannot recall. The first corroborating what the C's have said!

Click to expand...

Yes, that called my attention too, and some other details like the concept of "elegance" that C's also raised in some of the latest transcripts, but in summary, they gave me a good impression.

Laura said:

Since we are having problems with internet, could you tell me the highlights of what is said?

Click to expand...

Well Laura, as happyliza and gdpetti describe too, the interview begins with a brief review of their lives, and the world vision that they had, prior to beginning to read the Castaneda's books and the teachings of don Juan Matus. Then, they related what they were experiencing during that process of to read the books, until they met Castaneda. There are some anecdotal details, such as, how Castaneda "hooked" them in knowledge, in a light and fluid way, without pressure, but at the same time in a powerful way, maybe in a similar way as don Juan did with him, obviously keeping the proportions, because as it's known, the "lineage of don Juan" only arrives until Castaneda, so they are outside of that "circle", however, also somehow, they made a link with don Juan lineage. There are also, some details that are glimpsed as the trend "STO" in Castaneda, something of which is not spoken so much.

Finally, I hope that my "english" has not been so much terrible regards! :)

PD: It is also translated into spanish in this link; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsI-IDnM40M&t

mkrnhr said:

I watched the video and found it a little fishy (or maybe creepy?). The protagonists talk mainly of themselves as in self-promotion. Basically their message is that they knew Castaneda and that the Universe guided them to meet him, and he approved of their worth. Some quick googling gives this:

Wikipedia said:

On October 5, 2011 Miles Reid and Aerin Alexander filed a lawsuit against Cleargreen Incorporated for the right to teach and copyright their own variation of the movements being taught at the Cleargreen sponsored Tensegrity seminars. In their complaint they asserted, "In an attempt to disrupt a scheduled health workshop in Europe offered by Miles Reid and Aerin Alexander, Cleargreen's directors, officers, agents and or representatives contacted several of the prospective attendees and disseminated false information urging these individuals not to attend the workshop."[3]

On May 19, the lawsuit was settled out of court and the case was dismissed with prejudice.[4]

Click to expand...

Here is the website to their business: _http://energylifesciences.com/

Click to expand...

Well, could be something fishy, or maybe they were justified in filing that lawsuit, or the truth is somewhere in the middle? I think these kinds of fall-outs, accusations etc. are rather to be expected in this line of 'esoteric work'. The same happened with Gurdjieff's groups.

My initial impression of the video was that they came across as rather genuine, but that may be wrong of course.

Here are some more notes from the interview:

They describe their journey of becoming disciples of Castaneda, apparently there were some synchronicities that led them to that path (which may be exaggerated a bit). Both were heavily interested in his work since a young age.

Castaneda spoke a lot about his teacher Don Juan - what they say implies that Don Juan was indeed a real person, or at least that's how Castaneda conveyed it. Their group has some similarities to Gurdjieff's groups - there was a level of secrecy going on and people needed to make efforts to find and join the group. They tell some interesting stories about Castaneda's thoughts - like that he saw the need to be a man of one's time and environment and make full use of it. How we are connected to the universe and part of it, helping it see the world etc. The importance of movements and work on the body, integrating mind and body.

We come from the stars, the knowledge comes from the stars.

What is important is how to live, how we conduct ourselves day in and day out.

The ticket to revolution is women waking up to their true potential and power. Women are the ones who have the direct line/communication to the stars.

Castaneda was humble, he knew that what he teaches doesn't belong to him.

Man's enemies: 1) fear 2) power 3) clarity 4) old age

In our path to knowledge, we have to go into fear, in order to get out of it. Then you realize that you can do things, you have power. But then you get to think that the power is yours - then you fall prey to the enemy 'power'.

If you overcome it, then you start to understand, to get it. Then comes the enemy of clarity. Then you start to believe that you know things, that it's about you, that you are special. That is when clarity gets you.

The old age can only be pushed back, maximized, but you can never overcome it. To battle it, we should "have a ball in life", maximize our potential.

Be a being of elegance (including clothing and how you present yourself) in life.


They describe Castaneda in a very positive light - humble, wise, generous and so on. This flies in the face of other stories about him exploiting his students etc. Are they right and Castaneda was a genuine spiritual teacher?

Some things they say about him rang some alarm bells for me - like when they describe him as so charismatic that you sometimes needed a break because you couldn't handle the intensity anymore, but that you immediately wanted to go back, "he was like a drug". That could mean that he was doing genuine esoteric work, but it could also mean that he was draining his students' energy.

All of this is very interesting in view of the widely different opinions people have about me/us and our work. It seems to be a hazard of the path that there are going to be those that love you and those that hate and defame you. I think that happened to Castaneda, too, and certainly to Gurdjieff. It seems to be helpful to have been subjected to that sort of thing, that when you see it being done to another, you can recognize the "taste" of it.

maybe this video may be more interesting ( posted recently as well )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J12pG7C3nVg

Gnostic parallels in the Writings of Carlos Castaneda.
Gnostic parallels in the Writings of Carlos Castaneda.

Published on Apr 16, 2017

The eleven books of Carlos Castaneda record his apprenticeship with a Yaqui Indian, Don Juan Matus, who plays Socratic mentor to Castaneda's skeptical anthropologist.

Over more than twenty years, Castaneda learned the theory and practice of a new discipline proposed by his mischievous and demanding teacher. The art of the "new seers" involves revising ancient secrets of Toltec sorcery transmitted to Don Juan through a late lineage dating from the 18th century.

"Sorcery" in this case means a path of experience that stands apart from the experiential habits of humanity (French sortir, "to leave, depart").

Through a long process of trial and error, Castaneda manages to alter the parameters of perception and explore other worlds. In the process of his adventures, he encounters certain alien inorganic beings who present an obstacle or test for the shaman. In Magical Passes, Castaneda wrote:
"Human beings are on a journey of awareness, which has momentarily been interrupted by extraneous forces."

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Laura said:

All of this is very interesting in view of the widely different opinions people have about me/us and our work. It seems to be a hazard of the path that there are going to be those that love you and those that hate and defame you. I think that happened to Castaneda, too, and certainly to Gurdjieff. It seems to be helpful to have been subjected to that sort of thing, that when you see it being done to another, you can recognize the "taste" of it.

Click to expand...

That was my take, too, after watching the video. If I didn't have the experience with the defamation of this group I would have tended to give more weight to the negative reports of these kinds of people.

What I found really moving was how grateful they are to have found a Teacher. I can relate!

mkrnhr said:

I watched the video and found it a little fishy (or maybe creepy?). The protagonists talk mainly of themselves as in self-promotion. Basically their message is that they knew Castaneda and that the Universe guided them to meet him, and he approved of their worth. Some quick googling gives this:

Wikipedia said:

On October 5, 2011 Miles Reid and Aerin Alexander filed a lawsuit against Cleargreen Incorporated for the right to teach and copyright their own variation of the movements being taught at the Cleargreen sponsored Tensegrity seminars. In their complaint they asserted, "In an attempt to disrupt a scheduled health workshop in Europe offered by Miles Reid and Aerin Alexander, Cleargreen's directors, officers, agents and or representatives contacted several of the prospective attendees and disseminated false information urging these individuals not to attend the workshop."[3]

On May 19, the lawsuit was settled out of court and the case was dismissed with prejudice.[4]

Click to expand...

Here is the website to their business: _http://energylifesciences.com/

Click to expand...

Can't say I got that impression. A bit long winded about the guys story on how he first met Castaneda, but otherwise seemed like the emphasis was on Castaneda and the gratitude they had for him as teacher. I was grateful for their perspective on him and I learned a thing or two. Worth watching in my opinion.