don juan teachings?

[MoonSun]

Hello everybody,
Two books by Castaneda have been recommended at the recommended books list, but "The teachings of Don Juan" is not among them, is it a useful book also? I'm studying mind and how to get rid of noisy mind and drama thinking that hinder me from understanding/awareness, is his teachings reliable in your opinion? I've not read Laura's books yet,only some articles by her and I've found them great, but most of you must have read her books, considering this fact, what Don Juan says are accepted by Laura? The next question is that if online free books "wave series" on the website is the same with paper books or they are abstract?
Thank you very much!!!
MoonSun

 

[Deleted member 4320]

More or less, all of Castaneda's work is valuable. You must read and think for yourself. If you want real development, you can not expect that someone will lead you by the hand, because it kills creativity and is inconsistent with the STO.

 

[electrosonic]

Personally, I'd skip 'The Teachings Of Don Juan' & 'A Separate Reality' and jump straight into 'Journey To Ixtlan'.

The first two are more anthropological works with little useful information in them.

By far the best are 'The Fire From Within' & 'Power Of Silence'.

 

[Xico]

I like most of, if not all Castañeda's books, specially "The Eagles Gift"...but it is always up to you..

and Quote:

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical."

His landscape is full of terrors and mysterious forces, as sharply etched as a flash of lightning on the deserts and mountains where don Juan takes him to pursue the sorcerer’s knowledge—the knowledge that it is the Eagle that gives us, at our births, a spark of awareness, that it expects to reclaim at the end of our lives and which the sorcerer, through his discipline, fights to retain. Castaneda describes how don Juan and his party, left thisworld—"the warriors of don Juan’s party had caught me for an eternal instant, before they vanished into the total light, before the Eagle let them go through"—and how he, himself, upon witnessing such a sight, jumped into the abyss.

 

[Zadius Sky]

The Teachings of Don Juan is one of the optional books on the list and the same can be applied to Castaneda's other books. One best keep in mind that this book deals extensively with the use of natural hallucinogenics for accessing other realities. We do not recommend such approach nor taking the book too literally, but we see the value of the book as a metaphorical significance of the other things that it conveys (the same applies to his other books).

The Fire from Within is highly recommended because it introduces two very important concepts: petty tyrants and stalking. The book is the author's narrative about the struggle against self-importance in order to be able to face the "petty tyrants" of our lives.

The Active Side of Infinity is also highly recommended because it covers the very important theme of the Predator's Mind.

I hope that helps. :)

 

[Mal7]

The Fire from Within is highly recommended because it introduces two very important concepts: petty tyrants and stalking. The book is the author's narrative about the struggle against self-importance in order to be able to face the "petty tyrants" of our lives.

The Active Side of Infinity is also highly recommended because it covers the very important theme of the Predator's Mind.

I would say that if anyone does end up reading a lot of Castaneda, e.g. half a dozen of his books, it would also be useful to read some of the secondary works on him. This is because Castaneda's narrative presents his story as essentially based on anthropological fieldwork, while the reality seems to be that a substantial amount of his material comes from Castaneda's own inspiration, creativity, and study of sources in the library rather than in the desert. I think these secondary works help contextualize Castaneda's own works:

Castaneda's Journey by Richard de Mille (Second Edition, 1978)
Carlos Castaneda, Academic Opportunism and the Psychedelic Sixties by Jay Courtney Fikes (1993)
The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda by William Patrick Patterson (2008)

 

[dreamer]

There are also other books connected with Carlos Castaneda:


Taisha Abelar
"The Sorcerer’s Crossing: A Woman’s Journey"

Florinda Donner-Grau
"The Witch's Dream: A Healer's Way of Knowledge"
"Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World"

Margaret Castaneda
"A Magical Journey With Carlos Castaneda"

Armando Torres
"Encounters with the Nagual. Conversations with Carlos Castaneda"

 

[electrosonic]

There are also other books connected with Carlos Castaneda:


Taisha Abelar
"The Sorcerer’s Crossing: A Woman’s Journey"

Florinda Donner-Grau
"The Witch's Dream: A Healer's Way of Knowledge"
"Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World"

Margaret Castaneda
"A Magical Journey With Carlos Castaneda"

Armando Torres
"Encounters with the Nagual. Conversations with Carlos Castaneda"

Don't forget that Carlos' books are a composite of information & fictional narrative.

So the further you deviate away from Carlos' true intentions, the further you are muddying the waters in regard to worthwhile information.

I've read Taisha Abelar & Florinda Donner-Grau's books, and although they are good stories, that's all I would ever attribute to them.

There is a lot of good information within Carlos' works, but its a mistake to classify his entire philosophy as being congruent to the path we're trying to take here.

Just use your own judgement - same with any information you come across. Digest it, investigate it, and see how it sits within you ...

 

[Foxx]

Hello everybody,
Two books by Castaneda have been recommended at the recommended books list, but "The teachings of Don Juan" is not among them, is it a useful book also? I'm studying mind and how to get rid of noisy mind and drama thinking that hinder me from understanding/awareness, is his teachings reliable in your opinion? I've not read Laura's books yet,only some articles by her and I've found them great, but most of you must have read her books, considering this fact, what Don Juan says are accepted by Laura? The next question is that if online free books "wave series" on the website is the same with paper books or they are abstract?
Thank you very much!!!
MoonSun

Since you haven't read The Wave series by Laura, I personally would recommend that. She covers a broad array of topics and concepts in the series which provides a good foundation for a better understanding of other works, OSIT. It's also a very fun read.

I think the online version is the same, or at least approximately the same, as the print version.

 

[electrosonic]

Hello everybody,
Two books by Castaneda have been recommended at the recommended books list, but "The teachings of Don Juan" is not among them, is it a useful book also? I'm studying mind and how to get rid of noisy mind and drama thinking that hinder me from understanding/awareness, is his teachings reliable in your opinion? I've not read Laura's books yet,only some articles by her and I've found them great, but most of you must have read her books, considering this fact, what Don Juan says are accepted by Laura? The next question is that if online free books "wave series" on the website is the same with paper books or they are abstract?
Thank you very much!!!
MoonSun

Since you haven't read The Wave series by Laura, I personally would recommend that. She covers a broad array of topics and concepts in the series which provides a good foundation for a better understanding of other works, OSIT. It's also a very fun read.

I think the online version is the same, or at least approximately the same, as the print version.

I agree.

Books like Carlos' works are what i like to think of as Stepping Stone works - they help you develop in your knowledge, from one point on the path to the next.

However, they are not the final stone - I fully believe that Laura's work with the C's is the pinnacle of information as we currently have access to at this time.

I'd start with the Wave series, then when you are familiar with that, work backwards.

 

[Samuel]

The Teachings of Don Juan is one of the optional books on the list and the same can be applied to Castaneda's other books. One best keep in mind that this book deals extensively with the use of natural hallucinogenics for accessing other realities. We do not recommend such approach nor taking the book too literally, but we see the value of the book as a metaphorical significance of the other things that it conveys (the same applies to his other books).

The Fire from Within is highly recommended because it introduces two very important concepts: petty tyrants and stalking. The book is the author's narrative about the struggle against self-importance in order to be able to face the "petty tyrants" of our lives.

The Active Side of Infinity is also highly recommended because it covers the very important theme of the Predator's Mind.

I hope that helps. :)

Yes. I found his book, The Active Side of Infinity, to be the best. I think this was his last book, and it more or less brought home to roost most of don Juan teachings. Also, I would recommend the talks given by Krishnamurti, which have been transcribed into books......if you're interested in quieting a noisy mind.

 

[MoonSun]

Thank you very much dear friends, All of you have said things that really help me to decide the best, specially comments of Zadius Sky, Foxx and Samuel.
Thank you All!
MoonSun