I knew Carlos Castaneda as a friend and fellow graduate student in anthropology at UCLA in the late l960's and early 70's, Carlos Castaneda, Rex Jones, and myself were graduate teaching assistant for Professor John T. Hitchcock, We spent many hours in the Anthropology TA room discussing Shamanism, Psychotropic drugs or hallucinogens, and Phenomenology. Carlos attended my marriage to Lynda Burbank in 1969. Rex and I invited Carlos to give a series of lectures in which he would discuss his research with students and facult at Stony Brook University in New York, where Rex and I were teaching courses in Anthropology at the time. Both Rex and I kept in touch with Carlos over the years. I was saddened to hear of his passing. In the field of anthropology Carlos Castaneda's novels are now considered to be works of fiction rather than acculturate ethnographic descriptions based on actual ethnographic research. My feeling is that Carlos Castaneda was a great novelists, a master storyteller, whose written works contained important insights into humans and the human condition. Sometimes art is the better way to tell the story.
thank you for sharing your connection and shedding some light...the obvious question would be did he ever mention Don Juan to anyone.. (but then again why would he expose such a secret to anyone) and why would he discuss such topics as shamanism psychotropic hallucinogens in anthropology matters...if he became a fantasy story writer after his four years of wonderings ..then where did he wonder to for four years..and having published his first book why would he keep his personal life secret and not enjoy the rewards limelight stardom but instead become part of a cult to continue with the journey..it dont make sense ..i shall read more and see if i can make sense of it..by the way did you happen to read his books..look forward to your reply friend of Carlos
Carlos Castenada: Some Thoughts I knew Carlos Castenada as a friend and fellow graduate student in anthropology at UCLA during the middle to late 1960’s. Carlos Castenada, Rex Lee Jones, and myself, were graduate teaching assistants for Professor of Anthropology, John T. Hitchcock, Ph. D., for a period of two years. Carlos Castenada spent many hours regaling us with stories of Don Juan and Peyote in the T.A. room in the Anthropology Department. I found his stores fascinating. Many of these stories were later incorporated in his first book, The Teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui Way of Knowledge, copies of which Carlos signed for both Rex and myself. Carlos Castenada attended my wedding to Lynda Burbank, and I actually had a photograph of Carlos taken at the wedding reception. As many are aware, Carlos, it is said, never permitted a photograph to be taken of him. My, and Rex Jones, friendship with Carlos continued over the years. We invited Carlos Castenada to deliver lectures to the student body, and to the Anthropology faculty, while Rex and I were both Professors of Anthropology at Stony Brook University in New York. The last time I saw Carlos was in the early 1990’s when he attended a book conference in San Diego where I then lived. We had lunch, and spent over an hour together. At this meeting Carlos discussed his success as an author, his experiences as a lecturer at the University of California at Irvine, and his thoughts about a possible movie of his life. This was the last time I saw Carlos Castenada, although I occasionally would hear of Carlos from mutual friends such as Angelo Arona, Professor of Anthropology at the University of San Diego. However, I did not see or communicate with Carlos again. Upon hearing of Carlos’ death, I felt a tremendous loss, and deep sadness. The Carlos Castenada I knew was intelligent, charming, insightful and charismatic, and a good friend. The Idea of a Separate Reality Perception of reality is a selective process. There exists many varying and contradictory perceptions of reality, each embodying its own truths. As humans, we select from the arch of possible perceptions and truths. The perceptions we internalize as a factual picture of reality tend to fit together into an interrelated (interwoven) whole. We tend to ignore those areas of contradiction that exist between the components of this reality; and focus on the reality or truth as a whole. Confirmation bias and selective confirmation, results in a confirmation of the truth of our understanding of reality (the truthfulness of this complex whole). This is basically what ethnographers’ refer to as Culture and Social-Psychologist refer to as Personality, Identity and the like. The perceptions we hold as undeniable truths are part of our culture, and the identity we internalize during the socialization or enculturation processes we are exposed to. These socially constructed perceptions about the world we inhabit on a daily basis, as well as our perceptions or thoughts about ourselves (our identities) are created and sustained, or changed, in our interaction with others, specifically our close friends and associates or the primary groups we belong to and interact with. These perceptions, in turn, are the foundation of our thoughts and our actions. Our perceptions inform our behaviors. We act on the basis of our taken for granted views of reality. Was Carlos Castenada a Plagiarist? Carlos was accused by some of plagiarism, as he used ideas or concepts of others without citation or reference, a serious accusation in the academic community. Carlos Castenada was not a plagiarist in the strict sense of the word. While he did incorporate ideas and concepts from others in his novels without citation or reference, Carlos’ novels focused the reader’s attention on the role of perception and selective awareness as the foundation of thought and action. The idea that perception informs behavior was widely known in Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology. Carlos, being a student of anthropology, was keenly aware of the notion of separate realities, an idea which was most popular in both Anthropology and Sociology during the period he was a student at UCLA. Many of the professors Carlos interacted with espoused the idea of understanding human behavior from the point of view of individuals themselves. A goal of ethnography is an understanding of the perceptions the members hold, both of themselves as human beings, and the world around them. Many of the underlying ideas or philosophies Carlos espoused in his novels come from such diverse places as Eastern Religions, Western Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Ethnography, and even Buckminister Fuller. Descriptions of Native religious beliefs and practices, including the ritual uses of psychotropic plants, abound in the ethnographic literature. Carlos, as a graduate student, spent many hours in the UCLA Graduate School Library, studying these ideas and accounts. In fact, Carlos spent so much time in the Graduate School Library that we, who knew him, used to joke that he slept there. The Third Alternation to Fact or Fiction. Was Carlos Castenada’s novels fact or fiction? Fact or fiction, the stories of Carlos Castenada reveal great human truths.The genius of Carlos was his literary ability, the ability to tell a great story. The publics’ interest in such a story is evident in the success of his novels. Although he did take accounts and ideas from others, his ability to weave these into stories that capture the attention (Carlos would say “Gaze'' ) of the reader, was pure literary genius Why Carlos Castenada passed his works off as fact, as the actual ethnographic and biographical events as they happened, is speculation. The Carlos I knew was a joker. He relished the fact that his biography, writings, etc. were controversial. Who was this man Carlos Castenada, and were his novels based upon actual experiences as an anthropologist doing a scientific study of the Yaqui? This aspect of the Carlos Castaneda Myth made for more notoriety, which undoubtedly contributed to book sales. My feeling is the following: the original published work was his ticket to a Ph. D. in Anthropology from a respected university, and the legitimacy as an ethnographer it bestoud. I believe that the Ph. D. was Carlos’ primary motivation at this point in his graduate career. The huge success of his first novel, based upon his status as a professional anthropologist doing a professional study of the “Yaqui Way of Knowledge” presented him an opportunity to be published, and reap the fame and fortune of a successful author. In short, I believe that Carlos saw this as an advantage and decided to continue this ruse. But this is speculation on my part and should not take away from the works or their author. Carlos showed his readers that other ways of knowing, of seeing, of understanding reality existed, and the way one could obtain access to this other reality he referred to as “A Yaqui Way of Knowledge.” Carlos took ideas out of the academy and made them accessible to the general public. He did this through his novels. Sometimes art is a better way to reveal important ontological truths. Carlos Castenada did this through his storytelling. Would his novels have the same impact if present as dramatic fiction? We will never really know, but I suspect they would not have had the same level of acceptance by the public. Does this make Carlos a fraud? I do not think so. No more than other story tellers who told stories that were compiled, edited and modified from stories told by others, and in doing so, created a fantastic story, a story that inspires, informs, and entertains us. Carlos Castenada accomplished this, and as such deserves the accolade “Great Storyteller!” I personally never asked Carlos if his writings were based on fact or fiction. Today his writings are not generally accepted as factual by anthropologists and ethnographers. However, many anthropologists think, as I do, that Carlos Castenada was truly a great storyteller, and like all great storytellers, his stories reveal great human truths. Whether these truths came from his own experiences or were taken from other story tellers’ stories, religious philosophers, and academics, or a combination of these, Carlos wove these truths together in a way that was pure magic! Hence the appeal of his novels. Richard E. Gardner, Ph. D. @@sterob09
@@richardgardner9330 I think some of his stories definitely came from his own experiences, especially the hallucinating ones. As a person who has been through a lot of those experiences, you can’t make that up.
Greetings Richard and thank you for this important explanation. By chance have you looked at the work of Dr. Ian McGilchrist... author of "The Master and His Emissary" and recently the two volume "The Matter with Things"? For me the parallels are astonishing and helpful; Carlos's discussion of assemblage points and having one's assemblage point stuck in one position mirrors Dr. McGilchrists insight that civilization is collapsing because we are stuck in left hemispheric modes of perception.... there is so much here that we could discuss and use... all I can say is that there is a wholeness that can be uncovered in a human being, an attentional freedom which leads to a skill in freeing and modulating the "assemblage point"; which is arising and being amplified as those who have this skill contact one another, as a countercurrent to the collapse of civilization
@@magicalisticable I can share with you how this change my life too, after I did read his books for several times, I choose to follow the knowledge of Don Juan as he teaches Carlos Castañeda so after long time of practicing it, I'm started to wake up in my dreams and from those dreams went to another dream to excited and out of this world with the same reality that we live in this reality that we thing is the only one, just happened to me 4 times in 3 years, is a hard discipline, silencing your internal dialogue, stay alert in this moment in this time, and assuming that this life is another dream, so you have to become another type of human, observing with more attention, perceiving with more intensity and let go as much ego as you can, I left my house, gf, vehicle, pets, friends, family, country, politics, religion, everything belonged to me, etc....... and now I have everything, freedom, no body tell me what to do, how to do the things, how to live my life, that's only one part of how this help me, lastly I'm becoming to be more perceptor of energy, everything Don Juan said is true, people is curious about this knowledge, but they are afraid to leave everything to start fresh with other life style. As less weight you carry, more comfortable you will feel ( non attachments at all ) and this my experience😎
I read most of Castaneda's books in my teens, and I'm glad I did. I reread a couple of them in my twenties, as well as the ones that came out subsequently. Reading him charitably, I think most of the experiences Don Carlos described in these books were either dream experiences or psychedelic experiences, although he didn't make this explicit most of the time. He had a method for dreaming his material and then writing it up. One could accept this and still believe that significant wisdom came through these experiences. There is strong evidence, though, that none of it came from literal, physical meetings with a Yaqui sorcerer.
I read the book as a 23 year old, and only now after having my sasquatch encounter while deep in the wilderness do i begin to connect the dots from all those years ago
Carlos Castaneda's identity has always been shrouded in mystery. I read his book as a young man during the hippie "revolution", and was greatly impressed. It was a real gift to hear his voice and to catch a glimpse of the man behind the persona. Several of don Juan's teachings have stayed with me over the years and proved their power and effectiveness. I am very 😮grateful to Carlos Castaneda for his work. Gracias, Carlos!
I met a woman when I was just turned 18, and she was older than I would think of myself as being a likely partner for me but I fell in love with her. She introduced me to Castaneda by gifting me with the original trilogy. I am still in touch with her, although she lives in Ireland now. Carlos Castaneda opened up a new different way of appreciating the phenomenon of being alive and conscious. Someone on this comment thread said that intent was what matters. I'd say I agree and many other commenters also make articulate observations of how valuable and deeply meaningful his work has been. Whoever said " sometimes art is the better way to tell the story " has a big point. Everyone commenting on this thread seems decent and thoughtful and kind. I think that is what's significant.
I was a fan and reader of all his books about Don Juan. I was in my early 20’s /1970’s and familiar with Mescaline, LSD, and of course Marijuana. I jave not read the other commemts here. But I learned that Carlos made Don Juan up. He was not a character in the books. Carlos’ description in the interview of Don Juan is humerous…because Carlos was describing himself….around 10 minutes in. 🥳😂 Since those days and in my 70’s now Ayahuasca and Peyote are my companions where I live in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, MX. Best Regards
The main part of Castaneda’s teachings is on ‘Intent’ and that everything in the universe vibrates with the energy and reality of Intention. There is an level of the development of consciousness which is only available to those who embark on this journey of Self-discovery.
@@tokyosmitsubishi Hello. I am writing to those who are, like me, searching for the answer, not to the question "what is life for", but another-what is the path of perfection which leads to the increase in consciousness and self-actualization? I AM looking for individuals who share this direction and with whom we can discuss the many topics Castaneda and Don Juan have presented us with. Please write back, will be very glad (ps-message written by Alek-guest of the account)
@@tokyosmitsubishi Thank you for your answer. )) Since you are familiar with Castaneda, and have spent time studying this direction, i wanted to ask you, first of all-what language did you read these books in, and second, what do you think of "perfection-flawlessness-impeccability" in relation to helping people-as in, should we help others in general or only when asked directly? of course these questions are limited, i hope we can discuss this specific topic deeper... is a life without emotion, completely without emotion-flawless?? (this message is from Aleksandr)
Don Juan real or not, does not change the fact people in the future still show up and enjoy his teachings. Universal teachings of all spiritual traditions. thank you
Dear Carlos! Dear Spirit! Thank you for all this knowledge you've discovered to all of us! Thank you for the Magical passes you've described! Without all this I could think the world is boring and dull! Thanks to your books I know how incredibly wonderful are the human beings and the world!
I am re-reading Cataneda's book. Since I have been a Psychedelic student since 1962 at the University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma , WA USA. I am a Medical Doctor. I'm most interested in Low Dose Psychedelics that are being studied by Pharmaceutical companies in USA and Europe. Low dose LSD has significant effects on Major Depressive Disorders
Hello sir How are you, i hope you're doing fine. Im medical doctor as well trying to start speciality in cardiology next year, i tried psychedelic mushroom for the first time last year and had plenty of expereiences with it from light to mild to heavy doses, i say it changed my whole perspective so much so after a while i needed to quit my job for few months, it wasnt easy for me but now im doing better even though some of the trips was harsh on me im in awe for it, for showing me what it showed me. May god help us with our journey. I would be very thankful if you shared a little bit about your studies with psychedelics and how it shaped you and its impact on you. Thank you in advance and god bless good sir.
The idea that our ideas of the world inform our actions which in turn create a reality of ourselves, others, and the physical world we live in was very poplular in Sociology and Anthropology when Carlos was a graduate student at UCLA. His mentor Harold Garfinkel was the founder of the school of Phenomenology which maintained that we humans create our reality on a daily basis. Carlos knew this, it became the major theme of his published works.
I remember the excited anticipation that I and my friends had when the next book was coming out. I was spending time in the desert in those days so the landscapes he described were very familiar. A tremendous literary gift to the world!
as i remember, he destroyed the world as we know. we (my buddies included) had our lives wrecked. we should have gone to through the path of the warrior at that point. we didn't. we all saw the truth in the words first handed and recognized the path. didn't go the whole way tho. at least we are still alive.
Yes! He sounds really nice! !💛 I'm also a Bruce Lee's 💙 fans and ,strangely, I noticed a similarity in their respective accent in english!! Bruce would have loved "Tensegrity" "Magical Passes", what's more , this practice was enhanced by a chinese master immigrant in Mexico, long ago!!
just think hearing don juan's voice. or don genaro's. in a dream i saw don juan as an old and thin guy... it chilled my spine. it still chills my spine to this day. that dream was abou 18-19 years ago.
@@sickturret3587 yeah, thats interesting, but always watch out to people u meet in your dreams, they're mostly inorganics taking different apparences. So, always ask questions to people u meet, they cant lie in dreams.
The summer of 1972 several friends met up in the northern woods of Michigan with a bag of peyote buttons I was the only one who was able to keep them down So my friends gave me theirs I had one crazy night alone in the woods. Several years later I read Carlos’s book and was amazed at how many similar experiences i had although most of my memories have faded I still believe that that night I was able to communicate with animals.
Tiere hören auch die innere mit der Zunge formulierte Stimme ... da brauchst Du keine Drogen für nehmen .. bei Pflanzen wirds glaube ich schwieriger .... das ist wohl so ähnlich wie bei Vögeln Sinn im Gesang zu suchen nur angeblich langsamer
Aquí y ahora. Don Juan hizo que me planteara una forma diferente de vivir: vivir el presente y no en el futuro. Don Juan es un guerrero que vive de manera estratégica cada minuto del presente. .... Excepcional entrevista. Castañeda se expresa tan bien! Es un antropólogo describiendo una experiencia de vida radicalmente diferente a la nuestra.
I recall reading Teachings, and especially Separate Reality in late 1968-69. It was like a remarkable thunderclap to my reality, questioning everything.
People who focus on whether Don Juan or the events in the books were real, or on the circumstances of Carlos Casteneda and his life, have completely missed the point. This is about allegory, not facts, and how certain truths can be hidden under a layer of fiction.
All spiritual traditions are made up, even real historical events are presented in a very specific way that inspires emotion and imagination which is the actual path to freedom, truth, self awareness and love. The spiritual world is imaginary, but so is the physical material one, from the perspective of your ego after death. Realize this now, while you are still living, and a new path opens to you, in which you are given choices that only you can imagine. As the right questions and the events in your life will conspire to answer them through your actions. Your experience will reflect your capacity of imagination and feeling. When everything around you is in chaos, find your unchanging self. When everything inside of you is in chaos, your well trained habits of discipline and routine will be your foundation. It is when the two become one that you find freedom.
ich glaub schon , dass es da einen Identitätswechsel gegeben hatte ... das Alter Ego in den Büchern war eben sein früherer Name .. also die Geschichte fängt eigentlich in Wahrheit mit dem Alterego an und endet mit Carlos Castaneda ? .. der ja dann auch alle seine Freundschaften damals in LA abgebrochen hatte .... wenn sowas als Kind passiert weiß man das auch irgendwie nicht mehr ... in einer totalen Gesellschaft wo alles in ornung ist und alle mitspielen ... kann man vielleicht auch menschen in einem höheren Alter auswechseln .. z.B. frauen verändern sich nach Sex ... wenn dann die "Jungfrau " mal eine Woche entführt war ... kommt die ntürlich anders aussehned zurück ... 2 verschiedene Menschen mit demselben Pass ...
ich hab selber auch schon Spuk und Zauberei erlebt ... in angesicht dieser okkulten durchdringung der politischen Machtpolitik .. wer weiß .. samael Aun Weor sagt ja auch .. nur große Seele werden wiedergeboren ... die anderen fallen aus der kulturellen Zeitliniarität heraus ....als okkultes materialation medium .. ist auch Seelenwanderung möglich .. der ägyptische Totenkult gibt da ja auch Hinweise .. die Organe das gehirn in Gefäße gefüllt um , jemanden wieder zurück ins Leben zu holen ... in den Büchern von Carlos Castaneda steht auch extra, dass man diesen Weg nicht ohne einen meister gehen kann .. wobei ich wirklich denke, dass dermeister von Carlos castaneda Viele waren ... so wie auch die biblischen Figuren ja alles Völker und Menschgruppen waren
True, the Castaneda books are full of allegory that conveys truths about consciousness and matters of the spirit. It is also true that the first and third books were misrepresented to the Anthropology Department at UCLA as empirically based, literal ethnographies and were submitted as theses for a Masters Degree and a PhD respectively. The degrees were later revoked after it was proven that parts of the first book were plagiarized from previous work by someone else and contain a telltale translation error.
Interesting how drugs seem to have so little to do with spiritual experience. After the first book so much of the experience seems derived from the inside out. No substances required. Gratitude to Carlos and Don Juan for showing up at different periods in my life to remind me of the magic that exists in my heart and right in front of my nose.❤
I have experienced dream work according to the techniques Castanieda describes in his books and I can say: I am the living proof, I am a witness. It is all true even if it is not documented or proven. But everyone can experience it for themselves if they want to.
I've recently read his exwife's biography. (Margaret Runyan Castaneda ) They were married in the early 60s ,its an interesting glimpse into Castaneda's life...
After years of read his books im surprised to hear Castaneda's voice for the first time. I knew about his works because an aunt had the book El Don del Águila. I read it but later I realized the order of lectures, starting with Teachings of Don Juan. Gran honor tener Hombres de Conocimiento en México!
Decades ago whilst in hospital in the UK for 3 months, I wrote to Carlos Castaneda via his publisher, to say how much I had appreciated reading his book. To my surprise he responded with a hand-written letter, and in it, mentioned that he would be writing another book. Like a fool, I did not keep that letter for the precious item that it was. It is now fascinating to hear his voice on this video. He describes himself as European, I had believed him to come from South America. I have now read all his books and they have profoundly expanded my thinking processes.
In an interview in a magazine long ago they said he would get hundreds of letters and pick out a few randomly to answer....leaving it up to chance (or the spirits?)
In the Autumm of 1999 me got a chance to interview Castaneda with other mexican journalists, but he refused any photos taken of him and also avoided recording his talk with us, still he was a nice and funny man...
@ivanalareina Yes, I even wrote about that in Proceso magazine in México, but you're right, that seminar of transegrity must had been held after 1994, still and besides he was a friend of mexican writer of "literatura de la onda" José Agustín, who died early this year (2024). Me has to check out the precise data and time, thanks for comments...
Thank you for posting this interview. I missed the first wave of popularity when all my hippie friends were talking about these books, but when I re-discovered a complete set in the late 70's my life experience had made them more comprehensible. I had smoked pot and done a few chemicals and if nothing else Castaneda's description of HIS trips were brilliant. But over the years I had also studied "religion" as a system of beliefs and perceptions and found Don Juan's teachings to be a crucial step in the evolution of human conscious. His books taught an entire generation how to view their world.
Carlos took me on mesmerising journeys. When I found out accuracy was compromised at times I was very disappointed. But...I doubt if I'll read anything like him again.
The art of dreaming have clear tecniques in it. I read all the books in my 20’s and enjoyed them. I seem to remember that Dona Soledad had one hell of a floor!😅👊
It's funny how many people think he made the whole thing up. One of the ways to know he's telling the truth, is when you've had such experiences yourself, and note the exact details match perfectly. More poignant details in castenadas works than most books on the subject.
I had experienced some of these things , and reading the books afterwards helped really make sense of my knowledge,,instead of me thinking I was mad ,,so no these are not Just fairy tales,,they are very helpful to some people ,,,🎶💕🌏
Castanadas book of exercises ‘magical passes’ is a variation of ‘Kai’men’ an ancient form of Taoist Yoga. It translates as ‘open door’. Be sure to close the door after if you practice or you may have unwanted visitors.. especially when you close your eyes.
I'm guessing that encouraging a mass of people to "open their door" without teaching them how to protect themselves, or how to "close the door" was/is intentional. How else will the entities flooding here from other dimensions find easy human hosts? This is part of the spiritual war waging now.
Ya know, after I replied the 1st time I figured that.. but I was like, what the hell, who knows. There's a guy that writes a thread claiming to be the nephew of his "informant." After listening to an interview, I'm pretty sure its legit. I'm sure there's some artistic license involved. But for the most part seems genuine. And he says himself, he never literally means he turned into a bird, yet perceived to, and Juan states: reality is a matter of perception. I turned into a plant one time, or rather, experienced the countiousness of a plant. So, yeah. I'm a believer.
So much appreciate this interview with C. Castaneda to hear his responses first hand. The books were deep and left much to ruminate on as what is reality and what is perception. So glad I connected with it all during my youth! Thank you.
you got involved with this in your youth, well, you still haven’t reached the level of seeing holes in the Cocoons?) maybe you just got involved with a fake?) ask yourself why something that should work doesn’t work.
I discovered the series of books at 16 in '83 living in Scottsdale (newly so) as I was discovering & falling in love with the desert. How appropriate. I demanded that my 3 new best friends read them as I had & we all talked about trying to do something similar on a smaller teenage scale. Life happened I still speak occasionally with 1 of them whos still in cave creek (my buddy Jim W.) 40 yrs later just hearing the name Carlos Casteneda brings a smile to my face. A wonderful set of books for any young mind.
Didn't get into the books but I was deeply affected by a wall poster at a place i was living when i was only 19. The poster featured Castaneda's aphorism to "Always follow the Path with a heart." Which I took to mean, your path through life must be congruent with whatever is true for you, and whatever is powered by agape. (If your life is to hold meaning and value for you,)
I read most of Castaneda's books in my teens, and I'm glad I did. I reread a couple of them in my twenties, as well as the ones that came out subsequently. Reading him charitably, I think most of the experiences Don Carlos described in these books were either dream experiences or psychedelic experiences, although he didn't make this explicit most of the time. He had a method for dreaming his material and then writing it up. One could accept this and still believe that significant wisdom came through these experiences. There is strong evidence, though, that none of it came from literal, physical meetings with a Yaqui sorcerer.
Can you direct me to the strong evidence that he did not actually meet a Brujo? These books have had a tremendous effect on my life and I give him the benefit of the doubt until I see otherwise. Either way, the lessons are effective.
His initial books complemented the times we lived in along with other amazing musicians, artist, writers etc. but power/fame always corrupts and all the gurus fail after giving us their gifts....thank you
***And it didn't came to your mind that that's a replay? Not really his voice? No? At all? Where was the last time you've heard a decades old recording sounding so crystal clear? We've listened to talk shows from 80's-90's pre-digital era and even they sound sh*tty. And they are not that old. Please reject this illusion once and for all. ;)
@@sleepydreamdealer if you believe that listen to any lecture from Alan watts from the 60s or 70s. Clean clear and crisp. Also consider you can clean up any audio with modern technology from your smart phone let alone the more sophisticated studio tools
"Eine andere Wirklichkeit - ein Yaqui Weg des Wissens". Vor mehr als 40 Jahren stolperte ich buchstäblich über dieses Buch. Es lag in meinem Zimmer und ich habe nie erfahren, wie es dort hingekommen ist. Es hat mich nie wieder losgelassen. It´s simply the truth - if there is something you can call the truth ...
"Und wie endete dein Erlebnis schließlich, wann und wie kamst du nach Ixtlan?" Beide fingen an zu lachen. "Das ist also für dich das Ende", bemerkte Don Juan. "Nun, sagen wir's einmal so: Genaros Reise HATTE kein Ende. Sie wird nie ein Ende haben. Genaro ist immer noch auf dem Weg nach Ixtlan!" Eine der Stellen, die mich am meisten berührten ...
I was glad to hear this interview. I read Castaneda's, work back in the late 60s and had heard that it may have been fictional. At the time i was very fascinated by his story with the different perception of reality as well as the plant use often used to experience it.
Thanks Richard for telling your relation to Castaneda as well as the way you think of his work, whether fiction or not. He certainly got a lot of us experimenting with perception and entertaining other possibilities.
La voz del nagual Carlitos… El regalo mas grande que ha recibido la humanidad a travez de Don Juan el guerrero impecable .. Regalo dado por ordenes del espiritu, a travez de estos magnificos guerreros…..
This man as a very eager and willing guinea pig. Like he said people don't change and therefore what can a European minded man get out of this experience.
His books were a part of my childhood and still greatly affect my perception of the world - His writing is much more believable than his on the spot speaking here.
Self-enquiry, as instructed by Ramana Maharshi, provides what seems like, at the very least, a similar if not equal understanding of what is referred to as reality. Mr. Castaneda's description of his experience with Don Juan closely resembles what transpires when self realization is discovered. The difference is in the forms produced while in the drug induced state. It was noteworthy that Don Juan was not interested in the forms, as if giving attention to form served as a distraction from what mattered.
I was obsessed with CC in my 20's. Since then I have used the books as a reference for some of my later spiritual experiences. I experienced some weird shit, and it was awesome. I was trained along with some other people by a very psychic hispanic guy. He had different names for everything, but a lot of it was similar. He could read auras and see non-physical entities and knew how they affected people. After being around him for awhile, it was obvious that he couldn't be faking it. I think Don Juan liked to set up situations where his apprentices would either learn the lesson or die (or think they were going to die). I should pick up reading CC where I left off.
******I think that's not an actual interview, but a reconstruction of it. Have you ever pay attention how people in USA and UK spoke their language back in 50's or 60 and even 70's? In the movies or old interviews with musicians, writers, actors, politicians, random human beings? They used to speak very differently, by using more sophisticated words than nowadays talk. A specific words and phrases which in out times sounds old fashioned and vintage. But in this interview i hear two contemporary men talking.
@@palespectre4835 I hadn't read the book in 40 years, but I found it! In "Tales of Power", Part Two, Shrinking the Tonal, page 161, Don Juan tells Carlos, "I'm a stockholder". I remember it shocked me completely when I first read it. But why wouldn't Don Juan be competent in business; he was a hunter and a warrior.
T'he sorcerer's first name is not, Don. In the Spanish language, the word 'Don', preceding one's name is a title of respect or honor, similar to Sir. Juan, is an extremely common Mexican name. Basically, Casteneda is calling him, Sir Joe.
i read a translation of his work, i remember reading it with great astonishment as i knew i understood nothing of what was being told i also remember it made me feel very confused about why i was even spending time reading these books
Anyone who consistently ends his sentences flippantly with the word, "whatever", is doing one or all of the following: he's dismissing everything he just said, or he's linguistically lazy, or he's trying to distract us with a shiny object, or he's being dismissive for some darker, surreptitious reason.
For those who would be Warriors please observe and interiorize the Energetic Facts of Los Nuevos Videntes, or The New Seers of the Naguals Party. O ye me gracias espiritu principia
I was reading his first book during the last exams of my school studies. Sitting with the book in a park a woman approached me: "Don't you want to try and have similar experiences like Castaneda in his book?" - In this moment I knew without any doubt, that in this life I would not take psychedelic substances - never. That was more than 45 years ago - and so far I never did :-)
It was said that most drugs were there to ease pain, to get you high or give you strength. Hallucinogenics are there to teach you the right way to live.
@@mohamedhassan8867 I don't know how to answer this. Up to that age I had not done anything special - back then I was what you would call now a nerd. I just knew. And by now I know I can trust myself, whenever I "just know" 🙂
Thank you for uploading this. Theodore Roszak gave Castaneda the critical and intellectual backing which underpinned his rampant success. I wonder how he felt when the scale of Castaneda's deception became known.
The deception I have found so far was that later in life he opened a sort of seminar that cost 600 dollars but seemed incongruent from his previous writings. Some participants were dissapointed.
The truth is what refuses to go away 🤎 Carlos did an awesome job and what a cool voice he has. I am loving the books of these grey wizards in the third chakra, learning about reality.
all is true ...but we all have different paths ....personally i will be going to nepal to live the rest of my life as a a goat ..... im afraid of being re incarnated in a big city .....
I don't necessarily believe in reincarnation but the original teaching in both hinduism and Buddhism clearly says that one can fall back to the animal realm by living a life of indulging in sensuality etc. Pretty much the American lifestyle, you'll be lucky if you make it to the animal realm, seems to be a sure ticket for the lower hell realms.
I knew Carlos Castaneda as a friend and fellow graduate student in anthropology at UCLA in the late l960's and early 70's, Carlos Castaneda, Rex Jones, and myself were graduate teaching assistant for Professor John T. Hitchcock, We spent many hours in the Anthropology TA room discussing Shamanism, Psychotropic drugs or hallucinogens, and Phenomenology. Carlos attended my marriage to Lynda Burbank in 1969. Rex and I invited Carlos to give a series of lectures in which he would discuss his research with students and facult at Stony Brook University in New York, where Rex and I were teaching courses in Anthropology at the time. Both Rex and I kept in touch with Carlos over the years. I was saddened to hear of his passing. In the field of anthropology Carlos Castaneda's novels are now considered to be works of fiction rather than acculturate ethnographic descriptions based on actual ethnographic research. My feeling is that Carlos Castaneda was a great novelists, a master storyteller, whose written works contained important insights into humans and the human condition. Sometimes art is the better way to tell the story.
thank you for sharing your connection and shedding some light...the obvious question would be did he ever mention Don Juan to anyone.. (but then again why would he expose such a secret to anyone) and why would he discuss such topics as shamanism psychotropic hallucinogens in anthropology matters...if he became a fantasy story writer after his four years of wonderings ..then where did he wonder to for four years..and having published his first book why would he keep his personal life secret and not enjoy the rewards limelight stardom but instead become part of a cult to continue with the journey..it dont make sense ..i shall read more and see if i can make sense of it..by the way did you happen to read his books..look forward to your reply friend of Carlos
Carlos Castenada: Some Thoughts
I knew Carlos Castenada as a friend and fellow graduate student in anthropology at UCLA during the middle to late 1960’s. Carlos Castenada, Rex Lee Jones, and myself, were graduate teaching assistants for Professor of Anthropology, John T. Hitchcock, Ph. D., for a period of two years. Carlos Castenada spent many hours regaling us with stories of Don Juan and Peyote in the T.A. room in the Anthropology Department. I found his stores fascinating. Many of these stories were later incorporated in his first book, The Teachings of Don Juan: a Yaqui Way of Knowledge, copies of which Carlos signed for both Rex and myself. Carlos Castenada attended my wedding to Lynda Burbank, and I actually had a photograph of Carlos taken at the wedding reception. As many are aware, Carlos, it is said, never permitted a photograph to be taken of him. My, and Rex Jones, friendship with Carlos continued over the years. We invited Carlos Castenada to deliver lectures to the student body, and to the Anthropology faculty, while Rex and I were both Professors of Anthropology at Stony Brook University in New York. The last time I saw Carlos was in the early 1990’s when he attended a book conference in San Diego where I then lived. We had lunch, and spent over an hour together. At this meeting Carlos discussed his success as an author, his experiences as a lecturer at the University of California at Irvine, and his thoughts about a possible movie of his life. This was the last time I saw Carlos Castenada, although I occasionally would hear of Carlos from mutual friends such as Angelo Arona, Professor of Anthropology at the University of San Diego. However, I did not see or communicate with Carlos again. Upon hearing of Carlos’ death, I felt a tremendous loss, and deep sadness. The Carlos Castenada I knew was intelligent, charming, insightful and charismatic, and a good friend.
The Idea of a Separate Reality
Perception of reality is a selective process. There exists many varying and contradictory perceptions of reality, each embodying its own truths. As humans, we select from the arch of possible perceptions and truths. The perceptions we internalize as a factual picture of reality tend to fit together into an interrelated (interwoven) whole. We tend to ignore those areas of contradiction that exist between the components of this reality; and focus on the reality or truth as a whole. Confirmation bias and selective confirmation, results in a confirmation of the truth of our understanding of reality (the truthfulness of this complex whole). This is basically what ethnographers’ refer to as Culture and Social-Psychologist refer to as Personality, Identity and the like. The perceptions we hold as undeniable truths are part of our culture, and the identity we internalize during the socialization or enculturation processes we are exposed to. These socially constructed perceptions about the world we inhabit on a daily basis, as well as our perceptions or thoughts about ourselves (our identities) are created and sustained, or changed, in our interaction with others, specifically our close friends and associates or the primary groups we belong to and interact with. These perceptions, in turn, are the foundation of our thoughts and our actions. Our perceptions inform our behaviors. We act on the basis of our taken for granted views of reality.
Was Carlos Castenada a Plagiarist?
Carlos was accused by some of plagiarism, as he used ideas or concepts of others without citation or reference, a serious accusation in the academic community. Carlos Castenada was not a plagiarist in the strict sense of the word. While he did incorporate ideas and concepts from others in his novels without citation or reference, Carlos’ novels focused the reader’s attention on the role of perception and selective awareness as the foundation of thought and action. The idea that perception informs behavior was widely known in Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology. Carlos, being a student of anthropology, was keenly aware of the notion of separate realities, an idea which was most popular in both Anthropology and Sociology during the period he was a student at UCLA. Many of the professors Carlos interacted with espoused the idea of understanding human behavior from the point of view of individuals themselves. A goal of ethnography is an understanding of the perceptions the members hold, both of themselves as human beings, and the world around them. Many of the underlying ideas or philosophies Carlos espoused in his novels come from such diverse places as Eastern Religions, Western Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Ethnography, and even Buckminister Fuller. Descriptions of Native religious beliefs and practices, including the ritual uses of psychotropic plants, abound in the ethnographic literature. Carlos, as a graduate student, spent many hours in the UCLA Graduate School Library, studying these ideas and accounts. In fact, Carlos spent so much time in the Graduate School Library that we, who knew him, used to joke that he slept there.
The Third Alternation to Fact or Fiction.
Was Carlos Castenada’s novels fact or fiction? Fact or fiction, the stories of Carlos Castenada reveal great human truths.The genius of Carlos was his literary ability, the ability to tell a great story. The publics’ interest in such a story is evident in the success of his novels. Although he did take accounts and ideas from others, his ability to weave these into stories that capture the attention (Carlos would say “Gaze'' ) of the reader, was pure literary genius
Why Carlos Castenada passed his works off as fact, as the actual ethnographic and biographical events as they happened, is speculation. The Carlos I knew was a joker. He relished the fact that his biography, writings, etc. were controversial. Who was this man Carlos Castenada, and were his novels based upon actual experiences as an anthropologist doing a scientific study of the Yaqui? This aspect of the Carlos Castaneda Myth made for more notoriety, which undoubtedly contributed to book sales. My feeling is the following: the original published work was his ticket to a Ph. D. in Anthropology from a respected university, and the legitimacy as an ethnographer it bestoud. I believe that the Ph. D. was Carlos’ primary motivation at this point in his graduate career. The huge success of his first novel, based upon his status as a professional anthropologist doing a professional study of the “Yaqui Way of Knowledge” presented him an opportunity to be published, and reap the fame and fortune of a successful author. In short, I believe that Carlos saw this as an advantage and decided to continue this ruse. But this is speculation on my part and should not take away from the works or their author.
Carlos showed his readers that other ways of knowing, of seeing, of understanding reality existed, and the way one could obtain access to this other reality he referred to as “A Yaqui Way of Knowledge.” Carlos took ideas out of the academy and made them accessible to the general public. He did this through his novels. Sometimes art is a better way to reveal important ontological truths. Carlos Castenada did this through his storytelling. Would his novels have the same impact if present as dramatic fiction? We will never really know, but I suspect they would not have had the same level of acceptance by the public. Does this make Carlos a fraud? I do not think so. No more than other story tellers who told stories that were compiled, edited and modified from stories told by others, and in doing so, created a fantastic story, a story that inspires, informs, and entertains us. Carlos Castenada accomplished this, and as such deserves the accolade “Great Storyteller!”
I personally never asked Carlos if his writings were based on fact or fiction. Today his writings are not generally accepted as factual by anthropologists and ethnographers. However, many anthropologists think, as I do, that Carlos Castenada was truly a great storyteller, and like all great storytellers, his stories reveal great human truths. Whether these truths came from his own experiences or were taken from other story tellers’ stories, religious philosophers, and academics, or a combination of these, Carlos wove these truths together in a way that was pure magic! Hence the appeal of his novels.
Richard E. Gardner, Ph. D.
@@sterob09
@@richardgardner9330 I think some of his stories definitely came from his own experiences, especially the hallucinating ones. As a person who has been through a lot of those experiences, you can’t make that up.
Thank you, sir. God bless you
Greetings Richard and thank you for this important explanation. By chance have you looked at the work of Dr. Ian McGilchrist... author of "The Master and His Emissary" and recently the two volume "The Matter with Things"? For me the parallels are astonishing and helpful; Carlos's discussion of assemblage points and having one's assemblage point stuck in one position mirrors Dr. McGilchrists insight that civilization is collapsing because we are stuck in left hemispheric modes of perception.... there is so much here that we could discuss and use... all I can say is that there is a wholeness that can be uncovered in a human being, an attentional freedom which leads to a skill in freeing and modulating the "assemblage point"; which is arising and being amplified as those who have this skill contact one another, as a countercurrent to the collapse of civilization
This man changed my life forever many, many years ago.
Ditto. Still working my way through all his books.
@Josefin Bahir 55
Would you be so kind to share with us in what way he changed your life?
@@magicalisticable I can share with you how this change my life too, after I did read his books for several times, I choose to follow the knowledge of Don Juan as he teaches Carlos Castañeda so after long time of practicing it, I'm started to wake up in my dreams and from those dreams went to another dream to excited and out of this world with the same reality that we live in this reality that we thing is the only one, just happened to me 4 times in 3 years, is a hard discipline, silencing your internal dialogue, stay alert in this moment in this time, and assuming that this life is another dream, so you have to become another type of human, observing with more attention, perceiving with more intensity and let go as much ego as you can, I left my house, gf, vehicle, pets, friends, family, country, politics, religion, everything belonged to me, etc....... and now I have everything, freedom, no body tell me what to do, how to do the things, how to live my life, that's only one part of how this help me, lastly I'm becoming to be more perceptor of energy, everything Don Juan said is true, people is curious about this knowledge, but they are afraid to leave everything to start fresh with other life style.
As less weight you carry, more comfortable you will feel ( non attachments at all ) and this my experience😎
@@alfredomoreno4908 please post your experiences in r/Castaneda it is a new lineage we need all the help of real sorcerers that we can get
Reading Carlos Cataneda's books was a real magical journey. I may be naive, but I believe every word he wrote.
Witcraft
@juppehohtamo7518 rubbish
It was magical but to follow this path requires a lot of balls
I read most of Castaneda's books in my teens, and I'm glad I did. I reread a couple of them in my twenties, as well as the ones that came out subsequently. Reading him charitably, I think most of the experiences Don Carlos described in these books were either dream experiences or psychedelic experiences, although he didn't make this explicit most of the time. He had a method for dreaming his material and then writing it up. One could accept this and still believe that significant wisdom came through these experiences. There is strong evidence, though, that none of it came from literal, physical meetings with a Yaqui sorcerer.
@@ivst3655 I will visit you when I'm dreaming. You will see that it's not rubbish
I read the book as a 23 year old, and only now after having my sasquatch encounter while deep in the wilderness do i begin to connect the dots from all those years ago
Carlos Castaneda's identity has always been shrouded in mystery. I read his book as a young man during the hippie "revolution", and was greatly impressed. It was a real gift to hear his voice and to catch a glimpse of the man behind the persona. Several of don Juan's teachings have stayed with me over the years and proved their power and effectiveness. I am very 😮grateful to Carlos Castaneda for his work. Gracias, Carlos!
I met a woman when I was just turned 18, and she was older than I would think of myself as being a likely partner for me but I fell in love with her. She introduced me to Castaneda by gifting me with the original trilogy.
I am still in touch with her, although she lives in Ireland now.
Carlos Castaneda opened up a new different way of appreciating the phenomenon of being alive and conscious. Someone on this comment thread said that intent was what matters. I'd say I agree and many other commenters also make articulate observations of how valuable and deeply meaningful his work has been.
Whoever said " sometimes art is the better way to tell the story " has a big point.
Everyone commenting on this thread seems decent and thoughtful and kind.
I think that is what's significant.
What a coincidence. Similar story for me with a more mature woman. Thanks for the reminisce :)
Is “gift” a verb?
@@garyfrancis6193 sure. At least in Canada it is. We gift people all the time.
@@garyfrancis6193 Can be.
I was a fan and reader of all his books about Don Juan. I was in my early 20’s /1970’s and familiar with Mescaline, LSD, and of course Marijuana. I jave not read the other commemts here. But I learned that Carlos made Don Juan up. He was not a character in the books. Carlos’ description in the interview of Don Juan is humerous…because Carlos was describing himself….around 10 minutes in. 🥳😂
Since those days and in my 70’s now Ayahuasca and Peyote are my companions where I live in Zihuatanejo, Guerrero, MX. Best Regards
Re-reading Journey to Ixtlan at seventy-six is like tasting manna for the first time. The manna is the same, I am not.
Your quip deserves 👍👍
Exactly. ❤
That is such a treasure to have this interview recorded! Thanks for sharing this🙏
The main part of Castaneda’s teachings is on ‘Intent’ and that everything in the universe vibrates with the energy and reality of Intention. There is an level of the development of consciousness which is only available to those who embark on this journey of Self-discovery.
Have you reached that level of development?
@@tokyosmitsubishi Hello. I am writing to those who are, like me, searching for the answer, not to the question "what is life for", but another-what is the path of perfection which leads to the increase in consciousness and self-actualization? I AM looking for individuals who share this direction and with whom we can discuss the many topics Castaneda and Don Juan have presented us with. Please write back, will be very glad (ps-message written by Alek-guest of the account)
@@Pocket379 sure!!! Hi! :)
@@tokyosmitsubishi Thank you for your answer. )) Since you are familiar with Castaneda, and have spent time studying this direction, i wanted to ask you, first of all-what language did you read these books in, and second, what do you think of "perfection-flawlessness-impeccability" in relation to helping people-as in, should we help others in general or only when asked directly? of course these questions are limited, i hope we can discuss this specific topic deeper... is a life without emotion, completely without emotion-flawless?? (this message is from Aleksandr)
@@Pocket379 I ask then have you faced the storm?
Don Juan real or not, does not change the fact people in the future still show up and enjoy his teachings. Universal teachings of all spiritual traditions. thank you
Dear Carlos! Dear Spirit! Thank you for all this knowledge you've discovered to all of us! Thank you for the Magical passes you've described! Without all this I could think the world is boring and dull! Thanks to your books I know how incredibly wonderful are the human beings and the world!
I am re-reading Cataneda's book. Since I have been a Psychedelic student since 1962 at the University of Puget Sound, in Tacoma , WA USA. I am a Medical Doctor. I'm most interested in Low Dose Psychedelics that are being studied by Pharmaceutical companies in USA and Europe. Low dose LSD has significant effects on Major Depressive Disorders
Hello sir
How are you, i hope you're doing fine.
Im medical doctor as well trying to start speciality in cardiology next year, i tried psychedelic mushroom for the first time last year and had plenty of expereiences with it from light to mild to heavy doses, i say it changed my whole perspective so much so after a while i needed to quit my job for few months, it wasnt easy for me but now im doing better even though some of the trips was harsh on me im in awe for it, for showing me what it showed me.
May god help us with our journey.
I would be very thankful if you shared a little bit about your studies with psychedelics and how it shaped you and its impact on you.
Thank you in advance and god bless good sir.
Books helped me out alot, read them over and over
Carlos Castaneda was the first to make me realize how much of our universe is of our creation.
The idea that our ideas of the world inform our actions which in turn create a reality of ourselves, others, and the physical world we live in was very poplular in Sociology and Anthropology when Carlos was a graduate student at UCLA. His mentor Harold Garfinkel was the founder of the school of Phenomenology which maintained that we humans create our reality on a daily basis. Carlos knew this, it became the major theme of his published works.
I remember the excited anticipation that I and my friends had when the next book was coming out. I was spending time in the desert in those days so the landscapes he described were very familiar. A tremendous literary gift to the world!
Yes definitely
I remember that also
as i remember, he destroyed the world as we know. we (my buddies included) had our lives wrecked. we should have gone to through the path of the warrior at that point. we didn't. we all saw the truth in the words first handed and recognized the path. didn't go the whole way tho. at least we are still alive.
Why did you use continuous tense?
Beautiful sole. Thank you for your powers. ❤
Thank you for posting this. Castaneda's work and Jane Roberts' Seth Material (and the occasional plant medicine).
Hearing his voice after years of reading his books gave me chills. I can feel something in his voice, a lot more than i would have imagine.
Like what? I've never read his books. Just learned of him from Cloud Atlas.
@@enlightenedhummingbird4764 read his books then 😉
Yes! He sounds really nice! !💛
I'm also a Bruce Lee's 💙 fans and ,strangely, I noticed a similarity in their respective accent in english!!
Bruce would have loved "Tensegrity" "Magical Passes", what's more , this practice was enhanced by a chinese master immigrant in Mexico, long ago!!
just think hearing don juan's voice. or don genaro's. in a dream i saw don juan as an old and thin guy... it chilled my spine. it still chills my spine to this day. that dream was abou 18-19 years ago.
@@sickturret3587 yeah, thats interesting, but always watch out to people u meet in your dreams, they're mostly inorganics taking different apparences.
So, always ask questions to people u meet, they cant lie in dreams.
The summer of 1972 several friends met up in the northern woods of Michigan with a bag of peyote buttons I was the only one who was able to keep them down So my friends gave me theirs I had one crazy night alone in the woods. Several years later I read Carlos’s book and was amazed at how many similar experiences i had although most of my memories have faded I still believe that that night I was able to communicate with animals.
Tiere hören auch die innere mit der Zunge formulierte Stimme ... da brauchst Du keine Drogen für nehmen .. bei Pflanzen wirds glaube ich schwieriger .... das ist wohl so ähnlich wie bei Vögeln Sinn im Gesang zu suchen nur angeblich langsamer
Aquí y ahora. Don Juan hizo que me planteara una forma diferente de vivir: vivir el presente y no en el futuro.
Don Juan es un guerrero que vive de manera estratégica cada minuto del presente.
....
Excepcional entrevista. Castañeda se expresa tan bien! Es un antropólogo describiendo una experiencia de vida radicalmente diferente a la nuestra.
si...
I recall reading Teachings, and especially Separate Reality in late 1968-69. It was like a remarkable thunderclap to my reality, questioning everything.
I still practice night running in the desert, it is very magical.
People who focus on whether Don Juan or the events in the books were real, or on the circumstances of Carlos Casteneda and his life, have completely missed the point. This is about allegory, not facts, and how certain truths can be hidden under a layer of fiction.
Exactly. The same can be applied to certain religious books and their avatars.
All spiritual traditions are made up, even real historical events are presented in a very specific way that inspires emotion and imagination which is the actual path to freedom, truth, self awareness and love.
The spiritual world is imaginary, but so is the physical material one, from the perspective of your ego after death.
Realize this now, while you are still living, and a new path opens to you, in which you are given choices that only you can imagine.
As the right questions and the events in your life will conspire to answer them through your actions.
Your experience will reflect your capacity of imagination and feeling.
When everything around you is in chaos, find your unchanging self.
When everything inside of you is in chaos, your well trained habits of discipline and routine will be your foundation.
It is when the two become one that you find freedom.
ich glaub schon , dass es da einen Identitätswechsel gegeben hatte ... das Alter Ego in den Büchern war eben sein früherer Name .. also die Geschichte fängt eigentlich in Wahrheit mit dem Alterego an und endet mit Carlos Castaneda ? .. der ja dann auch alle seine Freundschaften damals in LA abgebrochen hatte .... wenn sowas als Kind passiert weiß man das auch irgendwie nicht mehr ... in einer totalen Gesellschaft wo alles in ornung ist und alle mitspielen ... kann man vielleicht auch menschen in einem höheren Alter auswechseln .. z.B. frauen verändern sich nach Sex ... wenn dann die "Jungfrau " mal eine Woche entführt war ... kommt die ntürlich anders aussehned zurück ... 2 verschiedene Menschen mit demselben Pass ...
ich hab selber auch schon Spuk und Zauberei erlebt ... in angesicht dieser okkulten durchdringung der politischen Machtpolitik .. wer weiß .. samael Aun Weor sagt ja auch .. nur große Seele werden wiedergeboren ... die anderen fallen aus der kulturellen Zeitliniarität heraus ....als okkultes materialation medium .. ist auch Seelenwanderung möglich .. der ägyptische Totenkult gibt da ja auch Hinweise .. die Organe das gehirn in Gefäße gefüllt um , jemanden wieder zurück ins Leben zu holen ... in den Büchern von Carlos Castaneda steht auch extra, dass man diesen Weg nicht ohne einen meister gehen kann .. wobei ich wirklich denke, dass dermeister von Carlos castaneda Viele waren ... so wie auch die biblischen Figuren ja alles Völker und Menschgruppen waren
True, the Castaneda books are full of allegory that conveys truths about consciousness and matters of the spirit.
It is also true that the first and third books were misrepresented to the Anthropology Department at UCLA as empirically based, literal ethnographies and were submitted as theses for a Masters Degree and a PhD respectively. The degrees were later revoked after it was proven that parts of the first book were plagiarized from previous work by someone else and contain a telltale translation error.
He’s books opened new world to me
This is a wonderful example of the glory of the possibilities before all of us.
Interesting how drugs seem to have so little to do with spiritual experience. After the first book so much of the experience seems derived from the inside out. No substances required. Gratitude to Carlos and Don Juan for showing up at different periods in my life to remind me of the magic that exists in my heart and right in front of my nose.❤
I have experienced dream work according to the techniques Castanieda describes in his books and I can say: I am the living proof, I am a witness. It is all true even if it is not documented or proven.
But everyone can experience it for themselves if they want to.
Where is the evidence that he can easily identify 100% a person whose luminosity has holes due to children? It's just a lie and manipulation.
Durch Don Juan habe ich gelernt meinen inneren Dialog anzuhalten und das schenkt mir bis heute Ruhe 🙏
Haben Sie gelernt, zu "sehen", wie Castañedas don Juan es genannt hatte?
I've recently read his exwife's biography. (Margaret Runyan Castaneda ) They were married in the early 60s ,its an interesting glimpse into Castaneda's life...
After years of read his books im surprised to hear Castaneda's voice for the first time. I knew about his works because an aunt had the book El Don del Águila. I read it but later I realized the order of lectures, starting with Teachings of Don Juan. Gran honor tener Hombres de Conocimiento en México!
Thank you for posting this. My grandfather gave me my first Castaneda book. It forever changed me.
Decades ago whilst in hospital in the UK for 3 months, I wrote to Carlos Castaneda via his publisher, to say how much I had appreciated reading his book. To my surprise he responded with a hand-written letter, and in it, mentioned that he would be writing another book. Like a fool, I did not keep that letter for the precious item that it was. It is now fascinating to hear his voice on this video. He describes himself as European, I had believed him to come from South America. I have now read all his books and they have profoundly expanded my thinking processes.
In an interview in a magazine long ago they said he would get hundreds of letters and pick out a few randomly to answer....leaving it up to chance (or the spirits?)
They expanded my mind too.
He was Peruvian, and it's unclear if he has any links to Europe at all.
What he ment it is he represented Western (European) culture and tradition opposite to Native American.
In the Autumm of 1999 me got a chance to interview Castaneda with other mexican journalists, but he refused any photos taken of him and also avoided recording his talk with us, still he was a nice and funny man...
@ivanalareina Yes, I even wrote about that in Proceso magazine in México, but you're right, that seminar of transegrity must had been held after 1994, still and besides he was a friend of mexican writer of "literatura de la onda" José Agustín, who died early this year (2024). Me has to check out the precise data and time, thanks for comments...
1999? it says he died in 1998.
His books changed my life. I am sure I am one of many, many in that regard.
Thank you for posting this interview. I missed the first wave of popularity when all my hippie friends were talking about these books, but when I re-discovered a complete set in the late 70's my life experience had made them more comprehensible. I had smoked pot and done a few chemicals and if nothing else Castaneda's description of HIS trips were brilliant. But over the years I had also studied "religion" as a system of beliefs and perceptions and found Don Juan's teachings to be a crucial step in the evolution of human conscious. His books taught an entire generation how to view their world.
50 years after I started reading Castenada I can hear his voice His books were teachings about a world psychedelics introduced me to Grateful
1st read this when I was 19. My soon to be wife was 21 and part Indian. She told me about it . Good to see this. I might re-read it .....67 YO now.
3210
@@TheTarutau 0123?
@@Pocket379 smart crows don't leave leftovers. So eat up. That old man knows alot. Use your eyes.
th-cam.com/video/Ozca_5ifwQ0/w-d-xo.html
@@Pocket379 212430?
Carlos took me on mesmerising journeys. When I found out accuracy was compromised at times I was very disappointed. But...I doubt if I'll read anything like him again.
The art of dreaming have clear tecniques in it. I read all the books in my 20’s and enjoyed them. I seem to remember that Dona Soledad had one hell of a floor!😅👊
It's funny how many people think he made the whole thing up. One of the ways to know he's telling the truth, is when you've had such experiences yourself, and note the exact details match perfectly. More poignant details in castenadas works than most books on the subject.
Just because he made it up doesn’t make the books any less fun and interesting.
@@wes788411 that's called gaslighting
@@escapevelocity8092 If you are offended, maybe, otherwise it is just story telling.
@@peterm1240 right! And so are all words, whether true or not...Think about that for a moment.
@@peterm1240 easy to verify for yourself, my life was changed
I had experienced some of these things , and reading the books afterwards helped really make sense of my knowledge,,instead of me thinking I was mad ,,so no these are not Just fairy tales,,they are very helpful to some people ,,,🎶💕🌏
Wonderful interview. I love his work
Thanks SO MUCH FOR POSTING!💚💚💛🧡❤💜
Castanadas book of exercises ‘magical passes’ is a variation of ‘Kai’men’ an ancient form of Taoist Yoga. It translates as ‘open door’. Be sure to close the door after if you practice or you may have unwanted visitors.. especially when you close your eyes.
I'm guessing that encouraging a mass of people to "open their door" without teaching them how to protect themselves, or how to "close the door" was/is intentional. How else will the entities flooding here from other dimensions find easy human hosts? This is part of the spiritual war waging now.
Casteneda is one of the deepest rabbit holes a young person can go down.
Loved his books back in the 80's
Ran into Carlos and Don Juan in 77. Been a part of my life ever since. I wish you all well on your infinite journey!
Really? I Do believe he tells the truth and Juan was real, but a lot of ppl dont. Can you clarify your meeting with them for me at all please?
@@lil.Maggot Sorry for the confusion. Ran into them via the books. My humble apologies.
@@lil.Maggot Also, I don't care if he is real or not. Having to believe is everything.
Ya know, after I replied the 1st time I figured that.. but I was like, what the hell, who knows. There's a guy that writes a thread claiming to be the nephew of his "informant." After listening to an interview, I'm pretty sure its legit. I'm sure there's some artistic license involved. But for the most part seems genuine. And he says himself, he never literally means he turned into a bird, yet perceived to, and Juan states: reality is a matter of perception. I turned into a plant one time, or rather, experienced the countiousness of a plant. So, yeah. I'm a believer.
@@lil.Maggot Perception is All we have. So it's as real as it is. 👍
So much appreciate this interview with C. Castaneda to hear his responses first hand. The books were deep and left much to ruminate on as what is reality and what is perception. So glad I connected with it all during my youth! Thank you.
you got involved with this in your youth, well, you still haven’t reached the level of seeing holes in the Cocoons?) maybe you just got involved with a fake?) ask yourself why something that should work doesn’t work.
I discovered the series of books at 16 in '83 living in Scottsdale (newly so) as I was discovering & falling in love with the desert. How appropriate. I demanded that my 3 new best friends read them as I had & we all talked about trying to do something similar on a smaller teenage scale. Life happened I still speak occasionally with 1 of them whos still in cave creek (my buddy Jim W.) 40 yrs later just hearing the name Carlos Casteneda brings a smile to my face. A wonderful set of books for any young mind.
Didn't get into the books but I was deeply affected by a wall poster at a place i was living when i was only 19. The poster featured Castaneda's aphorism to "Always follow the Path with a heart." Which I took to mean, your path through life must be congruent with whatever is true for you, and whatever is powered by agape. (If your life is to hold meaning and value for you,)
The consensus of reality is only a fragment of the range that our mind can sense.
I read most of Castaneda's books in my teens, and I'm glad I did. I reread a couple of them in my twenties, as well as the ones that came out subsequently. Reading him charitably, I think most of the experiences Don Carlos described in these books were either dream experiences or psychedelic experiences, although he didn't make this explicit most of the time. He had a method for dreaming his material and then writing it up. One could accept this and still believe that significant wisdom came through these experiences. There is strong evidence, though, that none of it came from literal, physical meetings with a Yaqui sorcerer.
Can you direct me to the strong evidence that he did not actually meet a Brujo? These books have had a tremendous effect on my life and I give him the benefit of the doubt until I see otherwise. Either way, the lessons are effective.
Thank you so very much for uploading this.
He changed my life in 1985
Well, you still can’t see people as cocoons) which means that all you’ve been doing all this time is self-programming.
His books were some of the first books I read on my spiritual path. I was in my late 20’s. Just turning 70 now🥳
His initial books complemented the times we lived in along with other amazing musicians, artist, writers etc. but power/fame always corrupts and all the gurus fail after giving us their gifts....thank you
Thank you very much.
Gracias! Gracias! Gracias!
Theres no turning back once you embark in the path of knowledge. Joerney to ixtlan.
I unexpectedly began sobbing when I heard this recording yesterday. I had no idea nor how much I missed him.
It is that part of the Nagual in us that "misses" him.
Probably is in somewhere down in oaxaca with don genaro !
***And it didn't came to your mind that that's a replay? Not really his voice? No? At all? Where was the last time you've heard a decades old recording sounding so crystal clear? We've listened to talk shows from 80's-90's pre-digital era and even they sound sh*tty. And they are not that old.
Please reject this illusion once and for all. ;)
@@sleepydreamdealer Recordings from that time can definitely sound as crisp as this one
@@sleepydreamdealer if you believe that listen to any lecture from Alan watts from the 60s or 70s. Clean clear and crisp. Also consider you can clean up any audio with modern technology from your smart phone let alone the more sophisticated studio tools
Thanks a lot! I really enjoyed that!
In Journey to Ixtlan he says he studied for 6 months before visiting Don Juan; here he says a month.
"Eine andere Wirklichkeit - ein Yaqui Weg des Wissens". Vor mehr als 40 Jahren stolperte ich buchstäblich über dieses Buch. Es lag in meinem Zimmer und ich habe nie erfahren, wie es dort hingekommen ist. Es hat mich nie wieder losgelassen. It´s simply the truth - if there is something you can call the truth ...
Wow
Ähnlich ging es es mir mit "Der Ring der Kraft"...
"Und wie endete dein Erlebnis schließlich, wann und wie kamst du nach Ixtlan?" Beide fingen an zu lachen. "Das ist also für dich das Ende", bemerkte Don Juan. "Nun, sagen wir's einmal so: Genaros Reise HATTE kein Ende. Sie wird nie ein Ende haben. Genaro ist immer noch auf dem Weg nach Ixtlan!" Eine der Stellen, die mich am meisten berührten ...
Genaro is very versatile.
Truths like death perfectly written. A blessing to those who endure the glare of conscience.
There's more truth to Toltec teaching than any Religion or Belief on this good green Earth... ❤️
Thank you!
This is great. Thank you!
I was glad to hear this interview. I read Castaneda's, work back in the late 60s and had heard that it may have been fictional. At the time i was very fascinated by his story with the different perception of reality as well as the plant use often used to experience it.
Thanks Richard for telling your relation to Castaneda as well as the way you think of his work, whether fiction or not. He certainly got a lot of us experimenting with perception and entertaining other possibilities.
La voz del nagual Carlitos… El regalo mas grande que ha recibido la humanidad a travez de Don Juan el guerrero impecable .. Regalo dado por ordenes del espiritu, a travez de estos magnificos guerreros…..
Asi es.
Amen!
No.
Muchas gracias!
This man as a very eager and willing guinea pig. Like he said people don't change and therefore what can a European minded man get out of this experience.
Really Great! I’ll have to read itagain
The Man the Myth the Ledgend! !!
The man, the myth, the malarkey.
Time is hard.
Genial Dich Reden zu Hören, Der Hannes
This is actually Castaneda's face and voice. As far as I know the only picture or recording of the man himself.
His books were a part of my childhood and still greatly affect my perception of the world - His writing is much more believable than his on the spot speaking here.
Love you Carlos
Self-enquiry, as instructed by Ramana Maharshi, provides what seems like, at the very least, a similar if not equal understanding of what is referred to as reality. Mr. Castaneda's description of his experience with Don Juan closely resembles what transpires when self realization is discovered. The difference is in the forms produced while in the drug induced state. It was noteworthy that Don Juan was not interested in the forms, as if giving attention to form served as a distraction from what mattered.
I was obsessed with CC in my 20's. Since then I have used the books as a reference for some of my later spiritual experiences. I experienced some weird shit, and it was awesome. I was trained along with some other people by a very psychic hispanic guy. He had different names for everything, but a lot of it was similar. He could read auras and see non-physical entities and knew how they affected people. After being around him for awhile, it was obvious that he couldn't be faking it. I think Don Juan liked to set up situations where his apprentices would either learn the lesson or die (or think they were going to die). I should pick up reading CC where I left off.
Where is the evidence that he can easily identify 100% a person whose luminosity has holes due to children? It's just a lie and manipulation.
******I think that's not an actual interview, but a reconstruction of it.
Have you ever pay attention how people in USA and UK spoke their language back in 50's or 60 and even 70's? In the movies or old interviews with musicians, writers, actors, politicians, random human beings? They used to speak very differently, by using more sophisticated words than nowadays talk. A specific words and phrases which in out times sounds old fashioned and vintage. But in this interview i hear two contemporary men talking.
when carlos is asked what the don juan did for a living, carlos sounds a bit nervous and suspect like that’s not something he’d thought up yet.
Didn't Don Juan once say he was "...a stockholder"?
@@rpbajb I dont recall that part
@@palespectre4835 I hadn't read the book in 40 years, but I found it! In "Tales of Power", Part Two, Shrinking the Tonal, page 161, Don Juan tells Carlos, "I'm a stockholder". I remember it shocked me completely when I first read it. But why wouldn't Don Juan be competent in business; he was a hunter and a warrior.
Social security disability
He said peyote looked like a six foot tall cricket, that hoped. These interviews are convincing me he’s telling the truth. In his own mind anyway.
T'he sorcerer's first name is not, Don. In the Spanish language, the word 'Don', preceding one's name is a title of respect or honor, similar to Sir. Juan, is an extremely common Mexican name. Basically, Casteneda is calling him, Sir Joe.
Very interesting!!
i read a translation of his work, i remember reading it with great astonishment as i knew i understood nothing of what was being told
i also remember it made me feel very confused about why i was even spending time reading these books
Everything is already inside us!
No way CC with such BAAAAD ability to talk English could have IMAGINED these books !!!!
So many still try heading out the desert looking for a pale imitation of what Carlos wrote about.
Anyone who consistently ends his sentences flippantly with the word, "whatever", is doing one or all of the following: he's dismissing everything he just said, or he's linguistically lazy, or he's trying to distract us with a shiny object, or he's being dismissive for some darker, surreptitious reason.
For those who would be Warriors please observe and interiorize the Energetic Facts of Los Nuevos Videntes, or The New Seers of the Naguals Party. O ye me gracias espiritu principia
I was reading his first book during the last exams of my school studies. Sitting with the book in a park a woman approached me: "Don't you want to try and have similar experiences like Castaneda in his book?" - In this moment I knew without any doubt, that in this life I would not take psychedelic substances - never. That was more than 45 years ago - and so far I never did :-)
It was said that most drugs were there to ease pain, to get you high or give you strength. Hallucinogenics are there to teach you the right way to live.
Can you please elaborate on how did you get the message that you wouldn't take psychdelics?
@@mohamedhassan8867 I don't know how to answer this. Up to that age I had not done anything special - back then I was what you would call now a nerd. I just knew. And by now I know I can trust myself, whenever I "just know" 🙂
Thank you for uploading this. Theodore Roszak gave Castaneda the critical and intellectual backing which underpinned his rampant success. I wonder how he felt when the scale of Castaneda's deception became known.
Wait, what deception are you referring to?
Wait, what deception are you referring to?
@@MerkhVision th-cam.com/video/3ziSZKhGJaA/w-d-xo.html
The deception I have found so far was that later in life he opened a sort of seminar that cost 600 dollars but seemed incongruent from his previous writings. Some participants were dissapointed.
I think maya civilization and all those inka pyramids were the product of the second attention.
"Don One" 🤣
My introduction to C.C. was Robert Anton Wilson's Cosmic Trigger series
They code stimuli through nuralink
The truth is what refuses to go away 🤎 Carlos did an awesome job and what a cool voice he has. I am loving the books of these grey wizards in the third chakra, learning about reality.
Love you Carlos 💝💝💝💝
all is true ...but we all have different paths ....personally i will be going to nepal to live the rest of my life as a a goat ..... im afraid of being re incarnated in a big city .....
Seriuosly? Ive heard its not possible to reincarnate into an animal after you are a human.
I don't necessarily believe in reincarnation but the original teaching in both hinduism and Buddhism clearly says that one can fall back to the animal realm by living a life of indulging in sensuality etc. Pretty much the American lifestyle, you'll be lucky if you make it to the animal realm, seems to be a sure ticket for the lower hell realms.
How about a tree ?
@@truthabouttheworld3186 Hindu is a people not a belief
A goat or the goat? Because with one you’ll spend eternity l I c k I n g your B a l l s.
you forgot to say that you peed on the dog. And Don Juan told you that the dog payed you back by peeing on you
I think the reality is way too many anthropologists created a world they wished for rather than documenting one that existed.