Part of the Casswiki article series Cassiopaean Experiment
Carlos Castaneda (1925 - 1998) is a best-selling author of books dealing with the alleged esoteric tradition of the ancient sorcerers of Mexico. The books start with The Teachings of Don Juan, published in 1968, where Castaneda recounts his experiences as the apprentice of the mythical brujo Don Juan.
This first book deals extensively with the use of natural hallucinogenics for accessing other realities. The later books have more emphasis on internal discipline.
There is endless debate on the historicity of Castaneda’s alleged teacher, Don Juan, and many have pointed out discrepancies in Castaneda’s own accounts. The trail is probably muddied on purpose and it is likely that Don Juan is a composite character. Much has been written on Castaneda and his following, thus we refer the reader to other sources, such as Cleargreen and Sustained Action, both to be found on the Internet.
From the Fellowship of the Cosmic Mind viewpoint, Castaneda is a valuable popularizer of spiritual concepts and probably has transmitted genuine parts of ancient tradition to the public, doing so in conformance with the “Law of Confusion”, i.e. maintaining deniability, thus leaving people with freedom to accept or reject the teaching as they may.
The FotCM does not recommend that Castaneda be taken too literally. (Nor that people experiment with hallucinogenics.) His narratives, though presented as factual, are if not entirely, then almost entirely fiction – and he mystifies the ideas he conveys. His books are best approached as collections of ideas expressed through fictional stories – sometimes more and sometimes less metaphorically. Taken in this way, they may stimulate thinking and lead to insights, as the reader draws connections to concepts found in other material, and perhaps to personal experience. Properly understood, there is practical validity to many of Castaneda’s concepts.
In presenting his stories, Castaneda is a very readable author and often paints himself as the bumbling buffoon, better to underline the sobriety, mastery and cool virtue of his mythical master, Don Juan. This makes Castaneda more accessible and human to the reader, which most likely was Castaneda’s intention from the start.
The main concepts the FotCM has adopted from Castaneda include:
- The predator’s mind
- The petty tyrant
- Overcoming self-importance
- Stalking
Additionally, Castaneda speaks of reality as being a habitual interpretation, something far less solid than generally perceived. The warrior, the esoteric quester on the road to freedom, may travel through other worlds, change his physical form and perform other magical feats. Castaneda is a storyteller, he does not build complex intellectual edifices of cosmology but rather tells hands-on stories through which he explains esoteric concepts. Other Castaneda concepts include second attention, assemblage point, tonal, nagual, energy body, flyer, stopping time etc.
From the FotCM’s viewpoint, Castaneda’s best work may have been his last, The Active Side of Infinity, published in 1998. This book and The Fire from Within, explore very important concepts in useful ways and are recommended reading.
Castaneda’s concepts overlap a fair amount with those of George Gurdjieff, although the presentation is very different. Castaneda’s and Gurdjieff’s views on death as the “adviser” and giver of significance to human life are notably similar. Neither lends particular emphasis to reincarnation, although both acknowledge consciousness to be potentially separate from body. Another similarity is the emphasis of both authors on attaining freedom through paying back what one owes the world.
Bibliography
- The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, 1968.
- A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan, 1971.
- Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan, 1972.
- Tales of Power, 1974.
- The Second Ring of Power, 1977.
- The Eagle’s Gift, 1981.
- The Fire from Within, 1984.
- The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan, 1987.
- The Active Side of Infinity, 1998.