Customer Reviews

Active Side of Infinity

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1 star:		(4)

 

 

Sometime in 1998, on a not-so unusual evening, my computer, once booting it up, seemed to explode in a dance of light and sound - my email had been inundated with the news that the famous author of 'The Teachings of Don Juan', Carlos Castaneda, had leaped into the abyss, never to return. The general response to his final passing, the commencement of his 'definitive-journey', was an ecstatic celebration: his work, it had been said, was finally complete. My feelings were mixed. Castaneda had been a close 'literary friend', a quasi-spiritual companion who, through his many books, made me aware that all things are indeed possible. The 'warrior-traveller' had moved on, and it was rumoured that his last book, ~The Active Side of Infinity~ was on the way.

It has been four years, and for a variety of reasons, I never got around to reading it, but finally did last week. To be sure, this last installment ranks, in my mind, as one of his best. This is the last in a long line of texts concerning Castaneda's appreticeship as a sorcerer, working under the tutelage of Don Juan Matus - a 'nagual' of mystery, power and hilarious wit. Don Juan has to be one of the most interestiing characters of the twentieth century. And to finally meet him again in ~Infinity~ was certainly a pleasure.

~Infinity~ has to be the most accessible of all Castaneda's books. We can almost categorize it as being his last will and testament before his final exit into infinity - an effort to pay off his spiritual debts as a warrior-traveller, recapitulating (Don Juan's term) memorable events and relationships in his life that changed his path or had, either consciously or not, affected or had a profound significance in his life as a sorcerer. The book is a collection of Castaneda's memories, intense and not so, that through re-living would prepare him for the 'definitive-journey' into the abyss. Death is the central theme in ~Infinity~, communicating the importance of preparing oneself for the unavoidable end we all must embark upon...

I was reminded of Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychiatrist who, in the last years of his life, always had 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead' on his night stand, referring to it before falling to sleep. This was Jung's way of preparing himself for the definitive journey. Castaneda, though, through re-living the past, sought-out some of the more significant people in his life, and made a practical attempt to set things right. This made a lot of sense to me on many levels.

To suggest to new readers of Castaneda to begin with ~Infinity~ would be, in my mind, a disservice. My advice would be to start from the beginning with 'The Teachings of Don Juan' and move on from there...one's appreciation of the entire philosophy will be much deeper as a result. That said, however, ~Infinity~ could well be a good starting point, because as I mentioned before, it's the most accessible of the canon.

For many years now I have been following Carlos Castaneda in his literary journey into the supernatural world of sorcery. Taking a comprehensive look at all of his books, Castaneda's narrative "feels" like a cleverly-crafted tales of ambiguous meanings that captivate the imagination; the creative artistic work of a masterful surrealist author. What Castaneda does for his readers is the same as what a Van Gogh or a Dali does for their admirers but on a different level. Castaneda is the protagonist of his subjectivism, making of himself a mysterious and legendary character. He ventures forth from the world of commonsense into the regions of the supernatural. There, with the aid of don Juan, he encounters tremendous forces. After a fierce battle he comes out triumphant, returning from his subjective adventure with the knowledge which he bestows to his readers. With every new book, Castaneda introduces a new concept that supersede others. For example, if the use of psychotropic hallucinogens was so important in don Juan's method of teaching, why did he stop writing about them in later books? On the other hand, if "Dreaming" was also such an important practice, why he did not talk about it from the very beginning? Why he did not mention the assemblage point in any of his first five books? Why did he wait until the end to introduce us to the practice of the "Magical Passes"? The reason is because over the years Castaneda appears to have borrowed from other sources, reformulating old concepts into new ones and accommodating his narratives to the spiritual undercurrents of the times. In the '60s it was spirituality through hallucinogenic substances, in the '70s and '80s there was a renewed interest in the esoteric (Seeing) and altered states of consciousness (Dreaming), and now in the '90s the spiritual awareness is being redefined in terms of bioenergy and its manipulations (Tensegrity). All these ideas have been built upon the preceding ones in a very intelligent manner. Don't get me wrong, I am a Castaneda "aficionado" and always will be . The essential meaning of his journey is that he united spiritual adventure with the modern-day search for meaning. Castaneda's merit lies in that he was able to link the ordinary waking consciousness with knowledge of the vast mystery and wonder that is our existence.

The Active Side of Infinity is the last book Carlos Castaneda wrote before his death in 1998. He described it as "a collection of the memorable events in my life," which he gathered at the recommendation of don Juan Matus, the Yaqui Indian shaman who was his teacher. An anthropologist and shaman, Castaneda wrote ten other books, including The Teachings of Don Juan.
Collecting the memorable events in one's life is a way of stirring "caches of energy that exist within the self," and making that energy available.
The process requires "the genuine and all-consuming act of putting together the sum total of one's emotions and realizations, without sparing anything." It's not a process that one undertakes lightly. Castaneda says that, for a shaman, the act of collecting memorable events is preparation for a "definitive journey" into the "active side of infinity."
Non-shamans call the definitive journey "death," and the active side of infinity "the afterlife." Shamans believe that human energy exists in a very real place after death, and they prepare themselves for continued existence in that place.
The collection of memorable events is not a personal memoir, or a rehashing of life's experiences, but instead is stories and events that touch something universal in all humans. They often change the life path of those to whom they occurred.
Castaneda describes how he first met don Juan, and his difficulties in finding him after they lost contact just after their meeting. He also includes several stories from his life as a child and a young man--events he had totally forgotten, but that had irrevocably changed his life.
Whether or not one agrees with Castaneda and don Juan about the afterlife, those who read The Active Side of Infinity will find themselves thinking about their lives, and journeys they must take after death, in a different way.

What can be said about the book? A must read for anyone familiar with Castaneda. Brilliant if not confusing. Take notice of many inconsistancies with his previous works. Written just before the end of his life or the beginning of his "Definitive Journey". Of course the question is still unanswered... is this stuff for real? The answer is moot. To the average person the stories related to us by Carlos were a big tease, we can never hope to aspire to the warriors way by ourselves. The best we can do is live our lives "like a warrior". The true brilliance of the works, is that it has forced many of us to accept the existence of other possibilities. Don't long for more books just because Carlos has passed on, there are more out there... Just look for them.

Carlos amazes again. I have read all his books and this one is my favourite along with The Power of Silence. This is his most personal writing. He lets us see the hidden beauty and deeper meanings that lie within what may appear as mundane event. I loved it. Many people ask me if I believe Carlos writes fact or fiction. His books are great either way. This book can also be read by people who haven't read Castaneda before. When you have read it you find yourself inevitably wondering what it would be like to live that way.

I am at a loss to explain the review given to this book by Kirkus Reviews. The reviewer completely misses the point, and seems to be almost angry, for some unknown reason.

On the other hand, I found this to be one of Castaneda's best books, if not his best. It is touching, clear, and packs a punch. It is brutally honest about the human condition, and comes direct from the heart. I had a difficult time putting this book down!

This book was published after Castaneda's death and he undoubtedly knew he was dying when he wrote it. This is his most autobiographical account. It provides insight into the very human side of a man surrounded by so much mystery. Many concepts described in earlier books are clarified here. The most important topic is that of "The Predator". This is the only one of Castaneda's books (with the exception of The Magical Passes) that addresses this most controversial subject. Make no mistake, this topic is not making reference to a metaphor. Without an understanding of this topic, one will never be able to make progress on the Path of Knowledge. For those interested, check out these other books that discuss this topic: 1) The Path (Esmeralda Arana), 2) In Search of the Miraculous (PD Ouspensky), 3) Far Journeys (Robert Monroe), 4)Enlivening the Chakra of the Heart (Florin Lowndes).

Active side of infinity is one of the last books written by Castaneda and it is the book were Don Juan finally reveal what the predator is. Instead of giving unperfect summaries and explanations here is a most revealing excerpt :

"I want to appeal to your analytical mind," don Juan said. "Think for a moment, and tell me how you would explain the contradiction between man the engineer and the stupidity of his systems of beliefs, or the stupidity of his contradictory behavior. Sorcerers believe that the predators have given us our systems of beliefs, our ideas of good and evil, our social mores. They are the ones who set up our hopes and expectations and dreams of success and failure. They have given us covetousness, greed, and cowardice. It is the predators who make us complacent, routinary, and egomaniacal."

"But how can they do this, don Juan?" I asked. "Do they whisper all that in our ears while we sleep?"

"No, they don't do it that way. That's idiotic!" don Juan said, smiling. "They are infinitely more efficient and organized than that. In order to keep us obedient and meek and weak, the predators engaged themselves in a stupendous maneuver - stupendous, of course, from the point of view of a fighting strategist. A horrendous maneuver from the point of view of those who suffer it. They gave us their mind! Do you hear me! The predators give us their mind, which becomes our mind. The predators mind is baroque, contradictory, morose, filled with fear of being discovered any minute now."

Active side of infinity is a must read, particularly if you have already read the first books of Castaneda.

I just finished reading "The active side of infinity" for what might be the 12th time and quite simply it is every bit as riveting as the first time I read it.
The concepts in this book e.g. recapitulation,inner silence and the foriegn installation etc resonate at a very deep and abstract level which continues no matter how many times I read it open up new views from within me.
I have found that piecing together Carlos Castaneda's material and insight difficult at times but recently I read "The Art Of Stalking Parallel perception" by Lujan Matus which seems to effortlessly expand and fill in area's of Castaneda's material not to rate one over the other ,but I would strongly reccomend reading and intergrating the Useful and purposeful information from "The Active Side Of Infinity" with "The Art Of Stalking Parallel Perception".

This is the posthumous book of Carlos Castaneda, it's kind of a compilation of biographical facts. This book gives a closer approach to the relation between don Juan and his apprentice, very different from the impression that you get in his previous books. Some of the information that don Juan reveals is of extreme importance to every human being: the only real duality between the physical body and the energetic body, the existence of the predator, ... If you haven't read the previos books: the teachings of don Juan, second ring of power, journey to Ixtlán, the power of silence, etc. I recommend that you read some of them before reading The Active Side of Infinity.