Customer Reviews

The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, The Original Teachings in a Deluxe 30th Anniversary Edition

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The basics of this book are simple and by now legendary: In the 1960s, a UCLA anthropologist with a rather plodding intellect and disposition meets a mercurial Yaqui Indian sorcerer who astounds him, baffles him, terrifies him, and ultimately -- over the course of many books -- transforms him. The whole story is presented as the unvarnished truth. But is it a true tale or is it a tall tale? There's the rub.

This was the first book in the series, and in many ways, the best. Castaneda was to Don Juan what Boswell was to Johnson, which leaves Don Juan free to do things that absolutely defy physics and rational thought. In the end, the old Yaqui Indian must be either one of the most remarkable people who ever lived, or one of the most vivid characters ever to appear in a work of fiction. But can you trust the author? Unfortunately, Castaneda is dead, so he can no longer be consulted, but this reviewer had a chance once to hear him speak.

Shortly after the publication of The Teachings of Don Juan, Castaneda went on a brief promotional tour. I happened to be attending one of the campuses where he made an appearance. It was around 11 AM and I was drinking a cup of coffee over the student newspaper when I read the notice that Carlos Castaneda would be appearing at noon. I dropped what I was doing and ran over to the auditorium. Though I was a half an hour early, the seats were already almost gone.

Like everyone else, I had read The Teachings of Don Juan, and was hoping for some further mind-bending tales, as well as a chance to "feel the vibe" of this sorcerer's apprentice. Unfortunately, Castaneda turned out to be a far better writer than he was a speaker. As a sorcerer's apprentice, he was most unlikely and unconvincing. Pudgy, soft-spoken, looking stiff and sweaty in a suit and tie, he droned on and on about the "structure" of Don Juan's teachings. In essence, he confined his lecture to the latter third of the book, the part that was most like an academic thesis. From the beginning he gave us precious little that was new or even interesting about Don Juan. There was no chink in the academic armor through which to glimpse the lurking truth.

Since he was still defining himself as an anthropologist at the time, Castaneda might have felt obliged to talk like a professor, or, if you're a skeptic, perhaps he had other motivations, such as pressing the hoax further. It's impossible to say. Most of the audience had met the hookah-smoking caterpillar in person, and were eager to hear something, anything that would enlighten them about Don Juan. A half an hour into the lecture, I was unable to suppress a yawn.

The hall continued to fill during the talk, overflowing into the aisles, and Castaneda called upon everyone to migrate to the lawn behind the University Center. Much to my regret, I took advantage of the opportunity to bow out. If I had known that this was to be one of the only public appearances that Castaneda would ever make, I would have followed the Pied Piper, and perhaps I would be able to recall one word that would help me to settle the question that has gone on nagging me and millions of other people ever since.

In the intervening years I have read all the discussion of Castaneda, pro and con, and now, as I reread The Teachings, I find that I am no closer to an answer. However, I have come to a decision: Since it is impossible to do more than speculate, I have decided to abandon the quest. My enjoyment of the book has expanded as a result. Whether it is a work of imagination or a journal of real-life events, it is a success. To quote one of my professors, "Books are not life, but then what is?" If Don Juan is fictional, he is still real enough. Throughout this book and the others, his persona and behavior are remarkably consistent, and consistently wise and startling. It seems to me that this argues for his reality, though it doesn't rise to the level of a proof.

If you have ever been out in the Southwestern desert at twilight -- what Don Juan called the crack between the worlds -- and felt the awesome silence, then you know that while implausible, the fantastic glimpses of an alternate reality that Castaneda describes can't be dismissed out of hand. The droll manner in which he narrates the incredible encounters with Don Juan and various transcendental, terrifying beings only amplifies their intensity. The effect is enough to pull a grown-up, habitually skeptical Westerner right through the Looking Glass. That is the worth of the Teachings of Don Juan: it reawakens a sense of wonder at the mystery of creation. It breathes new life into Shakespeare's often-quoted, but timeless line that there are things in heaven and earth undreamt of in our philosophy. If Castaneda was telling the truth, then the strangeness is even stranger, but either way, Teachings of Don Juan succeeds. That is why I say that true or false, this book is a five-star experience.

The drama of The Teachings is the confrontation between scientific rationality and the unfathomable mystery of Creation. Perhaps the two are irreconcilable, or perhaps scientific inquiry begins with a sense of wonder, and therein lies synthesis and reconciliation. This is a book that can take you to the brink of the ultimate mystery in an armchair -- without datura, without psilocybin, without peyote. It's mind-altering, and it's safe.

That's a unique achievement, and well worth the trip, if you'll excuse the expression.

This, Carlos's first book in his series dealing with the unreal world of Don Juan, was actually his doctorate thesis in anthropology. Carlos reveals to us his absolute confusion and apparent loss of reason here. Only many volumes later does Carlos come to understand what was actually happening to him. As the factual circumstances of this volume are repeated again in his future works, it would seem that this work is unimportant. However, this is not the case. By reading the volumes as Carlos experienced and believed what was happening to him, one can see that Carlos was speaking the truth as he understood it.

Carlos Castaneda shows us that there is an entire world right before our eyes, yet we have mastered the art of looking only at what is easily tangible, and easy to accept. However, he shows anyone who reads it that whatever one doesn't have to squint to see, is indeed meaningless compared to the deeper truths that we must dig for. All in all, a fascinating, great book, which has whetted my appetite for his books. Currently I am reading The Fire from Within.

Don Juan is more than a transcultural religous book. And it is more than just a retelling of a Yaqui belief system. Don Juan represents deep insight into the human experience. Don Juan is a profound exposition of generally known truths that has been put into a rich and vivid cultural setting. My family has been touched by his magic.

This is Castaneda's first book introducing his long apprenticeship with the Yaqui sorcerer Don Juan Matus.

Over eight million copies of Castaneda's books have been sold. Although critics have said his work is fiction (not ethnographically accurate), Castaneda maintained his writings were anthropology. In 1973 he was granted a Ph.D. in anthropology by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The value of the teachings is undeniable, no matter how they are classified. By the way, his books repeatedly made the top of the best seller lists for non-fiction books. Castaneda died in 1998.

His first three books include many vivid instances of the use of hallucinatory plants to open doorways into profound experiences of non-ordinary reality. Such magical encounters forced Castaneda to re-evaluate everything he thought he knew about what it means to be a man and a human being. By far the most important messages from these accounts are the lessons Don Juan patiently teaches Castaneda about being an "impeccable warrior" following a path "with heart."

In his later years, Castaneda introduced a new way to expand consciousness called Tensegrity, which includes meditations, physical movement exercises, and the integration of a body of shamanic teachings.

By understanding that the purpose of entering the extraordinary realities is not the extraordinary realities themselves but rather a tool to gaining insight about the reality itself the reader gains valuable inspiration to live the life to its fullest extent.

Having visited the extraordinary realities probably makes understanding this book much easier and could reduce or remove the sence of confusion - but the single most important characteristics the reader should posses is open-mindness.

If you are ready for it, the book will positively improve you and give you material for further improvements and better understanding of yourself. Otherwise it won't affect you at all.

I first discovered Castaneda by reading quoted excerpts of his works in other books, so decided to start at the beginning of his series with "The Teachings of Don Juan". The first half of the book was fascinating and absorbing, until I reached the second half where the analysis begins. Castaneda's capable intellect makes itself apparent in the way he analyses the teachings he received from Don Juan, but frankly, it's extremely tedious. Fortunately this does not detract from his ability to write a good narrative, and first-time readers will be pleased to know this over-analysis does not continue in his subsequent books.

Whether or not Castaneda reported his experiences truthfully in his series of books or whether he "embellished" them, is a matter of some debate. There are books that examine the topic in more detail. My personal opinion is that Don Juan may have been an alias for another person (possibly a Yaqui shaman), and after the success of his first book he began to embellish upon the character as a sort of archetypal spiritual teacher. Anyone with more than a passing familiarity with "Fourth Way" literature (Gurdjieff, Ouspensky etc) may get the impression that Castaneda borrowed quite a few concepts. Don Juan's irreverent sense of humour and severe rebukes certainly made me think of Gurdjieff on more than one occasion.

Apparently this book was/is held in some circles as an "encouragement" for the use of entheogens (drugs taken to produce spiritual experiences). I didn't read that in the book at all. Castaneda seems to describe his altered states fairly matter-of-factly, and nowhere does he explicitly recommend or encourage them, or come off like he's "enjoying" the bizarre experiences he describes, or sensation-seeking. If anything, he seems quite flustered and shocked that he can't explain all his experiences in a rational, reductionist way. This is one of the reasons I think that his first three books are less metaphorical. By the third book, the psychedelic plant component of the narrative fades from the overall picture completely (which is a good thing, in my opinion).

The information given by Don Juan to Castaneda is interesting and thought-provoking. Concepts such as "a path with heart", the warrior and the man of knowledge, the relationship between anger and self-importance, the four natural enemies etc are excellent to reflect upon. I feel it is these parts that make up the bulk of the book's worth. There are also a number of humorous moments that make the journal part of the book quite enjoyable.

Overall, definitely worth a read, but I also think that a person could probably start the series at the second book and not miss much.

This book is excellent as a practical guide to realities beyond the one of everyday experience. It provides exact methods by which a person might achieve this. The typical reader might feel distanced by symbologies specific to Yaqui culture, but evenso, the overall value of this work is not deminished, since the general theme is universal. Another fascinating book along these lines is 'The Pharaoh's Son' by Michael J. Dahl. Here, the storytelling is made vivid in terms of something closer to mainstream American culture and plausible even from a scientific point of view. It seems to pick up at a level where Don Juan leaves off. I find the two books taken together a powerful combination.

Castaneda's books were recommended to me by a Native American medicine woman I trust, who knows what he's talking about, who has met some people he learned from. She assures me that he received permission to write about his experiences and pass on Don Juan's teachings, something other European American writers have neglected to do. I am finding these books helpful, just beginning to understand what he's talking about. There's enough here to provide a lifetime of study.

I read this book when I was quite young, and I still cherish it today. Unfortunatly, I recently found out that Castaneda died this year due to liver complications. He never let anyone take his picture or record his voice, making him as enigmatic as his characters. In this book, you will find many things that bring you to ponder over life's mysteries. This opens the box to the rest of Castaneda's books. A must read for dark, contemplative nights.