A Separate Reality

This book is the sequel to the first book "The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge" and is just as meaningful and profound. The idea of spirituality under the Yaqui Indian paradigm, like other esoteric perceptions, conveys a non-ordinary reality where rationalizations and human explanations act as superficiality. "Once a man learns how to "see" he finds himself alone in the world with nothing but folly." p. 81 Anotherwards, all the world is a stage and everything we do are roles we act. We don't leave the world as a hermit because we don't willfully abandon ourselves, but instead we recognize the superficial roles we are required to play as human beings and in turn, rest in our silent self, the silent observer who "sees" this world as a series of necessary folly and superficiality and learns to to limit mental chatter, thinking and rationalizing and to start listening. This book reminds me of Timothy Leary's explanation of reimprinting. Each time one "trips," he takes a trip beyond static reality to the dynamic flow and each time he returns he takes an additional snapshot and reimprints as a baby does when born. Each imprint is added to the previous imprints, as well as reinterpreting former imprints. And so, when Don Juan uses the power of suggestions with Carlos Castaneda and consensus is agreed, the dynamic affect under hallucinogens conform to such ideas which are compounded during the reimprinting stages back to normal reality. And so, peyote consists of an entity called Mescalito and magic mushroom smoke produces encounters with allies. In turn, as with many Eastern mediators, the awareness grows of the silent observer self beyond the superficial ego self we are required to live through as human beings. We see the folly of human existence and become detached while simultaneously maintaining our lives active in this world, not in inertia, but with the paradox of "seeing" our real silent witness selves and using our superficial roles with more artistic and less attachment. One learns to act like a warrior by acting, not by talking." p 144 "If a man sees he doesn't have to live like a warrior, or like anything else, for he can see things as they really are and direct his life accordingly." p 149 "Seeing dispelled the illusion of victory, or defeat, or suffering." p. 138 "Nothing of what I had done in my lie was really worthy of that last ultimate emphasis so I had nothing to think about. That was an exquisite realization." p. 243"Worry and think before you make a decision, but once you make it, be on your way free from worries or thoughts . . that's the warrior way." p. 47 Don Juan teaches learning how not to think, silencing the mind and learning to listen. I also enjoyed how Don Juan considered much of the Tibetan Book of The Dead as "crap." And yet, one can say the same thing about his Yaqui Indian Sorcerer interpretation of non-ordinary reality. Yet both paradigms, Tibetan and Yaqui acknowledge the silent observer, the mental chatter, and the need to listen without fear in reality of clarity beyond mental conceptions.

I felt as though I too were on the journey with Don Juan and Carlos. The experience of being a part of a process such as shamanism is very intriguing.

I have all his other books,i finally changed my soft cover to hardcover. his writing is smooth and easy to read.i think the relationship between don matus and carlos is unique.i was fascinating by his teaching the way of a warrior in the indian sense of the word.their roaming through Arizona desert.if you ever wondered about the indian medicine man and their secrets this is the book for you.you enter another world ,so to speak,and learn about what they and do.carlos first met met don juan looking to find the meaning of peyote and mushrooms and how there used ,carlos found a lot more then he was seeking.. these are my favorite books of all time paul p

I like it as a story, but as far as the art of shamanism goes i do not enjoy what don Juan refers to as folly, which is just manipulation of others minds while laughing about the deception of the act. I got the impression he was drowning Carlos many times and that what Carlos was experiencing was death by the hands of another that was not teaching shamanism as much as he was traumatizing Carlos to be able to mind control him. Again not my idea of shamanism really, but still a neat treat.

There is some excellent wisdom in this book about how to live one's life. Of course, I don't plan to take mescaline to achieve this separate reality but reading about having an ally helps me with my own problems with alcoholism and a higher power. Also, living life as a "warrior" by choosing the path with heart, taking responsibility for all of our decisions, even the most minute, then moving on without hesitation, worry or second guessing, knowing that before you made your decision you wholeheartedly ensured that it followed your path, is eye opening, although of course I think we all simply need to be reminded of it. I plan to read the other books in this continuing saga. (Run on sentence, I know. Don't feel like fixing it it was stream-of-conscious writing lol.)

Carlos Castaneda’s accounts of his experiences and teachings from Don Juan are so truly genuine and alive. He is able to bring you into the moment describing his bodily sensations and his minds struggle with constantly trying to reason. It gives the gift of the possibilities that we are so much more than we think we are.

Daughter loved it shipped lightning fast! Thank you!

A glorious stroll into wisdom

Libro che aiuta a ricordare i tempi in cui si credeva che vi era una possibilità di conoscere se stessi attraverso l'uso di droghe allucinogene,peccato che l'autore non menzioni i danni cerebrali causati dall' assunzione del peyote.

An absolute must read

Bought this for a young friend. Read it myself years ago along with the other Casteneda books. You either 'love reading Casteneda or hate him'? I loved reading him. It was an education with regard to understanding the ritualistic and ceremonial nature of shamanism. I did not end up believing everything I read - far from it. But in a sense that was the point. I was embarked on trying to sort illusion from reality, and I believe his writings were instrumental in that regard. They also helped - in a roundabout way, explain some of the phenomena I experienced in altered states. I that regard do not and cannot recommend taking drugs, but in a historical context many if not most civilizations have accomodated their use and invented ceremonies and rituals and care provisions to ensure greater safety for users, or should I say 'seekers', for in most instances they were used in pursuit of truth and knowledge or 'Enlightenment' rather than taken for pleasure. I do not believe Casteneda's writings are The Answer, but they are now classic literature and in reading them one will at least become conversant with one perspective, like one language among the many. Hope this helps?

Pleased

I find books like this are rare. While mystery is easy to find, explanations as to what may be occuring are not. A breath of fresh air. Amazing book.