A Separate Reality (The Teachings of Don Juan)

Good book

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.

A glorious stroll into wisdom

This is one of only four books that Carlos Castañeda totally attributes to a "mysterious figure" he called Don Juan Matús. Suffice to say that, based on the actual content of these original four books, it doesn't matter whether Castañedas source(es) for the information he gave to us was really named Don Juan, or Roger Rabbit, or President Milhouse Nixon. Clearly to those who pay attention, what matters dearly are the messages.The messages are philosophical (the whole gamut--ethics, methods to reality(ies) including most prevelantly, meditation) and religious, presented in amazing discourse. I first read these books as they came out in the early 1970s. Since then, they have totally altered my life-view, and the love affair and marriage I now have with this sacred life and the Sacred Earth and Sky. Totally changed me, for the better.And I have tried and tried to figure out the source or sources for what Mr. (Dr.) Castañeda consulted to create these master works. No matter what else he was (a real bum and a fraud are often heard), he did the world of men a favor by creating these first four books.I think the sources are mainly Daoist, and mainly the older books such as the Nei, Tao-Tsang, Chuang-Tzu, and others. Amazingly, I'm still learning! Join me--there is so much to learn about the sacredness of Everything.

Great Read!!!!

Daughter loved it shipped lightning fast! Thank you!

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.)

Castaneda’s books are among the most profound and important revelations of Reality ever made available to the public. If and how this gift is utilized by the recipient is entirely a matter of personal power, i.e., of Intent.