The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge

Contacts &SubmissionsGeneralInformationGeneralIndexesSpecialIndexesAboutWritingScheduleand SearchCarlos Castaneda, A Separate Realityreviewed by Danielle L. Parker A Separate RealityAuthor: Carlos CastanedaThe Carlos Castaneda books have floated around colleges for years, and for all I know, still do. A fellow student I can no longer remember pressed the series on me and insisted I read it. I read just enough to think, “This is weird,” and pass the dog-eared copies on.Not to someone in my set, though. The group I associated with had one goal. By hook or crook, claw and struggle, weekends lost to study and romances forgone, we would forge a living. We had no time for silly stuff. The traditional wild-side college experimentation passed us by. None of us were going back home.A Separate Reality turned up recently in the thrift store I browse for books. I held the battered copy in my hands and thought, “Hey... guess I can finish it. What will I think of it now? Is it still weird?”For those who don’t know the history, Castaneda was an anthropologist who gave up scientific distance. Instead, he immersed himself in his subject. Castaneda became the apprentice of a Yaqui Indian brujo, a self-described sorcerer.If you ever wanted a myopic view of how a shaman is born, this is it. The works are most famous for Castaneda’s flights on the wings of various psychotropic plants. Peyote, jimson weed, datura and the other hallucinogens used would have terrified us just to think about.A Separate Reality is Don Juan’s attempt to teach his apprentice to “see.” Don Juan’s thesis is the way we perceive the world is but one limited way of seeing. Poe said it best: “a dream within a dream.” Don Juan uses hallucinogenic plants like “Mescalito” to break his student’s confidence in the reality of ordinary perception. His secondary goal is to gain his apprentice an “ally,” a supernatural familiar spirit. And last but not least, to instill a “warrior’s” iron heart and freedom from desire.To me, the most telling scene is Castaneda’s first experience in smoking Don Juan’s psychedelic mixture. A gnat buzzes before Castaneda’s face. As the smoke overcomes him, the gnat becomes a giant, mysterious, flying being, the guardian of the other world. And yet it is still only a gnat.The narrator doesn’t realize his failure. Castaneda cannot resolve his conflicts. He fails as an anthropologist, because he is no longer a detached observer: he is a participant. He is unable to “see,” because his real purpose is publication, not “seeing.” He fails as a “warrior,” because he has no self-will.When Don Juan tells him to stab a total stranger, a supposed enemy, Castaneda obediently takes a blind swipe at the woman. It’s to Don Juan’s credit he does not make worse use of his abject slave. Castaneda becomes confused and angry at the trick played on him but never understands the lesson.Yet reading the book, one still glimpses those iron Indian warriors. Don Juan explains: “A detached man, one who knows he has no possibility of fencing off his death, has only one thing to back himself with: the power of his decisions. He has to be, so to speak, the master of his choices. He must fully understand that his choice is his responsibility and once he makes it there is no longer time for regrets or recriminations. His decisions are final, simply because his death does not permit him time to cling to anything.”The Castaneda books are occult classics. Castaneda doesn’t completely succeed in documenting a shamanistic tradition, because the conflict between observation and immersion can never be resolved. You can “see” or see, but not both at once. The gnat is either a giant whirling monster... or a gnat.The works are worth reading, too, for the complex character of the Yaqui shaman. Part wise man, part trickster, pursuer of power and advocate of Zen-like detachment: Don Juan too exemplifies irreconcilable conflicts.And I still agree 100% with my college-age self. Let someone else try the peyote buttons!

You can almost visualize author Carlos Castaneda traveling to Mexico City and meeting a couple of tour guides who want to show him the sights around town, such as the museums, restaurants, shopping boutiques, and other featured popular attractions. Doing so would be a pleasant diversion. To pursue this line of speculation, then, a liberal arts student from South America with a background in anthropology, philosophy, religion, sociology, and psychology, he makes discreet inquiries about opportunities for medical research, especially those concerning the inner workings of the human brain. After all, several of the universities in the city do offer advanced professional degrees in the health sciences field. He learns, it just so happens, that a certain individual has been searching extensively for a qualified new apprentice, but his scholastic program is neither accredited nor recognized by any of the institutions of higher education in Mexico, nor by the American Medical Association, the truth be told. His curiosity aroused, the undaunted, intrepid author goes forth to seek further information about the alleged don Juan, his particular whereabouts, his teaching methods and his credentials. On the other hand, you might just as well believe that the author simply went to Mexico to buy pharmaceuticals he couldn't get in Los Angeles, California, where he had been attending college. As you may know, the apothecaries south of the border do not always check for a prescription from your physician. And they may not be overly concerned about FDA approval. In any event, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, published in 1969 by Carlos Castaneda, describes the author's experiences in diary format as he embarks on his apprenticeship to seek the warrier's true path of knowledge. He travels a rugged, rocky road along the expansive corridor of the Great Southwest, that begins in central Arizona and leads him to Sonora, Mexico. The hot, dusty, winding road ends in the mountains and desert, which is where the humble, happy home of don Juan Matus is located. He attempts to learn the ancient ways of the Yaqui Indian medicine man. In his diary, Castaneda relates his most extraordinary, spiritual, and supernatural encounters with the candid, humorous, lucid, enigmatic, practical, and knowledgeable don Juan, who guides him in his quest to understand what it means to seek the path of a cosmic warrier. In brief, don Juan introduces him to three types of psychotropic plants: peyote cactus, which relates to a spirit known as "Mescalito;" Datura stramonium, otherwise known as "Devil's Weed," which has the potential to conjure up an animal spirit "ally;" and finally a concoction referred to as, "a little smoke," which is vaguely described as a precisely measured mixture of secret dried plant ingredients, including a sprinkling of ground-up small bright yellow flowers, with a powdery substance from a specific kind of psilocybin mushroom tossed into the preparation--according to my limited interpretation of the reading material. It actually sounds like a medieval alchemist's formula. I can just imagine the two of them chewing on peyote buttons plucked from cacti found in their evening desert wanderings, spitting out the fibrous pulp, as if they were chewing gum that's lost it's flavor, then chasing these unusual hors d'oeuvres with shots of tequila. After a while they begin watching great performances by the genie who escapes from the bottle. I can even see them scampering and scurrying around chasing gigantic lizards through the desert over rocks through the arroyo and into the canyon, after imbibing several bottles of Jimson Weed tea. But to see them soaring like eagles beyond the Saguaro cactus and high above the mesa, while a flock of lazy, unsuspecting crows circles aimlessly below would be a most impressively spectacular sight. Seriously, I begin to wonder what were don Juan's ancient ancesters and their neighborly fellow inhabitants really doing roaming around in the great Southwest for the past several millenia? Besides escaping war, poverty, slavery, and the various and sundry miscellaneous crimes of other advanced civilizations. Of course, they must have enjoyed their lives and freedom, exploring the new world, doing a little prospecting, and otherwise communing with nature. Besides frolicking on hallowed ground amidst the flora and fauna of a faraway frontier, there is a great deal to be said for survival, self-sufficiency, and gathering empirical evidence. Once upon a time in recent memory... Maybe we can't explain all of the mysteries of the universe, past or present. Strange events have taken place in our own lives. For instance, last Wednesday at 8:37 a.m. on October 27, I awoke and, looking up, was startled to see a distinctive pair of large oval shapes, like eyes, directly above my head, reflecting off the bedroom wall, apparently from diffracted morning sunlight passing through the glass window pane and between the slightly opened blinds. One eye was red and yellow. The other eye was green and yellow. The phenomenon might just as well have been attributed to eyes from the spirit world. Who can say for sure? It only happened once. May the eyes of eternity gaze upon you!

Very interesting, illuminating interpretation of "another way of experiencing life." This 30th anniversary edition of Castaneda's is especially useful in that he writes the introduction as an overview of his original work, and adds to our understanding of its social context.To read, immerse oneself into Castaneda's quest is a very important, valuable lesson on man's place amid the spirits, stars and flowers of personal development and growth. No doubt a huge inspiration and influence on the generation conflicted by VietNam and runaway political and technological forces daily confronting the individual search for freedom, self-worth, human expression and the pursuit of happiness--or at least temporal contentment.The life-experience Castaneda tackles in this work can barely be relayed by the written word, but this book goes great lengths toward explaining other planes of existence and human experience.

I read this in High School back in the 70's. This is such a good / classic book. It is far better in my opinion than subsequent books by Carlos ("Journey_to_Ixtlan" and "A Separate Reality" are good but not this good in my opinion. All are good and perhaps because I read the Teachings 1st it had more of an impact.... Mind opening!

What an awesome deal. I got my book and was very surprised see that the book was in perfect condition. Still in the plastic. I don't remember, but I believe I only paid like a buck and half. Last time I purchased this book I paid thirty five dollars for a used one. Very rarely do I ever get my money's worth nowadays. This was one of those rare occasions. Thanks amazon.!!

Have not been addicted to a book in years. I cannot remember the last time. This book got me right from the start. If you are interested in plant medicines, shamanism, mysticism and ancient traditional knowledge this book will captivate you from the first page. So glad I found Castaneda and cant wait to start all the other Don Juan books.

Blew my mind amazing story

E' interessante solo se si vuole ricordare le ricerche interiori operate con l'uso di droghe tipo quelle che negli Stati Uniti fecei il Prof.T.Leary nella sua rilettura del libro tibetano dei morti, ovviamente queste cose non interessano piu' come una volta.

I originally bought this book back in the 70's and loved it then. I've read it many times and carried on to buy the rest of the series, but this first book has always been my favourite. Nearly 50 years after first reading it, I still in my daily life think' what would Don Juan have done?' I've had to repurchase it because I lent it out to someone and never got it back

Perfect