"A man of knowledge is free...he has no honor, no dignity, no family, no home, no country, but only life to be lived."--don Juan
In 1961 a yo... read full description
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Jan 14, 2012
Anna
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I really tried to read his book, but more I'd read more I thought that the author had spent time with Don Juan on using some kind of drug.
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Aug 11, 2011
Bob
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Still Reading/ There is probably enough evidence to prove that most if not all of what Castaneda wrote really didn't happen. Still if makes for interesting reading. Sort of reads like Jack Kerouac.
The book raises interesting questions.
- How much of it really happens.
- Even if Don Juan is real, is he really a Yaqui sorcerer, or just a crazy old man high on peyote.
Even Don Juan's own nephew seemed to feel that this was the case.
- Related to the previous q More...
The book raises interesting questions.
- How much of it really happens.
- Even if Don Juan is real, is he really a Yaqui sorcerer, or just a crazy old man high on peyote.
Even Don Juan's own nephew seemed to feel that this was the case.
- Related to the previous q More...
Jun 18, 2011
CD
rated it:
June 2011
Another box of books has been reopened for cleaning, sorting, and reevaluation and lo and behold, many of the collected works of Carlos Castaneda are part of the contents.
Many years have gone but I remember this author and his works vividly. [Now don't get any ideas as to an allusion I may or may not be making] At some point I stopped purchasing more in the series and put them away. There's a 'blur' factor as I recall that happens with these stories of the metaphysic More...
Another box of books has been reopened for cleaning, sorting, and reevaluation and lo and behold, many of the collected works of Carlos Castaneda are part of the contents.
Many years have gone but I remember this author and his works vividly. [Now don't get any ideas as to an allusion I may or may not be making] At some point I stopped purchasing more in the series and put them away. There's a 'blur' factor as I recall that happens with these stories of the metaphysic More...
Mar 05, 2011
Sherry (sethurner)
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Castaneda books were very popular when I was an undergraduate, and when I first started teaching in the 1970s. I remember reading all three and being amused and confused. I suspect I was mostly interested in the author's descriptions of his experiences with peyote. Years have passed, and I revisited A Separate Reality after a friend's adult son passed away. I saw imagery and a quote from Castaneda in his artwork, and thought this might be a time to see what I could learn from the book. What
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Jul 23, 2007
David
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When I was an undergraduate in the mid-70's, Castaneda's "Don Juan" trilogy (with maybe a little Hermann Hesse thrown in) was what one read to be considered deep and interesting. Thirty years on, Hesse still holds up (for the most part). For Castaneda one can only ask "What was I thinking?".
But presumably that's what undergraduate time should be used for - to read broadly and indiscriminately. So not everything you read in college is going to be good.
But presumably that's what undergraduate time should be used for - to read broadly and indiscriminately. So not everything you read in college is going to be good.
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Aug 09, 2011
David
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This was a reread from a college-assigned book. It’s a fictional but well written account with some philosophy buried in mystical pretense. (Castaneda never declared it to be fictional.) Strange, I wish it were true, and I’m not sure why. Maybe we want there to be a different world lurking just beyond conscious perception. This book and the whole Yaqui Way of Knowledge is an appeal to the mystic want-to-be. It makes our reality seem so boring. But actually it’s not. A separate and better
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Dec 07, 2010
گزارش ها ادامه می یابد و شگفـت آورتر می شود. همزمان شک و تردید نویسنده به واقعی بودن رویدادهایـی کـه مستقیمـا در گـیر آنها بوده نیز فزونی می یابد . این کتاب که توصیف کار آموزی از سر گرفته شـده کاستاندا از آوریل 1968 تا اکتبر 1970 اسـت بعنـوان دریچه ای برگشاده به جهان پر رمز و راز جادو و جادو گران با استقبال فراوانی روبرو می شود به شکلی که در اندک مدتی هـــــزاران نسخه از آن در سراسر جهان به فروش می رسد
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Jun 07, 2011
Steven
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I recommend Carlos Castaneda's body of work, which had a great impact on my worldview. A Separate Reality (the second in the series) describes his studies with Don Juan, the Yaqui shaman that he first wrote about in Teachings of Don Juan, a Yaqui Way of Knowledge. Like Teachings, A Separate Reality explores the multiple realities that we experience in our lives, such as our dreams, which while we're dreaming are our true universe, and our waking reality, in which our dreams are just a fantasy. A
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May 12, 2008
Jeff
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anthropology or fabrication? doesn't matter--can't be too much carpe diem literature and this is excellent--i've loved page 88 for many decades--
Oct 09, 2010
Tyler
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I think the key to reading this book is to ignore judgments and questions about the content or narration (coincidentally the same lesson Castaneda is trying to learn through his own story.) Castaneda's journey involves learning to live as a warrior and continuing his education of becoming a sorcerer and learning to "see" the world rather than "look" at it, which all average humans do. Many of the themes and lessons told by don Juan are reminiscent of Eastern philosophy (i.e
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Feb 24, 2011
Mark
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this guy really captivated a lot of us with his tales. so many years ago I read most of his first 4 or five novels. then I just lost interest. what a cover! don Juan says "you must feel everything, otherwise the world loses its sense".
Jimi Hendrix said much the same thing "I want to see and hear everything"
don Juan [ah that mystical man] also said "feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy, and vain. to be a man of knowledge one needs to be light More...
Jimi Hendrix said much the same thing "I want to see and hear everything"
don Juan [ah that mystical man] also said "feeling important makes one heavy, clumsy, and vain. to be a man of knowledge one needs to be light More...
Jul 15, 2011
Patrick
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Castaneda was a graduate student studying Anthropology and was doing his thesis on Mexican Shaman and their use of regional plants and herbs to induce psychotropic effects in an attempt to cure people of various illnesses. Castaneda starts off with a scientist view, as a skeptic and later is blown away by what happens to him, which then becomes his life long pursuits. If you plan on reading these books, start with the Yaqui Way of Life, which is the first book and be prepared to be engrossed i
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Jan 10, 2011
Jenny
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"We learn to think about everything, and then we train our eyes to look as we think about the things we look at. We look at ourselves already thinking that we are important. And therefore we’ve got to feel important! But then when a man learns to see, he realizes that he can no longer think about the things he looks at, and if he cannot think about what he looks at everything becomes unimportant."
"Once you decide something put all your petty fears away. Your deci More...
"Once you decide something put all your petty fears away. Your deci More...
Oct 07, 2011
Sean
rated it:
Bullshit mixed with some good ideas. Tough to take seriously when you know it's all fake, but just like a novel, the ideas are still real. However, knowing it's fake makes the synchronicities, hallucination descriptions, and explanations of feats of power really boring. Unless the behavior of dons Juan and Genaro are metaphorical for something I'm unaware of. Lots of interesting insight into rationalism, how we (humanity) perceive things, and knowledge.
Nov 20, 2010
Aaron
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This book would probably seem strange to most and only interesting to a few. For me I can only say that this book chose me, it came to me at a time in my life in which I was approaching a major spiritual awakening, though I didn't know it. This book helped push me over the edge. I feel if I would have read it any time sooner than when I did it would have been lost on me.
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Apr 21, 2009
Sandra
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This book was hard to follow, I found myself asking wether or not what was being read was actually occuring or if it was part of a story. I still enjoyed it, the book has the potential to open a mind and explore different dimensions outside of this world. I really think I would have captured more of the books teachings if I had joined in the peyote smoking! :>
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Oct 11, 2008
Aaron
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The second book in the Don Juan series delves deeper into the world dealing with peyote a power plant. This is probably the most favorable in my opinion of all the Castaneda books I've read thus far. For some reason I've been reading his books backwards in accordance to their release dates going from the deeply almost intangible to his beginning explorations of the world of spirit. Overall his books are somewhat repetitious but manage to go deeper into a different aspect of his experiences.
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Sep 15, 2007
Laura
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I am going to give the same review to all the Carlos Castaneda books I read in that series, simply because they are all outstanding. I was lucky to come across Castaneda very early on my magickal path. My spells and rituals have always relied on the power of intent, and I have found no better education on how to focus your intent than in this series of books. Back then (1994) they were classifed as nonfiction. Lately, they say they are fiction. All I know is much of what is in these books w
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Jan 29, 2012
Reece
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A an outsider-turned-apprentice's look into native Mexican Indian (Yaqui) spirituality, which involves heavy use of psychedelic drugs (mainly peyote and mushrooms). Most of the book is fun to read, especially the passages where the narrator is having a really psychedelic experience--yet, I didn't really learn much from it. I guess if I were to trip on peyote now, I would know not to let the green fog completely envelope me, and not to look my ally in the eyes.
The ending was really unsa More...
The ending was really unsa More...
Jan 01, 2010
Monika
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This book helped m a lot to understand the deeper meaning of life. It is just incredible to know that Castaneda has not written all the books published under his name. The true writer lives in Puebla. Carlos Castaneda's karma.... ...to steal this material.....
Jun 29, 2009
Robin
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I read this book as a teenage on the recommendation of my then boyfriend. I remember parts of the book were very interesting and other parts that made no sense to me. It could have been my age and maturity and I have often thought of reading it again. It just never seems to reach the top of the stack on my nightstand.
Jan 09, 2009
Rory
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A bit slower moving than The Teaching's of Don Juan, but just as interesting and insightful. It talks about some different ideas, mainly the preoccupation with the rational and logical and how that must be dissolved in order to truly "see".
Feb 12, 2010
Shokufeh شکوفه
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One of the most beautiful books of our time, if there was ever a Don Juan, Carlos must have been very lucky to have met him in person as we all need a teacher like him, although thankfully we can read his teachings through these wonderful books.
Feb 29, 2008
Theshiney
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I must clarify: after reading this book and enjoying it so much i found more about carlos castaneda and realized that i didn't want to mess with the good thing i had- i decided that was that and i wouldn't read any of his other books. in a separate reality castaneda successfully crafted a tenuous depiction of reality that left an emotional wake more thought provoking than the simple, "is this real or not?" dichotomy that he apparently thrives on. i figure the dude is just insecure. any
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Nov 19, 2011
Julia
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What can I say about a book that changed my adolescent life? Other than the fact that everything written within these pages should be taken with a huge slab of salt, I am indebted to where the Carlos took my preteen mind.
Jun 19, 2011
Personally I have no concern with whether these books are fiction or non-fiction, I found them to be good friends. Some very enjoyable tricks learned in the choices I makes when interacting with my environment.
Dec 20, 2009
Sky
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Well... this is the Carlos Castaneda that mainly revolves around drugs. Carlos is one of those really irritating people who doesn't really listen to anything he's being told. After tens years of apprenticeship I would think his character would grow and change... but that hasn't happened. I know it doesn't happen because I read the last book in the series first "The Art of Dreaming" (accidently because it was lying around the house) and Carlos seems just as clueless. Oh well... I'm stil
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Feb 28, 2008
Derek
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"A Separate Reality" was in my opinion better than "The Teachings Of Don Juan"; however, it builds upon concepts and situations presented in that book, so I wouldn't recommend starting with this one. Not as much psychotropic-experience material in this one, but this is because Carlos begins here to realize that his journey is not actually about psychotropic / medicinal plants and fungi, but something much deeper and more important. Excellent material dealing with our percep
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Jul 21, 2011
Gary
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This story begins a few years after the conclusion to Castenada's previous book, The Teachings of Don Juan. I found it more enjoyable to read than the previous book.
Dec 17, 2008
Steven
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Interesting insight to sorcery but not in the way most of us think about it. Involves the use of a lot of drugs which could be a turn off for some.
