A Separate Reality

I await the next audiotapes by Peter Coyote on the Castaneda writings. I found his style of speaking perfect for how I image the conversations of Don Juan and Carlos. I rated the tape a number 8 because of the abrupt ending of the tape. I had to replay it twice to be sure that the tape wasn't damage. Also, It would be nice if the whole book was narrated, instead of the abridged portion of it.

I LOVED this book. Yes, there are some good philosophies "revealed" in the pages, but the fun especially comes from guessing what is real, what is plausible, and what is possible. It is more plausible than the Bible...which is quite funny.
Read "Teachings of don Juan" first, than "A Separate Reality", though the latter is more interesting. Read them both, they are light reading, have a few good (but common) philosophies, and are a trip logically to decode.

Not my favorite of his books but still worth reading it. Mentions many of the discussed topics to follow as Castaneda takes you further on the journey of self-discovery. It opens up a new field as he reaches out with this book. Strays away further from the beaten path of hallucinigens and all and starts to elucidate on the subject matter on hand - sorcery. Be careful, not for the faint of heart.

Much arguing here about whether this and other Castaneda/Don Juan books are fact or fiction. It is my understanding that Castaneda admitted years before he died that these works are fiction.
People should just lighten up and appreciate the books for what they are, escapism sprinkled with spirituality.

To write a review for this book, positive or negative, is fruitless and futile. For the most part, readers will begin with some sort of inherent bias. Whether you have a predilection for psychedelic drugs or you think the entire premise is a sham, this is not a book that can be reviewed in the standard way.

Whatever you take from this book, regardless of whether that is nothing at all or a newly-inspired way of living, I do think one point must be made. Whether or not don Juan Matus was real or fictional, and whether or not any of Castaneda's experiences are credible, I think one must realize that this book is not a bible. There is present what one may construe as advice for living, but primarily this is a first-hand account of a set of experiences that most likely nobody else has or will come to undergo. I personally think it is beautifully and convincingly written, and I think it would take a truly rare person to replicate any of Castaneda's experiences, real or imagined. Impossible? Perhaps not. But I think that, unfortunately or not, this is brain candy for virtually all readers, and cannot be anything more.

I read this book when I was in high school because I had an older brother who thought that Carlos Casteneda was "the man". So with fear and anticipation I read through this book, hoping that it wasn't too far over my head. For awhile it seemed ok, but then it goes off the deep-end. He talks about how we all have these invisible tentacles coming out of our belly-buttons and we can use them for rock climbing and for stopping charging mountain lions. The author must know that if he said this right off the bat people would laught at it. But if you're halfway through the book he figures that if you've read that far that you'll buy anything he says. When I came to these passages I was shocked, I thought I wouldn't be smart enough for the book, I didn't expect it to be just plain silly. Does anyone wonder if "Jack in the Beanstalk" is true?
Anyway, I read through the whole thing, mostly because I was wondering if he would explain that he was just kidding about the belly tentacles thing. But that never happened. To make matters worse my mother noticed how I'd read the whole book, assumed I must have liked it, and got me another one for my birthday! So then I had two of these books on my bookshelf, it was so embarassing because to visitors it would look like I BELIEVED these silly ramblings.
If you're the kind of person who likes these things, fine. But if you're curious about buying one of these "narratives" I hope to save you some money, time, and embarrassment.

Sometimes the way to wake up and realize you might want to start paying attention comes through reading a book. It did for me, many years ago through this book.
Others have written on these teachings since.
I feel fortunate to have discovered the writings of Lujan Matus, who has presented a new gate to a new level of working with this knowledge.

I have read all the Carlos Castaneda books back in the early 1970's but these books got water damaged and so I am purchasing them all over again, I enjoyed these books so I started to read them again.

I admire Carlos Castaneda for his courage, perseverance and devotion to attain deep spiritual wisdom and knowledge. He deserves a generous "thank you" for traveling deep into the Mexican wilderness to bring us a documented account of the secret spiritual tradition of the Yaqui Indian that produces men of intense spirit, profound character and impressive psychological powers. Castaneda, who throughout the book seems to be very earthly and rational, makes a tremendous effort to explore a realm of existence that goes well beyond his comfort zone. I have not read its precursor The Teachings of Don Juan... but I was still able to understand and enjoy this sequel.

This review is unimportant as it is no more relevent than everything else. Taken for the message of this book, I have learned what it means to be in line with the way of the warrior. A warrior is one who is not afraid of waiting and knows for what he waits. Patience is the theme of the author's account of the teaching of don Juan. No matter what you believe in (I'm most aligned with atheism), the practices of seeing and sorcery are tests that develop the will so that one finds himself able to embrace the mystery of the world and be in unity with all that is around him.

This is a superb book, Carlos Castaneda's journalistic flow captures the imagination with the fantastical and captures the intellect and holds it tight when the reality of a different realm becomes evident... This book is about living like a warrior. Prior to Columbus ever seeing the shores of the Americas, man was at peace with his environment. Taking what he needed, and leaving what he didnt. Apologizing to the earth and the live plants before taking from them. To have it compared to surreal and fantastical drug fantasies like 'Trainspotting'is an insult to what Carlos tried to do with these books, and that was to hip...overly intellectual types to a whole world that exists under your nose that you are totally unaware of... it isnt spirituality, and it isnt 'drug-subculture' it is, in fact - "A Seperate Reality"

With all the fuss over whether this book was fact or fiction, I found it very difficult to read and accept. Since it's presented as non-fiction, I couldn't accept it as philosophy or parable, and found myself wondering whether it was really *true*. I don't think that's the point. It distracted me, and I found myself doubting the rest of the concepts.

I read this book a month ago never having read Castaneda in my 44 years. I have practiced aikido for fifteen years and zazen for four and find that this is a precious introduction to the spiritual way. The way of the spirit inseparable from the body. Whether or not the events are fiction is of the utmost unimportance. Don Juan's words are profound and true to us and to our daily lives. Castaneda's denseness is a delight and it is only his inborn talent and perseverance that enable him to overcome his academic reserve.

Read this when it was first published and again last week.

It's the sort of book that challenges our way of looking at our universe.

Laugh, have fun and enjoy this now and put it away to re-read later as your own preception change.

Yeah, I liked it a bunch then and even more now.

That might not come from reading this book alone, as it is the second most believable of the series. When I was a student, I like many others I know who will confess to having read a Castaneda book or two when pressed, went through a couple of years of Castanedism, reading the 8 classics 2 - 3 times each, and even the later four, quite different books a couple of times. Being someone who likes to give the benefit of the doubt until conclusive evidence proves otherwise, I must admit to only getting suspicious by Journey To Ixtlan, the third book. This second book, A Separate Reality, picks up on the supernormal happenings, but still these are within the realms of possibility, when one considers Spiritualist literature. By Tales of Power, when at the end Carlos throws himself off a cliff and only survives by becoming pure perception, bouncing elastically back and forth 17 times between the two inherent realms of all creation, the tonal and the nagual, the game was up. In Carlos' terms, my assemblage point had just experienced a considerable shift into the realms of disbelief. The cocoon had burst. I read the remaining books still interested, but with the growing realization that I'd been had. Bizarre ideas not found in any other spiritual traditions, such as the necessity for people on the path of knowledge to kill their children to reclaim the power they'd lost to them, plus fill in the holes in their cocoons the children had caused, made me wary. This was surely not a philosophy the whole world should turn to, or else we'd be living in a fearful, lonely world with every man for himself.

However, this would be fine if the books weren't made out to be non-fiction. While I have seen these books placed with science fiction books in many libraries, in most European bookshops they're still sold with real, non-fiction 'Mind, Body, Spirit' books. The reason I give this book such a low rating is that an intensive study of his works, the books by his various colleagues, plus Richard De Mille's intelligent criticisms, can only lead to the conclusion that Castaneda, the writer, used Don Juan and Carlos, two fantasy characters, to verbalize his own beliefs, which were culled from his own spiritual and academic experience. That there are not some useful nuggets of wisdom, or advice in these books I do not deny. That is their very attraction, plus the belief that it all really happened, and is a new spiritual revelation. But as these are mixed up with increasingly bizarre assertions and beliefs (by the Art of Dreaming it seems all pretence at non-fiction had been given up), it is doubtful whether a lifetime devoted to these practices (as opposed to say, real shamanic practices) would lead to spiritual improvement. If you must have a Castaneda book in your library, rather get The Wheel of Time, a selection of the spiritual highlights of the first eight books, but consider it rather 'The best of the personal philosophy of Carlos Castaneda' than anything to do with Don Juan or Shamanism. This understanding may not have the romantic mix of wild Mexican deserts, ancient wisdom, wise old men and naive westerners which captures the hearts of so many, but it is a lot closer to the truth.

The anonymous ghost-writer at Schuster and Schuster who corrected Peruvian immigrant Castaneda's English for at least all of his earlier works (a sample of his writing from 1969 reveals it was still far from perfect, not like what is in books), giving the books their special character, certainly deserves more credit than he or she gets. But they are not written well enough to succeed as fiction, hence their continued classification as non-fiction, besides the intense academic embarrassment it would cause copyright holders UCLA to have to admit such a dramatic change in classification, from fact to fantasy, after having previously given the author a doctorate for his work! I give this book one star on the basis that any book claiming to represent the truth which is later found to be fraudulent deserves no stars by definition, so I must give the minimum rating allowed. The day this book is reclassified as Fiction, I will up my rating to 3 stars though, as it is a quite entertaining and authentic piece of fiction-posing-as-non-fiction.

The concept of "stopping the world" is worth more than the price of the book. A thousand times over.

I am incredulous at one imbelic negative review in particular. In polite company, a simple "No, thank you" is ample. Believe it if you need it, if you don't just pass it on...

Was don Juan Mateus real? It's a good story.