A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (Arkana) by Castaneda - Carlos New Edition (1990)

Mr. Castaneda used a vast amount of halucinogens (Datura, mushrooms, and Peyote) to name only three various halucinogens he used.
There is no need to to take halucinogens to participate in Shamanic journeying.
Here are four ways that are just as valid, and more importantly SAFER.
Drumming (listening to a real drummer or drumming tape), Fasting, meditation, or thirst. All three will move the brain into the Shamanic state of consciousness and open the doorways without adding toxins to your system.
Your body is a temple, treat it as such.

I wondered what all the fuss was, guessing at the time this came out it was kinda revolutionary. But if you've read books like Seth Speaks, any of the Abraham-Hicks literature or several other heavy metaphysical books this one could fall flat. I got to a certain point & put it down.

This book fundamentally changed the way that I think about myself and the world around me. It is engaging, inspiring and all encompassing. I couldn't imagine a better purchase for $7. Shipped on time in wonderful condition. I may actually purchase additional copies to hand out to my friends and family.

This book can assist you in developing your relatioship with Infinite Source. The captivating point is the use of special herbs and plants for this purpose. Some spritualist may refer to this process as the dark side, however, the use of spiritual desciplines to tap and nurture your inner self cannot be underrated.

If you want to gain an understanding of the power of the human brain coupled with faith, then this is the book for you. It is not religious, but it is about belief and tapping into your power. Nothing great in life comes easily, but when it does, it is well worth the work.

When I ordered it I was expecting a hardcover and what was received was a paperback. I've noticed the description has since changed, so they corrected the error. The return was easy. I had to follow up once to let them know the package was available for them to pickup and they immediately refunded my money.

I would definitely purchase from this seller again.

I first read this book & then the subsequent 2 others that followed when I was 18 years old. Forty years later I still attribute this work as one of the pivotal works that set me on my own personal life journey to discover more than meets the eye. Recommend this to anyone.

The book was readable, but I would not consider it to be above poor in condition. I was surprised to get such a raggedy book but it was readable, so I guess it served its purpose. As far as the story itself, it was weak. What gave it some interest to me was the authors background, and mysterious death( he became a reclusive cult leader of sorts).

It was recommended by a friend and I approached reading with an open mind. When I skipped ahead to a section describing sewing shut a lizard's eyes and mouth, I stopped reading the book in disgust. This path of spirituality is not for me!

It's a cheap, mass-market paperback that contains many pages of black letters strung out in a very specific order, an order that I desired and for which I was willing to pay the requested amount. Good enough.

I received my book very quickly (2days) and it was in like new condition, just as advertised. I am still waiting for my orders from other suppliers one full week later. I would use this dealer preferentially next time, if possible.

I have not read that many books on shamanism. But I loved this one. I assume that this was part of a doctoral thesis because in my
edition, it says copyright is owned by the University of California.

Castaneda does not answer the question whether you can be a self-help shaman. I personally thought that spirits chose the shaman.
That you had to recover from an incurable illness to be considered a shaman.

The book is beautifully written. Castaneda meets Don Juan, whom he learns is a shaman. He takes many notes.
The question people ask is whether any of this is real or not. I would say it is. I would even venture to say
that when the sorceress tries to off Castaneda is also not imagined.

It is another worldview. For example people in China live with the worldview of chi or energy, whereas in the West, people in
general are ignorant of chi energy. That does not mean that some people do not feel it.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

There is some who believe this is fiction and some who believe it is not. Was Don Juan a real man, was he a collection of teachers the Carlos Castaneda studied under, did it all really even happen? Who know. The story is also tainted by path Castaneda's live took later with is "cult of witches" and such. I did not let that taint my enjoyment of the book. Don Juan has such a simple calm voice in the book, full of wisdom. Carlos is the opposite, full of impatience and questions. We had a very good discussion at book club regarding our experiences about the book, from "life changing" from a member who read it in the 70 while in his teens to "eh" from a member who is a HS history teacher to all in between. Read it from your own point of view, an interesting story, a true path to knowledge or anything in between.

Beautifully written and fascinating, but Castaneda wrote fiction and passed it off as fact -- duping generations of readers. What a shame because he had the talent to tell a great tale. The first rule of spirituality: don't tell lies. Richard de Mille, the son of the director, and other people worked to debunk the books and pointed out that the Yaqui don't use peyote, for example, plus compiled a long list of spiritual sayings from other writers and sages that Castanada reworded (in other words, he plagiarized). I read several of the books a long time ago and didn't realize the author made them up, plus the money goes to a cult he founded. On principle, I wish I hadn't bought it now.

Carlos Castaneda wouldn't know the numinous if it hit him square in the face. I'm so glad I listened to the free audio book before buying any of his books because they are not worth the paper they're printed on as far as a seeker is concerned. He must have said non ordinary reality 100k times in his first book. Please put me out of my misery.

Anyone interested in shamanism and nature magic would be wise to read this book and the subsequent books by Carlos Castaneda. The most authentic books on Earth sorcery I have ever found. No New Age fluffiness. Don Juan exemplifies the gritty nature of shamanism.

Well, I finally got around to reading this book after having friend after friend suggest it. I am very interested in esoteric knowledge (I will not demeen the book or esotericism with the term New Age) and was hoping to get a fresh perspective on it; and one that was more local (as in my neck of the woods) to boot. I, as an American, have a shamefully low amount of knowledge of Native American tribes and their beliefs. I must be frank about that so as to not imply that I have read other books on Native American spiritually and can judge it on that level. This is for all intents and purposes my introduction to this field. I also have read none of the author's later works so I do not know how they add to or complement this book. I can however say that I doubt this is that place to start if one is seriously interested in this specific subject, nor does this book contain any spiritual insights that cannot be found elsewhere and in far more intellectual contexts (here I would suggest that any searchers of such wisdom turn to the Vedas, Buddhist scripture, the New Testament, the Edda...all written by far more advanced people and containing universal knowledge that Castaneda's book, by definition, cannot as it deals mostly with altered states of consciousness through use of local flora...and fauna, in a rather repulsive scene that seems highly unlikely to endeer the practioner to the animal community he is trying to befriend).

As a story it is rather interesting and hard to put down. Don Juan is certainly an interesting character although I suspect that Castaneda does not do him justice as Castaneda seems to me to be of average intelligence only, although blessed with a quest for adventure and knowledge. I use the incredibly useless attempt through the second half of the book as an example to give a "scientific" explanation of Don Juan's theology, for lack of a better term. Anyone with half a brain can skip all of this as it contains information that, if not grasped by the reader in the first section, will certainly not be made more comprehensible to said reader by adding a college-freshman level anthropological analysis.

To sum up, there is no harm in reading this book and since it clearly has changed a number of lives for the better and opened up the minds of many others I would certainly recommend reading it if you are interested. To others with a more serious desire of attaining spiritual wisdom and are intellectually up for a much more demanding quest I think you will find this to be nothing more than a fun story of a Yaqui and his American apprentice (whether real or not). I am glad to have read it.

It is no coincidence that the most recently published book by Cateneda was only a few years ago. The first book, "The Teachings of Don Juan..." was around twenty-five years before when mysticism and psychedelics where in fashion. Those same fashion trends have sprung up again which prompted a new book to be published and feed off the interest in the unproven and mysterious. The reason Carlos Casteneda has never been photographed is for the same reason all charlatans are never allowed to be examined by scientists. Of course, fans of Casteneda will reply by saying that western scientists are not of Castenda's culture and therefore their methods irrelevant to the Sorcerer's way. None-the -less, I abhore who ever Casteneda is and his publishers for printing such crap, which encourages the use of dangerous drugs and the belief in the unreal. I do not recommend these books.

I am not really very objective about Carlos Castaneda's writings, my goal is rather to tell you what I have come to value in his writings over the years.

This book is the 1st one in the series of about 9, and it has become a bestseller over the course of 30 something years - many, (from what I hear) have had an opinion about this book. Some have become enamoured with the tales that included the extraordinary experiences involving author's uses of native "power plants". Others wanted to find their own "Don Juan". And many probably did...

What have mesmerized me (and this wasn't the very 1st Castaneda book that i read at the time) was the open spirit with which the book was written. Its mystery and courage in presenting a world where magic and personal transfirmation are indeed possible.

It caused the author many problems over the years, much many than if he chose not to become a writer and just remain a college professor. That would be easier and he would ve had a much more comfortable life. Instead, he decieded to go ahead and write sharing with us what came to be known in recent years as the Toltec Path. I write this review with deep appreciation for Nagual Carlos Castaneda (or whatever his name may be now) and I hope some fresher readers will also enjoy this book.

This book was enthralling. It was both exciting and scary at times. I now read that it was all fiction, and that makes no difference to me. In fact, I would have liked it even more had I know it was fiction. If it destroyed the belief you had it was real and now you don't like it, then you don't know fanatastic literature when you read it.

I enjoy Carlos Castaneda's books because they always offer an escape from reality -- in this case, I mean that quite literally.
Castaneda's books involve an age-old technique of storytelling, the teaching of a body of knowledge from a master to a pupil. In this case, the master, a Yaqui Indian known as Don Juan, teaches the ancient Toltec art of sorcery to a young, first-person narrator, Carlos Castaneda. This narrator is dubious and incredulous as Don Juan shows him things about the nature of reality and our perceptions of it, but increasingly he has to conclude that the world of Don Juan is an accurate description of the may facets of reality, and our modern world is merely one narrow view.
There is controversy over whether Castaneda's books are "real" --Castaneda was granted a PhD for his "field" work; but other scholars have found a lot of Castaneda's research to have no anthropological authenticity. Supporters of Castaneda dispute this.
That there is even an argument over whether the books are "real" or not indicates how good the stories are -- like the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, people really, desperately want to visit Castaneda's world. His books are riveting, fascinating, beautiful, and also very scary.
Although later books in the series (Tales of Power, for instance) are better than this introductory work; I think it is important to read the books in their order of writing, in order to get the "lessons" that Castaneda learns in the correct order.
I am a great fan of the books, even if they are 100% fiction. But one is really just never sure if they are. . .

It is the first of the famous Castaneda series of books (fiction, non-fiction, or something in-between) that have sold millions and started a following. For me, "Teachings of don Juan" was executed well - it was believable. But what makes this book entertaining and highly addictive is the excitement of hidden, untapped knowledge. Everyone wants to believe, no matter how logical or sensable that person may be, that there are magnificent forces lurking about. Though most are not convinced by Castaneda's recorded experience, that fascination makes the pages fly-by. It is fantasy that shows itself as truth; it's a clever game of guessing what is true, what is possible, and what is real.
Although I enjoyed "A Separate Reality" more, read this one first. If you like it, please check out the others in the series.

Having read the Bagavad Gita, it only much later dawned on me that Carlos is Arjuna and Don Juan is Krishna - only the wisdom is completely different. But in the Gita we have Arjuna who has an ordinary mind and not much bravery at all who yet faces the fact that he has to make a rite of passage which seemingly involves summoning courage to fight an all-inclussive family feud, but becomes something far more spiritualmysticalmetaphysical as he keeps balking at Krisna's encouragement to go through with the pasage. Arjuna keeps telling Krishna he doesn't understand a word Krishna said and Krishna patiently launches into another in-depth explanation - and it is evident that in order for Krishna to fully express the wisdom, spirituality and higher truth of the cosmos, it is necessary for Arjuna to NOT get him and to be continually the baffled coward, hopeless to ever attain gravitational escape velocity, and always planted at square one while Krishna patiently and lovingly imparts the esoteric wonders - like one of those books - "Karma for the Complete Idiot".Castaneda seems to have applied the same schematic - whether knowingly or not - to spoonfeed the Don Juanisms to the reader. And they ARE truly profound - they're too heavy to be something Castaneda just sat at his writing table whipping up out of whole cloth!Castaneda did his research and it's the power of the Don Juan "nuggets" that make the books truly transcendent and generous in their magic - which is contagious to a reader! That said, however, I got the feeling that Castaneda was, by the 4th or 5th volume, really starting to spin his wheels and using more effort than content to take us to the next level. Castaneda has done a great service in giving humanity some cracks to fall through in our supposed finite and material trappings. And so has the Bagavad Gita!