Journey to Ixtlan: The Lessons of Don Juan

Did you ever try to find your hands in your dreams? I tried. And succeeded. All by myself, without any fancy workshops. And now I am thinking - if this technique works, could all the rest in Castaneda books be true? What do you think?

I chose 4 star because it was written very smoothly and was enjoyable to consistently read through. It was also an original score and something that was new to me in terms of the story and the way it was told. I will probably look into other Castaneda books as this was my first. The kind of people I would recommend this book to would be people that enjoy insight and a sort of adventurous outdoorsy hike.

third Carlos Castañeda's book I read, the least favourite of them, but still, a worthy reading. It goest back to the very beginning of his contact with Don Juan and is an interesting period to understand from this incredible (but very likely real) apprentice relationship from which we should learn from. Go for it, after all, it's a Castañeda's book.

I decided I'd give this book a shot because I've seen references to it in so many other books that I've read. I like consciousness-expanding literature, but the only thing this book expands is my sense of frustration. Literally 90% or more of this book is complete garbage. It is don Juan doing and saying idiotic, insane things. This guy don Juan was a serious nutcase. He was just a foolish old man who didn't have anything better to do than to torment an unsuspecting young anthropologist. But that's not even the most frustrating thing about the book. On rare occasions, when don Juan is feeling a bit less idiotic and insane than normal, he talks to Casteneda about certain truths of life, and some of the things he says are very fascinating. He has moments of clarity in which he drops all the BS and simply speaks about a fundamental truth of life to Casteneda. Some of these things are so interesting and profound that I feel like putting them on a plaque and mounting them on my walls. The problem is that these moments of lucidity and profundity are very few and far between. The vast majority of the text is a laborious, boring read detailing every single thing that don Juan makes Casteneda do in the desert. I kept expecting Casteneda to get to the meat of things but the text just keeps wandering on aimlessly, just like don Juan and Casteneda do in the desert. I don't know why most of the reviews of this book are so positive. I just don't see what it has to offer. If you're interested in some truly consciousness-expanding literature, read the Seth books by Jane Roberts. Something on every page will blow your mind, and you don't have to wander endlessly through a desert to find it.

As someone deeply interested in spirituality and altered states of consciousness, I thought this book would have some kind of great insights or at least entertain me.

Instead, what we get is a lot of two dudes hiking around in the desert punctuated by completely unexplained and unexplainable magical phenomena that lead you to believe that either 1) Don Juan was some kind of actual wizard, or 2) Carlos Castaneda is completely full of bullsh*t.

Hey, maybe the deep powerful insights just went way over my head and I need to read it a few more times. But honestly, this book was so anticlimactic, and quite frankly boring, that I barely made it through the first time.

I was a follower of Castaneda for nearly 2 decades, until I realized--stupid me--that the books, though labeled as Nonfiction, are the craziest Fiction ever written. He was deluded, his followers--including myself--were deluded. The whole thing is deluded and filled with evil, relativity, and black magic. STAY AWAY.

Carlos, an Anthropology student at UCLA, traveled to the Southwests' Sonora Desert in order to collect information for his dissertation on the use of the Peyote plant in Yaqui Indian ceremonies. While there he met an elderly Yaqui Indian man who lived alone in the vast emptiness of the desert.

Intrigued by this man and what he had to say, Carlos begin a series of visits there, spending months at a time with him. He kept meticulous notes on the events and conversations that transpired,turning them into a half dozen or so books upon his return to the big city.

Castaneda was convinced that this man, Don Juan Matus, was a storehouse of wisdom and knowledge and through their time together, became the student or receptacle of that wisdom with Don Juan his mentor and teacher.

In my estimation, this book was his best and the one most instructive to the reader. It lays out Don Juans' view of life--of both the worlds of reality and non-reality--and lays down, a set of rules or instructions on the proper way to understand and live it.

Many people, having read this book, attempt to live their lives according to these precepts and Lord knows I am one.

(1) Loose your personal history (2) Loose your self-importance (3) Use Death as your advisor (4) Assume personal responsibility (5) Become a hunter (6) Become inaccesible (7) Disrupt the routines of life (8) Become a warrior (9) Learn not-doing (10) Find your sacred spot and prepare for the warriors' last dance.

The story of this amazing journey will provide you with lessons aplenty of life which will guide your future years as they have mine. It was one of the first books I gave my daughter.

DH Koester--"And There I Was" And There I Was, Volume I: A Backpacking Adventure In Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia

I find all of Castaneda’s books unique, fascinating and engrossing, and this one is no exception,

We are told about how Carlos met Juan Matus in a bus station in Arizona, and that this was the start of a ten-year apprenticeship.

Carlos first learns about the importance of erasing one’s personal history since this makes us free from the encumbering thoughts of other people. One can erase personal history by not revealing what one really does, and by leaving everyone who knows one well. A fog will thus be built up around oneself.

It is also important to lose self-importance. In another book it is explained that in order to “dream” we need energy, and self-importance uses much energy, so therefore it is best to rid ourselves of it in order to preserve as much energy as possible.

Carlos also learns that death is our eternal companion and our most important adviser, and is always to our left, at an arm’s length away. Awareness of our impending death helps us to “drop the cursed pettiness that belongs to men that live their lives as if death will never tap them.”

We must take responsibility for all that we do, we must know why we are doing things, no matter what, and then must proceed with our actions without having doubts or remorse about them.

Don Juan seems to be able to read Carlos’s mind and knows about things that happened in his childhood and youth without having been told of them.

Carlos tells Don Juan that they are equals, while in actual fact he feels that as a sophisticated university student he is superior to him, who is an Indian. He is dumbfounded when the latter informs him that they are not equals - “I am a hunter and a warrior, and you are a pimp.”

The world is a mysterious place, especially in the twilight. The wind can follow one, make one tired or even kill one. It is looking for Carlos. Carlos learns about being inaccessible. He has previously made himself too available, especially in his relationship with a particular “blond girl”. One must make sure not to squeeze one’s world out of shape, but instead tap lightly, stay for as long as one needs to, and then swiftly move away leaving hardly a mark.

A hunter should know the routines of his prey and, most importantly, have no routines oneself. Carlos himself eats lunch every single day at twelve o’clock, as Don Juan keeps pointing out.

These are but a few of the topics that Don Juan teaches Carlos about. He also learns about becoming accessible to power, experiences a battle of power and learns about a warrior’s last stand. He learns the gait of power and the tricky art of not-doing.

Finally, he learns about the ring of power and meets a dangerous, “worthy” opponent, a sorceress going by the name of La Catalina.

Towards the end Carlos meets Don Genaro, another powerful sorcerer, and he and Don Juan make Carlos’s car disappear into thin air.

Carlos is sent out into the mountains by himself and “stops the world”. He has a conversation with a coyote who speaks both English and Spanish (!). Carlos sees “the lines of the world”.

We understand that Carlos’ time with Don Juan has come to an end, since it is time for the latter to leave this world. Carlos’ sadness is overwhelming, and so is that of the reader.

This is an amazing book. The information/knowledge presented is fascinating and absorbing. Castaneda presents the information in great, satisfying detail. The book is well-expressed, though the content is difficult to grasp. (Carlos himself makes no secret of the fact that he finds it nigh impossible to understand Don Juan’s “concepts and methods” since “the units of his description were alien and incompatible with those of my own”.)

I am really going to miss reading this author’s works when I’ve got through them all, but luckily I still have many left to read. The “separate reality” portrayed in these books is quite different from our daily reality, so it is an amazing journey for the reader to delve into these books and access this other reality, or world.

I strongly recommend that you read this mind-expanding book!

In order to make the Journey to Ixtlan, Carlos must learn to live as a warrior. Being naïve and stern-headed, Carlos cannot accept the world as Don Juan wants him to. Carlos was attending a university in Los Angeles for anthropology, and in doing so he became very logical and needed to find reasoning for everything. But in order to accept the techniques and outlook that is needed to “stop the world” and truly “see”, Carlos would need to abandon his old way of life.

Fortunately, through intense persistence and patience, Don Juan is able to change Carlos’ perception. Through a series of lessons, Don Juan carefully and strategically instructs Carlos how to live his life. Each lesson breaks Carlos, but then in return builds this impeccable and inaccessible being, that is slowly gaining “personal power.”

When reading this book, I found the desire to apply the lessons of Don Juan to my own life. Don Juan tells Carlos that when you are being impatient, look over your left shoulder and see your death, for when you do, you will regain your patience. Death is extremely personified throughout the book, so metaphorically you can “see” your death. How I interpreted this was that, if death can “tap my left shoulder” at any time, and I can die at any moment, why would I spend my last moment being impatient. Since reading that chapter of the book, patience comes easier to me. Don Juan also teaches Carlos that he is no better that a plant in the ground. It sounds harsh, but it really is only a lesson of true equality. By realizing that I am not entitled to any thing, and that I and all life (not only people) are equal, it is easier to accept everything for the way it is. Many of the other lessons have changed how I act toward the world, and many were hard to understand, but the beautiful thing about this book is that it is open to interpretation.

I highly recommend this eye-opening book to anyone and everyone. To realize that this is a nonfiction book, and the events that occur throughout it actually happened, is quite mind-blowing. I hope that it will spark something inside the readers, like it has for me, and help them take that first step on the journey to their own Ixtlan.

I know people are saying now that Don Juan never existed but honestly, if you read what he said, you realize that only somebody who was what Castaneda claimed Don Juan was could have said those things. Castaneda, for example, just did not have that level of consciousness, and that comes through very clearly in his writings. He was a child of his times, self-indulgent and far too obsessed with himself and with hallucinogenic drugs. He was that guy who thought he was cool and whom the academic Zeitgeist pandered to. Castaneda wasn't looking for the real deal, he was looking for an old "Indian" (to quote his term) to manipulate. Instead, just by accident or by fate, he got involved with Don Juan. To give Castaneda credit, he was able to recognize in Don Juan something very special and he had the perseverance and the courage to explore that world. The truth of Don Juan's teachings comes through Castaneda's writing like a laser beam. In some of Castaneda's other books you just want to smack him because of his maundering on and on about peyote but in this one you get a sense of a man who has grown, who has been humbled, and that in itself is testament to the power of Don Juan's teachings. Bruce Lee said something like, Look at the moon, don't look at the finger pointing to the moon, and that is valid here as well. Read what Don Juan had to say, don't get bogged down in Castaneda, although we all owe Castaneda a lot.

The heart and soul of the teachings of Don Juan, this is the most essential book in the series and the one that should be read first. Most of it is in fact chronologically first (judging by the dates provided by the author). In its first several chapters, it's more down-to-earth than his other books, more useful for the average reader, and still exciting after many readings for those familiar with the series.
Critics poked holes in the chronology, using this book to discredit Castaneda (ironically, a professor from USC attacked the author, who was at UCLA -- this is a famous rivalry, in this case being played out off the football field). Nevertheless, the criticism missed the point of the book, which provides a whole way of life. It is simply the most essential book ever written by Castaneda (or just about anyone else), and anyone who doesn't like this book shouldn't bother with the others; it's not for everyone.
The last part of the book follows the second book (A Separate Reality) chronologically. A reader might juggle the two books, reading most of Ixtlan, then all of Separate Reality, which is also a fascinating book with many of the most important teachings, then come back to finish Ixtlan. Just a suggestion.

I have read all of Castaneda's books since they first were published. To my way of thinking, this is his best. The life lesson in the book is you can't go back in time, because you have changed, the earth has changed and everyone else has changed. So if you meet up with the old people in the old places, it's no longer what it was, you can't go back there. It's a simple lesson but well presented in this book.
At one time people believed Castaneda was a bit of a shaman, relating a secret knowledge. But it's really just superb story telling. But he introduces practices and philosophy from many shamanistic traditions that have exsted for thousands of years and still do among shamanistic people like the South American native tribes, aboriginies, and other "primitive" peoples of the past and present. The ideas of lucid dreaming can work (decades ago I found my hands in my dream and directed myself to specific locations) but it doesn't get you anywhere or teach you anything. It's tinkering with your consciousness, like smoking dope. It's different, but no better than reality.
The idea of the tonal versus the nagual to me was just the two different states of consciousness, inward directed thinking (how do I feel, what do I think, speaking to yourself essentially) versus outwardly directed thinking ( doing something that requires your concentration, walking, working, writing a review) that takes you out of your self absorption. The nagual is self conscious, existential, the tonal is action oriented. A secret I discovered is you can be really happy mostly in the tonal, but you can only be self reflective in the nagual.
These days I enjoy Jack Daniels and retirement. It's a shame that Carlos got caught up in that cult mentality that destroyed all the cultists before him. He should have known better. He was a hell of a story teller. He summed up a world of philosophy, psychology, and mystic thought, in a very convincing narrative. His great mistake was taking on the persona of his own characters. He forgot it was just a story. A great story, but a figment of his imagination and creativity and research. He should never have tried to turn fantasy into his reality.

I intended to see my hands from this book and became a lucid dreamer -- all it took was intent and tackling the first enemy of a warrior: FEAR. Everything Don Juan/Castaneda said was nothing but the truth. LEAVE YOUR SYNTACTICAL PRISON.

This book was originally read when it was released in 1991. It was so captivating, that I went back and studied it a second time around. Yes, eventually I went on to read the entire series and came to one main conclusion: Castaneda is correct, the world that we normally perceive is significantly flawed, biased, and phenomenological mystery. I do think any serious reader of this series needs to read Richard de Mille's published criticisms of the Castaneda works. Yes, the evidence appears strong that large stretches of the narratives are relatively fictitious--however, there are great truths in these accounts--as in all profound literature. I am purchasing a new copy of this book for two main reasons: it is very inspiring and a great pleasure to read.

I have read all the Castaneda books, and I think this is the best one to start with. In his first one, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, Carlos is focused on the peyote/mescaline. By his own admission, he didn't really understood the drugs were just a tool - and an unnecessary one for most people - for opening his awareness. In this book, he instead focuses on what Don Juan actually taught him, and presents it in a very structured, accessible fashion. The somewhat rigid presentation of the 'lessons' keeps it from being a favorite of mine - I prefer the 'story' or even parable structure of Tales of Power, and The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of don Juan, but this is still a great place to start overall.

As for the controversies surrounding Castaneda and the existence or not of Don Juan, who cares? These are powerful books, either way. Read them as truth, read them as fiction, it doesn't matter.

I recently reread Journey to Ixtalan. There are some powerful principles provided: taking responsibility (provided in many books) and treating death as an advisor. The idea that Death can tap you on the shoulder at any time will drive time wasting activities from our current habits; a very powerful concept.

The first reading was when I was in my late-20s and am now in my mid-50s. Now, with a family, I cannot conceive of eliminating my past. As a single 28-year-old, such a concept is a viable choice to the Future. Yet, this choice of paths is exactly why I enjoy the book’s ending. I enjoy the characters, Don Juan and Genero, and can feel the Loneliness in their lives from choosing their path within our world and could not conceive of vanishing from my family to attain the potential power they espouse to have tapped.

To those who scoff at this series, I often think of the first of the four enemies encountered on the path of becoming a Man of Knowledge, as explained by Don Juan in the first book: FEAR. Many learned-people reject these “teachings” because they are foreign to what they know, or can prove. They are afraid of the possibility the presented forces are REAL. Yet, the more we know, the more conscious of our ignorance to universal forces we become. A recommended book; not riveting, but unique.

i have just finished reading this book and after i was done i felt like i lost a best friend or something, it is hard to explain but it is like i got to know these two people (carlos and don juan). i have been in karate for over twenty yaers and have study different styles and believes and there is just so many un-answered quetions out there that when i read this book it left me with more. it is like the movie billy jack and his conections to the indian spirits as a kid i watched this movie over and over because he was what i wished i could be. i have been to arizona many times and wish to move to superstious mountain area withing the next couple of years. i have been practicing meditation-yoga and have read several books on the subject and they to point to the teachings and studies being more profound in the desert area of new mexico-arizona. as a catholic raised we are taught not to experiment with other believes but having been with several other indian persons from northern ontario canada, and also talking with native arizonian indians i know htere is more to life then what we are told to believe. i whould only recommend this book to people who have an open mind other wise they may think you are on the verge of total colapse if you were to tell them, "yes i do believe this to be non-fiction"
peter dunn [email protected]

I recently struck up a conversation with a stranger at a local book store, and he handed me a copy of this book and told me it was life-changing and that I had to "trust him" and read it. Never the one to shy away from "fate" (or whatever you want to call it), especially when it comes to someone physically handing me a book that is considered "life-changing," I knew I had to read it and set out to do so the next day. And simply put, I thought it was insightful but I was somewhat disappointed and don't really get all the hype.

Perhaps I had extremely high expectations (as one would when the book recommender tells you it was life-changing); perhaps its a generational thing; or perhaps I read too quickly, as I read the book in one day. I am planning on re-reading it again more slowly. I have a feeling I might get more out of it the second or third time around, as other reviewers have suggested. However, it just wasn't as mind-blowing as I thought it would be and can't understand how others loved it so much, as to consider it life-changing?

I definitely have my share of underlined passages that I thought were very important and insightful, and will take away with me after reading this book, however I thought it was a little corny at times, for lack of a better word. I hated how don Juan kept testing him and while I understand it was so he could come to his own realizations, it just frustrated me as a reader. I felt there was just too much written about how he wanted answers to all his questions and was disappointed when they weren't forthcoming.

In addition, the book presupposes that attaining this type of power, "stopping the world," and becoming a sorcerer like don Juan is something one should want to attain, but why is that necessarily so? Without contact with others (except it seems his other sorcerer friend), and without any personal history, which he simply gave up, what exactly are the benefits that don Juan experiences? Why should anyone want to become a sorcerer like him?

I am sure those who love this book are going to consider my thoughts naieve and comment that I'm ingnorantly stuck in a world where things are what they seem, but I am truly happy in this world where I have a personal history, connections to others and a clear sense of my life and place in the world. Perhaps having a strong religious identity prevented me from buying into these assumptions as well? Or perhaps having read only one of Carlos Castenedas books, I am missing the complete picture that would make this more interesting or relatable?

Despite my somewhat-negative comments, I do recommend this book, as I found it thought-provoking and interesting. It would make an interesting book-club selection, because it provides wonderful fodder for discussions and opinions. However, I wouldn't recommend this book as "life-changing."

One of my favorite books of all time. Deeply influential on my world-view, and makes me cry every time. Carlos Castaneda's work is such a gift, and Journey to Ixtlan is my favorite in the series, although I do think it's important to read "The Teachings of Don Juan" first. The truth of our wild relationship to nature is in these pages.

This is in response to other reviews claiming Castaneda books are not of anthropology nature.
For Years I have heard the Field of Anthropology Scorn Castaneda for Not Providing "Evidence" of his findings, and in response to that what evidence could he provide? A few signed contracts a few pictures of don Juan maybe a film? How easy could it be to go down to Mexico and take any old Indian and Take a photograph of him? Or forge a few contracts and teachings ect...
People should just accept it! The tremendous ego of the human Nation want's to hold every ounce of power! That's how we all are brought up, When we are threatened even if we are wrong we must fight back,
The Hunters Way is gone, the warriors way has vanished, ever since the conquering of west civilization, If You think about it were all about selfdoubt, pity, hate, love, if you think really hard you'll find out your life isn't all great, while we make excuses "that's life" claiming its not fantasy, well what this book made me realize that may be life but it isn't all that the Real world is,
This Book its quite extraordinary,
But I suggest reading the first 2 books, they're a little slow not quite as "fun" as this book but its a necessity if you want to comprehend it fully,
a lot of mistakes people make with Castaneda books is that they should be read from first book to last, not just picking out any of which seems interesting...
If you read the first two i suggest reading this one, out of all of them this one still remains as my favorite

In this book, Castaneda tries to instill in the reader the components of personal power. A person of personal power can be summed up as someone who chooses to live as a victor rather than a victim. And to break away from the conditioning and habits of society and the norm.
Don Juan tries to impart to Castaneda some empowering mindframes and attitudes, such as by Erasing Personal History, one is able to break away from the excuses most people make in their life, and start to take Responsibility and action to change it, rather than blaming and getting stuck. Also the part about losing one's self-importance is extremely powerful wisdom, as he teaches that self-importance is one's own illusion. Only a person with self-importance easily feels hurt by the remarks of others.
It is interesting to note that this one of the Castaneda books that really sticks in people's mind, and has influenced a whole generation of spiritual and motivational thinkers, such as Wayne Dywer, Richard Bandler, Anthony Robbins among others.

I ordered this book because I had read it in the 1970s and remember the power and magic this book had for me in expanding my view of the world. I'm in my 60s now and decided to re-read one of my all time favorite books. The book arrived in good shape but not with the magical white falcon depicted on the images of the book you see here (by Washinton Square Press) but with an ugly black looking (Walt Disney looking) type of crow or some other scrawny black bird that looks like a cartoon. Somehow it destroys the magic of the book. Whoever they hired to do the cover work never read the book or the important chapter with the spiritual lesson of the White Falcon contained within it's pages. I realize its just a cover but somehow it does not fit the book and detracts from one of the reasons for owning a book like this. Maybe younger readers won't care or understand. But for older readers like myself who remember the excitement that a new Castenada book used to generate - you know what I'm trying to say. Just beware of the balck cartoon crow on the cover of some Washington Square Press books where the magical white falcon should be on copies of "Journet to Ixtlan." A "warrior" will know what I'm trying to say. Otherwise the story is the same and still worth reading. One of Castenada's most spiritual books.

Without a doubt this is the best book written by Castaneda. I think you have to read the previous 2 to fully understand this one, but this is the one that pulls it all together for me.
As a lifelong hunter this book made me understand hunting from an even deeper perspective. It also introduced the idea to me of hunting yourself. Applying the hunting principles to other life situations besides shooting game.
I read this book when I was about 20, and it changed the way I thought about life for the better, and not a day goes by that the tactics suggested in the book don't come into play for me.
I think the spiritual principles outlined here are available in other books, but I don't believe the REASON behind doing them has ever been explained as fully anywhere else.
CC may be gone, but I am forever grateful for the impact of his philosophy on my practice.

The question with regard to Carlos Casteneda is this: If we accept the premise that this book is largely fiction, does that in turn trivialize the message he is trying to impart? Just what is his message? If the message is that the world is full of witches, sorcerers, irridescent coyotes, allies, and phantoms, then the answer must be an unqualfied "yes". These entities are no more real, and have no more importance than angels and miracles, zombies, ghosts, or anything else whose existence cannot be objectively observed. However, despite the cult that has grown up around these writings, I don't think this is what Casteneda had in mind. Don Juan warned against being trapped in the world of sorcery, just as he did against getting trapped in the world of everyday concerns. It was when Carlos, the character, realized that he and the dung beetle were on even terms, even though their sensory worlds were profoundly different, that he was finally able to "stop the world". The warrior, says don Juan, takes responsibility for his life, and interacts with every event as if it is his last. Moreover, once one makes the transition to the path of knowledge, one can never go back. "Ixtlan" is by definition childhood's home that one can never return to. These are timeless and profound concepts, that transcend the venue of leaping shadows and bridges in the fog.
Casteneda is an unusual writer, and his insistence on portraying his character as an annoying whiner gets a little wearing after a while. The two messages I found in this work - that the world is much more than appears, and that it is important not to sleepwalk through our lives - these concepts never wear thin for me. And the observation that our modern man can learn these lessons from a superstitious old Yaqui is endlessly gratifying to me.
There are many ways to get to the place that Casteneda is trying to show us, and therefore I can't place this volume in the "must read" category. But the concepts have value, and you won't regret the effort in getting to the last page.

Castaneda did the world a favor when he began chronicling his apprenticeship with Don Juan Matus. Whether or not Don Juan was one or three real people is irrelevant since what Castaneda learns is highly relevant to all of us. Learning to "stalk" the self, learning to achieve equilibrium in a world full of petty tyrants (including the petty tyrant of the "self") are among the most trenchant lessons Castaneda provides us. This book is the place to start with Castaneda and you'll even find within it Don Juan doing magical passes 25 years before Castaneda finally admitted there were such things. The books by Castaneda are the most important books in my life and I highly recommend them to anyone who's after an alternative way of looking at life and the human condition.

What a disappointment this book was. I decided to read it based off of my interest in altered states of consciousness. I thought the true story of a student learning from a master would be culturally and intellectually interesting.

Unfortunately, Journey to Ixtlan is terribly written. The dialogues are artificial and Carlos himself is impossible to take seriously. Throughout the entire book, he is incredulous at what is happening around him and asks pointless questions. I can only attribute Carlos’s portrayal of himself as naive and weak to bad writing, because I can guarantee you that someone with the will to try mescaline and study under a sorcerer would not behave in the scared and ultra-rational manner that Carlos does in this book.

The fact that the book touches on a number of fascinating subjects - the forces of nature, alternate realities, synchronicity - is all the more frustrating. Carlos the author and Carlos the student never delve into the subjects with any depth, instead leading us into a disconnected series of forays into the desert.

The greatest book I have ever read! Without a doubt Carlos Castaneda's best. This book made me SO sad it is unbelievable. Once you understand everything that is involved in becoming a man of knowledge you have to ask yourself 'am I willing to give up EVERYTHING?' After reading this book I have made loads of progress in my own spiritual quest, no, I haven't stopped the world, yet. But at least I know now which way I am heading. If your leaning is towards sorcery and the revelation of it's secrets, you simply MUST read this. I have read everything on the occult (I kid you not) and I have to say that this was the one book that 'did it for me.' God (or nagual ) bless C.C.

I'm an atheist and a big fan of Buddhism. Since I'm certain (in the negative) about rebirth, karma, and all things supernatural, I've wrestled with how some key Buddhist teachings might apply to my atheist worldview. This book gave me a vivid, irreverent, and inspiring vision that has influenced my thought and practice.

No-self, non-ego, non-attachment, dropping the story, awareness, death as an advisor, and living in the present are a few themes that Buddhism shares with Don Juan in Ixtlan. Not that Ixtlan is a Buddhist teaching, or that Buddhism is summed up by Ixtlan, or vice versa - that's absolutely not the case. But thinking about the teachings and character of Don Juan (irreverent, hilarious, appreciative, and incredibly down to earth and real) has made my Buddhist practice more real.

Journey to Ixtlan was first published in 1972 and had an edge to edge (no border) illustration featuring the "as fast as light," white falcon on its cover.

In 1991 all eight original titles - The Teachings of Don Juan, A Separate Reality, Journey to Ixtlan, Tales of Power, The Second Ring of Power, The Eagle's Gift, The Fire from Within, and The Power of Silence - were all given new, unimproved, artwork.

Having somehow lost my copy of Journey to Ixtlan, I ordered from the store hoping that the copy I'd receive would really have the original cover - as was shown (and still is?) on this page at the time. It did not. I got the newer version. Not even the one that still shows the original white falcon, within a green border, but the one that features a crow!

Yes. It turns out there are two versions of the unimproved cover available! One retains the white falcon, the other a not-so-well-drawn crow. Unless I can find an original copy somewhere my set no longer matches. Not the end of the world, I know, but disappointing nonetheless.

So be forewarned, if you too need to replace an old copy, you'll need to buy used.

Castenada dazzels the mind with his reiteration of the teachings of don Juan Matus, the master sorcerer. After Reading this and other books in his series I underwent a change in life. One could only hope to attain part of the mastery of don Juans journey into the realm of Power. Casteneda studied for over 10 years, with don Juan to become a man of Power. I highly recomend this book and all other in the series to all those who would like to find the true meaning of the description of the world that they call reality, as well as, those searching for the true meaning of Power

Forget the debate as to whether Castaneda's writings were a hoax or that his books became important reading for the drug culture. Although I suggest you read his first two books before reading this one but if you read only one book by Carlos Castaneda this is the book to read. Be his books accurate reporting by a cultural anthropologist (which is becoming increasingly more and more  doubtful), mysticism or hokum, this particular book is quite moving and lyrical. And whether his stories are real or imagined and whether the teaching he transmutes came from Don Juan or from his own mind by his knowledge as a trained anthropologist the underlying mystical principles of these stories cannot be dismissed out of hand.
  Shaman, poet and perhaps an academic scoundrel it is Castaneda's poetry and story telling that comes shining through in this book.
  If Castaneda's books were a hoax and were represented as cultural anthropology as a better hook to sell books it is a shame because he did a disservice to science and to his legacy. Still I myself, as a former researcher in Harvard University's anthropology department and a student of human ethology, can forgive this sin on one level and enjoy this book as a powerful work of liturature.
For if there has been a wrong that has been committed against anthropology it is one that was done by the way the books were marketed and perhaps by the author's personality itself. The works themselves should not suffer and be shunned for this.
His legacy would have been better served if he wrote these same works as a writer of fiction.
I believe the author would have been wiser to present his works the way Gurdjieff presented "Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson" rather than obstinately insisting there really was such a person as Don Juan (even if in the off chance that his teacher did exist).
Despite the controversy his writing stands on its own and Journey to Ixtlan is a powerful, touching, enchanting and beautiful book.

I first read this book, and subsequently the rest of the series, ~30 years ago. As many of the other reviewers describe, Casteneda's words changed my life. If your looking for something like it, that points to tools we all posses right now and doesn't require you to find a Don Juan, check out The Last Letter by Andy Chaleff.

This is one of the most amazing books I have EVER read. Truly a life changer...or should i say "perception changer". I was assigned this book in one of my classes in college and It is truly a gem. Whether truly fact or based on fiction it truly makes you think. Can you allow yourself to perceive without perceiving in the way that you were TRAINED to perceive? STOP the world, people! STOP the world!

I have only one thing to say about this book... Back in the 80's after I had served a stint in the US Navy I wanted to go home. I did go home but .. I did not seem to fit in. After a couple of years of giving it a try.. I came across this book. I started to read it. I thought, this guy is nuts.. but interesting. I was able to relate to the story (i had never heard of Carlos before). By the end of the book... I was in tears. The lesson that this book taught me was that you can never go home. The home you are seeking is not a place where your folks live. Its a place in time... you can never go back there again. I cried.

When I first read this book I was too young to understand the meaning behind what Carlos Castaneda was trying to say and I didn't believe that the teachings of Don Juan were possibly as true as they were powerful. But as I read through it again I realized there was more to the book than just a crazy Indian and his hallucinogenic plants, and it wasn't until I re-read Journey to Ixtlan that I understood what Don Juan was trying to teach Carlos.
Journey to Ixtlan by Carlos Castaneda is by far my favorite and inarguably one of the best he's written throughout his travels with Don Juan. When you first start reading Castaneda's books, sorcery is a really questionable matter until you read this one and all of your questions are answered. In this book Don Juan teaches Carlos many things that pertain to both the sorcerer's world as well as the world the reader lives in. Many of these things are part of everyday situations and connects Carlos very well to the reader. Some of the things that Don Juan tries to teach or make Carlos realize are erasing personal history, losing self-importance, and being inaccessible. It is these lessons as well as many others that lead Carlos to the "stopping the world" and the journey to Ixtlan.
I would definitely recommend this book to people who are open-minded and who has a high reading level, but I wouldn't recommend this book to people who aren't already familiar with Carlos Castaneda's other books.

Although this book may be weird or to far out for some people. I think that there is some useful information in this book. There are simple phrases that have really changed my outlook on life.
Things like "Self Importance" really made me worry less about my problems and enjoy the world instead.
Labeling things and categoring things can really take the meaning out of things. For example, Carlos tries to find out about Don Juans ancestry. Don Juan refuses to have his ancestry to tell him how to live or to label him, therefore he doesn't think it's important.
I like the part where Carlos was whining about his father not getting up in time to go swimming. He whining went nowhere, Don Juan said that "maybe he had trouble getting up". "If you were so strong why didn't you go swimming yourself."
I learned that promises you make to other people are equally important no matter how big or little it is.

This is a life-changing book and a spiritual classic (I rarely give ANYTHING 5 stars) but someone ought to mention that there is a certain amount of controversy about the accuracy of Castaneda's Don Juan series. Researcher Richard de Mille is probably the most even-handed of the critics and The_Don_Juan_Papers is worth a read, though some of the criticisms are merely carping small-mindedness.
Regardless of your attitude toward Castaneda's (or Don Juan's!)literal accuracy the series, of which Journey_to_Ixtlan is the best, presents a coherent and engaging spiritual existentialism. A Must Read!!!

I just finished re-reading Journey to Ixtlan for the sixth time, and each time I read the book I find new wisdom and a new lesson I can relate to in my own life. There are crucial lessons here, whether or not you believe the actual experiences that happen. Through his relationship with Don Juan, Carlos Castenada reminds us of how truly mysterious the world is, and how much awe and wonder there is in ourselves, if we are brave enough to be willing to see it.
The book really has very little to do with peyote or drug usage persay, it has much more to do with questioning the very foundations on which we base the world to become aware of reality. Not one that has been dumbed down by definition and categorization but experienced as it is. I see a direct link here with "I Am That" (a book of talks/interviews with an Indian Guru), and even The Matrix.
But the sense of power in nature and the drawn out detailed depictions in nature are like very few books I've ever read.
This is a great book for an English Class, Existential Philosophy, or Cultural Anthropology, and I do not see this is as a work of fiction. At the very least it is an invitation or reminder for us to rediscover the magic in our own lives again.
It is a thoroughly enjoyable read - suspend your analytical mind for two hundred sixty pages and enjoy.

"Journey to Ixtlan" is a long and unbalanced (sometimes repetitive) dialogue between Don Juan, the sorcerer, and his apprentice. Unbalanced to the extent that the apprentice is humble, naive, easily taken by Don Juan's views, unable to effectively counter-argue the teachings of the sorcerer. The reader is taken into a long and fantastic journey through the desert, where he is slowly introduced into the teachings of Don Juan. For him, the world of everyday life is not real as we believe it to be. Reality if merely one of various descriptions, therefore we have to learn how to "see" as opposed to merely "looking," and "stopping the world" is the first step to "seeing." Once the apprenticeship is finished we have learned a new description of the world and are able to elicit a new perception, one has gained "membership." We must break the dogmatic certainty, which we all share, that the validity of our perceptions is not to be questioned. In the long process we must learn to erase personal history, remodel most of our behavior, self-importance must be dropped, we must take full responsibility for our actions, and accept death as the only wise adviser. You become a hunter once you learn to separate the images and see two of everything, you become accessible to power and learn how to tackle your dreams. You become a man of knowledge because you have unravelled the secrets of personal power. A man is only the sum of his personal power, and that sum determines how he lives and how he dies.
Carlos Castaneda, an active member of the New Age Movement, had millions of followers around the world. His writings are supposedly based on personal experience, on his studies on the effects of certain medicinal plants and the teachings of a shaman who used hallucinogens to initiate his students into an occult world. His personal life has remained a mystery, as much as his cult, and his literary success is not actually based on quality but rather on being appealing to human thrist for myth, magic, self-improvement, and the imaginary.

This 3rd book of Castaneda`s is an essential part for every person sincerely interested in being impeccable and preserving his/her own energy for dreaming,recapitulating etc. Without observing strictly the premises of the warrior`s way stated in this book there is no need to read more of Carlos - one will never reach the state of awareness and the level of energy of "los nueves videntes". To stop the world is very difficult and responsible task(the most difficult we take on in our life, that is for sure.) And last of all I must state people`s way of regarding the books of Castaneda as an intriguing works on anthropology and nothing more is terrible. But I think it was the Spirit`s will writing those books and the Spirit`s will is only for a few chosen people to understand and make use of them - for the others they are just meaningless scribbles as it must be.

I read this book as a 20 year old wanna-be hippie that was interested in drugs, specifically peyote which was used in the shaman's escapes from reality. In the book the shaman tells his apprentice that in order to be a great witch doctor, "he must follow a path with a heart to it." Later he gets his apprentice high on drugs and tequila and plays mean tricks on him. He mocks his apprentice because the apprentice is not able to figure our his "magic tricks." Where is the path with a heart to it? As I thought about this, I realized that the only God or religion I had ever known that had a heart to it was Jesus. I threw the book away and started reading the Bible. Not long after that I came up with a philosophy worth believing in. It is in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be granted unto you."

I first read the book, while backpacking at the age of sixteen in the Porcupine Mountains in northern Michigan; I found it an appropriate choice in camping literature.
Carlos Casteneda writes that he was looking for someone who could teach him about pychotropic plants, and that he meets a man (sorceror) named don Juan, who has experience with psychotropic plants like Jimson Weed, Peyote, and a kind of halluigenic Psilocybe mushroom, and who can do just that. Carlos asks don Juan if he can apprentice him and he eventually complies, and they come to a sort of agreement. The two of them begin taking daily walks through the forest together, and talk about pychotropics, philosophies and other concerns. Don Juan begins training Carlos to become a sort of spiritual "warrior", and he begins to consume peyote.
Don Juan's little dialouges are interesting but extreamly strange. He describes to Carlos that he will become a warrioir by "stopping the world" and by then "looking" and "seeing". The ideas don Juan suggests are difficult to interprit and understand. (I recomend a little bit of psychotropic influence to help the 'ol head to process the wilds concepts, haha!) I always liked what he said about walking through the woods with your arms spread open to touch the vegitation around you, and I find myself doing it when I hike. The book is interesting but it doesn't have a lot of substance. I give it a solid - good, but its a good that I find myself picking up again and again.

Probably the most significant book I have ever read. That doesn't say a lot but hey I never like the bible. For some its almost petty to the number of polished novels and books already on the market and waiting for you pocket book. I must say though, this is quite the exquisite example of whats possible in our world or reality to get metaphyiscal. Many of the writes or teachings of castaneda are just that but this book to some is a starting point from which to begin the journey. The not-doings and small samples are just a small example for what in it. I highly recommend this book for anybody. Maybe you'll get hooked maybe not. Either way, some may care to read it.

It took a lot for me to get through Castaneda's first book, The Teachings of Don Juan. I was totally unimpressed with it. The whole book was essentially about how a Yaqui Indian "sorcerer" put naive Carlos, then a graduate student in anthropology from UCLA doing research on a hallucinogenic plant, through a bunch of weird drug trips that shook his view of reality. And to me, that doesn't jive at all.
But in Journey to Ixtlan, Castaneda goes back and says, "wait, start over, reset. I was wrong about all of that drug stuff, it's really not necessary, don Juan just put me through that because I was too stubborn and 'rational' to see that there may be other views of reality than the ones I subscribe to." In this book he discovers that he doesn't need drugs to experience other worlds. Rather, there are a series of practices for right living that enable the possibility of perceiving in nonordinary ways.
So Journey to Ixtlan is where the real lessons about living life in the warrior's way begin. I recommend this book highly as a starting point for Castaneda's work; forget the first two books.

Castaneda's first three books constitute some of the best fiction of the 20th century. Yes I know, I know, many folks think these books are fact as did I when I first started reading them many years ago. I believe it is a testament to Castaneda's gift as a writer that events that objectively appear impossible nevertheless come across as plausible. To be honest I think it is a greater honor to Castaneda to approach these as fiction because the world he has created is so immersive that it has very few peers in literature: He's like the Tolkien of New Age (you cannot tell me Second Ring of Power is not fiction as he 'literally' abandons the diary format altogether for novel format). That said there are many impactful life lessons to draw from this particular title and it is my favorite of the series.

This book should be in the pseudoanthropology section and is a classic of the genre. My title above is a quote from Marcello Truzzi's evaluation. Journey to Ixtlan was the third in the series and formed the basis of a doctoral disertation that incredibly was awarded a degree by UCLA department of anthropology, thereby reclassifying that department as the school of literary fantasy studies. For a full evaluation of Carlos Cesar Arena Castaneda see Martin Gardner's notes of a fringe watcher 'Carlos Castaneda and New Age Anthropology' in Skeptical Enquirer Vol 23, No.5 pp13-15; 1999. Never the less read as fantasy/philosophy the book is good value. the fact that it virtually founded a New Age religion is evidence for Gordon Wasson's theory that drug induced hallucinations produced by what he called entheogens are at the basis of many religions ancient and modern.

In Castaneda's third book, Don Juan teaches him how to see with shamanic vision to perceive things as they really are rather than merely describing them with conventional language from preconceived ideas and memories.

Masterpiece ! Simply magic! Carlos Castaneda should be read in special moments of our lives, this is the kind of book that comes to your hands serendipitously! Enjoy a different way of seeing reality....

I wish this book was something better than it is. In the end, the concepts in this book are insubstantial and poorly explained because the author himself obviously did not understand them. Sentences like, "Doing makes a tree a tree and a rock a rock," are common in explaining pivotal concepts such as "doing," but are no more than pseudo-koans. Castaneda asks for further explanation but Don Juan is unable or unwilling to truly explicate these concepts in a comprehensive manner that does them justice. They are hinted at in unsatisfactory and ambiguous terms-- never nailed down because even after all of his apprenticeship, it's obvious Castaneda truly does not understand anything that he was taught and actually gained very little from the teachings. He goes through all the motions and somehow sees what he is supposed to see and somehow even feels what he is supposed to feel, but understands none of it and cannot give it significance or grounding. Castaneda's work has largely been discredited as fraud at this point, and from the writing you can tell that he really only had superficial knowledge of the topics he wrote about because he plagiarized most of his work. Books like Autobiography of a Yogi are much much better and more rewarding.

When I read this novel I was constantly entertained and on the edge of my seat at all times. It also brought new ideas of spirituality to my mind. I hope that other people have, and possibly will, read this story and like it just as much as I have.

This is the 3rd installment of the Castaneda Books. I believe this one to be the best one, because Castaneda goes in depth with his conversations and teachings with Don Juan Mateus. Many useful quotes are here on Castaneda's path to enlightment.

These books are great stories. I don't know whether Carlos Castaneda went through any of the experiences he writes about or if he was just a great story teller but they do have a ring of truth to them. I was heavily influenced by these books when I first read them, much, much less so now. Journey to Ixtlan is a metaphor for how your life will look as you abandon your old patterns and take on a new way of living.

I also enjoyed Positive Energy by Judith Orloff and Energetic Anatomy by Mark Rich. Rich's book actually talks about some of the same ideas Castaneda does but in more concrete detail. Both are enjoyable and informative.

Journey to Ixtlan is a spiritual story unlike any I've ever read. Castaneda makes no notion of trying to comfort the reader with what fluffy tales of love and kindness. Aside from all the goodness and love that naturally ensues in one's spiritual quest there is a factor of aloneness and detachment that only a few "warriors" out there are equipped to handle.
This is a mind opening book, a candid story of Carlos Castenada, a brave man who found his leader, but not his time.

I was recommended this book by a few family members. I have had my share of experiences and consider myself a spiritual, if not "mystical" person. I approached reading this book as something of a zen guide like the books I read in my late teens like Dan Millman's "The way of the Peaceful Warrior," among others. I was deeply, deeply disappointed.

Where do I start. Well, let me begin by saying that Castaneda cannot write. The literary content of this book deserves one star, and that's only because it is written in [mostly] complete English sentences. Second, it has no sense of narrative. It is neither driven by a plot or by an overarching concept, unless the vague and amorphous "search for power" amounts to something of a plotline. Third, I was not engaged by Castaneda, and I could care less for his search for power; nor does don Juan provide us with any information regarding the search for power. Merely a series of random and incoherent acts that supposedly help one attune themselves to their inner power. Rather, we're taken along for the ride - poorly - as Castaneda and don Juan take endless hikes in the desert and meander along various hilltops and describe hallucinations of bushes. I'm just not sure what that is supposed to convey to the reader. He doesn't give any tangible or practical advice, and for someone who does not have access to don Juan, the journey seems moot. Don Juan is constantly and annoyingly laughing and "cackling" away at questions posed to him, and condescendingly dismisses questions. He may be an all powerful warrior, but he seems quite simple to someone that only knows him through Castaneda's portrait. The message, whatever it is, was completely lost on me. I found reading it all the way to the end to be my ultimate sacrifice and eventually, the mission that would bring me power. I told myself that if I could finish it, then I am the ultimate warrior...

I tried to take away one positive thing from the book, if only to be able to share it with the family members that recommended it (so I don't completely hurt their feelings). I salvaged this quote: "A warrior on the other hand is a hunter. He calculates everything. That's control. But once his calculations are over, he acts. He lets go. That's abandon. A warrior is not a leaf at the mercy of the wind. No one can push him; no one can make him do things against himself or against his better judgment." Wow, that's deep.

If you're interested in Castaneda, this is the book you should read first. It covers the same time period as the previous two, but Carlos is no longer as dense as when he wrote them. This book opens the doors to a whole new way to view the world.

I have just a couple of quick comments but mostly just encouraging others to really attempt to absorb the contents of this book. I once heard CC called a literary shaman...maybe I read that somewhere. That is very true to the word and those who have pondered this book in a deep and thoughtful way know what I'm talking about. The other quick point I wanted to make is how ridiculous the pop cultural, ego dominated, western definition of a warrior is. Put succintly...the real war is won when we cultivate higher levels of awareness.

That might not come from reading this book alone, as it is the third 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 this, the third book. The 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.

This book was instrumental in changing my view of the world and opening up to all the magic that is here now. A truly timeless book, this is the first Carlos Castaneda book I recommend to everyone. Is Don Juan a real person or just a character in the mind of a brilliant Carlos? Everybody wants to know.. (those that have read a few books) If you do some searches on the internet you may be able to find a Don Juan that goes by a different name... Some say that he is the inspiration for these books. Regardless, this reality is quite magical and I have experienced its truth. Thankyou to the Magic of the Universe!

This is the one book for anyone embarking on the path.It`s both usefull and entertaining.I have read it countless times.It`s topics include diminishing self importance, wich is crucial,erasing personal history and using death as an adviser among others.You won`t be dissapointed.

I loved this book, I have been wanting to read Castaneda for a long time. Carlos is a great writer and painted great pictures for the reader. I think it is good and wise that he does not give any interpretations to the wisdom of Don Juan, but leaves that up to the reader. Some timeless cultural truth.

Of all the Castaneda legacy I believe this to be his best book. This one is timeless and can be reconciled with any spiritual path since he outlines the basic frame of mind of a true initiate. For those of us who like the Cabalistic approach to the esoteric, this book is still very useful in attaining the proper outlook on a truly terrifying search for the transcendental.

Don Juan attempts to teach Carlos Castaneda vague lessons by engaging him in a series of nonsensical activities. Many of the themes are common to other spiritual traditions (e.g. breaking routines, becoming inaccessible, not doing, or stopping the world--in the language of this book) and because of this, the reader may have a clue as to what Don Juan is getting at. However, Don Juan consistently spurns Castaneda when he asks for explanations, insisting on showing him instead. Unfortunately, the demonstrations seem to be pointless and nonsensical. Maybe, that's the point, but it gets tiresome to endure this over and over again throughout the book. I'm a big fan of psychedelic drugs and solipsistic thinking, and I approached this book with a great amount of focus but finished it mostly disappointed.

Ok, I read the first book and was intrigued. The second book made me a bit restless. The third, I must admit was a complete bore and repeat of the first two. Believe Carlos' if you wish, but this kind of material is very easy to materialise, in which I think "over-exaggeration" comes to mind. Perhaps, there are people out there who wish to have been and met such characters, as did Carlos many years ago, which simply means they have very boring lives. This is one book I have read recently which I do not recommend, because it is completely rubbish.

The only way to the other end of reality is through conquering the mind and senses. Techniques given in this book are very good. Where you will go using them depends on your ideal, your understanding of God.

I bought and read this paperback book when it was new and popular and when we were going on a camping vacation. It was so much crap that I threw it in the campfire and thereby made the most of it as it was actually good kindling. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs a good campfire starter.

I read and re-read this book many times in my early 20's. I took mushrooms and wandered around the woods of Canada alone. I had magnificent revelations - but my life was a disaster. I followed the instructions and crafted my life around personal responsibility. My life was still a disaster. The quality of the writing here is fantastic. Even though this is likely a philosophical treatise and not a true account, the writing is so compelling that an impressionable young mind (like mine was) is likely to swallow it all hook, line and sinker. Readwe beware! I finally turned my life around in my 30s and became successful. I still love Casteneda as a writer. He should be studied as a master of his craft.