The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
by Carlos Castaneda
Book Summary Information
Author: Carlos CastanedaEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1985-03-03
ISBN: 0671600419
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Washington Square Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780671600419
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
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Book Reviews of The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
Book Review: A siren song, seductive and misleading
Summary: 1 Stars
Thanks to conscientious reviewers here speaking out about this book (and its sequels) for what it is: a wholesale literary con job. I post this review in order to lend my voice to others raised in concern about this. If "Teachings of Don Juan" had been offered honestly, as a novel, would it have been reviewed as a good one? I doubt it, but we'll never know. For it captured attention by claiming to be anthropology, nonfiction. The circumstances and events recounted in its pages were supposedly true, and actually happened. Or so we were told by its author and publisher. For readers, THAT was the primary basis of interest in it.
Back in the 1970's I read the first couple Don Juan books in a spirit of trust. I accepted them as presented: ethnography, nonfiction, true or at least honest reports of anthropological field work. Later I learned there was nothing truthful or honest in Castaneda's writing about "Don Juan's teachings" despite the misimpression perpetrated -- deliberately -- by the book's claim to nonfiction status.
I was not pleased to find out my trust had been abused, that as a reader I'd been played like a violin as a reward for my interest. "It's your fault for having been interested, don't blame Castaneda" -- is that the deal? Doesn't life strip us of our innocence quickly enough in its own way, without being aided and abetted by con artists and their handiwork? But looking around at comments here, seems there are other ways of looking at this "sadder but wiser" dilemma -- from all the glowing 5 star reviews and incoherent praise still heaped upon this book by some readers.
Back when "Teachings ..." came out -- and still nowadays, to some extent -- the wilderness of mind had been dramatically revealed, for the first time in the history of our civilization, by personal experiences of many inquiring people with peyote, LSD, etc. Consciousness-expansion opened upon a vast, compelling inner realm, hitherto unfamiliar and unexplored in Western culture (though long familiar in the East, where yoga and various forms of meditation have been intensively practiced for several millennia). With their provocative intensity and vivid intimations of profound meaning, psychedelic experiences impelled many to seek out guidance, food for thought, answers to questions ages-old but newly realized; and difficult to even word clearly, much less discover answers to. This was the atmosphere in which the Don Juan books were presented, and their effectiveness as bait to hook the unwary metaphysical seeker seems pretty clear.
The search for some kind of spiritual, metaphysical or transcendent knowledge, truth or understanding -- sparked in many by direct personal psychedelic experiences -- expresses something acutely real and essential in the human equation. It deserves to be treated with honesty and respect. But obviously, it can also be exploited in a crass, reprehensible manner as a vulnerabilty or weakness by clever manipulators; whether they are the Elmer Gantry type (using old time religion) -- or psychedelic pied pipers surfing the waves of the new age. It's unacceptable, and there can be no excuses, contrary to the unpersuasive, presumptuous attempts at justification offered by many.
Thinly masked beneath a beguiling surface, the Don Juan books express values antithetical to personal growth or self-realization, authenticity, pursuit of truth, and humane regard for ourselves and others. Castaneda's great contribution is a morally toxic perspective that we're all fools, and nothing matters, so there's no point in caring about anyone or anything except one's own self. To heck with whoever or whatever, and yippee for each of us at everybody else's expense. His writings are a Trojan horse, trickery disguised as a gift.
The message is masked with a lot of verbal gobbledy-goop, Rorschach ink-blot nonsense readers are put upon to ascribe meaning to -- about being "impeccable" and "a warrior's predilection" and ... etc. It goes on and on in a dense fog machinery. He even makes up new nonsense meanings for words (like tonal, and nagual) he ripped from anthropo literature (where they actually have definitions referring to realities of Mexican lore and teachings). But boiled down, his gist is we can be predators or prey, that's the choice we have. Honesty, trying to relate, or seeking connection, that's for [...]-- alienation and lies are what makes the world go around. And it's exhilarating, liberating, because it means we don't have to worry about anything, because we're all just gonna die sooner or later so -- whatever. Yippee.
As a con artist who got rich selling this snake oil medicine, Castaneda has become a towering inspiration of the worst kind to others. A new generation has "gotten it" and followed suit, leading to a whole raft of similarly phony exploitative works pretending to be something else less despicable and more worthy or our interest and attention.
For anyone interested, there is DeMille's book "Don Juan Papers." Also, visit sustainedaction dot org -- an excellent website exploring the legacy and fallout of the Castaneda phenomenon. It proves much darker and more disturbing than one might imagine; even if you already know the Don Juan books -- to this day still classified as nonfiction, presented as real life accounts -- were sheer fabrication, cleverly geared to deceive readers.
Summary of The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
The teachings of don Juan is the story of a remarkable journey: the first awesome steps on the road to becoming a "man of knowledge" -- the road that continues with A Separate Reality and Journey to Ixtlan.
"For me there is only the traveling on paths that have heart, on any path that may have heart. There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge is to traverse its full length. And there I travel, looking, looking, breathlessly." -- Don Juan
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