Thread: about Castaneda

I've never heard of a bad place. In fact, one of the lures of lucid dreaming is to get rid of bad places (nightmares) and go somewhere nicer. The lucid dream is a remnant of your own imagination, if it goes sour, change it.

IMO Castaneda is a fiction writer.

Thank you for your attention. The reason of my doubts and consideration towards Castaneda is that in Europe (I’m European) it hasn’t been the discussion about him like what’s done in USA.
Thus, for us he’s still a “guru” a “master” like he was in all the world at the beginning of his story.
I’ve only recently found out that he has been destroyed by the review and by the academic world in USA. What has surprised me reading the story of dream’s traveller in thousands tales is that there aren’t any reference that seems (also distantly) at what he describes in his books.
At the next and sorry for my terrible English.

Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan is a storytelling technique to introduce you to Don Juan’s teachings and wealth of knowledge. fiction writer maybe.

Read his tellings of Don Juan’s perception and mastery of the “non-ordinary reality”.


• To seek freedom is the only driving force I know. Freedom is to fly off into that infinity out there. Freedom is to dissolve, to lift off, to be like the flame of a candle, which, in spite of being up against the light of a billion stars, remains intact because it never pretended to be more than what it is: a mere candle. (Art of Dreaming)

• To be impeccable means to put your life in the line to back up your decisions and then do quite a lot more than your best to realize those decisions. (Art of Dreaming)

• The trick is in what one emphasizes. We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same. (Journey to Ixtlan)

• A man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting. (Separate Reality)

• Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn’t, it is of no use. (Teachings of don Juan)

To be angry at people means that one considers their acts to be important. It is imperative to cease to feel that way. The acts of men cannot be important enough to offset our only viable alternative: our unchangeable encounter with infinity. (Teachings of don Juan)

• A rule of thumb for a warrior is that he makes his decisions so carefully that nothing that may happen as a result of them can surprise him, much less drain his power. (Tales of Power)

• The basic difference between an ordinary man and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge, while an ordinary man takes everything as a blessing or a curse. (Tales of Power)

• The most effective way to live is as a warrior. A warrior may worry and think before making any decision, but once he makes it, he goes his way, free from worries or thoughts; there will be a million other decisions still awaiting him. That’s the warrior’s way. (Separate Reality)

fiction writer or not these quotes stem from great wisdom & knowledge