Carlos Castaneda

[Jahfin]

Not sure how many people here are familiar with Carlos but thanks to my older brothers I was an avid reader of his books back in the 70s and continued reading them (with the exception of the last couple of ones he did). Anyhow, even though I've had broadband for well over a year (and limited access to broadband for about a year prior to that) I've never really taken advantage of it until recently. Last night while reading some reviews of his work on Amazon I was lead to a couple of interesting links, the first is a Salon article. The second is video of a Carlos documentary done by the BBC:

The Dark Legacy of Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda and the Shaman, Tales From the Jungle

I remember reading about Carlos' passing back in the late 90s but never knew about the mystery surrounding it or the deaths of his acquaintances that followed until I stumbled upon the article and video last night.

[Dzldoc]

I once did some mushrooms that gave me the abillity to hover above traffic, then I heard a voice say "Step out of the vehicle and place your hands on the hood!"

[MadScreamingGallery]

Thanks for the links! That looks like fascinating information. Back in the '70s, my husband and I read Castaneda's books and took them very seriously. We reached an age when we felt that we had outgrown them so we passed them on to other seekers.

[*I*LOVE*JIMMY!!]

I too have read his books in the 70's and off and on since. The teachings of Don Juan and his adventures with peyote, he put you there in his shoes. Thanks for the links.

[stonefreelee]

yeah, read at least one by him...was always interested in his 'teachings'. Unfortunately I've always had a short attention span...and never finished "don juan..."

[*I*LOVE*JIMMY!!]

The thought that Don Juan may not be real and that he could have plagiarized his books after the first one is very dishearten. I hope it is not true.

[Hotplant]

I always loved the "finding your spot" theory.

Eating the buttons is gross but it's a very mellow/intense high.

Hard to describe...very Zen..

[*I*LOVE*JIMMY!!]

Did anyone here follow his teachings in the 70's or later?

[Jahfin]

The thought that Don Juan may not be real and that he could have plagiarized his books after the first one is very dishearten. I hope it is not true.

According to the links I posted to the Salon article and the BBC documentary a great deal of what Castaneda wrote about in his books has been disproved beyond a shadow of a doubt. If you watched the documentary you will see that, despite these findings, Simon and Schuster still classify his works as "nonfiction".

As I mentioned earlier, I first became aware of the books through an older brother back in the 70s when I was just a kid in high school (around the same time I was getting into Kerouac). My dad always took an interest in the things we were interested in so he had also read the books. I remember when I was first getting into them he said, "Read them. Enjoy them. Just don't try to live your life like them."

[stonefreelee]

According to the links I posted to the Salon article and the BBC documentary a great deal of what Castaneda wrote about in his books has been disproved beyond a shadow of a doubt. If you watched the documentary you will see that, despite these findings, Simon and Schuster still classify his works as "nonfiction".

As I mentioned earlier, I first became aware of the books through an older brother back in the 70s when I was just a kid in high school (around the same time I was getting into Kerouac). My dad always took an interest in the things we were interested in so he had also read the books. I remember when I was first getting into them he said, "Read them. Enjoy them. Just don't try to live your life like them."

You're father sounded like a very wise individual. I remembered (just now!) that "death is just over you're left shoulder..." from carlos c. Of course, it may have been the right shoulder!

Also, have read "On the Road" by JK...this is a must read along with "Fear and Loathing..." by HT!