THE TEACHINGS OF DON JUAN

### start carlos_castaneda-01-the_teachings_of_don_juan-070502.txtrarecloud . comedited per my intent ###Version 2006.07.05The Teachings of Don Juan: Book CoverThe Teachings of don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - 1968 by Carlos Castaneda

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HTML EDITOR:Carlos Castaneda's first two books serve as an insightful initiation into donJuan's world. Unfortunately to us as readers, Carlos believed that mind alterantswere necessary to break the barrier into don Juan's world. As a result, drug useserved as the central theme of his first two books. Carlos eventually realized hiserror concerning why don Juan employed the Indian psychotropics, and Carlosexplains his mistake in the Introduction of his third book.This, Carlos' first book, "The Teachings of don Juan", spans the period of aboutthe first five years of his relationship with don Juan Matus. Carlos quits hisapprenticeship at the end of this first book, and for the following three years,although he still saw don Juan Juan regularly, Carlos considered himself as havingended his lessons.Carlos' second book, "A Separate Reality", spans about two and a half yearsbeginning from the time when Carlos consciously decided he was again a student ofdon Juan.END HTML EDITORCarlos Castaneda was a graduate student in anthropology at UCLA, gatheringinformation on various medicinal herbs used by the Indians in Sonora, Mexico, whenhe met the old Yaqui Indian, Don Juan.The Teachings of Don Juan is the story of the first five years these two men spenttogether as master and pupil.The sequels, A Separate Reality, Journey to Ixtlan, Tales of Power, The SecondRing of Power and The Eagle's Gift are all published by Arkana.For Don Juanand for the two persons whoshared his sense ofmagical time with me...- Carlos CastanedaTable of Contentso Foreword -by Walter Goldschmidto Acknowledgementso Introductiono Author's 30th Year Commentary

* Part one: The Teachingso Chapter 1o Chapter 2o Chapter 3o Chapter 4o Chapter 5o Chapter 6o Chapter 7o Chapter 8o Chapter 9o Chapter 10o Chapter 11* Part two: A Structural Analysiso A Structural Analysiso Summaryo Appendices+ Appendix A+ Appendix BVersion 2006.07.05The Teachings of don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - 1968 by Carlos Castaneda

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Intro Foreword -by Walter GoldschmidtThis book is both ethnography and allegory.Carlos Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan, takes us through that moment oftwilight, through that crack in the universe between daylight and dark into aworld not merely other than our own, but of an entirely different order ofreality. To reach it he had the aid of mescalito, yerba del diablo, and humito-peyote, datura, and mushrooms. But this is no mere recounting of hallucinatoryexperiences, for don Juan's subtle manipulations have guided the traveller whilehis interpretations give meaning to the events that we, through the sorcerer'sapprentice, have the opportunity to experience.HTML EDITOR:To reiterate, I feel it important to point out right now that even though CarlosCastaneda focused primarily for the entirety of both: his first book, "TheTeachings Of Don Juan"; and his second book, "A Separate Reality"-- on the use ofmind altering drugs as it related to his enlightnment-- he was in error abouttheir true role in learning; and he admits as much in his later works.More?... Continued...END HTML EDITORAnthropology has taught us that the world is differently defined in different

places. It is not only that people have different customs. It is not only thatpeople believe in different gods and expect different post-mortem fates.It is, rather, that the worlds of different peoples have different shapes. Thevery metaphysical presuppositions differ: Space does not conform to Euclideangeometry: Time does not form a continuous unidirectional flow: Causation does notconform to Aristotelian logic: Man is not differentiated from non-man, nor lifefrom death as in our world.We know something of the shape of these other worlds from the logic of nativelanguages and from myths and ceremonies as recorded by anthropologists. Don Juanhas shown us glimpses of the world of a Yaqui sorcerer, and because we see itunder the influence of hallucinogenic substances, we apprehend it with a realitythat is utterly different from those other sources. This is the special virtue ofthis work.Castaneda rightly asserts that this world, for all its differences of perception,has its own inner logic. He has tried to explain it from inside, as it were- fromwithin his own rich and intensely personal experiences while under don Juan'stutelage- rather than to examine it in terms of our logic.That he cannot entirely succeed in this is a limitation that our culture and ourown language place on perception; rather than his personal limitation. Yet, in hisefforts he bridges for us the world of a Yaqui sorcerer with our own; the world ofnon-ordinary reality with the world of ordinary reality.The central importance of entering into worlds other than our own- and hence ofanthropology itself- lies in the fact that the experience leads us to understandthat our own world is also a cultural construct. By experiencing other worlds,then, we see our own for what it is, and are thereby enabled also to seefleetingly what the real world- the one between our own cultural construct andthose other worlds- must in fact be like. Hence the allegory as well as theethnography. The wisdom and poetry of don Juan, and the skill and poetry of hisscribe, give us a vision both of ourselves and of reality. As in all properallegory, what one sees lies with the beholder, and needs no exegesis [* exegesis-an explanation or critical interpretation] here.Carlos Castaneda's interviews with don Juan were initiated while he was a studentof anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles. We are indebted tohim for his patience, his courage, and his perspicacity [* perspicacity- thecapacity to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly and to draw soundconclusions] in seeking out and facing the challenge of his dual apprenticeship,and in reporting to us the details of his experiences. In this work hedemonstrates the essential skill of good ethnography [* ethnography- the branch ofanthropology that provides scientific description of individual human societies]-the capacity to enter into an alien world. I believe he has found a path withheart.- Walter Goldschmidt Version 2006.07.05The Teachings of don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - 1968 by Carlos Castaneda

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