The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of KnowledgeThirty years ago the University of California Press published an unusual manuscript by an anthropology student named Carlos Castaneda. The Teachings of Don Juan initiated a generation of seekers dissatisfied with the limitations of the Western worldview. Castaneda's now classic book remains controversial for the alternative way of seeing that it presents and the revolution in cognition it demands. In a series of fascinating dialogues, Castaneda sets forth his partial initiation with don Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian shaman from the state of Sonora, Mexico. He describes don Juan's perception and mastery of the "non-ordinary reality" and how peyote along with other plants sacred to the Mexican Indians were used as gateways to the mysteries of "dread," "clarity," and "power." The Teachings of Don Juan is the story of a remarkable journey that has left an indelible impression on the life of more than a million readers around the world. "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 "Carlos Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan, takes us through the moment of twilight, through the crack in the universe between daylight and dark into a world not merely other than our own, but of an entirely different order of reality."--Walter Goldschmidt, from the Foreword |
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ally contained ally's apprentice asked awareness became become began benefactor body brujo Carlos Castaneda clarity cognition component elements concepts conceptual order contained in Datura crow dark Datura inoxia Datura plants December 26 dependent range devil's weed diablero direction don Juan don Juan Matus don Juan's teachings elements of nonordinary enemies everything experience eyes fear feel felt front going hand head helper idea inside knowledge laughed lizards looked Lophophora williamsii manipulatory technique mean meant ment Mescalito mixture mouth move never night nonordinary reality ordinary consensus ordinary reality path perceived perception peyote songs pipe pragmatic progression protector Psilocybe mexicana range of appraisal reality of special remember root second portion seemed sensation shamans smoke songs sorcerer special consensus specific purpose spot talk tell things thought tion told took turn voice walked wanted Yaqui