Book Review: Teachings of Don Juan
I want to keep this blog atopical and to be free form in terms of content, style and (if possible) devoid of any structure. Maybe a structure will emerge automatically some day. I also considered making multiple blogs along various lines - politics, philosophy, software etc but I think this is better. Here is a small book review today.
Here is a book I really liked: Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda. Briefly, the book is about the experiences Carlos Casteneda has with Don Juan a Yaqui (an american indian tribe) sorcerer. Carlos is a rational, modern day person and the way he describes things is truly amazing. His analysis and scepticism make his journey all the more enjoyable. The incidents in this book take place during 5 years in the 60s. Don Juan and Carlos share a true guru-shishya relationship. Lot of people say that a Guru is essential for any spiritual undertaking but I had always wondered why. This book clearly demonstrates this fact.
The other thing that I really liked here was the treatment of reality. My previous blog entry wondered about that fact. Hallucigenic substances are used by Don Juan to produce states of non-ordinary reality. Don mentions that these are just aids and he himself doesn't need them any longer. It reminded me of our tantrics, sadhus and their ganja. I do think that most sadhus today are nothing more than drug addicts but there was some actual utility to these techniques.
There are lots of gems in the book but I especially liked this one by Don Juan (not verbatim): "There are many paths and one should realize that a path is just that - a path. Finally it doesn't matter what path you choose as long as it is a path with a heart." Or "The desire to learn is not ambition. It is the desitiny of man to seek knowledge." Or when he describes the four natural enemies of man - here is condensed description - "Fear. On the way of knowledge the first enemy is fear.Once a man has vanquished fear, he becomes very clear, never doubting himself. Thus encountering the second enemy - clarity. One he gets over clarity, he encounters the third enemy - power. And after that old age. The last enemy always gets the man but he can fight it off for as long as possible." Its easy to read something and analyse it as interesting data or fascinating stuff. But a greater challenge is to find meaning in your everyday life. And if you really agree with the kind of stuff written in this book, how does one still justify life as we lead it?
This book is just a beginning of his journey and I am looking forward to reading his next book - A separate reality.
Here is a book I really liked: Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda. Briefly, the book is about the experiences Carlos Casteneda has with Don Juan a Yaqui (an american indian tribe) sorcerer. Carlos is a rational, modern day person and the way he describes things is truly amazing. His analysis and scepticism make his journey all the more enjoyable. The incidents in this book take place during 5 years in the 60s. Don Juan and Carlos share a true guru-shishya relationship. Lot of people say that a Guru is essential for any spiritual undertaking but I had always wondered why. This book clearly demonstrates this fact.
The other thing that I really liked here was the treatment of reality. My previous blog entry wondered about that fact. Hallucigenic substances are used by Don Juan to produce states of non-ordinary reality. Don mentions that these are just aids and he himself doesn't need them any longer. It reminded me of our tantrics, sadhus and their ganja. I do think that most sadhus today are nothing more than drug addicts but there was some actual utility to these techniques.
There are lots of gems in the book but I especially liked this one by Don Juan (not verbatim): "There are many paths and one should realize that a path is just that - a path. Finally it doesn't matter what path you choose as long as it is a path with a heart." Or "The desire to learn is not ambition. It is the desitiny of man to seek knowledge." Or when he describes the four natural enemies of man - here is condensed description - "Fear. On the way of knowledge the first enemy is fear.Once a man has vanquished fear, he becomes very clear, never doubting himself. Thus encountering the second enemy - clarity. One he gets over clarity, he encounters the third enemy - power. And after that old age. The last enemy always gets the man but he can fight it off for as long as possible." Its easy to read something and analyse it as interesting data or fascinating stuff. But a greater challenge is to find meaning in your everyday life. And if you really agree with the kind of stuff written in this book, how does one still justify life as we lead it?
This book is just a beginning of his journey and I am looking forward to reading his next book - A separate reality.
posted by Saurabh Chandra at 5:17 AM
1 Comments:
Fear factor is something I am hearing again. Don't know if you remember or not but during one of the Hawan's at the time of your marriage, the pundit mentioned to try to be Abhaya or fearless. He said the difference between a believer and non-believer is not that believer will be rewarded by something but he will be fearless in his heart and that will stop him getting insecure and doing the wrong things.
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