Product Description
**Please see the NEW EDITION titled "Reaching All by Creating Tribes Learning Communities" by Jeanne Gibbs ISBN:0932762417 Copyright 2006
Customer Reviews:
Reaching All by Creating Tribes Learning Communities by Jeanne Gibbs .......2007-04-01
Awesome Book! Awesome Concept! I am on my way to observe a Tribes classsroom in my own community
Tribes-a great resource book.......2007-01-10
I am a Teacher Assistant and work with Special Need students. The Teacher and myself use tools in this book everyday. It offers fantastic ideas and strategies for the classroom, no matter what age group. I work with 7yr old to 12 yr olds. They all benefit from the activities in this book. It is a good idea to have it with you in the classroom and to use it spontaneously when an incident may arise. It is a very user fiendly book. I highly recommend it.
Fantastic.......2006-08-26
When I completed the Tribes course, I received this book. I have found it to be a fantastic resource for the activities associated with Tribes and I would highly recommend it to anyone who was interested in promoting a safe learning environment.
Tribes Review.......2005-08-31
This is a wonderful book, not just for the professional educator, but also for parents, group leaders, or those who may just want to experience community building and sharing. This is truly a great book!!
excellent resource for all teachers.......1999-04-27
This book has brilliant and interesting ideas to keep the classroom motivated. The games are fun and are suitable for all ages. This book is a must for all teachers !!!!
Book Description
This classic, bestselling study of the !Kung San, foragers of the Dobe area of the Kalahari Desert describes a people's reactions to the forces of modernization, detailing relatively recent changes to !Kung rituals, beliefs, social structure, marriage and kinship system. It documents their determination to take hold of their own destiny-despite exploitation of their habitat and relentless development-to assert their political rights and revitalize their communities. Use of the name Ju/'hoansi (meaning "real people") acknowledges their new sense of empowerment.
Customer Reviews:
Very Insightful.......2007-10-04
This book contains a lot of data and figures on the Ju/hoansi and is very informative and well written. The changes of the people, as well as their neighbors, are well documented.
A+++++ Very nice.......2007-03-23
Awesome job, I was in a bind because I needed this for my Anthropology class. And I lost my copy while on a family trip! OOPS! And Amazon had it to me just in time for me to finish and score full points on the exam!
Makes you have a deep understanding for this group.......2007-01-14
I had to read the book for a cultural anthropology class and many of the passages are easy to read. I started the class thinking of tribes in Africa as "backwards" and at the end of the class I now think that tribes in Africa are another form of a group. The book gives a viewpoint of like you're there.
You cannot expect anything better!.......2000-03-23
I haven't even read the entire book yet, but I can still tell how wonderful it is going to be when I have finished it. I'll probably want to read it again because it is so interesting. This study has opened up so many new understandings of unique ways of life that I cannot wait to buy more Case Studies just like this one! It's the perfect addition for anyone with a curiosity of how unique people exist in different parts of the world, specifically in South Africa. By far the most interesting and entertaining work I have read--it sure beats thoses dull books we have to read in AP English!
An outstanding and thought-provoking book........1997-02-05
The Dobe Ju/' hoansi is a masterpiece in modern cultural anthropology. It absorbs the richness and the level of complexity of humankind. Lee opens our mind and lets us appreciate the level of diversity in our world. While Richard B. Lee delineates the differences between our advanced western society and the simple bushmen society of southern Africa,he points-out the similarities we all share as humans, without regards to race, creed, social class or gender. This book helps us understand ourselves and perhaps see the world without all the tint of biases we all carry around
Average customer rating:
- Hmmm....
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- Best guide for introducing Toltec wisdom.
- Journey as Allegory
- Not very helpful
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Journey To Ixtlan
Carlos Castaneda
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Separate Reality
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Tales of Power
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The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
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The Second Ring of Power
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Fire from Within
ASIN: 0671732463 |
Book Description
This volume shows the reader the means by which a "man of power" sees, as opposed to merely looking, and how by his concentrated "seeing" he can, indeed must, "stop the world." In it, Carlos Castaneda describes the lessons, the omens, the exercises of the will and body, the arduous trials and tests, the simple yet mysterious demonstrations, the extraordinary visions and experiences by which don Juan, his mentor and friend, prepares him for the task of perceiving things as they are, instead of describing them by the words, conventions and standards of conventional, a priori ideas and language. Here, in the high mountains and in the bright arid desert, Castaneda reaches for power in a series of startling encounters with the unknown--a confrontation with death and the past in the form of an albino falcon, with the twilight wind, with a flesh-and-blood mountain lion, with a mountain fog--and learns the techniques, the concentration, the compassion of the hunter, the man who is "without routines, free, fluid."
Customer Reviews:
Hmmm...........2007-07-01
Probably the most significant book I have ever read. That doesn't say a lot but hey I never like the bible. For some its almost petty to the number of polished novels and books already on the market and waiting for you pocket book. I must say though, this is quite the exquisite example of whats possible in our world or reality to get metaphyiscal. Many of the writes or teachings of castaneda are just that but this book to some is a starting point from which to begin the journey. The not-doings and small samples are just a small example for what in it. I highly recommend this book for anybody. Maybe you'll get hooked maybe not. Either way, some may care to read it.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
Best guide for introducing Toltec wisdom. .......2007-05-30
Over the years, I've read all of Castaneda's books multiple times trying to extract the wisdom embedded within. Along the way, I have also supplemented my reading in other Toltec Lineages: Mares, Eagle Feather, and Ruiz, to name a few. Different lineages branch out in different directions covering diverse ground and the inevitable snipping across boarders of those who negatively critique Castaneda. While all the various traditions offer some insight, I find Castaneda to be the most compelling.
Like the previous commentator, this book contains a distillation of all of Castaneda's books with regards the concepts and exercises for transforming one's life from a common man into that of a warrior. I differ with the reviewer below in that allegory (in my view) is not a major component of Castaneda's book - at least this one! I say that based on my experience and mentorship with Tom Brown ("the Tracker") and living with other indigenous peoples all over the world.
The stories conveyed by Castaneda conducted in the wilderness, on hunting, tracking power, and so forth, ring true with the other teachings I've been exposed to by those indigenous peoples still living in their original ways. The insights and practices on the spirit-that-moves-through-all-things is a common element of all native teachings cross culturally. (And if one doubts that, I invite you to enter an original culture to corroborate the experience yourself!)
My advice is to read this book through a couple of times, and then again a third time, in an attempt to discern the propositions offered. The key is to live out the propositions. Make them your own. The deeper you can engage these concepts into praxis, the deeper the transformation will manifest in your life. Herein the rub: no small task by any means.
I recognize some people will need teachers to engage this system. And for those you have who do need that, an abundance of "teachers" in the Ruiz lineage hang their shingle out, and offer their services for huge fees. If you need that, that is certainly one option. But, you can also do it on your own. Victor Sanchez is another author who has used these propositions on his own and offers a good summary in his many books.
If you do not need someone holding your hand for you, then these insights can be learned directly from the books with a little dirt time. I would also recommend supplementing these books with Tom Browns books and if able to attend his workshops.
Journey as Allegory.......2007-02-17
Journey to Ixtlan, almost summarily, contains most of the wisdom and core ideas found throughout the Castaneda books. This book is really the only one you need to read, in the sense that the best of the storytelling and lesson summaries are all here. Regardless of your opinion of Castaneda's personal life, the lucidity of this storytelling stands on its own merits.
The journey is an allegory, a metaphorical map for one's own journey through life. Cogent lessons from the first 2 Castaneda books are expanded and reiterated here: Becoming Accessible to Power; Using Death as an Advisor; Losing Self-Importance; Not-Doing (Taoist connection); Assuming Responsibility etc.
The fundamental question this book insists on is: How will reading it change you through changing your perceptions of everyday reality? This one bears re-reading several times. Highly recommended.
Extracts: A Field Guide for Iconoclasts
The Cloud Reckoner
Not very helpful.......2007-02-09
Don Juan attempts to teach Carlos Castaneda vague lessons by engaging him in a series of nonsensical activities. Many of the themes are common to other spiritual traditions (e.g. breaking routines, becoming inaccessible, not doing, or stopping the world--in the language of this book) and because of this, the reader may have a clue as to what Don Juan is getting at. However, Don Juan consistently spurns Castaneda when he asks for explanations, insisting on showing him instead. Unfortunately, the demonstrations seem to be pointless and nonsensical. Maybe, that's the point, but it gets tiresome to endure this over and over again throughout the book. I'm a big fan of psychedelic drugs and solipsistic thinking, and I approached this book with a great amount of focus but finished it mostly disappointed.
Average customer rating:
- Castaneda
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- buy, buy, buy
- Un-Reviewable
- Ambiguous at Best
|
Separate Reality
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
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The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
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Journey To Ixtlan
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Tales of Power
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Power of Silence
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Fire from Within
ASIN: 0671732498 |
Book Description
"A man of knowledge is free...he has no honor, no dignity, no family, no home, no country, but only life to be lived."
--don Juan
In 1961 a young anthropologist subjected himself to an extraordinary apprenticeship to bring back a fascinating glimpse of a Yaqui Indian's world of "non-ordinary reality" and the difficult and dangerous road a man must travel to become "a man of knowledge." Yet on the bring of that world, challenging to all that we believe, he drew back.
Then in 1968, Carlos Castaneda returned to Mexico, to don Juan and his hallucinogenic drugs, and to a world of experience no man from our Western civilization had ever entered before.
Customer Reviews:
Castaneda.......2007-07-01
Not my favorite of his books but still worth reading it. Mentions many of the discussed topics to follow as Castaneda takes you further on the journey of self-discovery. It opens up a new field as he reaches out with this book. Strays away further from the beaten path of hallucinigens and all and starts to elucidate on the subject matter on hand - sorcery. Be careful, not for the faint of heart.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
buy, buy, buy.......2007-06-11
Unless you are a die hard christian who could not ever consider any other possibilities for life except the one in the Bible then this is for you. I loved it you will too.
Un-Reviewable.......2007-05-28
To write a review for this book, positive or negative, is fruitless and futile. For the most part, readers will begin with some sort of inherent bias. Whether you have a predilection for psychedelic drugs or you think the entire premise is a sham, this is not a book that can be reviewed in the standard way.
Whatever you take from this book, regardless of whether that is nothing at all or a newly-inspired way of living, I do think one point must be made. Whether or not don Juan Matus was real or fictional, and whether or not any of Castaneda's experiences are credible, I think one must realize that this book is not a bible. There is present what one may construe as advice for living, but primarily this is a first-hand account of a set of experiences that most likely nobody else has or will come to undergo. I personally think it is beautifully and convincingly written, and I think it would take a truly rare person to replicate any of Castaneda's experiences, real or imagined. Impossible? Perhaps not. But I think that, unfortunately or not, this is brain candy for virtually all readers, and cannot be anything more.
Ambiguous at Best.......2007-01-08
Story of an American anthropologist's 1960s experiences with the possibly fictional Indian shaman "Don Juan Matus." Reads a little like a cross between a research log and ethnopoetry. In their conversations Don Juan constantly challenges Western ideas of knowledge and perception. Carlos can look but he really does not "see." "You don't see, you only look at the surface of things." He tells Carlos that when one "sees," one sees human beings as "fibers of light." When the two discuss accidents, Don Juan says, "No man can control everything around him, but not everything is an unavoidable accident. Life for a warrior is an exercise in strategy." The text is strewn with other examples of magical thinking. Now primitive people do frequently engage in magical thinking, but so do people who have ingested mind altering drugs. We don't know whether we are hearing the actual words and thoughts of a genuine shaman, or the ramblings of a 1960 UCLA anthropology student in a drug induced haze.
If you like 1960s counter-cultural philosophy, you'll love this book. For those more grounded in reality, you find reading it at least frustrating, if not repulsive. One thing, anthropologists, especially the 1960s variety, had a very distorted picture of pre state people. They thought that bands, tribes and chiefdoms were largely peaceful people. We now know the very opposite is true as they existed in an almost constant state of savage warfare. This whole story lacks credibility.
Book Description
Shortly before he died, Plenty Coups, the last great Chief of the Crow Nation, told his story--up to a certain point. "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground," he said, "and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened." It is precisely this point--that of a people faced with the end of their way of life--that prompts the philosophical and ethical inquiry pursued in Radical Hope. In Jonathan Lear's view, Plenty Coups' story raises a profound ethical question that transcends his time and challenges us all: how should one face the possibility that one's culture might collapse?
This is a vulnerability that affects us all--insofar as we are all inhabitants of a civilization, and civilizations are themselves vulnerable to historical forces. How should we live with this vulnerability? Can we make any sense of facing up to such a challenge courageously? Using the available anthropology and history of the Indian tribes during their confinement to reservations, and drawing on philosophy and psychoanalytic theory, Lear explores the story of the Crow Nation at an impasse as it bears upon these questions--and these questions as they bear upon our own place in the world. His book is a deeply revealing, and deeply moving, philosophical inquiry into a peculiar vulnerability that goes to the heart of the human condition.
Customer Reviews:
An alternative to the Ghost Dance.......2007-07-25
In a time when any and everything can be pulled out from under one due to devastating political and cultural de-evolution, a growing and decadent mass media driven delusion and the bulk of wealth being in the hands of a small percentage of soulless idiots, this book offers an "a way."
At time when one might be tempted, like many Native American tribes were, to lament the past and vainly attempt to bring it back through the sad but hopeful ritual of the Ghost Dance (instead we listen to the Oldies Radio while media encourages us to celebrate some anniversary of some event that had meaning rather than helping us give meaning to current events).
It offers a vision of how a person, a culture and humanity itself can keep what is valuable and authentic from one's past and one's culture while navigating chaotic upheaval.
It's about keeping one's humanity intact in dehumanizing times and both keeping and building a personal and cultural integrity that endures.
So, if you have been a victim of mortgage lenders, student loan rip-offs, downsizing, corporate greed, credit card companies or the crisis in our lack of a health care system, this book lets you know that it just something you're going through.
It helps you become active rather than passive in your emotional and philosophical response. So, instead of feeling like a sitting duck, you begin to feel like someone facing challenges and helping others do the same.
Enduring and radical hope eventually trumps the temporal power of any oppressive junta in a way they cannot see coming.
At the same time, it builds heart, soul and culture.
This book has come at a good time.
Courage in the Face of Meaninglessness.......2007-04-19
This book is a psychoanalyst's philosophical meditations on the words and experience of the last great chief of the Crow, Plenty Coups, a man who witnessed the complete erasure of the culture that formed him, and whose virtues he exemplified. The book is not completely satisfying. It seems unnecessarily repetitious and wordy at times. It seems to promise a tale of psychological and moral triumph, but to fulfill that promise ambiguously. Nevertheless, it provides a penetrating analysis of what one might call paradigm collapse and the suffering of the individuals who experience it. Courage is the core virtue necessary to one's survival of such damage, but, as Charles Taylor, writing in The New York Review of Books, explains more lucidly than I can, this is a special kind of courage, the courage to hope for a future good that cannot yet be conceived. As our society, and indeed societies around the globe, are facing partial or complete collapses of the assumptions that frame the experiences of their members, these ideas will have an immediate personal significance to the reader who understands that the rules of the game are changing, and that he must change too, or perish.
almost useful.......2007-02-16
"Radical Hope: Ethics in the Face of Cultural Devastation" by Jonathan Lear is the title of a book that brings together the history of the collapse of Crow Indian culture and established philosophical thoughts from works by Aristotle, Freud, and Plato. In this book, Lear has achieved a melding of philosophy and history that should be fascinating to both historians of Native American history as well as students of classical psychological philosophy. The main character appears to be Plenty Coups, who helped steer the transition of the Crows from their traditional lives to the new reality that the U.S. Government had brought forth in the 19th and 20th centuries. Plenty Coups' featured contributions, however, are not the details of U.S.-Crow negotiations but certain acts and statements that the author has deemed worthy of extrapolation. These key dreams and symbolic gestures are expanded upon by Lear with the adaptation of thoughts from Aristotle (on courage) and Freud (on dreams). For example, dreams are categorized in the following manner: no-account dreams, where one merely observes; wish dreams, where a wish is realized within the dream; property dreams, where one acquires properties, e.g. a horse, that comes true while one is awake; and medicine dreams, which "give powerful insight". Dreams experienced under a dreaming ritual are shared to the rest of the tribe, and a collective interpretation of the dream ensues. In this manner, dreams, such as the medicine dream that Plenty Coups had, were "used . . . to struggle with the intelligibility of events [e.g. loss of land to rival tribes and the U.S.] that lay at the horizon of their ability to understand."
Lear has demonstrated how classical philosophy and psychology can help us understand the tumultuous transition of a culture, yet at the same time he falls short of a masterpiece. While his title suggests a framework for having hope with an example so that the reader can become a living example of Lear's ideas, the actual text appears to not go much further beyond extrapolations of pivotal symbols. It is as if Lear is the child at the seashore that finds seashells of different sizes, but that child is not yet able to figure out that equally sized clamshells fit together on clams in the ocean; and that the clam has practical value as lunch.
Lear does make an effort to generate some practicality, but it falls short. For example, he tried to compare radical hope and optimism, yet he does it in a manner that is convoluted into the text. How are hope and optimism similar, and how are they different? If Lear is willing to rehash decades-old thoughts of Freud and Aristotle as a well-timed review for understanding Crow history, it doesn't seem to be too much more work to have a chart or a table entitled "some ways that hope and optimism are different." Such key tables would probably enlighten the reader in ways that greatly augment the organizing structure provided by Plenty Coups' key statements.
While the selling point was "how to have hope, even if you're the leader of a culture under deterioration," the actual take-home message is a referral to Freud and Aristotle. Are written works by Freud and Aristotle better than Lear's book in helping the reader understand cultural transition? That is open to debate. I had a bookstore clerk search the entire bookstore, yet there were no recently published books I had not yet read on the art of having hope at a societal level. Therefore, Lear's contribution to contemporary thought with this book is significant. He would do great good to his readership if he would only use some key tables and lists. I look forward to more works by the author on his efforts to apply abstract ideas to factual history and arrive at a framework that has practical value.
Book Description
Rich with storytelling, history, and folklore, The Lakota Way expresses the heart of Native American philosophy and imparts the path to a fulfilling and meaningful life. Joseph Marshall is a member of the Sicunga Lakota Sioux and has dedicated his entire life to the wisdom he learned from his elders. Here he focuses on the twelve core qualities that are crucial to the Lakota way of living-bravery, fortitude, generosity, wisdom, respect, honor, perseverance, love, humility, sacrifice, truth, and compassion. Whether teaching a lesson on respect imparted by the mythical Deer Woman or the humility embodied by the legendary Lakota leader Crazy Horse, The Lakota Way offers a fresh outlook on spirituality and ethical living.
Customer Reviews:
pleasant surprise.......2007-09-26
I bought this book at a store in Oklahoma City and it was wrapped in packaging. I had already read three of Marshall's books but when I unwrapped it after buying it, my first reaction was it was a mistake to buy it. It was not what I was expecting. Much to my pleasant surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed Marshall's story telling.
I highly recommend anything he writes. I am currently reading his book on Crazy Horse and it is excellent. His book, "Walking with Grandfather" is outstanding.
Marshall is certainly one of the Elders of his tradition and is an accomplished writer and historian. His works are a must read.
Worth Sharing.......2007-08-25
This book can change you if you are open to it. It made me rethink a few assumptions I had about myself. I think all of us know the dictionary definition of virtues such as generosity and wisdom, but Marshall shares stories and personal insights that teach how to weave those qualities into the fabric of your life. This book is warm-hearted and inspiring. Its organization is well suited for discussion groups. The Lakota Way should be the way of our leaders, neighbors, family members and our hearts.
Re-Read this book.......2006-06-28
The wealth of virtues discussed in this book through the legends of the Lakota tribe are presented in a way that is both entertaining and thought-provoking. A wonderful book that is enjoyable to read, and educational as well. This book now sits on my top shelf, with the few other books that I re-read regularly. This is a place of honor, and speaks to the greatness of Mr. Joseph M. Marshall's explanation of the traditional legends, and their connection to modern life. You don't have to be a Native American to enjoy this book. Read it, and re-read it. See how your personality and character develops into something you never would have imagined!
My review.......2006-03-16
Essential reading for people who practice this spirituality.The author is a great story teller.
Great Book!.......2005-12-20
I live near and work on a reservation in SD. I wanted to read this book to understand the viewpionts my Native American friends better. The way Marshall is able to explain the virtues from a historical, traditional perspective and relate them to modern day is wonderful and easily understood. This is a great book!
Book Description
A personal adventure, a fascinating study of anthropology and ethnopharmacology, and, most important, a revolutionary look at how intelligence and consciousness come into being.
This adventure in science and imagination, which the Medical Tribune said might herald "a Copernican revolution for the life sciences," leads the reader through unexplored jungles and uncharted aspects of mind to the heart of knowledge.
In a first-person narrative of scientific discovery that opens new perspectives on biology, anthropology, and the limits of rationalism, The Cosmic Serpent reveals how startlingly different the world around us appears when we open our minds to it.
"The Cosmic Serpent is a spellbinding, scholarly tour de force that may presage a major paradigm shift in the Western view of reality." --Michael Harner, Ph.D., president, Foundation for Shamanic Studies, and author of The Way of the Shaman
Customer Reviews:
A big piece of the big puzzle........2007-06-09
This book is one of those books that change the way you look at life and the world.
There is so much knowledge about the orgin of life that's disregarded by western science just because they don't understand it. Knowledge that comes from worlds that western science just doesn't grab.
This book is an excellent read for open minded people. Well and conservative narrow minded scientists too. But they will probably disregard it :)
A little short for the reach of its goal.......2007-05-17
The book is extremely interesting, no doubt about it, but if the reader is seeking information about ayahusca trips, there are no significant anecdotes. The author only provides a few details about its first experience.
As an anthropologist, he is bewildered by the large amount of wisdom and information displayed by shamans he met, about the environment and the uses of plants. Many of the medicines they posses, are extracted from different specimens by elaborated processing methods. However they lack any technological means to gather data about their biochemical properties. So, the obtainment of the final result only by chance is almost impossible. When he inquired how the information is obtained, the response is usually the same - The plants "told" it to the shamans - while drinking ayahuasca.
So the author decides to find out how is it possible that while having hallucinations a person can reach veritable data with wonderful practical uses, and his conclusion is fascinating. In a nutshell, when drinking ayahuasca a shaman - or any person with an open mind - can communicate in a defocalized consciousness with the global network of DNA- based life.
He is humble enough to recognize that his methods and mental associations of mythological images, biochemistry, history, DNA, are for the moment nothing more that a plausible proposition. Nevertheless most of those who have drink this not so tasty beverage, can attest that their experience would challenged their preconceptions about themselves and the world they live in.
Definitely on to something.......2007-03-20
An excellent book. Essentially the author is saying that basically all the world's ancient cultures worshipped a giant serpent of some description. Yet they had no contact with each other as far as we know - and some, such as the Siberians - had no contact with snakes. The author suggests that the shamans took similar trance inducing herbal compounds which enabled them to see visions etc. Inevitably they saw giant snakes. The author tries this with some Amazonian shamans and he also has experiences with these giant snakes - like anacondas or boa constrictors. Sounds cuckoo..but the truth is most of us at some time have a dream with large snakes in it. I know I did. Anyway, he connects it to the molecular level, which is to say that he thinks the shamans got down to the DNA level which is represented by the double helix, intertwined snakes. Interesting, but needs more work.
Extremely Thought Provoking!.......2007-02-17
In "The Cosmic Serpent", Jeremy Narby shares both his mental & physical journey concerning shamanism & the biochemical, neurological, and pharmacological information understood by the shamans of various "indigenous" peoples of the Amazon. This is truly an amazing journey!
Through his travels & research, Narby realizes that the Amazon forest can be likened to a huge pharmacy - and that the "natives" would have to have some form of biochemical/neurological/pharmacological knowledge & insight in order to combine & create their various "medicines". But how could they obtain such knowledge without all of the "fancy" scientific tools we have here in "civilization"?
Narby finds his answer after spending time with a well-respected shaman in the Amazon - the knowledge is imparted to them while in a hallucinogenic trance brought on by a brew called ayahuasca, which Narby decides to try for himself, resulting in some really intense insights into mind, body, and soul.
It's the author's hypothesis that shamans, with the aid of ayahuasca, are able to take their consciousness down to the molecular level, which allows them access to biomolecular information. But, because of the scientific tendancy toward rationalism, no research is considered to understand this further.
One of the most interesting parts of this book for me was the discussion concerning DNA & its' possible link to the double serpents/double helix revered in many indigenous societies - are they already aware of what we know about DNA? Could they know even more?
I recently saw a documentary re: an anthropological find where several statues were found that showed 2 serpents. From these statues, the scientists determined that this ancient civilization worshipped a snake or serpent God. After reading this book, I had to wonder if maybe they're wrong...
Overall, I found this to be an interesting, thought provoking, page-turning read. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in spirituality, shamanism, anthropology, & the biological sciences - it has a lot to offer!
The Cosmic Serpent.......2007-01-10
The first couple of chapters were very interesting, more like a novel. As I got into the middle of the book it was like reading a science textbook. There is obviously a lot of discussion of DNA and how the author tries to relate it to the Amazon medicine men.
Amazon.com
Like Don Miquel Ruiz, author of the bestselling book The Four Agreements, author Susan Gregg teaches readers how the ancient Toltec tradition can apply to life in the 21st century. For those who haven't watched Oprah lately, the Toltecs were an ancient race of people who flourished in Southern Mexico around 800 AD. "They were also a secret society dedicated to preserving the knowledge of the 'ancient ones,' who were great spiritual masters," according to Gregg. Gregg explains that the Toltec tradition is a way of seeing beyond our perceived sense of reality and into an unlimited world of possibility.
Since Gregg is a dedicated teacher of this exciting (and yes, even faddish) Toltec tradition, she emphasizes basic tools and specific examples rather than obscure parables and philosophies. Chapter titles such as "Letting Go of the Past," "Finding a Happiness That Lasts," and "Where to Go for Support" sound more like self-help chapters than enticing discussions of mystical beliefs. But that's Gregg's point--why make this reality-blowing tradition obscure and inaccessible when its whole purpose is that of spiritual empowerment? As a push-up-your-sleeves-and-get-started primer, it can't be beat. But if you're looking for more lyrical or pensive prose, turn to Don Miquel or Don Juan. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
When Ellen DeGeneres appeared on Oprah and spoke about the profound changes that certain Toltec principles have made in her life, Dr. Susan Gregg suddenly found herself a beneficiary of the publishing phenomena, the Oprah effect.
Dr. Gregg, author of two previous books on the Toltec, was deep in the process of writing her latest book. Now completed, The Toltec Way was created specifically to bring this ancient wisdom to readers in a way that is easily understood and that makes it applicable to modern life.
The gift of the Toltec is in being able to transcend ordinary human awareness and achieve personal freedom. Simply put, personal freedom is the ability to choose how to act rather than react to the events in your life. The three Toltec Masteries of Awareness, Transformation, and Intent are the key to transcending your limitations and experiencing yourself as the creator of your life.
This audiobook is about change and changing yourself. It emphasizes the need to take personal responsibility for the choices in your life, and it offers you a way to start on your journey even as you listen to it. And, because the wisdom to be learned is often best encountered indirectly, you will find that some of the most important knowledge is hidden in the parable-like Toltec teaching stories that are scattered throughout the program.
The Toltec speak of the mitote of the mind. The mitote is the symphony of voices that seems to clamor for your attention—all the preconceived notions, opinions, thoughts, and ideas that constantly whirl in your mind. Beyond that constant noise is a place of peace. This audiobook is your guide to finding that quiet place within yourself
Customer Reviews:
Impeccable.......2007-01-29
If you like the message and writings of Don Miguel Ruiz, you will probably like this book. Susan draws from the teachings of Don Miguel, but her descriptions of his teachings are distinct and from a more feminine point of view. In fact, my first impression after reading Susan's book was how her teachings balanced as much as they expanded upon his teachings.
I especially liked Susan's metaphorical "filter system," which she uses to describe how the ego protects us from our fearful symbolic minds, but also blinds us from our silent minds that re-introduce us back into paradise. The filter system is uniquely useful way of understanding suffering without a need for an outside cause for suffering.
Susan also clearly describes and outlines the main lessons and techniques that she learned from Don Miguel. These techniques provide specific activities that are not provided in Don Miguel's original writings. Her description of these lessons provide a more personal feeling into Miguel's teaching methods.
There are so many books and teachings that mix truth with what is not truth. Susan's book follows in the spirit and impeccability of Don Miguel. She writes simply and clearly from common sense. I consider "The Toltec Way" to be a wonderful gift to the human spirit.
An excellent introduction to the Toltec masteries.......2007-01-28
Susan Gregg is one of a number of people mentored by don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements, in the Toltec Eagle Knight lineage. His mentees that have published works undertook training with him over the last two decades or so, some for as little as a year part-time, others for more than ten years. They are now helping spread his work across the globe through written work and one-on-one teachings and through a Sixth Sun Foundation set up by Ruiz.
While some people may find this difficult to understand, Ruiz taught differently at different periods of his life which was a combination of not wanting the teachings to become a dogmatic belief system and also I would imagine his teachings changed as he has grown and evolved. I particularly think this is relevant with respect to the comments in this book that Ruiz taught from a perspective of 'power over' or domination. While that may have been the case when Gregg was one of his apprentices (20 years ago), I just don't get that feeling from his most recent work including his beautiful book The Toltec Prophecies. This accounts for the differences between the works of some Toltec authors Ruiz mentored (as well as some authors adding in their own ideas from other influences). Gregg was also mentored by Miguels mother, Sister Sarita (as were a few others that have published Toltec work) and this is reflected in her more feminine approach to the path that is sometimes presented in this work. (This does not detract from the approach.)
The difference between this book and some of the other Toltec books is that there is more than enough detail describing each of the concepts and tools that you can actually use them rather than it being an advertisement for the authors services. The book covers the three Toltec masteries of awareness, transformation and intent. It gives you useful tools for each and really good descriptions of The Book of Freedom, Recapitulation and tracking. It's easy to read, is not boring, uses plenty of examples to illustrate the points, has loads of practices and ideas reflect upon, useful teaching stories and is written by someone who genuinely wants to asssit you on your path.
While the tools in this book will keep you busy for a good deal of time should you wish to apply them and you can get a great deal out of this book in particular, there is however, much, much more to the Toltec path and masteries than is covered in this book (it is only meant to be an introduction) as there are literally dozens and dozens of practical tools, techniques and practices Miguel Ruiz taught his apprentices and many are not covered in detail in his student's published work. To extend beyond here, either go to more of their published works (see some recommendations below) or consider working directly with one of his students in order to get the work tailored to your situation.
The next basic book I'd recommend that gives a greater context to the path is The Complete Idiot's Guide to Toltec Wisdom (don't be fooled by it's name, it's a fine piece of work with an extensive bibliography of Toltec writings). For further detail on the Mastery of Awareness, you could look at Mastery of Awareness by Kristopher Raphael which is also quite good. Otherwise start with Gregg's earlier books Dance of Power and Finding the Sacred Self as they include more practical exercises. Victor Sanchez's teachings come from a slightly different perspective and they may interest some readers and Theun Mares comes from a different Toltec lineage and is an extremely in-depth (and much more complex and challenging IMHO) approach.
This book is an excellent introduction to the Toltec path and I highly recommend it.
My best wishes to you for your journey!
My experience with Guide .......2006-08-29
When this book came to me I was already in touch with books of Miguel Ruiz. They appealed to me; I liked the concepts, masteries of awareness, love, transformation, intention... I already incorporated four agreements - I lived it and it really improved the quality of my life. I changed myself, I paid attention to what I was doing, saying, seeing, hearing... It was just amazing experience. But, it was not enough. After that first enthusiasm and euphoria I felt stack again. I hit the ceiling and felt frustrated. Susan Gregg's books opened a new gateway. Although familiar with ideas and concepts I did not know how to go deeper, how to make that necessary breakthrough that moves me further, that brings me closer to myself, to understanding of what I am and what I really want materialized in my life. Her Guide is just what I needed. It is simple and practical. It actually tells you how and what to do. It explains in a simple way what it takes and how committed you have to be. The "awareness" I have practiced without any trouble, but the "transformation" is difficult and essential. Without daily dedication to transformation exercises there is no progress. Transformation is what gives you the possibility to cross over to another realm of being, feeling, sensing. It is tough but reachable. It takes few years and you realize it while reading the book. I am a master in digesting, accepting and even communicating these ideas to other people. I was passionate about it because I understood at some deeper level that this is what helps, make a difference and transforms ones life. The only problem is the integration of those ideas and concepts. Susan Gregg is able to convey that mastery; she opens the possibility for integration. For me that was the gift. It is not about the theory and ideas it is about living them and working towards integrating them. I consider myself still at the beginning of that road but it is a comfort to have this book to remind me, to motivate me again when I loosen up, to tell me "look in the mirror and tell yourself...", to get me back on track, to keep me work on my transformation and follow my spiritual path. Her book guides but gives you freedom to choose your path, to follow your pace. It gives you the structure that to feed with your content, with your life experiences. It gives you the key to transform and understand your experiences in a new light. To benefit from the book one has to be persistent. I do not torture myself, I do it in my own pace, but I do it. It is a very resourceful book and invaluable to those who are willing to transform their lives for better. I strongly recommend it.
Great Book!.......2005-08-12
I loved this book which I first heard on tape. It helped me see the world as it is. I'm still practicing the many suggestions for freeing ourselves from our pasts. I have given this book to several of my family and friends!
TRULY WONDERFUL!.......2003-09-13
Dr. Gregg has written a marvelous book. I savoured each page. This is not the kind of book that you can read quickly and never return to again - on the contrary - this is the kind of book that you will return to again and again. The exercises that she recommends are "non-negotiable" in my view. Changing your life is not instantaneous, it is slow and an evolution that needs to take place. The Toltec Way is absolutely necessary. We are living in a world far from peaceful and quiet-and to be able to attain this within yourself is a wonderful gift. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is searching for happiness. Begin here.
Average customer rating:
- Power of silence and power of intention
- To Carlos, with gratitude
- Power of Silence
- Excellent and Informative
- A Spritual Journey
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Power of Silence
Carlos Castaneda
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
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Fire from Within
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ASIN: 067173248X |
Book Description
Millions of readers worldwide have treasured the visionary brilliance of Carlos Castaneda, who first explore the world of the Yaqui Indian sorcerer in The Teachings of don Juan. Now, at last, don Juan returns in The Power of Silence -- wise, infuriating, capable or working miracles and playing practical jokes, but always seeking the wisdom of the warrior.
The Power of Silence is Castaneda's most astonishing book to date -- a brilliant flash of knowledge that illuminates the far reaches of the human mind. Through don Juan's mesmerizing stories, the true meaning of sorcery and magic is finally revealed. Honed in the desert of Sonora, the visions of don Juan give us the vital secrets of belief and self-realization that are transcendental and valid for us all. It is Castaneda's unique genius to show us that all wisdom, strength, and power lie within ourselves -- unleashed with marvelous energy and imaginative force in the teachings of don Juan -- and in the writings of his famous pupil, Carlos Castaneda
Customer Reviews:
Power of silence and power of intention.......2007-09-03
I came to this Castaneda book upon its mention in Wayne Dyer's "The Power of Intention." Reading them together is a unique experience, and one I suggest.
As much as "Silence" is about the typical themes as other reviewers have pointed out, the book has a great deal to say about the power of intention. Cultivating full, unemotional intention ("ruthlessness") causes powerful ability to harness perception. Weak, conflicted intention causes one to be acted upon. There is much more to it, of course, and Castaneda explains in dense detail. You'll find yourself rereading passages at times in order to follow--but the effort is worthwhile.
The book was written 30 years ago, but is an undated, forceful read. If you have any bent toward spirituality, I'd recommend this book to you.
To Carlos, with gratitude.......2007-06-22
Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits.
His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed.
His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation.
In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness.
In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds.
In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred. While steadfast that Castaneda was a sorcerer, she doubts the existence of don Juan, even claiming authorship of many of the concepts Castaneda ascribed to him.
The second, and more credible work, is "Sorcerer's Apprentice," by well-known writer Amy Wallace, daughter of the late best selling novelist Irving Wallace. Here again, we find little corroboration since the time of the events she describes is well after the period when Castaneda's relationship with don Juan is alleged to occur. What the book does provide is a troubling look inside Castaneda's final years, a picture of descent into what seems sexual addiction and possibly madness, leaving one to wonder if Castaneda was just one cup of cool-aid short of a Jonestown.
Many have asked why I put any stock whatsoever in Castaneda. A story from my autobiography, "The Vortex" may shed some light. A year before Castaneda published his first book I had an experience that would remain a mystery until Castaneda published "Power of Silence" twenty years later.
For a brief time, in my youth, I became a practicing Muslim, meticulously performing the complex prayer ritual five times a day. Then one night, sitting in my car, frustrated and complaining at not being able to find the address of my next sales appointment, something inside me snapped. It was as if some part of me had disconnected from my body and assumed control, lecturing me about my lack of discipline. A profound calm settled over me, rendering me simultaneously detached and engaged. For two days my sales figures soared. It was as if no one could say no to me. On the evening of the second day I decided to put my new state of being to the acid test by visiting my parents. Their behavior was so uncharacteristically supportive I hardly recognized them. It was enough to convince me that I was now living in an altered reality. But by the following morning I had returned to "normal." So distracting had this event been that I completely forgot to perform my Muslim prayers, and in fact, never did so again.
Twenty years later, in a chapter of "Power of Silence" entitled "Place of No Pity" Castaneda describes a very similar experience. In the aftermath of the event don Juan explains that humans are like televisions stuck on a channel called "self-preoccupation," lacking the energy to tune into any of the vast array of other channels available to us. To change channels, he explains, we first need to accumulate energy, by practicing rituals that are deliberate, precise and repetitious. Do this long enough and eventually our stored energy precipitates a shift to a channel where self-importance and self pity become impossible. Once this happens we connect with the force that controls the entire universe, a force don Juan called "intent," and everything can be bent to our will and even more channels can be opened, assuming we remember to keep practicing the rituals that save our energy.
This one realization alone was enough to inspire me to dedicate my autobiography "To Carlos, with gratitude."
Maxwell Austin van Lack, Author of The Vortex: A True Story of Passion and Karma
Power of Silence.......2007-04-05
Very "heady" book but what book by Carlos isn't. I would start with "The Teachings of Don Juan; A Yaqui Way of Knowledge ". Be prepared for confusion, doubt and a little fear but these books are great. I began reading them when I was 20. I still love them at 54. They all can be read over and over again.
Excellent and Informative.......2005-12-15
Definitely a wonderful book. For those following the teachings of the other books, this book provides more useful information. The path that Castaneda elucidated is fraught with controvery and extreme views (read the other reviews). I found it useful to read and judge for myself.
What Castaneda wrote about is not fiction however it is a difficult path that very few ever advance upon, thus the angry reviews of those calling Castaneda a fraud due to their own failure. Its also a path that those given to fantasy and believing in their own 'specialness' jump on and thus follow blindly with no lasting gains, making up their experience as they go and making sure others hear about it.
Definitely not a path for everyone but certainly open to sober verification. Also a great book for those looking for a well written and gripping book.
I believe Castaneda's genius as well as his contribution to mankind is yet to be fully appreciated. I am grateful for the gift of his writings and wisdom.
A Spritual Journey.......2005-08-13
Like all of Castaneda's books, "Power of Silence" grips you from the start, and before you know it you've finished the book. I found this one to be interesting because Don Juan talks about his past. He tells Castaneda about how he got started in sorcery, and even gives details about his benefactors past. Crucial details on the path of knowledge.
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Blood Revenge: Family Honor, Mediation and Outcasting
Joseph Ginat
Manufacturer: Sussex Academic Press
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- The Team Renzo Gracie Workout: Training for Warriors
- King of the World: Muhammed Ali and the Rise of an American Hero
- Biochemistry of Lipids, Lipoproteins and Membranes, 4th edition
- Counsel Yourself...from the Bible: The First Place to Turn for Life's Tough Issues
- How to Draw Pokemon
- Learning from Las Vegas - Revised Edition: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form
- Inside the Kingdom: My Life in Saudi Arabia
- Beyond the Brillo Box: The Visual Arts in Post-Historical Perspective
- Beefcake: The Muscle Magazines of America, 1950-1970
- Stay Out of the Wheat Field
The Morning Meeting Book (Strategies for Teachers, 1)
The First Six Weeks of School (Strategies for Teachers Series, 2)
Discovering Gifts in Middle School: Learning in a Caring Culture Called Tribes
The Laughing Classroom: Everyone's Guide to Teaching with Humor and Play (Loomans, Diane)
Guiding Your School Community to Live a Culture of Caring and Learning: The Process is Called Tribes
