Rating: 
Summary: The Key to Power
Review: I just finished re-reading Journey to Ixtlan for the sixth time, and each time I read the book I find new wisdom and a new lesson I can relate to in my own life. There are crucial lessons here, whether or not you believe the actual experiences that happen. Through his relationship with Don Juan, Carlos Castenada reminds us of how truly mysterious the world is, and how much awe and wonder there is in ourselves, if we are brave enough to be willing to see it.
The book really has very little to do with peyote or drug usage persay, it has much more to do with questioning the very foundations on which we base the world to become aware of reality. Not one that has been dumbed down by definition and categorization but experienced as it is. I see a direct link here with "I Am That" (a book of talks/interviews with an Indian Guru), and even The Matrix.
But the sense of power in nature and the drawn out detailed depictions in nature are like very few books I've ever read.
This is a great book for an English Class, Existential Philosophy, or Cultural Anthropology, and I do not see this is as a work of fiction. At the very least it is an invitation or reminder for us to rediscover the magic in our own lives again.
It is a thoroughly enjoyable read - suspend your analytical mind for two hundred sixty pages and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: The Key to Power
Review: I just finished re-reading Journey to Ixtlan for the sixth time, and each time I read the book I find new wisdom and a new lesson I can relate to in my own life. There are crucial lessons here, whether or not you believe the actual experiences that happen. Through his relationship with Don Juan, Carlos Castenada reminds us of how truly mysterious the world is, and how much awe and wonder there is in ourselves, if we are brave enough to be willing to see it.
The book really has very little to do with peyote or drug usage persay, it has much more to do with questioning the very foundations on which we base the world to become aware of reality. Not one that has been dumbed down by definition and categorization but experienced as it is. I see a direct link here with "I Am That" (a book of talks/interviews with an Indian Guru), and even The Matrix.
But the sense of power in nature and the drawn out detailed depictions in nature are like very few books I've ever read.
This is a great book for an English Class, Existential Philosophy, or Cultural Anthropology, and I do not see this is as a work of fiction. At the very least it is an invitation or reminder for us to rediscover the magic in our own lives again.
It is a thoroughly enjoyable read - suspend your analytical mind for two hundred sixty pages and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: when I was young & lost girl this book set me on a good path
Review: I started reading ( & still re-read) Don Juan's
books by "Carlitos" long long ago , (mid 70's) &
still thank God that somehow I found his books
. The most important thing this book taught me
is to ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY ACT
IONS .
I was young & lost & scared & a mess & that
concept had never crossed my mind. I was us
-ed to blaming others & their actions towards me
etc....for the outcomes of my life.
Well let me tell youuuuuuu something. What an
EYE OPENER !!!!! ha ha ha . I also leared not
to judge people & still try not to..... I remember
Don Juan used to say something lilke " do not
send your bad thoughts to a person that may have
done something wrong. It doesn't do them any good or yourself."
I adore Don Juan &' Carlitos' as he used to call him. Don Juan
had the BEST sense of humor I've ever seen.
Castanedas' book enchanted me, terrified me
( to the point that I slept with the lights on a couple
of nights ) enlightened me, inspired me & finally
changed me inside for the better.
I got a lot out of this one book so I read the rest
of them & loved them ALL! , Journey to Ixtlan I
have read so much it fell apart! but I love it .
It is my bible on how to be a decent person.
Rating:
Summary: when I was young & lost girl this book set me on a good path
Review: I started reading ( & still re-read) Don Juan's
books by "Carlitos" long long ago , (mid 70's) &
still thank God that somehow I found his books
. The most important thing this book taught me
is to ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY ACT
IONS .
I was young & lost & scared & a mess & that
concept had never crossed my mind. I was us
-ed to blaming others & their actions towards me
etc....for the outcomes of my life.
Well let me tell youuuuuuu something. What an
EYE OPENER !!!!! ha ha ha . I also leared not
to judge people & still try not to..... I remember
Don Juan used to say something lilke " do not
send your bad thoughts to a person that may have
done something wrong. It doesn't do them any good or yourself."
I adore Don Juan &' Carlitos' as he used to call him. Don Juan
had the BEST sense of humor I've ever seen.
Castanedas' book enchanted me, terrified me
( to the point that I slept with the lights on a couple
of nights ) enlightened me, inspired me & finally
changed me inside for the better.
I got a lot out of this one book so I read the rest
of them & loved them ALL! , Journey to Ixtlan I
have read so much it fell apart! but I love it .
It is my bible on how to be a decent person.
Rating:
Summary: Start with this book
Review: If you're interested in Castaneda, this is the book you should read first. It covers the same time period as the previous two, but Carlos is no longer as dense as when he wrote them. This book opens the doors to a whole new way to view the world.
Rating:
Summary: A Guide to Personal Power
Review: In this book, Castaneda tries to instill in the reader the components of personal power. A person of personal power can be summed up as someone who chooses to live as a victor rather than a victim. And to break away from the conditioning and habits of society and the norm.
Don Juan tries to impart to Castaneda some empowering mindframes and attitudes, such as by Erasing Personal History, one is able to break away from the excuses most people make in their life, and start to take Responsibility and action to change it, rather than blaming and getting stuck. Also the part about losing one's self-importance is extremely powerful wisdom, as he teaches that self-importance is one's own illusion. Only a person with self-importance easily feels hurt by the remarks of others.
It is interesting to note that this one of the Castaneda books that really sticks in people's mind, and has influenced a whole generation of spiritual and motivational thinkers, such as Wayne Dywer, Richard Bandler, Anthony Robbins among others.
Rating:
Summary: Better than his first two books
Review: It took a lot for me to get through Castaneda's first book, The Teachings of Don Juan. I was totally unimpressed with it. The whole book was essentially about how a Yaqui Indian "sorcerer" put naive Carlos, then a graduate student in anthropology from UCLA doing research on a hallucinogenic plant, through a bunch of weird drug trips that shook his view of reality. And to me, that doesn't jive at all.But in Journey to Ixtlan, Castaneda goes back and says, "wait, start over, reset. I was wrong about all of that drug stuff, it's really not necessary, don Juan just put me through that because I was too stubborn and 'rational' to see that there may be other views of reality than the ones I subscribe to." In this book he discovers that he doesn't need drugs to experience other worlds. Rather, there are a series of practices for right living that enable the possibility of perceiving in nonordinary ways. So Journey to Ixtlan is where the real lessons about living life in the warrior's way begin. I recommend this book highly as a starting point for Castaneda's work; forget the first two books.
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing and reality based
Review: It's not very often that you are able to come across a writer who is so charming and, at the same time, pretty far out there. I absolutely loved the book and, will truthfuly say that it has significantly changed my life for the better. It is a quick read. You will however, be tempted to read it over and over again. I won't go into what it's about. Just read it! I consider myself to have moderate to conservative taste in my reading but, this one really blew my boat totally out of the water. One warning, if you are one who is not even the slightest bit spiritual, you might not like it. Ya now, meat and potatoes only types of folk.
Rating:
Summary: A Journey of your own!
Review: Journey to Ixtlan is a spiritual story unlike any I've ever read. Castaneda makes no notion of trying to comfort the reader with what fluffy tales of love and kindness. Aside from all the goodness and love that naturally ensues in one's spiritual quest there is a factor of aloneness and detachment that only a few "warriors" out there are equipped to handle. This is a mind opening book, a candid story of Carlos Castenada, a brave man who found his leader, but not his time.
Rating: 
Summary: Rubbish
Review: Ok, I read the first book and was intrigued. The second book made me a bit restless. The third, I must admit was a complete bore and repeat of the first two. Believe Carlos' if you wish, but this kind of material is very easy to materialise, in which I think "over-exaggeration" comes to mind. Perhaps, there are people out there who wish to have been and met such characters, as did Carlos many years ago, which simply means they have very boring lives. This is one book I have read recently which I do not recommend, because it is completely rubbish.
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