Best Selling Books by Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical." Fire from Within is the author''s most brilliant thought-provoking and unusual book, one in which Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan and his "disciples," at last constructs, from the teachings of don Juan and his own experiences, a stunning portrait of the "sorcerer''s world" that is crystal-clear and dizzying in its implications. Each of Carlos Castaneda''s books is a brilliant and tantalizing burst of illumination into the depths of our deepest mysteries, like a sudden flash of light, like a burst of lightning over the desert at night, which shows us a world that is both alien and totally familiar—the landscape of our dreams.

In 1968 University of California Press published an unusual manuscript by an anthropology student named Carlos Castaneda. The Teachings of Don Juan enthralled 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. Whether read as ethnographic fact or creative fiction, it 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.

Record of Castaneda''s initiation into the mysteries of sorcery as revealed by his mentor and friend Don Juan.

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical." 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

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical." Don Juan concludes the instruction of Castaneda with his most powerful and mysterious lesson in the sorcerer''s art—a dazzling series of visions that are at once an initiation and a deeply moving farewell.

World-renowned bestselling author Carlos Castaneda''s Selection of his wrtings on the shamans of ancient Mexico. Originally drawn to Yaqui Indian spiritual leader don Juan Matus for his knowledge of mind-altering plants, bestselling author Carlos Castaneda soon immersed himself in the sorcerer’s magical world entirely. Ten years after his first encounter with the shaman, Castaneda examines his field notes and comes to understand what don Juan knew all along—that these plants are merely a means to understanding the alternative realities that one cannot fully embrace on one’s own. In Journey to Ixtlan, Carlos Castaneda introduces readers to this new approach for the first time and explores, as he comes to experience it himself, his own final voyage into the teachings of don Juan, sharing with us what it is like to truly “stop the world” and perceive reality on his own terms.

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical." Back from the abyss, Castaneda encounter his greatest test on the journey towards impeccability and freedom: to outwit and overpower the sorcery of Doña Soledad, herself transformed from a defeated and meaningless life to a warrior, a hunter and a "stalker of power." Now the combat will begin. Now the journey will continue. Till the last danger is faced...the final paradox embraced.

“One can’t exaggerate the significance of what Castaneda has done.” (The New York Times) In this captivating work, Carlos Castaneda shares the story of how he returns to don Juan to resume the journey necessary to become “a man of knowledge” venturing into the world of mystical sensation and perception to see beyond the surface realities of life. As the second volume in the intriguing twelve-part series, this book invites you to experience a reality beyond the ordinary. Delve into the profound teachings of the wise Yaqui Indian spiritual leader, don Juan Matus, as anthropologist Carlos Castaneda recounts his incredible apprenticeship. Through the exploration of hallucinogenic substances and ancient wisdom, Castaneda challenges conventional perceptions, leading readers into a deeply thought-provoking journey of self-discovery and consciousness exploration. Combining elements of anthropology and mysticism, this masterpiece continues to captivate, inspire, and influence those seeking deeper understanding and enlightenment.

Las lecciones de brujeria y la obra en que se narran llevan aqui sus postulados a la conclusion natural: los misterios del conocimiento secreto se disipan como la bruma en el acto mismo de cobrar concrecion definitiva; una acumulacion de poder personal resulta en la despersonalizacion del poder y todos los prodigios se funden en el unico prodigio de la vida terrena.

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical." His landscape is full of terrors and mysterious forces, as sharply etched as a flash of lightning on the deserts and mountains where don Juan takes him to pursue the sorcerer’s knowledge—the knowledge that it is the Eagle that gives us, at our births, a spark of awareness, that it expects to reclaim at the end of our lives and which the sorcerer, through his discipline, fights to retain. Castaneda describes how don Juan and his party, left thisworld—"the warriors of don Juan’s party had caught me for an eternal instant, before they vanished into the total light, before the Eagle let them go through"—and how he, himself, upon witnessing such a sight, jumped into the abyss.

For us to perceive any of the worlds that exist beside our own, not only do we have to covet them but we need to have sufficient energy to seize them. In this revolutionary book, Carlos Castaneda offers readers the key to this energetic conditioning for the first time, revealing a series of body positions and physical movements that enabled various sorcerers, and their apprentices, to navigate their own sorceric journeys. By sharing this centuries-old wisdom, Carlos Castaneda makes it possible for readers to travel to some of these other realms, which are as real, unique, absolute, and engulfing as our own world. Castaneda offers both a philosophical history of magical passes and an innovative, easy-to-understand instructional format, complete with more than 450 computer-generated illustrations. Written with humor, clarity, and authority, Magical Passes further illuminates the true meaning of sorcery and magic.

His legend and his power have grown through two generations, in five astonishing volumes, including The Teachings of Don Juan and A Separate Reality. Now, in this haunting and deeply personal book, Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason.

Carlos Castaneda has written ten books on the subject of shamans in Mexico. This book is a collection of quotes from those books. Accompanying the quotes, Castaneda has written his personal commentaries. Together, the quotations and commentaries create a counterpoint of ideas that will be of great interest to the reader.

Bestselling author Carlos Castaneda introduces readers to the worlds that exist within their dreams.

"En el tercer libro sobre su iniciación como hombre de conocimiento, Castaneda desanda camino hasta los primeros tratos con su maestro, el brujo yaqui don Juan, y añade al recuento de prodigios las arduas lecciones de disciplina física y mental que, desde un principio, lo preparaban para un acto decisivo de poder: parar el mundo, suspender la percepción ordinaria, situarse entre esta realidad y la otra, la inculcada por el maestro. Esa realidad aparte, eje de las enseñanzas anteriormente reveladas, cobra así nuevo sentido como punto de apoyo, y el centro se desplaza hacia la mística del guerrero, el hombre sin rutinas, libre, fuido, imprevisible, que fiel a su esencial naturaleza terrena vive una vida impecable. El tema cierra con el relato del viaje al que alude el título, intimación dramática de la soledad y la áspera nobleza de tal vida." Viñeta: Francisco Toledo (portada).

The first of this anthropologist''s books in which he narrates the first stage of teaching that will turn him into a "man of knowledge" under the guidance of a Yaqui sorcerer. By various means, don Juan subjects his pupil to a different reality, unexplainable by the framework of our thoughts but not by the ancient wisdom transmitted by the teacher.

"Ordinarily, events that change our path are impersonal affairs, and yet extremely personal. My teacher, don Juan Matsus, said this is guiding me as his apprentice to collect what I considered to be the memorable events of my life…. Don Juan described the total goal of the shamanistic knowledge that he handled as the preparation for facing the definitive journey: the journey that every human being has to take at the end of his life. He said that what modern man referred to vaguely as life after death was, for those shamans, a concrete region filled to capacity with practical affairs of a different order than the practical affairs of daily life, yet bearing a similar functional practicality. Don Juan considered that to collect the memorable in their lives was, for shamans, the preparation for their entrance into that concrete region, which they called the active side of infinity." In this book written immediately before his death, anthropologist and shaman Carlos Castaneda gives us his most autobiographical and intimately revealing work ever, the fruit of a lifetime of experience and perhaps the most moving volume in his oeuvre.

In a most thought-provoking and unusual work, Carlos Castaneda continues his tuteluge under don Juan, the Yaqui Indian sorcerer--constructing a stunning portrait of the "sorcerer''s world" that is crystal clear and dizzying in its implications.

"Existe un poder incalculable al alcance de la mano, escondido dentro de nuestro ser, y que podemos alcanzarlo. Una vez que lo alcanzamos, empezamos a ver, a percibir como algo real y concreto. Es una percepción acrecentada, un conocimiento silencioso..." Don Juan "No necesitamos que nadie nos enseñe brujería, porque en realidad no hay nada que enseñar. Lo que necesitamos es un maestro que nos convenza de que existe un poder incalculable al alcance de la mano, escondido dentro de nuestro ser, y que podemos alcanzarlo. Una vez que lo alcanzamos, empezamos a ver, es decir a percibir algo más, no como una cosa de la imaginación, sino como algo real y concreto. Y después comenzamos a saber de manera directa, sin tener que usar palabras... Es una percepción acrecentada, un conocimiento silencioso ...". En el universo hay una fuerza incomensurable e indescriptible que nos hace percibir y que los brujos llaman INTENTO, con la cual absolutamente todo cuanto existe está enlazado mediante un vínculo de conexión. La brujería de Don Juan podría definirse como el proceso de limpiar, desempolvar nuestro vínculo con el INTENTO. En esta octava obra, Carlos Castaneda nos introduce al enigma del espíritu que es la maestría del INTENTO. "Desde que por primera vez se publicó mi trabajo, me han preguntado si mis libros son ficción. Y yo he manifestado continuamente que lo que he hecho en mis libros, es describir fielmente las diferentes facetas de un método de instrucción utilizado por Don Juan Matus un indio mexicano brujo para enseñarme a comprender el mundo en términos de un grupo de premisas que él llamaba brujería. El aprender a manejar de manera inteligente el mundo de la vida cotidiana, nos toma años de adiestramiento. Nuestra preparación, ya sea en el razonamiento mundano o en temas especializados, es muy rigurosa, porque el conocimiento que se nos trata de impartir es muy complejo. Idéntico criterio puede aplicarse al mundo de los brujos; sus métodos de enseñanza, los cuales dependen de la instrucción oral y de la manipulación de la conciencia de ser, aunque diferentes de los nuestros, son igualmente rigurosos, puesto que su conocimiento es tan, o hasta quizá más, complejo que el nuestro".

El último encuentro de Carlos Castaneda con Don Juan tuvo lugar en la cima de un cerro. Se encontraban también Don Genaro y otros dos aprendices, Pablito y Néstor. Hacia el desenlace, Pablito y Carlos saltaron desde la cumbre de la montaña, lanzándos a un abismo. En este quinto libro, Carlos Castaneda regresa a México con la intención de ver a Pablito y Néstor y pedirles ayuda para resolver sus dudas y conflictos, puesto que aunque su razón se niega a aceptarlo, una parte de su ser tiene la convicción de que tal salto efectivamente se produjo, por inconcebible que parezca. Lo que se encuentra entonces es con un asalto final a su racionalidad, planificado por Don Juan antes de su partida, junto con la revelación de algunos de los aspectos prácticos del arte de ensoñar. "Cuando nacemos traemos un anillo de poder. Casi desde el principio, empezamos a usar ese anillito. Así que cada uno de nosotros está enganchado desde el nacimiento, y nuestros anillos de poder están unidos con los anillos de los demás. En otras palabras, nuestros anillos de poder están enganchados al "hacer del mundo para construir el mundo. Un hombre de conocimiento, en cambio, desarrolla otro anillo de poder. Yo lo llamaría el anillo de "no-hacer". Así, con ese anillo, puede urdir otros mundos". Don Juan.

El Arte de Ensoñar, el noveno y mas reciente libro de Carlos Castaneda, aparece despues de un período de seis años de silencio del autor."Don juan", escribe Carlos Castaneda en prólogo, "era un intermediario entre el mundo natural de la vida diaria y un mundo invisible, uno que él no llamaba lo sobrenatural, sino la segunda atención. Su taréa de maestro fue hacer accesible a mi esta configuración. En mis trabajos previos, he descrito sus metodos de enseñanza, al igual que las práticas que me hizo ejercitar, la más importante de las cuales fue sin duda, el arte de ensoñar. Don juan sostenia que nuestro mundo, que creemos ser único y absoluto, es solamente un mundo dentro de un grupo de mundos consecutivos, los cuales están ordenados como las capas de una cebolla. Aunque hemos sido condicionados para percibir únicamente nuestro mundo, efectivamente tenemos la capacidad de entrar en otros, que son tan reales, únicos, absolutos y absorbentes como el nuestro."

Each of Carlos Castaneda''s books is a brilliant and tantalizing burst of illumination into the depths of our deepest mysteries, like a sudden flash of light, like a burst of lightning over the desert at night, which shows us a world that is both alien and totally familiar -- the landscape of our dreams. Fire from Within is the author''s most brilliant thought-provoking and unusual book, one in which Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan and his "disciples," at last constructs, from the teachings of don Juan and his own experiences, a stunning portrait of the "sorcerer''s world" that is crystal-clear and dizzying in its implications.

Carlos Castaneda a dispensé de part le monde l''enseignement ancestral des sorciers mexicains yaquis. Peu avant sa mort en avril 1998, il a tenu à composer ce petit volume regroupant des extraits de ses principaux ouvrages ; chaque partie étant introduite par un commentaire inédit de l''auteur.

"Al poder que gobierna el destino de todos los seres se le llama el �guila, no porque sea un �guila, sino porque los videntes se les aparece como una incomensurable y negr�sima �guila". "El �guila ha concedido un regalo a cada uno de todos los seres: el poder, si as� lo desea, de buscar una apertura hacia la libertad y de pasar por ella". La Regla del Nagual. "El responsable de este cambio de enfoque en mi trabajo fue un indio yanqui del norte de M�xico, Don Juan Matus, quien m�s tarde me present� a Don Genaro Flores, un indio mazateco de M�xico Central. Los dos eran adeptos practicantes de un antiqu�simo conocimiento, que en nuestros d�as se le llama com�nmente, brujer�a y que se considera una forma primitiva de ciencia m�dica y psicol�gica, siendo en realidad una tradici�n de practicantes ins�litamente disciplinados y de pr�cticas extraordinariamente sofisticadas. Los dos hombres se convirtieron en mis maestros m�s que en mIs informantes, pero yo a�n as� persist�a, de una manera desordenada, en considerar mi tarea como un trabajo antropol�gico". Carlos Castaneda

The book is divided into two sections. The first section, The Teachings, is a first person narrative that documents Castaneda''s initial interactions with don Juan. He speaks of his encounters with Mescalito (a teaching spirit inhabiting all peyote plants), divination with lizards (by using a hallucinogenic powder rubbed on his temples to understand their language), and flying in animal form using the "Devil''s Weed" (the datura plant). The second, A Structural Analysis, is an attempt, Castaneda says, at "disclos[ing] the internal cohesion and the cogency of don Juan''s Teachings."[1]The 30th anniversary edition, published by the University of California Press in 1998, contains commentary by Castaneda not present in the original edition. He writes of a general discouragement from the project by his professors (besides Dr. Clement Meighan, a professor who supported the project early in its conception. In the forward, Castaneda gives "full credit" for the approval of his dissertation to Meighan.) He offers a new thesis on a mind-state he calls "total freedom" and claims that he used the teachings of his Yaqui shaman as "springboards into new horizons of cognition".

Arizona, 1961, rencontre d''un étudiant en anthropologie de l''université de Californie à Los Angeles, Carlos Castaneda et d''un Indien Yaqui de la province de Sonora, nommé Don Juan. Homme réel ? Présence d''un pouvoir ? Sorcier réincarné ? Inventeur d''un prodigieux roman imaginaire ? On sait seulement de lui qu''il est un homme de connaissance. Parti de la fascination du peyotl dont il croyait tout savoir, Castaneda, accepté comme élève par Don Juan, va apprendre comment s''apprivoise la racine Datura Inoxia : l''herbe du diable, quand on oublie qu''on est un homme pour devenir un chien de lumière errant au Mexique.

Don Juan is back, working miracles and playing practical jokes, seeking the wisdom of the warrior, and teaching it by means of riveting stories that are both magic and art

En écrivant Le Voyage définitif, j''ai suivi les instructions de don Juan qui voulait me voir constituer une sorte d''album, une collection de souvenirs mémorables. Selon lui, la connaissance chamanique avait pour dessein ultime de nous préparer à affronter le " voyage définitif ", celui que doit faire chacun de nous au terme de sa vie. Ce que l''homme moderne, disait-il, désigne sous la vague expression de " vie après la mort " était pour ces chamans une existence concrète débordant d''activités pratiques, certes différentes de celles de notre vie habituelle, mais tout aussi pragmatiques et fonctionnelles. Se remémorer les épisodes importants de leur vie les préparaient à aborder ces contrées nouvelles qu''ils appelaient le " côté actif de l''infini ". Carlos Castaneda.

Lorsque chacun de nous naît, il apporte avec lui un petit anneau de pouvoir, disait don Juan dans " Le voyage à Ixtlan ". Par ailleurs, un homme de connaissance développe un autre anneau de pouvoir, que je nommerai l''anneau de ne-pas-faire parce qu''il est accroché au ne-pas-faire. Par conséquent, avec cet anneau, il peut produire un autre monde. C''est dans cet autre monde que nous conduit maintenant Carlos, l''apprenti abandonné à lui-même après le départ définitif de son maître don Juan et de son bénéfactor don Genaro. Dans un décor de collines rongées par l''érosion, de canyons isolés et de maisons à la géographie étrange, Carlos le guerrier va livrer son premier combat de sorcier en pleine possession de ses moyens. Mais qui affronte-t-il ? Dona Soledad, la sorcière pareille à lui mais dont le regard a été tourné dans une autre direction ? Les trois humanitas, disciples de don Juan comme lui ? L''extraordinaire Gorda, guerrière impeccable, déjà dépourvue de sa forme humaine ? Ou bien les quatre alliés, ces mystérieuses entités que jusque-là don Juan et don Genaro détenaient dans leurs gourdes invisibles ? Tout cela n''est-il qu''une vaste épreuve initiatique préparée de longue main par don Juan lui-même et dont il n''y aurait pour Carlos que deux issues possibles : la victoire ou la mort ? Ou bien s''agit-il d''un gigantesque combat livré à l''intérieur du moi par les diverses tendances contradictoires de l''être, dont la conjonction finale constituerait l''unité de la personne ? Cette nouvelle étape du voyage vers l''impeccabilité, où l''ancien disciple se trouve contraint de mettre en application dans la vie réelle les enseignements du maître, constitue, dans le Cycle de don Juan, une mutation capitale. Jamais Castaneda n''était allé aussi loin.