((( THE OVERALL PURPOSE, MY PURPOSE OF LIFE & OTHER INTERESTING THINGS )))

[Sacateca.sorcery]

To the UCLA administration,


There is a matter I would like to
have settled that personally involves the credibility of your
university. This matter, put forth by Richard DeMille, would undermine
the credibility of your university professors and make them out to be
inept bumbling fools who would endorse giving a Ph. D to an easily
exposed fraud. Here is the post I have created today and would like your
official stand on this issue. Thank you



MY POST AND COMMENT:





The Teachings of don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - 1968 by Carlos Castaneda Intro



Acknowledgements



"I
wish to express profound gratitude to Professor Clement Meighan, who
started and set the course of my anthropological fieldwork; to Professor
Harold Garfinkel, who gave me the model and the spirit of exhaustive
inquiry; to Professor Robert Edgerton, who criticized my work from its
beginning; to Professors William Bright and Pedro Carrasco for their
criticisms and encouragement; and to Professor Lawrence Watson for his
invaluable help in the clarification of my analysis. Finally, I am
grateful to Mrs Grace Stimson and Mr F. A. Guilford for their assistance
in preparing the manuscript."



- Carlos Castaneda





ABOUT DEMILLE:



"in
1976 when Richard de Mille published Castaneda's Journey: The Power and
the Allegory, in which he argues, "Logical or chronological errors in
the narrative constitute the best evidence that Castaneda's books are
works of fiction. If no one has discovered these errors before, the
reason must be that no one has listed the events of the first three
books in sequence. Once that has been done, the errors are
unmistakable."[12] On these showings de Mille asserts, The Teachings of
Don Juan and Journey to Ixtlan cannot both be factual reports.[13] (De
Mille was forced to produce a further edited volume in 1980, in which he
withdrew some previously published criticism: De Mille had asserted
that mushrooms did not grow in the Sonora desert, which was wrong, and
his publishers edited out this criticism in the 1980 volume)."



"...In
The Power and the Allegory, De Mille compared The Teachings of Don
Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge with Castaneda's library stack requests
at the University of California. The stack requests documented that he
was sitting in the library when allegedly his journal said he was
squatting in Don Juan's hut. One discovery that de Mille alleges to have
made in his examination of the stack requests was that when Castaneda
was alleged to have said that he was participating in the traditional
peyote ceremony—the least fantastic episode of drug use—he was sitting
in the UCLA library and he was reading someone else's description of
their experience of the peyote ceremony...."



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Castaneda





MY COMMENT:



So
these university professors didn't have so much as a clue that instead
of being in the desert with don Juan Carlos Castaneda was actually
sitting in the UCLA library??? And you TB (true believer) idiots just blindly believe
DeMille, right? Hey, we all make mistakes. Memory is not something the
wise should blindly trust. Of course their are errors in the writings of
Carlos Castaneda. Unless the writers are absolutely perfect, we can
trust, there are errors in ALL written works!



I have little doubt that you TB (true believer)  knuckleheads most probably blindly
believed DeMille when he originally stated that mushrooms did not grow
in the Sonora desert. I have little to no doubt that you just blindly
believed it. Why? Because TB knuckleheads tend to blindly believe
whatever they feel like blindly believing.





JUXTAPOSING VIEWPOINTS





MY VIEW:



If
Carlos Castaneda created don Juan, created a string of New York Times
bestseller books, made the cover of Time Magazine and tricked the
anthropology experts at UCLA into giving him a Ph. D that is amazing! It
is the work of a super-genius!! If don Juan actually existed that's
nice, but nowhere near as amazing as if Castaneda made the whole thing
up, period. I say all who are wise will agree with me. That is my view.





THE JEREMY DONOVAN - RICHARD DEMILLE TB (true believer) VIEW:



Is
that there is nothing amazing about the situation whatsoever. Anyone
could have made don Juan up and accomplished the same things Castaneda
did. He was a fraud and Jeremy KNOWS who deserves a Ph. D in
anthropology and who does not and JEREMY KNOWS Castaneda did not deserve
a Ph. D even though Jeremy has NO QUALIFICATIONS WHATSOEVER to make
such an assessment

[Sacateca.sorcery]

INTRODUCTION:
I've come to the conclusion that the entire Sustained Action site, including the Sustained Reaction message board forum, was created on the premise that Richard DeMille's book, about Carlos Castaneda, was the equivalent of 'Gospel Truth'. Yes, I now feel that it was the belief in the infallible credibility of Richard DeMille that led to the creation of the whole Sustained Action and Reaction sites. So, all I have to do is take apart the credibility of Richard DeMille and I will tear the foundational premise of this forum apart by its proverbial seams!
That is what I currently believe and that is why I wrote UCLA the email I have shared here.
From my studies, the credibility of Richard DeMille has already been damaged by his own **** blundering. He had to create an updated version of his book apologizing for his INCORRECT statement concerning mushrooms growing in the Sonora desert. I have little doubt that before DeMille created that apology the knuckleheaded TB idiots just blindly took DeMille at his word. Such are the ways of blind, knuckleheaded TB idiots. They tend to blindly believe, like the idiots they truly are. Corey and Jeremy Donovan OBVIOUSLY went from being Castaneda TB idiots to Richard DeMille TB idiots without hardly skipping a proverbial beat.

_______________________________________

TOM WROTE:
"Tell us, Solecat. How have you changed your behavior to improve your life?"
MY RESPONSE:
Wanting an answer to that question has got to be the most important thing anyone can currently ask in this forum, right Tom?
Well, everyone here knows I can indeed answer this question, about myself, with proof that I have improved my life by curtailing my vile insults in this forum. I feel that you were so impressed that, instead of just one-post per day, you gave me three-posts a day. However, I am curious: Do others here deserve the right to create more than three-posts a day because you feel they are wiser than I am? Or is it because you feel they are dumber than YOU are and you enjoy looking down on them and secretly laughing to yourself?
Does Coconuts deserve the right to create as many YouTube link posts as he likes because he is wiser than I am? Really??
Once you gave me the option to create 3 posts a day Jeremy Donovan ran from the forum like a bat out of a cave with spotlights turned on. He ran back to Greece, with Guy Gardner, and obviously intends to stay there. You see, Jeremy was only comfortable responding to me as long as he had the advantage to create as many posts as he liked and I was limited to one-post a day. People like Jeremy are only comfortable when they can debate with an unfair advantage. On a level playing field people like Jeremy Donovan run like cowards. If this were not so I would have debated him in a neutral forum where neither of us had an advantage and I could create as many posts as I liked. Because Jeremy Donovan was a coward I came here and practically begged you to let me post to tie up some loose ends from my old SR posting days. You didn't respond and finally I could not take it anymore and posted. I have done my best to discipline myself and you obviously can see that I have indeed improved my 'posting' life. So, I don't see why I do not deserve at least a 5 post a day limit. Is it because I am too smart or too dumb?
You wanna know sumthin? I was going to tell UCLA that an administrator from a message board forum I am posting in seems to think that UCLA would give a Ph. D to Carlos Castaneda even if they suspected that there was no actual don Juan and Castaneda lied and made the whole thing up. If and when they respond I'll be certain to remember to ask them! Personally, I feel that is ridiculous, but...well...who knows! They may be giving Ph. Ds to chimps and gorillas now.
You people seem to think that Richard DeMille's book only hurt Carlos Castaneda. That was NOTHING compared to how Richard DeMille hurt the credibility of UCLA! Yes, the real damage done by DeMille's book was in damaging the reputation of UCLA and making them look like a bunch of bumbling fools who give Ph. Ds to obvious frauds. I believe that by the time DeMille wrote his book against Castaneda Carlos was long gone as a student at UCLA. However, the book most probably got a lot of people asking questions about just how much UCLA should be trusted in determining who does and who does not deserve a Ph. D from the experts of UCLA. I mean, if they are such bumbling fool idiots that they didn't even know Carlos Castaneda was sitting in the UCLA library when he was supposedly taking peyote with don Juan...well...that is incredibly damaging to the reputation of UCLA. You'd better believe it is!!!!
I intend to push this matter with UCLA until I get a response. If I get no response I'm going to call them and do my best to get a direct email address to the UCLA administration. THEY are the ones to settle this matter and I strongly doubt they are going to say their experts were actually bumbling idiots and gave a Ph. D to an obvious fraud. Who knows? Maybe they will say they were idiots! We'll see, eh?
Whether or not they say Carlos Castaneda deserved his Ph. D has NO BEARING WHATSOEVER on the quality of the lessons of don Juan. Get it?
Those lessons can stand on their own, get it?
Most of the lessons of don Juan are RIGHT ON, from my empirical testing with Mother Nature. Some of the lessons of don Juan are extremely dangerous and should not be applied by the sane who want to live a wonderful life. That's my personal evaluation and I'm certain the truly wise who have tested those lessons, like Victor Sanchez, will indeed agree with me.

[Sacateca.sorcery]

UPDATE:
Well, I just
discovered that DeMille apparently wrote another book in his attempts to
defame the memory of Carlos Castaneda. Apparently, it also WAS NOT a
New York Times bestseller. There are only two Amazon reviews of the book
which, in and of itself, is rather pathetic. Here is one of them. It
would seem that Richard DeMille agrees with me whether he will openly
admit it or not. If DeMille is correct Carlos Castaneda deserved to be
in the Guinness Book of World Records for pulling off the greatest
anthropological fraud of the modern age.
ONE OF THE AMAZON REVIEWS

[Sacateca.sorcery]

THE DON JUAN PAPERS
At Amazon I was able to read a portion of the beginning of Richard DeMille's book: The Don Juan Papers. I have to openly admit that I am impressed by Mr DeMille's writing style. According to the introduction Richard DeMille met Carlos Castaneda for the very first time in 1979 at the American Booksellers' Associations convention in Los Angeles. 1979 would make it one year before Mr DeMille would have to write a specially edited version of his first book against Castaneda saying he was wrong about mushrooms not growing in the Sonora desert.
Anyway, here's the thing:
Richard DeMille is introduced to Carlos Castaneda and they share a warm handshake saying
"Five years writing about you and we've never met."
Carlos looks puzzled. "You've been writing about me?"
Castaneda didn't have so much as a clue that DeMille wrote a book calling Castaneda a hoaxer. NOT SO MUCH AS A CLUE!! Obviously, DeMille's first book did nothing whatsoever to ruin Castaneda's fun with life. If that was what DeMille was hoping to do he failed miserably. DeMille told Carlos that he had written a book about him and had send letters to him in care of his agent. Castaneda never got those letters. No one associated with Carlos Castaneda ever told him about DeMille's book debunking his work. NO ONE!!!!! Now that's interesting, don't you think? When Mr DeMille asks Castaneda what he is writing about Carlos says that he is writing about a Mexican Indian literary hoaxer, writing in the the Toltec language, who writes about an Indian tribe that is proven not to exist. Imagine that! You should read the introduction to DeMille's book for yourselves:
Click on "Look Inside"

[Sacateca.sorcery]

I've been going back and forth with PMs to Abe as Athlon
Cybermaxx.sustainedreaction. I now understand why Tom deleted his post
and banned that registered name.
I think I should make clear that
the core of my views and the message I want you all to understand,
because I feel it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT is:
You should think of EVERYTHING ANYONE tells you as fiction unless you personally verify it EMPIRICALLY to be true, period!
I
say, AT BEST, non-fiction books are BASED on true stories. You should
not blindly believe ANY supposedly non-fiction book is true just because
it is labeled non-fiction. Over and over and over idiots get burned
because the refuse to learn this very important lesson. Millions of
brainwashed idiots start holy wars based on the ridiculously ignorant
assumption that their "holy books" are filled with infallible, inerrant
truth. They blindly believe all sorts of ridiculous stories as
absolutely true without personally verifying ANY OF IT! They start
bloody holy wars that go on for years and years and years never
realizing that, AT BEST, their supposed "holy books" are BASED on true
stories. NO ONE I have ever seen has been able to successfully prove
that Jesus did all the miracles attributed to Him; let alone Krishna or
anyone else in ancient "holy books", for that matter. Well, the sooner
those idiots ALL blow themselves up with strapped on bombs the better
for planet Earth!
So, my current view again, for the intelligence impaired:

THE WISE WILL TREAT
ALL BOOKS AS FICTION
UNLESS THEY PERSONALLY VERIFY THE INFORMATION CONTAINED
THE WISE WILL TREAT
SUPPOSED "NON-FICTION" BOOKS AS,
AT BEST,
BASED ON TRUE STORIES
UNTIL THEY PERSONALLY VERIFY THE INFORMATION CONTAINED



This
premise should most definitely extend to religious books, science
books, the nightly news reports and ANYTHING ANYONE may tell you.
Don Juan called it "believing without believing" and it is the only way to live, as far as I am concerned.
I'm
fully ready to be corrected by you intelligent in this forum. I come
here fully ready to change my stance on any issue I have raised. If you
are as well then you are my Spiritual equals. If not then, by reason of
the truth, you are my Spiritual inferiors, period. So far, I have to
admit that most of you who post in this forum are extremely ignorant.
Your posts don't teach me anything. I come here to learn. Most of you,
apparently, come here to 'fart' through your fingers. Oh well.... You
obviously have no idea just how much effort it takes for me to restrain
my insults and you don't care, but you are always ready to complain if I
slip up, right losers?
@!#$$$%%  ^%$%%$%%
All I typed were symbols

UPDATE: This post (above) encapsulates the
whole point of my return because it automatically resolves the Castaneda
conundrum. I sense that UCLA will not want to respond to my email
because they, like the religious, push the concept that certain books
are absolutely true and certain books are not. Universities expect
everyone to blindly believe them when they say a certain book is true
and a certain book is false. If Einstein says that nothing can travel
faster than the speed of light you are supposed to blindly believe it
because universities such as UCLA say it is absolutely true. Well, it is
slowly proving to be untrue! And, from what I have studied, MANY
scientific premises once held as 'gospel truth' are slowly proving to be
untrue. All you suckers who blindly believed them are going to soon
find you were wrong again!!
When the governments were certain
that above and below ground nuclear testing would not damage the planet
they made a fatal error and all you dumb, blind suckers will soon be
paying the price for allowing scientists to blow up our beautiful planet
with above and below ground nuclear testing. Soon you will find out
that is why the weather is going insane.
You'll see!

_________________________________

[benfranq]

Sacateca wrote:    I, on the other hand, am
always ready to change my views on any subject I currently hold as true.
I strongly suspect that I am mistaken about A LOT OF THINGS. I see it
as wisdom to always be ready to 'change course in midstream' if I feel a
much better "path with heart" is presenting itself to me. The fact that
I have drastically cut back on my insults is proof enough that I do
indeed mean what I say.Wonderful! What better way to define "wisdom" than as "The willingness and ability to modify our behavior according to reliable evidence." ?

[benfranq]

Sacateca wrote:I'm
fully ready to be corrected by you intelligent in this forum. I come
here fully ready to change my stance on any issue I have raised. If you
are as well then you are my Spiritual equals. If not then, by reason of
the truth, you are my Spiritual inferiors, period. So far, I have to
admit that most of you who post in this forum are extremely ignorant.
Your posts don't teach me anything. I come here to learn. Most of you,
apparently, come here to 'fart' through your fingers. Oh well.... You
obviously have no idea just how much effort it takes for me to restrain
my insults and you don't care, but you are always ready to complain if I
slip up, right losers?
Comparing myself to others can very easily become an ego trap for me -- and I strongly suspect that the same is true for others. Instead, I prefer to compare myself with the way I was five minutes ago. Have I learned anything? If not, why not?
   Originally bardo referred only to the period between one life and the next, and this is still its normal meaning when it is mentioned without any qualification. There was considerable dispute over this theory during the early centuries of Buddhism, with one side arguing that rebirth (or conception) follows immediately after death, and the other saying that there must be an interval between the two. With the rise of mahayana, belief in a transitional period prevailed. Later Buddhism expanded the whole concept to distinguish six or more similar states, covering the whole cycle of life, death, and rebirth. But it can also be interpreted as any transitional experience, any state that lies between two other states. Its original meaning, the experience of being between death and rebirth, is the prototype of the bardo experience, while the six traditional bardos show how the essential qualities of that experience are also present in other transitional periods. By refining even further the understanding of the essence of bardo, it can then be applied to every moment of existence. The present moment, the now, is a continual bardo, always suspended between the past and the future.

[benfranq]

According to Don Tancredo ( or Benito Franqui -- what difference can the name of the messenger make?  ):
The first step towards manifesting wisdom on the Internet consists of repeating the mantra "A pixel pattern is just a pixel pattern is just a pixel pattern" until one can clearly see that indeed a pixel pattern is just a pixel pattern is just a pixel pattern -- until it becomes the most obvious of all the obviously obvious truths.

[Sacateca.sorcery]

[Sacateca.sorcery]

INTRODUCTION:
Earlier
today I put in a phenomenal workout. I've come to the conclusion that
the only way to properly deal with a lying, insanely self-destructive
race that has little to no respect for itself or its planet is from a
position of STRENGTH. I no longer need to get my muscles to grow bigger,
but I feel I do need to increase the phenomenal power of my martial
arts ability. In my mind I 'see' myself moving faster and more
powerfully than ever before. In my mind I 'see' myself moving so fast
and powerfully that people say I am faster than Bruce Lee. The question
is: Am I good enough to realistically become that powerful with Intent?
Can I clearly 'see' myself becoming that powerful and fast? In all
honesty the answer is: YES INDEED! I CAN CLEARLY 'SEE' MYSELF BECOMING
THAT FAST AND POWERFUL and I really, REALLY WANT IT!!!
Oh yes indeed and whether or not YOU believe me is none of my business
After
my phenomenal workout I had a marvelous pomegranate smoothie that
REALLY hit the proverbial 'spot'. I've been making these fruit smoothies
and I just bought pre-packaged frozen organic fruit berry combinations
for fruit smoothies whenever I may want them. I no longer have to be
tied to eating fruit before it spoils. I am free now thanks to the fact
that I realized the organic smoothie place keeps their smoothie fruit
frozen.
Tomorrow is a carrot juice day!
Lots
of carrot juice, celery juice, apple and baby spinach final mixed in my
new single-serving blender. Wow! I'm really looking forward to
tomorrow!

_______________________________________

EPOCH:

I understand now
all that matters is that
the Castaneda conundrum is resolved
FOR ME!!

As
for the staunch, narrow-minded, bottom feeding skeptics it's a rather
safe bet that nothing will ever be resolved FOR THEM. They go along the
bottom feeding on all the **** they can find. All they care about is the
****, but what can you expect from proverbial bottom feeders? It's
their nature to look for **** and eat it wholeheartedly.
The
Castaneda book Journey To Ixtlan is, quite simply, a literary
masterpiece whether it is pure fiction or part fiction, period. Most of
the people who reviewed the book at Amazon.com consider it to be a
literary masterpiece. The wise will realize that a literary masterpiece
is a literary masterpiece whether or not it is fact or fiction or both.
The unwise are convinced that Journey To Ixtlan must be ABSOLUTELY AND
COMPLETELY FACTUAL to be a literary masterpiece. I say that is
ridiculous and I also say anyone who is truly wise will agree with me.
A beautiful painting is a beautiful painting whether or not the subject matter is based on fact or fiction, period!
The
Mona Lisa is said to be the most famous painting ever created. Leonardo
DaVinci supposedly used the wife of some nobleman as the model. What if
you eventually find that the woman of the Mona Lisa painting was a
fictional character Leonardo made up from his imagination. Will the
painting suddenly become less beautiful? NO, RIGHT?
For
Journey To Ixtlan Carlos Castaneda was awarded a Ph. D from UCLA. If
Castaneda faked that book he was indeed a SUPER GENIUS!! If Journey To
Ixtlan was a factual account that is nowhere near as interesting to the
wise. It is much more interesting if he made the whole thing up and
fooled UCLA into giving him a Ph. D for his work. Yes, that's a heck of a
lot more interesting indeed!

UNDENIABLE FACTS:
Castaneda created a string of New York Times bestselling books
((( THAT IS AMAZING IN AND OF ITSELF!! )))
Castaneda made the cover of Time magazine as a result
((( THAT IS ALSO AMAZING IN AND OF ITSELF!! )))
Castaneda was awarded a Ph. D for his dissertation that became his third book: Journey To Ixtlan
((( THAT IS SUPER-AMAZING ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE!! )))
Like it or not, if Carlos Castaneda faked the whole thing and created don Juan from his imagination
((( THAT'S SO AMAZING IT IS PRACTICALLY UNBELIEVABLE )))
Why?
Because
for his first three books Castaneda has to HONESTLY portray himself as
the person he actually was and he was a person who could NEVER come up
with the don Juan philosophy on his own, period! If Carlos was talking
don Juan philosophy before he purportedly met the shaman people would
have been screaming FRAUD from his very first book, that's why.
The
professors Castaneda credited in his first book must have seen his
field notes. If they asked to see Castaneda's field notes and Castaneda
refuse to produce them the professors of UCLA would have 'smelled a rat'
from the very beginning. Now, that is a logical reasonable assumption,
period!
FACT:
A
beautiful literary masterpiece is a beautiful literary masterpiece,
period, and Journey To Ixtlan is a beautiful literary masterpiece,
period. Whether or not anyone else agrees with me is COMPLETELY
IRRELEVANT!
(((YOU))) DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH THE TRUTH FOR IT TO BE TRUE!!!

[Sacateca.sorcery]

LADY SENOR WENCESLAO WROTE:

"Yaqui expert Dr. Ralph Beals asked to see Castaneda's field notes but
Carlos continually dodged the request. Dr. Jacques Maquet, then head of
UCLA's Department of Anthropology, also objected to the fact that no
hard evidence had ever been presented to back up Castaneda's accounts.
"What is essential is not simply to have the experience," says Maquet
today, "but, if it is anthropology, to make it possible for other
anthropologists to repeat the experience. Castaneda never did that."


MY RESPONSE:

You people never learn. Have YOU personally verified this as true? NO,
YOU HAVE NOT!. You're just a 'bottom feeding' skeptic and you know it!


Do tell everyone here how what you have written makes the book Journey
To Ixtlan less of a literary masterpiece? Can't do it, can you? Of
course not! The Mona Lisa is equally beautiful whether Leonardo used an
actual model or created a model from his imagination and that's just the
way it is whether you like it or not!


The Teachings of don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge - 1968 by Carlos Castaneda Intro
Acknowledgements
"I
wish to express profound gratitude to Professor Clement Meighan, who
started and set the course of my anthropological fieldwork; to Professor
Harold Garfinkel, who gave me the model and the spirit of exhaustive
inquiry; to Professor Robert Edgerton, who criticized my work from its
beginning; to Professors William Bright and Pedro Carrasco for their
criticisms and encouragement; and to Professor Lawrence Watson for his
invaluable help in the clarification of my analysis. Finally, I am
grateful to Mrs Grace Stimson and Mr F. A. Guilford for their assistance
in preparing the manuscript."
- Carlos Castaneda

MY COMMENT:

Fact of
the matter is these UCLA professors MUST have asked to see Castaneda's
field notes at one time or another. If Castaneda started making excuses
and could not produce any field notes, of which he supposedly had
VOLUMES, the jig would have been up. It would have been all over BEFORE
the book was ever published and Castaneda would have been kicked out of
UCLA disgraced as a fraud before any of us heard of his "don Juan". Now,
that is down to Earth logical and reasonable. How could anyone believe
Castaneda claiming to have volumes of field notes and never have been
able to produce any to the satisfaction of the UCLA administrative
faculty? That is a completely ridiculous concept. It's just completely
ridiculous and you all know it!
However, I could be wrong.
How about YOU.
Could
YOU be wrong, Jeremy Donovan? Or are you determined to remain a Richard
DeMille TB for the rest of your miserable life? I wonder when Jeremy
and Guy are going to finally get back from Jeremy's second trip to
Greece? Once I was was granted 3 posts a day he flew like a pigeon from a
bulldozer. Jeremy doesn't have the cohones to confront me on a level
playing field. The coward runs and hides and is hoping it will all blow
over. In the final analysis skeptics obviously tend to be very cowardly
when their views are properly cancelled out. They can't admit they could
be wrong. YOU ARE MY SPIRITUAL INFERIOR, JEREMY DONOVAN!!!
Most
of the reviews at Amazon.com for Journey To Ixtlan are 5 star. People
simply feel that Journey To Ixtlan is a literary masterpiece and that's
all there is to it. Nothing you bottom-feeding skeptics can say will
change that fact.

Here are excerpts from some of those reviews:

"This is a life-changing book and a spiritual classic (I rarely
give ANYTHING 5 stars) but someone ought to mention that there is a
certain amount of controversy about the accuracy of Castaneda's Don Juan
series. Researcher Richard de Mille is probably the most even-handed of
the critics and The_Don_Juan_Papers is worth a read, though some of the
criticisms are merely carping small-mindedness.

Regardless of
your attitude toward Castaneda's (or Don Juan's!)literal accuracy the
series, of which Journey_to_Ixtlan is the best, presents a coherent and
engaging spiritual existentialism. A Must Read!!! "

"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."



"Forget the debate as to whether Castaneda's writings were a hoax or that
his books became important reading for the drug culture. Although I
suggest you read his first two books before reading this one but if you
read only one book by Carlos Castaneda this is the book to read. Be his
books accurate reporting by a cultural anthropologist (which is becoming
increasingly more and more  doubtful), mysticism or hokum, this
particular book is quite moving and lyrical. And whether his stories are
real or imagined and whether the teaching he transmutes came from Don
Juan or from his own mind by his knowledge as a trained anthropologist
the underlying mystical principles of these stories cannot be dismissed
out of hand.

  Shaman, poet and perhaps an academic scoundrel it is Castaneda's
poetry and story telling that comes shining through in this book.

  If Castaneda's books were a hoax and were represented as cultural
anthropology as a better hook to sell books it is a shame because he did
a disservice to science and to his legacy. Still I myself, as a former
researcher in Harvard University's anthropology department and a student
of human ethology, can forgive this sin on one level and enjoy this
book as a powerful work of liturature.

For if there has been a wrong that has been committed against
anthropology it is one that was done by the way the books were marketed
and perhaps by the author's personality itself. The works themselves
should not suffer and be shunned for this.

His legacy would have been better served if he wrote these same works as a writer of fiction.

I believe the author would have been wiser to present his works the
way Gurdjieff presented "Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson" rather than
obstinately insisting there really was such a person as Don Juan (even
if in the off chance that his teacher did exist).

Despite the controversy his writing stands on its own and Journey
to Ixtlan is a powerful, touching, enchanting and beautiful book."


"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..."

"Castaneda did the world a favor when he began chronicling his
apprenticeship with Don Juan Matus. Whether or not Don Juan was one or
three real people is irrelevant since what Castaneda learns is highly
relevant to all of us. Learning to "stalk" the self, learning to
achieve equilibrium in a world full of petty tyrants (including the
petty tyrant of the "self") are among the most trenchant lessons
Castaneda provides us. This book is the place to start with Castaneda
and you'll even find within it Don Juan doing magical passes 25 years
before Castaneda finally admitted there were such things. The books by
Castaneda are the most important books in my life and I highly recommend
them to anyone who's after an alternative way of looking at life and
the human condition."

MY COMMENT:
Out of 64 review 46 are FIVE-STAR reviews. Here is the most critical one:

"The question with regard to Carlos Casteneda is this: If we accept the
premise that this book is largely fiction, does that in turn trivialize
the message he is trying to impart? Just what is his message? If the
message is that the world is full of witches, sorcerers, irridescent
coyotes, allies, and phantoms, then the answer must be an unqualfied
"yes". These entities are no more real, and have no more importance
than angels and miracles, zombies, ghosts, or anything else whose
existence cannot be objectively observed. However, despite the cult
that has grown up around these writings, I don't think this is what
Casteneda had in mind. Don Juan warned against being trapped in the
world of sorcery, just as he did against getting trapped in the world
of everyday concerns. It was when Carlos, the character, realized that
he and the dung beetle were on even terms, even though their sensory
worlds were profoundly different, that he was finally able to "stop the
world". The warrior, says don Juan, takes responsibility for his
life, and interacts with every event as if it is his last. Moreover,
once one makes the transition to the path of knowledge, one can never
go back. "Ixtlan" is by definition childhood's home that one can never
return to. These are timeless and profound concepts, that transcend
the venue of leaping shadows and bridges in the fog. Casteneda is
an unusual writer, and his insistence on portraying his character as an
annoying whiner gets a little wearing after a while. The two messages
I found in this work - that the world is much more than appears, and
that it is important not to sleepwalk through our lives - these
concepts never wear thin for me. And the observation that our modern
man can learn these lessons from a superstitious old Yaqui is endlessly
gratifying to me.
There are many ways to get to the place that
Casteneda is trying to show us, and therefore I can't place this volume
in the "must read" category. But the concepts have value, and you
won't regret the effort in getting to the last page."
http://www.amazon.com/Jou...TF8&showViewpoints=1



MY CONCLUSIONAll your 'bottom-feeding' skeptic views
cannot change the minds of these intelligent people. Even the most
critical of them has good things to say about Castaneda's works

[Sacateca.sorcery]

LADY SENOR WENCESLAO WROTE:
Beals has stated in "The
American Anthropologist" (1978) that when doubtful about Castaneda's
claims he began to press for verbatim copies of the student's field
notes.. Rather than comply Carlos "simply disappeared" for several
months. When Beals, a man of integrity and honesty and the only
committee member knowledgeable about Yaqui and Mexico Indian culture,
was pressed by other committee members to relent in his request in order
to "get things back on track" Beals withdrew from the process
altogether and ended up resigning from UCLA.

MY RESPONSE:
How
interesting! Did you see the notes of Ralph Beals that were used to
produce that piece of fiction because according to this he stayed at
UCLA until he retired. Why exactly should any of us believe YOU, lady
senor? Those who believe you are a man from the "Senor" in your
registered name already know you to be a liar. Didn't think I'd do my
own bit of research, did you...honey. Did he resign before or after he
retired...dearest:

"UCLA Professor Ralph L. Beals Dies
March 08, 1985
Ralph
L. Beals, professor emeritus of anthropology at UCLA and founder of the
university's departments of anthropology and sociology, died last week
at his Los Angeles home after a long illness, a campus spokesman said
Monday. He was 84.
Beals, who was hired by UCLA as an instructor
in 1936 and taught there for 33 years before his retirement, was a past
president of the American Anthropological Assn. and recipient of a
Guggenheim Fellowship and a National Science Foundation Grant."
http://articles.latimes.c...347_1_professor-emeritus

MY COMMENT:
You
will need AT LEAST three INDEPENDENT sources to properly substantiate
your claims or, as far as any wise person is concerned, you are sharing
hearsay. I typed this into a search engine and could not substantiate
your wild claim...Senor.

The American Anthropologist - Ralph Beals - UCLA - Carlos Castaneda

Looks like you were sharing:  (((FICTION))), and trying to pass it off as fact, you hypocritical bottom-feeder, you.
Please back up your claims with solid proof or have a sex-change operation or...both...or at least the latter!
Cutche, coochie, coo you manly woman, you!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

*Just in case you are curious, yes, he/she/it stepped in it, alright!

[Sacateca.sorcery]

Well whatdayaknow! Jeremy Donovan TBD is back from his second trip to Greece.
Was it any Greasier this time around, blubbery cheeks?  
I
say the wise will agree with me that ALL BOOKS and information should
be treated as fiction until empirically proven otherwise. The unwise
will not agree with me and continue to argue that Castaneda's books were
fiction. Since I agree that ALL BOOKS contain fiction in one way or
another I have no problem with the premise that Castaneda's books as
well as The Bible as well as The Koran as well as The Bhagavad-Gita as
well as 'ad infinitum' most probably contain some or complete fiction.
Once this matter is resolved what remains is to answer the question of:
Not whether a book is true or not, but whether or not a book is useful!
I
say use what works for you and hold the rest in question from ANY book.
I say if Castaneda made don Juan up, made the cover of Time magazine
and tricked UCLA into giving him a Ph. D that is a heck of a lot more
interesting than if don Juan was an actual person. Whether any of the
rest of you agree with me or not is truly none of my business. I say
only fools argue back and forth about such matters. I say all who are
wise will agree with me that if Castaneda faked it then his New York
Times bestselling works were the works of a SUPER GENIUS!! That is my
view and I'm sure most of the people who gave Journey To Ixtlan a
five-star rating at Amazon.com will wholeheartedly agree with me.
Whether YOU agree with me or not makes no difference to me. I don't
expect monkeys to praise the works of and recite Shakespeare.
Look
Jeremy, I believe Castaneda lied. I believe the creators of the New
Testament lied as well as the creators of the Book of Mormon. I believe
the creators of the Bhagavd-Gita lied. I believe YOU LIE!! So it is
irrelevant to me whether or not Castaneda lied. What matters are the
qualities of his writings and those writings are timeless to me. I'm in
the process of reading Journey To Ixtlan again and I'm glad you brought
up erasing personal history because that is the main thing I was going
to write about in this post:

ON ERASING PERSONAL HISTORY:
While
reading Journey To Ixtlan I just recently finished the section where
don Juan strongly recommends that Castaneda erase his personal history
if he really wants to learn about plants. While I agree that TEMPORARILY
erasing personal history, through inner-silence, is essential for
communicating with Mother Nature ALL THAT MOST PEOPLE HAVE is their
personal history. When you meet someone new you strike up a conversation
based on your personal history and their personal history. What are you
supposed to say if a police officer pulls you over and asks for your
ID? That you have no personal history? Get real!
TEMPORARILIY
erasing personal history, through states of inner-silence, is of
paramount importance when directly communicating with plants and the
Spirit of Intent.
ALTERING
our personal history through what we emphasize is sufficient when
dealing with people. For example: suppose you viewed your past by
focusing on the things that went wrong with your associations with
Carlos Castaneda. That is your current personal history, right Jeremy?
Now, how about altering your personal history by focusing primarily on
the good you gained through your association with Carlos Castaneda.
You're not lying. You're just focusing on the good you learned instead
of the bad. It's not lying. It's the same personal history from the
perspective of the good you gained rather than the bad. After all,
Castaneda cured you of needing gurus in your life, right? If you didn't
join Castaneda's cult you would now probably be a member of some other
cult, if they had gotten to you first. Castaneda CURED YOU of needing to
surrender your life to some guru. At the very least you should be
grateful for that and YOU KNOW IT!
It
is no lie to improve one's personal history by changing the emphasis of
what we focus upon. There is nothing wrong in improving one's personal
history through forgiving oneself and everyone else equally. Jeremy's
problem is he can't forgive himself and, consequently, he can't forgive
Carlos Castaneda for being an ****. Be honest, Jeremy. It's not like
Castaneda didn't warn the world as to what type of leader he would be,
right? He gave EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD ample warning of the type of
leader he would be, right? If YOU took him as your guru in spite of the
warnings YOU MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY for staying in that group.
You should have left the group, but you didn't and now you whine and
complain like some little irresponsible mentally retarded child.
BE A MAN AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR JOINING CASTANEDA'S GROUP AND STAYING WITH CASTANEDA'S GROUP!!!
You whining little wimp!
'I was hurt and it was all Castaneda's fault. Waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!'
The rallying cry of the Castaneda jackasss wimps who refuse to take responsibility for their lives.
DO YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR JOINING CASTANEDA GROUP AND STAYING IN THAT GROUP? If you do then stop whining like a little baby, you ****!
I
believe Tom, Guy Gardner, the wisest members of this forum and myself
would NEVER have been dumb enough to stay in that cult under the
ridiculous conditions that Castaneda demanded. YOU WERE DUMB ENOUGH and
you have NO ONE ELSE TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF for being that dumb!!!!
It's about time you get this through your thick head, Jeremy!
I'm
not the type of person who responds like a trained monkey as you did
while in Castaneda's cult. At best I would have been kicked out for
sure. Most probably after the first day!

[Sacateca.sorcery]

INTRODUCTION:
It's
been an amazing weekend overdosing on fresh made vegetable juice and
fruit smoothies. It's amazing how wonderful the stuff feels going into
my metabolism. Quite stimulating indeed! Today I just finished drinking
the most amazing pineapple smoothie I have EVER had. Made with organic
pineapple nectar, chunks of REAL, fresh pineapple and an egg. Wow!
That's the stuff alright!
Super Nectar of the Gods!
It
went down great after the powerful workout I put in today. My goal of
becoming more powerful, with Intent, than ever before is slowly being
realized. I was quite shocked to see myself in the big gym mirrors. From
a distance I look like some sort of muscular demi-god or something.
Quite beautiful and impressive indeed! I've never been this muscular
before in my entire life. Super Juiced Out Muscles!

________________________________________________

TO JEREMY DONOVAN TBD:
I told you the grounds for the truce between us
and you gave a wimpy wishy washy response to the terms. I'll share them again,
THESE ARE THE GROUNDS FOR THE TRUCE:
I believe there was a don Juan, but I could be wrong
YOU believe there was not a don Juan, but YOU could be wrong

If you agree to these grounds then we are equals and there can be peace between us

________________________________________________

TO JEREMY TBD:
You
do realize the assumption that the reality surrounding us is made up of
dependably solid objects is...fiction. You realize that, right? So,
that makes ALL OF LIFE a fiction. It's not sold and "real" as science
used to teach us reality was. Electrons and atoms are not solid. They
are made of vibrating energy. It was a defective paradigm premise to
believe the world around us is made of solid objects. It was indeed
FICTION and so everything we think we are is in fact mostly: FICTION!
Don
Juan was correct. We are infinitely more than we think we are and what
we call "life" is in actuality an unfathomable mystery. WE are an equal
part of that unfathomable mystery.
To think of life as otherwise is...FICTION.
You probably don't realize that yet, do you?

________________________________________________

If you people were winners you would not gloss over this improvement I have made on a don Juan teaching.
The Spirit has helped me to upgrade don Juan's beliefs.
I'm being taught there are greater things in Heaven and Earth than are even dreamt of in don Juan's philosophy towards life

ON ERASING PERSONAL HISTORY:
While
reading Journey To Ixtlan I just recently finished the section where
don Juan strongly recommends that Castaneda erase his personal history
if he really wants to learn about plants. While I agree that TEMPORARILY
erasing personal history, through inner-silence, is essential for
communicating with Mother Nature ALL THAT MOST PEOPLE HAVE is their
personal history. When you meet someone new you strike up a conversation
based on your personal history and their personal history. What are you
supposed to say if a police officer pulls you over and asks for your
ID? That you have no personal history? Get real!
TEMPORARILIY
erasing personal history, through states of inner-silence, is of
paramount importance when directly communicating with plants and the
Spirit of Intent.
ALTERING
our personal history through what we emphasize is sufficient when
dealing with people. For example: suppose you viewed your past by
focusing on the things that went wrong with your associations with
Carlos Castaneda. That is your current personal history, right Jeremy?
Now, how about altering your personal history by focusing primarily on
the good you gained through your association with Carlos Castaneda.
You're not lying. You're just focusing on the good you learned instead
of the bad. It's not lying. It's the same personal history from the
perspective of the good you gained rather than the bad. After all,
Castaneda cured you of needing gurus in your life, right? If you didn't
join Castaneda's cult you would now probably be a member of some other
cult, if they had gotten to you first. Castaneda CURED YOU of needing to
surrender your life to some guru. At the very least you should be
grateful for that and YOU KNOW IT!
It
is no lie to improve one's personal history by changing the emphasis of
what we focus upon. There is nothing wrong in improving one's personal
history through forgiving oneself and everyone else equally. Jeremy's
problem is he can't forgive himself and, consequently, he can't forgive
Carlos Castaneda for being an ****. Be honest, Jeremy. It's not like
Castaneda didn't warn the world as to what type of leader he would be,
right? He gave EVERYONE IN THE WHOLE WORLD ample warning of the type of
leader he would be, right? If YOU took him as your guru in spite of the
warnings YOU MUST TAKE FULL RESPONSIBILITY for staying in that group.
You should have left the group, but you didn't and now you whine and
complain like some little irresponsible mentally retarded child.

________________________________________________

JEREMY DONOVAN TBD WROTE:
I
do not believe that 'anyone could have made don Juan up'.  Not at all. 
My actual view is that Castaneda was a pretty unusual character.  In
fact, I've only met a small handful of people in my life who were
somewhat similar in their ability to make up wild intricate mythologies
like that.  Such people are actually rather rare.  And I've already
expressed my view that back in the early seventies when UCLA awarded
Castaneda's Ph.D. there was enormously less information available on
Castaneda than there was in the late 90's when SA began to debunk him
more thoroughly.  Furthermore, my actual view on de Mille is that some
of his arguments aren't so hot, while others are very good.
MY RESPONSE:
Face
it, Jeremy. Besides Castaneda you have NEVER met ANYONE who could equal
what he did ESPECIALLY if he faked it all. That's a fact and you know
it!
The
problem with UCLA is the problem with organized religions. THEY would
make themselves the authorities as to what books are fiction what books
are not.
I
say ALL BOOKS are fiction until I personally verify them as otherwise
and I say all who are wise will adopt my stance about books and
information imparted by a race of lying hypocrites!

________________________________________________

JUXTAPOSITION OF VIEWS:
I believe if Castaneda made don Juan up and earned a Ph. D he was a super-genius
JEREMY:
YOU believe it took no genius to do it and YOU know who deserves a Ph. D and who doesn't

I say that ALL BOOKS CONTIAIN FICTION.  I will no longer believe ANYTHING ANYONE tells me, in books or otherwise, unless I personally and empirically verify the information for myself
YOU apparently say some books are fiction and some are non-fiction

I believe YOU are nuts for holding such beliefs
YOU believe I am nuts for not blindly believing and agreeing with you

So, I'm willing to call it a tie and end this war between us
Whatdayasay,...pal?

BTW:  I was being facetious when I said you just got back from your second trip to Greece.
I'm surprised I actually have to tell you this

duh

___________________________________________________

ENERGYLOVER WROTE:
"why do YOU HAVE TO DEFEND your position? Why? Why focking bother?"
MY RESPONSE:
Because,
unlike YOU, if I am incorrect in my beliefs I want to know so that I
can upgrade them. Obviously, you automatically assumed I didn't have a
good answer for those questions. Since you OBVIOUSLY care nothing about
upgrading the quality of your life you could not see this on your own.

________________________________________________

LADY SENOR WROTE:
"Journey to Ixtlan is not a literary masterpiece."
MY RESPONSE:
That's
YOUR opinion and you are entitled to it, but most of the people
reviewing the book at Amazon.com would disagree with you and...so do I

[BarefootInTheSand]

Sacateca wrote:

I'm
fully ready to be corrected by you intelligent in this forum. I come
here fully ready to change my stance on any issue I have raised. If you
are as well then you are my Spiritual equals. If not then, by reason of
the truth, you are my Spiritual inferiors, period. So far, I have to
admit that most of you who post in this forum are extremely ignorant.
(1) Your posts don't teach me anything. I come here to learn. (2) Most of you,
apparently, come here to 'fart' through your fingers. Oh well.... (3) You
obviously have no idea just how much effort it takes for me to restrain
my insults and you don't care, but you are always ready to complain if I
slip up, right losers?
_________________________________

3 - Perhaps the same should be considered of others in view of you and your constant always string of posts going nowhere?
2 - Funny, that is exactly what I thought of your endless string of posts...farting through your fingers just to feel the warmth.
1 - Hard to pour tea when your cup runeth over...to be a jedi you must first empty your cup.

[Sacateca.sorcery]

Hey, if I was allowed to create as many posts as I like at SR I would not be creating those LONG posts!!!
If you think YOUR post contains more wisdom than the above post collages I have shared then YOU need to have your head examined. When I write about people 'farting through their fingers' I think of of created posts that contain no wisdom whatsoever like Coconuts and Energylover.
Whatever....

[Fringe Dweller]

All due respect, but what concern is it of mine (or anyone's here) of your issues with the people at SR? I think we all get that you are upset...and I think that everyone has been respectful in letting you vent and vent...but pull yourself together dude, it is so old. At one point or another each person here has tried to engage you in your points but you have disregarded each and every attempt...apparently because you consider each person here too far below your expectation of intelligence. Are you trying to win some contest and prove to yourself that you are smarter than everyone else (here, in this forum)? And yes, by posting all that stuff here it is like farting through your fingers (don't blame me for that image, they were your words).

[BarefootInTheSand]

Opps, sorry...the above was me...apparently not firguring out the profile switching thing yet.

[Genardo Sacateca]

Fringe Dweller wrote:All due respect, but what concern is it of mine (or anyone's here) of your issues with the people at SR? I think we all get that you are upset...and I think that everyone has been respectful in letting you vent and vent...but pull yourself together dude, it is so old. At one point or another each person here has tried to engage you in your points but you have disregarded each and every attempt...apparently because you consider each person here too far below your expectation of intelligence. Are you trying to win some contest and prove to yourself that you are smarter than everyone else (here, in this forum)? And yes, by posting all that stuff here it is like farting through your fingers (don't blame me for that image, they were your words).
You either don't know what you are talking about or you are an out and out liar. Look on page one of this thread. I responded to the first person who made a comment. How can you say that I disregard every attempt when I just got through responding to YOU!!!!!
You people can be amazing. I just get through responding to you and you say that I never respond to anyone.
http://sorcery.yuku.com/t...INGS?page=1#.TohsnOxlFno
I don't respond to jackass idiots like Benfrang because I don't want to encourage the moron.
Then there's the **** Gonzo. He said that all I want to do is battle people when I had been ignoring him for quite a while. If I encourage idiots they tend to create more and more idiotic posts so I ignore the morons.
Just look at the long post above. Can't you see me responding to people?????
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?????

[Gonzo]

Genardo Sacateca wrote:Fringe Dweller wrote:All due respect, but what concern is it of mine (or anyone's here) of your issues with the people at SR? I think we all get that you are upset...and I think that everyone has been respectful in letting you vent and vent...but pull yourself together dude, it is so old. At one point or another each person here has tried to engage you in your points but you have disregarded each and every attempt...apparently because you consider each person here too far below your expectation of intelligence. Are you trying to win some contest and prove to yourself that you are smarter than everyone else (here, in this forum)? And yes, by posting all that stuff here it is like farting through your fingers (don't blame me for that image, they were your words).
You either don't know what you are talking about or you are an out and out liar. Look on page one of this thread. I responded to the first person who made a comment. How can you say that I disregard every attempt when I just got through responding to YOU!!!!!
You people can be amazing. I just get through responding to you and you say that I never respond to anyone.
http://sorcery.yuku.com/t...INGS?page=1#.TohsnOxlFno
I don't respond to jackass idiots like Benfrang because I don't want to encourage the moron.
Then there's the **** Gonzo. He said that all I want to do is battle people when I had been ignoring him for quite a while. If I encourage idiots they tend to create more and more idiotic posts so I ignore the morons.
Just look at the long post above. Can't you see me responding to people?????
WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?????
What the hell is wrong with YOU?  Cannot you understand English?  That you responded is not the point.  Try reading the post you quoted.  It asks you what your issues are with the folk at SR.
At one point or another each person here has tried to engage you in
your points but you have disregarded each and every
attempt...apparently because you consider each person here too far
below your expectation of intelligence.
The only conclusion really is all you want to do is blow smoke and get reactions, which is precisely what I said to begin with.  The thing is, you don't really want to fight, you just want to spew **** because that is far easier than engaging in any kind of intelligent conversation and far easier than engaging in at least some sort of an entertaining battle.

[Gonzo]

I wish to add this as well. The argument whether Castaneda was legitimate, or whether don Juan was real is specious. (Look it up.) It really doesn't matter one way or the other because the stories are engaging and invigorating and they drive those who enjoy them to consider other aspects of their existence. That alone is worthwhile. Just the comment that the ultimate goal is achieving the totality of self is worth reading all the books, the magic and tales of power notwithstanding.

[BarefootInTheSand]

Urp, I find myself agreeing with Gonzo here...drumming my fingers waiting for the promised "intellegent" conversation. Just saying, Sac if you want intellegent conversation take a clue and start talking intellegently. However, imho you have had your chance and even though you are about the only person posting consistently I am checking out of conversation with you as I am doing little more than talking to a wall.

[Genardo Sacateca]

I don't mind your posting when you have something intelligent to say, Gonzo. My issues with SR are very clearly delineated in my debate with Jeremy Donovan TBD. It's all there. There is no way an intelligent person cannot see what my gripes are with the SR forum. IT'S THERE OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!!!! What? You still have no idea what my gripes are even now? Hey, if you can't figure it out by now then I can't help you. In the past, quite a number of them would be full on Jeremy Donovan TBD beliefs and would gang up on me. Now, Jeremy seems to be just about the last remaining intelligent poster who dogmatically holds his defective view.
They expect everyone to blindly believe all the **** they have in the SA forum against Carlos Castaneda. It may be true, but then again.... Why should anyone believe that information is not riddled with lies and gross exaggerations? We are supposed to take their words for it. Well I, for one, refuse to blindly believe any of that EXTREMELY BIASED SA propaganda. Unless, I can verify the information with AT LEAST three independent Internet sources it is fiction to me; and should be to ANYONE who may read it!
Amy Wallace had her take on the Castaneda situation. Why should anyone blindly believe it if the information she shared cannot be empirically verified? Corey Donovan would have us all blindly believe him, Jeremy, Amy, and Greg at face value. I say people with a vendetta tend to lie and exaggerate and should not be blindly trusted; just as you should not blindly trust one side of a Judge Judy court case until you hear the other side of the story. There is NO OTHER SIDE to the stories regarding Carlos Castaneda. The dead can't defend themselves from lying slanderers; who could not write a New York Times bestselling book to save their miserable lives!

[Genardo Sacateca]

Listening to Castaneda's voice I can 'see' that he is a person who lies whenever he feels he can get away with it. I believe there was a don Juan, but I also now believe MORE STRONGLY THAN EVER that Carlos Castaneda used TREMENDOUS creative literary license in order to embellish the don Juan character to the point where maybe 50% of everything he wrote about don Juan was fiction. This would be a great way to keep don Juan hidden. People would be looking for a much more interesting person than the actual don Juan. It would make it very easy for the real don Juan to act like and **** Indian and throw people off the scent if they ever went looking for him. So, I believe Castaneda lied like crazy in order to protect don Juan, and eventually got lost in his lies.
I wouldn't be surprised if about 50% of every book Castaneda wrote was pure fiction.

[Guest]

I appreciate you battling the fanatical skeptics, its quite entertaining-







They can be useful in shifting your perception point... as a Deist I do appreciate the clear scientifical thinking of many atheists, they do much to debunk the fallacies of the Bible for instance; the scientific method really is beneficial; albeit I do not agree with the atheist's ultimate conclusion (that of no Deity) and science does have its limits, it will never take the place of true spirituality; it is more like a true spiritual being (human being) will use science (logic/reason) intelligently as a tool to master knowledge and command of the world, imo.





true religion = actual spiritual experience, personal experience of the unseen, subtle love







I have been drinking gallons of fresh sweet coconut water (did you know coconut water is so pure that it can be used as a blood transfusion !!) ... and sugarcane juice, usually mixed with either lime or lemon, or mixed with strawberries, or passionfruit; sometimes I'll have the one with ginger ///
Strawberry - Pineapple juice is awesome too (all freshly squeezed of course (raw), because pasteurization (all commercially sold bottled liquids are pasteurized) could destroy active enzymes in food, diminish the vitamin content of food, it may no longer be 'living', as high heat destroys, duh! [see what an open flame does to the living cells of your hand]

-Banana-date smoothies are an awesome power drink, just add water and 4-9 bananas and 10-20 dates (can easily be a 1000 calories + meal)
Its an excellent source of clean fuel for the body-- also experiment with adding other fruit like mango or papaya or berries etc etc yummm
If you are sugar-phobic, well,
just remember sugar from fresh whole ripe fruit is unlike any other sugar...



relationship recapitulation