Genardo Sacateca wrote:MY
COMMENT: When I saw this on Victor Sanchez's website I just had to
share it here. I am truly shocked!! After hearing Castaneda's voice in
the interview I can clearly believe he would do something like this
alright. HE WAS NO DON JUAN and he was NO LITERARY SUPERGENIUS!!!!!
Unbe-friggin-lievable!!!! After reading this I now feel like spitting
just thinking of Carlos Castaneda and, apparently, eventually so did don
Juan, Genaro and the other apprentices. They eventually did not like
Castaneda and wanted nothing to do with him. Don Juan eventually told
Castaneda that his mere presence made him want to vomit and that he had
to fight for impeccability like never before in his life when dealing
with Castaneda.
It
makes one wonder. Why, in all creation, would Castaneda have don Juan
say that in the book The Power of Silence (I believe). I mean, he didn't
have to put that in the book. Why on Earth would Castaneda have don
Juan say that about him? To make him look good? Hardly. Curious
Jeremy
Donovan TBD would have us all believe people with "valid credentials".
Well, I COULD BE WRONG, but I feel Victor Sanchez is being honest in
that he has verified the best of don Juan's teachings as coming from
ancient Toltec traditions by living with the descendants of the Toltecs.
Victor responded to a couple of my emails many years ago. I like him
and I consider his "credentials" valid enough for me. Although, unlike
Jeremy Donovan TBD, I could be wrong.
The more I think about it
the more I believe that Jeremy Donovan TBD knew about what Castaneda did
to Victor Sanchez and stayed with Castaneda anyhow. That says a lot
about the quality of the character of Jeremy Donovan TBD and NONE OF IT
GOOD! It's fair to surmise that Castaneda kept disciples he could easily
look down on. To not be kicked out of Castaneda's group was a
tremendous insult as to the characters of the individuals who stayed.
LIke Jeremy Donovan TBD they all must have sucked as people!
"This statement was
sent to Sustained Action in response to questions from the readers of their web
site, asking about the lawsuit. SA published part of the actual lawsuit and
then I sent this statement to respond to the arguments contained in the lawsuit.
Statement by Victor
Sanchez regarding Castaneda vs. Sanchez and related topics
About the Lawsuit of
Castaneda vs. Bear & Company and Victor Sanchez
The lawsuit was
primarily against Bear & Company and they included Victor Sanchez,
about a book cover that was the responsibility only of the publisher and
not the author. I actually didn't like the cover because it was too
"cartoon-like" and because on that cover Castaneda's name was
bigger than mine. The fact is, covers are a matter in the publisher's
domain, not the author's. The complaint
involving my name in the lawsuit was: "conspiring with Bear &
Company to create a cover that damages Castaneda's reputation and
business" (which I didn't). They didn't
attack the contents of the book because there was nothing even close to
illegal or dishonest about it. I received an
adverse judgment, because I was supposedly on default. Drooz [Castaneda's
attorney, now the Trustee of his estate] convinced the judge that I didn't
want to respond the court, because I was a Mexican that disrespected the
American legal system.
The simple truth is:
I didn't
respond at first, because the author of the cover was my publisher (Bear
& Company). The publishing company told me not to respond because they
were going to settle the whole problem with Drooz. Then, Drooz accepted a
settlement with Bear and Company for around $11,000. After the agreement
my publisher told me the problem was over. Months later I
discovered that someone was lying. I was not included in the settlement
and I was about to be declared to have defaulted by the court. Then I
hired a lawyer in New Mexico who talked with Drooz for months trying to
get to a settlement agreement. Drooz's requests were absurd (e.g., wanting
to have money from every workshop I have given in any country before or
after the publishing of the book, prohibiting me from using the title of
my book, and other restrictions to my freedom of speech). She kept saying:
"Don't respond to the court because we are going to get to an
agreement," and at the end, always again asking unacceptable terms. Then, seeing
that Drooz was not in the mood to get to a real understanding or
settlement agreement, I hired a lawyer in L.A. who assisted with the first
hearing of the case and the incredible happened: Drooz convinced the judge
to put me in default, even with my lawyer in front of her! This was not
legal and the judge took her discretion to the very border of what is
legal (i.e., declaring someone in default whose lawyer is right there, in
the first hearing of the case). One of the main arguments of Drooz was
that she was insisting to my New Mexico lawyer that we should respond to
the California Court to avoid being in default but that we had not
listened to her. The simple truth was that she did everything she could to
convince my lawyer to not respond to the court. That was, in simple words,
a trap. It seems that,
first, Drooz convinced Bear's lawyer of not including me in the
settlement, but creating at the same time the false impression that I was
included. Then she convinced my lawyer from New Mexico to not respond to
the court, and then she accused me of not responding to the court. The
result? I had a judgment of $111,000 against me for something I didn't do
(a copycat cover) when the real authors of the cover just paid $11,000.
During the entire process I did not have the chance to show the lack of
merits of the case against me. This means that no judge ever heard my
arguments and proofs against the false accusations.
My reflection is that I lost because
Castaneda and his lawyer had more money and
better knowledge of how to twist the
American legal system to make white look black and black look like pure
snow-like white. (It is ironic that when the moment comes for a self-claimed
sorcerer to show his power, we wouldn't see him flying or performing any
phenomena that challenges the laws of physics, but simply mundane tricks like
using money and lawyers to intimidate others . . . )
The same tricky ways found their way
into the appeal that I filed and lost. Well, the bad part is that I supposedly
owe to the Eagles Trust $111K. The funny part is that, contrary to Cleargreen
assessments, I have not become a millionaire, so I live a modest life in terms
of money, and don't have assets or money to pay such a sum. So there is no way
for them to collect the money they fought and lied so hard to get. (I recently
learned that they are now claiming $180K, I suppose because of interest.
Anyway, it's the same to me--$110,000, 180,000 or a million. What's the
difference when you don't have what they want?)
This is just a short summary of a
long and complex story, and, of course, I have documents to prove all this, but
this is just part of the story.
5. Cleargreen harassment has
included: accusing me of claiming to be Castaneda's disciple, making millions
using his name, and spreading rumors about people being injured or killed in my
workshops. Nothing of that is truth.
Incredibly, they have also had the
time to be interested in my sexual life, accusing me (in the way of gossip) of
seducing women (this of course is consistent with their constant concern about
sex).
The only thing I can say is:
Like everyone,
I do have a sexual life. I have always
approached sexuality and love with respect in my work. I have never
claimed anything against having a sex life. I have never needed to tell
lies, or talk about spiritual sex practices in order to have sex with
anyone. Their gossip about sex is just ill intentioned rumors. My disagreement
with their dark stories about sex--like the holes in the energetic body
because of having children, the malignity of sexuality between men and
women because of the sucking energy worms left in the women's womb,
etc.--have always been clear in my writing, seminars and conferences for a
long time. So, there is no similarity in my views and doings related to
sexuality and the one in Castaneda's works or Cleargreen's seminars."
Finally, about my work
My work is
related to my experiences among surviving Toltec indigenous people and my
intention to create a bridge for shamanic experiences to be applied in a
practical way for us, people of the modern cities. I call these efforts
"anti-anthropology." I never
presented myself as Castaneda's student. My meetings with him were not
private, but as a part of small audiences in Mexico, a long time before
Cleargreen came into being. (In those years they said that the
"movements were taught to them by a Chinese teacher" , then Castaneda changed the story to say they were taught in dreaming
by a Chinese nagual from the 16th century. At the end, he changed the
story again by saying that the movements were taught by don Juan). In my
first meeting with Carlos Castaneda, Florinda (Gina in those years) asked
me about joining them in L.A. I told her I admired Castaneda´s books, but
no thanks, I have my own path. I was not looking for a master, guru,
shaman or nagual, because I was already connected to my own tradition
which has to do with surviving Toltec Indians from Mexico. (I know that
Castaneda has denied having met me, but that encounter took place with
many witnesses. It was in the house of a friend of his, Carlos Ortiz de la
Huerta, on Sierra Bacatete in the rich neighborhood "Lomas de
Chapultepec." If I remember right, it was in 1983. There were about
18 people present. That night Castaneda answered all of my questions from
7 PM to around 4 AM. Other meetings took place with other audiences. This,
of course, doesn't mean that we had a personal or disciple-teacher
relationship. I have always been clear about that.)
3. Part of my work has been to show
that trying to get to freedom following illuminated persons is a good way to
get into psychological dependence, confusion and cult-like problems. Toltecs
had a basic principle for knowledge (nimomashtic, which means
"teaching yourself"). The figure of a nagual as a spiritual leader
who will take you to the freedom or to the other world, is a fantasy invented
in California. It has nothing to do with the real Toltec or indigenous
traditions from Mexico. I think the same about tensegrity; there are no traces
about anything like that in our history.
4. I am convinced that there are
healthy ways for people to gain other realms of awareness, like shamanic
practices (when they come from sincere sources and serious research).
Illuminated masters, fake Western shamans and self-proclaimed naguals are an
obstacle to the path of knowledge.
CONCLUSIONS
I met two
Castanedas. The first one is the one I imagined when receiving so much benefit
from his earlier books. This one will be close to my heart forever.
The second
one, the one creating for-profit enterprises, the self-proclaimed nagual,
making lawsuits to protect his business, pretending to be the unique chance to
freedom over this planet, the "flyers' talker"--this is the one I
don't want to be connected to in any way.
Since my
life has been touched so positively by the first one, and so badly by the
second, I feel I have some responsibility in helping others to rescue the good
part and to keep away from the shitty side. Maybe by watching these two sides
we can discover that maybe we all are just like that: having a luminous and a
dark side. By recognizing this, we may stop longing for illuminated perfect
masters to lead our lives and start to take full responsibility for choosing,
improving and making energetic emphasis on our luminous side."
--Victor Sanchez
http://www.toltecas.com/C...oversies/VSstatement.htm
MY COMMENT:
This
is extremely important because it tells the story of who Carlos
Castaneda actually was underneath all his hype. It tells the story of
what don Juan's teachings actually did for him and it tells the story of
the type of people who stayed with Castaneda till the end. Liars,
cheats, lowdown human scum. They all had to be to stick with such a man
who would do such things to Victor Sanchez. Amazing. Now I know why I
have so much trouble getting Jeremy Donovan TBD to own up to his
slanderous lies about me. He's still the type of guy only a fool would
blindly trust to buy a used car from.
An inferior human who cannot openly admit when he is wrong
An inferior human who cannot be trusted to be honest about ANYTHING
An inferior human who cannot apologize for making assumptions about a person when he doesn't know what he is talking about
A person like...Carlos Castaneda obviously was
