Tales of Power

La descripcion que hace Carlos Castaneda acercad e sus diferentes experiencias con Don Juan Matus te transporta exactamente a ese lugar y hace que imagines como puede ser o pudo haber sido la experiencia de Castaneda y las plantas alucinogenas, en este libro experimenta con el humito, nombre que Don Juan con mucho respeto le da al aliado que se encuentra cuando uno trata de "ver" con los hongos alucinogenos, excelente libro.

This is the last of the Castenada books that I bothered reading, and I was thrilled with it. It documents the extraordinary conclusion of Castenada's apprenticeship with don Juan and as such, should have ended here. But like a blockbuster movie with interminable bad sequels, Castenada continued to crank out increasingly lousy permutations of the don Juan teachings theme that degenerated into obfuscation and just plain silliness. Lost was the focus and tautness of the earlier works. As Robert Graves once observed, the story of an ugly duckling who becomes a swan is far more interesting than the story of a swan, formerly an ugly duckling. Castenada should have stopped here, master of a path with heart bequeathed to him by the Yacqui old ones and a thousands-of-years old oral tradition. He chose instead to create a don Juan franchise with Tensegrity workshops and other such nonsense available at your local New Age emporium. Only Castenada diehards will want to read much beyond Tales Of Power. The books written after this shows a Carlos Castenada more in pursuit of a fat bank account then a Shaman's power and knowledge.

The Castaneda series has become one of the most controversialin literary history, abetted by the fact that the author himselfswore to the truth of every fantastical event he described in their pages until his dying day. That Castaneda died an old,frail man when the books promised an extraordinarily long and healthy life seemed to give lie to his words, but in fact thisdoes not take away from the philosophical beauty of works like"Tales Of Power", which is my favorite of the six I have readso far (there are ten in all).The first book, "The Teachings Of Don Juan", is easily theslightest--although it introduces the saga and provides the reader with some of the terminology, it is clear that Castanedahad yet to grasp what was happening to him, and much of it is (as he later admits) a strange cross between far-fetched prose and overly-analytical text. "A Separate Reality" is a vast improvement, even as the stories get wilder and wilder; some readers have howled with laughter over tales of invisible 'allies' which guard the sorcerer, or of an astral "yoke" which can give a man superhuman powers, but the imageryis extraordinary and the philosophical lessons behind suchtruly bizarre events are unique and important. The third book, "Journey To Ixtlan", is the easiest to swallow for most people, since it concentrates on the self-help and ethical aspects of the teaching and keeps the wild stories to a bare minimum (as such, it is highly recommended). However, "Tales Of Power" picks up where "A Separate Reality" left off and ups the ante on both the crazy events (at one point Castaneda is teleported in time and space) and the overallphilosphical arc of the series, for it is in this volume that the all-important ideas of the 'tonal' and 'nagual' are introduced, discussed and exhibited. Although the concepts may sound like a souped-up version of Sartre-styled existentialism (anyone remember "Nausea"?) and Zen, there is nothing wrong with this and, in fact, by presenting the ideas in these new termshe makes them sound fresh and arguably easier to understand. His characterizations of Don Juan and Don Genaro are as meticulous as ever, and both men emerge in the book as spiritual masters of a most peculiar order. Even if neither ever existed,or if Casteneda made every word up out of thin air (and he didn't--researchers have verified his trips to Mexico on thesedates), it doesn't matter--the wisdom you will receive from these books is priceless.

I would rate all of Castaneda's books five stars because they are fascinating reading. But starting with this one and going forward, the similarities between the teachings and beliefs of Don Juan to all religions and "New Age" tenets are remarkable.If you have ever read Jane Roberts "Seth" books, you will find striking parallels between what Seth tells us about life, death and the afterlife, and what Don Juan teaches. Don Juan's philosophy of "impeccability" embraces all the great religions' philosophies: live life as perfectly as you can each day, enjoying it, being kind and helpful to your fellow man, learning from it. Did any of you read "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom, or see the TV movie? Morrie says death is a little bird sitting on your left shoulder, always ready to take you. Thus, live your life to its fullest each day, savoring every moment. What does Don Juan tell Carlos in each book? Death is always at your left shoulder ready to tap you.And last but not least, this is only one reality which we perceive. Don Juan (and Seth, and countless others) tell us of a multitude of realities that we can tap into. Seth's whole preaching that our dreams are as real and as important as our waking life is Don Juan's teaching that dreaming gets you into a different reality.Obviously, one needs to be at a receptive point that this type of information and philosophy is believable. Many people will find Castenada's writings rediculous, but many others can get tremendous benefits out of the teachings. After all, whether you embrace the Golden Rule, or live your life with "impeccability" what does it matter as long as you are doing good and loving all people?

I notice the the publishing date on this book is 1991 or sometime in the 90's. I remember reading Tales of Power sometime in the late 70's or early 80's. Since then I have read several more of his books and over the years I re-read this books over three to four times each. I find them facinating. I allways wonder if there is a chronological order in reading his books since they are about a subject that is been tought over period of many years. If there is one, which book should be read fisrt, second, third,... and so on. I would certainly appreciate a responce to my question.