The Power of Silence: Further Lessons of Don Juan

I came to this Castaneda book upon its mention in Wayne Dyer's "The Power of Intention." Reading them together is a unique experience, and one I suggest. As much as "Silence" is about the typical themes as other reviewers have pointed out, the book has a great deal to say about the power of intention. Cultivating full, unemotional intention ("ruthlessness") causes powerful ability to harness perception. Weak, conflicted intention causes one to be acted upon. There is much more to it, of course, and Castaneda explains in dense detail. You'll find yourself rereading passages at times in order to follow--but the effort is worthwhile. The book was written 30 years ago, but is an undated, forceful read. If you have any bent toward spirituality, I'd recommend this book to you.

Carlos Castaneda was one of the most controversial writers of the twentieth century. Some in academia branded him a fraud for claiming his stories were biographical rather than fiction, while lauding him as a great novelist for exposing a mass audience to otherwise inaccessible philosophical abstractions they claimed were largely plagiarized. Each of his works is a piece of a larger puzzle, which makes it impossible to critique any one book without addressing the larger context into which it fits. His first two books, "Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality" describe experiences induced by ingesting psychotropic hallucinogenics prepared by a Yaqui Indian shaman from Sonora, Mexico he called don Juan Matus, and accounted for his becoming a guru to a generation seeking short cuts to spiritual enlightenment, as well as his lifelong interest in the relationship between perception and reality, a theme now explored in many popular books on consciousness and quantum physics. Unfortunately, these books remain his best selling works, in spite of Castaneda refuting their importance in his later works. Readers would be best served to skip these and avoid the risk of being turned off to Castaneda and missing the more stimulating works that followed. His third and fourth works were "Journey to Ixtlan" and "Tales of Power." In Ixtlan he admits to over-estimating the value of his drug experiences, which caused him to overlook the more profound teachings of don Juan which became the focus of future writings. What emerges is a spiritual discipline dating back to the Pre-Colombian Toltec sorcerers of Latin America, culminating with don Juan's departure from our world, effectively ending Castaneda's direct affiliation. In his fifth and sixth works "Second Ring of Power" and "Eagles Gift" Castaneda suffers strange flashbacks of what seem to be memory fragments of events he is unable to fit into any logical time sequence. In his seventh and eighth works, "Fire From Within" and "Power of Silence," Castaneda succeeds in reconstructing his lost memories, which derive from teachings previously administered by don Juan while Castaneda was in a "heightened" state of awareness. In books nine and ten, "Art of Dreaming" and "Active Side of Infinity," Castaneda focuses on what he describes as inorganic predators from another dimension, some having the power to imprison humanity in "ordinary reality" so they can feed on the dark emotional energies we produce when succumbing to the negative thoughts they insert into our minds. In later years several seemingly substantiating works appeared by two of Castaneda's female apprentices, Taisha Abelar and Florinda Donner-Grau. In addition, two scathing exposés were also published by two of his ex-wives. The first, "Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda" by first wife, Margaret Runyon, offers little corroboration, since her marriage pre-dates the time when the bulk of Castaneda's adventures were claimed to have occurred.

A brilliant flash of knowledge that illuminates the far reaches of the human mind. Through do Juan's mesmerizing stories, the true meaning of sorcery and magic is finally revealed.

Castaneda's best work after "Fire from within" and maybe "Art of dreaming." This is a must read. The art of teaching through stalking is beautifully revealed. Great book even if you have never read Castaneda before. Stories about Julian made me roll on the floor laughing