A Separate Reality: Further Conversations with Don Juan

Read this 20 years ago loved it then and have enjoyed it second time round. I think that in part I enjoyed it so much because I have an interest in what reality is - I wondered how it might stand up over time - particularly given the on line 'realities' that have grown out of MUDs and secondlife / on line gaming. This is not the matrix but rather the revisiting of an anthropologist to his field notes re reflecting on what time has revealed for him following his first encounters with Don Juan. I think there have been the usual discreting of Castaneda but there is for me some compelling sense of questioning about what and how reality is constructed. Perhaps a bit like the author my thinking has changed in revisiting this book.It is almost as though Castaneda is drawn by some hidden other self into another reality one that Don Juan is cognisant of and is equally compelled to show.There are many more encounters in a 7 book series and I am looking forward to reading them all.I read this in the Kindle version

Bought this for a young friend. Read it myself years ago along with the other Casteneda books. You either 'love reading Casteneda or hate him'? I loved reading him. It was an education with regard to understanding the ritualistic and ceremonial nature of shamanism. I did not end up believing everything I read - far from it. But in a sense that was the point. I was embarked on trying to sort illusion from reality, and I believe his writings were instrumental in that regard. They also helped - in a roundabout way, explain some of the phenomena I experienced in altered states.I that regard do not and cannot recommend taking drugs, but in a historical context many if not most civilizations have accomodated their use and invented ceremonies and rituals and care provisions to ensure greater safety for users, or should I say 'seekers', for in most instances they were used in pursuit of truth and knowledge or 'Enlightenment' rather than taken for pleasure.I do not believe Casteneda's writings are The Answer, but they are now classic literature and in reading them one will at least become conversant with one perspective, like one language among the many. Hope this helps?

Very insightful into how one should live their life, it gives a different view of the world and challenges the ideas and beliefs that we have be taught whilst also providing simple methods to changing your thinking and behaviours with how we interact with the world on a day to day basis.I really enjoy reading these series of books, they go far deeper to answering the questions about our purpose than anything else that I have ever read.

Good presentation. Interesting stories.

Loved it !!!!!!!

Not as insightful as the first book... lots of minute detail about his experiences but less of Don Juan's wisdom in this one.

Perfect, good quality in very good condition.

Very good, great book, and the distributor packaged the book good.

I hope to all those looking for authentication via psychotropic and other drugs, this book and the subsequent one especially sheds light on the authenticity of your journey.

I find books like this are rare. While mystery is easy to find, explanations as to what may be occuring are not. A breath of fresh air. Amazing book.

Castaneda was still a noob. Don Juan resorted to exposing him to the effects of power plants to shake him out of his numbness.

For Shamanic revelations and serious study...Thunder Raven / The Sun Mystic

A must read for anybody seeking clarity.

thanks awseome book!!!!!! I lost this book after reading it ten years ago. Such an amazing journey Don Juan takes you on!

Wonderful book!

An absolute must read

Libro che aiuta a ricordare i tempi in cui si credeva che vi era una possibilità di conoscere se stessi attraverso l'uso di droghe allucinogene,peccato che l'autore non menzioni i danni cerebrali causati dall' assunzione del peyote.

Good

This is one of only four books that Carlos Castañeda totally attributes to a "mysterious figure" he called Don Juan Matús. Suffice to say that, based on the actual content of these original four books, it doesn't matter whether Castañedas source(es) for the information he gave to us was really named Don Juan, or Roger Rabbit, or President Milhouse Nixon. Clearly to those who pay attention, what matters dearly are the messages.The messages are philosophical (the whole gamut--ethics, methods to reality(ies) including most prevelantly, meditation) and religious, presented in amazing discourse. I first read these books as they came out in the early 1970s. Since then, they have totally altered my life-view, and the love affair and marriage I now have with this sacred life and the Sacred Earth and Sky. Totally changed me, for the better.And I have tried and tried to figure out the source or sources for what Mr. (Dr.) Castañeda consulted to create these master works. No matter what else he was (a real bum and a fraud are often heard), he did the world of men a favor by creating these first four books.I think the sources are mainly Daoist, and mainly the older books such as the Nei, Tao-Tsang, Chuang-Tzu, and others. Amazingly, I'm still learning! Join me--there is so much to learn about the sacredness of Everything.

Amazing book on the nature of reality, a must read for those interested in exploring the universe in a new way and also for anyone interested in different cultures, medicinal plants, and sociology!

I was looking for deeper, spiritual truths about our reality but this book is primarily a story about the author’s relationship with a self-proclaimed shaman named Don Juan. It was a very interesting story, but there’s also a great deal of “first I did this, then I felt this, then I could feel...” while the spiritual wisdom that’s shared is only briefly discussed a few times throughout the book. The author is also frequently afraid, upset or worried instead of curious and this was frustrating for me as a truth seeker. For anyone interested in spiritual matters and seeking inner truth this book isn’t that helpful, but if you’re just looking for a decent story to pass the time this might interest you.

There are books 📚 and then there are books 📚 .. of all the books 📚 I have read over my life, this by far is the most life changingI bought this for a friend

Been long time reader. I love these yet many people might not like due to drug mushroom use. I not into drugs yet storyline goes deeper than medicinal habits of native people.