Warren Lake

Now all Castaneda's books are available as audios

Revisado: 12-29-21

It is a great service to fans of Castaneda that now, with the publication of Audible's edition of "Tales of Power," all of Castaneda's books can now be listened to as audio books. To thoroughly understand these works a person may need to read or listen to all of Castaneda's books many times, and now that all of his titles can be found as audio books, reviewing all his books multiple times has become a much easier proposition.

Still, it takes real dedication to understand, digest and assimilate all these works, but, over time, and with patience, it can be done. And though the first book that Castaneda wrote, "The Teachings of Don Juan," described the use of plants with psychotropic properties, in later books Don Juan explained that the use of such substances was only necessary with some people, and that other people - those less fixed in their ways and inherently more open to altered states of awareness - did not need to use such physically debilitating substances to open their minds to the possibilities and wonders of existence.

This is fortunate, for if one can keep their body and tonal strong, yet flexible enough to new routines and habits to tap into the mysteries and powers of the nagual without using power plants and drugs, then the harms that power plants and drugs can inflict on the body can be avoided. And one can learn to open up to all the many heightened states of awareness that exist within all of us in safe and healthy ways.

And for those of you who have, already, studied in depth both Castaneda's books, and studied Zen Buddhism, also in depth, you may find it enlightening to notice the parallels between the concepts of moving the assemblage point, in nagualism, and apratiṣṭhita, in Zen Buddhism.

One last parallel can be seen in the one-pointed concentrations, or samadhis, of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, and the "fixation of the assemblage point" - also known as the use of the "will" - in Castaneda's teachings.

Paraphrased, this is how Bruce Lee may have summarized Don Juan's teachings if he were alive and familiar with nagualism now, in the 21st century:

"For apratiṣṭhita Don Juan's quotes, nagualism, and the words of Carlos Castaneda are like a finger pointing at the moon…"

...and…

"With a mind like water, and one-pointed concentrations, harmonize yin & yang, your nagual and your tonal. Be mentally strong, yet mentally flexible. Be mentally stable and self-assured, yet open to the transcendental and wondrous, which exists all around you."

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