The Controversy Surrounding Carlos Casteneda and the Teachings of Don Juan

Carlos Casteneda (real name Carlos Arana) was born in Peru and moved to the United States in the early 1950's. He became a naturalized citizen in 1957, and studied anthropology at UCLA in Los Angeles. It was around this time that he claimed to have met a Yaqui Indian of frightening power and hidden knowledge: Don Juan Matus. Carlos purportedly came under the tutelage of Don Juan (because "Power pointed him out" to the Yaqui shaman) while still at the University, and he began keeping records of his experiences as well as the older man's words of wisdom.

This resulted in his first book, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge, published by University of California Press in 1968. In it, Carlos attempted to explain everything that he'd been exposed to in a way that a Western mind would understand - i.e., using the terminology and interpretations that he'd learned as an anthropology student. He soon came to realize, however, that his apprenticeship with Don Juan had undermined his faith in "consensus reality", in the everyday world that most people assume is the only real one (or the only valid interpretation of what is perceived). Carlos had gone too far; though he in many ways feared the world that Don Juan was bringing him into because it threatened so many of his beliefs, he'd already seen too much to discount this new vision of what he came to call "non-ordinary reality".

Subsequent books that he wrote, therefore, continued to recount his experiences - but this time, Carlos Castaneda was an active participant in the quest to become a "sorcerer" and a "man of knowledge", not a casual observer. Within such volumes as Journey to Ixtlan and Tales of Power, he describes the ways in which Don Juan sought to shatter his preoccupation with everyday reality and expand his mind to encompass a whole new definition of life. Part of the old sorcerer's approach was to administer various psychotropic substances to Carlos, including datura (jimson weed), psychadelic mushrooms, and peyote. These hallucinogenics pushed Carlos into realms that he could not deal with by using his rational mind or by leaning upon the habits of his everyday life. He was forced, more and more, to accept Don Juan's worldview - lest he be shattered by the reality of what he was experiencing.

Tales of Power ended with a climactic scene where Don Juan, Don Genaro (another man of knowledge) and several apprentices - including Carlos - leapt off of a cliff as a sort of final test and statement of their belief in the otherworld that sorcerers referred to as the Nagual. Carlos miraculously survived; and Don Juan and Don Genaro left through the "crack between the worlds". This dramatic conclusion to his tutelage didn't keep carlos Casteneda from producing more books, however. Indeed, eight more volumes were to follow, detailing his experiences with other, hitherto unknown, apprentices of the older sorcerers and his own charge of serving as "the Nagual" over them.

By this time he had disavowed psychadelics, claiming that he'd been mistaken in the belief that the alterations of consciousness that they provided were necessary in order for him to assimilate the knowledge that Don Juan was trying to impart to him.

Carlos Castaneda's books have sold over eight million copies and been printed in 17 languages. Perhaps the popularity of these works lies at the root of much of the criticism that they have received. It has often been pointed out that the books contradict one another with regards to certain details of time, location, sequence, and even description of events that took place. Castaneda was even accused of amassing his material from other printed sources. Anthropologists have pointed out that certain details in his books either don't bear up to geographical scrutiny or else are, in fact, impossible in the areas he describes.

It may be fitting that the works of an author whose own life is surrounded by much mystery (accounts of his birth vary, and the exact cause of his death in 1998 is unknown) should be the subject of speculation and debate as well. One thing is clear, however; if the Don Juan books are distorted (or outright fiction, as some have claimed) this would make Carlos Castaneda a masterful storyteller who managed to inject much wisdom - and even practical techniques for personal empowerment - into a modern parable.