>I'm searching for opinions and/or facts concerning Castaneda's publications.
>What do people on the net think? Is he legitimate or a fraud? Does he think
>he's legitimate? Are some of his books factual and others fiction?
In my opinion, It is obvious that Castaneda has penetrated into deeply
hidden mysteries of the mind and has very poetically evoked some of
them for his readers. I am willing to believe that he is in contact
with a tradition, or at least influences, deriving, as he states, from
precolumbian sources. It is also apparent that he has been influenced
by sources more familiar to contemporary people: Zen, Wittgenstein,
Gurdjieff, etc. His treatment of the material from these sources runs
toward parody as he adds his own peculair twist; for example, his
account in "The Eagle's Gift" of what it means to "remember oneself",
derived in part from Gurdjieff, will hardly be recognizable on first
reading to followers of that tradition, but on deeper reading reveals
a sensitivity to issues and meanings ordinarily ignored.
It is also obvious that at least some of his stories cannot be taken
literally. My guess is that he collects stories, some from personal
experience, some from accounts of others, and some from his own
imagination when in "a state of heightened awareness" and ties these
together within the framework of his literary convention of the
teachings of Don Juan.
-Richard Hodges
hodges@violet.berkeley.edu
