Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Am I the only idiot here that has read all his books, admittedly back in the 80s and 90s. If anything, he was good at creative writing.
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Ronja
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I tried to read them (I think I started two or three of his books in my late teens or early tweens) but somehow I found them boring. I liked "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" a LOT more, it really stroke a chord (and still does).
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Pappa
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I liked the one I read... as a kind of lowbrow, trashy, creative drug writing kind of thing. I'm amazed anyone ever thought they were anything other than novels.
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
You forget that UCLA gave him Master's for the first book and a PhD for the third one. But this is one of the greatest hoaxes ever nonetheless.
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maiforpeace
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I read most of his books, not his later ones though. As far as woo goes, it is some of the best.Deersbee wrote:Am I the only idiot here that has read all his books, admittedly back in the 80s and 90s. If anything, he was good at creative writing.
I would still very much like to try the 'little smoke'.
Atheists have always argued that this world is all that we have, and that our duty is to one another to make the very most and best of it. ~Christopher Hitchens~
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/379 ... 3be9_o.jpg[/imgc]
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Rum
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I read his early stuff. As I was using acid and was generally off my head at the time my reaction was 'wow, if I get really high I might get some of this'. Fear was a big thing in the books too. Was not so keen on that! In retrospect however it really is all utter nonsense. Psychedelia leading to some sort of' enlightenment'? I don't think so.
..kind of sad in one way.
..kind of sad in one way.
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maiforpeace
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
Baba Ram Dass disproved that.Rum wrote:I read his early stuff. As I was using acid and was generally off my head at the time my reaction was 'wow, if I get really high I might get some of this'. Fear was a big thing in the books too. Was not so keen on that! In retrospect however it really is all utter nonsense. Psychedelia leading to some sort of' enlightenment'? I don't think so.
..kind of sad in one way.
Atheists have always argued that this world is all that we have, and that our duty is to one another to make the very most and best of it. ~Christopher Hitchens~
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/379 ... 3be9_o.jpg[/imgc]
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Pappa
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I just remembered. I once sent a complaint to Amazon about his books being listed as anthropology. I never did get a reply.
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cowiz
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I have no clue what's going on here. Am I uncool?
It's a piece of piss to be cowiz, but it's not cowiz to be a piece of piss. Or something like that.
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Pappa
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
Yes. And a total loser.pawiz wrote:I have no clue what's going on here. Am I uncool?
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cowiz
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
Pappa wrote:Yes. And a total loser.pawiz wrote:I have no clue what's going on here. Am I uncool?
It's a piece of piss to be cowiz, but it's not cowiz to be a piece of piss. Or something like that.
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Pappa
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I'm sure the inner/self reflection that psychedelics encourage can lead to some useful intuitive wisdom though.Rum wrote: Psychedelia leading to some sort of' enlightenment'? I don't think so.
..kind of sad in one way.
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cowiz
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
Only if you can remember them the next dayPappa wrote:I'm sure the inner/self reflection that psychedelics encourage can lead to some useful intuitive wisdom though.Rum wrote: Psychedelia leading to some sort of' enlightenment'? I don't think so.
..kind of sad in one way.
It's a piece of piss to be cowiz, but it's not cowiz to be a piece of piss. Or something like that.
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Robert_S
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
I've never had any problems remembering what happened with psychedelics. I have had a few experiences on LSD that have positively effected my relationship to the real world. I've also had quite a few times where I just tripped ballz for kicks and giggles.pawiz wrote:Only if you can remember them the next dayPappa wrote:I'm sure the inner/self reflection that psychedelics encourage can lead to some useful intuitive wisdom though.Rum wrote: Psychedelia leading to some sort of' enlightenment'? I don't think so.
..kind of sad in one way.
What I've found with a few discussions I've had lately is this self-satisfaction that people express with their proffessed open mindedness. In realty it ammounts to wilful ignorance and intellectual cowardice as they are choosing to not form any sort of opinion on a particular topic. Basically "I don't know and I'm not going to look at any evidence because I'm quite happy on this fence."
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The Net is best considered analogous to communication with disincarnate intelligences. As any neophyte would tell you. Do not invoke that which you have no facility to banish.
Audley Strange
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FBM
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Re: Carlos Castaneda
In high school, I got deeply into CC and didn't grow out of it until I was in university. Though it was all based on crap, I did get a useful meditation technique out of it. The bit about walking with your eyes unfocused and increasing your dependence on your peripheral vision. It really is effective, for me, in shutting down the internal dialog, stripping away the interpretive apparati that filter out or distort experience. It adds an interesting, non-ordinary perspective, but that's about it. No gateways to other dimensions and such woo. Just a little playtime with perception.
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"We ain't a sharp species. We kill each other over arguments about what happens when you die, then fail to see the fucking irony in that."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while the wolf remains of a different opinion."
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