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Summary: The Art of Dreaming
Review: Reader, BEWARE of Castenada and his suggestions. He is a sorcerer. It is imperative that readers of this book balance the content against other compelling perspectives, e.g., DREAMS by KALLMYER is an excellent book which provides a scholarly, yet practical view that is sure to challenge the reader.
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Summary: SOME DO,SOME DON'T
Review: READING THE REVIEWS IT IS EASY TO RECOGNZE THOSE WHO READ THE BOOK WITHOUT EXPECTATIONS AND THOSE WHO WOULD PREPORT TO KNOW WHAT SHOULD FOLLOW THE OTHER EIGHT.MAYBE THE CRITICS NEED TO RE-EXAMINE THE WHY OF THEIR THOUGHTS.
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Summary: A HALLUCINOGENIC MYSTERY
Review: The 'dreaming' in the title of this work refers to a hallucinogenic induced trance that Carlos terms the 'second attention'. While 'dreaming' one develops the skill to see the body as composed of luminous energy filaments. This allows the dreamer to discern whether inhabitants of the dream are self generating or merely virtual constructs of the mind. Carlos depicts four gates of 'dreaming'-- passing each gate allows the subject greater and greater control of the visions he or she encounters.In one hallucinogenic trip Carlos discovers an Alice character as in ALICE IN WONDERLAND. First he sees a ball of blue energy he calls the Blue Scout who then changes into an eight year old girl. Similar to Alice using her magic mushroom ritual to enlarge and shrink herself when she became trapped, Carlos uses his ritual to extract the girl from the shadow world. Nowhere in this story does Carlos ever tell the reader that his material is a story. Castaneda makes of himself a character, Carlos, a man in search of the mysteries of becoming a sorcerer. The conflict is between Carlos, a man who wants all the answers, and the guru or nagual, don Juan, who demands that Carlos discover his own answers. Carlos is pretty much under don Juan's spell and control. Don Juan makes Carlos ingest a considerable array of hallucinogenics (peyote, mescaline and magic mushrooms) to keep his assemblage point or his point of view fluid. Near the end of the story the conflict shifts to include a woman in the church, the death defier. She is a chameleon character who can become whoever she intends to be. She can recreate virtual realms and then step into them. She takes Carlos past the fourth gate of 'dreaming.' The reader continues on hoping to determine if Carlos can discover what is on the other side of the final gate. Carlos finishes the story as confused as he began it. In the end the reader along with Carlos finds nothing there--there is no there, there.
Rating:
Summary: Art of Dreaming
Review: The Art of Dreaming is in my opinion the best of the Carlos Casteneda series. The sheer terror and excitment encountered reading the book is a direct strike on one's perception of the world around them. It presents new readers of the Castaneda's books with a blow that simply will force them to continue wanting to learn about the sorcerers cognitive world, and presents readers of his series of books with a science of practical application as does magical passes. The Art of Dreaming is something that all of us can explore for ourselves if we dare, and this book is a definate read if we do wish to challenge the boundaries of ordinary perception.
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Summary: Back and Forth
Review: The motion of reading a work such as this: back and forth. I've read a bit of Castenada (primarily his first book) and I read this out of an interest in Dreaming. I've seen a lot of reviews here. My advice is simple: mix all the reviews together mentally, and you'll gain a sense for Castenada. But then, forget that sense entirely and approach this book fresh, with an open-mind. If you've never read any of his stuff before I don't think you'll get much out of this book. Furthermore, their is a tremendous consensus in the academic world that Castaneda was not simply "telling it as he lived/observed it". His works, with the possible exception of the first book, are certainly not just the plain narratives they appear to be. For one thing: Castaneda's character in the stories is, at times, almost unbelievably dense if you consider his thoughts and actions in context. Furthermore, about half-way through the Castaneda series, he apparently starts all over again, describing totally different accounts of his relationship, and how he got to know Don Juan. Many of the details seem to contradict each other, eliminating the notion that Castaneda was simply telling details he left out. And then, as has been noted, he writes this book which seems a shift in focus, the introduction of Dreaming as what "it is really all about". One can also run across all sorts of other people who run workshops and write books claiming to have known Don Juan, or Carlos himself, which is all very hard to determine as Carlos simply disappeared from view. Apparently he died in the late 90's and it was only months later, or something like that, that anybody found out about it. I may have details wrong here but the above is the picture I gathered as I informally researched the context for this book. The Art of Dreaming demands a back and forth approach. One should gain some experience with lucid dreaming, as another reviewer recommended, and try to understand what he says in that context. He has written down some novel techniques (the exercise of Dreaming attention for instance) although a lot of it coincides with other traditions. For instance, the talk of training the dreaming attention as a way of accessing and honing the energy body is found, in almost identical form, in Tibetan Dream Yoga (see the chapter called "developing the mayic body" in Chogyal Namkhai Norbus "Dream Yoga and the practice of Natural Light", or the Dalai Lamas sketching of dream yoga in the book "sleeping, dreaming, and dying"). After a period, it may be time to let Castaneda go, and then return to this book when you feel so compelled. Tentatively, it seems a weaving of a fictional story line with real experiences/insights. Approach it as such and one won't be very disappointed.
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Summary: The Art of Dreaming
Review: This book disappoints some, I guess, because it is a bit of a departure from the previous books in the series. However, I thought it was very insightful, and continues the narrative of Carlos's growth into the world of don Juan's knowledge. I actually found it much more coherent and down to earth than Castaneda's previous two books, and seemed to reach some kind of culmination of his years with don Juan. The Art of Dreaming brings to fruition the technique of "dreaming" that began in the second book, A Seperate Reality, and continues in Journey to Ixtlan and Tales of Power. With Carlos's advancement in the "dreaming" technique, this book shows where it finally leads him, and the astonishing end results. For those who are really interested in the deeper aspects of the teachings of don Juan, this is a great book. Those who simply consider Castaneda's work to be entertaining fiction may not find this book to their liking.
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Summary: Delve Deep into your psyche to find answers
Review: This book in 'The Teachings of Don Juan' series is all about dreaming, lucid dreaming, traveling to other realms and meeting non-corporal beings using your dreams as a key. It's about finding the keys to your inner self, your inner power, and unlocking your potential to find the answers you need to know in your life. Like all the 'Don Juan' books this isn't so much a how-to manual like many books on magic are. Rather, this is a story about one man and one teacher and thier experiences together. There is much to learn here, but individuals may have different experiences with some of the methods than Carlos Castenada had. A good book to read if you are working on unlocking the power of your dreams.
Rating:
Summary: Delve Deep into your psyche to find answers
Review: This book in 'The Teachings of Don Juan' series is all about dreaming, lucid dreaming, traveling to other realms and meeting non-corporal beings using your dreams as a key. It's about finding the keys to your inner self, your inner power, and unlocking your potential to find the answers you need to know in your life. Like all the 'Don Juan' books this isn't so much a how-to manual like many books on magic are. Rather, this is a story about one man and one teacher and thier experiences together. There is much to learn here, but individuals may have different experiences with some of the methods than Carlos Castenada had. A good book to read if you are working on unlocking the power of your dreams.
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Summary: What I think about it:
Review: This book is best I ever see in this area of knowledge.
Thank you Carlos
Rating:
Summary: Full of knowledge
Review: This book is full of valuable knowledge about self-realization. Do not consider this book as fiction or you will loose its message. If you have never read any Castaneda's book I recommend that you start from The Teachings of Don Juan.
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