Letters to the Editor
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Tainted Love
The saddest thing about this article is that these phony "teachings" of a dangerous, misogynist hoaxter are STILL being taught in massage schools, yoga intructor programs, and hypnosis workshops all over the country. I still hear words like "tensegrity" bandied about with complete seriousness in these circles. Massage, yoga, and hypnosis have all been scientifically proven to be extremely powerful and medically effective therapies for many kinds of problems, physical and emotional -- IF practiced with knowledge, intelligence, and ethics. So it is all the more unfortunate that so many teachers and practitioners of these therapies are credulous of the very kind of nonsensical, nonscientific New Age garbage Casteneda peddled with such success. Worse, many people are so willing to believe that their illnesses are caused by "imbalances of energy" or "bad chi," that they will give their money to people who wave crystals or perform "Reiki," rather than actually WORKING with them. I am a massage therapist of seven years practice and I believe in the work I do, and I won't deny that there are what might be called "spiritual" or "energetic" elements to it that are very real. But I consider the people who taint their massage work with blatant voodoo to be almost as bad as the prostitutes who call themselves "masseurs/ masseuses." There is good body/mind work being done out there, but I fear it has been seriously discredited by all this nonsense. I've sent this article to the massage school in Austin, TX where I studied, HOPING they will cease giving legitimacy to Casteneda's (and other similar) ideas in the future.
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Sad But True
Carlos failed to transcend very much perhaps in his personal life. He may have plagiarized philosophical and spiritual ideas. He may have made stuff up.
Does that make the concepts in his writings invalid?
I would posit, that rational people do not take the Bible to be literally true. They might also suspect that Jesus was not the first to pronounce insights or teachings attributed to him. They might nevertheless find that their lives and actions are meaningfully and fruitfully informed by The Sermon on the Mount.
If the concepts are valid and useful, what difference does the source make? It’s like hating a great painting because the artist is an ass who lies about how he produced the painting. It doesn’t matter. The painting is still great.
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This is suddenly very interesting...
At first, this story was a big *Yawn* for me....I hate to say this, but I'm 35 and NONE of this Castneda cultism stuff even rings a bell...so up to the part about the missing women, this whole thing was just one long, boring story...in fact, it's just another cult expose, in my opinion...
But when I read the letters from nutbags trying to justify this tripe, this starts to make a lot more sense...this quote takes the cake...
"That he apparently had such a shadow side is tragic. Personally he may have been more akin to Jim Jones, but Jones never achieved the ability to transmit the powerful sense of connection to the idea of transendence on a more widespread level that could inspire as Castaneda did. And in this is the vast difference between the two.
-- kenkapkk "
I don't know if kenkapkk even saw the American Experience, but I think they are short-changing Jim Jones (and his ilk)...the People's Temple had thousands of followers at one time, and some measure of political clout in SF in the 1970s. Sure, his was the more fire-and-brimstone kind of religious experience, but it was just as powerful for those followers as it was for the followers of Castaneda's so-called teachings...
Unfortunately, all you folks that believe in Castaneda's mumbo-jumbo are just suckers that won't admit after all these years to being duped...
So, suckers...you found some kind of transcendent, storyteller bullshit-artist to make you feel better about your existence before you die...so what, big deal? What charitable good has Castaneda's teachings done for mankind? How many poor folks has his philosophy helped cloth or feed? With so many other more IMPORTANT problems going on in this world, does Carlos Castaneda really mean jack-shit?
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To Harrington
Word.
I was mildly interested in the article since I tried to read Castaneda in college at a friend's urging (I really tried, but got bored and never finished it) and hadn't realized that a cult had formed from the collection of meanderings. But I never expected that people would be lining up to defend these meanderings as Great Truth.
Admit it: you guys use "grok" in normal conversation without a hint of irony, don't you?
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Laughable quote...
"If the concepts are valid and useful, what difference does the source make? It’s like hating a great painting because the artist is an ass who lies about how he produced the painting. It doesn’t matter. The painting is still great.
-- Samson141"
I'm sorry, but your an "ass" for making that kind of comparison...
The source makes ALL the difference...I'm not a member of Jesus's Fanclub, but at least the guy tried to teach people to help the poor and the meek/innocent masses... It's an insult to compare Castaneda and his work to Jesus, or Gandhi, or just about anybody else that had an original thought about the reason for man's existence.
What the fuck did Castaneda ever do for anybody but himself?
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Peyote Anyone?
I am/was a hippie. I read Castenada. I enjoyed the books because I believed that is probably what peyote use would do.
Now I find out the Yagui's don't use peyote! Very funny. Did I belive this stuff? Did most people? No.
To the half wit who thinks he knows what a 'hippie' is, well, there were MILLIONS of hippies. Some carried guns, some smoked dope, some wanted to bring down the government, and some liked music. Some were atheists and agnostics. Some were con artists. Etc. Unfortunately for you, hippies are partly behind the back pack you are carrying; the rock, folk and roots music you might listen to; the organic food you might eat, the fucking computer you use, the peace organizations that exist, many of the feminist and environmental organizations, some of the books you might read (if you read), the movies you might watch, and on and on.
This particular hippie doesn't think Richard Dawkins has a 'religion'. He is anti-religious. Castenada supporters who equate belief in science with 'magic' and belief in some kind of 'spirit' or 'god' are kidding themselves. They are polar opposites in how to understand the world. If I tell you to 'prove it' it doesn't mean I have a religion. It means I am being kind and generous and allowing you to share your 'wisdom' with the rest of us, and not keep it such a blasted secret. See?
Oh, by the way, peyote still sounds interesting... but jumping off a cliff does not.