There is not so much information about the biography of Carlos Castaneda, an American writer and thinker of an esoteric orientation, and they are all rather contradictory. In order not to deviate from his concept of "erasing personal history," Carlos deliberately concealed information about his life, and as a result, the writer's biography more than once became the object of various speculations.

Full name - Carlos Cesar Salvador Araña Castaneda. The first controversial fact was the date and place of Castaneda's birth. A number of sources claim that he was born on December 25, 1925 in Peru in the town of Cajamarca. Such data was given by Time magazine in March 1973. Subsequently, the writer rejected this version. Second possible date birth was called December 25, 1931. The author himself in some of his publications stated that he was born on December 25, 1935. In addition, Castaneda claimed to have been born in Brazil, not Peru.

In 1951 he moved to the United States, where he began studying at San Francisco Community College. From 1955 to 1959 in Los Angeles he attended various courses in literature and psychology at City College. In 1955 he met his future wife, Margaret Runyan. He became a US citizen in 1959 and married Margaret a year later. In fact, the marriage lasted several months, but the official divorce took place in 1973.

Castaneda claimed that in 1960 an incident happened to him that turned his fate around. While on a trip to Arizona, he met a Yaqui shaman (in his books he called him Juan Matus). Don Juan was Castaneda's mentor from 1961 to 1965, teaching him magical practices. In 1968, the author's first book, The Teachings of Don Juan, was published, thanks to which he became the owner of a master's degree. This book became a real bestseller, providing the writer with financial independence and wide popularity.

The writer resumed his studies with a mentor and already in 1971-1972 two more books were published in which he described his apprenticeship. For his third work ("Journey to Ixtlan"), Castaneda was awarded a master's degree in anthropology.

According to Carlos Castaneda, don Juan passed away in 1973. In 1974, the world saw the last book, which described Castaneda's experience with don Juan. The Tale of Power described how the author's mentor said goodbye to his life. From about this period, the writer cut off contact with the outside world and until the early 90s devoted himself to developing the teachings of don Juan, along with a small team of his followers. Any contacts with society were possible only through books and with the help of intermediaries. Carlos Castaneda increasingly shrouded his personality in riddles, embarking on the stage of "erasing his history."

From the beginning of the 90s, the writer stopped leading an isolated lifestyle: he lectured at the University of California, taught small groups, as well as paid seminars in Mexico and the USA. In 1995, he created the Cleargreen organization, which published the author's books and held meetings of followers of Castaneda's teachings. In 1998, the author published two of his recent books"Magic Passes" and "Wheel of Time".

There are many followers of Castaneda who perceive his works not only as a poetic metaphor, but also as a direct guide to action. Some followers joined the training in seminars started by the writer. In our time, the works of many authors writing on similar topics are published.

Carlos Castaneda passed away on April 27, 1998. According to official figures, the cause of death was liver cancer. News of the death of Castaneda appeared in the press only on June 18, 1998.

Carlos Castaneda is dead... or at least his personal history

Carlos Castaneda, author of 11 books on the teachings of shamans ancient mexico, April 27, died at his home in Westwood (Los Angeles) from liver cancer; his body was cremated and the ashes sent to Mexico - this is the official information. This was reported in the press (Los Angeles Times, New York Times, etc.) on June 19, i.e. almost two months later.

What does "died" mean?

The very first thing I would like to do is to clarify the term "died".

In most spiritual traditions, a person who has attained enlightenment (in terms Eastern traditions), retains awareness after death, and his physical body remains in this world. This happened, for example, with the Indian masters of the 20th century: Babajdi, Osho Rajneesh, this is how Buddha died, the founder of Jainism Mahavir, Orthodox Sergius Radonezh. However, in some traditions such a valuable resource as the body is not left on Earth. At the end of his journey, the practitioner realizes Body of Light: he announces that he will die in seven days; it is closed in a room or tent, and on the eighth day only hair and nails are found there. In the Dzogchen tradition (translated means "Great Perfection") Body of Light realized by such masters as Padmasambhava and Vimalamitra, in the tradition of Bon - Tapihriyets.

Many traditions speak of incarnations, on the grave of Rajneesh it is written: “Never born, never died. Only visited this planet Earth between 12/11/31 and 1/19/90. Not all people can achieve realization in one life, the same Rajneesh remembered his previous incarnation, in which he lacked three days before enlightenment.

The tradition of Castaneda does not recognize reincarnation, nor does it recognize the possibility of retaining awareness, leaving the physical body to die in this world. According to the teachings of magicians, a human being, being born, receives awareness as an “advance” from an impersonal powerful Force, which magicians figuratively called Eagle. During life, a person develops this awareness, enriches it with his experience. When death comes, the Eagle takes away his awareness along with the accumulated experience and impressions. Therefore, each of us has only two possibilities: either we die and Eagle absorbs our consciousness, or we embark on the path of a warrior in order to have a "cubic centimeter of a chance to have a chance" to achieve absolute freedom, or, in other words, burn in flames from the inside. This happened to Castaneda's teacher, don Juan Matus, to his teacher, to the teacher of his teacher...

Don Juan said that further evolution of man in a biological body is no longer possible. According to the teachings of magicians, an ordinary person sees the world around him as solid physical bodies only because he is taught from childhood to interpret In a similar way the energy he perceives. Magi see the universe as a set of luminous energy filaments, "stretching in all conceivable and inconceivable directions from infinity to infinity." From an energetic point of view, human beings are "glowing eggs", "cocoons" through which the energy fibers of the universe pass. At the moment of death, magicians transform their body (which, like everything else in the world, is energy) into pure energy and become creatures that do not have an organism. Don Juan believed that man by nature is a magical being, a being for whom perception is the main thing, and in perception a person can reach extraordinary depths. However, people who have grown up and live in society have forgotten about their journey of perception and are simply moving towards decrepitude and death.

Castaneda said: "I would like to find integrity in order to leave this world in the same way that he (don Juan) did, but there is no guarantee." If Carlos Castaneda really died, it only means that he could not realize his "cubic centimeter of chance." For those who practice the techniques described in Castaneda's books, they go to seminars on tensegrity(a modern version of the magical passes discovered by the shamans of ancient Mexico), nothing has changed - each of us can have a chance, but cannot have guarantees.

By the way, the seminars continue. They took place after April 27: May 2 in Santa Monica (USA), May 23-24 in Munich, June 6 and 13 in the USA. Seminars will continue to be held. The next one is planned for Los Angeles from July 31 to August 2, the next one is in November.

Version two

The data from unofficial sources are as follows. Castaneda and two female warriors of his magical group: Taisha Abelar (author of the book "Magical Transition") and Florinda Donner-Grau (author of the books "The Dream of the Witch", "Shabono", "Life in a Dream") - left this world, retaining awareness . This was stated by one of the energy trackers (energy investigators - this is the name of a group of female practitioners who demonstrate tensegrity at seminars) at a meeting with seminar participants. (There were no press reports of Taisha's and Florinda's deaths.) Of the four members of Castaneda's magical group, only Carol Tiggs remained here.

Castaneda's literary agent, Tracy Kramer, reported: "In keeping with the tradition of the shamans of his lineage, Carlos Castaneda left this world in full awareness" (quoting from the Los Angeles Times).

Indeed, all three female warriors were present at the seminar on April 4 (Castaneda has not appeared at the seminars for more than a year). On May 2, Carol was alone (she did not say a word about Carlos's death). Taisha and Florinda were supposed to be at the Munich seminar at the end of May, but they did not come, the organizers even lowered the cost of the seminar and returned the difference to the participants. On June 6 and 13 none of the four magicians were present either. (I was at the seminars personally, so the information is first-hand.)

Great mystifier

It is possible that both versions of Castaneda's death are false. Newspapers note that the circumstances of Carlos' death are as full of hoaxes as his life. His death certificate says he's a teacher in a stake in Beverly Hills - but he doesn't appear on the school rolls.

According to the report, he was cremated "at once" ("instantly", "immediately") - a suspicious rush. However, the press reports were two months late, with Deborah Druz, Carlos Castaneda's "lawyer and friend", citing as an explanation for the publication: "He didn't like to be the center of attention. Knowing this, I did not take responsibility for releasing the press release."

Officially, he died of liver cancer - but seminar participants who saw Castaneda at his favorite restaurant in Los Angeles in February (i.e. two months before his death) report that he looked like anything but a person, suffering from liver cancer.

The photo "Castaneda in 1951" looks unrealistic: firstly, the man in the photo is under forty, and Castaneda in 1951 was no more than 26; secondly, I conducted a mini-survey of those who saw Castaneda - of course, we saw him in 1996, there is still little resemblance. In general, Castaneda forbade himself to be photographed and filmed: “Recording is a way to fix you in time. The only thing a magician should not do is become static, inert. A static world, a static picture is the opposite of a magician."

In 1997, a book by Margaret Runyan Castaneda was published in Canada - ex-wife Carlos, she describes him as a master of hoaxes. Here is an example. According to the questionnaires of the University of California, Carlos was born on 12/25/1931 in Brazil, according to the immigration card - 12/25/1925 in Peru. This contradiction in information was found and first published by a journalist in March 1973. But that's just one fact. According to the teachings, the magician erases his personal history, so there is no doubt that we will never know most of the information about Castaneda.

Why does a magician need hoaxes? The goal of the magician is to leave with awareness. And for this, the magician must not only have enough energy, he must be free and fluid. Personal history, public attention, as well as a sense of self-importance - this is what gets in the way: it binds, takes away energy. Almost every seminar is attended by people who very soon forget why they came - about practices, about self-improvement and about infinity. And they begin to collect facts about the biography of Castaneda and the women of his magical group. For the participants, this is an unacceptable waste of time and energy; for Castaneda's magical group, this is another attempt at fixation. But the magician cannot be fixed!

I will give an epigraph to Castaneda's book "Tales of Power": "Five conditions for a lonely bird:

First: it reaches its highest point

Second: for the company she does not suffer even birds like her

Third: her beak is directed to the sky

Fourth: it does not have a specific color

Fifth: and she sings very softly.

Main question

And now I would like to ask a question. Maybe we are solving the wrong problem? Castaneda died, Castaneda left, or freed from the burden of public attention - what can the possession of this information give us? How many spears have been broken in the discussion of the questions “was don Juan a real person?”, “did Castaneda use the works of other anthropologists?”, “are the events of his books real or fiction?!" But what and to whom did it give?

Why do we keep wasting time and energy on this? Is it because discussing these things is much more familiar and easier than asking yourself (yourself) the main question: do the techniques described by Carlos Castaneda work? After all, if we ask ourselves this question, we will face the fact that we have little time and only one choice: we can either carelessly move towards own death, or "abandon the damned pettiness that is characteristic of people who live life as if death would never touch them."

A fellow practitioner of Tensegrity said, “You know, it's more useful for us to assume that Castaneda really died. You become more determined. You understand that you are alone and you must mobilize all your forces.

Indeed, "the best we can do is when we're backed up against the wall."

Castaneda said: "Intention is not reasoning, it is action." The masters of the Dzogchen tradition emphasize: "This is not about philosophical doctrine, it is about the practical return of man to his true nature." There are many wonderful strong technicians described in different traditions: prayer, meditation, yogic asanas ... Why do we ignore them, or turn them into a formality, following which we do not move anywhere, do not change ?!

Let me finish with the words of Castaneda, said at one of the seminars: “We will all come face to face with infinity, whether we like it or not. Why do this when we are weak and decrepit, at the moment of death? Why not when we are strong? Why not now?"

Carlos Castaneda is one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century. What can be said with certainty about him is that he is the author of ten unique books, each of which became a bestseller, as well as the founder of the publishing company Cleargreen Inc., which currently owns the rights to all of his books. creative heritage. Any other information is only speculation, riddles and assumptions.

Mysteries of Castaneda's biography

Throughout almost his entire life Carlos Castaneda hid his "personal history", categorically forbade taking pictures of himself (although there are still several photos of Castaneda) and gave only a few interviews in his entire life. In addition, he denied that he had ever been married. But Margaret Renyan, in her book A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda, which presents her memories of life with Castaneda, assures that they were married.

Carlos Castaneda was a master of hoaxes- speaking about himself, at every opportunity he came up with a new place of birth, a new father and mother, a new "legend". In most cases, Castaneda claimed to have been born in the Brazilian city of São Paulo in 1935 on Christmas Day to a highly respected family, and his father was an academic. In some of his conversations, Carlos implicitly alluded to the fact that one of famous people that time - revolutionary and diplomat Osvaldo Arana was his uncle. Among other "popular" versions of Castaneda was that he was born not in 1935, but in 1931, and that the Peruvian city of Cajamarca is his homeland. In other words, the true biography of Castaneda went to the grave (to the grave?) with him.

But one of the most accurate versions of the biography of the hero of our article was published by Time magazine in 1973.. Below we offer it to your attention.

Biography of Castaenda according to the magazine "Time»

Carlos Castaneda (full name– Carlos Cesar Arana Castaneda) born in Sao Paulo(Brazil) December 25, 1925. His father, Cesar Arana Castaneda Burugnari, was a watchmaker, and nothing is known about his mother, Susanna Castaneda Novoa, except that she was an elegant, fragile girl with very poor health. By the time Carlos was born, his father was only seventeen and his mother sixteen. When Carlos was 24 years old, his mother passed away.

It is not uncommon for Carlos's fictional and true stories about his life to also mention his grandparents, with whom he lived as a child. Grandmother had foreign roots, most likely Turkish, and was not very beautiful, rather large, but very good woman. Carlos loved her very much.

And here Castaneda's grandfather was very peculiar person . He was of Italian descent, red-haired and blue-eyed. He spoiled Carlos all the time with various tales and stories, and also invented all sorts of little things that he presented to all members of the family from time to time.

Later, when Castaneda met a Mexican magician named don Juan Matus, his mentor insisted that Carlos say goodbye to his grandfather forever. However, even the death of his grandfather did not affect don Juan's ward in any way - the impact on the life of Castaneda of his grandfather remained. long years. Carlos recalled that farewell to grandfather was the most difficult event in his life. Saying goodbye to his grandfather, he presented him as detailed as possible, and told him: "Farewell."

In 1951 Castaneda emigrates to the USA.. And in 1960, an event takes place that radically changes the life of Carlos and a huge number of people who will later get acquainted with his books. Being at that time a student at the University of California at Los Angeles, and went to Mexico to collect the "field material" he needed for his thesis, at the Greyhound bus station in the Mexican town of Nogales on the border american state California and the Mexican state of Sonora, Carlos meets an Indian shaman from the Yaqui tribe - magician don Juan Matus. In the future, don Juan will become Castaneda's spiritual mentor, and for twelve years he will initiate him in the wisdom of magic, giving him the secret knowledge inherited from the ancient Toltecs - the people of Knowledge. It is impossible to establish the reliability of further events with 100% certainty, but they are all described in detail in Castaneda's books.

At this point, we can finish talking about the biography of Carlos Castaneda and move on to a brief description of the process of learning Carlos from don Juan and the appearance of the first works of Castaneda.

The Beginning of Don Juan's Training

The first and main task of don Juan Matus was the destruction of the habitual and established picture of the world in the mind of Castaneda. He taught Carlos how to see new aspects of reality and perceive the whole versatility of the world in which we live. In the process of learning, don Juan resorted to many different methods and techniques, which are also mentioned in books, but initially, given the "ossified" worldview of his student, don Juan used the most severe methods of training, namely: he used psychotropic drugs such as the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii), sacred to the American Indians, the Mexican psilocybin (Psilocybe mexicana) hallucinogenic mushroom ) and a special smoking mixture based on Datura (Datura inoxia). It is for this reason that future opponents of Castaneda began to accuse him of promoting the use of drugs.

However, in the future, weighty counterarguments were presented to all these accusations. It should also be said that psychotropic substances are discussed only in the first two books of Castaneda. In the rest of his works, completely different ways of changing consciousness and understanding the secret aspects of human existence are presented. These include such as stalking, lucid dreaming, erasing personal history, stopping the internal dialogue, contemplation, and many others.

Castaneda's work

Early in his apprenticeship with the Mexican magician, Carlos asked him for permission to record their conversations. So the first sensational book of Carlos "The Teachings of don Juan: the path of Knowledge of the Yaqui Indians" was born. In the blink of an eye, this book became a bestseller and was sold in huge numbers. Further, her fate was repeated by the next nine books. They all tell how Carlos first studied with don Juan, comprehended the secrets of magical teachings and interacted with other people; how then he himself taught a group of magicians, after don Juan left our world in 1973, "burning in a fire from the inside"; and also about how he tried to clarify for himself the essence of all the events that happened to him in previous years.

From the time Castaneda's first book appeared to this day, people have been debating whether don Juan even existed. real person or fictional Carlos collectively. For example, Margaret Renyan Castaneda, mentioned above, in her book says that the name Juan Matus occurs in Mexico as often as Peter Ivanov in Russia, and also that initially in his field notes Carlos simply spoke of an elderly Indian who began to teach him - the name Juan Matus appeared somewhat later. In addition, "Matus", according to Margaret, is the name of the red wine that she and Carlos liked to drink during their youth.

If you believe the words of the author himself famous works, don Juan was a real person very modest in nature, but, in fact, a real shaman, a powerful brujo, the last representative of a line of Toltec magicians that has a long history. He began to teach Carlos because Carlos was pointed out to him by the Spirit, and what he found in Castaneda energy configuration suitable for the neophyte to become the new leader of the next line of sorcerers, called the Nagual Party.

Howbeit, people familiar with the work of the great mystifier are divided into two camps- these are those who fully accept everything that is said in the books on faith, and those who seek by all means to refute the accuracy of the information presented and debunk the myths about Castaneda, don Juan and his teachings.

The secret of Castaneda's identity

As is known, Carlos Castaneda strove to obscure his identity and everything related to his life. This desire to escape from the human eye and avoid any certainty stems from the basic requirement that is placed on the sorcerers of don Juan's line - to always remain flexible, elusive, not limited by any frames, stereotypes and opinions of people, and also to avoid any behavioral patterns and reactions. In the terminology of the Toltec magicians, this is called "erasing personal history". Based on this basic premise, one can say for sure that humanity will never know all the details of the life of Carlos Castaneda and whether don Juan really existed.

If even Carlos managed to effectively erase his personal history, then don Juan did it just flawlessly (by the way, the concept of impeccability is one of the central ones in don Juan's teachings), without leaving any traces behind, leaving this world "along with the shoes."

According to Carlos Castaneda, his teacher don Juan managed to fulfill the main task of his life - "burn in the fire from the inside", having reached maximum awareness and finally developed his energy body, thereby moving to new level perception. However, regarding his own death, Carlos had no doubt that he would not be able to achieve such a result. Many supporters of Castaneda are sure that, in spite of everything, he managed to achieve what he aspired to, i.e. left the world in the same way as don Juan. But the realist audience (as well as the official obituary) agrees that Carlos Castaneda died of liver cancer. It happened on April 27, 1998, Castaneda's body was cremated, and the ashes were transported to Mexico.

Castaneda's legacy

From the moment the world learned of the existence of Carlos Castaneda and don Juan to this day, the teachings of the Toltec magicians are gaining more and more adherents around the world. Many people regard Castaneda's books as more than just works of art but also as practical guides to action. These people follow the "Way of the Warrior", the basics of which are described in the books of Castaneda. They aspire to the knowledge of the secrets of being, the transformation of personality, the strengthening of awareness, the development of their maximum potential as human beings, the transition to a different way of perception and level of being. Some followers even managed to join the training, which was conducted by Castaneda himself and his associates - Taisha Abelar, Florinda Donner-Grau and Carol Tiggs in the 90s of the last century, and now it is carried out by their closest students and a corporation Cleargreen Inc..

The books of Carlos Castaneda excited an entire generation, spawned new wave movements in the culture of worldview and even the world of music ( Musical direction"New Age" appeared exactly at that time), forced humanity, if not to see the world in a new way, then at least try to do it; became the starting point in the path of spiritual seekers around the world.

To date, such authors as Armando Torres, Norbert Klassen, Victor Sanchez, Alexey Ksendzyuk and some others present their works on similar topics. The very teachings of don Juan continue to be practiced. huge amount of people.

Below you can view the list of books by Carlos Castaneda. And you can read them simply by purchasing at a bookstore or downloading them on the Internet.

Bibliography of Castaneda

Name: Carlos Castaneda

Age: 72 years old

Activity: writer, anthropologist, ethnographer, mystic, poet

Family status: was divorced

Carlos Castaneda: biography

Carlos Castaneda - American writer, researcher of Indian magic. The bestselling author talked in books about how to expand the boundaries of perception, to know the Universe. Castaneda's work in the scientific community was considered fiction, but some information was of interest to scientists as well.

Childhood and youth

Information in the biography of Carlos Castaneda varies. The scientist said that the name Carlos Aranha was indicated in the papers, but after moving to America, he decided to take his mother's surname - Castaneda.

The writer also talked about being born on December 25, 1935 in the Brazilian city of Sao Paula. Parents were wealthy citizens. Young age mother and father did not allow them to raise their son. At that time, the parents were barely 15 and 17 years old, respectively. This influenced the fact that the boy was transferred to the upbringing of his mother's sister.

But the woman died when the child was 6 years old. And at the age of 25, the young man also lost his biological mother. Carlos was not known as an obedient child. The young man was often punished for his connections with bad companies and violations, including school rules.

At the age of 10, Carlos went on a journey that ended in a boarding school in Buenos Aires, but after 5 years, Castaneda was again waiting for the move. This time the destination was San Francisco. Here the young man was raised by a foster family. After completing his studies at Hollywood High School, Carlos went across the ocean to Milan.

The young man entered the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. But for a long time he could not comprehend the basics of fine art due to the lack of appropriate talent. Castaneda makes a difficult decision and returns to the California coast of the United States.

Gradually, a love for literature, psychology and journalism awakened in Carlos's soul. The young man attended courses at City College, located in Los Angeles, for 4 years. There was no one to support the guy, so Castaneda had to work hard. The future writer was invited to the post of assistant psychoanalyst.

Carlos' job was to organize the records. Every day, Castaneda listened to the sobs and complaints of other people. Only after some time the young man realized that many of the psychoanalyst's clients were like him. In 1959, Carlos Castaneda officially became a citizen of the United States of America. After that important step the young man did one more - he entered the University of California, where he received a degree in anthropology.

Young Carlos Castaneda

Time magazine offered a different version of the writer's biography. In 1973, an article was published stating that the best-selling author was born on December 25, 1925 in Cajamarca, a city in northern Peru. As confirmation, the journalists used the data of the immigration service. The data on the places of study of the writer did not match. According to researchers, Castaneda studied at the National College of St. Mary of Guadalupe in Lima, later entered the National School of Fine Arts, located in Peru.

Literature and philosophical thought

Castaneda did not stop his scientific work. The man wrote articles about medicinal plants used by the North American Indians. On a business trip, he met a man who changed the perception of the world of Carlos - Juan Matus.

The books of Carlos Castaneda are imbued with the knowledge gained while studying with Juan Matus. This man is famous magical powers. The expert in this field was well acquainted with the ancient shamanic practices. Critics did not take seriously the information presented in the works of Castaneda, calling it impossible and incredible.

But this did not repel fans of Carlos. The man had followers who today continue the activities of Castaneda. In the teachings, don Juan appears as a wise shaman. Some people see the description of the magician as an Indian sorcerer. But, according to the writer, it is more a representative of academic science.

In books, Carlos described Juan Matus' idea of ​​the world, which was based on concepts unknown to Europeans. Castaneda presented a new world order, which was influenced by socialization.

Don Juan's students preferred to live according to the teacher's rules. This way of life was called the Way of the Warrior. The magician argued that all living beings, including humans, perceive energy signals, not objects. The body and the brain process the received data and create their own model of the world. According to Matus, it is impossible to know everything. Any knowledge will be limited. Castaneda also carried this idea into books.

Usually a person perceives only a small part of the information received. In don Juan's teachings, it is referred to as the tonal. And that part, in which all aspects of the life of the universe are included, was called the nagual. Carlos Castaneda truly believed that it is possible to expand the tonal, but for this you need to go through the Way of the Warrior.

The writer talked in books about the possibility of changing the location energy field human, which contributes to the absorption of external signals and development. According to Juan Matus, points can be divided into rigidly fixed, multiple position, full awareness.

A person is able to achieve the maximum level of attention in case of termination of the internal dialogue. For the sake of this, one will have to give up pity for one's own personality and life, abandon belief in immortality, comprehend the art of dreaming. The result of many years of cooperation with Matus was the book "The Teachings of Don Juan". This work allowed Castaneda to receive a master's degree.

In 1968, Carlos continued to study with don Juan. This time, the writer collected enough material to create a new book, A Separate Reality. The work was published only three years later. A year later, Castaneda's next bestseller, Journey to Ixtlan, comes out. The career of a scientist is developing rapidly. Works written under the influence of an Indian magician helped to get a doctorate.

From that day on, rumors began to circulate about Carlos Castaneda. Gradually, the writer "erases personal history." Don Juan's teachings describe this stage as the first step towards development. Communication with the Indian ends with the book "Tales of Strength". Here Castaneda tells that Matus leaves the world. Now Carlos has to remember and independently deal with a new system of worldview.

Over the course of 20 years of his life, Carlos Castaneda created 8 books, each of which became a bestseller. The author's works were sorted into citations. Gradually, the writer moved away from everyday life and preferred to live in a secluded place, not communicating with anyone. Cares about the arrangement of life, the publication of books were carried out by third parties.

In addition to creating books, Castaneda tried to comprehend magic. The man practiced this direction as don Juan had taught. Taisha Abelard, Florinda Donner-Grau, Carol Tiggs, Patricia Partin tried to comprehend the world with Carlos. Only in the early 1990s did the best-selling author reappear in society. The scientist returned to teaching at the University of California. Later he began to travel around the USA and Mexico with paid seminars.

In 1998, the world saw two books from Carlos Castaneda. These are "Magic Passes" and "Wheel of Time". The works were the result of the life of the writer. In his writings, the author talks about the most important points comprehension of the Universe, presents complex information in the form of aphorisms. In a book called Magical Passes, Carlos describes a set of movements that has become a tool for expanding the boundaries of knowledge.

Among the works of Carlos Castaneda are the bestsellers The Power of Silence and Fire Within. O mysterious personality The author of the books has shot more than one documentary film.

Personal life

In the personal life of Carlos Castaneda, not everything was simple. A year after receiving American citizenship, the writer took Margaret Runyan to the altar. There is no information about the girl.

However, the marriage lasted only six months. Despite this, the spouses, who no longer lived together, were in no hurry with the official divorce. Papers issued after 13 years.

Death

Mysteries haunted Carlos Castaneda throughout his life. official date the death of the American anthropologist is designated as April 27, 1998. But the world knew about the writer's death on June 18 of the same year. Experts say that for a long time Carlos suffered from a serious illness - liver cancer, which killed the author of numerous books.

Quotes

If you don't like what you get, change what you give.

It is useless to spend your whole life on one single path, especially if this path has no heart.

People, as a rule, do not realize that at any moment they can throw anything out of their lives. Anytime. Instantly.

Art consists in maintaining a balance between the horror of being human and the wonder of being human.

You must not confuse loneliness with solitude. Loneliness for me is a psychological, spiritual concept, while solitude is physical. The first numbs, the second calms.

Bibliography

• 1968 - "The Teachings of Don Juan: The Way of Knowledge of the Yaqui Indians"
• 1971 - "A Separate Reality"
• 1972 - "Journey to Ixtlan"
• 1974 - Tales of Power
• 1977 - "Second Ring of Power"
• 1981 - "Darorla"
• 1984 - "Fire from within"
• 1987 - "The Power of Silence"
• 1993 - "The Art of Dreaming"
• 1997 - "The Active Side of Infinity"
• 1998 - "Wheel of Time"
• 1998 - Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico

Carlos Cesar Salvador Araña Castaneda(Spanish) Carlos Cesar Salvador Arana Castañeda; December 25, 1925 (either 1931 or 1935), Cajamarca, Peru (or Mairiporan, Brazil) - April 27, 1998, Los Angeles, USA) - American writer and anthropologist, ethnographer, esoteric thinker and mystic, author of 12 volumes of books - bestsellers, sold in 28 million copies in 17 languages ​​and dedicated to the presentation of the esoteric teachings about the "Way of Knowledge" by the Yaqui Indian Don Juan Matus. PhD in Anthropology.

Castaneda claimed that his books are a phenomenological account, a metaphorical and mythological description from the field of occultism and mysticism. He pointed out that the methods described are not a kind of psychoanalysis or psychological help, and in 1996, Castaneda published articles in the Journal of Applied Hermeneutics, written in 1971, in which, in introductory remarks, connects the doctrine of the "Way of Knowledge" with hermeneutics - a philosophical method of interpretation literary texts. In the events of Castaneda's book The Wheel of Time, Juan Matus told Castaneda that he had come up with pseudo-Indian shamanic nonsense to divert attention. In an interview in 1985, Castaneda explained that the word "Toltec" does not mean the Indian culture of Mesoamerica, but has a broad meaning that means "people of knowledge" - philosophers, politicians.

The first books of Carlos Castaneda were accepted by the scientific anthropological community, but later, with Castaneda's deepening into occult and esoteric issues, the scientific significance of Castaneda's books in the field of anthropology was critically rethought and rejected. Unable to check historical facts caused a flurry of criticism about the reliability of the events described in the books. For this reason, critical readers view Castaneda's books as fiction and discard the mythological component.

Castaneda has also been criticized for describing psychedelic plants, treating his followers in bad faith, and being promiscuous. late period(1980-90s). Readers who decided to follow Castaneda flocked to lectures and seminars, and later found themselves abandoned, retaining a grudge against Castaneda for many years.

If we put aside criticism of the authenticity of the events described and the eccentricity of Carlos Castaneda, he remains one of the brightest thinkers of the esoteric, mystical and occult orientation of the second half of the 20th century. This period is characterized by the development of the ideas of postmodernism against the backdrop of the scientific, technological, sexual and psychedelic revolution of Western society.

Biographical inconsistency

Carlos Castaneda, following the Way of the Warrior described in his books, purposefully tried to keep his life secret, and also destroyed most of his personal belongings, records and photographs. As a result, the history of his life has become the object of numerous speculations and contradictory versions, which complicates the compilation of an accurate biography.

There are several sources of information about Carlos Castaneda:

• information provided by Castaneda himself in books, articles and some interviews;
• information from the media from authors who directly or indirectly claim the accuracy of their information;
• documents found by researchers;
• memories, varying degrees credibility, people who personally knew Carlos Castaneda.

Carlos Castaneda for many years deliberately did not react to the numerous controversial publications in the press regarding his life, activities and death during his lifetime. Castaneda refused to be photographed, forbade video filming and the use of a voice recorder during interviews and public lectures. Castaneda explained this by the fact that, according to The Way of the Warrior, personal history captures the image of a person and deprives him of freedom.

Date and place of birth

The exact date of birth of Carlos Castaneda is not known. Existing versions:

• According to Time magazine (March 1973), Carlos Castaneda was born in 1925
• In some publications, the date of birth is indicated as December 25, 1931.
• Castaneda called the date of his birth December 25, 1935

Castaneda named the village of Juquery (from 1948 - Mairiporã) "near São Paulo in Brazil" as his birthplace and spoke fluent Portuguese. However, the version is known that Castaneda was born in Peru in the city of Cajamarca.

early years

Authorized Version

According to Carlos Castaneda, his original name was Carlos Araña ( Carlos Aranha; port. aranha - spider) (subsequently, in 1959, upon obtaining American citizenship, he adopted his mother's surname - Castaneda, and not his father - Aranha). He was born into a wealthy family on December 25, 1935 in São Paulo, Brazil. At the time of his birth, his mother was 15 years old and his father 17. Subsequently, he described the circumstances of conception as rapid copulation "outside the door" (which don Juan in Castaneda's memoirs described as "boring copulation"). He was given to be raised by one of his mother's sisters. She died when he was six; Castaneda treated her like a mother. Castaneda's real mother died when he was twenty-five. Little Carlos was distinguished by unbearable behavior and often got into trouble.

When he was about 10-12 years old, Carlos Araña was sent to a boarding school in Buenos Aires. In the year of his fifteenth birthday (1951), he was sent to the USA. Apparently, his parents found him a host family in San Francisco, where he lived until he graduated from school (Hollywood High School). Having received a diploma of secondary education, he went to Milan to study at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts. However art he was not given and soon he returned to California.

Between 1955 and 1959 he took various courses in literature, journalism and psychology at City College in Los Angeles. At the same time, he worked as an assistant to a psychoanalyst, where his task was to organize hundreds of tape audio recordings made during therapeutic procedures. “There were about four thousand of them, and when I listened to complaints and sobs, I found that all my fears and sufferings were reflected in them.”

1959 becomes the year of his obtaining US citizenship. When filling out the documents, he takes the name Carlos Castaneda. He decides to enroll at UCLA and graduates with a degree in anthropology about two years later.

In January 1960, Carlos Castaneda marries Margaret Runyan, but in July of the same year they separate. Officially, the divorce was issued only on December 17, 1973.

Carlos Castaneda remains at the university, enrolling without interruption until 1971. In 1968 he received a master's degree for The Teachings of Don Juan (1968), and in 1973 a Ph.D. in anthropology for his third book, Journey to Ixtlan (1972).

TIME magazine version

In March 1973, Time magazine published an extensive article on Carlos Castaneda. Subsequently, Castaneda refuted the information printed in it, suggesting that, from his point of view, incorrect information was given in pursuit of a sensation. According to the magazine, in 1951, a certain Carlos Cesar Araña Castaneda actually came to San Francisco, as evidenced by immigration records. However, his date of birth was December 25, 1925 (and not 1935, as Castaneda claimed), and his citizenship was listed as Peru.

According to Time, his father was a jeweler and watchmaker named Cesar Aranya Burungaray, and his mother, Susana Castaneda Navoa (Castaneda said in an interview that this name was a figment of a journalist's fantasy), died when he was twenty-four. Carlos Castaneda attended Cajamarca High School for three years before moving to Lima in 1948 with his family. There he graduated from the National College of St. Virgin Mary of Guadalupe. He then studied painting and sculpture at the National School of Fine Arts of Peru. Probably, precisely because of the authority of Time magazine against the backdrop of a lack of official information about Carlos Castaneda at that time, this version became widespread and was repeatedly copied by other publications.

Don Juan's apprenticeship

In preparation for his master's thesis at the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Carlos Castaneda decided to conduct a field study. His interest in field work was openly encouraged by Professor Clement Meighan. The opinion of other scientists was different: they believed that Castaneda must first accumulate the necessary baggage of academic knowledge. According to Castaneda, his decision to conduct field work was guided by the fact that the time allotted for studying the thought processes of Native American cultures was rapidly running out and it could simply be late. The location of this field work was the state of Arizona, USA, and the state of Sonora, Mexico, and the result of many years of work was the book "The Teachings of Don Juan" and acquaintance with Juan Matus.

In the summer of 1960, planning to write an article on medicinal plants of the North American Indians, Carlos Castaneda began his work. At the suggestion of a friend, he traveled to the Southwest and in Nogales, Arizona, he first met the man known in his books as don Juan Matus, a Yaqui shaman. Soon he went to don Juan in Sonora and for several years, intermittently, from 1961 to 1965, he studied with him. In the fall of 1965, Castaneda ended his apprenticeship and returned to Los Angeles. In 1968, the University of California Press published the first book, Don Juan's Teachings, which earned him a master's degree a year later. The book immediately became a bestseller, like all subsequent works of the author.

In 1968, Castaneda returned to Sonora and resumed his studies with don Juan. In 1971 his apprenticeship culminated in the book A Separate Reality, and in 1972 he published Journey to Ixtlan, for which he received his Ph.D.

After that, Carlos Castaneda reduces public activity, gives less interviews and, in accordance with the teachings of the "Way of the Warrior", destroys information about himself. In 1974, the book "Tales of Power" was published, in which don Juan leaves this world and in subsequent books Carlos Castaneda restores events from his memories in order to understand complex system worldview of Juan Matus.

Later years

Between 1977 and 1997, the remaining eight books by Carlos Castaneda were published. From the first half of the 1970s to the late 1980s, Carlos Castaneda is believed to have been actively practicing the "Way of the Warrior" teachings with his group. The group included Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar, Carol Tiggs, Patricia Partin, aka "Blue Scout") and a few others. Since the early 1990s, Castaneda began to lead a more active image social life, lecture at the University of California, teach small groups, and then arrange paid seminars and lectures in the US and Mexico.

On June 16, 1995, Castaneda founded his publishing organization, Cleargreen, to distribute tensegrity and as a meeting and lecture venue.

In 1998, the last two books of Carlos Castaneda were published - "The Wheel of Time" and "Magic Passes". The first is a supplemented collection of quotes from previous books, the second describes the complexes of body-oriented practices.

Death

Carlos Castaneda died April 27, 1998. official reason death - liver cancer, newspaper reports appeared only on June 18.

Students

Castaneda's students are Regina Tal, Marianne Simko, and Kathleen "Chiki" Polman. Simcoe later became Taisha Abelar, Tal became Florinda Donner-Grau. Polman was given the name Carol Tiggs (officially heads the Cleargreen Corporation). Richard Jennings, Amy Wallace, Gaby Gaither, Melissa Ward, Valerie Kadium, Patricia Patrin, Amalia Marquez (Thalia Bey) then joined the group.

In 1993, students of Castaneda (Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar and Carol Tiggs) founded Toltec Artists, within the framework of this project seminars were organized, which were held under the name Toltec Dreaming. Witches (chacmools, chacmools) performed this program three times: at the RIM Institute in Arizona, in Hawaii at Akahi-Farm and at Isalen - an institute in California. Along with new information from don Juan's treasure trove of knowledge, Carlos Castaneda's series of Tensegrity movements were presented here for the first time. After a successful dress rehearsal in 1993, 1995 became the year of the birth of the Tensegrity system: for the first time, Castaneda, Tiggs, Abelard and Donner-Grau appeared together.

At the beginning of 1996, from the environment of Castaneda, a a new group warriors known as Pathfinders or Energy Trackers: Zaya Alexander (Nuri Alexander, Patricia Patrin, Blue Scout) and others. Later they were joined by Toltec Artists. From this group came the Cleargreen Corporation. Parallel to the Energy Trackers, another alliance of Elemental warriors formed: Tracey Kramer and Bruce Wagner.

In 1998, shortly after the death of Carlos Castaneda, his partners Nuri Alexander, Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar, Kylie Lundal and Thalia Bey disappear from the media and stop appearing in public. When asked about their fate, current Cleargreen directors respond with vague phrases like "They're traveling."

The remains of one of the women were found in Death Valley. The suspected cause of death was suicide

Since March 2010, Carol Tiggs (one of the direct students of don Juan Matus and partner of Carlos Castaneda) has officially assumed the position of president of Cleargreen Corporation

List of works

• 1968 - The Teachings of Don Juan, A Yaqui Way of Knowledge
• 1971 - A Separate Reality (eng. A Separate Reality)
• 1972 - Journey to Ixtlan (Eng. Journey to Ixtlan)
• 1974 - Tales of Power (Eng. Tales of Power)
• 1977 - The Second Ring of Power (Eng. The Second Ring of Power)
• 1981 - The Eagle's Gift
• 1984 - The Fire From Within (Eng. The Fire From Within)
• 1987 - The Power of Silence (Eng. The Power of Silence)
• 1993 - The Art of Dreaming
• 1997 - The Active Side of Infinity (eng. The Active Side of Infinity)
• 1998 - The Wheel of Time
• 1998 - Magical Passes of the Sorcerers of Ancient Mexico (Eng. Magical Passes of the Sorcerers of Ancient Mexico)

Interviews and articles:

• Carlos Castaneda. Lectures and interviews. - M.: Sofia, 2006.
• Fort, Carmina. Conversationes con Carlos Castaneda. - Madrid, 1991 ( an account of Carmina Fort's meetings with Carlos Castaneda in 1988, in which an attempt is made to clear up some of the controversial issues around the latter's personality, for example, with the magazine "TIME". (In Russian: Fort K."Conversations with Carlos Castaneda" // Carlos Castaneda. Lectures and interviews. - M.: Sofia, 2006)).
• "Journal of Applied Hermeneutics", series of articles "Readers of Infinity", Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda and Lucid Dreaming

In 1993, Carlos Castaneda published the book "The Art of Dreaming", which describes a set of practices that must be performed in a dream. By this time, the scientific community was already familiar with the phenomenon called in the English literature "lucid dream" (literally, a clear dream; in Russian translation - a lucid dream). Ten years before the release of Castaneda's book, psychophysiologist Stephen LaBerge published his first research on lucid dreaming.

Castaneda's The Art of Dreaming is often associated with lucid dreams and astral and out-of-body travel. However, there are a number of fundamental contradictions between the Castaneda method and the method of staying in lucid dreams:

• Castaneda never used the phrase "lucid dream" in books, calling his practices "dreaming". In the book "Magical Passes" Castaneda spoke critically about the "lucid dream", calling this phenomenon "phantasmagoric worlds".
• In The Art of Dreaming, Castaneda argues that the dream, as a special process of perception, goes beyond the imaginary. In the same way, Castaneda criticized the very word "dream" as the reason why the complex of his practices is associated with sleep fantasizing.

In turn, Stephen LaBerge, in accordance with the psychological and neurophysiological model, considers the phenomenon of lucid dreams to be the work of imagination, fantasy and memory, which, during the phase of rapid eye movement in sleep, reconstruct the images seen by a person.

This contradiction can be fully considered only in the context of the mystical and occult mythology of Carlos Castaneda's books. Castaneda pointed out that the goal of his teaching is absolute freedom and access to the comprehension of absolute energy reality. This issue is relevant for the entire complex of religious mysticism and occultism and cannot be compared with the idea of ​​lucid dreams as the work of the imagination.

The key contradiction between fans of lucid dreams and the doctrine of the "Way of Knowledge", which was described by Carlos Castaneda, is that Castaneda describes his way of going beyond the perception of the everyday world to comprehend absolute reality, and fans of lucid dreams, including psychophysiologists, in the person of Stephen LaBerge, they consider the phenomenon of lucid dream as a closed, self-sufficient and world-independent area of ​​mental activity, in which the imagination, fanaticism and human memory are concentrated. Castaneda argues that sleep must be overcome and come to the perception of not an idiosyncratic picture of the objective world, but fans of lucid dreams, on the contrary, explore the world of sleepy fantasy as self-sufficient.

• Carlos Castaneda's first book was published in 1968 and quickly became a bestseller with a circulation of several million copies. Subsequently, Carlos Castaneda published 11 more books on the teachings of the "Way of Knowledge", which invariably became bestsellers in many countries of the world.
• In August 2015, the UCLA Fowler Museum hosted an exhibition of a collection of Yaqui masks and clappers collected during field work in the 1960s by UCLA Ph.D. Carlos Castaneda. The exhibition was titled Fowler in Focus: Carlos Castaneda's Yaqui Masks.
• Two films were made about Castaneda and, for lack of reliable material, they were shot in the style of an interview: “Tales from the Jungle. Carlos Castaneda (BBC, 2007), The Magician's Riddle (2004).