Lately I met a person playing pool who has become a friend of mine. This person is also an avid reader (as am I) and we did a little book exchange. Since he graduated in mathmatics and got his masters in statistics (talk about a glutton for punishment) I lent him a book called Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (DaVinci Code, Angels and Demons) since it has a lot to do with mathmatical code breaking (don't knock it yet, it's very interesting). He, in return, lent me a book called The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda. This isn't a new book, infact I think it's been around since the 60's, but it was new to me. I had my reservations at first, I'm not much of a 'non-fiction' fan, and so delayed in reading it. But when I finally did open it, I couldn't set it down. The ideas and events of this book are, needless to say, not exactly easy to swallow. They are so completely different from anything we, as a modern person, have ever been taught before. I asked my friend if he really believed in what was being said. His reply was 'I don't know, but wouldn't it be incredible if it was?'.
It had been starting to bug me a bit. So I thought I'd look it up on the ol' net and see what other people had to say about it. Turns out, a lot. A great deal of it is against. They call CC a fraud who either had one to many magic mushrooms, or had one hell of an imagination. Many of his 'facts' don't check out, whether of not his 'teacher' actually existed, the fact that he lied about his birth place and real name (cc, not don Juan), the aquiring of some of the hallucinogenic plants he used, where in mexico he actually was.
Then I found a site that, rather than just bad mouthing the books and the writer, gave possible explanations for why he may have (and in this webmaster's view, why he should have) lied about the particulars.
It goes back to mythology. People need more than the hard facts of science to live on, and there just might be more out there than science can ever explain. Want an example? Ever had a lucid dream? One in which you can look down and see yourself sleeping? One in which you can roam around in ordinary reality without your body? Just because you haven't (if you haven't) experienced it yourself does that mean it isn't possible? If mankind is never able to come up with tangible evidence of this type of behavior, does that mean it isn't possible?
Anyway, what the author of this site goes on to say is that mankind needs dreams, marvels, and in a sense, magic to live life in a way that is worth living. How depressing would a world of science be if we could explain everything, and once we're done living, that's it, nothing to go on to because there is nothing else.
I highly encourage anyone reading this to go to this website. Don't necessarily read it to hear the bickering about what kind of person CC was, read it for the point it makes about needing mythology.
I find that fiction and mythology can be more true than what we experience in everyday life. Each character and symbol is symbolic in some way or other of human nature. They share our thoughts and our dreams, our emotions and our fears and are able to conquer an obstacle in their path. Ficticious works, in my opinion, are a hundred fold closer to expressing truth than any history book. Recorded histories are biased by the writer (ex.How many of you out there were brought up being told the Civil War was about abolishing slavery and that those in the south were the bad guys?) and 'facts' be they statistical data or events are never as absolute as they appear. Ever taken a course in statistics? I remember being told something along the lines of 'if you massage the numbers correctly, you can make your stats say anything you want them to.' So, back to the Lessons of Don Juan. Regardless of the author's personality, or the events in his life, the messages and lessons in his books say more about truths than any science every could. It applies to each person differently, and how any one person interprets it is just as true as how any other person interprets it.The truth isn't 'out there' it's within you. You just have to find the courage to find it.
