The Teachings of Castaneda and Don Juan

[hammocksleeper]

Has anyone ever read the works of Carlos Castaneda? (The Teachings of Don Juan, A Separate Reality, Journey to Ixtlan, et al.) I need to write a paper on this and I'm kind of in a bind. In other words, this is a desparate plea for some ad-libbed cliff notes!

On another note, if you haven't but are into some far-out stuff, you really should pick up his first book. Basically his crazy supposedly ethnographic journey into Mexico and Arizona where he meets an indian and explains his experiences with psychedelic drugs, etc. Pretty much outlining an entirely different philosophy of life, similar to Buddhism. Another book I would recommend along the same lines is Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman, which I discovered many years ago at boarding school.

[hammocksleeper]

Also known as, "what do you do when you have a paper due that is worth 1/3 of your final grade and you havent been to one single class or read any of the books the paper is supposed to be on?"

Here is one of the paper topics:
NOT DOING is so originally a part of its own not being there that it is impossible to DO without doing a little DOING on the side. Don't quit your day-job! Why must Gnaro be funny in order to enter POWER, and why must don Juan be deadly serious? Why must a Man of Knowledge (or Woman of Insight) be part of both the looking-and-thinking world and the second attention NOT DOING world if they are to enter POWER?

This professor is a wackball, he refuses to use email or computers so he's impossible to get in touch with. And he types everything for the class on a manual typewriter. Of those who actually show up to class, no one can understand what he's talking about. Anyone else have an experience like this?

[Wick3d]

I read Way of the Peaceful Warrior, and as corny as it sounds, it actually did "change my life", in that I follow the idea that nothing in life should be taken so seriously, and there's humor and mystery in all parts of life.