Agent of Change by Steve and Sharon

 This book/series was recommended to me because I was looking for similar stuff to Liu's Three Body Problem, and its amazing technology and weapons that wrap dimensions.  This book was a total disappointment.  It doesn't even come close.  The closest I can describe it is "Pirate Romance in Space,with Ninja Turtles" written with 13-year old teenage girls in mind.  The prose is terrible.  The names are terrible.  Miri, Siri, Biri, Clan, Vlan, Val, Vlon, Con, blah, blah, blah.  Now I realize why Heinlein was so against made up shit names in SciFi and he called his main characters "John".

The worst part of the book is the "thoughts" of Miri and how she is trying to figure out whether she wants to fuck Val Con or not, pretty much for the entirety of the book.  There are some special police 'junatavas' which sounds like from a bad comic book.  The Ninja Turtles are supposed to be some cool aliens, but they barely have the personality of an average Labrador.

Overall, this book is a complete disappointment and absolute waste of time.  It reads like those 10c "romance" novels you see in supermarkets, but set in Space.

Wheel of Time: The Shamans of Mexico Their Thoughts About Life Death & the Universe by Carlos Castaneda

 This is the 11th book of Castaneda's opus, but I left it for last to read as it mostly contains quotes from the first eight books he wrote.  The quotations are chosen as to be universal, i.e. they are not connected to the plot and characters of each book.  After each chapter of quotations, there is a commentary by Carlos about what it all meant to him.  It is a very short book, the shortest of all 12 volumes, and it was published in 2000, 2 years after Castaneda died.  Some would say it is just an attempt by the publisher to rack in more money on Castaneda's account, but it seems that Carlos pretty much finished the book before he died, so it is legit. 

Many people online give low reviews to this book because they "don't understand it" and it "wasn't what they expected"?  Well, cholos, in order to understand this book and for it to be what you expected, you need to read the previous 8-11 books.  Otherwise you are starting at the end of a narrative that started back in 1968.

Other bunch online claim they loved Castaneda's work but the got disappointed when they read the Salon article about him.  Some even compare his organization/group to Scientology, which couldn't be farther from the truth, especially in the money aspect.  Castaneda was a complicated man who couldn't give the tiniest rat's ass about what other people thought about him.  He was definitely not some all-smiling, all-singing Indian guru, and he didn't care to be. Have that in mind when you read his books.

The finishing of this book concludes the promise I gave to my uncle 30 years ago, when he gave me "The Teachings of Don Juan" to read, but only if I promise to read all the other Castaneda's books.  Promise fulfilled, uncle, a bit late, but still done.  Rest in Peace.

Active Side of Infinity by Carlos Castaneda

 This is the last, 12th, book by Castaneda, and published posthumously in 1999, Castaneda having died of liver cancer in 1998, aged 72.  I left the 11th book "The Wheel of Time" for last, as it consists of quotations from the first 8th books, with new intro and commentary by Castaneda after each chapter.  This, 11th volume, displays some of the work Castaneda did for his "recapitulation", remembering and analyzing every significant event from his life, started by making a list of all people one has met and then remembering all events considering that person.  It is interesting that recapitulation doesn't include the time one spends by oneself. 

Don Juan nudges Carlos to remember events from his life that really had a strong influence on him and are related to other people, not something that is celebrating his own ego.  Carlos remembers events from his childhood in Peru, his grandfather, his grandfathers nemesis, the raft trip through an underground river, and many more.  Since Castaneda tried very hard to hide his early life (he was Peruvian born), these events throw light on the unknown aspects of his history.

Overall a very interesting book to read, less of the high-brow conceptual stuff from some of the earlier books, and chock-full of interesting events from Castaneda's life, it almost reads like a proper novel.

Magical Passes: The Practical Wisdom of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico by Carlos Castaneda

 This is the 10th book in Castaneda's opus, and unlike the previous 9 books, it is more of an instruction manual than a narrative.  The book starts with an observation how Carlos saw Don Juan cracking his joints and stretching his arms and body so often in the past, but Don Juan never really explained what it was he was doing.  Here he explains that the "spirit" gave different physical movements to different sorcerers in the past in order to keep them in top physical shape, so they can continue the spiritual practices into old age.  Even though these movements/passes are given to individuals, and each individual (from the Castaneda sorcerers band) had only two or three max, here Castaneda gathers all the passes which were received by anyone he knew, cleaned them of personalizations and is presenting them here as a group.  

The passes are divided in several groups, according to their purpose, and resemble a vigorous Tai Chi practice.  There are rumors that Castaneda actually learned the passes from a traveling Chinese teacher, but there are so many rumors about Castaneda, it is best to ignore them and just enjoy his work.  

Each group of passes starts with an introduction about the group, what function they serve and some anecdotes from Castanedas training with Don Juan that are relevant.  The passes are illustrated by simple monochromatic images and in-depth text descriptions.  It is questionable whether the practice of the passes could bring about the energetic renaissance that Castaneda is talking about, but they are definitely good for the body.

The Contemporary Context of Gurdjieff's Movemements by Carole Cusack

 Cusack explores the other systems of "spiritual gymnastics" that existed around the time when Gurdjieff created his "movements" system.  Special attention is given to Rudolf Steiner and his Eurythmy system of spiritual exercise, Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and his method, Rudolf von Laban and his Movement Choir and, surprisingly, Peter Deunov and his paneurhythmy, which seems to have been forgotten in modern times, outside of Bulgaria.  Cusack also explores Diaghilev/Nijinsky/Stravinsky "Rites of Spring" ballet (the original installation) and the sacred dancing incorporated therein.

The main point Cusack makes is that Gurdjieff's system of movements did not emerge "Ex Nihilo" and was actually a logical product of its time, when these kinds of "spiritual gymnastics" systems proliferated, especially after the recent Enlightenment revolution, when the body finally became important and taking care of the body has been elevated to an essential activity for everyone. 

Cusack makes a guess that, although Gurdjieff claimed to have modeled his movement after the dances in far away Eastern monasteries, the actual substance of the movements point out to combination of Steiner's Eurhythmyx and Dalcroze's "method."  This was further reinforced by the facts that several of the Gurdjieff's female students, notably Madame de Salzmann and J. Horwath, were expert instructors in Dalcroze's method before joining Gurdjieff.  Also, there were no "movements" in Gurdjieff's system before Madame de Salzmann joined The Work, and the first demonstration of the movements ever was given to Madame de Salzmann's Dalcroze class.

Fasting in Christianity and Gurdjieff by Joseph Azize

 Joseph Azize, a student of George Adie who was direct student of Gurdjieff, researches Gurdjieff's attitude towards fasting, especially as compared to fasting traditions in Orthodox Christianity.  Azize draws on many sources, including his own teacher, most of which are first hand.

In the final analysis, it seems that Gurdjieff used his own eclectic approach to fasting, that doesn't fit neither in the strictly proscribed Orthodox Christian practices, nor in the practices of the Muslim and Buddhist faiths that he researched and took part in.

Azize wrote that most of the time Gurdjieff prescribed fasting in the form of abstaining from a certain type of food (or multiple types), which did not usually correspond to the foods that are usually excluded in Orthodox Christianity during the "light fasts" which were meant for everyone (the public).

The "heavy fast" in Orthodox Christianity, which is usually practiced only in monastic conditions, and not by the wider public, consists of refusal of all food, except regular water - what we call "water fast" in modern times.  This type of fast has very rarely been a part of Gurdjieff's fasting choices, according to Azize, though it has popped up once or twice.

Art of Dreaming by Carlos Castaneda

 This is the eight volume in Castaneda's opus, and probably the last one that has some value, as the last three volumes (the last two published after his death), are either attempts to (further) commercialize his teachings with inventions like Tensegrity, or just collections of snippets from previous books that the publisher tried to make a bit more money on, before the whole Castaneda craze is gone and he is forgotten, like the case is today (2021).

 1.The Art of Dreaming is a collection of all dreaming instructions by Don Juan from all the time that Carlitos spent with him, and which were just mentioned in passing in the previous volumes.  Castaneda spends a lot of time explaining the Four Gates of Dreaming.  While the first three gates, Castaneda is able to pass by themselves (being 1. finding ones hands in a dream 2. stabilizing a dream and following a "Scout" to the realm of inorganic beings 3. Seeing your own physical body while asleep), the fourth gate is about the ability to create a dream which looks like reality and where other people who can do Dreaming can enter and look around.  This fourth gate is only passed with the help of the "Tenant" - a 5,000+ years old "Death Defier" who is an ancient toltec from pre-columbian mesoamerica and who escaped the realm of the "Inorganic Beings" where all the ancient sorcerers are imprisoned.

The realm and nature of the Inorganic Beings are explored in detail and Castaneda has close contacts with many of them, including the Dreaming Emissary which constantly whispers in his ear, whether in Dreaming or in real life.  The world of Inorganic Beings is explored in detail, with its conscious tunnels and shadows and shapes which live infinitely longer than mankind (though not forever), but who cannot contain as much energy in their luminous bodies, so they trick humans to stay forever in their world and use them as sources of energy, something like domesticated animals for energy. 

One interesting thing mentioned is that all Inorganic Beings are female, so they are only interested in entrapping male sorcerers, having no interest in females.  Don Juan also mentions that "the entire Universe is female" and claims that maleness is a very rare phenomenon in the Universe, as most species and beings are single-sex females races.  

The book ends with the disappearance of Carol Tiggs during the crossing of the Fourth Gate and nobody knows where she went or how to get her back.