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.

Power of Silence by Carlos Castaneda

 The next volume in Castaneda's odyssey is similar to the previous one - he remembers events he's forgotten because he was in a Higher State of Consciousness, which he previously called Second Attention, but that term is rarely used in this volume.  

The backbone of the book consists of the conceptual analysis of the "cores" of the sorcery stories that Don Juan was telling Castaneda in the previous volumes.  It seems each story has a specifically constructed body, consisting of one or more cores, which are intended to lead the apprentice on the path of sorcery exactly in the way previous apprentices (especially for a Nagual) were led. 

We find out more details about Don Juan's teachers and benefactors, Don Elias and Don Julian, as well as events that transpired while Don Juan was a young nagual apprentice.  The main point from these stories is that Don Juan had to 'die' in order to continue his apprenticeship for nagual. This is not a conceptual death, but rather a physical one where he was buried in a shallow grave and was without pulse for many hours, only coming back to Earth because The Eagle refused to devour his awareness.  

The assemblage point and its shifts and moves are also discussed in great detail, and the most intriguing statement Don Juan makes is that the movement of the assemblage point is always a work of "the spirit" and the techniques and methods he taught Castaneda were there only to misdirect his attention. Castaneda learns to be (or the spirit teaches him) in two places at the same time, which happens during the incident when they are attacked by a jaguar in the mountains of Northern Mexico (where jaguars don't live) and are able to escape by Castaneda shutting down his "reasonable mind" and operating only within his "lake of quiet knowledge" mind.

The title of the book is related to the concept introduced in this volume of "lake of knowledge" which is the antithesis of the "reasonable mind" where a person has to put effort and time to learn new things.  By being able to access "the lake of knowledge" inside oneself, a person is automatically connected to any knowledge, without the need of learning, thinking, repeating and storing.  Don Juan says that sorcerers learn to silence their "reasonable mind" in order to operate from the silent lake of knowledge.  This reminds of the Gurdjieff's "Reservoir of Knowledge/Energy" concept which he claimed one is able to connect to by going beyond the physical and mental limits of oneself. 

Fire from Within by Carlos Castaneda

 This is the seventh volume in Castaneda's opus.  It is difficult book to write about, and is probably the most abstract of all the volumes so far.  The same concepts and principles and stories are visited from the previous books, but in more detail and from a different perspective.  The Assemblage Point and its shifting is described in great and painful detail, which makes very little sense for the lay reader which doesn't have the luxury of being an apprentice to a thousands year old sorcery tradition.

There are more stories about the nagual Julian, Don Juan's teacher, and the nagual Elias, Julian's teacher.  There are more stories about the sorcerer's party of Don Juan, mostly Genaro, Silvio Manuel and Vicente Medaro.  

The new concept that is introduced is about the "Death Defiers", a group of ancient sorcerers who found a way to close the gap in their abdomen where the Rolling Force hits against and from where Death takes the human being by destroying the luminous cocoon.  The Death Defiers found a way to close the gap and also to align their inner fibers (light them up) that correspond to the Allies, the inorganic beings which live for a very long time, almost infinite.  In this way the Death Defiers also became almost immaterial like the Allies, and live in a similar world like them, but spend much of their time buried underground, where the energy of the Earth can protect them against the Tumbler/Rolling Force.  One specific Death Defier is told by Don Juan to be the originator of his line of New Seers/sorcerers, who taught the first in the line, nagual Sebastian many secrets in exchange for energy to keep living.  Don Juan describes him as a very thin, dried out man with dark eyes and otherworldly countenance.

Sometimes I wonder if these books are written the Sufi way, i.e. it doesn't make much sense to your conscious mind but it is your unconscious that is really the target of the writings.

I got laid off.