> > Everyone knows that Castaneda and Rama got most of > > their ideas from reading books like the Bhagavad Gita > > and the Ramayana epic. Some of these ideas they wrote > > about are almost pure Buddhism and Hinduism. In the > > latter case, Rama got most of his stuff from Blavatsky. > > > > But, neither was apparently a real warrior. Go figure. > > turquoiseb: > ...I will correct you. > You are incorrect: Rama got almost all of his ideas from reading books like the Gita with his guru Sri Chinmoy:
"...Master Fwap told me that most people who have been enlightened in their previous incarnations would normally begin to regain their past-life enlightenment-if they lived at sea level-at around the age of twenty-nine, when their astrological Saturn return took place. He said that living in or near sacred mountains, because of their beneficial auric influences, often made past-life returns happen even faster." 'Surfing the Himalayas: A Spiritual Adventure' by Frederick Lenz St. Martin's Press, 1997 > NOTHING could be further from the truth that > Castaneda based the stuff in his books on Indian > scriptures or concepts. His "Warrior's Way" > teaching really IS based more on Yaqui concepts > that he admittedly might have stolen from real > Mexican shamans. > Well, I don't think so - it's all about shamanism, just like the SHAMANS in Asia. Where do you think the 'Indians' came from, Spain? Go figure. Everyone knows that the Toltec rituals described by Carlos are were gleaned from other literary sources that used Amanita, Peyote, and Datura. The Native Americans came from Eurasia! History of Native Americans in the United States: http://tinyurl.com/d4qvq83 > But these concepts have almost nothing to do with > Eastern teachings. The entire emphasis is on *Life > In The Relative*, and living it as well and as > successfully as possible. There is no concept of > enlightenment, no concept of reincarnation, and > above all no concept of renunciation or withdrawal > from the world. It's a very, very, very pragmatic > set of teachings, having to do with life here in > the real world, and how to make that life work > as successfully as possible. > > While there ARE concepts of saving and storing > energy for the purposes of exploring different > levels of life ("Separate Realities," to use his > term), there is NO sense of "evolution" or progress > towards some Woo Woo goal of enlightenment or > liberation as it is thought of in New Agey versions > of Hindu and Eastern teachings (read "TM"). In his > view, ya get out of life pretty much what you > put into it -- no karma, no past-life influences, > no astrological influences, certainly no S-V > influences, and above all no gods, goddesses, or > other beings whose asses you have to kiss to > "evolve" or have nice things happen to you. > Carlos's use of the term "nagual" comes from shamans in Asia who take the psychoactive substances and morph into other animal forms just, like in the Hindu Puranas, through magic rituals and incantations. > Get some smarts, dumbass. If you *ever* read > Carlos Castaneda, it must have been back during > a period when you were seriously stoned, > Well, yeah, I think that's the point, Barry, to eat the toadstools, not read books about them. Show me your fungus. > because you missed pretty much all of the major > points of what he was about. :-) > Where do you think the idea of eating mushrooms and flying up into the air came from? Siberia? LoL! "...he was sitting in the UCLA library and he was reading someone else's description of their experience of the peyote ceremony. Other criticisms of Castaneda's work include the total lack of Yaqui vocabulary or terms for any of his experiences." Carlos Castaneda: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Castaneda
