The
Active Side of Infinity by Carlos
Castaneda
The secret to Castaneda's enduring popularity is his
great gift for storytelling. Although the distinction between the
factual and the imagined, or between the usual sense of reality and the
realm of the spirit, has never been clearly demarcated in his books
about the teachings of the sorcerer Don Juan, the exchanges between
student and teacher are irresistibly dramatic and mind-expanding. In his
previous book, Magical
Passes , Castaneda disclosed that he was the last in a
shamanistic line and that he was free, indeed, compelled, to share as
much of his knowledge as possible. With this mission in mind, he returns
to some of his earliest sessions with the wily Don Juan and describes
the difficulties he had in following instructions to select the most
"memorable events" of his life. Shamans, don Juan explained,
had discovered that the identifying of key incidents (and they didn't
mean such prosaic passages as graduating from high school) made possible
"the emotional and energetic adjustment necessary for venturing, in
terms of perception, into the unknown." Such painful delving into
the subconscious is, of course, also the foundation of psychoanalysis,
and whether Castaneda's readers fully grasp the intricacies of Don
Juan's teachings, or stick to more familiar psychological terrain, they
will be fascinated by these revelations of Castaneda's personal life,
especially those of his childhood and youth. It is touching and no doubt
significant that Castaneda revealed so much of himself in this
posthumously published volume, and one can't help but wonder about the
life-after-death realm he was so assiduously preparing to enter, a
region Don Juan called the "active side of infinity." --
Donna Seaman
"It's impossible to view the world in quite the
same way after reading him...If Castaneda is correct, there is another
world, a sometimes beautiful and sometimes frightening world, right
before our eyes at this momentif only we could see." --
Chicago Tribune
"Carlos Castaneda was one of the most profound
and influential thinkers of this century. His insights paved the way for
the future evolution of human consciousness. We are all deeply indebted
to him." -- Deepak Chopra
"Ordinarily, events that change our path are
impersonal affairs, and yet extremely personal. My teacher, don Juan
Matsus, said this is guiding me as his apprentice to collect what I
considered to be the memorable events of my life. Don Juan described the
total goal of the shamanistic knowledge that he handled as the
preparation for facing the definitive journey: the journey that
every human being has to take at the end of his life. He said that what
modern man referred to vaguely as life after death was, for those
shamans, a concrete region filled to capacity with practical affairs of
a different order than the practical affairs of daily life, yet bearing
a similar functional practicality. Don Juan considered that to collect
the memorable in their lives was, for shamans, the preparation for their
entrance into that concrete region, which they called the active side
of infinity."
In this book written immediately before his death,
anthropologist and shaman Carlos Castaneda gives us his most
autobiographical and intimately revealing work ever, the fruit of a
lifetime of experience and perhaps the most moving volume in his oeuvre.
Anthropologist and shaman Carlos Castaneda returns
once again to the story of his apprenticeship with the Yaqui Indian
sorcerer don Juan. When his teacher instructs him to collect the
memorable events of his life, Castaneda performs a task that turns out
to be the preparation necessary for facing "the definitive
journey" that every human being has to take at the end of his life.
His approach to what modern man refers to as "life after
death" makes for an unusually moving and revealing audiobook. --This
text refers to the audio
cassette edition of this title
The most highly autobiographical work in years by
"one of the most profound and influential thinkers of this
century" (Deepak Chopra). Castaneda's approach to what modern man
refers to as "life after death", and which for shamans is a
concrete region they call "the active side of infinity", makes
for an unusually revealing book.
About the Author
Carlos Castaneda was the author of the bestselling books, including the
acknowledged classic The Teaching of Don Juan and most recently The
Art of Dreaming and Magical Passes. He departed on his
definitive journey in 1998.
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