Castaneda is truly an enigma. He could be a genius, a madman, or perhaps even a fraud. The speculation surrounding the insights he offered in this series is truly fascinating. I believe it is entirely appropriate to view his work from multiple perspectives simultaneously, fully encompassing both the tonal and the nagual.

Although this wasn't my favorite among Castaneda's works (I much preferred "The Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality"; a thorough reading of which will无疑 assist in digesting this particular one), the way the book concludes makes the entire journey worthwhile. After numerous random and mundane encounters and adages, no doubt intended to help build the readers' considerations of the tonal and, by intrinsic contrast, the nagual, we finally come face to face with the true spirit of don Juan, don Garano, Castaneda, Pablo, and Nestor. The final strings are skillfully woven together to place the capstone on the incredible, fantastic, and mind-bending adventure that Castaneda has presented to us in this book. We discover all the secrets hidden behind the mysteries that his readers are compelled to experience secondhand through Carlos's journals. Whether it is entirely fabricated and fictitious or a literal transcription of the journal he is always said to be writing in, there is a mystic and informative kind of knowledge inscribed within these works that attempts to lead us into ourselves and beyond (simultaneously - the totality of self).

We become warriors, men of knowledge and sight, experiencing the luminous emergence of the totality of ourselves alongside Carlos in his journeys, which are undertaken under the sage-like guidance of his teacher and benefactor. Like the nagual itself, they must simply be experienced through the as-if-ness of this text. Likely not everyone will understand the true philosophical, and perhaps anthropological, depth that is on display in these works. Hidden between the oddities and either overly laden or lacking descriptions encoded here lies the sinisterly powerful message behind Castaneda's concept of Will and Power (which could just as easily be a modality of ancient Northern American Indian traditions of shamanism or a thoughtful recapitulation of motifs explored by modern and contemporary philosophy and developmental metaphysics).

I highly recommend this to anyone interested in the forgotten cultures of the North Mexican desert, mysticism, shamanism, contemporary metaphysics, or simply anyone too paralyzed by fear to venture far from their hometowns to experience for themselves the unknown treasures that exist outside the island of the tonal. If you are curious about what I am referring to here, start from the beginning and read from "The Teachings of Don Juan" up to "Tales of Power," and you will have your best chance of beginning to formulate your own understanding from within the bubble while the spirits of the past begin to break through to you from the outside in.

This is the fourth volume of the "Teachings of Don Juan" series published in 1974.

If by this point someone still doesn't know the context, we can gladly elaborate: An anthropology student from Los Angeles, California ventures into the Mexican Sierra to study the Yaqui Indians. There he meets an old shaman called "Don Juan Matus" and later a second one called "Don Genaro", who will act as teacher and benefactor throughout a peculiar educational journey aimed at transforming our student into a man of knowledge. Such teachings come to an end in this fourth installment, in which the protagonist will have to prove himself worthy enough to overcome the last and most difficult tests.

After reading the first three volumes, the reader knows what to expect: the chronicle of a series of bizarre and sometimes terrifying experiences that are presumed not to be hallucinations but manifestations of a "parallel reality", perhaps more revealing than the one our senses perceive daily. This time, Castaneda goes further, and his fantastic proposal reaches Borgesian levels.

Within this "parallel world" (whose approach aims to reveal the secrets of the universe), reason would be an obstacle. In these experiences, nothing can be explained; the characters simply have to assume them and draw the appropriate learning from them. The old debate of whether these events are real or fictional is no longer relevant. For me, this literature is fiction... but the message is real, valid, and universal.

Castaneda's is a literature in the fullest sense of the word, whose mystical message must be interpreted like that of any classic epic. Taking literally what is narrated here, or pretending that its premises prevail over the requirements of the scientific method, would be a mistake. In this way, denying the truth and the supposed anthropological value of these narratives does not in any way represent disrespect for the author. On the contrary, it would be to equate him with the great glories of fictional literature.

It is clear that the character of Don Juan Matus speaks figuratively. Therefore, the reader must be able to interpret his concepts. Next, I share my own deductions, which do not necessarily have to be similar to his:

"El guerrero" is a kind of enlightened man who knows the forces of nature and tries to use them to his advantage.

"El poder" is nothing other than the knowledge that allows us to see life not as it is presented to us but as it really is.

"El mundo" is a way of naming the fleeting human existence.

"El doble" is the other part of our mind, which moves at the subconscious level and manifests through daydreaming.

"Soñar" is equivalent to silencing the thought and delving within oneself to find answers to the challenges faced by the "guerrero".

"Ver" is to develop the consciousness that allows us to enter the true reality and perceive what others cannot.

"La importancia personal" is an obstacle in the learning of the guerrero; here vanity and the desire for recognition come in, which only serve to feed the ego.

"La voluntad" is the intuition or the ability to evaluate the challenge, in order to convert knowledge into a force that operates in the service of the guerrero.

"El aliado" is a being or an image that warns us of the need to prepare ourselves to enter the battle.

"El tonal" is the opposite of personal importance. That is, the correct valuation of the world and one's own worth, beyond the traps of the ego.

"El nagual" is the most difficult concept to understand. It is an enormous metaphysical force that has to be faced in order to access the longed-for higher plane of knowledge that the guerrero aspires to. Once overcome, the nagual becomes an allied energy.

From this valuation, we realize that Castaneda's narrative takes inspiration from the mystical knowledge from different traditions. Much of the ideological background seems to come from a very ancient world (the "crude" style of transmitting the lessons reminds us of the distant East). However, the central message stands as a syncretic construction. It tries to explain with a Mesoamerican terminology the esoteric tradition that persists in many parts of the world.

It should be mentioned that this time the matter of entheogenic plants is not mentioned at all. The extraordinary events and the alternative realities are made present thanks to other means. Which ones? I couldn't say exactly. However, the final result constitutes a congruent and enlightening explanation of the mysteries of existence.

The first-person narrator describes in detail the bizarre experiences and the sensations he is experiencing in each of his terrifying tests. So far, we haven't noticed the fact that Castaneda writes impeccably (and at the same time, the translator manages to have his words faithfully recorded and easily legible in the Spanish edition). Readers seem to be carried away only by the concepts and the natural debate they raise, but this makes them overlook the literary talent and the overflowing imagination that our writer displays fully.

The title "Relatos de poder" does not mean that this book is structured in the form of independent stories but that it continues with the novelistic dynamic of the previous three volumes. At the end, the author proposes another well-known metaphysical concept: "the leap into the void". And with this, he manages to consolidate a great ending; the perfect finishing touch for a saga of increasing intensity, in which each volume seems to surpass the previous one.

The literature of Carlos Castaneda makes us turn to a form of wisdom that has ceased to be considered by the Western intellectual world; a philosophy that is relegated to a very reduced circle of mystics and anthropologists. And unfortunately, completely ignored by the scholars of literature. Like any person who claims to possess esoteric knowledge, Castaneda ran the risk of being taken for a liar. His books are worthy, either of an enlightened one or of a charlatan, depending on the yardstick with which they are measured. Each reader has his degree of sensitivity and the final decision is his. What is clear is that we all must read him sometime in life.

And if someone wished to know my opinion on which is the best of the four volumes, I think I would lean towards "Relatos de poder".

I received this book from a friend in a bag. I had never heard of this author and his series of books about Don Juan. I really should have known about them since I am from the generation that read such works. Bill, in fact, read them when they were first published in the late 60s and said they were extremely popular back then.

This particular book is the last of the four, published in 1974. Many people claim that the first one, "The Teachings of Don Juan", which is a revised version of his PhD thesis in anthropology, is the best.

At some point, I will definitely take a look at that first book. This fourth book does start to become rather repetitive. There are a few too many detailed descriptions of the author suddenly finding himself asleep, awake, here, or there, and how surprised he is about it. After a while, the reader stops finding it as surprising. However, there are still many valuable nuggets of wisdom in it. I assume similar gems are scattered throughout all the books.

For example, "You must cultivate the feeling that a warrior needs nothing. You have everything needed for the journey that is your life.... If a warrior needs solace, he simply chooses anyone and expresses to that person every detail of his turmoil. After all, the warrior is not seeking to be understood or helped; by talking he's merely relieving himself of his pressure." This statement corresponds to my own experience. Just by telling a friend about whatever I am having strong feelings about, I begin to see the situation or myself in a different light, and the problem seems smaller. The friend doesn't even have to respond, as long as they refrain from disapproval or criticism.

Another interesting point is, "There is nothing wrong with the feeling of helplessness. All of us are familiar with it. Remember that we have all spent an eternity as helpless infants....But an infant wants to act and since he can't, he complains. There is nothing wrong with that, but to INDULGE [as an adult] in protesting and complaining is another matter." I often find myself sometimes going on and on with criticism of something or someone, and it's obvious to me almost immediately that it's unproductive. It's like turning on a switch that only produces static.

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Another good reader said this: "You may find this book has a lot of chaff on how they prepare peyote and other drugs, mundane descriptions in the diary... yet when you least expect it, they hit you with a boulder of wisdom that leaves you frozen. There is ONE core idea in the book that makes the price tag disappear. You cannot pay for it. It goes like this: 'Anything is one of a million paths. Therefore you must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions. To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path and there is no affront, to oneself or to others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do. But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. This question is one that only a very old man asks. Does this path have a heart? All paths are the same: they lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traversed long long paths, but I am not anywhere. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you. Before you embark on any path ask the question: Does this path have a heart? If the answer is no, you will know it, and then you must choose another path. The trouble is nobody asks the question; and when a man finally realizes that he has taken a path without a heart, the path is ready to kill him. At that point very few men can stop to deliberate, and leave the path. A path without a heart is never enjoyable. You have to work hard even to take it. On the other hand, a path with heart is easy; it does not make you work at liking it.'" Ever since I read the book, I have followed that advice, and life has blossomed with a feeling of realness.

When I brought up this book to a friend of mine, he informed me that he had already heard about it. His reaction was quite interesting.

He said, "Stoners have a penchant for this book. They are drawn to the philosophy it presents, yet they have never expressed any particular affection for the characters or the plot."

This sums it up rather neatly - it's essentially some rather simplistic philosophy encased within a wafer-thin plot.

The statement "Don't see the door, BE the door" might sound profound at first, but in reality, it doesn't hold up to much scrutiny.

I managed to reach page 20 before I started skimming through the pages, and by the time I got to page 100, I simply couldn't take it anymore and put the book down.

Overall, it seems that this book may have some appeal to a certain niche audience, but for me, it failed to deliver on both the character and plot fronts, and the philosophy was rather lackluster.

I firmly believe that Don Juan was presented in an inflated manner, which was distinctly masculine, and his characteristics were in line with this. He exploited his powers in ways that went beyond what an ordinary person would do if they possessed such abilities. For instance, he always managed to arrive punctually without the need for prior organization or planning. Don Juan and his friend got lost for three days on their way to the dude's house, yet they showed up precisely when he was about to undertake something that required their assistance. Then there was the aspect of magical realism. While intoxicated, he would encounter challengers like snakes and fictional monsters and had to engage in duels with them. I think this aspect of the novel enhances the strength within both genders, but it is undoubtedly from a male perspective. It showcases the male protagonist's courage, resourcefulness, and ability to overcome extraordinary obstacles, which may be seen as an idealized version of masculinity. At the same time, it also implies that both men and women can find inspiration and strength from such a character, although the narrative is predominantly centered around the male experience.

Ωραίο, δυνατό. This simple phrase holds a world of possibilities. It can express a sense of approval, indicating that something is nice or good. It can also imply that something is possible or achievable.

For example, when we see a beautiful scenery, we might exclaim "Ωραίο, δυνατό!" to express our admiration for its beauty and our belief that such a sight is possible.

Similarly, when we face a challenge, we can use this phrase to encourage ourselves and others, believing that with effort and determination, anything is possible.

In conclusion, "Ωραίο, δυνατό" is a powerful phrase that can bring a positive attitude and a sense of possibility to our lives. Let us embrace this phrase and use it to inspire ourselves and those around us to strive for the best and believe in the power of possibility.

If this is a fiction - it's amazing!

It seems as if the author has crafted a world that is both captivating and extraordinary. The details are so vivid, the plot so engaging, that it's hard not to be drawn in and completely immersed. Every turn of the page brings a new surprise, a new element that makes the story even more thrilling.

If this is real - it's amazing!

The idea that such a thing could actually exist in the real world is almost too mind-boggling to comprehend. It challenges our perception of what is possible and makes us question the boundaries of our own reality. How could something so remarkable and不可思议 occur? It makes us wonder if there are other hidden wonders out there waiting to be discovered.

Whether it's fiction or reality, one thing is certain - this is truly amazing. It has the power to inspire, to amaze, and to leave us with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

I consider myself a rationalist and a historical materialist. This book would describe me as being trapped in the bubble of the tonal. I don't think there is room in the world for phenomena that cannot be explained by the laws of physics. And yet, it was impossible for me not to be fascinated by Carlos Castaneda and his shamanic master, Don Juan. "The Island of the Tonal" was my first encounter with the South American anthropologist. Although I was never pushed, like some New Age fanatics, to consider the teachings that Don Juan imparts to Carlos as precepts of life, on every page I had to convince myself that what I was reading was probably just fiction. It is a merit of Castaneda's writing, incisive and profound, capable of describing extraordinary phenomena as well as penetrating the human soul and bringing to light its restlessness. A book that I would recommend to everyone, even just as a novel, light-years away from the mystical trash that has arisen around the figure of the author.

It is truly a captivating work that blurs the line between reality and imagination. The vivid descriptions of the spiritual experiences and the exploration of different states of consciousness make it a thought-provoking read. Whether one believes in the authenticity of Castaneda's accounts or not, the book has the power to engage and inspire. It challenges our preconceived notions and makes us question the limits of our understanding.

Overall, "The Island of the Tonal" is a remarkable piece of literature that offers a unique perspective on the human condition and the mysteries of the universe. It is a must-read for anyone interested in anthropology, spirituality, or just a good story.

This book is one of the most interesting ones in the series (so far).

It opens the doors of the unknown for Carlos Castaneda. Thanks to the explanations of Don Juan, the knowledge from the previous books begins to come together.

At the same time, it also makes a general review of what happened in the previous books.

Carlos Castaneda embarks on a new journey of exploration, delving deeper into the mysteries and teachings presented.

The story unfolds in a captivating manner, keeping the readers on the edge of their seats.

With each page, new revelations and insights are shared, adding to the overall allure of the book.

Whether you are a fan of the series or new to it, this book is sure to engage and intrigue you.

It offers a unique perspective on the world of Carlos Castaneda and his experiences with Don Juan.

Overall, it is a must-read for anyone interested in spiritual exploration and the unknown.

Boring and outlandish.

This statement implies that something is not only dull but also extremely strange or unusual. It seems to suggest that there is an excessive amount of superstitious content involved, perhaps even more than what was present in the first three instances.

Superstitions can often add an element of mystery and intrigue, but when they are overdone, they can become tiresome and detract from the overall quality or credibility of a thing.

It makes one wonder what exactly this thing is that is being described as so boring and outlandish with an abundance of superstitious crap. Maybe it's a story, a movie, a belief system, or something else entirely.

Regardless of what it is, it's clear that the person making this assessment is not impressed and feels that it has crossed the line into being too much.

Perhaps a more balanced approach that combines interesting and engaging elements with a touch of superstition could have been more successful in capturing the attention and interest of the audience.

This is the best of the Don Juan series.

It truly stands out among all the installments. Casteneda's writing is nothing short of breathtaking.

His words have the power to transport the reader into a completely different world, filled with mystery, adventure, and spiritual exploration.

The way he describes the characters and their experiences is so vivid and detailed that it feels as if you are right there with them.

Each page is filled with profound insights and teachings that make you think deeply about life and the human condition.

Whether you are a fan of the series or new to Casteneda's work, this book is sure to leave a lasting impression.

It is a must-read for anyone who is interested in expanding their consciousness and exploring the deeper aspects of existence.

I was definitely finally convinced that I had traversed the rift.

In this rift, Castañeda seemed to start making up things for shock value.

However, as I got to the end, it perfectly encapsulated the mystical metaphysics of being.

If it's true, it's truly awesome.

I'm almost confused as to why Castañeda is sharing this.

Is it a matter of passing the torch?

On the other hand, if it's fake, it's still an interesting philosophical exercise.

It makes one think about the nature of reality, perception, and the boundaries between what is real and what is imagined.

Whether it's a true account or a fictional exploration, it has managed to capture my attention and make me reflect on these profound topics.

Overall, it's a thought-provoking piece that leaves me with more questions than answers.

But perhaps that's the beauty of it, as it invites further exploration and discussion.