Was Castaneda Right?

I don't know. It may well be a possibility.

he was a little horseshitter.

good writer though!

I believe we created our own flase id by being constantly lied to by said predator(s).

Why human babies are so absolutely helpless for so long is a clue, I believe. Many animals are born with a lot of memory from day one ... they run with the herd literally in minutes ... can pick out there mother from thousands of similar looking herd-mates.

Dolphins and whales ... the beings on the planet with brains our size and bigger are obviously born with far more innate memory.

It makes no sense whatsoever, from a sheer survival perspective for humans to be born in such a helpless state that remains for so long ...

probably.

He was right about a lot of things, that's for sure. Lots and lots of motivation to prove he was a fraud ... nonetheless, he put together a lot of absolutely staggering ideas in an incredibly easy to understand narrative. One of the most influential writers of the 20th century.

If we are indeed infinite beings that have existed for literally eternity, why have we no memory of it? What reasonable purpose does that serve?

I have used his lessons taught re: "petty tyrants". Very enlightening info.

The answer is pretty simple...we have NOT existed for eternity. We were born, like a cockroach is born, and is stepped on by something bigger than itself. You will not live after you die and you did not live before you were born. Logically, you would have no memoy of it. You have been reading too many fantasy novels.

Also enjoyed when Don Juan pointed out a falling leaf to Carlos and then SHOWED IT TO HIM AGAIN...............

Fantasy novels? Hmmm? Buddhism ... Taoism ... virtually every indigenous/shamanic tradition on the planet ... virtually all mythology ...

Many theories of energy and consciousness???

Try proving that dead matter creates consciousness. That should be interesting. And, if life comes from chaos, why haven't we been able to create life in a test tube?

His description of the way the Eagle operates matches very precisely to the gnostic descriptions of the Archons (not the GLP version of the Archons).

He consistently stated through all his writings that the most important task to reclaim our power is to first reclaim our true memory ... which he acknowledged is a monumental task. The recapitulation. From experience with decades of meditation, it is astonishing how much happens to us that we instantly forget.

I think so. Even Carl Sagan said something about reptilian brain:

"the "reptilian" portions of our brain and inciting aggression, territoriality and fear of strangers."

Gurdjieff said that the man is a machine controlled by emotions, the body and the mind. A true man is not a machine if he´s in total control the three aspects.

A depressing outlook at the most extreme level.

HERE'S SOMETHING TO PONDER. A LION SLEEPS FOR 15-20 HOURS A DAY ONLY TO WAKE FOR MATING AND HUNTING. WITH ONLY A FEW AWAKENED HOURS A DAY IT RULES AS THE KING OF BEASTS!???????????????????????????

of course he was right, he is talking about the EGO.

Another animal that is born with an amazing level of awareness and memory compared to helpless humans. Why would the smartest being o the planet (debatable?) be born with ZERO memory in an absolutely helpless state that lasts for months??? (years in some cases and a lifetime for others!)

What other animals on this planet have an ego?

So, are you stating the ego is created by a superior race or being on this planet and given to us? If so, what is this predator and what motivates them?

yes that's the whole plan. We have a part of our brain that's
very animal like, its reptilian like you could say i guess, thats the gateway they used to introduce the false identity.

I guess that's the "hardware" explanation. I'm even more curious about the software macro explanation. The Castaneda memory narrative is very close to some of the theories about our memories being artificially "wiped" in between incarnations.

I can come up with no logical explanations for why humans are born into such a helpless state compared to nearly ALL of nature. A tadpole is less helpless than a human baby.

strange that so many women would committ suicide for him.

He was a sorcerer. Makes perfect sense.

yep like jim jones, herf applewhite etc etc...

there's lots!!

I think so. I believe he's just talking about subpersonalities the same way psychologist Karl Jung did.

Definitely not. He spends a lot of time describing a real predator that co-exists with us, just beyond our normal observable reality that has replaced our memories with an artificial memory that renders us helpless to their plan which is, of course, to feed on our energy. He was very clear that this is a real, observable entity (to sorcerers) that is a formidable adversary to humans.

It is also the final revelation of his last book ... he uses nearly the entire narrative of his final book setting up a thorough description of these entities. Was very specific and devoted a lot of words to it. For a writer of Castaneda's talent, this indicates that perhaps this "element" was his most important revelation.