Journey to Ixtlan

The Lessons of Don Juan

By: Carlos Castaneda

Narrated by: Luis Moreno

Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Carlos Castanada was a student of anthropology when he met Don Juan Matus, a Yaqui shaman and the inspiration for Castanada’s The Teachings of Don Juan. In this controversial work, Castanada relays his experiences being challenged by his mentor on his perception of the world and all living things in it.

©1973 Carlos Castaneda (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Well done

Would you listen to Journey to Ixtlan again? Why?

I had read it years ago. This performance was very well done and I might

tales of power!

loved every second of this book it's wisdom is timeless and will endure! One Love!

excellent book!

this book offers lessons on life and death I loved it great book! it can also help put you on the path to lucid dreaming!

A journey into personal power and the human experience

I love how this book opens my mind to the wonderment that is always around me. The fact that our reality is a perception and everyone’s perception is different. And even, that it’s possible to change one’s reality by “stopping the world”.

A book that changed my life

Of all the series of books about Don Jaun this one is definately the best. I've read it so many times over a time span of almost ten years and each time offered me an opportunity to renew myself. It also helped me a lot with my depression. It gives me the power to face all the ups and downs in my life.

Finally Carlos Starts to Get It

The excellent narrator of this series has kept me listening to this book despite my irritation at Carlos Carstaneda’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the mystical nature of what his teacher, the inscrutable Don Juan, is trying to impart to him. Even after ten years of being his disciple, Carlos insists on trying to rationalize everything, using his westernized filter to scoff at the unexplainable and inexplicable events he’s experienced. When he’s not scoffing or laughing at his teacher Carlos is overwhelmed with fear. Refusing to accept that he’s being coached by someone who has achieved enlightenment, that one of the tools of that path is peyote and to trust his own instincts, he instead runs away or refuses to use the peyote. He tries Don Juan’s patience with his questions and patronizing ways.
This book, the third in the series, was written a decade after the first two books. After Carlos had a truly extraordinary experience alone in the desert and was forced to accept that there is much more to this world than can be explained easily. After the experience of “seeing” Carlos returned to his notes from the previous decade and rewrote his story with a new perspective.
I’m glad I read the first two books because one can really appreciate how much he was changed by his experience in the desert. Still, at the end of Journey, Carlos has a long way to go before he’s either a warrior or a sorcerer. One has to wonder whether or not he’s going to survive the journey or even the courage to take the next step.

LISTEN CAREFULLY, LEARN TO BE A WARRIOR!

Castaneda tells us that he approached Don Juan, his shaman guru, to learn about peyote. So his first two books focus on the hallucinogenics; and he admits in this third book that he omitted the philosophy and other instruction from Don Juan which Castaneda discounted as nonsense. Well, I am not going to be using peyote, and I truly appreciated Don Juan's pointers for effective living. Not nonsense at all!

I could identify with Castaneda's always taking notes, always talking, always asking questions. He is a graduate student who usually wears a suit and tie and carries a briefcase. Don Juan sometimes teases him about this. I could not identify with Castaneda's reluctance to talk to plants! The author is really anal at several points! Of course all these years later we are more comfortable with meditation, plant and animal communication, all the concepts of the New Age.

I will be getting the paper book because some nuggets have to be underlined or at least marked with a page corner turned down. Don Juan is evidently quite an old man, and yet he can sit on the ground in such a way that he can stand up in one motion if necessary. He is as strong as he needs to be. He climbs or walks as far as he needs to. Carlos, the author, is often winded or needing to be helped! Don Juan gives several hints about how he stays fit -- for sure not a gym membership!

This book is a must-listen for young and old because it lays the ground for so much more. I should have read it in the '70's, but I was reading the Seth books instead. Don Juan has an excellent attitude toward death, personal history, discipline, readiness. The book ends well at a good stopping place. Carlos does indeed "stop the world" and see the magnificent gridwork that Seth referred to and Stuart Wilde discusses. I wish I had skipped over "Separate" and "Teachings" to jump into this book.

Excellent story, excellent narrative

What made the experience of listening to Journey to Ixtlan the most enjoyable?

The story is very well written and the narrator is really good, changing voices according to the characters makes it incredible fun and addictive. I highly recommend it.
About the book is full of information and great insights.

Luis Moreno brings Don Juan to life

Where does Journey to Ixtlan rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Top 10%

Who was your favorite character and why?

ALL three. The story is a dialog. The two main characters rise to the occasion perfectly, and don Genaro nails his role as well.

What about Luis Moreno’s performance did you like?

Impeccable. No doubt, Luis Moreno is a professional voice actor, but this even transcends professionalism. I've listened to it scores of times, including while I'm sleeping. One of my early impressions was, his ability to nail the characters takes the story to a whole different level. As I continued to listen over and again, I noticed that his particular ability to make don Juan believable makes me feel as though I'm listening to the real, live don Juan.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Tidbit? Hmmm... I read all extant Castaneda books in 1983-84, when there were 7. I was 15-16 years old then. Later, I lived in Latin America for about 13 years, beginning at age 29. I reread all 10 books in 2001-02, age 34. Now, as I reread, with special attention to this audiobook, I realize that the primary driving force that turned me to Latin America for so many years was clearly Carlos Castaneda. How's that for a tidbit?

Any additional comments?

By all means, get Luis Moreno to continue reading. Up next: Tales of Power.

Above and beyond my comments on Luis Moreno's performance, which has effected a cascade of reflections on my part, it has also caused me to consider in great detail HOW I read. After scores of listenings, the thought crossed my mind that Castaneda's books are DIALOGUES. Though I've read these books on paper at various times in my life, seen the quotation marks, along with dialog attribution phrases, I never truly heard the characters speaking in their voices while reading with my eyes. Although dialog, mixed with narrative and description, is supposed to make me feel like a sensory participant in the story and present for all conversation, it rather feels more like journalism -- like I'm reading a report of something that happened. And by far, to this reader, the key element in that perceived shortcoming is dialog: When I read it with my eyes, I don't truly hear the characters speaking in their unique voices, in "my mind's ear".

Enter the audiobook. I've got some great audiobooks, narrated by Jeremy Irons, Derek Jacobi, Emilia Fox -- all extraordinary performances, in which these excellent actors nail their characters to perfection. But these are all works of fiction. Castaneda is far more controversial, largely because we don't truly know if it's fiction or not. We know that Carlos Castaneda existed -- but what about this "Juan Matus"? And what about this body of teaching? When I read it on the page, I need to make a conscious decision: Do I believe this? But when I can hear don Juan speaking, in his own voice, with my own ears, at the same time as I can identify with Carlos Castaneda himself -- his "I" in the dialog effectively becomes me -- at that point, it becomes far more believable. Thus, an impeccable narration becomes essential. Case in point: "To be or not to be" are the words of Shakespeare -- the monologue fails to integrate itself with the character, it remains forever attached to the writer. By contrast, any significant quote from Castaneda contains the words of don Juan himself, detached from the author of the book. To me, that's far more credible when I actually hear don Juan say something, rather than read "don Juan said" with my eyes. It's crucial for such a controversial persona as don Juan, and that makes Luis Moreno's job that much more challenging. When I listen to his recording, I feel like I'm there, in the Sonora desert, or in the mountains of central Mexico, etc., listening to don Juan speaking.

Fantastic only those with ears to hear will get anything at all

This book is deep and wide with no need for interpretation, the words are powerful and precise. Anticipation and clarity are met with vivid expressions encompassed by real life experiences.