The Relationship Between Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan

A detailed Summary of The Relationship Between Carlos Castaneda and Don Juan

Carlos Castaneda was interested in collecting and studying medicinal plants, especially the uses of the hallucinogenic cactus- peyote. A friend of his had put him in contact with Juan Matus, a Yaqui Indian that knew a great deal of plants. Their introduction lead him to believe that don Juan was a "man that could appreciate directness and (he) decided to boldly tackle him with a request" (1). He wanted him to become his informant in exchange for some sort of monetary reward. Don Juan quickly refused any type of monetary reward. I think that he felt that there was no need for monetary reward because he said that "perhaps there is nothing to learn about plants, because there is nothing to say about them" (6). It was unthinkable for him to take his money. Don Juan said to Carlos "you can ask me anything you want. I will tell you what I know and I will tell you what to do with it" (6). The teacher-student "contract" in the first several chapters of Journey to Ixtlan is one of an even exchange - more specifically an exchange of times. Don Juan doesn't want money; he told Carlos "pay me for my time... with your time" (5). By exchanging times they are both at an equal level. Neither one is better than the other because they are on the

Carlos Castaneda expects to learn about medicinal plants, especially peyote from don Juan. After all, that was the purpose in approaching him. However, this is not the case. Thus far, all of his encounters with don Juan have involved something else other than plants except for the incident in the dessert where he is prompted to talk to the plant and be on an equal plane with it. Carlos finds this ridiculous and can't come to terms with it. Don Juan comments on his immense feelings of self- importance and changes his tactics and says that he "should not try to talk to plants until (he) felt easy and natural about it" (27). Don Juan is going about teaching his lessons in a round-about way. One moment he will be laughing really hard because the earth has given him a sign of agreement, and then he gets very serious. There is no continuous enforcement of what is right and what is wrong, what to do and what not to do. He is also very pushy and forceful as well as assertive.

Carlos expects direct and immediate answers to his questions and he believes that the student - teacher relationship is equal. Since he doesn't get them he becomes very frustrated and irritated. Don Juan does not think or function in that manner. He has different ideas in regards as to

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Approximate Word count = 850
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People

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