One of the emerging mysticisms in the country is Indian mysticism, which is also known as Sahiri mysticism. In the last decade, books with the name of this profession were translated and published in the country.
The founder of this trend is “Carlos Castaneda”, whose 12 books are available in Farsi. What he wrote under the title of Indian mysticism is all the teachings that Castaneda learned from his master “Don Juan”.
Geographically, this school is related to the natives of America, and its origin is the American continent, especially the country of Mexico, which is rooted in the old Toltec religion. It has. [1] In their religious view, the original people of America consider the hands of supernatural forces and natural powers to be effective in the changes and transformations of the world. A group of them believe that the spirits of various gods play a role in existence. Their special attention to “nature” and the power, understanding and intelligence of nature and the forces arising from it, has made the indigenous religions of America known as “life-oriented”.
Before Castaneda’s works, the world was not familiar with Indian mysticism. By writing books in addition to explaining one of the new spiritualist methods, he took a step towards introducing the ancient religions of America to the world.
Life and personality:
One of the characteristics of newly emerging mystics is the lack of accurate information on the details of the lives of some of the leaders of these movements. As the life of people like Maharishi Mahesh, Paul Twitchell is in the aura of uncertainty, in the case of Carlos Castaneda, there are various reports and disagreements about the place of birth and There is his upbringing, he introduced himself as born in 1935 in São Paulo, Brazil[2], but the official documents of American immigration indicate that he was born in Provost. His father claims that he had no interest in secret schools, but his ex-wife said that the only topic we talked about was “secret”. Castaneda also claimed that his father was a professor of literature, but Time magazine presented Castaneda’s father as a goldsmith.[3] Castaneda immigrated to America when he was young and as an American citizen, he obtained his diploma at Hollywood High School and there he went through various courses in art, journalism and literature.
In 1960, he married a woman who was 14 years older than him, which led to a divorce in a short time.[4] Castaneda died of liver cancer in Los Angeles in 1998.
Castaneda, who was studying in the field of anthropology, traveled to Mexico to complete his thesis on hallucinogenic plants [5] and through one of his friends he met a person named “Don Juan”. This acquaintance led to a deep student-teacher relationship between him and Don Juan, which lasted for almost two decades. Later, through Don Juan, Castaneda met another magician named “Don Xunaro”, who also had a great influence on Castaneda’s thoughts. Regarding Don Juan, apart from Castaneda’s writings, there is no accurate information and no reliable documents such as books, films, photos, audio.[6]
Some researchers have doubted the existence of “Don Juan” and some others have denied the basis of his existence. They consider Don Juan to be a product of Castaneda’s illusions and imaginations. According to him, Don Juan made up Castaneda’s imagination and that’s it.
According to Callos Castañeda, Don Juan came under the supervision of a sorcerer master when he was young and was included in his circle of disciples. In that circle, where a number of men and women were present, Don Juan gradually advanced to the position of “Naval”. Nawal is a nickname given to prominent teachers of Maram Sahiri. It was during these days that Castaneda entered the circle of students of Don Juan.
Carlos Castaneda’s books, which are the stages of his apprenticeship with Don Juan, contain teachings that Don Juan taught to his loyal students Castaneda under the name of mysticism, discovery and intuition. Castaneda has provided a moment-to-moment account of his dealings with Don Juan in various parts of his works.[7]
Apart from Don Juan’s instructions, Castaneda’s statements contain many of the beliefs of the Toltec religion, which is one of the indigenous religions of America.[8] In Castaneda’s writings, the person who takes steps in the sorcerer’s ritual for inner knowledge and discovery and intuition is called “warrior seeker”. According to him, “the path of militant seekers is a form of always living in struggle, it does not have a precise definition. The behavior of the warrior seeker, thought, policy, perseverance is the choice and the most reliable way in every action” [9]
Main ideas:
۱- Energy fields
“Humans consist of an infinite number of string energy fields that manifest as a luminous sphere, and magicians call them luminous eggs.” These energy fields, which are infinite and very diverse, originate from the phenomena called eagle. Don Juan calls these energy fields eagle’s rays. Man is a creature consisting of a set of strings of light energy similar to an egg. Inside this egg, there is a bright point called the link. Humans absorb and identify a small part of the eagle’s fluids through a point in their bright cocoon called the link. What is recognizable to us, what appears to us in the form of this world and all the phenomena in it, is the essence of the eagle that is absorbed through the link. With the actions of witchcraft and behavior, a person can move his connection and as a result, absorb another part of the eagle’s essence and therefore understand other worlds with different dimensions.[10] According to Don Juan and Castaneda, the world is not made of solid objects as people see it, but of energy fields, that is, according to the new hypotheses of physics. [11]
According to Don Juan’s claim, “the only transcendental reality is the existence of energy fields in existence (Eagle Flows) that are grouped into clusters and bands.” “There are 48 great bands of light, only 2 of which are available to humans through normal observation and understanding.” [12]
In the eyes of Sahiri mysticism, by accepting the principle that everything in existence is energy, many annoying traits of humans can be changed, and it is with this attitude that the health of the body and soul is ensured. Anger consumes a lot of energy and does nothing positive. It doesn’t do either, it leaves weakness and unhealthiness. If I see ourselves instead of “I” as a field of energy that we shouldn’t waste, we will put aside anger.[13] Many of the human powers that play an essential role in the path of the journey are a large amount of energy: “Will as the sorcerer understands it is the accumulation of available energy. »[۱۴] The more energy we have, the healthier and better life we have, anyone who has energy can do anything.
۲- junction
Citing Don Juan, Castaneda considers two types of consciousness for humans:
A) Awareness on the right side: All acquired knowledge and information are said to be acquired by humans in dealing with the surrounding world (which, of course, he considers the world available to be unreal). All human explanations and interpretations of existence are in this category of awareness.
From Don Juan’s point of view, even though this kind of knowledge appears to be like a tall and lofty mountain in the eyes of the average person, but for the warrior seeker, it appears to be worthless and worthless because these things are only a deception of the unreal world.
b) Awareness on the left side: Hands are one of the unusual awarenesses that occur to the struggling seeker. This awareness is the result of human entering into another world which is the real world. By reaching this knowledge, the warrior seeker realizes that interpretations and explanations that others have induced to the seeker was all unreal and related to the mind. The reality of the world – which is a manifestation of integrated energy – shows itself and shows the illusory nature of its cause.
According to the teachings of Don Juan, in a normal state, the link of a human being is on the right side of the body, and in a mystical state and higher consciousness, this link is on the left side of the body, and it is in this situation that the seeker gets his magical power.[15] The magician’s job is to achieve this, that is, the ability to change the link and all the teachings of Don Juan are for the ability to move the link.[16] On the other hand A tremendous force in existence – which Don Juan calls the eagle – devours human awareness and his knowledge and information at the time of death, because awareness is the eagle’s food.[17] (It is necessary to explain that the meaning of the eagle is the force of nature, not the famous eagle)
In Castaneda’s works, the two terms “tonal” and “naval” tell the story of these two types of consciousness that humans face. “Tonal” is the world we know now and it is created by our mind and has no benefit from reality. “Naval” is the truth behind the curtains that is discovered in a magical way.
۳- erasure of personal past
According to Don Juan, the warrior seeker must destroy the “I” in himself in order to step into another world and observe other truths. This process, which is also called the destruction of the self and the elimination of self-conceit, is the erasure of the personal past that brings the struggling seeker to freedom. The way they suggest to erase one’s past is not to show one’s truth to others and to live in secret. Don Juan advises Castaneda that “if he wants to be freed from the shackles of people’s judgment, he must begin to erase himself.” Create a fog around him that makes him a mysterious and unpredictable being. We have to erase ourselves to such an extent that we become mysterious even to ourselves. [The erasure of the personal past] causes us to lose certainty about what we call the real world, then we find that both my reality and the external reality are nothing but descriptions. [18]
It is from this point of view that the disciples are advised in the practical exercises of mysticism: “Don’t share anything you do with the people around you – because it reinforces your personal past.” Don’t let anyone know what you want to do. You can’t hide when everyone knows where you are.”[19]
۴- The sanctity of nature
Nature and its forces and the earth have a special sanctity from the perspective of magic mysticism, and it is this sanctity that determines the goal of a seeker in this mysticism. For the Mexican Indian, the land does not belong to the people, but the people belong to the land[20] The “Remembering the Earth” ceremony, which is one of the religious ceremonies of the red-skinned mystics and is held in a beginning, has never been held with the presence of foreigners, and only red-skinned people are allowed to enter this ceremony, so there is no information about the details of this ceremony. Not given out.[21]
The spiritual and spiritual longing of Arif Sahiri is based on one thing, and that is that “the earth is the basic provider of everything and the conscious manifestations of humans should be directed to harmonize with nature.”[22]
“If you ask about the solution to human suffering, I would suggest that you regain the connection that binds us to the earth, that is, our lost umbilical cord… remember the existence that nourishes us (the earth)… to Before learning addition and subtraction in schools, our children should be taught to respect the creature that shelters us.[23]
Do not forget the earth at any moment, the earth can help us To immerse ourselves in the faces of “the other me”. In various parts of his works, Castaneda refers to the practice of “seeker fighters” who bury themselves in the ground and says that the fighter seekers bury themselves in the ground to achieve enlightenment or cure their illness.[24]
*****
Reflection and exploration:
۱- As it has been told many times in Don Juan’s teachings to Castaneda, the goal and end of the sorcerer’s mysticism is to achieve “magical powers”. Achieving these types of powers is achieved by reaching the center of energy accumulation in the body, and a mystic in the spirit of a magician is someone who can move this energy center and with this move, reach the hands of unnatural forces.
The word diablero[25] which means evil witch is the same nickname given to prominent Indian mystics. Castaneda says:
Don Juan uses the word diablero to describe his teacher. Later I found out that this word is a word used only by the Sonoran Indians, and it refers to an evil person who practices black magic and is able to transform himself into an animal like a dog or an American wolf or any other creature.[26] Castaneda mentions in another place that the goal in mysticism is to become a “man of knowledge”.[27] But he explains “man of knowledge” as follows: “From Don Juan’s words, it can be concluded that a man of knowledge can be a diablero (black magic wizard), thus there is an unbreakable relationship between a man of knowledge and a diablero.”[28]
Abnormal powers need a separate analysis, let’s say that basically such abilities By itself, it does not express any advantage and it does not mean true spirituality and true mysticism, and on the other hand, such powers are not reserved for shamans and seekers of magical mysticism, and among all religions there are people who have such abilities. (For a more detailed understanding, refer to the last chapter of the book on the topic of unusual powers in mysticism.) But the point to be mentioned about Sahiri’s mysticism is not without grace. This is that according to the testimony of the history of the chain of divine prophets, all of them have been responsible to warn the people that the human being cut off from God and separated from the origin, in terms of deprivation and distance from spiritual excellence, is like a four-legged person, that is, the actual status of an atheist human being is animality, and this fact is necessary. not to prove Therefore, the struggle of the messengers of God was all for the exit of man from the position of animality to a high position of humanity, and if a school gains strength to bring man one step closer from the position of animality to the forbidden position of humanity, it has been able to serve man, and as much as it can in creating a distance between animal traits and divine traits. Man’s success is equally worthy of praise and admiration, not that it is proved by taking life like Don Juan that the art of man is to transform into other four ends and animals. Don Juan’s exercises and trainings are all designed for humans to enjoy the abilities of animals. You have to ask what is the relationship between this faith and mysticism?
If we accept that the techniques that Don The trained student gives all the magical capabilities to the practitioner, but there is no room for the question, what perfection lies in having these powers? Which aspect of the spiritual and divine dimensions of man flourishes with such powers?
Even if a person is born equipped with such powers from birth and spends a lifetime with these powers, has the human desire for perfection been satisfied and all the powers of human existence have been exalted? Can this logic convince the inquisitive mind of man to choose such a goal as “the end of human life”? After all, does reaching such powers guarantee a person that what happened to him was the “happiness” of a person?
In the position of defending Sahiri’s mysticism, the purpose of Sahiri’s mysticism can be explained in another way, and with a scientific makeup, it is close to the border of acceptance. With the statement that; Nature, like man, is alive, intelligent and purposeful. One can experience the beauty and glory, authority and love in the shade of union with nature. Communicating with nature is communicating with the truth of existence, and uniting with nature is uniting with the spirit of the world. Therefore, knowledge of nature and union with the forces of nature and connection with the spirit of nature and as a result annihilation in the force of nature is an end that has levels of mystical unity and spiritual unity within it.
In the above statement, although the “experience of unity with nature” is mentioned, in this apparently mystical explanation, one truth is forgotten, and that is the “creator of nature” who is the origin of creation, that is, the only truth that is the essence of being and nature is inanimate. , without relying on it, it does not have the qualification of being an end.
۲- Sorcerer’s mysticism, which is called “naturalist mysticism” because of its special attention to the forces of nature, has a fundamental defect, and that is forgetting those spiritual powers of man that are not directly related to nature and the discovery of nature. That is, only those spiritual tendencies of man that can be used directly in unity with nature and mastering natural and supernatural forces are considered in Sahiri mysticism, and other transcendental tendencies of man are not even mentioned, from this conceptual point of view. Such as love, affection, service to people, worship and meditation, which have taken many roles in other emerging mysticisms, there is no mention of them in mysticism, and all spiritual virtues are summed up in magical rituals and attitudes mixed with illusions. Since this creed has only provided personal instructions with the aim of recovering abnormal powers, it does not have any collective instructions to reform society, as if humans do not need collective life and living in society. In the Indian spirit, what is important is the seeker himself and attaining supernatural powers and maintaining these powers, it is from this point of view that Castaneda states that my master has killed several people with magical powers.[29]
۳- The faculties of reason, sense, imagination and illusion each have a place in the human existence and contribute to the spiritual growth and development of a human being, and a part of the levels of spiritual prosperity of a human being is related to the functioning of these faculties.
What is prominently seen in Sahiri mysticism is “rationalism” under the pretext of reaching the heart of the world. In this ideal, reason is abandoned and what is introduced as a substitute is “illusion” and the processing of this faculty. In many of Castaneda’s and Don Juan’s conversations, Shah Bayt is “attention to feelings”.[30] And the chapter of the speech is “the inefficiency of reason and the inability of argument” in such a way that the perceptions of the senses are questioned and what the eye sees and the intellect confirms is all placed in the realm of the unreal (tonal) world. The question that comes to the mind of every audience is that, assuming that the “power of illusion” can bring a person to new states and, according to Castaneda’s interpretation, drown a person in the world of the unknown, is this a new world at the cost of discrediting the perceptions of the senses and Understandings of the mind appear and come from the channel of the power of illusion. Can it be more real than the world of sense and the world of reason? With what scales does Castaneda consider “perception of illusion” to be more authentic? Than Does the intellect and the world of senses measure? If human skepticism to If the senses are spread, which perception will be safe from doubt? After all, which authority should be given the originality? Another question should be addressed, and that is, to what extent is the scope of receiving power and authority? And basically, what is its effectiveness and realism? If we accept that the inherent work of this faculty is “representations that do not correspond to reality” and not guidance The real world, which Castaneda claimed, in that case, the system of knowledge that Castaneda presented would be fundamentally distorted.
Power plants and psychedelic drugs such as peyote, mushrooms, tatura and corn seeds, which Castaneda gave a long description of their cultivation and how to use in his books, are all based on the logic of “placing the power of illusion” in the sorcerer’s mysticism and pushing them to the sidelines. The power of understanding and reasoning. Irfan Sahiri has encouraged the use of psychedelic plants and experiencing the world of illusion in a terrible way. Destruction of the body, mental and spiritual disorders, nervous system disorders, and changes in brain function are the least negative consequences of using these plants, so that in many cases, disturbing dreams and nightmares cast a shadow on a person’s life and turn it into hell.
Indeed, if a mystical experience is to be realized by resorting to hallucinogenic drugs, what is the need for the slogan “return to nature and union with nature”? Shouldn’t the purpose of sanctifying nature and praising it be only the existence of these plants in nature? It must be accepted that the seeker in Sahiry mysticism, upon entering the space of illusion, sees the world and as a result the end of existence and ultimately the creator of existence as nothing but “illusion” and spends several mornings entertaining himself with imaginary forms and “Playing everything” and “playing oneself” are the only fruits that the seeker gets in the spirit of witchcraft.
It is clear that such illusory states have the least affinity with mystical intuition and true knowledge and merciful revelation.
۴- God either doesn’t exist in witchcraft or has such a weak role in the belief system of this school that the seeker doesn’t pay the least attention to God and his powers and his power. In Castaneda’s books, we rarely come across the name “God” and there is no mention of divine prophets, and accordingly, no contribution is made to divine religions and the revealed plan of managing human life.
In Don Khwan’s view, God is placed in the tonal field, not the naval field. The tonal field is the part of existence that comes from our imaginations and does not benefit from the truth. “God is a part of our tonal – the tonal is all the things that we think the world is made of, including God.”[31] And he clearly says that Tonal cannot create anything…Naval is not God because God is a part of personal tonal and the tonal of times. God is part of the tone of our age and has no more meaning than this.[32] Don Juan prefers to introduce the root of the world’s forces as a symbolic creature called “Eagle”, but he does not mention God. He and his student from that For God to have a share in the effects and impressions of nature, they avoid Jed.
The reason is clear, because in mysticism, the savior is a sorcerer and sorcerer, not divine messengers. The representatives of God give their place to the shamans, and the sorcerer relies on the prophesy, and all the functions of the mission – which is the power to save people and the promise of prosperity and salvation to people – are attributed to sorcerers. From this point of view, Maram Sahiri is very similar to satanism, because in both the defeat of good forces is depicted and the victory is with evil forces and satanic powers, and the world is full of forces that, without obeying the will of God, are presented. They are able to capture the fabric of existence and the autonomy of these powers It is as if God has crawled into a corner and is content to watch the performance of these powers. In short, sorcerer’s mysticism should be considered anti-God mysticism or at least godless mysticism.
۵- What is claimed about the energy fields in Maram Sahri, its proof is auxiliary It does not confirm the truth of the mystical teachings of this profession, as the rejection of this theory is not considered a defect for it, because these teachings are from The theory of energy fields does not branch out and does not logically come from this basis, in short This idea is alien to the mystical mysticism. On the other hand, the theory of “junction” and the claim of the existence of 48 bands of energy and the eagle’s virtues have neither empirical nor intellectual support and are nothing more than claims.
۶- The tradition of witchcraft is one of the ancient traditions that is rooted in the confrontation with monotheistic religions. In the Qur’an, this practice is condemned, and in the Shiite traditions, it is condemned Denial of God is mentioned. In Christianity, witchcraft is mentioned as a kind of blasphemy. Although this action is real (it can happen), it does not benefit from the truth (educational and uplifting effect). Although Sahar has some kind of unusual possessions and it is considered to be entering an unknown and new world, but it should not be overlooked that any entry into an unknown world is not a growing and exalting one, and it is a sign of taking a step on the path of salvation. It won’t be, just as it is not very helpful in the worldly life, as Don Juan himself has admitted to this importance:
“(In the past) after years of dealing with plants of authority, some were able to achieve the “action of seeing” (inner insight). Of course, viewers who could only see. They faced failure and when their land was invaded by conquerors, they were left defenseless like any other people. These conquerors captured the entire world of the Toltecs and appropriated everything to themselves.[33]
۷- Presenting a difficult way and offering inefficient instructions is one of the other features of this ritual. In mystic mysticism, on the one hand, the path is presented as dangerous and the goal as difficult and unattainable, so that this path may lead to the madness of the warrior seeker.[34] Don Juan’s unbearable orders and the unbridled world of illusions may upset the mental balance of the seeker and this path will be a disaster for his life. The difficult exercises that don Juan offers, such as taking pig oil and combining it with some rare herbs in several stages and eating it, which he himself admits It has maddening and shattering effects and causes forgetfulness and loss of memory. It will be nothing but a scandal by whatever name it is advertised.
In his personal experience, after consuming peyote, Castaneda mentions 30 times of nausea and vomiting, which gives him a mental state in which he repeatedly bangs his head against the wall and shakes his body for hours and jumps in the air and screams. And after repeatedly jumping up and down, he takes off his clothes completely and then starts howling like a dog and follows a dog in such a way that the dog gets scared and runs away and goes around the house twenty times. And he howls so much like a dog that his voice can be heard from several miles away and he wrestles with the dog and they bite each other and urinate on the dog’s head and the dog does the same to Castaneda.[35]
On the other hand, sometimes they suggest orders that, even if they have effects in one direction, trample some other moral virtues, as in the following orders, human dignity and the great sense of the secretary are ignored and with the justification that These actions have benefits and consequences Its social and psychological negative is ignored.
“Consciously lie to yourself, write (lies) against the most negative intellectual traits…
The first task in the morning and at night should be repeating these lies to yourself out loud in front of the mirror. It doesn’t matter at all that you know these are lies… The practice is more about focusing on an action that is different from the normal action.[36]
Elsewhere it says:
“This exercise needs to be mentioned independently because of its incomparableness. “A man can learn the art of ambush and hunting (one of the levels of the esoteric path in Sahiri mysticism) only in women’s clothing. Change the shape in such a way that it is convincing for every observer, in order to behave like a woman, you have to be cruel, cunning, patient and gentle, which are the natural characteristics of a woman. When a woman wants to perform this exercise, she should change her shape like a man and act accordingly. This exercise is effective if done among your friends. For this exercise to be worthwhile, it must be done among strangers who truly think they are dealing with a woman because of the shapeshifting. This exercise, without exception, causes joint movement.[37]
In short, sorcerer mysticism is a rare movement, and of course, it is an unsuccessful attempt to revive magical traditions to complete the puzzle that satanists used to bring back anti-monotheistic rituals. They have started and it is a deception that started in the name of mysticism and spirituality, but they removed the inner prophet of humans – reason – from the field of human spiritual life planning, so that they can eventually replace the divine religions as the single religion of the global village. rule the world
[۱] – The Toltecs of the New Age, Victor Sanchez, translated by Mehran Kandari, p. 27
[۲] – Carmina Fort, interview with Carlos Castaneda p. 40
[۳] Another truth, Castaneda, translated by Ibrahim Makala, p. 2
[۴] Margaret Danian, A Magical Journey with Castaneda, p. 80
[۵] – Education of Don Khuan / Mehran Kandari p. 9
[۶] – Teachings of Don Juan, Carlos Castaneda, translated by Mehran Kandari, pp. 11 and 14
[۷] – Teachings of Don Carlos, Victor Sanchez, translated by Mehran Kandari, p. 12
[۸] – The same page 33
[۹] – Education of Don Carlos, Kendari p. 52
[۱۰] – The Art of Dreaming, Castanda, Farzad Hamedani, Simorgh Publishing House, p. 1373 / Atash Daron, Mehran Kandari, p. 55
[۱۱] – Teachings of Don Carlos Kendari p. 57
[۱۲] Don Kalos’s teachings / Mehran Kandari, p. 34
[۱۳] – Education of Don Carlos, Kendari p. 60
[۱۴] The same page 62
[۱۵] – The power of silence p. 14
[۱۶] – The power of silence, p. 17/ Don Carlos’s teachings, p. 36
[۱۷] – Wheel of Time, p. 196
[۱۸] – Teachings of Don Carlos, Mehran Kandari, p. 152
[۱۹] The same page 155
[۲۰] – Teachings of Don Carlos, translated by Kendari, p. 268
[۲۱] The same page 269
[۲۲] – The same page 270
[۲۳] – The same page 272
[۲۴] – The same page 279
[۲۵] diablero
[۲۶] – Education of Don Khan, Mehran Kandari, p. 11
[۲۷] – Education of Don Khuan / Mehran Kandari, pages 183, 184, and 222
[۲۸] The same page 184
[۲۹] . The power of silence p. 174
[۳۰] – Education of Don Carlos, Kendari p. 54
[۳۱] – The power of silence p. 213
[۳۲] The same page 134
[۳۳] – Fire in Castandah, Mehran Kandari, p. 15
[۳۴] – Teachings of Don Carlos, p. 140
[۳۵] Don Juan’s training, page 42
[۳۶] – Teachings of Don Carlos p. 156
[۳۷] – Teachings of Don Carlos – Mehran Kandari p. 131
Tenant MOSTAJAR
