ESOTERIC: MILES REID WAS A PERSONAL STUDENT OF CARLOS CASTANEDA

Miles Reid is a tensegrity instructor (the "magical movements" taught by Carlos Castaneda).

He was an "element" (that's what Castaneda called the male members who were part of his team during his last years of life).

His birth name is Paulo Rivarola, but since Castaneda asked his staff to change their names, he changed it to Miles Reid.

Miles worked for Cleargreen (the company Castaneda founded to market his tensegrity) until 2010, when he went independent offering tensegrity workshops with his then wife, Aerin Alexander.

Both sued Cleargreen, which resulted in a ruling that determined that the "Tensegrity" brand was not protected by copyright or trademark law.

Miles currently offers his own version of tensegrity training through his company Energy Life Sciences.

INTERVIEW HE GAVE IN 1998

The journalist from 'The News', Blanca Robleda, interviewed Miles in Mexico in 1998 on the occasion of a tensegrity workshop that he was going to conduct (and in purple I added my comments).

LEARNING ABOUT ANCIENT WISDOM

For the shamans of ancient Mexico, both magical passes and recapitulation were key tools in their quest for freedom and the ability to perceive energy directly as it flows in the Universe.

Carlos Castaneda learned this knowledge from the shaman Don Juan Matus.

Castaneda later passed on what he knew to his apprentices, such as Miles Reid, and also explained this wisdom in his many books.

For those who know nothing about this wisdom, and for those who want to learn more, the workshop "The Freedom of the Warrior: The Legacy of the Shamans of Ancient Mexico" will be held in Mexico City on November 7 and 8, 1998.

Some of the Tensegrity instructors —as Miles Reid explains in this interview— who were students of Castaneda, will lead the workshop. In a recent interview with The News, Miles spoke about Don Juan and Castaneda's legacy:

Blanca: What kind of relationship did you have with Carlos Castaneda?

Miles: I am a student of Carlos Castaneda. He imparted to me, along with other students, in every way he could, the knowledge of the shamans of his lineage. In the years he was with us, he taught us hundreds of magical passes; and he also initiated us into the practice of recapitulation.

More importantly, he made a phenomenal effort to instill in us what he called "The Way of the Warrior." For him, this meant that there should be no contradictions between what we said and what we did. He was the complete embodiment of that way, the only one we have ever known, apart from his colleagues, whose words and deeds were totally aligned.

(This asertion is false. Castaneda was very hypocritical because he demanded celibacy and impeccability from his most fervent followers, but in contrast, he secretly led a wild sex life and was very pernicious.

And his colleagues, the witches, were just as hypocritical as he was, living a very good life, full of luxuries and lovers.)

Blanca: What are magic passes, and which ones will be taught in the Mexico workshop?

Miles: Magical passes are dreamlike movements, I mean they were discovered by shamans of Don Juan's lineage while in heightened states of consciousness, called dreams.

My colleagues and I are discovering that they really are magical passes: if we allow the movements to guide us, they are gateways to other states of consciousness.

The magic passes that will be taught in Mexico include the series called "Wheel of Time", and another sequence that is practiced in pairs called "The Wings of Affection" and "Recapitulation".

Blanca: What exactly is recapitulation and how can it be done?

Miles: Recapitulation is a specialized magic pass that consists of systematically reliving one's life, accompanied by a specific way of breathing.

Through recapitulation breathing we can let go of old thoughts and behaviors that have been lodged in our being, and return this awareness to the universe, leaving us free to move into the realms of perception and action.

When I first heard about this, I protested that it would take years. Carlos Castaneda replied that it was a lifelong task. "But so what?" he asked me. "What's the point of living without being aware of our actions?"

Blanca: I understand that both recapitulation and magical passes are tools used by shamans in their search for freedom. What do they understand by freedom?

Miles: For shamans of Don Juan's lineage, freedom means the ability to see energy directly as it flows in the universe, free from the constraints of socialization. For shamans, the world as we know it is an agreement. If we step outside the boundaries of this agreement, the world becomes a wonder, and other worlds open up to our perception.

Blanca: What is Tensegrity?

Miles: Tensegrity is the modern version of magical passes, rescued from secrecy and the adaptations made for each specific practitioner. The word Tensegrity, taken from architecture, is a combination of tension and integrity, the main forces of magical passes.

Blanca: Who or what was a warrior according to Don Juan's perception?

Miles: For Don Juan Matus, the warrior was a being who lived each moment as if it were his last. From this starting point, the warrior has nothing to lose, and no time. Carlos Castaneda told us this time and again: "The warrior only has time for freedom."

Blanca: Now that Castaneda has died, how will his knowledge be preserved?

Miles: Carlos Castaneda departed on what shamans call the final journey, meaning that he left the world in the same way that Don Juan Matus did: with shoes on and fully conscious.

(That is false, Castaneda died an ordinary death.)

Before his passing, Carlos Castaneda shared his knowledge in every way possible. He recounted the story of his learning in eleven books and contributed a wealth of tools in another book: "The Magical Passes."

Through all of this and the Tensegrity workshops, he created a unified body of practitioners —instructors and participants— who continue to work diligently, both individually and in practice groups, to realize the dream of the shamans of ancient Mexico: the dream of freedom.

Don Juan Matus's three female students: Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar, and Carol Tiggs, will oversee the instruction and development of magical passes in this context.

(This is also a lie because by that date Florinda and Taisha had committed suicide, and Carol no longer wanted anything to do with the workshops and left the business in Renata Murez's care.)

Blanca: Can this knowledge change?

Miles: Yes, in the sense that the magical passes have to be used or adapted to our time and way of life. These movements, as they were originally practiced by the shamans of ancient Mexico, were very vigorous — those shamans didn't lead sedentary, urban lives. Unlike them, we start from our sedentary state to perform the magical passes.

I used to pester Carlos Castaneda: "But, Nagual, last week, when you taught us this movement, the palms of your hands were facing the ground..." I was very annoyed.

For shamans, the only certainty is change, and only a tradition that remains alive and fluid can survive.

Blanca: What should people expect from the workshops?

Miles: People can expect instructors to give their best, and therefore provide participants with a context for practicing recapitulation. They will teach participants how to practice Tensegrity to aid recapitulation, as a way to help them enter the warrior path seeking freedom.

In another sense, people shouldn't expect anything, so everything will be new. This is what the shamans of ancient Mexico sought: a state of being in which the expectations of the social order regarding us and everything around us cease to exist. They can truly see and act from a new starting point. They are truly free.

(Miles didn't say anything new, he just repeated what Castaneda and his witches had already said, and which is largely lies.)

VIDEOS

SPOKEN IN ENGLISH

A Tribute to Carlos Castaneda by Aerin Alexander and Miles Reid