SOURCE: "My Lunch with Carlos Castaneda," in Psychology Today, Vol. 29, No. 2, March-April, 1996, pp. 30-4.

[In the following essay based on an interview with Castaneda, Epstein discusses Castaneda's teachings and views on religion.]

One of the most elusive figures of modern times, Castaneda recently materialized, to great surprise, at a small conference in Anaheim, California.

He is the 20th century's own sorcerer's apprentice. He is the invisible man, ephemeral, evanescent: now you see him, now you don't. He is a navigator making his way through a living universe in exquisite flux. Or as Carlos Castaneda himself might say, he is a moron, an idiot, a fart. It's been said that Jesus Christ was either the Son of God or the greatest liar who ever lived. Carlos Castaneda, who may have a cult following but says deities are the last thing people need, presents a similar conundrum. Critics grapple for...