Sept. 2002

The Toltec Mystery School of Light

Issue #13
Four new articles in this issue!

© Toltec Mystery School of Light, Lightwurks, LLC March 2002

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This six week Four Agreements Online Course offers three lessons per week, covering one agreement per week with supplemental topics the next two weeks. The Four Agreements Course will help you to apply the Four Agreements and to deepen your understanding of them.  The course provides insights, techniques and practical applications of the Four Agreements. This course offers you the flexibility of "attending" class any time you want, accessing lessons and exercises, as well as allowing you to ask questions of the teacher

GUIDE POST: Open Up and Keep Going     Fourth Corner: Always Do Your Best  
                                GUIDE POST: "All You Need is Love", but do You Assume You Know How to Love?  
                                GUIDE POEM: Condemned    GUIDE POST: Life   GUIDE POST: The Proverbial Ostrich
In this issue we have four great articles about growing on the Path!

Offering Discount Toltec Books & More!
  • We would like to welcome our New Writers again: David Pawlak and Mark Sutton, and for the first time, Vessela Sadamori, who have all apprenticed with Kris Raphael. We also have a poem by Dorothy Cohen, an apprentice of Kalyn. We are very grateful to have them contributing to The Toltec Path!
  • The Mitote Stand recently opened. We are currently offering awesome Toltec books by great authors and incense at quantity discounts. The Mitote Stand will soon offer you a greater variety of books, a new audio CD series, journals and more!
  • Newsletter Navigation:  You can link to the Guide Posts in the issue by clicking on their titles; you can link to "Ask The Guides" by clicking on the "Ask The Guides" button.
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Open Up and Keep Going

by: Mark Sutton

Recently I was blessed with a long battle concerning core issues. I was face to face with the dreaded wall we all hear about and eventually encounter on a growth path. Don Juan told of warriors on this path that reach a point of being in a life and death struggle where they have to use every ounce of there being to survive. Through my most recent experience I can begin to understand what don Juan was telling Carlos. We reach a point we must make the decision to abandon our old inventories and surrender to the process or retreat back into our old ways.

I did not know I was at this dilemma until my guide pointed it out to me. My reaction toward Kris was that of a gelded horse; "OOOUCH" get out of my way. I did not like having my comfort zone threatened. In other words I was forced into battle screaming, "I’m not going, I’m not going."

What I discovered at my lowest point was that I had shut myself off from Spirit, Self, and others of a like mind. It was only after I was backed into a corner that I became willing to cry out with my entire being asking Spirit to help me. I was surrounded and this was my last stand. At that moment something slowly but most definitely started changing from within. I became willing to jump off feet first and not retreat. Since that moment each day has become a little more grounded in Spirit and Self.

Through the angel of death I gained more insight into this battle as I attended two funerals yesterday for loved ones. The completion of the physical life cycle brings sadness and pain on one level and yet so much beauty and release are found in this process of final transformation from the tonal. The changes and cycles we experience in a growth path are not unlike those of death. Any change or cycle completion brings out fear, pain, and sadness although these are just the surface wrapping of a higher truth.

If we can complete the cycles of change as they come, we can be transformed into the dream of heaven. We do not have to wait for physical death to bring about this transformation. If we can continue to open up and keep going, we will lose the human form and like the butterfly, we will be transformed.

"The path without a heart will turn against men and destroy them. It does not take much to die, and to seek death is to seek nothing."

Carlos Castaneda, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Life

Love & Light, Mark

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Fourth Corner

Always Do Your Best
 

   When we are tired, burned out or bored with our lives, our routine or our work it is very easy to sluff off and not do very well. We justify this by telling ourselves that we are bored or should not have been subjected to our circumstances, justifying mediocre behavior. At this point in life are we doing our best? Can we really expect that our lives will become better when we are behaving in a poor to mediocre manner? Do your best at everything you do: treat everything you do as though it is important and special to you and then your life will begin to create things that are important and special too.

Lear to apply the Four Agreements to Your Life!

Space is limited, so hurry to sign up for the six week Four Agreements Online Course.

For further information or to enroll go to:
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Mystery Guest Quote:

What else can you do for your potential? …To put your human self with your energetic self is the only way, it is the only way, you are going to become an unlimited potential human being.  The only way for you to reach your unlimited potential is to put your energy and human self together. You can not do it any other way.

   If you are not experiencing unlimitedness, then you are not using energy. If you are not experiencing your potential then you are not using your mind. If you are feeling limited, you are feeling limited  you are stuck and bound with energy. If you’re not feeling potential, you are bound in the mind.

 

Mystery Author
to be revealed
in the next Newsletter!

"All You Need is Love", but do You Assume You Know How to Love?

by: Kalyn Raphael

      How true it is that love is all we need! Great song by the Beatles, great message. Love is all you need, but do you assume that you know how to love?

          Love is the most natural thing in the world, so you ask “What do you mean ‘do I assume I know how to love’?” Yes, it is natural, but in today’s world what is natural to us isn’t necessarily what is normal in our lives. Exercise is natural, but most people don’t exercise their bodies on a regular basis. Resting and relaxing is natural, but how many people live high-stress lives in which R&R are a rare commodity? Eating a well-balanced diet is natural, and yet how many of us are all too familiar with our local fast food restaurants?

          Pat (a typical person from the dream of the planet) is an intelligent, hard-working family person. Pat puts in a good 10 hour day at work. As manager, Pat listens to the boss and never complains.  Pat works hard with his employees and tries to help them out as much as possible: Pat rarely gives a bad review. At home Pat and Pat’s mate have dinner guests on a weekly basis, for which Pat helps with the cooking and cleaning. Weekends are, of course, occupied with errands, going into the office for a few hours and house hold chores.

          >From the outside looking in, Pat has a great life: a nice home, good family and friends and is successful at work. People always say that Pat is a generous and loving person. This is the way the dream of the planet wants it!

          I ask you, where is Pat? Where is Pat’s love? Who is Pat, other than someone who tries to make everyone else happy? Is Pat living her hopes, dreams or desires? Does she know what they even are? Or is Pat too busy running errands and working to take care of her own needs, to enjoy life and experience self-love?

          Self-love does not ask us to leave our responsibilities behind. On the contrary, self-love asks that we take responsibility for ourselves and our needs. Our needs are simple to get in touch with – all that is required is that we check in with ourselves several times a day. How often in Pat’s 10 hour work day does he ask himself how he is doing and what he needs? How often does Pat ignore his body’s communication that it needs water or that it needs to use the restroom? Does Pat assume that he loves himself when he works so hard and doesn’t take a ten minute restroom brake? Do you?

          When Pat starts honoring her own needs she will find that all she does need is love. She will find that when she honors a true need to disagree with her boss, her boss will respect her and perhaps may trust Pat to govern herself more. In her self-love, Pat will also find the courage to e frank with her employees, giving poor reviews when appropriate. Her employees will recognize that there is no longer a “free ride” and they will begin to trust and respect Pat for being honest with compliments and constructive criticism. They can now take pride when they are told a job has been well-done, as they have received the gift of being able to take true pride in their contributions. Now they’ll work harder for Pat and they will be happier at work.

          Because Pat has loved himself by honoring his need for self-expression at work, he feels better about work and only works 8 hours a day (his employees now do their job, freeing Pat up substantially). Pat feels less pressed at work and honoring his need to take a ten minute break to visit the restroom keeps him healthier and gives him a quick brake to keep him going.

          In honoring her needs, Pat and her friends now trade off hosting weekly dinners, freeing up some cleaning and cooking time. She now relaxes on weekends and has taken up an art class, something she remembered enjoying in school. After a couple of weeks in class, Pat’s mate comments that Pat seems happier, more easy going and that Pat is more enjoyable to be around.

          Love starts with self. Love is all we need, once we understand that love means honoring ourselves and our needs. Until we are able to love ourselves we are not able to love others. By practicing self-love our lives will magically be transformed.

 Love & Light, Kalyn

Read more great articles on the web at:
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 Condemned
 by: Dorothy Cohen
 

The gavel pounds
The verdict's in
"Guilty" the judge declares
"Guilty, guilty, guilty" she sings
"Guilty, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
Breaking agreements, admit it now
Don't try to lie or hide your crime
Best watch your step
I'm warning you
The law is clear,
I'll have no choice
No mercy plea accepted
Just keep this up
You'll have to pay
And draw the direst penalty..
Exile from hell...
Permanently."

 
Read excerpts from Kristopher's upcoming book: 
"The Toltec Masteries, a Path of The Heart." 
Go to
 http://www.toltecmasteries.com/

 

 

 

Life

by David Pawlak 

In the middle of complete emptiness, the difference between something and nothing is presence, consciousness. Things exist within consciousness, but as “presence in complete emptiness” implies, no-thing can exist in consciousness as well.

 Human consciousness exists within physicality for the most part. Human consciousness is like the tip of the iceberg, what we see forms the picture of what we know as “existence”, yet below the surface exists its bulk, a great majority as yet unknown to us.

 This world of knows is the Tonal. It is the tip of the iceberg, it is where we live, sleep, work think and see. The Tonal is everything we know, so it seems to BE everything. But, it is an island within an infinitely more vast realm of existence, completely unstructured, like that of the Essence of Universal Presence in emptiness. This “realm” of unstructured unknowns is called Nagual. Can it not be seen, that without existence, the antithesis to nothing, that we, all this, would not BE?

 Bringing the Nagual into the Tonal is a matter of experience. Living our life is part of this experience. Through this experience, we bring unknown to know. Without it we could not.

 If what I have written here has not joggled a few brain cells, then I would have to be more direct. What is this whole thing, of life and the Tonal, all about? Here there exists a seething fount of experience, of inter-relativity, as opposed to presence in emptiness. You and I can understand perhaps this presence in emptiness to some extent, no? We feel a piece of it, do we not? Presence, being. Perhaps imagining this presence in complete emptiness is difficult, perhaps scary, but there almost seems to be a question bigger than life associated with it…… How? To me anyways, of all the unknowns, this has to be the biggest. This is a question that is as valid in emptiness as it is here in this world of physical reference.

 Could answering that question have brought us here? Of course, in emptiness, without any reference, there are no words. But there is this “intrigue”? What an intrigue. And by golly, it just seems that it would have to lead to some form of inquiry.

 Yep this has got to be it.

 Doesn’t it seem as though we ought to give it our attention?

 Love and Light - Dave

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THE TOLTEC MASTERIES - AUDIO COURSE: An Alternative For more information go to:
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For those who are unable to work directly with a teacher, or for those who wish the experience the energy of that comes through the dialog, Kris has created the Toltec Masteries Audio Course. 

TESTIMONIAL: Here is a testimonial. (Thank you Stephanie!)

     "I want to tell you how awesome the process at the end of the second CD is. I have never experienced anything like it. 
     What a miracle I am! Thank you so much for helping me to see this. Although I have been studying for over a year, there are many things on your CDs that bring understanding where I had been uncertain. What I see is your way of defining in a simple yet deeply clear manner, many concepts that are new to the mind. You seem to do it in a way that causes no mental or emotional resistance.
     Your manner of teaching reminds me of the facets of a crystal. Clear and sharp. Simple yet awesome." --Stephanie R.

The Proverbial Ostrich

by Vessela Sadamori
   Many times we have a problem but we just don’t want to acknowledge it. What makes looking at it difficult is mostly the negative judgments associated with it – that it is bad or painful, makes us experience fear or see ourselves in a derogatory light. We behave like the proverbial ostrich, bury our heads in the sand and pretend the problem doesn’t exist. But it exists and will not disappear because we avoid looking at it. It will only become worse.

   This is a very common pattern when going through the healing process – we have a wound but we deny it and avoid looking at it. Thus we can never heal it and move beyond it. Sometimes the nature of the issue we avoid is such that it gets us stuck, we can’t move any further on our path. For most of us the hard part is even becoming aware we are in avoidance and denial. This is one of the big problems when we work alone – all we have available is our own point of view which is far from being subjective. We can’t use our awareness because we are in avoidance and we try to use the mind  instead which only provides more reasons to feed the avoidance. Here is where a teacher or a group can offer a clear mirror so we can see what blocks us. When the problem is realized we are already half on our way out of it. The next step is to hold avoidance in awareness and sooner or later the wall it creates will melt. The issue it was hiding is rarely as hard to deal with as our avoidance made it seem. Nothing can withstand the power of awareness so lets not block it. The way to freedom is very simple indeed – don’t judge, don’t avoid and deny, be AWARE.

Love and Light, Vessela
 
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