Hardman - The Everything Toltec Wisdom Book: A Complete Guide to the Ancient Wisdoms

Avon, Massachusetts

This book is dedicated to don Miguel Ruiz, with huge gratitude, for showing me life.

1. You have a clear understanding of your mind and how it works.
2. You feel connected to an ancient and modern tradition of healing and spirituality.
3. Your relationships of all kinds improvewith family and loved ones, at work, with friends, and all of creation.
4. Your inner dialogue is quiet, and your mind is at peace.
5. You are no longer afraid to enjoy life 110 percent or to risk new adventures.
6. You are happy being who you are, and do not need to defend or justify yourself.
7. Your awareness gives you clear choices about your life and how you want to live it.
8. You are impeccable in your interactions with others, and have a strong sense of your integrity and purpose in life.
9. Habits that have controlled you in the past are easily transformed and released.
10. The happiness, energy, and love that shine forth from you are an inspiration to all who meet you.

WHEN THE AZTECS founded their city of Tenochtitln, which is now buried under Mexico City, they found the cities of Tula, Cholula, and Teotihuacn to the north, abandoned and in ruins. They took what art and building materials they could carry away from these sites, and left them alone. The Aztecs had no way to know who built these extensive cities, where they came from, what language the people spoke, or where they had gone.

The Aztecs could, however, appreciate the fine art and building skills of their forgotten neighbors, and gave them the name Toltec, which means artist in the native Nahuatl language. The Toltec name has survived to identify the survivors of those sites, who drifted out into the Aztec, Mayan, and other civilizations throughout Mexicoand shared their wisdom, astronomical knowledge, building skill, artistic insight, and deep spiritual understanding.

The Toltec spiritual lineages have been passed quietly from master to apprentice for many centuries, until this time of the sixth sun, which has opened all mystery schools to a much wider audience. There are many branches and lineages of the Toltec teachings now available through teachers, books, workshops, and on the Internet (a teaching technology that certainly was not available to the original Toltecs!).

As the different teachings evolve, there is one goal common for them all: a personal freedom that is the result of changing the fear-based agreements and beliefs in the human mind to new ones based on self-love and self-acceptance. Of course, this has been a goal of many religions and spiritual traditions for a very long time. A unique aspect of the Toltec path is the carefully refined tools of transformation that have been passed down through the centuries and are presented here in this book.

At the core of the Toltec wisdom is the understanding that everyone is dreaming a unique and personal dream, based on how they distort and filter their perceptions of the universe. Toltecs teach that there is no absolute right and wrong, or good and badexcept in the minds of humans and the Santa Claus and gods they create in their image.

The Toltec wisdom is based on three unique masteries: the mastery of awareness, the mastery of transformation, and the mastery of intent. The Toltecs have long understood that you must master awareness of the beliefs and agreements that limit the full expression of your being before you can truly transform them into a new and powerful dream. The transformation leads you to the dream of heaven on Earth, the experience of living your life free of fear, judgment, suffering, guilt, or blame.

The mastery of transformation opens the door to the mastery of intentthe full release of all beliefs and a total surrender to, and communion with, the divine perfection of the universe. This is absolute personal freedom, and the ultimate goal of the Toltec path.

The EverythingToltec Wisdom Book explains the Toltec path in detail, as a healing journey accessible to everyone. There are no esoteric mysteries here, and very few strange words from other languages to learnsimply a commonsense wisdom and spiritual insight that points the way to awakening and freedom. Anyone interested in becoming happier and more fulfilled in his or her life will find concepts and directions here that will help to achieve that goal.

There are action steps throughout the chapters, and you are encouraged to start a journal to record your experiences along your Toltec path. It is not within the scope of this book, of course, to support you individually if strong emotions or difficult memories arise from these action steps. If you feel drawn to explore the deeper possibilities of this journey into wholeness, you are encouraged to find a Toltec teacher or counselor who can mentor your adventure.

The Toltec path to personal freedom is both ancient and fully modern, and has been followed by innumerable spiritual travelers. It is a journey with no rules, and many valuable tools. You are invited to step onto the path, and find your way to your own personal dream of heaven on Earth.

The Toltecs were a culture that dominated Mesoamerica for many centuries. Their cities were very sophisticated, and their pyramids and temples grand and complex. The real history, cultural beliefs, and religions of the Toltecs are lost in the past; however, many wonderful myths and partial facts have survived. In this introductory chapter, you will learn a brief bit about the history of the Toltecs, the cities of Tula and Teotihuacn, their god Quetzalcoatl, and what it means to be a Toltec today.

Many cultures and societies have come and gone throughout the Americas over the past millennium. The Toltec culture of central Mexico has burst into the public awareness in recent years. Many books and teachers have shared the wisdom of these ancient peoples, from various perspectives and often with contradictory information (see for a list of authors, teachers, and their books).

There are very few factual details about the Toltec civilization that have survived and are available today. The Toltecs had no written language, and had disappeared from their cities 200 years before the Aztecs settled nearby at what is now Mexico City.

The Aztecs did record what they knew and assumed about the Toltecs history, including legends and spiritual mythologies they adopted for themselves. Most of the Aztec codices were burned by the Spanish in an effort to erase their culture and convert the Aztecs to the Spaniards religious beliefs. The Mesoamerican cultures of the period worshiped the god Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, among others, said to be the gentle god of philosophy and learning.

Standing warriors in Tula.