Introduction
Since The Toltec Way was first released, I have studied with shamans, gurus, and teachers all over the world. Yet I always find myself coming back to the simple and powerful concepts of the Toltec Tradition.
The Toltec Tradition is rich with tools, but the main concepts that keep calling me back to the tradition are the three Masteries—Awareness, Transformation, and Intent—and the idea of dividing the universe into the knowable and the unknowable.
This book will show you how to apply these concepts in your own life. I’ve watched thousands of people’s lives dramatically transform. I know; I went from being depressed and suicidal to living a life beyond my wildest dreams.
I have always loved the idea of dividing the universe into the knowable and the unknowable. The unknowable is by definition unknowable so there is no sense wasting time trying to understand it. Such a simple yet extremely powerful idea.
In broad strokes the nature of God is unknowable from our limited, physical perspective. We can conjecture about what happens when we die, but until we die we can’t really know. There are absolutes we can put in the unknowable bin and then there are things we can put there temporarily.
Instead of wondering why something happened to you, temporarily put it in the unknowable category. It makes it easier for you to focus on what you do want instead of focusing on what you don’t want.
There are so many questions we habitually ask ourselves that lead nowhere. Why, what if, and if only are questions we can temporarily release by putting them in the unknowable bin. The quality of your life is dependent on the questions you ask yourself. Those questions determine the results you get in life.
By putting questions into the unknowable bin—you know, the ones that get you nowhere and take up a lot of your time—you free yourself up to ask other questions. One of the most important questions to ask yourself is, “What do I really want more of in my life?”
Experiment and play with the idea of your questions being part of the great mystery of the unknowable. See what happens and where it takes you.
Ask questions that remind you about your awesome nature. Life is a gift best savored in the moment.
And now onto the three Masteries. You don’t work on one and then move on to the next. They work together in life, much more like the threads in a beautiful tapestry. They weave together, deepen your experiences and the choices you make. As you apply them they assist you in creating an amazing life, relatively free of limitations.
When I talk about the three Masteries, I often use the analogy of a sailboat. I think of the wind as Intent (the power that is moving you). The rudder is Awareness (you know where you want to go) while adjusting the sail is Transformation.
Awareness is just like the word implies, awareness. What are you aware of? When I first started exploring spirituality, I had no idea what a profound effect my thoughts had on my choices in life and the results I got.
As I deepened my understanding of my erroneous beliefs, saw how they dictated my choices, I could clearly see how I had invited certain undesirable events into my life. As my Awareness expanded so did my ability to make new choices. I could create wonderful new opportunities while I let go of blaming myself, others, and the world.
The awareness that we never see life directly is freeing. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I found it confusing at first.
What we see is our filter system’s version of reality. Reality, as we perceive it, accurately reflects our beliefs, agreements, assumptions, and attitudes.
Transforming your thinking, setting your Intent to have greater clarity will set you free. I had no idea that my beliefs weren’t the “truth” or how profoundly those “beliefs” affected my experiences.
What we think we see is distorted by what we believe. At first, we are totally unaware of how distorted our reality is by our habitual thinking. What we believe is reinforced by the results we get in our lives.
That is where Intent comes into play. As we expand our Awareness, we can begin to set our Intent to clearly see our filter system and then decide to move beyond our limited thinking.
Intent is defined as showing earnest and eager attention. Intent and Awareness work hand in hand. They allow you to transform your thinking and your life.
I often remind people that “only the love is real, you are loved, you are lovable, you are love, and you swim in a sea of love.” Remember no matter what the question, love is always the answer!
You can release your fear-based, limiting thinking and move into a world full of love.
I love talking about magic and miracles because as we release our limiting beliefs, magic and miracles do become a regular occurrence in life.
I hope you enjoy this book and apply the simple concepts to your life. Allow yourself to see what is possible in your life and in the lives of those you love.
PART I
The Toltec Tradition
The Toltecs flourished as a civilization in southern Mexico around A.D. 900. They were a rather violent society that introduced militarism to Mesoamerica, but they also were known as master builders and craftsmen. Their stone figures are magnificent. After they conquered the city of Teotihuacan, a secret society formed within their civilization that was dedicated to preserving the knowledge of the ancient ones. The ancient ones were a race of people who were teachers of spirituality, science, and the arts. This secret society embraced the ideals of priestly rule and peaceful behavior that the city was known for, and they later became known as “men and women of knowledge.”
According to the Toltec, the ancient ones understood the illusionary nature of reality and were able to use the universal laws of nature to create a life based on unconditional love and self-discovery. They considered all of life to be part of a great mystery and knew there was no way to separate the secular from the sacred or science from spirit. To a “normal” person, they appeared to be magicians or wizards; they could perform great feats, heal the sick, and create whatever they wanted. They could also transform matter.
The Toltec preserved this knowledge and taught it to their apprentices. After the Spanish conquest, the knowledge became a carefully guarded secret passed down through various lineages. Today, this information is again being shared more openly.
The Toltec tradition is a wonderful journey, a journey in which you will find yourself and have the opportunity to re-create your life. It is a guide and a blueprint for living that shows you how to experience life in a limitless manner. It will show you how to make profound, permanent changes in your life. And it will help you remember your ability to create whatever you want, whenever you want it.
CHAPTER 1
My Introduction to the Toltec Way
I remember the night I started my journey. I had no idea where it was leading, but I knew I had to follow the path magically unfolding before me. And what a magnificent journey it has been.
I have always known at a core level that life could be easy and effortless and filled with joy. However, before my philosophical studies, my life was far from easy. I was working at a job that gave me no fulfillment and I experienced a great deal of drama, pain, and struggle. At times, I thought that life was not worth living and thought about suicide. Then I met a Mexican Indian named don Miguel Angel Ruiz. Don Miguel is a charismatic Toltec Master and nagual (one who guides an individual to personal freedom). I went from being chronically depressed, lonely, and generally miserable to a person who lives life passionately and is joyful most of the time. Today I enjoy what I do and my life is filled with love and magic. My life now is far better than anything I could have ever imagined. As you gain this new perspective and exert a little discipline and dedication, anything is possible.
I had lived in Vermont for over twenty years and I was tired of the cold, so I decided to move to California. I settled in San Diego in the fall of 1986. Within a few days I met an older woman named Mary who took me under her wing. When she met me she announced to anyone who would listen that I was a powerful healer and teacher. I figured that she was just a typical West Coast resident.
One evening, a few weeks later, she suggested I join her in the barrio to meet a friend of hers named Sister Sarita who was a very well-known healer. It was a rainy evening in late September. The wind was coming in off the ocean making the air feel cool. I could taste the salty air on my lips and smell the sweet scent of kelp.
Trying to stay warm, I paced impatiently, nervously awaiting my friend outside the clinic where we were to meet. When she arrived, we walked into a place she called “the temple.” Actually, it had been a Laundromat; there was a large and colorful painting of an eye surrounded by a triangle painted on the front window. At the front of the room was an altar enclosed by faded purple velvet curtains. An assortment of glass jars held bouquets of mums and gladiolas in various stages of decomposition. Even though the surroundings were old and dingy, the atmosphere was vibrant and alive, almost magical. People gathered in small clusters, speaking with animation in Spanish.
Mary took me over to meet Sister Sarita, who spoke rapidly to Mary. She then smiled at me and embraced me warmly. She looked pleased. Mary and I found a seat and I sat there waiting; I had no idea what to expect. As Sister Sarita stood and lovingly looked around the room, the crowd quieted. She said a beautiful prayer in Spanish; her voice was hypnotic. Even though I couldn’t understand the words, I could feel the gratitude and the love she was expressing.
After she finished the prayer, she and her students began moving around the room. I had never seen anything quite like it. It looked like an ancient ballet—gentle, graceful movements in slow motion, pauses, and then rhythmic movement again. I watched intently, feeling slightly confused and out of place.
A man with intense, dark eyes approached me and motioned for me to step into the center of the circle. I wasn’t sure what he wanted, but somehow I had the feeling he wanted me to perform a healing on him. It was like an inner knowing; I’d never felt anything like that before. I stepped forward, watched the other students for a moment, and then felt guided to make a series of movements around his body. I started at his head and made sweeping motions. At times I felt guided to merely hold my hand over certain areas of his body. When I was done he smiled at me, nodded, turned, and then he walked away.
Before I had time to sit down, the man returned and stood in front of me with a young woman. She translated for him. He said he wanted me to become his student and, without hesitation, I said yes.
I was shocked that I had agreed. Part of me thought I had lost my mind but I knew this was something I had to do. Little did I know that the next three years of my life would be totally consumed by my studies with don Miguel and his mother.
Saturday night of that same week found me back at the temple. It was a small group, and Wanda, the woman who had translated for don Miguel, sat next to me. Sister Sarita, don Miguel’s mother, spoke rapidly in Spanish. I listened half to her and half to Wanda as she translated Sister Sarita’s words. I had a hard time understanding what was being said: The Toltec concepts of energy and responsibility and God seemed so foreign. Much of it made no sense to me at all.
At the end of the class we sat in a circle and meditated. Don Miguel got up and moved around the room. He would pause in front of each person, moving his hands around their bodies without touching them. His behavior was very deliberate but confusing to me. I felt something in my body when he stood in front of me, but I didn’t know what to think. Later, I learned he was directing the energy, assisting people in opening up.
I began rearranging my life so I could spend as much time as possible with Sister Sarita and don Miguel. Sister Sarita’s father had trained her in the Toltec tradition, and they both passed the knowledge down to don Miguel. He in turn passed it on to me. The Toltec knowledge had been kept in secrecy for hundreds of years but Sister Sarita and don Miguel felt guided to share the powerful teachings with others.
When I began studying with him, don Miguel spoke very little English and I spoke no Spanish. For a long time I had no idea what I was studying, but something deep inside of me just knew I needed to be there. I was amazed that I continued to show up week after week. Normally my thinking was very rational and linear, particularly as my educational background was in math and physics. Repeatedly showing up at the temple for no logical reason was out of character for me. Sometimes in the middle of the day I would find myself drawn to the temple and don Miguel would be sitting there, almost as if he’d been waiting for me.
I spent a great deal of time with Sister Sarita watching and learning as she healed people. She was always patient and loving with me. One day an old man came into the temple with an unsightly, festering sore on his leg. Sister Sarita asked me, in Spanish, for an egg. I had no idea what she was saying. She kept holding up both of her hands in an oval shape. I must have handed her everything oval shaped in the temple. Finally I heard a voice come over the partition saying, “She wants an egg.” I ran upstairs to where they stored flats of eggs and brought her one. Eggs have been used for centuries by Mexican healers or curanderas to clear a person’s energy field.
When I finally handed her an egg, she laughed and proceeded to heal the man’s leg. After several minutes, the wound on his leg disappeared. I would walk away from sessions with her in a state of utter bewilderment. What I had seen just wasn’t possible. I was shocked when I learned that Sister Sarita was in her late seventies, as she looked so much younger and so vibrant.
Due to the language barrier, I couldn’t ask don Miguel any in-depth questions about what we were doing. In retrospect I realize what a gift that was; it prevented me from engaging my mind and analyzing what was going on. With my mind detached, I fully experienced the moment. There were many times I would ask him what to do or what something meant. I always wanted to know if I was doing it right. He never answered. No matter what I asked, he would just smile and nod his head. We spent a great deal of time out in nature. I learned to concentrate on what I was feeling in my body rather than on what I was thinking. Even after he learned to speak English, he wouldn’t really answer my questions. He would just smile at me and nod his head. Eventually I realized that that smile meant I was about to experience something that would cause me to question what my mind called my sanity.
I realized that my mind had a limited way of looking at myself and the world around me. As I continued my studies I began to identify my true nature, which was a spiritual energy residing within a body. As I changed my focus from my mind (my reason) to my spirit (my will), my limitations fell away and my life began to change. I began to live a life based on personal freedom; happiness became a matter of choice.
The changes were not always easy and were often emotionally challenging. To be honest, during the course of my training I often felt victimized by the changes occurring in my life. My old way of living stopped working long before I knew that there was another way. Over the years I found that each of us has our own unique path, but at that time I was still questioning, and searching for my own.
In my first book, Dance of Power, I talk at length about the challenges the path to freedom presents. Recently a woman who read it asked what had stopped me from throwing my hands up in frustration and saying “I quit.” As she read my books she kept thinking, “If that had happened to me, I would have quit.” The best answer I had for her at the time was that I somehow knew I had no choice but to continue on my quest for my true self. Quitting just wasn’t an option.
A few days after the woman and I spoke, I had an insight into my process that I’d like to share. I was meditating in the sanctuary of a Catholic church. When I opened my eyes, a group of children were coming out of the back room. All, except one, were bouncing along. One little boy was very solemnly carrying a bottle of oil. He reverently walked along in silence. He seemed to understand the sacred nature of the act that was about to be performed.
His face was filled with peace, the peace one finds after the emotional wounds from the past are healed. He reminded me of all the people I had seen quit just before they made that breakthrough. That profound, sacred connection is such a gift and the clamoring noise in our minds stops us from feeling that connection. I wondered if he would be able to hold on to his sacred connection or if he would lose it as he grew older. I was filled with a sense of gratitude that I had taken the time and made the effort necessary to renew that connection as an adult. It allowed me to stay the course even when the going got rough. What an incredible life I would have missed if I hadn’t.
As I continued to meditate, I wondered why I had gone on when so many others would have quit. Over the years I’ve seen so many people walk away from their path right before they were about to have a major breakthrough. At the moment they’re about to experience a miracle, I’ve seen people convince themselves that they need to do something else, or they need more time for themselves, or … the reasons are endless. What stopped me from doing that?
Sitting near a statue of Jesus, I began to wonder what he did, how he achieved personal freedom. I felt that his personal freedom was rooted in a deep sense of love and compassion for himself and others. I know we all need to be gentle with ourselves; we need to accept our process and honor where we are before we can move forward. Love and compassion are far better motivators than fear and judgment.
I realized that great teachers such as Buddha, Lao Tse, and Jesus were completely dedicated to experiencing and sharing their divinity. During the course of their lives, they had made certain behaviors non-negotiable. They prayed and meditated on a regular basis. They did whatever it took to maintain a deep and clear connection to their spiritual selves. That connection became like the very air they breathed, a non-negotiable part of life.
In my classes I often talk about the need for discipline and dedication, two words we hate to hear. Enlightened beings like Jesus, Buddha, and Lao Tse had the discipline to overcome any obstacle. They saw themselves as God had created them rather than as their minds perceived themselves. They knew God was an energy that gave them life and not an external being that judged them. From direct experience they knew God was all-loving; they knew the universe was a friendly place.
When I finished my meditation, I realized that I had a much clearer answer for how I’d managed to continue. I made certain things in my daily life non-negotiable.
Shortly after beginning my studies, I placed a small, white index card in the corner of my bathroom mirror with a list of four items. I remember many nights getting out of my warm bed to finish my list of non-negotiable tasks. The first was to stand in front of the mirror, look deeply into my eyes, and talk lovingly to myself twice a day. The second was to go to the beach and pray, the third was to meditate, and the fourth was to write in my journal.
I prayed and meditated daily. I had a loving mentor in a twelve-step program I attended who told me to find a place I could talk to God and go there every day. Every morning I went to the beach and prayed to feel the love in the world. I would open my heart and let that love in, then I would go about my day.
I did my best to maintain an attitude of humility. Whenever I was unsure of what to do or how to do it, rather than guessing, I would say, “I don’t know.” As soon as I made this admission, I became teachable and the answers would come. When I felt totally hopeless and didn’t want to go on, I remembered that quitting wasn’t an option.
I never allowed myself to stay in bed and put these things off until tomorrow because, after all, doing them was non-negotiable. Non-negotiable means no room for negotiation, none whatsoever.
I made my studies non-negotiable. If don Miguel suggested I do something, I did it. I dedicated myself to achieving personal freedom. During my studies, many people came and went. They got out of the classes exactly what they put in. Very few people are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve personal freedom. Personal freedom does have a price, but believe me, it is well worth the effort.
After many years of studying with don Miguel, one afternoon we went whale watching. As the sun was setting, he told me that he had taught me all he could. He gently held my hand, looked lovingly into my eyes, and told me it was time for me to go and teach in my own way. Several weeks later he performed a ceremony for me in which he declared that I was a Woman of Power, a Toltec Master. My time of searching externally had come to an end and I knew then, without a doubt, that I could only find my answers by going within.
Shortly after that, I moved to Hawaii and started working as a counselor. I began searching for ways to share these powerful truths with others and since the mid-1980s I have been assisting people in breaking free of their limitations. I quickly realized that most people don’t want to spend years studying an ancient tradition to improve the quality of their life, nor is that necessary. What is necessary is a willingness to see yourself and the world around you with new eyes—and a great technique for learning to do so is through the teachings of the Toltec people.
To introduce the Toltec methods, I’ve divided this book into five parts. The first part will give you an overview of the Toltecs and their beliefs. The next three parts will focus on attaining the three Toltec Masteries: Awareness, Transformation, and Intent. The last part will explore various aspects of maintaining the new perspectives you have achieved. At times, you will probably be confused and frustrated by some of the concepts in this book, but as you learn to use the tools provided, you will find yourself coming to a greater understanding. And you will develop the ability to be happy regardless of the events in your life. You will learn to love yourself, others, and life at a very deep level.
You will find some of the most important knowledge in the teaching stories scattered throughout this book. The wisdom of the ancient ones was often passed on in the form of stories, as we do not always have adequate language to convey its meaning directly. When I studied with don Miguel I learned that the stories, the exercises, and the knowledge he shared with me in an unpremeditated manner were often the most valuable. It was my job to pay attention. If I asked a question, we would talk about my concern but he wouldn’t raise the issue again unless I did. Read the stories, do the exercises, and allow the wisdom of the ancient ones to speak to your heart so you can reconnect with your true self.
As you read this book, it is important to give yourself permission to learn and to relax and trust the process. Meditating is a good way to practice those skills, and so I’ve included an appendix of guided meditations. A very effective technique is to record the meditations and play them back to yourself. By doing so, you won’t need to be reading and visualizing at the same time. Or, have a friend with a soothing voice record them for you.
In these meditations, you’ll be asked to visualize scenes, people, or events. Everyone can visualize, and because we all visualize differently, there is no one correct way to do it. Don’t be concerned that you’re not visualizing “well enough.” If your visualization has an elusive quality, that’s just fine. Allow yourself to play with the idea and have fun. Make it a game. Sure you’ll be skeptical at times, and maybe even a little daunted. This journey is, to be truthful, somewhat arduous. It is not made overnight but is a process that can take some time.
Question your old beliefs; be willing to suspend judgment. You learned to walk by falling down. If you had refused to allow yourself to fall down, you never would have learned how to walk. Give yourself permission to learn. Give yourself permission to be awkward and unsure.
I had doubts and reservations the entire time I was studying with don Miguel and Sister Sarita. I just didn’t act on them. Even when I experienced profound healings, my mind would tell me I must not have been really injured or sick in the first place. Much of the information in this book will make little or no sense to your rational, linear mind, but I can guarantee that if you apply it to your life, your life will be completely transformed.
Copyright © 2000 by Susan Gregg.
