The idea or a
central World Tree or World Mountain lies at the heart of the Mayan cosmovision.
This is a universal symbol that transcends cultural boundaries – and so
is the idea that the central tree or mountain is actually within the human
body. There is a precise correspondence
between the architecture of Heaven, the macrocosm, and the constitution of humankind, the microcosm.
As there is a central tree or axis that forms the pivotal point of the
world or the universe, likewise there must be a central axis that forms the
pivotal point for man as a spiritual entity.
According to Hindu thought, the spinal column
is the human analog of Mount
Meru
Just as the
vital energy from within the earth travels up the World Mountain or Tree of
Life and the life-giving power of the gods flows down it, there is an
equivalent energy that flows in the spinal column giving life to the inner or
spiritual man. Hindus call it the kundalini; Kabbalists know it as the Shekinah. To the Classic Maya it was itz,
the "dew of heaven."
Though no
authentic sources regarding the esoteric nature of the human body remain from the period of the Classic Maya, Aztec sources
tell us that, in fact, the people of Mesoamerica had highly developed teachings about the nature of spiritual
energy in the human body. The vital force which traveled up and down the
World Tree—and, by extension, up and down the spine—was called malinalli
in the Nahuatl language, equivalent to the Mayan itz. According to the Aztecs it
consisted of two streams; one flowed downwards from Heaven, and the
other flowed upwards from the Underworld. The
flow of malinalli concentrated itself
in three specific centers within the
human body. These centers form an obvious analogy to the Hindu doctrine of the chakras, the "subtle centers"
or, more literally,
"wheels" of psycho-spiritual energy within the body. In Hindu tradition, there are seven such centers,
whereas the fragmentary sources surviving from Aztec times mention three.
The first of the three centers has its locus in
the crown of the head; the energy
associated with it is called tonalli in Nahuatl. The word signifies a warmth that originates in the sun and radiates through each human individual as a link with
the solar force. Tonalli is
placed in the mother's womb through the agency of the Creator; as the spark of
light that links each of us to the gods, it is the locus of our higher
individuality, our personal essence.
The second esoteric center is in the heart; the
vital force that animates this center
is called teyolia in Nahuatl and is the source of emotion, memory, and knowledge. Teyolia is the "divine fire" that shapes our
patterns of thought and habit. The teyolia
may be transformed into a "divine
heart" even in this lifetime. In Aztec tradition those who played the roles of the gods at religious festivals and those who dedicated their lives to the composition
of spiritual poetry were believed to be especially filled with teyolia. Teyolia is a substance found everywhere, not only in the heart center. It
is present in mountains and lakes, and in temples and pyramids as well.
The third center
lies in the liver; its associated force is called ihiyotl. This ihiyotl
is like a "luminous gas," a subtle energy that is the source of our emotions: hatred,
desire, courage, and love. To examine
one's own motivations and thus seek the truth of one's being was a process that the Aztecs called
"discovering one's liver." It is the energy called ihiyotl that
projects itself to others, creating tentacles of charm and attraction.
What remains to
us may be only the rudiments of a much more complex system of human energies.
In future articles, I will investigate some of the possibilities.
Note: This
article is based on passages in Religions
of Mesoamerica, by David Carrasco (San Francisco, Harper & Row, 1990).
Carrasco’s summary is, in turn, based upon The
Human Body and Ideology, by Alfredo Lopez Austin (Salt Lake City,
University of Utah, 1988).
No comments:
Post a Comment