The Maya Road to 2012: Lessons from the
Ancestors
The
book explores
five vital lessons from Maya culture
using revealing
anecdotes set in the cornfields, mountain shrines and homes of modern
Maya. The book shows how this ancient
and highly practical knowledge
offers hope and direction for a humanity anxious about its future. The
ancestral teachings of the Maya focus on Five
Lessons
Cherish the
Babies Elder Maya midwives facilitate
extraordinarily
strong physical and emotional bonds between children and mothers. These
“bonded” mothers then turn to their culture’s intensely nurturing
childrearing
practices, radically enhancing their babies’ capacity for lifelong
happiness
and well-being. These deeply nurtured children’s high self-esteem later
enables
them to face adult challenges with fortitude and grace.
Make Bonds of Blood Maya deliberately
acknowledge and develop the
powerful psychological bonds that connect the human family. Ancient
Maya rulers
even drew blood from their own bodies as a ritual sacrifice for the
benefit of
their people. Living Maya sometimes cultivate such powerful
interpersonal
connections that they result in a collective sense of shared awareness
and an
almost visceral feeling of being in community.
Revere Nature Maya
reflexively aspire
to live in balance with
natural systems since they directly experience themselves as being
integral to
their local environment. Legendary Maya gods, capable of even
vanquishing Death
itself, are themselves overwhelmed by the awesome restorative powers of
Mother
Earth. On the earthly plane, Maya farmers still grow their sacred corn
with
humble respect for Her ways.
Remember the Ancient Ones Maya
ancestors and remembrance of death
inform the living through the wise ways and few words of experienced
community
elders. By fully embracing human mortality, Maya culture encourages
people to
live in earnest and always with a profound sense of appreciation for
life’s
gifts.
Experience Spirit No matter what
faith
Maya embrace, their
spirituality is profoundly experiential. Whether traditionalist,
Catholic or
Evangelical; Maya prioritize the divine as a natural consequence of
regular and
real inspiration. For the Maya, spirituality is more a matter of
awareness than
of belief. They live in a humility born from an enhanced consciousness
of the vast
cosmic context.
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