{"id":147,"date":"2009-12-05T01:25:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-05T08:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/?p=147"},"modified":"2021-01-30T23:04:26","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T06:04:26","slug":"inner-activism-a-lifeway-of-flower-and-song","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/inner-activism-a-lifeway-of-flower-and-song\/","title":{"rendered":"Inner Activism: A Lifeway of Flower And Song"},"content":{"rendered":"

The questions we face today are no different than those faced by our predecessors:\u00a0 How do I live authentically?\u00a0 How do I achieve peace of mind without turning my back on those in need?\u00a0 How do I attune myself to the world around me?<\/em><\/p>\n

For the ancient Toltecs and the civilizations they inspired, the highest expression of their lifeway was embodied in the mystical philosophy of Flower-and-Song<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Flower-and-Song<\/em> is a difrasismo, a common form of expression in the Nahuatl language that uses two words to form a metaphor for a third, more expansive, concept.\u00a0 It is often translated as “poetry” but its meaning is more comprehensive than that, indicating that its practitioners strive to live a “poetic life”.\u00a0 Examining the difrasismo a little makes this clear.<\/p>\n

Flower<\/em> in this context involves a three-stage engagement with the world.\u00a0 The first stage involves seeing each moment\u2014and whatever that moment holds\u2014as perfect as a blossoming flower.\u00a0 The second stage involves seeing each moment\u2014and whatever that moment holds\u2014as already fading and passing into death.\u00a0 The final stage involves bearing these two visions simultaneously in the heart, engaging the moment and what it holds with the full emotional realization that it is perfect and <\/em>dying.<\/p>\n

Far from an intellectual exercise, this practice demands the greatest courage, for to face these two soul-shattering emotions at the same time requires us to open ourselves to the profoundest joy and grief all at once.\u00a0 Without flinching from the perfection before us, we are filled with awe at the impossibility of spirit taking form in matter.\u00a0 Without flinching from the inevitable death of everything we know and love, we cannot help but burst apart with grief and empathy.<\/p>\n

This is a lifeway, in other words, of spirit warriors, those who exert constant effort to defeat their self-defeating attitudes and behaviors.\u00a0 It is the lifeway of those who use death to awaken authentic gratitude for being alive and sharing this shape-shifting perfection with others.\u00a0 When we experience it fully, Flower<\/em> evokes a kind of spiritual nostalgia<\/em> for the present moment <\/em>that ennobles us and all our lives touch.<\/p>\n

Song<\/em> in this context means that the most authentic act we can perform is to give expression to the dual realization attained in Flower<\/em>.\u00a0 This is the reason that the difrasismo is generally translated as “poetry”.\u00a0 But the deeper implication of this mystical philosophy of life means that Song<\/em> involves treating every moment<\/em> as an opportunity to express the truth of Flower<\/em>.\u00a0 It involves treating this entire lifetime as a single act of expressing the continuous vision of Flower<\/em>.\u00a0 It means using every thought, word and deed to embody the lifeway of Flower-and-Song<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Treating all things as miracles that pass away too soon, our thoughts, speech and actions take on a new caliber and timbre.\u00a0 We concentrate on what is present instead of what is absent and we discover new depths of patience and tolerance.\u00a0 Our lives take on greater meaning and our contributions meet with greater success.\u00a0 We treat everything and everyone more nobly and we are enriched immeasurably.<\/p>\n

As a spiritual practice, Flower-and-Song<\/em> enters each moment asking two questions:\u00a0 What is in front of me?\u00a0 How am I treating it?<\/em><\/p>\n

What is in front of me?<\/em> opens us to the ultimately unknowable nature of the world.\u00a0 By questioning the absolute nature of our perceptions, we come to accept the extraordinary mystery everywhere veiled by ordinary appearances.\u00a0 It is a question that, once taken seriously, forces to us to look closer at the world:\u00a0 Is this merely what I have become accustomed to seeing through daily contact\u2014or is it the sea of spirit in all its manifest forms?<\/em><\/p>\n

How am I treating what is in front of me?<\/em> demands that we watch our inner<\/em> actions\u2014our thoughts and intentions, our wishes aimed at things outside ourselves\u2014as well as our outer demeanor and reactions.\u00a0 Am I acting nobly or mean-spiritedly?\u00a0 Am I ennobling my life or trivializing it?\u00a0 Am I rising above pettiness or descending into it?\u00a0 Am I treating others like superiors and inferiors, all in pursuit of my self-interest\u2014or as peers bravely facing their own death as well as they can?\u00a0 Am I spreading ill will, discord and sorrow wherever I go\u2014or compassion, collaboration and joy?<\/em><\/p>\n

In our book, The Toltec I Ching<\/em>, Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and I discuss the deeper implications of such a spiritual practice\u2014<\/p>\n

…..the spirit warrior breaks through the barrier separating matter and spirit.\u00a0 Such a barrier is erected in our minds by the constant training we receive from those who find advantage in promoting the separation of people from nature, from each other, and from their own true self.\u00a0 If people everywhere perceived matter and spirit to be the same thing, after all, the ignorance, cruelty, and suffering that make up much of human history would end.\u00a0 If we were all to experience the material form of nature <\/em>as spirit, we would stop harming it by diminishing it faster than we help it replenish itself.\u00a0 If we were all to experience the material form of people everywhere <\/em>as spirit, we would stop harming one another by acting as if our own rights and desires were superior to their own.\u00a0 If we were all to experience the material form of our own individual bodies <\/em>as spirit, we would stop harming ourselves by doubting that every thought, feeling, and action plays a pivotal role in eternity.\u00a0 Breaking through such a mental barrier is a matter of constant training, as well.\u00a0 If we do not use every thought, feeling, and action to intensify our experience of matter <\/em>as spirit, we continue to desecrate the temple of nature, the temple of civilization, and the temple of individuality.<\/em><\/p>\n

Those following the lifeway of Flower-and-Song<\/em> find that it reveals the wellspring of rejoicing forever bubbling just beneath the surface of appearances.\u00a0 It engages the world as a vast mystery of unimaginable potentials and aims to participate in its ongoing creation in ways that benefit the most.\u00a0 It is not so much something we do on our own as much as it is music we hear and feel and long to play, a dance we cannot wait to join.\u00a0 It arises from our depths to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.<\/p>\n

Holding to such a practice for extended periods of time has certain foreseeable consequences.\u00a0 By forcing us to focus complete attention on appreciating<\/em> the perfection of everything as well as mourning<\/em> its inevitable passing, it trains us to attend fully to the moment, drop off inner talk, participate in life authentically, and honor everything as an equal knowing it must die.<\/p>\n

But it has certain unforeseeable consequences, as well.\u00a0 By blurring the imaginary boundary between self and world, it opens new senses and allows us to perceive the spirit within all matter.\u00a0 By blurring the imaginary line between flawed and flawless, it opens our hearts to the sacredness of all form.\u00a0 By blurring the imaginary boundary between animate and inanimate, it opens our eyes to the formless awareness forever transcending the very form it inhabits. \u00a0By blurring the imaginary line between time and space, it opens our minds to the unchanging presence<\/em> through which all changing forms move.<\/p>\n

The Lifeway of Flower-and-Song<\/em>, then, is a spiritual practice of Inner Activism\u2014it sensitizes us to our tendencies toward self-interest and alienation, replacing self-defeating habits with those of spontaneity, creativity, and good will.\u00a0 It shifts our focus away from personal success toward a heartfelt longing for peace and prospering for all.<\/p>\n

And it constantly reminds us that the Golden Age of Humanity is within our reach if we but dare hold out our hand.<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

The Toltec I Ching<\/em><\/a>, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just been released by Larson Publications.\u00a0 It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.\u00a0 Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World<\/em> hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The questions we face today are no different than those faced by our predecessors:\u00a0 How do I live authentically?\u00a0 How do I achieve peace of mind without turning my back on those in need?\u00a0 How do I attune myself to … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[10,20,22,19,14,36,6,17,9,33,40,42,5,27],"class_list":["post-147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-toltec-i-ching","tag-animism","tag-benefit","tag-ethical-strategy","tag-ethics","tag-flower-and-song","tag-golden-age-of-humanity","tag-i-ching","tag-intention","tag-shamanism","tag-social-transformation","tag-spirit-warrior","tag-symbolic-behavior","tag-toltec","tag-training"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":150,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147\/revisions\/150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}