TOLTEC APHORISMS

What are Toltec Aphorisms and how can I use them for personal growth and self-discovery?

Aphorisms are encapsulated verbalisations of specific Toltec concepts and teachings. You will find aphorisms throughout the books of Theun Mares, since they contain the essence of what he is attempting to convey.

In fact, all of the Toltec Teachings are contained in the aphorisms. The accompanying explanations serve mainly to bring out and to make clear particular aspects that Theun is trying to express in his books.

It is important point to remember this when you are reading the books. It is simply impossible to express in words the full extent and meaning of each aphorism, since these are vast. Also, people will not relate to the same aphorism in the same way. This is because every person is different, every person's experience is different, every person's perception is different and every person is at a different point in the evolution of his or her awareness.

Toltec aphorisms are not like a mantra or affirmation - repeating them will not take you anywhere. They are also not like Zen koans. They are statements that if worked with practically in everyday life, can help you to discover what is really going on, can help you to meet your challenges, and can help you to figure out for yourself what your next moves should be. Working with aphorisms can help you to discover the root causes of the issues in your life. Some can be worked with fairly simply, whilst others need to be worked with in conjunction with different aspects of the teachings.

By working with the aphorisms within the context of your everyday life, you will not only gain a wealth of knowledge about yourself, your behaviour and the behaviour of others, but you will also gain invaluable insights into your life, your fate and the purpose and meaning of all.

Example

The only failure in life is the failure to fight

What does this aphorism mean? At first sight it seems quite straightforward with not much to it. However, in using aphorisms you need to go beyond the face value, and start working with the aphorism in order to see what you can find out about yourself from your own experience.

So, you would ask yourself questions such as; "What do I regard as failure?" "What do I do, to myself, and to others, when I see myself as having failed in anything? "Do I take it out on myself, or others?" "Do I indulge in feeling guilty?' "Do I give up?" "Do I know how to turn an apparent failure into success - so that all can benefit?" "If not, how do I keep myself stuck and timid after having made a 'mistake'?"

"What does it mean to fight?" "What does it mean to fail to fight?" "What are the rules by which I should fight?" "If the only failure in life is the failure to fight, then what is the purpose of life?"

You see, the questions go on and on! But, if you are honest in gaining your own answers from your life, you will uncover a wealth of knowledge about yourself - about how you think and feel about yourself and others, and about life in general. Practically, you will also discover the many different ways in which you trip yourself up, and how you prevent yourself from materialising your dreams. This knowledge will be your knowledge. Knowledge of the self is true power - power that nobody can take away from you.