Product Description

Sanches describes the Toltec tradition living on in the practice of contemporary indigenous people of Mexico, and explains how this wisdom is available to sincere readers. According to the author, his work is "witness and participant in one of the most profound and powerful spiritual traditions of the mesoamerican indigenous world. . . .".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #730917 in Books
• Published on: 1996-06-01
• Released on: 1996-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 228 pages

Amazon.com Review
Having lived among Mesoamerican Indians for 15 years, the anthropologist Victor Sanchez informs his readers that Toltecs do not believe in their gods but perceive them directly. Sanchez identifies these natives as living descendants of the famous Toltec sages of Pre-Columbian times and, noting that their "separate reality" cannot be understood unless directly experienced, he takes us into their world, introducing their rituals and beliefs, which, incredibly, seem to substantiate much of Carlos Castaneda's depiction of Indian spirituality. In their profound communion with nature, the living Toltecs have much to teach the urban spiritual warrior.

From Publishers Weekly
In the vein of the Don Juan classics by Carlos Castaneda, Sanchez's book is a compelling spiritual autobiography. In 1986 anthropologist Sanchez went to Mexico to study the social customs of the Wirrarika tribe; his visit became an astonishing encounter with the alteration in reality that the non-European system of belief manifests. Yet, it is also an anti-anthropology text, as the author asserts that classical academic anthropology's theoretical framework had little to offer him when his encounter with the Indian system of belief became spiritual pilgrimage. Sanchez frees himself from what he calls the "neurotic fantasies" of academic mindsets and learns to explore the alternative universe underlying our interpersonal relationships and our everyday world. Sanchez's examination of the ways that psychoactive substances like LSD and peyote generate religious states of consciousness, as well as his exploration of the religious traditions and practices of the Toltecs and Aztecs, make his work valuable religious research. This is an interesting read and a revealing examination of a sacred terrain.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Anthropologist Sanchez here continues his accounts (e.g., Teachings of Don Carlos, Bear, 1995) of indigenous peoples of Mexico with this testimony of his participation in a Toltec pilgrimage to Humun' Kulluaby. The opening chapters outline the Mesoamerican heritage of the Toltecs (or Wirrarika, as they call themselves), tracing their lineage to a time before the Aztecs. Sanchez then takes the reader on some of the typical moments in his encounters with Toltecs, stripping away the academic anthropologic nature of the study and providing an intimate portrayal of their relationship with nature. In spite of outside influence, the Toltecs have managed to protect their belief of Earth as living being not to be penetrated by religious or scientific investigation. Sanchez continues this tradition by taking his own personal pilgrimage along with Toltecs and writes of his communion with the land. The account is neither a travelog nor a complete synthesis of the religious scene but a condensed approximation in the recounting of a pilgrimage. For large libraries with collections in the spiritual traditions of Central America.?Leo Kriz, West Des Moines P.L., Ia.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Separate Reality - Altered States
For many of us looking for answers that doctrined religions cannot quite give us, Victor Sanchez has exposed a world where faith meets reality. Through his own research and paticipation, Sanchez experiences a spiritual domain that continues to exist admist the colonization and materialism now precedent around the world. Not restricted to boundaries of religion, Sanchez takes the reader through first hand understanding of what is possible when your allow and train your mind to believe in "separate realities." In a Carlos Casteneda like approach, Sanchez writes of his experiences with a group of Native Americans in rural Mexico, who have sustained their belief system and way of life before and after Spanish colonzation. Sanchez spent 15 years with these people and is sharing the world that these people "see." Those who have been exposed to Castaneda's work would find equal enjoyment with this book and have another supporting perspective of human capabilities with spirit and energy. Sanchez provides an answer to what is real to our eyes, may be only what we've been told and trained them to see. How easy is it to believe something you can't see, and if you do, should it be excused as hallucination or paganism. To the growing number of people not completely happy with formal religion, here is a glimsp of ancient wisdom that offers a possibility of human existence on a separate reality, one that is real.

A powerful tale of a magical journey
If you are new to the writings of Victor Sanchez, then this is an ideal place to start.

Although the second book by Victor, following on from The Teachings of Don Carlos, it gives background and spirit to where Victor experienced and learned what he teaches, and therefore this provides an ideal starting place where you can get a sense of the mood and ethos behind the techniques and tools of the first book.

While the largest portion of the book is Victor's personal story of journeying to Humun' Kulluaby and the ascent of and ritual on La' Unarre, there are many insights and a couple of related conversations and stories regarding various things including the views of the Wirrarika on missionaries who have tried to "convert" and "save" them, through to some views "anti-anthropology" and explanations of what indigenous cultures, such as the Wirrarika, actually believe regarding multiple Gods and the Great Spirit.

The comments Victor makes about Western culture "putting ourselves at the center of everything" and viewing the "worship of nature" as primitive are I feel important concepts to reflect on (for those of us with a Western heritage) as it is indeed arrogance of this kind which I believe is a limiting factor for us in our own personal evolution.

A fragment of a conversation between Victor and a Wirrarika marakame relating a conversation he had with a pastor who insisted that the tales of Christ and the bible 'made sense' compared with the very organic beliefs of the Indians, to me sums up their wisdom. "But nobody tells me about Tatei Urianaka (the Earth), I see her every day! And every day I receive her fruits, corn, water, and beans. I can touch, walk, and live on her! And Tau (the Sun). Daily I receive his heat and his nierika (light, knowledge, vision, teaching). I don't have to do anything but look up and there he is." This, to me, is the beauty of a system which embraces the natural world (rather than 'separating' it). Learning is direct and experiential, through observation and interaction.

Overall this is a powerful and moving tale of a magical journey. Reading of Victor Sanchez's experiences provides inspiration for anyone who truly wants to discover and follow their own magical path.

spell check
Pre-Colombian with an o not u