(As Expressed through the Toltec Teachings)
To define the real meaning of the term “the Knowledge Seekers” is to de-fine, that is, to do an injustice to a symbol that is very dear to the heart of every Warrior of Freedom - a symbol which is for them the materialisation of the unspoken hope that has accompanied countless lifetimes of work and perseverance upon the peculiar path known as the Warrior’s Path, which reveals the secrets and mysteries pertaining to the Toltec teachings.
To truly explain the Knowledge Seekers is impossible, for it is only by working with the Warriors of Freedom that their true nature can be absorbed and assimilated through the process of osmosis. But for the sake of those who do not have such an opportunity I will attempt to impart here at least a feeling for what is implied by the term the Knowledge Seekers; that little- understood, but nonetheless vital aspect of what constitutes the heart of the Toltec teachings.
How does one explain an unspoken hope? The fact that it is unspoken is precisely because words fail to give expression to that feeling. How does one explain that a hope can be more substantial than a physical reality? How does one explain that the hope which is referred to here is not a pie in the sky, but a fact at once as substantial and yet as insubstantial as the law of gravity? I cannot show you that hope, but I can show you the effects of that hope, and it is these effects that should be self-evident to every serious student of the Toltec teachings.
The term “Toltec” as used within the Toltec teachings is an accolade which practitioners of the Toltec teachings accept in the same way as any man or woman accepts being addressed as Sir or Madame respectively, even though that man knows he is not a knight, and that woman knows she is not a dame. Such an address, like all accolades, is in recognition of the inherent potential of the person who is being addressed.
Short-lived is the career of the true-blooded Toltec. In any one lifetime the term “Toltec” can only really be honoured once the person concerned has reached a point in his or her career as warrior, at which his or her full potential is being manifested upon the physical plane. This automatically means a full restoration of memory, as well as the ability to live as man (as opposed to hu-man). Only then can the person rightfully claim the accolade of Toltec, meaning a man (or woman) of knowledge, for the simple reason that, by definition, there can be no hu-men of knowledge. To be caught in hu-man-ness is not to have knowledge of what it is to be man. But even then the term Toltec is relative to that lifetime, and it is for this reason that there have always been those amongst Toltecs who prefer to look upon themselves as being simply The Knowledge Seekers, or alternatively, The Seekers of Knowledge.
For those who are dedicated to living the life of the true Warrior of Freedom as expressed through the Toltec teachings, the term “Toltec” implies concretisation and absolutism - concepts which are alien within a universe of relativity and fluidity. Thus there never have been formal insignia for the ranks of Toltec. The rings worn by Toltecs upon the fourth or the fifth finger of the right hand are merely a symbol of their unequivocal commitment to all of life upon the physical plane - the ultimate symbol of intelligent co-operation. Furthermore, the various insignia accorded to hunters, warriors, atl’aman, etc., are likewise symbols serving to remind the owner of such a symbol that he or she already has the necessary expertise in the particular area of awareness denoted by the symbol, and therefore cannot plead ignorance or helplessness in that area. But going beyond this, how does one ever claim to have knowledge in seeking for knowledge? If one is seeking for knowledge it implies that one does not have the ultimate knowledge; that is, absolute knowledge. In mapping out the unknown we are forever up against that which is not known, and therefore, irrespective of their official ranks, the most honest title Toltecs can give themselves is that of Knowledge Seeker.
Those of the Warriors of Freedom who have travelled the Warrior's Path as depicted within the Toltec teachings a little further than most, have come to understand the truism inherent within the statement that the Warrior's Path truly does not go anywhere at all; for ultimately the Warrior's Path is nothing more than a "U-turn." We struggle to become warriors. Then we struggle to become Toltec. Then we struggle to grasp that to be Toltec means to meet our fellow men in the midst of their folly. Why is this so? Because there is only the One Life, the one awareness and the one humanity.
Consequently, although Toltecs have often been likened to the beautiful blossoms on a tree - the Tree of Life - Toltecs themselves have known that not all Toltecs share the same destiny with respect to the Toltec tradition. In order to grasp this it is important to realise that only the arrogant fool will choose to look upon the blossom of a tree as being better than, or more important than the roots of the tree buried deep in the darkness of the earth: buried in the muck and the mire that feeds the tree. Toltecs have always acknowledged both the blossoms as well as the roots of the tree as being different but equally important expressions of the tree. As a result, Toltecs have come to learn that both blossoms and roots serve the one purpose of the tree, albeit each in their own unique way.
There are those amongst Toltecs whose destiny it is to tend to the roots of the tree, by adding their greater vision and their greater knowledge to that of the workers within the darkness of the earth, in an attempt to bring about even more abundant and even more beautiful blossoms and fruit than was possible before. These are the true Seekers of Knowledge, who work silently behind the scenes, and to whom that transmutation which leads to transformation and eventual transfiguration is an expression of their innermost predilection. To the Seekers of Knowledge the journey is more profitable than the goal, for they acknowledge that any goal, like the blossom, after serving its purpose, withers, dies, and falls from the tree, where it rots and becomes incorporated back into the process of life.
Yet throughout the ages of life upon this planet there have also been those from amongst the practitioners of the Toltec teachings who have served the process of life as blossoms of the tree in one way or another. These are those from amongst the Toltecs whose destiny it is to be a living light out in the open, a shining example of the inherent beauty within the fruition of the evolution of awareness. These are the bodhisattvas of humanity, and they tread in the footsteps of the World Teacher, the Christ, Who proclaimed, "I am the Light. I am the Way. I am the Word."
For the bodhisattva there is no greater honour than to be the Light, the Way, the Word, and for these it is good and right, for they tread the Path of the Bodhisattva, which is still an aspect of the Warrior’s Path. Like the sacred lotus, their symbol, they stand tall and proud, head and shoulders above the world around them; not in arrogance, but by virtue of their truly awesome beauty, colour, perfume, and utter impeccability. Indeed, the very sight of them is a breathtaking delight to the human spirit. Such is their destiny, and for this they are both loved and respected. It is not easy to be the radiantly beautiful and delicate blossom that invariably gets picked, and therefore torn from the process of life, only to be admired in the vase of separativeness in which the blossom must whither and die. But even if the blossom is not picked, it still withers and dies, for such is the nature of the blossom - to provide seed, and then to die so that the seed may fall into the earth.
On the other hand, the deepest predilection of the Knowledge Seekers is the alchemical process of transmutation, transformation and transfiguration - work which at best never does attract any real attention. People, after all, grow trees for their blossoms and their fruit, not for their roots! Yet the Knowledge Seekers also know that for there to be blossoms as well as that fruit, termed the evolution of awareness, the roots of the tree too must be tended to and cared for. Therefore the work of the Knowledge Seekers seldom sees the light of day, for they do not attract the attention that comes so naturally to the blossom. But this too is right and good, for they tread the Path of the Warrior, and upon that path it is not the acknowledgement of the potential which is important, but the materialisation of that potential.
Therefore the Bodhisattva demonstrates for man his potential by holding aloft a light, whilst the Knowledge Seeker feeds man's potential by bringing his own light into the darkness of the fruitful earth; that is, life upon the physical plane. Between these two expressions of Toltec; the Bodhisattva and the Knowledge Seeker, there is a profound love for one another, for both know that in the final analysis, they but serve the purpose of the One Life, the one tree, the Tree of Life.
Blossom, root, trunk, branches, leaves or sap, how can one be more important than the other in that wholeness we term the Tree of Life? It is in this knowledge that Toltecs rejoice, and in their rejoicing their work becomes filled with the richnesses inherent within the process of life. As each part of the tree fulfils its function, the tree grows, life becomes richer and more abundant, and the spirit of the tree - the spirit of man - begins to resonate to the Song of Atl’aman. This is what is meant by singing into existence the tree - the Tree of Life.
In singing we not only give thanks for the awesome opportunity to partake in the process of life, but in singing we also learn how to tune our voices to harmonise with the dissonances inherent within the evolution of awareness, so that our creations reflect harmony, rather than chaos. For the Warriors of Freedom singing is not only a Path with a Heart, their innermost expression of the Toltec teachings, but it is also a way of life; the only way of life, the only way in which it is possible to live with constant dissonance. To sing is to harmonise. To harmonise is to live, as opposed to merely existing.
This then brings us back to the unspoken hope. Song, with its rhythm, melody, phrasing and nuances of key and pitch, can convey what the spoken word can never ever convey. Therefore to understand the unspoken hope means that we must know what it is to sing in the truest possible sense of the word. Until we have learned to harmonise our tears with our laughter, our disappointments with our triumphs, our sorrow with our joy, we screech and wail instead of sing, and without the ability to sing we can never grasp the ecstasy of true flight through time and space. To unfold the wings of perception to touch both the nagal and the tonal, is to sing - to sing the song of Atl’aman. To not only sing that song, but also to become the embodiment of that song, is to know the meaning of the unspoken hope.
The best I can do is to say that the unspoken hope is the belief through experience that there is no discord; no dissonance, that cannot be beautiful if it is correctly harmonised, and that ultimately, man must be able to transmute the solar debris into the most divinely beautiful song. What a song this promises to be! No pretty frilly phrases of complicated melody. No fancy trills on nuances of sounds. No grand chords based upon perfect resolutions. No fixed structure based upon the rules of composition. But instead this is a song which is already showing all the signs of becoming, in time, a grand and magnificent work of singularity and utter uniqueness. A work which will be hauntingly poignant, as dischords gently ascend to melodious transpositions in the second and third voices, and will at the same time be unspeakably beautiful in its daring disregard for the accepted rules of musical composition. This is the unspoken hope - a hope that is constantly being sung into existence, as opposed to the futile undertaking of trying to verbalise that which cannot be verbalised.
In Wolf's terms, that hope, that song, is the song of freedom. Not freedom to escape the world. Not freedom to change the world. But the freedom to harmonise the world; to sing the world into its full potential. Yet hope also implies resistance, and where there is resistance there is shadow. Therefore the song of the Wolves may be beautiful, but just like the beauty of the blossom, that song too casts a shadow. Burning within the heart of every Wolf is the all-consuming fire of hope: the hope of freedom. However, every fire casts a shadow, and hence we have the Shadows of Wolf Fire.
Do the other dreaming classes also cast shadows? Yes, but not in the same way as the Wolves. Being the sixth Dreaming class, and so caught eternally in having to choose between the old and the new, the Wolf chooses to work with the darkness of the human spirit by day, and howls at the moon by night. In this the Wolf instinctively knows that the real work for him lies in tending to the freedom of the tree to grow, and so to bring into existence the new. Therefore the Wolf never hesitates to voice his dis-ease at humanity's infatuation with the romanticism of the illusory and glamorous light cast by the moon; the old.
Yet, through working with the darkness of the human spirit the Wolf is often not seen in true perspective, for his howling at the moon casts a long and baleful shadow across the romantic vision of humanity - a shadow and a sound which cause him to be feared and therefore hunted. But even that fear of him and hunting of him, is part of the Wolf's song. To be feared is to know fear, and to be hunted is to know hunting. Such is the nature of a Wolf's gifts from power. Knowledge Seekers belonging to the other dreaming classes have their own songs, or rather, parts of the One Song, and therefore their gifts from power also are different. Yet for the Wolf, the gentle and subtle modulations between one key and another, are the very essence of freedom and of being Wolf.
In all of the above I have tried to impart to you the meaning and the essence of the Knowledge Seekers, and yet I have told you nothing - no-thing - for that is the essence of what it is to seek out knowledge. It is truly no-thing as known to humanity, and yet it is every-thing as known to man. For a humanity that is goal-orientated it is nothing. For man who is versed in song, it is his everything, his hope, his love, his predilection, his song, and ultimately his only purpose. To have a goal is to live in dissonance, disappointment and disillusionment. To have a song, is to walk a Path with a Heart. What more can I say?
The bodhisattvas choose to shine. That for them is a Path with a Heart as well as their song. The Seekers of Knowledge choose to work behind the scenes in tending the roots of the tree. This for them is a Path with a Heart and also their song. Such are two of the seven paths constituting the Toltec tradition, to which the Toltec teachings bear witness.
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