Research Paper By Ilim Guner
(Transformational Life Coach, TURKEY)
Introduction:
This paper aims to look at Toltecs, who were a society that lived in Central Mexico between the eighth and twelfth centuries A.D, and observe how their culture and spiritual wisdom can be utilized to enhance coaching attributes as well as using coaching as a tool to practice Toltec wisdom in our lives.
Although Toltec knowledge was passed on through generations by “naguals” (shamans) who are the spiritual leaders who train the apprentices or “tonals”, it was largely kept as a secret within a group due concerns of misuse by the people who were not ready for it yet.
The first introduction to the Toltec mysteries was the book by anthropologist and author Carlos Casteneda, The Teachings of Don Juan – a Yaqui Way of Knowledge, published in 1968. Over the last two decades, many books have been written on Toltec wisdom. Don Miguel Ruiz, who is the international best selling author of “The Four Agreements”, “The Mastery of Love” and “The Voice of Knowledge” have introduced the Toltec path of life to many people with a modern simplified (but definitely not simple) approach to Toltec principles.
It is said that the Toltec prophecies talked about a period when it would be necessary to share the wisdom with people and luckily it seems like we are currently in that period.
Background Information on Toltecs:
The Toltecs were part of the ancient civilization of Mexico. They were not a race, rather a group of people from a number of tribal groups, scholars and artisans, who came together in the city of pyramids, Teotihuacan, and achieved a perfect equilibrium of mind, body, and spirit and a high level of spiritual enlightenment between the eighth and twelfth centuries A.D.
The real history, cultural beliefs, and religions of the Toltecs are lost in the past, however many myths and partial facts have survived.
When the Aztecs founded their city of Tenochtitlan, which is now buried under Mexico City, they found the cities of Tula, Cholula and Teotihuacan abandoned by the Toltecs. As there was no written history at the time, the Aztecs had no idea about who built these cities, what language they have spoken or where they had gone.