What Is Yok'hah Maya?

The teachings of Yok'hah Maya are part of the spiritual heritage of the indigenous Maya of Mexico and Central America. These practices are being revived in the present time largely through the efforts of Mayan Elder Hunbatz Men of the Cosmic Mayan University in Merida, Mexico. In a spiritual context however, to be Maya transcends cultural or racial definitions.  A true Maya is one with enlightened consciousness, one who is a Keeper of the Knowledge of the Kundalini Serpent. We find evidence of the Maya in most of the wisdom traditions of the world where they are identified as the Family of Light or the Children of the Sun.

The word Yokhah literally means 'to ascend to the highest truth'. Yok'hah Maya practices work closely with the energy of the Sun, the source of life, to awaken our cosmic memory and refine our innate spiritual capacities. By cultivating solar energy with ceremony, meditation, and mantra we begin to remember who we really are, as keepers of this planet with a cosmic heritage. Yok'hah Maya guides us to live in greater harmony with the cycles of our Mother Earth, Father Sun, and the cosmos. The practices connect us deeply with the beauty, power and rhythms of the natural world.

The Practices of Yok'hah Maya

The techniques include pranayama breathing practices, hand mudras for meditation, Mayan sacred words used as mantras, and physical postures that are held in order to induce an altered state of consciousness. All of these practices combined are the tools that help us activate the energy centers that lie along the human spine, and to awaken the energy of Kundalini which lies asleep at the base of the spine. This transformational energy lies dormant until awakened through yoga practices and was called by the Maya, Kultanlilni.

Yoga traditions from India also depict this dormant transformational energy as a sleeping serpent. The Maya describe how, when the kultanlilni energy is awakened and begins to ascend, or fly up the spine, we become 'the Feathered Serpent', known to the Maya as Kukulkan and the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl. A Kulkulkan is one who has completed the crowning achievement in the process of becoming a complete human being. They have realized an enlightened state of consciousness that allows them to access universal knowledge, and have the ability to function in many dimensions of cosmic life. In the past these individuals have been worshipped as gods. Today we recognize that these gods reflect back to us our own inherent divinity.

At Chichen Itza in the Yucatan, the traditional Maya built the majestic Pyramid of Kukulkan (named by the Spanish El Castillo). This pyramid was recently named one of the 'Seven Wonders of the World'. It is a treasure trove of Mayan teachings embodied in stone. Not only does it embody many aspects of the Mayan Calendar system, it also symbolizes the shamanic pathway to enlightenment. The initiate ascends the stairway of the pyramid, moving through the nine levels of the Mayan Underworld, until they reach the initiation or ascension chamber at the top. Here at the height of the pyramid, the Mayan yogi would be nearest to the heavens, where in deep meditation he/she might time-travel to access cosmic information from other dimensions. They would then return back down from the heights of this journey empowered with knowledge to share with the community.

Twice annually, at each of the Equinoxes, the Maya found an ingenius way to illustrate the path of Kukulkan. Combining their architechural genius with astounding pre-computer knowledge of astronomy and mathematics, they constructed the Pyramid of Kukulkan with such accurate alignment that at the time of the Equinox the shadow of a serpent appears to undulate down the side of the pyramid from top to bottom. The undulating serpent body contains within it seven diamond-shaped centers depicting the energized power centers of the chakras, or chaklas, as they are called by the Maya. Thus they communicate with us from the distant past to illustrate the path of enlightenment. This amazing process has been displayed at Chichen Itza now for hundreds of years. We are just now beginning to understand it. Because it is time.

Today, the indigenous Maya,and spiritual Maya from around the world, visit the Pyramid of Chichen Itza at these auspicious times to receive the solar blessings of Kukulkan that flow from Heaven to Earth. This energy restores of balance between Heaven and Earth, between Father Sun and Mother Earth, between the masculine and feminine forces. The pyramid is a sacred site that serves as a powerful transmitter of cosmic energy, especially when fully activated. The living Maya tell us that it is very important to resume doing ceremonies at these pyramid sites in order to fully awaken the pyramid as a transmitter of spiritual power.

We are now on the cusp of the Age of Light, near the end of the famous Mayan Calendar at the year 2012, or a few decades later, depending on your sources. The exact date is not so crucial when you consider that this is the end of a cycle that started with the dawn of time. It will likely take a few decades to make the adjustment. The Age of Light was prophecized by the Maya long ago and marks a time when humanity  has the opportunity to make a huge leap in evolution, to collectively realize the state of enlightenment. The sacred sites and the practices of Yok'hah Maya are being revived now to ensure our success. We are in the midst of the tranformational Dance of Shiva and the journey into the Mayan underworld of Xibalba (pronounced Shi-val-va) . It is a journey that each of us must take in order to transform. This process involves the pain of release from limiting forms of being. But like the butterfly that emerges from the chrysalis there is indescribable freedom at the end of the journey.

Soon, each of us will need to make an important choice: Whether to continue on the path to personal and global destruction, or to transform and realize our full potential as powerful enlightened beings. This will may the end of the world as we know it, or our emergence into a whole new way of being. We get glimpses of this state through our practice: peace, bliss, freedom, oneness...union with something indescribably beautiful. Are you ready? What's happening now?

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