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Invocations and prayers

They were called “words directed towards heaven” and consisted of spontaneous and direct invocations, used in an intense emotional state of awareness.

This intimate contact with God could be established in 4 ways:

• with audible words, Tempowa
• with a barely inaudible murmur, Tempepeyotsa
• with mental words, Nekawanotsalli
• in total interior silence, Kawalti

Invocations in any of the ancient languages accompanied by music and group dances.

Repetition of a word or a pre-established sentence using a collar of beads, similar to the Christian rosary or the japa of the Hindus.

Mudras

Machiomana, hand language, was used in ceremonies and consisted of the following gestures:

• Manepan, joining both hands, like in a prayer position
• Mashochitla, flower hands, forming a circle by joining middle finger and thumb
• Teku, hands of the Lords, on knees with erect posture of trunk
• Senteomachiotl, hands of corn, both hands open and placed between the navel and the heart, one pointing down and the other pointing up
• Matlachinolli, hands of fire, opened and crossed in front of the chest
• Maololli, fists
• Makpalli, palms facing up and placed on the groins.

Meditation

“Search for the joy of the Supreme. Bow your head, flex your knees, adopt an attentive posture, accustom your legs and slowly slide towards our Lord”. (Olmos, Wewetla´tolli)

The goal of meditation was to reach Amomati, mental silence or mind in zero, the highest level of consciousness. The preparatory practices for meditation were:

• concentration, Semitta, on the energy centers
• recapitulation to gain an objective image of our own existence
• vigils and other exercises to control animalistic inclinations
• sacred sounds corresponding to the energy centers.

Another way for them to describe meditation was Kawalti, emptying thoughts.

The ultimate goal of meditation was Shoshopantli, total freedom.

The question remains, how did yoga appear in Mesoamerica? Was it imported? Did it develop in a parallel way to India? Its first evidence is in the Olmec cultures 2000 years B.C.

The well known figure of the man in scorpion pose is from 1000 B.C. It had captured my attention ever since I arrived from Germany many years ago.

Thanks to Guruji and to Ms. Rajvi Mehta, the editor of Yoga Rahasya, I set out to find out more about pre-Hispanic sculptures in yoga postures. Never did I expect to discover all these hidden treasures of the most diverse yogic practices in this beautiful land of smiling faces.

“Words fail to conveny the total value of yoga. It has to be experiencied” -Guruji BKS Iyengar-