"Sadly, humankind is divided by a different vision when interpreting the world, humanity, its reason for being, and its destiny. Western culture found its answer in the form of material reasoning, while the Eastern world developed based on natural thinking." - Don Isidro, Guatemalan Mayan in The Book of Destiny: Unlocking the Secrets of the Ancient Mayans and the Prophecy of 2012, by Carlos Barrios
Precisely as you are reading The Heart of the World centering around the intrigue of utopian hidden-lands and secreted super-sanctuaries of Asia, I'm reading about the Mayan equivalent of beyuls.
I'm also reminded about the whole notion of "suspension of disbelief" which makes reading fiction like crossing a threshold to experience another's window of reality--without making a big fuss whether it's feasible, or tacitly agreeing to be sequestered "over the threshold" forever.
What if I lived my entire life suspending disbelief? What boundaries might we learn are simply arbitrary? What impossibilities might be seen as flimsy fencing? Here's a snippet of what stirred me today:
"Unlike the Western world's more linear vision, the Mayan perception of time is intertwined with space and frequency. Time, in the West consists of limits in the form of schedules and agendas. This is perfectly summed up in the expression "time is money." Space is seen as a physical, territorial manifestation in the form of possession. This division is what has given rise to conflicts and confusion.
"Follow the light," we've been told, as if darkness were negative. However, when Mayan sages say to follow the light, they don't mean follow behind it, but get ahead of it. The idea is to move forward and exceed the speed of light. Light and dark are merely facets of reality. Once one achieves this, one's connection with reality is no longer linear.
If we are able to manipulate the light, it means that we're able to shatter constraints inside our spirit and consciousness and go beyond it. We blaze a new trail, and everything comes into focus. This is when we acquire a sense of being. We no longer struggle with demons. We are outside the limitations of space-time; frequency is our channel to transcendence, to exceeding such limits.
... The Mayan were obsessed with breaking through these [cosmic] borders in order to travel in space-time. Najt [space-time] is where we reside and what most people understand. More precisely, it is where most people are trapped, in what we call reality. It is also what leads us to what we call the past or future, both of which are abstractions. The past does not exist. It existed. Now it's only a memory. The future does not exist either; it's what will be. There is only this instant, this very moment, the eternal present.
Explosions in the universe can be compared to those that take place inside inside of each of us; one has to explode mentally in order to break free of the limitations of one's perceptions.
This then begs the question: are there other dimensions or realities? The answer is yes. There are other dimensions where space-time-frequency is measured or configured differently and is beyond our comprehension.
... The Popol Vuh speaks of parallel dimensions as paradise and calls them Paxil and Kayala. In Paxil our perceptions are different. Our senses sharpen, and we are surrounded by a tranquil, harmonious, peaceful energy. It's like going back to the matrix, the origin.
... Light behaves differently in these parallel dimensions. There is no sun. The light is brighter, but not warmer. It's a clear, all-encompassing light. The most exquisite fruit and the most incredible stones can be found in Paxil, but most importantly, we are accepted unconditionally there..." - The Book of Destiny, by Carlos Barrios
p.s. I gave The Heart of the World as a gift to my ex-husband, an avid river runner, as a gift when he was recovering from a serious head injury. His car accident eerily occurred roughly 10 days after the Boxing Day 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which cracked my heart wide open. I've not read the book myself.
art credits Michael Benson exhibition currently showing at Smithsonian, Beyond: Visions of Planetary Landscapes 1. Erupting into Space, by Michael Benson (Jupiter's Io) 2. Europa and the Great Red Spot, by Michael Benson (Jupiter's Europa) 3. Mars, I believe, also by Michael Benson via NY Times. Don't miss the awesome slide show.