The Wisdom of the Ancients

To strive to attain Power without also attaining some degree of Wisdom is folly indeed. In the beginning we expect new members to study the kabalistic system utilized by the Priesthood in order to understand some of the basic esoteric practices of the community as they utilize the symbolism of this structure.

As a result of many years of study, Nasalam has grown beyond most traditional teachings into a more advanced perception of what is possible. One of the more intriguing books about the potential of monastic life is the novel The Book of Skulls by Robert Silverberg. It is recommended that everyone read this book. Other books important to help understand the paradigm embraced by the Order include:

Graham Hancock - Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind

Thom Hartman - The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight

John Major Jenkins - Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 and Galactic Alignment

Charles Mann - 1491 (The Americas before Columbus)

Terrence McKenna - True Hallucinations, Archaic Revival and others

Jeremy Narby - The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge

Daniel Pinchbeck - Breaking Open the Head and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl (adventures in shamanistic cultures)

Michael Talbot - The Holographic Universe

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Melchizedek also manifested as Zarathustra (Zoroaster). While his teachings are not well known in the west, but it was he who first formulated the need to create spiritual warriors to battle ignorance and it's attempts to destroy humankind's potential. The Essene teachings dating from Melchizedek continue that concept in different form. Study of these teachings would broaden understanding of the Order's background. The most generally accessible books on these topics are those by Edmund Szekeley listed below -- only a few of his many books.

On Zarathustra: Essene Teachings of Zarathustra, The Zend Avesta of Zarathustra, The Essene Book of Asha,

Essenes: The Essene Gospel of Peace, Books 1-4, The Discovery of the Essene Gospel of Peace, From Enoch to the Dead Sea Scrolls

As a community, an important goal is to harmonize teachings from various sources with our larger goals of creating a new spiritual understanding as we enter a new period of human develpment. We have a fairly good library to aid members in their studies and are ready to offer suggestions to those needing help in deciding on a course of study. The following short list of books might aid in understanding how the modern community arrived at many of its values.

Isaac Asimov - Foundation Trilogy.

Murray Bookchin - Post-Scarcity Anarchism and others

Ernest Callenbach - Ecotopia and Ecotopia Emerging

Aleister Crowley - Magick in Theory and Practice

Robert Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land

Robert Lawlor - Voices of the First Day (about Australian aborigines)

Ursula LeGuin - The Dispossessed

Malidoma Patrice Some - Ritual: Power, Healing and Community

Starhawk - The Fifth Sacred Thing

John Zerzan - Future Primitive and Other Essays

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A contemporary path dedicated to developing the spiritual warrior is the Toltec Path first brought to the public's attention by the writing of Carlos Castaneda, in which it is claimed that some Toltecs have been able to live for many centuries.

Carlos Casteneda: Teachings of Don Juan, A Separate Reality, Journey to Ixtlan, Tales of Power, The Second Ring of Power, The Eagle's Gift, The Fire From Within, The Power of Silence, The Art of Dreaming, The Active Side of Infinity. His books are highly imaginative, to say the least, but are entertaining reading. It is instructive to read A Magical Journey with Carlos Castaneda by his wife Margaret Runyan Castaneda. And there is a video of interviews with his followers done after his death, called Carlos Castaneda: Enigma of a Sorcerer. His closest followers make it abundantly clear that the books, though sources of much good information, are fictitious.

Victor Sanchez: The Teachings of Don Carlos, Toltecs Of The New Millenium, The Toltec Path of Recapitulation. I think Sanchez is the most useful writer in understanding the Toltec path. His first book is a clear explanation of the things Castaneda talks about. In the second book he is dealing with REAL Toltecs living in Mexico and portrays a spiritual lifestyle that is worthy of emulation. His third book is the book to read to understand the process of recapitulation from the Toltec perspective. If you have to choose just one author to read, Sanchez is the best one.

There are other writers about the Toltec path, such as Merilyn Tunneshende, Ken Eagle Feather and others, some being of greater value than others in expanding on an understanding of Toltequity.

The primary limitation of the Toltec Path is that it is pretty much limited to the lower levels of reality. To explore a more complex vision of the world we can turn to the Maya. While many interesting and worthwhile books have been written about these amazing people, none can compare to those of Martin Prechtel.

Martin Prechtel: Secrets of the Talking Jaguar tells the story of how Prechtel came to be initiated as a shaman in the Tzutujil Maya town of Santiago Atitlan in Guatemala. Long Life Honey in the Heart covers the same time period, but deals with his social relationship to the community outside his shamanic activities up to the time he was forced to leave by the military. Stealing Benefacio's Roses (also published as The Toe Bone and the Tooth) tells the rest of the story of his escape from Guatemala and events since. These are amazingly beautiful books and give a vision of spiritual life in a non-western culture that is unique. A fourth book, The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun, gives some idea of the complexity of symbolism in stories from an oral culture like the Tzutujil.