What can we learn from the legend of Atlantis?
What can we learn from the legend of Atlantis?
Around 360 B.C., the Greek philosopher Plato wrote of the ancient civilization of Atlantis, a highly spiritual, moral society and a technologically advanced utopian civilization that existed 9000 years before.
But the citizens became greedy, petty and “morally bankrupt.” As a result, the gods “became angry because the people had lost their way and turned to immoral pursuits” and they sent a “terrible night of fire and earthquakes” that caused Atlantis to sink into the sea.
Few scientists believe Atlantis existed, and many feel Plato created the story to get across the point that power can corrupt.
Although there is no evidence to back up the legend of Atlantis, the story refuses to die!
Whatever the truth, Atlantis is both a warning and a hope as we enter an age of reawakened spirituality.
With all the disturbing things going on in the world today, you may question whether spirituality is being reawakened. But I love this statement that’s been shared widely on social media in the past year:
Things are not getting worse; they’re getting uncovered.
So we seem to be at a turning point.
What the Maya teach about Atlantis
The legend has certainly stayed alive among the Maya, an indigenous people of Mexico and Central America. They are probably best known for their Calendar and magnificent pyramids and cities, only 10% of which have been excavated to date.
The Maya were brutally massacred by the Spanish 500 years ago, but still managed to survive. They are also well known for their art, much of which depicts their history. Mayan elders teach that Atlantis survivors came to the Maya lands, as well as other parts of the world such as Egypt and Tibet.
Some Mayan art contains depictions of very tall people [the Atlantis survivors] passing on scrolls of knowledge to a shorter people [the Maya].
So the Maya are the keepers of the ancient knowledge of the advanced civilization of Atlantis. And what do the Maya have to say about this history today?
Mayan elders teach that the greed and arrogance that led to the destruction of Atlantis is what is happening in our modern society today. And if we don’t change, modern civilization may befall the same fate.
We certainly seem to be heading in that direction. Our environment is under attack: our waters are being polluted and national park land is being sold to the highest bidder, all for the purpose of the rich getting richer.
- Whales, birds and other fish are dying from ingesting the plastic we toss into the ocean .
- Animals are becoming extinct at a rate 1,000 to 10,000 times the past historical rate. The endangered species list now includes giraffes, sea otters, Asian elephants, tigers, gorillas, orangutans and more.
- In 2018, the Eastern cougar and northern white rhino were officially declared extinct.
- We’ve lost 97% of western monarch butterflies in the U.S.
“Human activities are the ultimate drivers of virtually all recent extinctions,” according to BirdLife International.
Environmental pollution is at an all-time high and getting worse. Flint, Michigan hasn’t had clean water since 2014!
In our modern world, the poor are getting poorer, and the rich are getting richer. Research by the non-profit Oxfam indicates the richest 1% of the world population now owns half the world’s wealth. This is not a model that can sustain a healthy planet.
Fear abounds. There are more and more stories on the news of people directing irrational anger at people of other skin colors, ethnicity or religions. Why? There’s no good reason for it.
What are we afraid of? Everyone’s afraid. We all face the same problems. It’s how we react to them that determines our quality of life.
And solving them together would be the most powerful solution.
Native societies have always held that having excessive wealth is a sign of mental illness. It is the obligation of those who have more to share it with those who have less. That is why there are no homeless in native societies.
Native cultures put an emphasis on qualities of being, and we would do well to do the same: kindness, compassion, honesty, courage, patience are qualities that are valued.
In Native cultures there was no need for orphanages; if parents died, relatives would immediately give a home to their children. There was also no need for old folks homes; family would always take care of their elders.
No one went hungry. The chief was usually the poorest in the tribe because he would share what he had with those who had less.
We’ve lost that sense of caring and respect. Many of us have forgotten that we’re all in this together.
Ancient cultures celebrate our similarities and not our differences. A case in point is the way they greet each other:
The Maya greeting In lak‘esh, Ala K’in [I am you, you are me]
The Lakota prayer Mitakuye oyasin [everything is my relative]
The Sanskrit greeting Namaste [I bow to you in respect]
Remember that whatever we destroy in creation is also destroying us.
Solutions from the Maya
“Everything about modern life is designed to take us away from spirit and our true nature. We need to work every day to return to harmony, order, balance. Without it we cannot return to the balance that is needed. We can’t share it if we don’t have it. “ Miguel Angel Vergara
There’s a reason newborn babies naturally laugh and smile; it’s their nature. We lose that quality within a few years and have to work hard to find our way back.
The elders say a crystal is a condensation of the light. Develop the light within you. Surround yourself with crystals and flowers to raise your vibration.
We are temples. We need to share our light and bring it to the places that are in shadow. Our planet is calling to us to do so.
One of the great teachings is that, whatever you are going to do, always open with a smile and close with a smile: cooking, meditating, anything.
Have a teaspoon of honey every day to raise your vibration.
Take herbal baths to detox and absorb the earth energy.
The diet of the teachers will raise your spiritual frequency:
- Breakfast: Fruit, nuts, honey and a cup of hot chocolate
- Lunch: salads, potatoes, soy, rice, peas, beans
- Dinner: cereals, oats, tea
There is an ancient teaching that when 144,000 people become enlightened, we’ll have reached a critical mass that will shift the planet: Everyone else won’t even have to do the work — they will be caught up in the wave of peace and prosperity to follow.
144,000 is the tipping point.
The time is now. We need to be our best selves to shift the planet towards peace and prosperity. If we follow the ancient teaching of living as though everyone, and the earth, is our relative, we will start the process of a world living in harmony.
To learn more about the Maya, and their teachings of Atlantis, join Maya master teacher Miguel Angel Vergara for his monthly online classes. This week starts his Atlantis Memories class, starting January 10. For more information, go to https://casakin.org/online-specials/
Sources for this post: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/archaeology/atlantis/
“Maya Civilization”https://www.ancient.eu/Maya_Civilization/
Molly Larkin is the co-author of the international best-seller “The Wind Is My Mother; The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman” and other books on health. She is passionate about helping people live life to their fullest potential through her classes, healing practice and blog at www.MollyLarkin.com
