Customer Reviews

Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the Ancient Nahuatl Mind (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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I first bought this book thirty years ago. I now use it as a text book for my Mexican American Culture and Society Class and for my Pre Hispanic life and Religion Class. This book is basic in understanding the depth of philosophical and religious thought of the ancient Mexican. Portilla is is primarily instruemental in all of his writings in intoducing the reader to the ancient civilizations of this hemisfaire....that was in exsisitance at the same time of the old world....and which we have been so ignorant of for too long.

I have read quite a few books on the Aztecs and this is one of my favorites. It provides great insight into the Aztecs thought, culture and language. I am also reading one of the authors other books, titled "Fifteen poets of the Aztec world" which I also recommend. These books are great for anyone who is interested in the Aztecs.

Just like India's Upanishadic teaching tradition unfolded the Knowledge of the true identity of the individual, the universe and God, the Náhuatl Tlamatinime (spiritual teachers) were the "phylosphers", as Sahagun called them, who, abiding in Spiritual wisdom, were able to guide their students to discover the nature of their True Self. Don Miguel Leoón-Portilla is the ideal commentator because, after introducing his readers to the Tlamatinime's recorded words, showing a deep personal insight of the Náhuatl language, he accurately and methodically expounds, word by word and verse by verse, in the content of their spiritual wisdom. My opinion is that he could be considered the Adi Shankaracharya (the Commentary Master of the Tradional Vedanta texts of India) of the Americas.

Leon-Portilla successfully demonstrates that there was a class of professional intellectuals in Nahua society appropriately described as "philosophers" (the tlamatinime), and sketches in broad terms the parameters of their thought.

I felt, however, that this book is in effect only half of the book that should have been written, because of the way Leon-Portilla undervalues Nahua theology. His monotheizing reduction of the Nahua pantheon means that he removes the content of Nahua thought and leaves only the form, if that. It does not seem to occur to him that theological structures can provide the basis for philosophical reflection; instead, he assumes that philosophy and theology must be in opposition. This is clearly a projection of philosophy's situation in the Christian and Muslim world, but Leon-Portilla offers no evidence that a similar tension existed in Nahua society. This inability to question his own presuppositions is a serious defect in an otherwise bold, important book which does make a real contribution to the project of expanding the boundaries of philosophy beyond the European tradition. I'm rating it slightly higher than I otherwise might, because the effort to do this sort of thing is not made often enough.

This book is largely a commentary on early Spanish writers in 'New Spain' and mainly for Sahagun. The book starts out by talking about the Aztec/Nahau philosophers the 'tlamatinime'. In fact it keeps repeating verse/poetry from the first section of the book throughout when referring to these wise men. It got to the point reading this that Sahagun and others works were included so much that I felt I should be reading Florentine Codex: General History of the Things of New Spain (Book 6, Rhetoric and Moral Philosophy) first hand (if it wasn't so unreasonably expensive, an affordable reprint is due).

This book does make a cursory reference to the perennial philosophy in inferring the Nahau culture was part of it. A claim which is somewhat speculative but probably correct. When one visits Teotihuacan, a primary Nahau/Toltec site, there is no doubt the complex was not built by savages. Probably because we have a Mexican and not a Spanish writer the Nahau are conveyed as a deep people extremely civilized and not a rapacious savages as was sold to the world by the conquistidors.

Recent linguist research as presented in Aztec Calendar Handbook makes a strong case that Nahautl originated in the Four Corners region of the US Southwest. Specifically there are linked to Chaco Canyon and it's complex of temples. It is a tenable hypothesis that the tlamatinime and Nahautl culture originated here and migrated down to Teotihuacan and their cultural/linguistic descendants finally to Tenochtitlan prior to the invasion of Cortez.

So I'd rate this as a respectable work from mainstream academia but not as a full depiction of Aztec thought and culture. That prize goes to Laurette Sejourne whos classic Burning Water has not been equaled in the study of things Aztec/Toltec/Nahuatl. While Portilla's book takes you to the edge of the regions cosmology Sejourne brings you backstage. When Portilla winks and mentions perennial philosophy it's Sejourne who convincingly and indisputably delivers the goods. Portilla's book may be required reading for an Mexican religion 101 class. But Sejourne's work is beyond Phd material. Sejournes work is more like being let into the secret mysticism yoga of the Nahuatl. In fact there are few books that see into mans true role and interaction with 'reality' as 'Burning Water.' Other books up to this level are the writings of Hazrat Inayat Khan The Heart of Sufism and Tiwa/Ute medicine person Joseph Rael Sound: Native Teachings and Visionary Art of Joseph Rael

If you are perceptive to energy and want to travel to Teotihuacan to experience the energy that is still there in the stones and great pyramids then lookup Cynthia Signet of AncientWisdomTeachings

These Aztec poems and narratives reveal deep questions about the nature of humans and the universe itself.

...of aztec history. this book is very complex and very intriguing at the same time. portilla offers an extensive background and the significance of the creation myth of the aztecs and their history through the use of histories that were taken from the priest who interviewed key priest/teachers in the aztec culture. portilla takes the information that is known through the written and oral history of what is left of this amazing civilization and puts it into a book for people who know enough to understand the basics and the deeper aspects of the nahuac philosophy. this book is very complex, however, is very enlightening if you take the time to understand what is being said.

Again, if you want the good stuff about Aztecs and Incas, look for the Spanish language writers. Not all the Spanish who came over were total a********, just 95%. In the aftermath of Spanish contact, the Aztecs did not just evaporate. They responded to the challenge, created their own Nahuatl script and wrote texts that were called Codexes. Many of these codexes survived the later attempts by the Church to annihilate Nahuatl culture. These codexes were stored away and largely ignored until the 20th century. Great job, Western culture.

It is from these Codexes that Portilla makes his attempt to reconstruct Aztec philosophy. Basically, he's writing in the 1960s about documents that were written in the 16th century and then ignored for about 400 years. So it's an attempt at reconstruction, yes, but a worthy effort and a worthwhile subject.

Like the Incans, the Aztecs were arriviste conquerors of their piece of the new world. Their rise from obscurity didn't happen till a century or two before the Spanish showed up. When they did come up, they weren't the only Nahuatl speaking civilization in the area. In fact, the Aztecs controlled other Nahuatl speaking cultures in the area. These cultures were just as sophisticated as the Aztecs, and they wrote their own codices.

The Nahuatl had two philosophical/religious traditions. The first was a general belief in the Sun as a God, sun worship, etc. The second tradition was specifically Aztec and it was the Mystical/Militaristic idea that the Sun God needed a great deal of human sacrifice to survive. The Aztecs were not the inventors of human sacrifice in the Nahuatl speaking region, but they brought to a whole new level. A rough analogy can be found in the way Nazi's took already existing western racism and raised it to a whole new Genocidal level.

This human sacrifice intensive philosophy existed along side the older, more sedate Nahuatl philosophical tradition which emphasized the unreality of existence- similar in some aspects to ideas we associate with Westerners. Portilla also observes that the Conquistadors were not the first to destroy written records of the Nahuatl civilization. In fact, the Aztecs themselves, anxious to cement their place as the primer movers in the Valley of Mexico, ordered the historical records containing their ambitious rise to power destroyed- BEFORE THE SPANISH SHOWED UP.

Thus, Cortes showed up, the Aztecs had already attempted to white out the earlier, more peaceful philosophy in favor of their human sacrifice intensive iteration of basic Nahuatl philosophical concepts. the Nahuatl had their own class of philosophers, and two separate tracks of education, one for warriors, one for priests. They had a functioning judicial system that lasted for centuries producing copious amounts of legal documents in written Nahuatl. In fact, Portilla makes the claim that Cortes may have conquered the Aztecs, but he didn't wipe out Nahuatl civilization, rather it continued on more or less then way it had always been, with a continuity of leadership and government.

I don't think this book was a "waste of time" in fact this depicts true Mexica historical, cultural and linguistic facts and interesting details the way they are meant to be told. The truth!

Miguel Leon-Portilla is acknowledged as a basic source for Aztec thought and beliefs. He writes with clarity and knowledge about how the Aztec looked at the world. Read this book to get a balance to the common knowledge about Aztec sacrifices. They had a developed philosophy and much to say about how to live in the world. It is time to read about some of the more "positive" aspects of this culture and this book introduces them.An anitdote to the judging Western culture bias.