Tohunga Teachings

Part 1

The higher grade of tohunga, were the exponents and upholders of what is termed the aristocratic type of Maori religion, the cult of the Supreme Being, lo of the Hidden Face. This higher-class  was confined to that grade of tohunga and to men and women  of superior rank ; its secrets, practices, and teachings formed the most highly venerated and most intensely tapu portion of the secret lore of the Maori.  The tohunga of a lower grade were upholders land exponents of the departmental and tribal gods, and practiced the ceremonies and ritual pertaining to them. A third class of tohunga occupied the position of tohanga rongo [medicine man], and the gods appealed to were tribal and ancestors. In addition to these, any person might act as the medium of the spirit of his defunct parent, grandparent, or other relative.

Among Maori the higher type of religion is by no means clear ; it is in the hands of a small class, and is most jealously guarded. This intensely conservative feeling, this rigid retention of the superior - by the few, is the reason why, for so many. years, we knew no details pertaining to the higher type of Maori religion. No popular work on the Maori contains any particulars concerning it. No early collector gathered more than the name of the Supreme Being. The information concerning Maori religion contained in the various works on  Maori is but a meager quantity, and is connected with the lower phases only of that religion. In order to learn more, the seeker must turn to the Journal of the Polynesian Society.

The Tohunga Hinengaro teachings had been passed on by word of mouth of how the tohunga performed their seemingly magical feats which is based on the root words of the Waiata and Karakia [chants and prayers]

The essence of tohunga hinengaro teachings is that the human being is made up of three selves, or minds. They can most easily be called the subconscious mind, the conscious mind, and the super-conscious mind.

The tohunga call the conscious mind the "Ngakau manako ", or middle self. This middle self is the part of the human that is conscious of its own existence and has the ability to reason. It has also been given free will to create as it pleases, along with the low self.

The subconscious mind is called the "Manawa maha " or low self. It is the part of the human that presents the unconscious material to the conscious mind so it may reason for or against it. The low self is the storehouse of all memory and the seat of the emotions. Its form of meditation is considered to be that of animal-level reasoning. The term "low" has no reference to rank or importance, only to the fact that it is below the level of consciousness of the middle self and to the fact that its bodily center is in the solar plexus rather than in the head.

The third part is the high self, called the "Harakoa" by the tohunga The high self is the "older utterly trustworthy parental self of spirit." This higher self lives at a higher plane of consciousness outside of the physical body. It will not intervene in the affaires of life unless asked to do so. This is understood to be a cosmic law the high self must adhere to.

The high self has a higher form of meditation than the middle and low selves have. It is the part that direct dreams, intuitions, and premonitions through the subconscious self. Tohunga hinengaro teaches that it is the high self that constructs your future form your thoughts, hopes, and fears of the middle and low selves.

The high self is supposed to be able to see into the future as far as your thoughts have been crystallized. As thoughts change daily in the lives of the middle and low selves, so does the future change, according to tohunga hinengaro teachings. Tohunga hinengaro also teaches that communication with the high self occurs quite naturally during sleep. It is in that contact that most of the thoughts of the day are supposedly averaged by the high self and used, by some mysterious mechanism, to materialize conditions in your future.

The tohunga hinengaro teaches that each of the three selves has its proper role to perform in the life of each individual. Life, health, and happiness have to do with the integration, blending, and harmonizing of these three selves.

The other basic teaching of tohunga hinengaro is that people are made up of ten basic elements. To understand this concept it is necessary to understand the threesome of mind-force-matter. It is believed that the basic vital force, or energy, in a person's body is divided into three voltages. The lowest voltage is that of the lower, or subconscious self. This same vital force when used by the middle self or conscious mind, is thought to be raised to a higher voltage. In the same way when the vital force is raised to the level of consciousness of the high self, it is raised again to an even higher voltage. The basic vital force of a person changes according to which self is using that energy.

The last element of this threesome is that of matter. Tohunga hinengaro teaches that each of the three selves has a shadow body, or semblance body. The shadow bodies are metaphysical bodies that are thought to be exact duplicates of everything that exists in the physical world. It is these energetic molds that hold all physical from together. Everything that has ever been created has a shadow body.

The shadow body of the low self is said to be a mold of every tissue of the physical body. The low self's shadow body hence looks like the physical body except that it is metaphysical in form. Tohunga hinengaro teaches that all memory is stored in this shadow body of the low self. The shadow body of the middle self is an energy body in the region of the physical head. The low and middle selves, hence, interpenetrate the physical body with their shadow bodies.

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