Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
New Visions
The Mayoruna: On Finding Your Path in Life

The Mayoruna: On Finding Your Path in Life

Last updated on: July 9, 2021 at 11:53 am by Tom Rapsas

The Mayoruna: On Finding Your Path in Life 2021-07-09T11:53:55-06:00 Tom Rapsas

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A Mayoruna tribesman, via Michiel van Nimwegen on Flickr

Have you ever heard of a book titled The Encounter, Amazon Beaming? It tells the story of National Geographic photographer Loren McIntyre, and how he made contact with the elusive Mayoruna (also known as Matsés) tribe in the deepest jungles of Brazil in 1969. It made McIntyre one of the first “outsiders” to ever have contact with the tribe.

For the past several years, Simon McBurney has brought The Encounter story to the stage as a one-man show, including a run on Broadway. Before doing so, McBurney retraced the steps of McIntyre’s journey and visited the indigenous tribespeople who to this day have little contact with the outside world. McBurney has a special interest in “consciousness” and how people think. So he asks some of the tribespeople:

“Where is your consciousness located?”

Now if you ask most people, they will tell you that consciousness is located somewhere behind the eyes in the area of the brain. But when McBurney asked the question of the Mayoruna, they pointed to the forest. He thought they didn’t understand the question, so he asked them again. They pointed to the forest again. He then deduced that for the tribespeople, the inner world is not separate from the outer world around them. The forest and inner self are one.

This story may help explain how the photographer Loren McIntyre communicated with the tribespeople, not with words, but through his consciousness. McIntyre spent several weeks with the Mayoruna living as a de facto member of the tribe. He did not speak their language and came to realize he could hear what the tribespeople were telling him without the need to speak. They primarily communicated through thought. He, too, soon became an expert in telepathy.

But telepathy is just one attribute that makes the tribe interesting. Known as the “cat people,” the Mayoruna believe they’re descended from jaguars—and pierce their faces with thin wooden spikes that mimic whiskers. The tribesmen find McIntyre fascinating, this light-skinned man wearing clothing. They wear none. But rather than ask him his name or where he came from, they specifically want to know one thing about him:

“What is your ca’ah?”

McIntyre does not know what the term “ca’ah” means so eventually asks an interpreter for an explanation. He is told that a person’s ca’ah is your “direction in life.” It is “contained in your spirit” and is “controlled by your conscious decisions.” Each of the tribespeople has their own specific ca’ah, or role within their tribe, and they want to know what his role is in his tribe. He explains that his ca’ah is “to find things and photograph them” which the tribe finds a satisfying answer.

How would you answer the question “what is your ca’ah?”

If you’re unsure how to answer, the key may be to look at your own “tribe.” See where you fit in and what you offer now. What do you provide of value? How can you be of greater value? You may find that you’re already offering a service or activity of importance (it could be something as simple as being a great listener), but that you can expand on and become even better at it. To this end, the Beat-era poet Gary Snyder (who is still kicking at 91) advises us to:

Find your place on the planet, dig in, and take responsibility from there.

Finding your own “place on the planet” means setting down roots and giving to the people and community around you—in whatever way you can and with as much devotion and love as you can. Wondering how much can you give? Snyder tells us that within your own tribe:

The size of the place that one becomes a member of (the tribe) is limited only by the size of one’s heart.

I’ve recently been thinking about a person with a big and giving heart. He was a good friend of mine, Terry Tomalin, and it is now 5 years since he passed away. He lived the fullest life possible, one that was abruptly cut short by a sudden and unexpected heart attack at the age of 55. (A reminder that we are all on this earth for a limited amount of time.)

Terry’s passion was the outdoors, specifically in his adopted home state of Florida, but he did more than fish and dive, paddle and hike. As the long-time Outdoors Editor for the St. Petersburg Times, he shared his adventures, using his column as opportunities to teach, as well as tell. He was a strong advocate for the environment and educated his readers on how they could prepare for virtually any out in-the-wild situation. (His life was recently commemorated.)

Yet, to peg Terry as purely an outdoorsman is to only tell part of his story. He married the love of his life, Kanika, and was a devoted and caring husband and father, which he understood was his most important role in life. He committed himself to causes and organizations that bettered his community. And he motivated those around him to become better people. (In my late-20s, I was living a sedentary life when he cajoled me into running. Three decades later, I still run 4-5 days a week.)

Terry gave his ALL to those around him, so to say Terry’s ca’ah was to teach us to love and respect the outdoors only covers one facet of his life–just as our own vocation is just one slice of our own lives. I believe Terry’s calling was a bit broader: to give 100% of himself—to his family, his friends and his community. That was is “ca’ah” and a goal he accomplished.

Have you identified your ca’ah? If not, what might it be? If yes, how can you nourish it and make it a more integral part of your life and reason for being?

Previous Post

June 30, 2021

The #1 Stoic Rule for Living a Good Life

Next Post

July 14, 2021 The Secret Teachings of Jesus

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 50+ Spirituality 60 Second Inspiration Activism Adversity Afterlife agape aging Aliens Angels Angels and aliens anger animism Astrology Atheists Attention Attitude Authenticity Awareness Awe Ayahuasca Balance Beginnings Being Present Belief Bhagavad Gita Bible birth of Jesus Blessings Bliss Bono Breathing Buddha Buddhism Calling cats Centered Centering Prayer Chakras Change Character Character and Aging Christ consciousness Christianity Christmas Church Civility commencement speeches commitments compassion Connecting with God Consciousness Contemplation Contemplative Prayer Contentment Conversations with God Coping Coping mechanisms Corinthians Coronavirus Covid creativity Daily practice Dalai Lama David Brooks David Frenette Death Deathbed visions Decisions determinism Discernment disconnecting Donald Shimoda Dreaming of the Dead dreams Drinking Easter Eastern religion Eckhart Tolle ego Elders Emerson Engagement Enlightenment everyday magic Evil Spirits Expectations experience Faith fate Fatima Fear Feel Finding God Fitness Fulfillment Gandhi Gary Zukav Generosity Giving Gnostic gospels Gnostics God God's will Golden Rule Good & Evil Gospel of Thomas Gospels Grace Gratitude Grief Growing Older Guardian Angels gumption Gurus Halloween Happiness health health and happiness Heaven Helping others High Strangeness Hinduism Holiday Season honesty Honor Hope Humility impostor syndrome inner music Inner Work Insights insomnia Inspiration Inspirational intuition Investing Jeff Bridges Jesus Jesus Christ John Templeton joy joy of life Justin Bieber Kaballah Kabbalah Karma Kindness koans Law of Attraction Life Life after Death Life and death Life Balance Life Hacks Life Lessons Life Path Life Philosophy Life Plan life purpose Life Rules Life Tips Life's Big Questions Lindsay Lohan Listening Living Intentionally Loneliness Love Magic Mark Twain Marriage Meaning of Life Meditation mentor Mentors Mid-Life Crisis Mindful Mindfulness Money Monks Multiverse Mysterious World mystical experience Mysticism Mystics Mythology Napoleon Hill Near Death Experience (NDE) New Thought New Year New Year's resolutions Noise Oprah out-of-body experience Parables Peace of mind philosophy Plant Intelligence Pope Francis Positive Thinking Prayer prayers for the spiritual Preachers Premonitions presence Prophecies Prophecy Prophets Psalms Purpose Purpose of Life quietude Quotes Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Trine Reconnect Recovery reincarnation Relaxation Religion resolutions Resurrection Ritual Rituals Rules to Live By sadness Sam Harris Sandy Second Act Seeking self Self Mastery self-help self-improvement Seneca sermon sex shamans Sickness Silence Silence of God sleep small voice Smiling Social Activism solitude Soul Soul and Spirit Soul Awakening Spiritual Awakening spiritual beliefs spiritual guidance spiritual journey spiritual living spiritual path Spiritual philosophy Spiritual Practice Spirituality Spirituality and work Spooky Spirituality Stillness stoicism stoics Storytelling Stress Relief Success Suffering Suicide Surrender tao Thanks Thanksgiving the afterlife the bardo the Bible the Blues The Election the Kingdom the secret the self The Soul Thomas Keating Thomas Merton Thomas Moore Time Tony Robbins tradition UFOs Uncategorized Universe Values visualization Voice of God Wake Up Call Wake Up Call book Walls Walt Whitman Well-being Winter Blues Wisdom words to live by Work work/life balance worry Yogananda Zen

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 January 2012 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 December 2009 November 2009

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Pentecost" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Fiftieth Forty Firstfruits Twelve

Books by This Author Books by Wake Up Call

See All Titles »