About Theun Mares

In many ways, Theun’s life has been an unending quest to seek out and to develop the true, the harmonious and the beautiful in the world. Born in the wilds of Zimbabwe, he grew up possessing a deep inner knowledge of the rhythms and patterns of life. Living in the bush, much of the natural beauty that surrounded him was harsh and untamed – nature in its purest form. Yet, with the assistance of his teacher and guide, he came to understand that the rarest and truest form of beauty is that which is synthesised from the surrounding harshness. This true beauty is not taken away and preserved; it is not separated out of its natural context - but it co-exists alongside the roughness.

As he grew older, in addition to his knowledge of nature, he started to develop a deep insight into human nature. This, he discovered, was not so different in its essence - true beauty revealed amongst the surrounding harshness - provided that life was lived simply and harmoniously, and provided that one knew how to follow one’s heart.

Leaving home, Theun worked hard to put himself through university in South Africa. Then, ever mindful of his quest, he embarked upon a successful stage career in the performing arts - a world filled with all the outward appearances of beauty. Here, in the world of the theatre, he was constantly brought face to face with the realities of human behaviour. These reflected the lessons learned from his life in the bush. How could it not be so? For in this world of make-believe, the outer beauty of a performance only masked an underlying harshness.

In this world, as Theun learned about the complications and permutations of human behaviour, he became more and more familiar with the myriad different ways in which men and women deprive themselves of happiness by living out an act throughout their lives, rather than being true to themselves and following their hearts.

Theun then left the world of the performing arts. Determined to do his part in bringing upliftment to the world, he entered the education system, firstly as a teacher, and then as a subject advisor for the Government. Here he learned a lot more about the causes of human behaviour, as well as ways of making people aware of their behaviour and how to empower them to change it. For his experience with schools brought him face-to-face with the early stages of social conditioning and the sad truth that most schooling is not designed to teach people how to think for themselves, but rather to force pupils into predetermined moulds. As a result of his experiences, helping people to break free from their social conditioning forms the cornerstone of much of Theun’s current work. In 1977, Theun started to remember details of his training as a Warrior in previous lifetimes, and, as his memory of all his training was restored, he began to prepare for his work as a nagal (pronounced nah-hal). A nagal is traditionally a leader of a unit of warriors, and part of a nagal’s duties involve leading his unit to freedom. Because of this, a nagal’s work is normally never in the public eye.

However, although he prefers not to be in the public eye, times have changed and Theun’s role now requires a higher profile. In addition to his private work of teaching personal apprentices, Theun’s current work involves revealing the Toltec Teachings to the world through his books, as well as teaching more widely through his residential retreats.