Emahó – His Last Moments

Throughout his life, Emahó often spoke of two doors – Birth and Death. He had realised the phenomenon of these doors and when the time came, he literally embodied his personal quest ‑ ‘what is it to die alive?’

For the last two decades of his life, Emahó lived in the high desert of Santa Fe. At 76, he was still working and helping all who came seeking his wisdom. During an organised 15-day retreat, in October 2023, Emahó gave two speeches, interacted with people, led a drumming session, and conducted a sacred ceremony invoking the cosmic fires. He was excited to meet people, some known to him for decades, along with a few new participants who came from various parts of America and Europe.

It was rare for Emahó to lead a sweat lodge and for this retreat, the organisers planned two lodges to accommodate all the people who were obviously both nervous and excited.

For those unfamiliar with the ritual of a native sweat lodge, it is a sacred ceremony that has evolved through centuries among the Indigenous peoples of the world.

In Emahớs words …

‘Our planet is a sweat lodge.

Life on earth is a sweat lodge.

The covering at a lodge is the end of the sky that envelops this earth.

You are in it.

A sweat lodge is like the womb,

The womb of a mother we were born into –

the smallest sweat lodge we were given

at the beginning of this life.

And those who found themselves in a native sweat lodge

From many ancient tribes all over the planet,

will have a larger view –

because when you walk out of one of those small sweat lodges

You then walk into a greater sweat lodge –

That of the atmosphere around us; the oxygen around us

that travels only so far into outer space.

This planet is our sweat lodge.

And we sweat in it …

We sweat while playing sports, while walking, crying,

having arguments, parties, and disappointments.

We sweat throughout the day.

If we could literally re-educate ourselves of

this amazing sweat lodge underneath the sky.

And who built this sweat lodge? Who?

And how we found ourselves in that small sweat lodge – the womb –

hearing these strange sounds outside of the mother’s skin,

not knowing what the hell is going on out there or where in the world am I?

Not being forced, but what we call being educated, we learn

the language of the land we are born into, and most of it becomes war and conflict or

great farmlands with billions of species in this sweat lodge

fighting for food, consuming, and desiring all day long.

All without once asking where the hell am I?

Where did I come from and where the hell am I going from here?’

 

On the 11^th of October 2023, Emahó led a second sweat lodge with fourteen participants. It was an eclectic mix of individuals going into the lodge that evening – from the young to the more mature, from novices at a sweat ceremony to the more experienced ones and from students who followed Emahó for years to a few who had barely interacted with him. Yet, each one felt a surge of nervous expectancy and a child-like enthusiasm for being in a lodge with Emahó.

For a few moments, laughter rang in the air when Emahó offered swimming goggles to them all. He said – ‘Does anyone want these? Does anyone have problems with their eyes in the lodge?’

One person said yes, so Emahó handed the goggles saying – ‘We will go deep under water.’

Then he asked again, ‘Anyone else need goggles? We are going diving.’

Laughing and joking about it all, Emahó felt light and easy – ‘in good form’ as someone remarked.

Another person ‘smudged’ [1] the participants and when they did the same for Emahó, he commented, ‘I am now super clean.’ Before entering, he said – ‘Let us all walk around the Earth before we enter,’ and he led everyone to walk three times around a sacred circle created just outside the sweat lodge.

One of the organisers drummed Emahó and the others into the wood framed lodge, while the fireman prepared the stones just outside. At this point, it was about ten minutes past seven in the evening. The setting sun, quietly disappearing below the horizon of the Earth, signalled a flawless conclusion while the warm afterglow of a desert sky served as the perfect invite to dive deep. It helped as each one present, inside and outside of the lodge, slipped into a personal, quiet space. Many people described the lodge as one of the most beautiful one they had seen. Coloured rugs lay on the ground for people to sit on and a soft light peeped through the blankets covering the frame of the lodge. It was a circle of fifteen people, with plenty of space to sit in a pitch – dark area inside.

Seven stones were given in on antlers. The stones were unusually large, red, and glowing hot; almost like lava stones about thirty to forty centimetres in size. Emahó placed these in the middle of the lodge. Then he gave some sweet grass to a person on the left side of him, asking them to place it on the stones.

 Starting to his right, Emahó looked at each person with intent, as he always did before speaking to a group or individual. In a speech during the retreat, he had said – ‘It is your eyes that are the only doors which take you down into the very nature of your soul.’

After a moment’s pause, he asked, ‘Ready?’ and a few nodded, after which he said – ‘Door.’

On Emahớs instruction, another person sprinkled something from a little bottle and the red-hot stones sparkled beautifully. Emahó watched the sparkling stones for a moment or two before commenting, ‘That is so beautiful. That is really so beautiful.’

This glow dropped a little and a few people closer to the stones dropped into themselves too. It was all soft, beautiful, and overwhelming at the same time. Each person felt grateful for the opportunity of being in a lodge with Emahó.

And then he spoke, guiding each one present. …

 

‘We are literally going diving.

Diving. Diving deep into the heart

and if you find yourself in the darkness,

do not panic.’

 

PAUSE – (and he spoke again,)

 

‘Take the elevator, press the button, and go down.

Go down, down, down and dive deep into yourself. That space is the key

to pushing the elevator button to go up and out.

It is like going down in a submarine and then dive.’

 

PAUSE – (and he spoke)

 

‘Feel the heat. Let this heat take you down, down, down, in a submarine.

The red stones, for all those who have their eyes open

Or just darkness for those who have their eyes closed.

Keep breathing.’

 

PAUSE – (and then he said again)

 

‘And dive. Go down, down, down, down, down. When the elevator stops,

press the button again. You are not there yet.

Go down, down, down. Press it again and go further down.

You are not there yet.’

 

PAUSE – (a deep inhale and he spoke)

 

‘Dive, dive, dive inside yourself.

Enter through your eyes, go to the door, down your throat

 through your chest and into your heart.

Keep breathing.’

 

PAUSE (and then he spoke again)

 

‘You are in your mother’s womb. Dive inside.

You are in your mother’s womb. Dive, dive, dive,

and when you find yourself in the dark, come back up

to find a small opening. When you get in

and you are awake … like it is daytime,

You feel you have a body; you feel you have arms,

you feel you have legs, but you cannot see them.

You cannot touch them. Your mind does not know what to do with it,

and it will panic.’

 

PAUSE. At this point, a couple of people left the lodge. Emahó continued to guide people.

 

‘When you are deep in there, you may try going to the right

but it does not help. You may try going to the left, but

that does not work. You may try to go back, but it does not help.

You may try to go above, but that does not help.’

 

PAUSE (and then he spoke again)

 

‘Do not panic. Some will panic and they will be taken back.

Some will not. Stay steady. Dive into yourself.

Steady, steady, steady. Stay steady.’

 

PAUSE

 

‘There is a big, big expanse that opens out.

Now, you are there. And now wonder.

Just wonder.

Why am I here? Why am I here?’

 

At times Emahó used the submarine and then the elevator as visuals to fuel imagination. He spoke for most of the first round, which lasted about thirty minutes with interspersed pauses and silences. He guided all who were present to dive deeper into their hearts, saying,

‘Dive, dive, dive, because

only you can go into your temple.

No God, no jewel, no other can do that for you.

Only you can. Dive, dive, dive.

Stay steady. Do not panic. Keep breathing and use your imagination to go there.’

 

It felt so quiet – like time stood still. The person at the door remembers moving twice to let people out. Air came in. Emahó whipped more water around, before saying, almost jokingly, ‘your mother will not be able to help you there – I can tell you that!’

This was the first round. Emahó asked to have the bucket filled with water, which the fireman did. Emahó said to the people inside – ‘Take a minute,’ and called for more stones. These were bigger than the first round of lava stones – red, glowing, and hot. Soon, the last stone was placed on top of the others. It sparkled when something out of a small bottle was sprinkled on it. More sweet grass was placed on the stones too.

Emahó spoke again –

 

‘Remember, your prayers are not going to save you,

Dive, dive, dive. Take the heat, press the elevator button again

and go deeper. Stay steady.’

 

It was a later phase of twilight; the desert sky was cloaked in a sequined sapphire blue, sparkling radiantly in the light of a million stars. A person standing further away saw a shooting star coming from the direction of the sweat lodge. Soon, three more people crawled out, leaving behind seven persons and Emahó still in the lodge. He spoke again in a softer tone,

 

‘Dive, dive, dive deep down,

Press the elevator button and go deeper.’

 

He paused, and after spattering another round of water, he said with deep intent,

 

‘Dive.

And when you think you cannot go further, hit the button again

and dive.

There is a dark place but not empty.

‘Stay steady. Your body can withstand anything.

You have to convince your mind. Do not panic if you find yourself in the dark.’

 

After a short pause, a few more stones came in while Emahó splashed more water, this time speaking with a distinctly quiet intent.

 

‘Dive, dive, dive

dive, dive, dive.

PAUSE

Dive, dive

dive into your soul.’

 

It was quiet because no one spoke, but people were breathing louder. The few participants in the lodge just waited quietly until they heard Emahó again.

This time, he spoke in a language unknown to others. Participants who had known Emahó for much longer knew of these moments when he spoke aloud in a language unheard of in the audience. But each one felt the deep intent, clarity, and certitude behind what he uttered. He once said – ‘it is personal, so personal between the individual and the creator. It is when movement and space become one and time does not exist. Only eternity does.’

Emahó chanted again. This time his voice was overcome with purpose and intent, like he had travelled much deeper and further away. In the next few moments, his voice slowed down; it became distant and faint till an abrupt silence filled that small yet intimate space.

This silence was difficult for most to explain. It was not the usual silence, but to start with, there was an air of intent and purpose in it, which gradually gave way to a still, heavy silence. On the outside, the fire keeper and others heard Emahó burp or exhale softly but abruptly three times. Someone on the inside said they heard him break wind. And then another prolonged period of silence lasted for approximately 10-15 minutes.

Eventually, the organisers opened the lodge to find Emahó sitting with his arms clasped over his chest, feet crossed at his knees, spine fully bent over with his forehead touching the ground – just as he would when fully bowing to all of life at the mesa [2]. However, this time he was bowing to the stones and the desert sands he grew up on. The same desert and twilight that was a trusted companion in his solitude of decades. The sight exceeded normal imagination and most thought he was in a deep trance.

So, although his physical body lay there, Emahó the Wanderer had crossed the threshold of this realm to a place unknown.

 

‘Winter had set its course, and all of a sudden, the snowflakes

so quietly descended on all of us.

It is how we leave this human body.

It is us – the snowflake – rising up so quietly

that nobody hears us ascending. Nobody.

All our footsteps disappear.’

 

Adios …

Emahó the Wanderer –

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Smudged – Sacred smoke created from burning medicinal or sacred plants is a practice common to Indigenous Peoples and is called smudging.

[2] Mesa – The Pueblo people use the natural features of the landscape, including mesas, to plan their farming and religious ceremonies.