Salka Wind Blog | Andean mysticism

Request for Photos

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

“When this train pulls into town, everyone gets to ride“. (William T. Riker) Don Americo Yabar has been suggesting to me for years that I write a book in which I share with my culture what I have learned in Peru. I started several times to write the book but it was too daunting a task. I have written some textbooks, but this was different, for it was not an expression solely of my intellect (for which I have had decades of practice and training) and I couldn’t figure out … Continue reading →

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Giving Flowers to the Cosmos

Posted on November 17, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

An important part of my journey on this path is to regularly give despachos (offerings) to the Pachamama (the great Being who is the planet Earth), to the Apus (the Beings who are the majestic mountain peaks), and to the creek who flows so beautifully past where I like to meditate. Despachos are offerings made to nourish our relationship with Nature and the Cosmos. In the Andean Cosmovision it is possible to form a relationship of respect and love with Nature and the Cosmos, for the Andean people live in … Continue reading →

Posted in *My Favorites, Andean Cosmovision, Meditations | Tagged Americo Yabar, Apu, ayni, cosmovision, meditations, Pachamama, Qero | Leave a comment

Spiritual Travel: Heart of the Andes

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

Carla Woody is offering a special opportunity to travel to Peru in May 2012 to work with don Americo Yabar, his son Gayle Yabar, and elders of the Q’ero of Peru. This trip is co-sponsored by Kenosis Spirit Keepers, the non-profit organization of which Carla is the president and I am the vice president. The mission of Kenosis Spirit Keepers is to honor and preserve the integrity of indigenous wisdom and sacred cultural practices by providing cross-cultural exchanges, education, and community-building opportunities. As part of this mission of cross-cultural exchanges … Continue reading →

Posted in Workshops/Classes/Travel | Tagged Americo Yabar, Gayle Yabar, Hopi, Qero | Leave a comment

Shedding Hucha

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

‘Hucha’ is heavy, discordant, chaotic energy. If you haven’t yet, I recommend that you read the earlier post dedicated to hucha. For me the prototypical example of hucha is how I feel when I come home from a bad day at the office. Unfortunately, not only does it sour my experience of reality, I can see the effect on my family when I arrive home full of hucha. There is a beautiful scene in one of the Commissario Brunetti books (by Donna Leon). Brunetti arrives home after a day when … Continue reading →

Posted in Meditations | Tagged Americo Yabar, ayni, hucha, meditations, Pachamama, shaman | Leave a comment

Ayni Revisited

Posted on October 29, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

Ayni is, perhaps, the most fundamental principle of the Andean Cosmovision (please read the earlier post on ayni). It does not fall easily into Western thought, for it is essentially about relationship while we in the West tend to focus on outcomes. Ayni is about a balance between giving and receiving; between people, between people and Nature, and between people and the Cosmos (in a way that is hardly conceivable within the Western world-view of the basic inanimate nature of the Cosmos). Ayni is the organizing principle for the flow … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ayni | 3 Comments

Three Worlds Meditation

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

In the previous post I introduced the three worlds of the Andean Cosmovision; the uju pacha, the kay pacha, and the janaq pacha. I recommend you read that post before your read this one. In this post I would like to share a meditation that involves evoking a conscious connection with those worlds. Before doing this meditation I like to prepare my internal state, my energy, to create a good foundation for the meditation. I usually begin by doing the Touching Pachamama meditation, this just takes a few minutes. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Meditations | Tagged ayni, hanaq pacha, kay pacha, meditations, uju pacha | Leave a comment

Pacha and the Three Worlds

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

This post will serve as a lead-in to one of my favorite meditations from the Andes. It is another meditation that I have learned from don Americo Yabar. The meditation involves connecting with the three levels of existence, the ‘Three Worlds’, of the Andean Cosmovision. They are the ‘uju pacha’ (the ‘lower world’), the ‘kay pacha’ (the ‘surface world’) and the ‘janaq pacha’ (the ‘upper world’). I have given these Quechua words the spelling they would have if written in Spanish. Phonetically in English they would roughly be ‘ukhu pacha’, … Continue reading →

Posted in Andean Cosmovision | Tagged Americo Yabar, cosmovision, hanaq pacha, kay pacha, pacha, uju pacha | 1 Comment

On Doing Not Doing

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

Out beyond ideas…there is a field, I’ll meet you there. Sufi mystic Jelaluddin Rumi (1207-1273) I first ran into the concept of ‘not doing’ in the works of Carlos Castaneda. His early books, particularly Journey to Ixtlan and Tales of Power had a big effect on me when I was a young man. Later in my life I ran into ‘not doing’ again when I began working with don Americo Yabar. And more recently, I have run across it, in a most beautiful and pragmatic way, in the book A … Continue reading →

Posted in Meditations, Ways of Knowing | Tagged Americo Yabar, intellect, internal dialog, meditations, mysticism | 2 Comments

Not Doing

Posted on September 15, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

Speaking of simple meditations (see all the previous ones I’ve posted) this one is about as simple as it gets. When practiced over a long time, however, it is in the running for being the most profound. First, situate yourself in nature, not in a garden shaped by human thought, but in a place of natural beauty and salka. Then, don’t do. Ok, so that requires a little explanation. What we normally ‘do’ is to be aware of the products of our mind. Our mind is continually interpreting what is … Continue reading →

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Children of Peru

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

Hi, while I’m writing the next post I thought I would share some of my favorite photos of children in the Andes (several of these photos were taken by Alyson Froehlich, thanks Alyson).

Posted in Photo Album | 4 Comments

Registering

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

[post updated Sept. 3] Hi, my blog is currently being attacked by some computer registering fake names to the blog. The only reason to register on the blog is to get email notices of new posts, but you can also get that by subscribing to the blog, which is accomplished by clicking on the ‘[Un]Subscribe to Posts’ link in the ‘Meta’ section on the right side of this page. So, I have turned off the ability to register on the blog (all of you non-computers who are already registered will … Continue reading →

Posted in Salka Wind | 1 Comment

Willkasara

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Oakley Gordon

I would like you to know about a special opportunity being made available by Kenosis Spirit Keepers, the nonprofit organization of which I am the vice president. For information about this event please click here (note the link is not visible on the synopsis of the post shown on the blog home page, you need to visit the post itself to access the link, to visit the post click on its name ‘Willkasara’).

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