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Posts on the Andean Cosmovision

Category: Meditations (Page 9 of 10)

Internal Dialog

July 11, 2011 / / 0 Comments

We have 10,000 thoughts a day…and 8,000 of them are the same thoughts we had yesterday.–Buddhist saying.

Our ‘internal dialog’ is the constant flow of thoughts we have about the world and our condition in it as we move through the day. While this flow of thoughts may contain images for many of us it also contains an internal dialog, a flow of comments that represent our evaluation of what is going on. I am going to start by belittling the internal dialog and then when I’m finished I’ll come to its defense.

If you have ever spent time monitoring your own internal dialog you might have found it to be a humbling experience. When I have done that I am appalled by the mundane inanity of my thoughts. It is like discovering that I have Howard Cossell in my head making a running commentary on my life (you probably have to be my age or older to understand that reference). Our internal dialog is sometimes referred to as ‘the drunken monkey’ in our head, as our stream of thoughts, when examined from outside the process of having them, are of that approximate quality.

The problem with the internal dialog is that it takes our consciousness away from experiencing reality and focusses it instead on our interpretation of, and reaction to, reality. When we are heavily into internal dialog we experience the world through a thick layer of interpretation, attending to the meaning we have assigned to what is happening rather than to what is actually going on. A problem with that is that we will often miss information that could change how we interpret what is going on. Ways in which reality doesn’t fit our interpretation don’t make it to our consciousness if we focus exclusively on the interpretation. The internal dialog often takes us away from the present moment to rehash what has happened in the past (justifying how we feel about it, or what we should have done differently, or what we wished would have happened) or to what is approaching in the future (perhaps running through various scenarios and how we will react, or simply looking with dread or tedium on what is coming up). It also takes us away from what is in front of us to other things we want to think about (e.g. thinking about work while being at home). The internal dialog is pure yachay, 100% thought.

The challenge in almost any meditation I can think of is that to pursue the meditation involves attending to something other than the internal dialog, and our internal dialog is so habitual that after a few seconds of putting our consciousness somewhere else we find that we have drifted back into thinking and interpreting, back into our internal dialog. To a large degree the skill that develops with practice at meditating involves being able to spend longer and longer time periods free of internal dialog. My strategy is, when I notice I have gone back to my internal dialog, to just smile to myself and gently pull my consciousness back to the focus of the meditation. That, and a lot of practice. Even then I find there are some days when turing off my internal dialog is like trying to ignore a marching band passing a few feet away. Then there are the times when I’m meditating and the thought arises “Hey, I have managed to turn off my internal dialog!” (which of course is my internal dialog speaking).

I mention all this for those of you who are trying out the Andean meditations and who don’t have much background in meditating. Be gentle and forgiving with yourself, if you like the experiences enough to keep going, if they touch you at a deep level, then persevere with patience. If not, well, there is no moral imperative to continue. Over the years my friends and I have explored many non-Western paths, Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, and otherisms. They are all worthy paths with a heart. Most of us have, eventually, found a path that just feels right for us. That is how it is with me and Andean mysticism (as I have learned it), it feels right for me without any implication that this would mean it is right for everyone (see the post Fallacies). It might be the same way for you, or perhaps not.

When learning to meditate a lot of the focus is on turning off the internal dialog so that the alternative focus of the meditation can be attended to. The internal dialog, however, is not a bad thing, it is incredibly useful to us. To get around in our world, particularly in our society, we need to be able to interpret things in a way that is similar to those around us. In addition, it is my internal dialog that convinces me I need to get up in the morning, go to the store , save money to go to the Andes, mend a spat I’ve had with a friend, take my vitamins, sit in front of my computer and write my posts, figure out ways to help the Qero, and so on. It is just that (at least for me) if I operate on autopilot then my internal dialog, my yachay, makes up 99% of my way of being in this world, and there is so much more to explore, so many other ways of understanding and being in this world, ways of great beauty, sometimes scary, an adventure that makes my life worth living to me.

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Tuning the Three Centers of Being

July 9, 2011 / / 0 Comments

As background for this meditation I strongly recommend that–if you haven’t already–you read the posts: Andean Cosmovision: The Basics, Intent, and The Three Energy Centers (Part 1).

This is one of the two meditations about which I’ve heard don Americo Yabar say that if we would only do this on a regular basis it would have a very beneficial affect on us (the other meditation was described in the post Bellybutton to the Pachamama). Most people (including myself) hear something like that and say ‘yes, great…..what else can you teach me?’ I wonder what it is about (some of) us that we want more and more rather than to develop and explore what we have? As I have mentioned in other posts I have found myself, after years of learning more and more, returning back to the simpler and earlier things I’ve learned in this approach as being the best way to work this path into my life. Anyway…

For this meditation you need to sit on the ground so that you can comfortably place your hands on the Earth (the Pachamama).

First, notice what your energy feels like before you start. How does it feel to be you right now?

Begin the meditation by placing one of your hands on the Pachamama and the other on your body over your llankay (the center of your physical being, located a few finger breadths below your navel). With intent (sincere pretending) form an energetic connection between your llankay and the Pachamama, and ask her to bring your llankay into harmony with her. Notice the effect of this connection, and continue until you feel that the energy of your llankay is in harmony with the Pachamama (usually a few minutes).

Then, take your hand from your llankay and place it on the Pachamama, and take the hand that was on the Pachamama and place it over your munay (your heart, the center of love). Again, with intent, connect the energy of the two and ask the Pachamama to bring your heart into harmony with her.

When you sense that this harmony has occurred take your hand from your munay and place it on the Pachamama and put the hand that was on the Pachamama on your yachay (the center of thought, the yachay itself is centered at the crown of your head). Continue until your yachay has come into harmony with the Pachamama.

Now follow the same process but this time coming into harmony with the refined energy of the Cosmos. Start by putting one hand over your llankay and raise the other hand toward the sky to connect with the energy of the Cosmos. With intent open a connection between the two and ask the Cosmos to bring your llankay into harmony with it. Repeat with your munay and your yachay, switching hands each time.

When you have finished notice your energy now. How your energy shifts from before the meditation to after the meditation is the true (and only) meaning and significance of the meditation.

I recommend that you do this on a regular basis for a while and see how it affects your experience of the world.  There is a nice follow-up to this meditation that I will be posting soon.

Source of this meditation: don Americo Yabar.

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Love to Pachamama

July 1, 2011 / / 2 Comments

Here is a little meditative-like process that I like to use in my presentations to give people who have never experienced the Andean Cosmovision a taste of what it is all about. I introduce it at some point after I have talked about the Pachamama. First, I explain a little about intent as a matter of sincere pretending. Then I invite them to uncross their legs and arms and to sit comfortably erect in their chairs (so that their spines form a good conduit to the flow of energy from the Cosmos to the Pachamama). I then mention that they might find it useful to close their eyes.

Once they have settled I invite them to–with intent–open the energy field at the top of their head and let the energy of the Cosmos flow down through the top of their head and into their heart. I pause for a moment to let them do that, then I invite them to transform the energy flowing into their heart into love. And then, after another pause, I invite them to send this love down through their spine and into the Pachamama, giving her that love. I invite them to continue to let the energy flow into their head, down to their heart, transform it into love, and let that love flow into the Pachamama. I then mention that they might begin to feel love from the Pachamama flowing back up into their heart.

With my own intent I always go through the process as I am talking them through it, so that I am having the experience I am inviting them to have, I suspect this helps them to have the experience as well. I am amazed by how many people who have never done anything like this before can follow along and experience the flow and transformation of the energy and feel the love of the Pachamama. It is like…well…magic.

Opening up to the flow of energy, transforming it into love, receiving love back from the Pachamama, these are basic processes of being a paqo, and it can really be so simple.

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Releasing Hucha

June 21, 2011 / / 0 Comments

This simple meditation is my favorite way of getting rid of my own hucha (heavy energy). It feels good (I’m not sure ‘good’ quite encompasses it) and it provides a doorway through which to experientially explore the Andean Cosmovision. Getting rid of hucha is also a preliminary step for other Andean meditations and it is a particularly important thing to do before working with other people (so you don’t give them your hucha). This meditation comes from Joan Wilcox’s excellent book ‘Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q’ero of Peru‘. Here is how to do it.

Sit on the ground, it is ok to sit on a blanket or sitting pad. Sit as upright as you comfortably can, with your spine vertical (as that is the direction the energy is going to flow).

First, notice how your energy feels, what it feels like to be you right now.

Then, with intent (sincere pretending) open up your energy field at the bottom of your spine and with intent let your hucha begin to flow down into the Pachamama. Don’t be concerned about giving the Pachamama your hucha, it is not like polluting her, the Pachamama accepts our hucha and recycles it into refined energy, releasing it back into the Cosmos, it is one of her great gifts to us.

Right after you open up your energy field at the bottom of your spine open up your energy field at the top of your head and invite the light, refined, energy of the Cosmos to flow down into your body to replace the hucha that is flowing into the Pachamama.

Feel the hucha leaving your body and the refined energy of the Cosmos flowing in to take its place. Continue until you sense that all of the hucha has been released. If there are places where the hucha seems stuck just be patient, keep up your intent of letting the hucha go. I sometimes through intent ask the Pachamama to send her energy up into that spot to gently wash the hucha away.

When all of your hucha has left thank the Pachamama and the Cosmos. Then, notice how you feel now.

The difference between how you felt when you started and how you feel when you have completed the meditation comprises your knowledge of what the meditation has accomplished. Any description you read about what a meditation accomplishes is completely irrelevant, what a meditation actually accomplishes for you is what it accomplishes, and it may not be the same each time, but over several times you will begin to know what the meditation is all about. This won’t be an intellectual knowledge (or you could just read about it) but instead will be knowledge at a deeper level of your being. This is what the exploration of the Andean Cosmovision is all about…an exploration that takes place in a something-other-than-intellectual level.

As with all of the Andean meditations this meditation is performed within the context of our relationship with the Cosmos. The Pachamama accepts and recycles our hucha, the Cosmos gives us refined and beautiful energy to replace it. It is a wonderful Cosmovision where the earth, the wind, the trees, the rivers, the stars, the mountain peaks, the Cosmos itself are willing to support our own evolution. This same Cosmovision has as an essential element the principle of ‘ayni‘ (reciprocity) where to receive is always balanced by giving in return, and to give is always balanced by receiving in return. I would like to refer you back to the post Touching Pachamama for some ideas about how to give to the Pachamama and the Cosmos in return for what they give you in these meditations. It is all about relationship.

Note: I prefer to do this meditation while sitting on the ground and I recommend this while learning the meditation and becoming familiar with its effects. It can also be done while sitting in a chair on the top floor of a skyscraper but I prefer to do it (and I have a stronger experience) in the intimacy of being in physical contact with the Pachamama.

Source of this mediation: Joan Wilcox.

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Touching Pachamama

June 9, 2011 / / 0 Comments

This is a very simple meditation (like the Bellybutton to the Pachamama meditation) but after years and years of seeking to know more and more I find that I have returned to the simple meditations as the foundation for integrating the Andean Cosmovision into my daily life. This meditation is very useful for coming into harmony and balance within ourselves. I don’t use this meditation to get rid of unwanted energy (e.g. anger, anxiety, stress)–there are other meditations for that–I use it when I have simply become too focussed on only part of who I am. For me this often means that I have gotten way too much into my head. There is a certain way I feel after a long spell of intellectual endeavor; from listening to papers being presented at an academic conference, writing computer programs, teaching (or taking) classes, or attending several meetings on the same day. It is a feeling of being disconnected from the full experience of being alive, which is what this meditation can resolve. This meditation is also beneficial for recovering from other ways we might be imbalanced, for example when we are too caught up in our emotions, or when we are feeling spacey and ungrounded from a mystical or spiritual experience. What this meditation can do is to balance our energy and get us in touch again with all of who we are, bringing the various aspects of ourself into harmony.

Here is the meditation in all of its simplicity. Sit on the ground. Begin by noticing the state of your energy, i.e. notice how it feels to be you right now, take a few seconds to do this. Now place your hands on the Pachamama (our mother Earth) and with intent connect the energy of your body through you hands with the energy of the Pachamama. Ask her to bring your energy into harmony with hers. Notice how your energy shifts as you do this, continue until you feel the shift is complete. Thank the Pachamama. Spend a few seconds being aware of your new state of energy, how you feel being you. That’s it.

Well, that’s it as far as the meditation goes, but there is more about this that I would like to share. I recommend that you do the meditation and then come back to this post to read the rest (if you are interested). It is the experiential aspect of the meditation that is important and I don’t want that to be overshadowed by my now going on to some of my thoughts about it.

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The Andean Cosmovision cannot be explored intellectually, it is explored by noticing the quality of some energy, doing some meditative-like process, and seeing how that affects the energy. If you experienced a shift in your energy when you did this meditation what does that prove? The answer is that it doesn’t prove anything. It doesn’t prove the Andean Cosmovision is true, it doesn’t prove (blah, blah, blah), it doesn’t prove nada. What it means is that you can notice how your energy is and that you have a way of changing it into something more pleasant, that is shaman work.

The Andean meditations all involve our relationship with Nature and the Cosmos (I see Nature as just the most local aspect of the Cosmos) and the foundation of that relationship is ayni. Ayni is the Andean principle of reciprocity, whenever something is received something is given back in return. This applies to the relationships people have with each other as well as to their relationship with the Cosmos. When done with love and respect this is not a matter of ‘breaking even’ it is an act that leaves both sides enriched and it opens the door to a deeper level of exchange. In this meditation the Pachamama does something wonderful for us, she brings our energy into harmony within ourselves by bringing our energy into harmony with her. To nurture this relationship we can insert into our lives smalls acts of ayni for the Pachamama, giving a little wine to her before we drink by pouring a few drops onto the earth, or laying a few flowers upon her breast (red flowers are traditionally offered to the Pachamama), or digging a small hole and putting the flowers and a few sugar cubes into the hole (the Q’ero women told me that the Pachamama has a sweet tooth…don Americo added with a smile that this might be a projection) then covering it with earth, all with the intent of expressing gratitude. There are also more formal expressions of gratitude that can be made (despachos and pagos) which I will cover in later posts but here I believe that intent is again the most important ingredient.

On the surface these offerings of gratitude seem almost to be a social act but more deeply they are energetic acts. We form a loving, respectful, mutually-supportive, energetic relationship with the Cosmos, this is the heart of the Andean approach, this is paqo work. The ayni takes our meditation–whose goal is to make our energy more harmonious and balanced–and elevates it to being a step in our dance with the Cosmos.

[Added later].  Please see the subsequent post on ayni.

Source of this meditation: don Americo Yabar.

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