Kenosis Logo

  Navigation Graphic

April/May 2010 Volume 62

Welcome to this bi-monthly edition of our newsletter! You will find these columns contained in our April/May issue:

Metaphors for Life
GrowthWorks
Special Events
Review

I hope you enjoy this issue of Kenosis In-spirations...

Carla Woody, Founder
Kenosis

Metaphors for Life
Many traditions understand the power of teaching through stories. Our minds find a special repository for them. We unconsciously draw from this metaphorical resource bank when we need it most — to guide and nourish us. Here you will find such tales, quotes and prose. As they have come to me, I pass them on to you just as our ancestors have done since the world was young.

Listen. Are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?

              — Mary Oliver, Poet

GrowthWorks
Life is nothing if not levels of learning, whether we freely enter the Perpetual School or are dragged kicking and screaming into our lessons. We actually have no choice in the matter. In this column, I offer you philosophy, musings and information that you may take with you as they fit into your own lyceum.

Excerpt of article: Andean Mysticism and Healing the Planet
By Guest Columnist: Dr. Oakley Gordon

First, let us consider what it means to 'know' something. In the West we usually think of knowledge as involving words. Intellectual knowledge, the realm of words, is the primary type of knowledge recognized by our culture, but there are some contexts where we recognize that a different kind of knowledge also exists. For example, I started off as a single, fertilized egg, and that egg 'knew' how to grow into me, an incredibly complex organism consisting of billions of cells all working together to create an adult body. That is an incredible feat, involving an unimaginable amount of 'how to' knowledge, but they won't give me a Ph.D. in biology for pulling it off, for it is not intellectual knowledge, it was not stored as words in my original cell, nor could I possibly put into words how it was accomplished. There are other types of nonintellectual knowledge as well, for example, the ability to play basketball well or play a musical instrument.

Oakley Gordon with Q'ero paq'os

Oakley Gordon
with Q'ero paq'os
Photo credit: Darlene Dunning

In the Andes they recognize three ways of knowing, each associated with a different part of our physical body. I have found this distinction to be very useful in organizing my thoughts about what the Andean culture has to offer and how it differs from our own. One way of knowing is through the yachay, which is located in the head. The yachay is the center of the intellect. A second way of knowing is through the munay, which is located in the heart. The munay is the center of love. And a third way of knowing is through the llankay, which is located slightly below the navel. The llankay is the center of the physical body.

The Andeans take the whole of who we are as a being and differentiate it into three aspects, sometimes, for they also differentiate it in other ways as well, into two aspects (the right side and left side of the body), or some other number, depending upon the context. After all, as a being we are a single, whole thing, that is what is real, and our differentiations are simply boundaries we draw around areas of the whole that seem different than other areas. The idea that we are as beings separate from the rest of the Cosmos is also just a differentiation we make, taking the entirety of the unified Cosmos and organizing it into 'me' and 'everything else'. Anyway, one class of distinctions the Andeans make in our existence is between the intellect (yachay), the heart (munay), and the ability to manipulate the physical world (the llankay), we can be differentiated in other ways as well.

I would like to focus on the munay, for the Andean people (and I suspect many other indigenous people in the world) are as expert in the munay as Western culture is in the yachay (intellect) and in technology (which could be considered to be an extension of the llanqay). The munay is located in the area of the heart and is the center of love. Now, from my education as a scientist and psychologist I view the idea that love is located in the heart as being a quaint, but totally incorrect, vestige of days long gone by, for I know that the heart is just a biological pump, and that emotions are run by the brain. I am, however, wrong in a very important way.

The munay is located in the area of the heart and it is the center of love, but this is different than how we usually use the term. By 'love' I don't mean an emotion. Emotions are pretty much run by the brain. Our emotions arise from how we think about what is going on around us, which is why two people don't necessarily have the same emotional response to the same stimulus. The love of the munay is not an emotion, it is not romantic love, or sentimental, or capable of jealousy, the love of the munay is the experience of being interconnected to the rest of the Cosmos. Perhaps the term 'love' doesn't quite fit and we should have a different word for it, or perhaps it is the deepest meaning of the term 'love.'

The way to access these various ways of knowing is by moving your consciousness there. My normal way of being is to have my consciousness in my head, right behind my eyes, the realm of the intellect, the yachay. It is possible, however, to move your consciousness to the area of your heart. At least 'moving your consciousness' is the best description I can give for the experience, for that is what it feels like to me. Being able to do this is part of what it means to 'know' the Andean approach.

In this exploration of the munay the intellect is not invited, I cannot be in both my munay and my yachay at the same time. They are both important, the yachay, the intellect, is a wonderful gift for us to have, but so is the munay, and we simply can't be in both places at the same time.

Don Américo Yábar

Don Américo Yábar
Photo credit: Monty DeLozier

Once I was participating in a ceremony on the slopes of Apu Pachatusan, a sacred mountain that is the supporting pillar of the Cosmos. Before the ceremony we, the paqos and my friends, were sitting on the earth (the Pachamama) having a picnic. A very old woman approaced us. My memory of her is that she had shiny black eyes (I don't even know if that is possible) and was so short that she was almost at my eye level as I sat. She was dressed in the traditional skirt and sweater, and wore a tall, white, stove-pipe hat. She walked up to me and with a smile said something to me in Quechua, I had no idea what she was saying. My friend Américo (Yábar) responded to her (in Quechua), she said something back to him and then turned toward me again. Américo said something else and she got a beautiful smile on her face and turned and walked away. I asked Américo what that was all about. He said "she told you that she had some very nice chickens that you might want to look at. I told her, thank you mama, but my friend does not have any use for your chickens. She replied, but they are very nice chickens, he might want to see them. And so I told her, I'm sorry mama, but he can't use your chickens, but he could use you caressing his dreams tonight with your gentle hands." I felt as if I were in a song.

So, in the world of the munay, if we are to talk about it at all, we need to move out of the intellect, out of distinctions between what is true and what is false. Perhaps the best way to talk about the munay is with poetry, where truth and falsity are also irrelevant, and where words are used to point at what cannot be addressed in any other way. I am not a poet, but I can tell stories, and perhaps that will suffice.

© 2008 Oakley Gordon. Reprinted with permission.

*****************

Oakley Gordon is a research psychologist physically living in Utah but with a foot in the Andes, straddling both worlds equally well with much munay. Oakley serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for Kenosis Spirit Keepers. To read the complete article, please visit the Kenosis Spirit Keepers library.

To learn more about Don Américo Yábar and work with the Q’ero and Mollamarka paq’os, please see our Spiritual Travel to Peru Program.



Special Events
For more information call Kenosis at (928) 778-1058 or e-mail info@kenosis.net to request a flyer. If you are interested in sponsoring a book signing or a workshop with Carla Woody, please contact us.

May 1   Kenosis Spirit Keepers Benefit Concert and Wine Tasting. (Download PDF flyer, 1.2 MB)Proceeds support young adults and Hopi Spirit Keepers going to Mexico and Peru to share in wisdom traditions, projects preserving the sacred ways of the Lacandón Maya and others. An eclectic music festival featuring: Synaptic Soul, AZ Rhythm Connection Drum Circle with Frank Thompson, RIO Flamenco, guitarist Rita Cantu, Native American flute with Sunny Heartley. Plus an Indigenous wisdom slide show with Carla Woody and Hopi elder Harold Joseph, silent auction of fair trade items from Bali, Peru, Mexico and more. Hopi tacos available for purchase. Advance tickets $25 at Adventure Travel on 130 Grove, 771-0144, or available online. $35 at the door with limited availability. You can also donate here. Held 5:30-8:30 PM at the Smoki Museum of American Indian Art and Culture, Pueblo Room, 147 N. Arizona St., Prescott, AZ. For more information, contact Kenosis Spirit Keepers at 928-778-1058 or info@kenosisspiritkeepers.org.



May 15-17   Building and Sustaining Coalitions Conference sponsored by International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. Screening of documentary film One World Wisdom written by Carla Woody and co-produced with Bradley Burak. Held Tofino, Vancouver Island, BC. For more information, email ifip@internationalfunders.org.



September 18-19   Spirit Keepers Series event featuring Sobonfu Somé, renowned author, activist, Wisdom Keeper of the Dagara tribe of Burkina Faso, West Africa. Sponsored by Kenosis Spirit Keepers, the nonprofit arm of Kenosis, for Saturday evening talk and Sunday circle. Held Prescott, Arizona. For complete information, go to the Spirit Keepers Series page.



October 29-31   NLP World Health Conference sponsored by the Institute for the Advanced Studies of Health (IASH). Theme: Modeling Healthy Systems - The Spirit of NLP. More info on workshops soon. Screening of documentary film One World Wisdom written by Carla Woody and co-produced with Bradley Burak.Conference workshop Stoking the Fire: Indigenous Wisdom and NLP with Carla Woody. Many other presenters. Held San Francisco, CA. For more information, email conference@nlpiash.org.



January 12-24, 2011   Entering the Maya Mysterieswith Carla Woody, Alonso Mendez and Carol Karasik. Spiritual travel to Mexico visiting hidden sacred places and engaging in nearly extinct ancient ceremonies with Don Antonio Martinez, the last Spirit Keeper of the Lacandón Maya. Group size limited. A Spirit Keepers Journey co-sponsored by Kenosis and Kenosis Spirit Keepers. Limited number partial young adult sponsorships available. Early registration until October 22: $2595. After October 22: $2695. Registration costs include automatic donation (tax-deductible for U.S. taxpayers) of $295 toward Kenosis Spirit Keepers programs. For more information, contact Kenosis at 928-778-1058 or info@kenosis.net.

Note: Private groups may be arranged. If you have a group of 8-15, contact us for more information.

This is an adventure of the spirit!



Ongoing   Private Consultation is available with Carla Woody in-person in Prescott, AZ or via telephone. Addressing life direction, relationship, spiritual emergence and whole health. Integrating NLP, subtle energy work and sacred world traditions to make a lasting positive difference.

Contact Kenosis at 928-778-1058 or info@kenosis.net.





Review
More often than not, the publications or music you will find reviewed here will not be new or "bestsellers." Websites or organizations may not be well known. But all are spotlighted by virtue of their impact and value.

Set by the Ancients: A Mystical Journey of Trust, Love and Adventure
By Phoebe and Paul Hoogendyk

There are those among us who are called out of an ordinary life and heed the invitation; who hear inner messages and listen to the direction — even when the why or wherefore is unclear. Answering the call is a measure of faith. Such is the case with Paul and Phoebe Hoogendyk. This is their recounting of a spiritual path that has taken them on a global journey, to far-flung and unlikely places, but for specific purpose. Guided by unseen advisors, they were asked to undertake a pilgrimage across continents carrying the Greenstone of New Zealand, sacred to the Maoris, to make a connection with other Indigenous cultures and lands. To do so means to set aside convention and the well-meaning cautions of family or friends, a willingness to be called crazy and even be put in sometimes risky situations. In their book, they have given honest voice to their own evolution, the poignant mixture of beauty and pain that it takes to grow; and the rare joy of communion, sitting in sacred ceremony with Indigenous elders and fellow travelers along the way. Set by the Ancients is inspired through the Paul's and Phoebe's joint belief in the absolute ability of individuals to affect global consciousness and invites us all to have the courage to jump in accordingly — with complete immersion.

I’ve been honored to share in part of their mission when they traveled with me. In 2005, after a despacho ceremony with Don Américo Yábar and a Quechua paq'o, the Greenstone found a resting place in a lagoon at over 18,000 feet in altitude on Apu Ausangate in the Cusco Region of Peru. In 2007 Don Antonio Martinez of the Lacandón Maya granted permission for the Greenstone to be placed in one of their sacred sites. We all watched from the banks as a young Lacandón man paddled Paul and Phoebe out in a traditional canoe to the middle of Lake Najá. With mist adding to the Mystery, after further ceremony, the Greenstone met the sacred waters and gained entry.

To learn more about the work of Phoebe and Paul Hoogendyk and to purchase the book, go to the Ancient Pathways website.

— Carla Woody


© 2010 Kenosis LLC. All rights reserved.
Kenosis LLC - PO Box 10441 - Prescott, AZ 86304 - 928.778.1058 - www.kenosis.net
info@kenosis.net
Links Contact Info Catalog Press Release Newsletters and Articles Current Calendar Spiritual Travel and Programs About Kenosis About Carla Woody Home