Dear family and friends,

The memories from the year that is ending and the excitement and anticipation of the year that is about to start gives an interesting meaning to our lives. To know that beginnings and endings happen constantly is one of those things I am beginning to really understand.  Summer and Winter Solstices as well as Spring and Fall Equinoxes are my “new years.”   Rituals of alignment with universe-natural cycles are now part of who I am.

During the 2009 cycle, I came to realize that every day I am in tune with both reciprocating living energies, breathing  in and out, day and night; and the fact that I was equally affected by the loved ones who have died and those who were born. The feeling of great gratitude for the birth of my niece Emily Sami  or my new God daughter Soraira Sami into this world matches the feeling of great gratitude for the time I got to know and enjoy my grandfather Alberto Perez, who recently died at age 96 or our Inka Q’ero elder Isaac Flores, who passed over at age 64. Give and take or Ayni is the sacred reciprocity life is made of.

This afternoon I had lunch with a colleague at the university where I work and we had an interesting discussion about different ways on how to bring about peace and understanding to our society. He would argue that society should be organized in such a way that it is more manageable by standardizing languages, religions, holidays, etc, into ones that everyone can follow  vs. celebrating the current diversity of languages, symbols, etc.,  Two different views.  One based on mind/control and the other based on the heart and feelings. But is society’s mind supposed to be in constant conflict with society’s heart? Conflict and fear of what is different are low levels of consciousness, so while conflict is there, mind and heart won’t talk. In fact, they continue fighting, just like when we have internal struggles within ourselves, or domestic violence at home, or external violence  at schools, on the streets or among countries.

Moving ourselves away and up from conflict into a neutral stage would prepare the mind and heart to complement each other beautifully, just like the Spring and Fall seasons do, or like dawn and sun sets. A hot summer is only a break from the cold winter and vise versa. We are coming out from a cold winter and heading to a beautiful, inspiring Spring in the universal life cycle; and at the same time, we are evolving into something very familiar to God’s environment.  The heart and mind together will create something we have never seen before. The mind has long being resisting the heart, but resistance brings pain, and pain is what we have been suffering for so long. But if the heart “wins” and the mind loses, we create imbalance as well. To have a healthy physical experience, the soul has to interact in balance with the “soul” of the physical world, the mind.

A healthy heart keeps us grounded with Uju Pacha, our internal world.  A healthy mind keeps us grounded with Kay Pacha, our physical world. A healthy and evolved relationship among these two keeps us grounded effortlessly with Hanaq Pacha, the world of God, the Great Spirit. Staying grounded and connected with the 3 Pachas is experiencing life with God’s mind and heart.

As the mind gets tired, grumpy and afraid of the power of the heart, it is tempted to attack the heart. We humans are the pulse of the universe. Whatever happens to the universe is reflected through its living beings, especially humans, and is evident through our behavior. On the one hand, the increase in heart attacks (number one cause of death in our mind-guided societies) is the direct consequence of the mind aggressively attacking the heart through stress and activity overload. On the other hand, just like Mohandas Gandi said, “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love”,  the heart would never attack the mind; that is not its nature. The heart will do what hearts do: radiate love. Only this time the heart of the planet is returning from a long break; it is well rested and will radiate more than it ever did. It is the beginning of a transitional cycle, called Pachakuti in the Inka language, which is a transformational era that happens around every 500 years.

Centuries ago, before the ambassadors of the Earth’s heart went to sleep in many cultures around the world, they all promised they would return by the millions, just as the Inkas, Mayans, Aztecs, Native Americans and many ancient cultures from around the globe have. Their wisdom is awakening in our hearts and in the heart of the Earth. The mind is grumpy and tired; the heart is coming to the rescue with love in an act of Ayni, or sacred reciprocity. They will beautifully complement each other in a way we have never seen before.

May the Sun shine in your heart today and always!

Sami and Munay, Peace and Love,

Ricardo, Kathy and family
December 30, 2009