Time of Creation 2022 in the Amazon

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many have become familiar with the concept of being silenced in conversations. Many voices are silenced in public discourse about climate change and the ethics of Earth conservation.

They are voices of those who suffer the impacts of climate change. They are voices of people who possess ancient wisdom about how to live with gratitude within the limits of the earth. They are voices of a diminishing diversity of more-than-human species.It is the voice of the Earth

Time of Creation, 2022.

Puerto Leguízamo — After four years of not visiting Colombia, my Motherland, and two years of defending more than 400 Cambodian children and young people from the pandemic in my educational, ecological and integral development center of Don Bosco in the province of Kep, I touched my ancestral soil in Rionegro on July 26, 2022.

Our Ancestral Journey began in San Agustín with Taita Luis Juajiboy, Kämtsá and his assistants such as Eider Mutumbajoy from Mocoa.

I strongly feel that Pacha Mama is complaining and not because she is weak per se. We are fully aware that Mother Earth, whenever she wants, can simply “get rid of the global plague” that the Anthropocene became, just as happened with the Mesozoic – and the great reptiles reigned on the face of the Earth much longer. than we have been in our human journey (66 million years of the Planet of the Dinos, against just 6 million of the Planet of the Apes). Pacha Mama complains more about ourselves and screams desperately for the awakening of our consciousness, before the apocalypse reaches the point of singularity, the point of no return of the meteorite in which any good intention is already a macabre mockery of the end. .

It is time to stop listening to the always excuses for our mediocrity, to postpone our obligations to continue being enchanted by the illusions of materialism, the arrogance of science, the hypnotism of religious hierarchies that do not convert or enlighten, and the deceptions and self-deception of politics and its manipulations. It is time to Listen to the Voices of Creation, of Pacha Mama, much older than all of us and our vain prides. "Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are is holy ground" (Exodus 3, 5).

Exactly one year ago, during the Time of Creation 2021, in the midst of the pandemic, I led the day of meditation with my students inside Abraham's Tent, on the shores of Kep Bay and in the middle of the jungles of the Park. National of my province of residence. Every night we did an hour of transcendental meditation for Pacha Mama, with my children and young people, most of them Buddhists, some Muslims and a few Catholics. This year it was time for my vacation in Colombia, and for me, the trip between Southeast Asia and South America will always be the opportunity to make a pilgrimage that goes around the world, around Pacha Mama.

This year we are doing a short film contest with my Don Bosco Kep media center where the writers and producers must be children with the theme of the Time of Creation 2022: Listening to the Voice of Mother Earth, inspired by the Burning Bush. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, contrary to what I did last year which was to sit in the lotus position to meditate for Pacha Mama, this year the meditation has been underway with a visit to ancestral territories in the Amazon Colombia and what I call the first Ancestral Journey through Mother Earth along the Gantë-ya, known as the Río de la Caña Brava for the Zio Baín people or Río Putumayo.

Father Oscar Javier Vargas, parish priest of San Agustín, is the creator of the Virgin of Mother Earth, which is exhibited in the temple in the main park. With this beautiful theme, we begin the first Genteneyá Ancestral Journey, in the company of engineer Heber Muñoz España from the municipality of San Agustín.

The Ancestral Journey to hear the Voice of the Pacha Mama in different communities, took us from San Agustín Huila to Florencia Caquetá, crossing the Eastern Cordillera and entering fully into the Colombian Amazon. The city of Florencia rises from the Andes towards the Llanos, a city with a promising future and a high component of natives and settlers who fight to protect and promote ancestral knowledge. There we heard the Voice of the Güío, which is what the anaconda is called, the great king of the jungles, mentioned in all the stories of the Creation of the people of the Orinoquía. We heard the stories of Güío from the mouth of my childhood friend Oscar Fredy Meneses Caro, who lived in Florence with his family and was a great benefactor of the parish with his choir and his knowledge of architecture. Between Florencia and Moreria Caquetá the Voice of Creation tells us about the need to celebrate peace and justice for the people.

From there we flew to Puerto Leguízamo on a Satena plane, above the jungles and we were able to see the visible traces of deforestation, as well as the coca crops, which as a global problem make evident to us the mistakes committed in decades of destruction of the jungles, violence and bad decisions.

Visit to Taita Héctor Yaiguaje Coca and his children and grandchildren of the Siona Gao-yá Cabildo.

In Puerto Leguízamo we met the Zio Bain, Murui communities and Monsignor Joaquín Pinzón of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Leguízamo. There we were able to spend several nights in the jungle, illuminated by the Full Moon and by the human warmth of our native brothers of this beautiful Colombian region that touches the Peruvian and Ecuadorian territory through the Gentë-ya. It is sad to see how the reality of deforestation is a fact, but even so, the Mother Jungle fights to preserve a biodiversity of unique plants and animals alongside the human diversity of the Amazon. The Voices of Creation in the Amazon tell us about stopping deforestation and indiscriminate hunting, the trafficking of exotic species and creating development spaces for the children of the region, for women and in the rescue and protection of ancestral knowledge , indigenous languages, traditional medicine and elders. There I met the Siona children that we have been supporting through various scholarships from the Netherlands. I hope we find more benefactors, so that more indigenous, peasant and poor community children can find a helping hand that allows them to study and build a better future. I dream of a technical school for young people in Puerto Leguízamo…

Taita Héctor Yaiguaje Coca, one of the great elders of the Siona people in Puerto Leguízamo.

The Voices of the Elders tell us about rescuing ancestral traditions, native languages ​​and natural medicines. Sacred plants are a gift from Taita God, created so that humanity can open their consciousness, heal their body, mind and soul. Listening to the Voices of the Sacred Plants will allow us to understand the Voices of Creation and the Voice of the Creator. At the Siona Gao-yá Cabildo, we were welcomed by Taita Héctor Yaiguaje Coca, who is perhaps one of the last great Siona elders in the region and with whom I have had digital communication since 2018 with his son Taita William Yaiguaje, governor of the Cabildo. Thanks to this friendship that was born in San Agustín, at the YaiRuna Health House, I have known Siona spirituality and traditions and I have found my own ancestral roots. Taita Héctor did me the great honor of granting me an indigenous command staff and a bead necklace. These gifts have represented for me one of the greatest honors I have ever expected and a great responsibility. They make me feel very proud of my indigenous roots and to continue on the path of consciousness and spirituality, and to continue in my mission of shaking hands with the children of the world, especially in Cambodia and Colombia. Taita Julio Muñoz Lino, Murui, took us to the jungle across the river and, with him and Taita William Yaiguaje, we lived an experience of ancestral knowledge. Taita Julio, with his wife Valentina, have the mission of healing and teaching. In his Murui Tucunare Reservation, he wants to create a Health and Retreat House and hopes to be able to get help to build bridges and create spaces where people can find inspiration to awaken their consciousness and help Mother Earth and the communities. natives.

With Taita Julio Muñoz Lino, we entered the Mother Jungle in the Murui Tucunare Reservation.

Taita William Yaiguaje, Siona Governor of the Gao-yá Cabildo, welcomes us to his territory.

From Puerto Leguízamo we sail the Gentë-yá and bless the shores of our brother countries of Peru and Ecuador. The river that unites four nations: It is born in the Colombian Massif, marks the border between Colombia and Ecuador and then with Peru and enters Brazil to fall into the Amazon River. Between Puerto Leguízamo and Puerto Asís (approximately 200 kilometers on the river and about 8 hours), there is the La Paya National Natural Park in Colombia and the Cuyabeno Fauna Production Reserve in Ecuador. The Voices of the Gentë-yá tell us about protecting the environment and native communities, as well as the fraternal union between Latin American nationals. The Gentë-yá explains to us that Pacha Mama does not know the political borders created by humans and that we live on a single Planet that we have to take care of, study and listen to regardless of race, social class, political or religious divisions. In our navigation of the Gentë-yá, we were able to see beautiful exotic birds that went from Peru to Colombia, from Colombia to Ecuador, as a sign of the wonderful unity in which we live and that we must protect.

On the Colombian shore of the Gantë-yá. On the other side the shores of the Equator.

From Puerto Asís, we returned to the mainland and began a wonderful climb towards the Andes. The wonderful place where the Mother Jungle of the Amazon meets the Mountain. In this area of ​​Alto Putumayo, the Mountain becomes a huge wall of more than 2 thousand meters that divides the department of Nariño. The roads between both regions become authentic "extreme sports" such as the famous Trampoline of Death, one of the "most dangerous roads in the world." They have been building modern highways with tunnels for years, but, unfortunately, Colombia continues to be a country in the hands of administrative corruption that runs rampant with greater impunity in what is called "Deep Colombia." The view of the road between Puerto Asís and Mocoa is extraordinary, always ascending, spiraling to the sky through Andean-Amazonian towns such as Puerto Caicedo and Villagarzón. The diversity of fauna and flora skyrockets in the presence of those two gigantic beings of South American geography: The Amazon jungle and the Andes mountain ranges.

Mocoa, a city that still remembers with pain the tragedy of 2018 when an avalanche occurred that left more than 14 thousand people homeless, many of whom are still waiting for a solution to their drama, is a geographical space of great diversity. An Amazonian city on the mountain, between streams, valleys, plains, hills, mountains with very high peaks and many tasks to do, especially due to its political problem and lack of leadership, a city literally without a mayor, but that can become a exchange center city between the Amazon and the Andes, with all that this implies. This beautiful Andean-Amazon region tells us about the need for political and community organization, to give value to the taitas of the Inga, Quechua, Kämtsá communities, traditional medicines, and native music. Unfortunately we were not able to travel to the desired Sibundoy Valley and Laguna Madre Cocha, because the road was closed due to landslides. Thanks to Taita Luis Juajibioy, kämtsá and his family, for their welcome and for their teaching about spiritual healing and service through ancestral knowledge. Taita Luis, a master of the simple life, to whom many people, nationals and foreigners, come with his songs, with sacred plants, is an indigenous spiritual leader in the region. Likewise Taita Gerardo Quinchoa, Inga, with his agriculture projects and love of Pacha Mama.

In Mocoa I lived an experience of detachment: I left my Tablet on a bus. It was a mishap that caused great sadness, not so much for the equipment, which in the end is very useful, but for all the audiovisual material that had to do with the Ancestral Journey: Interviews with Taita Héctor Yaiguaje, Taita Julio Muñoz Lino, Taita William Yaiguaje, Taita Gerardo Quinchoa, Taita Luis Juajibioy and many other wonderful people. Thank you to all the beautiful people in the beloved city of Mocoa for your interest in finding the team. But also thanks to Taita God for all the opportunities you give us to face the awakening of consciousness, also through difficulties and detachment: «The Lord gave it to me and the Lord took it from me: blessed be the name of the Mister!" (Job 1, 21) or, as the Wise Taita Luis would say, everything happens for a reason. That, then, is the Voice of Creation in this event: We depend too much on technology in this era and we believe that there is no other possible world without it. The words engraved on the Tablet of the Taitas were spoken and their words will not pass away: “This is how my word will be that comes out of my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will do what pleases me, and will accomplish what I sent it for” (Isaiah 55:11).

We continue our trip from Mocoa to Pitalito, a road that continues ascending the mountain and passes through the territory of the Cáuca department and crosses the Cueva de los Guacharos National Park. We finish our Ancestral Journey to Listen to the Voices of the Pacha Mama with a final visit to the Archaeological Park of San Agustín, the Town of the Sculptors, as the American archaeologist, naturalized Colombian and resident of San Agustín for decades with his wife, calls it. David Dellenback, who has done a great job of recording the statues. We hear Creation in these ancient statues the voice of the payment, as David mentions: The ancients made with the construction of these statues, a payment to Mother Earth, for the gift of water, in this region of the Colombian Massif where they are born. big rivers. Someday, as David says, the people of the future will have to return the statues to the bosom of the earth, as it is in Tierradentro, because they were a payment of gratitude from the ancestors.

The Wise Engineer Héber Múnoz España, creator of the Yairuna Health House with Taita Julio Muñoz Lino and promoter of San Agustín as a mecca of ecological and ancestral tourism.

Touring the town of San Agustín, thanks to Wise Héber, his family and friends, is an eternal discovery. The Wise Engineer Héber says that San Agustín can become one of the most important national and international tourism meccas not only in Colombia, but in South America, at the same level as Machu Pichu and connected to the latter. In some ways it already is, but it is important that people like Héber and many others continue in the fight to generate comprehensive development of this magical Andean region, territory of ancient ancestral encounters.

Visit the great scholar of the sculptures of Saint Augustine, David Dellenback and his wife Martha. In his work Pueblo de Escultores, ancestral works are recorded and studied.