The Andean Cosmovision: A Path for Exploring Profound Aspects of Ourselves, Nature, and the Cosmos

by Oakley Gordon

The Andean Cosmovision is a way of perceiving and interacting with reality that has its roots in the traditional, indigenous culture of the high Andes. It is fundamentally different than the Western worldview. This Cosmovision is not a set of concepts or beliefs. It cannot be described or encompassed by words. It can, however, be experienced and it can be explored. This is a guidebook for exploring the Andean Cosmovision. The Cosmovision provides a path for discovering profound aspects of ourselves and the Cosmos. It is a path with a heart. It nourishes a more loving and mutually supportive relationship between ourselves and nature and the Cosmos. In addition to being personally significant, this relationship may be exactly what our species needs to start heading toward a future of greater beauty and greater health for the planet. For this path you don't need a guru. You need the Pachamama (the great being who is the mother earth); you need the Apus (the great beings who are the majestic mountain peaks); you need the stars, the wind, the trees, the rivers, the sun. This book will open the door to new territory and give you a map and some advice. It will then be up to you to determine whether what you find touches you deeply.

174 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2014

Reviews

[Chante]

I loved this book in its entirety. The book is easy to read and flows well. I especially enjoyed the simple meditations the author gives to the reader. As I practice these different meditations I find that I feel more connected to the consciousness that surrounds all things. I highly recommend not only reading this book but also practicing whichever meditation you connect with. All the meditations are great in my opinion.

[Janice Hoffmann]

This is a simple guidebook which shares the Andean way of being and their relationship to the cosmos. Everything is conscious - and this book provides a way to experience that and explore the cosmovision through various Andean rituals & meditations.

[MJ]

I read the book to peek into what the Andean Cosmovision is all about. It helped moderately with that goal. The book gives a lot of space to describing meditation techniques, only as text however, no illustrations.

[Phoebe]

Brilliant. Oakley Gordon perfectly translates the Andean way of interacting the world into a way for our western minds to understand. Great meditations too.

[John]

The first of 68 highlighted Kindle passages explains the gist of the title. "The Andean Cosmovision" is not intellectual in nature. It is not a set of ideas or beliefs. It simply cannot be defined, described, or encompassed with word or thought. It can, however, be experienced and it can be explored. Eventually you come to understand the Cosmovision, but this understanding is not intellectual, it is an understanding that develops at a deeper level of your Being." Luckily, for I feared outbursts of enraptured NewAge platitudes, amidst the expected tone, Dr Gordon employs his academic scrutiny as well as his own mystical or ineffable encounters. That shows my bias rather than his or that of the audience for this short introduction. But I was happy to see "confirmed" my own previous hunch, that the Dao mirrors the indigenous understanding of the eternal energies of the Universe and its creations. Helpfully, he adds that this assisted his own wish to make applicable and even practical (if in at least a way to focus attention on these forces from the cues within "nature" and within ourselves) the revelation of the Dao, and that one not need to be in the Andes to benefit. Like the Buddha, he gently encourages meditations, in physical expression, that simply enable a practitioner to try out approaches. If one doesn't align with one's orientation, another might...