By
MaryAnn and Theron Male
Our excitement intensified as the plane’s wheels touched down on the runway in Cusco, Peru. For years we had wanted to visit Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca. Our search on the internet for a trip with a spiritual flavor to these places had materialized into this venture with fourteen other people to Cusco, the capital city of the ancient Incas. From the moment we deplaned we were in the midst of local people who were taking our picture or trying to sell us Peruvian handicrafts and jewelry. These pleasant, delightful people always seemed to know where we were, showing up everyday regardless of our destination in the Sacred Valley. Surprisingly, by the time we gathered our luggage and arrived by bus at our hotel near the main square of Cusco, we were greeted by several of the people we saw at the airport as they tried to sell us photographs of ourselves taken as we deplaned. It was quite evident that we were tourists and dealing with Peruvian street merchants was to be a daily treat.
We wanted our visit to be a pilgrimage into the ancient land and traditions of the Incas, not a tour of a foreign country. Any fear of disappointment was dispelled when we met our Peruvian guide, Jorge Luis Delgado. Jorge Luis was a native Peruvian of Incan descent. He promised to take us to all of the popular, and some little known, Inca sites in the Sacred Valley around Cusco and into Machu Picchu. We were excited to learn that we would have a ceremony that very night with a shaman from the Quero community of Asangate Mountain near Cusco, Peru. This is what we had hoped for‚ that we would meet the indigenous shaman of the area and participate in their rituals. Little did we know at the time that Jorge Luis was considered a yatiri in his own Inca heritage. The closest we can come to understand the native word yatiri is that in the Aymara language (one of two Inca languages) it means healer or shaman. Jorge Luis himself is reluctant to call himself a shaman. He does call himself a chacaruna or “bridge person”, who is someone that helps people connect with the knowledge of the Cosmos. But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
For the next two weeks our small band of pilgrims traveled to many sites in the Sacred Valley. Everywhere we ventured we noticed that all of the local people were very respectful of Jorge Luis. We found Jorge Luis very easy to be around and soon realized that he was offering us much history and insight into the lure of the Incas as he told stories and related local information as we traveled by bus and train to many sites in the Sacred Valley. More than this, Jorge Luis conducted beautiful and meaningful native ceremonies at many of the sites. The culmination of these rituals was the night he took our small group to Machu Picchu and held two special rituals under a star lit, but misty sky. Our experience was culturally and spiritually powerful and we were coming to realize that despite his mild and humble demeanor, Jorge Luis was a very powerful yatiri or shaman. Our travels to the Sacred Lake, Lake Titicaca and Tiwanaku in Bolivia with Jorge Luis solidified our feeling that he was a very learned and intelligent man, who had an incredible experiential and intellectual grasp of the Inca traditions and beliefs. We came to know Jorge Luis as a spiritual teacher as well as Inca guide. Before we left Peru, we asked if we could stay in touch and if he could advise us on further readings on the Inca beliefs. Jorge Luis agreed and recommended a few books.
After our return home, we became immersed in our daily lives but said that someday we would return to Peru. We had said the same after other trips, but it seemed that we would travel to new places instead. This time was different. We did stay in touch with Jorge Luis. The following year the decision was made to go back to Peru for two weeks without a tour group and to travel with Jorge Luis to special places to further delve into the spiritual beliefs and traditions of the Incas. This trip was centered on Lake Titicaca in Peru and the nearby mountains of Bolivia. It was only when Jorge Luis asked if we had an extra book that he might read while traveling, that we learned about his close relationship with the author of the book we had with us. The author, Don Miguel Ruiz, who wrote The Four Agreements, had Jorge Luis accompany him to the Sacred Valley on more than one occasion. We, of course, wanted to know about their experiences together and were duly impressed at Jorge Luis understanding of the Toltec traditions. We were further interested in learning more about our host, as we found out that Jorge Luis was being interviewed by various media from South America and that many people from different parts of the world came to meet him and travel with him as we were. We also discovered that Jorge Luis was credited with rediscovering Aramu Muru's Doorway. There is much tradition about an inner dimensional doorway where the ancient Master Aramu Muru left this dimension after bringing the Golden Disc from the lost cultureof Mu in the Pacific to Peru. Jorge Luis was first drawn to finding this special place carved in a natural gigantic sandstone wall in a dream. Jorge Luis searched until he foud the physical doorway. Even the native people who care for and protect this ancinet site now call it “Aramu Muru’s Doorway.”
In preparation for this second trip, we read the books that Jorge Luis had recommended. While we found many of them useful, we remarked to Jorge Luis that most of the books about the Incas were written by non indigenous people. We wanted to hear from an authentic voice. We wanted to learn the Inca heritage from him. It had become obvious in our hours of conversation that this pleasant yatiri was well read and aware of the complexities of living in our technological society. He was aware of all of the challenges, yet he lived his daily life with a calm joy and a sense of purpose. We had found someone who could speak our language fluently and was able to present in terms that we could grasp, very deep, esoteric principals. Jorge Luis is an indigenous Inca with a brilliant mind, who is able to express the knowledge and experiences of his spiritual heritage in practical terms that are as alive and viable in today’s modern cities, as they were in the ancient mountaintop city of Machu Picchu.
Since the moment we set foot in Cusco and the Sacred Valley we have been impressed with the sense of community with people and nature that we experienced with the indigenous people of the Andes. This coupled with the upbeat and hopeful Incan message of a time of a new beginning, a New Sunrise, is very appealing to us. It is our intent that by introducing Jorge Luis to many more people through our book, Andean Awakening, that these ancient principals will have practical meaning and enrich the lives of all readers and fellow seekers within their own heritage and traditions. It is our pleasure to introduce Jorge Luis Delgado of Puno, Peru.
By
Jorge Luis Delgado
As I grew up in a one room house with my mother and many siblings, I was determined to be a modern scientific man and leave behind my Inca heritage. I studied hard in school and looked to science and career to form the basis of my life. My mother, who wore the native garb and came 
from a lineage of Aymara yatiris (the closest concept in the English language would be healer or shaman), never interfered with my ideas or my goals. After high school I became a tour guide and loved my work. I enjoyed meeting people from around the world and relating the cultural and scientific heritage of the Andes, Lake Titicaca and Machu Picchu and other special Inca ruins.
During my early years as a tour guide I did very well. At that time I smoked cigarettes a lot and was happy when people would give packs of cigarettes as a tip. I was not so happy with the other tip that people seemed to give to me all the time. For some strange reason many people gave me crystals. I had no use for the crystals so I would give them away. I asked my friends if anyone gave them crystals and they just laughed and said no. They weren’t interested in crystals either, but would gladly smoke the cigarettes. In hindsight, the crystals were the first of many strange happenings and other worldly experiences that would change my entire vision of reality, but not my basic occupation. I now have my own company, Kontiki Tours, and hotel on Lake Titicaca. I personally enjoy taking people to many Sacred Sites, including Machu Picchu, to experience not ruins, but powerful places that are alive with the heritage and beliefs of the ancient Incas. Sometimes I have even been blessed with the presence of extraordinary people as I tour the Sacred Valley, as happened when I traveled with Don Miguel Ruiz and shared in Toltec rituals at many ancient Inca sites.
From an early age I became a collector of the handicrafts and textiles of the many different communities in the Andes and in the Sacred Valley. Initially, I collected fabrics and antiquities for their beauty. I attached no meaning to my findings, but I became very knowledgeable about the artwork of the different Andean people. My interest shifted to 
the heritage and traditions that were captured in this handiwork while on assignment for the BBC in my mid-twenties. Somehow, the BBC had been given my name as a tour guide who could assist them in the filming of a TV show titled, “All Gods and New Faces”. They came to Puno, Peru, on Lake Titicaca, and asked me to research and assemble yatiri or shaman from the different Andean communities to participate in the TV show. This experience exposed me to all of the Inca beliefs and traditions over the next six months. I became a collector of more artwork, but now understood their meaning in the Inca cultural and spiritual context. There were many strange occurrences in my life during this time, as I was ever more immersed in my own roots and heritage. With each esoteric experience my scientific mind was doubtful, but the knowledge of my heart was growing until I could no longer live simply being guided by my mind.
There was now no denying my experiences in a reality that stretched far beyond my sense outward to the entirety of the Cosmos. I began to seek the knowledge of my lineage in the “Inca Universities” - the remote communities of the Andes that had not been influenced by modern beliefs. Prominent among these communities are the Quero 
who live high on Ausangate Mountain near the city of Cusco, Peru. Anthropologists recognize the Quero for still speaking the original language of the ancient Incas, and for carrying on the ancient customs and beliefs. It was the Quero yatiri who taught me the original Inca Laws. As a schoolboy I had been taught that the Inca Laws were “Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t be lazy”. These to me were negative and based on compliance of behavior. No wonder they had no appeal to me as directives in life. The Quero, on the other hand, presented three very positive Inca Laws that help one both enjoy the experience of daily living in this world of experience, and to transcend the senses into an experience of reality that leads to both inward and outward joy and abundance. The original Inca Laws are Munay or love, Llancay or work/service, and Yachay or wisdom. These are positive, meaningful laws that I can embrace as guidelines for fully living with purpose and happiness in our complex modern world. My Inca heritage is now alive and vibrant for me. My mother’s patient eyes now can see the continuation of the legacy in my embracing of the Inca rituals as a yatiri, while living in the modern culture.
In the ancient traditions the Incas were considered to be the Children of the Sun, and all people were considered to be Incas. We have as our heritage the Light from the sun that reflects the Sun behind the sun, or the Divine Oneness of the Cosmos. 
We are all called to be Incas and share in this heritage regardless of our cultural background, religion, or beliefs. The wisdom of the ancient Incas is for all people, everywhere on Pachamama, Mother Earth. Presently we are entering PachaKuti or the “New Sunrise”. In the Inca tradition the earth has 500 year cycles of darkness and light on a spiritual level. I believe that there is presently a great deal of positive energy extended to us by the Cosmos to make positive spiritual changes on our beautiful planet. We are entering the Sunrise of Light. What a wonderful time to be alive!
I offer my services to you as a tour guide of the ancient core beliefs of the Incas, with practical applications to enrich and expand your life experiences. It is time to transform modern life and enrich our connectedness, as we embrace our heritage as Children of the Sun.