TIMOTÉ

By Oscar Valencia

Timoté describes a journey through the immensities of the Amazon jungle, in the company of Cuatiendioy -a wise shaman.
Timoté’s concepts of life will change, which will be confronted by the laws of Nature and of the inhabitants of the rainforest, in a fascinating journey through a magical world unknown to man.
This adventure will present us with the question of whether the reality we live in can be changed by other more subtle realities, impeccably preserved by some indigenous communities in the heart of the Amazon forest, who still refuse to be conquered by the so-called “civilized person".

Reading Timote is entering into the realm of a new consciousness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jul 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798765242520

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Copyright © 2023 Oscar Valencia.

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Interior Image Credit: Rafael Calzada

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4250-6 (sc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4251-3 (hc)

ISBN: 979-8-7652-4252-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023910212

Balboa Press rev. date: 05/22/2023

To my beloved

wife, Martita

To my dearest children, Liz and Phool

To my great indigenous friend, the humble and

wise teacher Cuatiendioy, who taught me a different

way of seeing life, in the Amazon jungle

To my elder brothers Nelson and Héctor,

whose quest for spiritual growth led me and

inspired me to share this experience

To my younger brothers, who

suffered during my absence,

And to life, for giving me parents who taught

me how to fly, ever since I was a child.

To all of them: Thank you

Timoté

CONTENTS

Foreword By The Editor

Introduction

I            Returning To The Moment Of Birth

II           The Calls From The Jungle

III         Seeking For The Honey Of The Jimeritas

IV         Healing The Past

V          Abandoned To Silence

VI         The Return Of Cuatiendioy

VII        Encounter With The Orchids

VIII       Allies In The Jungle

IX         The Flight Of The Condor

X          Encounter With Other Communities

XI         The Departure

Glossary

FOREWORD BY THE EDITOR

The first time I saw Timoté was during a seven day seshin in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Although we did not talk, I remember him sitting in silence facing the wall. There was something different about this man.

Years later, during my seven year training at the Rochester Zen Center in upstate New York, Timoté came to participate in one of the seshins that are offered regularly at the Zen Center. I quickly recognized him and asked him why he was attracted to the Zen tradition. People from all over the world came to the Zen Center, and it was always fascinating to me to learn how they became interested in Zen.

He told me that during a business trip to Japan, he has visited a Zen Temple in the city of Sakura. The most remarkable quality of that Zen Center was the quietness and silence of the atmosphere. He told me that the only place he had experienced that silence was in the Amazon rainforest while he was an apprentice with his teacher: Cuatiendoy.

This was my first introduction to the amazing teachings of Cuatiendoy, a wise shaman living in the Amazon rainforest who possessed remarkable abilities including telepathy, a deep understanding of the subconscious, healing with herbs and orchids, communicating with animals, and overall, had a profound connection with the Earth mother of the Amazon. Timoté recorded his experiences with Cuatiendoy in a manuscript and gave me a copy. The book that you hold in your hands describes the experiences that Timoté had with Cuatiendoy, including profound metaphysical teachings that were transmitted to him.

The first thing that struck me was that Cuatiendoy did not sleep at night. Instead, he used to meditate on tree branches in full-lotus posture the whole night, which reminded me of two of the greatest Zen masters who were known for not lying down to sleep but meditated until dawn. Cuatiendoy was also a master of breathing techniques, which allowed him to change the temperature of his body and more importantly, to quiet his mind. He developed his own pranayama practices that allowed him to awaken profound psychic abilities.

Part of my research and training has been in Taoist alchemy, and what amazed me were the similarities between the teachings of Cuatiendoy and the Taoist masters, both of which are rooted in the quantum field. We can say that Cuatiendoy was immersed in the quantum field unceasingly. We can also consider Cuatiendoy a modern Druid mystic with a deep understanding of the subtle laws of the universe, herbs, and how natural cycles influence human beings.

The most important message of this book is the importance of respecting nature, and how humans have created their self-inflicted pain by not following the immutable laws of the universe, instead going against them. Cuatiendoy exposes the severe problems caused to the Amazon rainforest by the civilized man. He shows how it is being destroyed by greed and ignorance. For context, the Amazon rainforest lost an area comparable to the size of Israel in 2020.Throughout history, great human beings have emphasized the importance of Nature in the evolution of human consciousness.

Walter Russell, who was considered the Leonardo DaVinci of the 20th Century, explained the following in his biography called The Man Who Tapped the Secrets of the Universe: You may command Nature to the extent only to which you are willing to obey her. You cannot intelligently obey that which you do not comprehend. Therefore I also say, ask of Nature that you may be one with her, and she will whisper her secrets to you to the extent to which you are prepared to listen.

Ralph Waldo Emerson described Nature as the embodiment of Divine Law, which is exemplified by the teachings Cuatiendoy revealed to Timoté, and can be summarized as follows: Nature will reveal to you great teachings, but only to the extent that you approach her with humbleness, gratitude, and respect.

Humanity is at a crossroads. We have made great advances technologically, but we are facing deep problems that threaten our survival as a species. Until we recognize the importance of embracing the immutable laws of the universe instead of going against them, and until we can revere Nature as our ancestors did, the legacy we will bequeath to future generations will continue to compromise their survival. Let us find hope and inspiration in these pages, by learning the ways of the wise, as Timoté himself apprenticed to Cuatiendoy and shares now with us.

Alex F Crenshaw, MBA

Zen Institute

Mt. Shasta, California, May 2023

INTRODUCTION

Timoté, the central character of this narrative, describes how he unexpectedly met Cuatiendioy when he was only a high school student fleeing from the military, who were after him to punish him as a deserter for refusing to take part in a fight he did not consider his own, and ultimately for refusing to bear arms and kill his fellow human beings.

Cuatiendioy is a wise Curaca (someone in a position of authority and responsibility within his community) from the Amazon jungle, who rescues him from perishing in the jungle, baptizes him with the indigenous name of Timoté, and entrusts him with the mission of conveying a message to the civilized man. At the same time, he helps him to find meaning in his life and teaches him how to heal long standing emotional wounds caused by painful experiences in his childhood. In the process, he also introduces him to the realm of physical healing by means of plants, and emotional healing with the essence of orchids

The indio Cuatiendioy is a wise man who has learned to navigate between two worlds. He has full knowledge of the needs of the indigenous peoples, and also understands the customs of what he calls "the Civilized man," particularly his obsession with power and money, and his readiness to employ any means to obtain them. Cuatiendioy acts as a Messenger between the Civilized man and the Indio, and among the various indigenous peoples who still survive in the Amazon.

Timoté is a reproach of the intrusion perpetrated by our civilization and our technology against the essential world of the Amazonian indigenous peoples, together with the destruction of the foremost lung of the planet, with the cutting down of trees and the death of all the creatures living in it.

It is also a criticism of the indifference of governments towards the needs of the indigenous peoples who have been robbed of their resources and their way of life, as well as a denouncement of the impact of guerrilla forces and drug dealers, in areas that until recently, were free from the presence of the civilized man. It is also a portrayal of the indigenous peoples´ struggle for survival, and their continuous efforts to move away from the civilized man harmful influence, only to discover that they have fewer places to go to, and fewer resources for survival.

In this narrative, readers will partly find a yearning for the old days and all the good things that are now gone. They will also find much hope for the attainment of a better quality of life, emotionally as well as spiritually, which may happen one day as a result of unexpectedly meeting another Cuatiendioy, who will help them to renew a connection with the best part of themselves, and to help heal the wounds inflicted by painful experiences in their pasts, thus enabling them to face the future with a lighter burden—just as the Indio still does and teaches us to do, living each moment impeccably, as he does, from moment to moment, deeply cherishing his clan, his family, his bonds of friendship, and above all, Mother Earth, with all her manifestations of life and with all the blessings she bestows upon us every day with the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.

Nelson Valencia C.

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CUATIENDOY

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TIMOTE

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I

Returning To The Moment Of Birth

I can see strange things… I´ve just arrived. I feel slightly cold, wrapped up in the sheets. Back! I don´t want to go! I want to know the reason for this arrival; I´m still crying, I can feel the dawn. The cocks are crowing and a candle barely shines some light in the darkness of the house. Someone whispers; ‘It´s a boy.’ I am observing my own arrival… I can hear the goldfinches waking up, the mockingbirds, and the troupials, the voices of the laborers, the lowing of the cows. The courtyard is a festival of visitors and within the house, silence pervades the walls. ‘Don´t wake up the child.’ I´ve just arrived from a long journey. Through the cracks of the protective doors, I can smell the fragrance of the coffee tree, of cow dung, of fresh milk and I see beams of sunlight mingled with shadows swaying with the wind. That´s all I can see and feel, Cuatiendioy.

Cuatiendioy asked, And what else can you feel?

Feel? I can feel the coolness of the morning and I can hear the sounds of the crickets, but I don´t know why.

Review you past, said Cuatiendioy.

This is my past; I´m in it. What else can I search for?

Cuatiendioy replied, "Go forward, then; we’ll go along your path step by step together and don´t forget the details; simple things can be the most important ones but you may miss them because they are so simple. I’ve brought you here so you can start looking for the clues to the meaning of life. Every man has a pathway, a reason for being here. If you examine your past, it´s possible that you will easily find yourself.

But the noise, forget the noise in your mind! When it appears, it brings confusion and leads you astray from your aim. Well, never mind now. I want to know what else you can see in your past today.

I’m here. It´s a sunny day. It seems there are several of us already; I used to hear them from inside my mother´s womb; they’re playing with mud in the courtyard. They’re my two brothers, and the girl who glances at me out of the corner of her eye. It was her turn to play but I butted in; she doesn’t accept me much, and I love her.

Keep moving forward, Cuatiendioy urged.

"All right... It´s a beautiful place! I can hear the river, very near the house. The house is built with sun-dried earth and straw (adobe) - my father calls them tapias; it´s harvest time and there is a caravan of people arriving. There are women, too; they are singing as they come; their colorful costumes are beautiful, long gowns, scarves in many colors, and hats; they are all merry, they are lodging at the house on the cliff.

Hanging from the laborers’ waists are baskets where they put grain upon grain of the coffee tree harvest. There are many people; they come from distant places; some of them are acquainted with each other... A pair of blue eyes are looking inside me. There´s something about them...they belong to a civilized man. It´s don Emilio, a man who has my father´s absolute trust. He is calm. There is something about his eyes... I want to see further beyond, but he´s gone.

It doesn´t matter! Cuatiendioy remarked. You´ll see him at some point. He´s important to you; you´ll find something else in his eyes. That´s all for today. Let´s wind this up and move on. We´ll look for something to drink. And looking upwards, seeking out the sun amidst the thick foliage he said: "It´s time to clean out our kidneys. We´ll get water from the lianas. I hope you´ll understand what I´m going to explain: if I cut the liana before you do, the water will quickly flow downwards and we won´t be able to catch any of it. And if you cut it first, the water will go upwards so quickly that we won´t have time to fill up a single guaje (a kind of sun dried gourd)."

He handed me a small knife and a guaje. Pointing to a vine, he ordered, Cut it! At the same time, he cut an upper portion of the liana himself. "Run! Fill up the guaje!"

I darted out, running through the thicket, carrying the liana on my shoulders, while a bluish, sticky liquid began spilling out from it. I filled up my guaje and at the same time, Cuantiendioy filled out his own guaje on the other end of the liana.

We drank the bluish liquid as we sat on the trunk of a fallen tree, and refreshed our kidneys with this marvelous beverage.

It was quickly getting dark in the jungle. I was anxious to find a hut or shelter, but he just continued to sit placidly on the fallen tree. I began to grow impatient wondering where we would be spending the night. It was the first night I would share with this strange man. So far, everything had been a bit weird. I still couldn’t recover from the journey back to the moment of my birth, which he could so easily trigger by just touching a certain point on my spine. And he was sitting there, gazing at something more than the oncoming evening, and feeling something very different from the mosquitoes (which were certainly beginning to worry me).

Timoté, he said. It´s time to set up our cambuche (makeshift beds)."

What!, I exclaimed. Where are we going to sleep?

Right here! Can you think of a better place? This spot has accepted us. Can´t you feel it?

I can´t feel anything, not even my legs! We’ve been walking for so long, I don’t even know where I am.

"We’re both here, but your spirit isn’t. Become one with the moment!"

I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I just want to rest.

Cuatiendioy asked me to cut off some wide, crinkly leaves to make a raised bed with them, laying the large, cold leaves on a dry stockade, interweaving them one by one until they were left raised up as high as possible above ground level; I climbed up onto them and for an instant, I felt they were very cold, but when I snuggled under those leaves, a pleasant coolness spread over my whole body. I slept soundly to an extent I had experienced only on rare occasions at home.

I was awakened by a deafening noise in the morning; at the same time, I struggled with a total loss of any sense of time and space. I was overwhelmed with confusion and my heart was beating frantically; I had no idea where I was; hundreds of howler monkeys were screeching in fear at the sight of Cuatiendioy taking a leisurely walk amongst the trees as he conveyed his greetings to the morning. The echo was as sudden as a cry of alarm throughout the virgin jungle; later the pleasantly warm morning was made cheerful by the singing of the birds.

Still unsure of myself, I slowly got up, and walked amongst the lianas, fallen tree trunks, bushes and undergrowth, searching for some clearing free enough from the towering gigantic branches to allow some sunshine that would provide me with a bit of warmth.

Cuatiendioy was calm, relaxed; nothing disturbed him; he moved confidently, recognizing the environment, cutting off tender buds from some exotic plants. He observed the birds, the insects; it seemed as if I wasn’t there, at least not judging by his eyes, which were oblivious to my stumbling and my struggle to make progress towards the ray of sunshine that filtered in through the jungle.

At one point, he crouched before a liana, seeming to be quite absorbed by it and totally ignoring everything else. I glared at him impatiently, yearning to coax him towards the place I was anxious to reach, but I didn’t dare ask him how much longer we would be staying or who else we were waiting for. I knew he was fully aware of my uneasiness, and that he wasn’t affected by it in the slightest.

After a while, he got up and said, "Look, that’s what the parakeets eat. It would be a good way to start the day for you to collect a lot of it, because it seems it’s all that we’ll be eating today. We’d better not keep going until you can integrate better into the jungle. Let go of your haste. After all, we’ll have all the time we need to continue moving forward.

I don´t know why you keep running all the time, Timoté. I haven’t seen you being calm in any of the places where we’ve been; there is no calmness in your eyes, there is no calmness in your hands; your body isn’t even calm when you’re asleep. You look like fear walking within a sick body. I don’t want us to continue our journey like this. I believe that, with all those frightened noises you carry inside, you will contaminate the jungle and she will devour you; she will eat you up like a hungry tiger. Bring some of those seeds the parakeets eat. We’ll only eat what we need; you mustn’t eat until you’re completely full; just eat what you really need, as if to be ready to run if the jungle doesn’t recognize you and gives you a scare. We haven’t yet complied with our duty to ask the jungle for permission.

What permission are you talking about, Cuatiendioy? How much more of the jungle do you want to see? All I care about is getting to some place where we can have a decent meal. Don’t you think we’re humans and need to eat different food from what the parakeets eat? I think we’d better turn back.

You still keep on with your noises, Timoté. You’d better do as I tell you if you want to put something into your stomach that will provide you with real nourishment.

I walked over to the tree where the parakeets were serenely at rest and I gathered several berries; some of them had been pecked at and a smooth, reddish juice full of meaty seeds dripped out from them. I wanted to sit down and devour them right there, but I noticed Cuatiendioy was motioning me to come and sit beside him.

"Eat only four and keep silent; join me in keeping silent; keep silent with the jungle, and, most importantly, keep silent with yourself, so that you can slowly begin to merge with the jungle and we can continue our journey tomorrow.