Munay not only means a nourishing, all-encompassing love, but also signifies tranquility and beauty and suggests a pleasant experience characterized by harmony, symmetry, correctness, and tranquility, within and without. Beauty is the outer wrapping of munay; inside is kindness and love. When you have these in your heart, you are peaceful.

Munay is inherent in nature. Not only does it manifest through nature as in a stunning sunset or a luscious fruit, it is also a quality within us. When both outer and inner worlds reflect love and beauty, one manifests benevolence in action and character.

To experience munay, we must cultivate it through conscious acts of kindness. Though one can work at clearing the heart, it is impossible to possess munay. When the time is right, munay manifests; like a hummingbird is attracted to blossoms, it comes when the field is fertile. It comes like grace.

When munay becomes an integral part of one’s character, it expresses itself spontaneously. For it to exist in this state, however, it is first necessary to clear the heart.

THE WAY OF KNOWLEDGE: YACHAY
The second principle of the Andean way is called yachay. It means to learn, to know, and to remember. For the Q’ero, to learn and master the lifestyle required to live above 14,000 feet is essential for survival. To do this, they have to remember and learn from the experiences of others. It is then their responsibility to pass on what they have learned to future generations.

Yachay also implies the knowledge of things. The Q’ero have to know about healing plants, how to cultivate the soil, care for llamas and alpacas, and many other skills like weaving. The Incas were master stoneworkers, architects, and astronomers. They built extensive networks of roads, constructed elaborate temples in remote and inaccessible places, and worked gold and sliver, ceramics, and fabric to a degree unequalled in the New World. The Q’ero inherited much of this knowledge.

They realize, however, that they also need to be flexible in their thoughts and actions. In an environment where wrong decisions can cause serious injury or sudden death, one has to be practical and recognize that it is necessary to apply what one learns in ways that work in the real world. Above all else, survival skills are the prerequisite for living in the Andes. Once the skills for maintaining life are mastered, the Q’ero take time for dancing, art, and celebration.

True knowledge, the Q’ero believe, comes from direct personal experience guided by insight and intuition.

For the Andean shaman, knowledge is shaped by a lifetime of initiatory rites and isolation in wild nature. They are required to spend time alone often in caves, on the mountains, or in the forest. In some cases, it involves taking entheogens under the guidance of a master shaman.
It is a time-intensive process that won’t be rushed. Shamans tend to provide information in pieces, randomly; not incrementally in an organized fashion, as in a school. These apparent fragments, endlessly repeated, make up the whole of a shaman’s experience and, in many cases, the cumulative experiences of generations, forming a record of shamanic practices. The oral tradition is still the primary means by which knowledge and meaning are passed from one generation of shamans to the next.

THE WAY OF ACTION: LLANK’AY
The way of action is the third principle of Q’ero life. It is called llan’kay. The literal translation means “to work.” The spirit of llan’kay, however, goes beyond physical labor and includes mental and creative work, as well as performing ceremonies and healing. Ceremonial life imbues work with meaning and, to the Q’ero, balancing outer activity with inner work is the key to survival. Ceremonial work is not isolated from physical work. The planted field is holy ground just like the mountains.

Though each of the first three principles is a separate element with its own characteristics, they are synergistic. The three work as a whole, interdependent and mutually supportive. For example, love and beauty, munay, make daily living pleasing and soften the hard edges of difficulties. Also, without initiating right action, llank’ay, nothing gets done and things stagnate. Action for its own sake can lead to conflict, however. The best outcome of action proceeds from knowledge, yachay, the second principle.

As one learns and grows, each principle transforms into a higher form. Munay becomes impersonal love that embraces all things. Yachay becomes the superior consciousness one arrives at through the proper cultivation of love and work. Llank’ay is not just work and routine ritual, but becomes right livelihood. A way of living that is ecologically sound, promotes the welfare of others and encourages service performed in the spirit of lovingkindness is central to the higher form of llank’ay.

Another way to think about these fundamental principles is that they consist of the ability to feel, think, and act. Just to work, just to think, and to be consumed by one’s emotions is imbalanced and antithetical to the Andean way. When in harmony, these principles balance an individual. According to Andean belief, for one to be at peace and happy, it is necessary to harmonize these in one’s manner and daily life. Only when the emotions, thoughts, and actions are aligned can you be a balanced human.

THE WAY OF LIFE: KAWSAY
The fourth Q’ero principle is kawsay and means “life.” This doesn’t encompass its real meaning, however. Kawsay refers to the matrix of energy or the web of life that links all living things on Earth. In that way, it is connected to Pachamama. Earth-time and life are inseparable. Therefore, Pachamama is not only the ground on which we live and that supports all things, but it is also imbued with life-giving energy. The Q’ero call this intertwining of life and energy kawsay pacha, the world of living energy.

From the Andean view, to live harmoniously, it is necessary to balance the human sphere and environmental forces. This is accomplished through attunement with the world of living energy, kawsay pacha. Pachamama is permeated with this living energy, so all life is sacred, and therefore ceremonies play a significant role in maintaining this attunement to the sacred. The way we live is as important, however, as how we ceremoniously interact with the forces of life. Balance between daily life and ritual is maintained through reciprocity, the interchange of energy through works, deeds, actions, thoughts, emotions, and things. In this way, the five principles work synergistically and complete the circle of life.

THE WAY OF RECIPROCITY: AYNI
Of the five principles, ayni is the single most important concept of the Andean way. It is translated as reciprocity and means the interchange of lovingkindness, knowledge, and the fruits of one’s labor between individuals, between humans and the environment, and between humans and nature spirits. Reciprocity implies that one’s labor is shared: I will help you today, and tomorrow you might help me. The purpose of reciprocity is the maintenance of life.

Ayni provides purpose for the first three principles. It makes them function, gives them structure, and holds them as the banks of a river contain the flow of water until it reaches the sea. In this way, ayni sustains and supports all of life.
Ayni also implies respect for life. This is shown through acts of reciprocity. Respect is the key to understanding the Andean way. When we return the good that comes to us and show respect without judging the giver or what is received, it becomes benevolence in its highest form. In this way, munay and anyi are interconnected.

Ayni is the central code of the Q’ero and the root principle of Andean values. Ayni is deeper than mutual respect and helping others, however. It implies the conscious and willing acknowledgment of the interconnection between humans and the natural world that sustains them. Traditionally, this takes the form of ritual offerings to Pachamama, the Apus (the mountain spirits), Awikuna (nature spirits), Qhaqya (the thunder spirit) in despacho ceremonies.
To the Andean, the Earth is not just our world, but is shared by all things visible and invisible. Interchange between these is the work of the Q’ero shaman-priest, paqo. The ceremonies that Andean paqos perform are symbolic acts of reciprocity.