On Nov. 5 on a bright spring day – this is south of the equator – I was chanting at Machu Picchu. I travelled to the Andes after a week-long press tour of the Peruvian north coast. Machu Picchu is truly stunning and majestic. The place is crawling with tourists and hard to find solitude. But I discovered a small cave on the mountainside and sat just outside in the shade. Before me were glorious green-clad mountain tops amid the clouds. I meditated for a while and then began chanting "Esa eynai el he-harim" (I lift my eyes up to the mountains), composed from Psalm 121 by my teacher, Rabbi Shefa Gold.
On a short hike from the ruins to the Inca drawbridge through jungle foliage and butterflies, I wanted to chant something that reflects the area but I know no Quechua, the native language. So I used a phrase of Spanish, the language of the Incans' conquerors, "Vaya con Dios" (Go With God), with a melody that owes a lot to "The More We Get Together". It was my intention to plant seeds for Shefa's pilgrimage there in March.
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