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Aloha My Friends,

Today is day one being totally raw. I feel ok, a big headach, but good other than that. Below is something that I keep near to keep me focused on life and how I want to live everyday. I just thought I would share it.


The Way of Aloha ~

The word Hawaii is not only the name of an extraordinarily beautiful group of islands in the Pacific Ocean, but it is also the name of the people who settled there long ago. The spoken language of the ancient Hawaiians was Polynesian, and developed from their relationship with the beauty and natural diversity that surrounded them. Tied so closely to nature, the Hawaiian language literally vibrates with deep and spiritual meaning rooted in the natural elements that surround us.

Hawaiian words are born of natural concepts and have many meanings, each of which is determine by the context in which they are used. The world 'HA-WAI-I' expresses several root meanings:

HA: the Sacred Breath of the Creation of Life

WAI: the Sacred Water that Sustains Life, a symbol of great abundance

I: emphasizes what comes before it

HA-WAI-I can therefore be interpreted as "the people and the place gifted with an abundance of the forces that create and sustain life". The people and the islands are called Hawaii and Aloha is their way of life.

Ancient Hawaiian life was enamored of Nature as divine energy. Songs and chants praised the moon and the stars, the rivers and the flowers, the wind, the creatures of the sea, and the beautiful island paradise of Hawaii. Hawaiian songs related to the rhythm and movements of nature. Believing that the center of the universe exists in all beings and things, the ancient Hawaiians knew compassion, patience and joy, developing a deep respect for nature and the Akua (Spirit-in-all-things).

As a tourist in Hawaii, you might be given an aloha from the locals at the luau, but you'll have to look much deeper to find the roots of the word Aloha which extend to the ancient spiritual philosophy of Huna (secret knowledge). Commonly, Aloha is used both in greeting and in parting. It is also said to mean "love surrounds you" offering friendliness, acceptance and kindly blessings. Aloha is an all-encompassing concept that can be translated as "a way of being with and in the presence of Spirit". Huna master, Serge Kahili King, calls it "the joyful sharing of life energy in the present".

'The Way of Aloha' addresses a prevalent modern complaint--most of us in the world today have been trained to respond to life as warriors. We've been taught that the world is a dangerous place--the root belief of the warrior. "The world is a loving place" is the root belief of Aloha. Reacting to life as a warrior is sometimes easier for us, simply because it is what we are taught from our cultural heritage. And, in our history, it is a path which has proven to be effective at least for the short term. Serge King says that, as warriors, we will emphasize danger, the destruction of enemies, and the cultivation of allies. As a group, we've been taught that to succeed, we must 'conquer or be conquered.'

In contrast, 'The Way of Aloha' is a practice that emphasizes acceptance, forgiveness and cooperation through the development of spiritual awareness. It is the cultivation of Mana (divine inner-power), friendship and unity, a very real and easily integrated practice of skills that allows the individual to explore existing personal realities while simultaneously immersing oneself in the ethic of true acceptance. "Love and be loved" the ideal of Aloha, is a very active yet nonviolent path, a practice of non-judgment. In Aloha, one asks, "What can I give?" rather than, "What can I get?"

'The Way of Aloha' perceives life as a series of circumstances that we attract to ourselves, gleaning from them opportunities that allow us to act more consciously and effectively, monitoring our growth by perceiving and evaluating our choices. Aloha will bring you a new response to your life, creating Pono harmony and balance in your relationships. Pono is being open and flexible in your thinking of how you will receive the answer to a prayer or a desired outcome. Sometimes it requires that you don't think, and you just hold the focus lovingly, pray about it, or simply give it up to God.

Mana is the principle of divine inner power that is essential to the Aloha philosophy. It encompasses the idea that each one of us has the authority to think for ourselves and live our own truth. As Serge King has stated, "all power comes from within". There is no need for protection when one's root belief about life is that 'the world is a loving place'. Each of us can choose to refuse into our personal space anything or anyone with which we do not resonate. Within us is the center of the universe where we find the living God, Aumakua. When we truly attune ourselves to this divine Source, we find it to be infinite in both scope and power. It is we who have the choice of how to use this awesome power. The warrior will use it to destroy enemies, within and without. 'The Way of Aloha' teaches us to find or create ways to use it for the benefit of society, and to heal ourselves and others.

Interestingly, the way of the warrior and 'The Way of Aloha' can accomplish the same goals using entirely different approaches. If you were to meet the highest masters of either path, chances are you could not tell them apart!
In the ancient Hawaiian tradition, this Mana was used very wisely. When a boy became a man or a girl became a woman, the Kupuna (elders) would send them to a sacred temple to be transformed by a deep-tissue-massage/dance-turned-spiritual-awakening called Lomilomi. Each individual would immerse themselves into this awakening process until their spiritual, sexual and creative energies were fully integrated and aligned. This powerful ritual initiation assisted each youth in adjusting to and accepting the joining of heaven and earth in their body. When the Kahuna (Master) determined that the youth was ready to become an adult, he would send them back to the village a more fully integrated human being.

This sacred Lomilomi Temple-style massage ritual is helping many people today all over the world move gracefully through profound changes by allowing them to access the deep Aloha (wholeness) in their being. In 1986, a Kahuna named Abraham Kawai'i brought this sacred knowledge out of the Hawaiian temples and into the global mainstream. It is now possible to study this beautiful and powerful art form of transformational healing.

Essential to creating a life of community living is the idea of Kahi, oneness, and Lokahi, unity. To practice Aloha, we need to give up our deeply rooted assumption that we are all separate--to feel our inner connections with all people, places, and things. It's the belief that we are all separate that enables us to dump raw sewage into our beloved Kai (oceans) and spill each other's blood in war, (our ultimate miscreation!) which contradicts our most basic human need: to love and to be loved, the spiritual law of Aloha.

Aloha is pure joy. It's also the fragrance and color of a beautiful flower, the sound of children laughing, and the taste of ripe tropical fruit dripping with nectar. Aloha is the wondrous rhythm of Life, as well as the Spirit in and behind all Creation. 'The Way of Aloha' can be practiced and experienced anywhere, any time and with anyone. It is a path of love, harmony and appreciation for the beauty in all things and it is only available in the eternal moment of manawa (now). There is a saying in the book Conversations with God that helps me to remember where to find Paradise: "When I don't go within, I go without!"

Please take a moment now and just say the word slowly: A-l-o-h-a. Say it again even more slowly: A-L-O-H-A. Taste it in your heart, and feel it in your body! Close your eyes and feel your energy change as you say it a few more times, letting it in while breathing deeply for one full minute can change your day, your mood and your life. Feel the warm loving feeling this generates--the sun is shining in your heart! This is the great gift of Aloha. Enjoy!

E ho'omaika'i O la'a kea me ke aloha pau ole
Blessings of sacred light and everlasting love.

Kai Konane