In Hawaiian Philosophy of Life Part 1 I covered a little bit about the Hawaiian philosophy of Huna. The teachings of Huna came to western minds via the research and investigation of Max Freedom Long who learned them from William Tufts Brigham, a man that had spent forty years living in Hawaii studying the secret Huna philosophy. Mr. Brigham found quickly that it wasn’t so easy to study Hawaiian secrets.

Asking the few Kahunas (Hawaiian spiritual guides or sorcerers) that existed in Hawaii about the Huna was not met with any success. The Kahuna would not speak with him about it. Afterall, Huna means, “secret”. It wouldn’t be Huna anymore if they told him! The Huna were passed on from generation to generation of Kahunas (Hawaiian priests) by mouth and were never written down. However, there were many pieces found in chants, prayers and songs that the researchers were able to find.

Eventually Mr. Brigham re-translated the chants and prayers that he was able to find in ancient documents, basing his translation on the root Hawaiian words. This new translation opened the doors to Huna’s true meanings.

The core idea of Huna philosophy is similar to what Freud revealed about our inner psychology and yet the Hawaiian ideas were quite a bit more meta-physical The Huna taught that we as humans are comprised of 3 selves, or 3 minds. An easy English translation of these would be to name them: subconscious; conscious; and the superconscious minds.

The subconscious mind is called the “Unihipili” or low self.

UNIHIPILI

• Thought to be like a child. It needs to be loved, and it needs to be treated firmly and in a disciplined manner
• This part of mind brings the unconscious material to the awareness of the conscious mind so that the conscious mind may weigh it, and judge for or against it’s importance to the issue(s) at hand.
• The low self is the repository of all memory including those regarding emotions and feelings. This is similar to the reasoning that an animal may possess. Base-level memories and emotions.
• The term “low” refers to the place in consciousness it resides and is not meant as a reference to where it lies in the heirarchy of the importance of the selves.
• The low self’s center rests in the solar plexus, and not in the head.

The Kahunas referred to the conscious mind as “Uhane”, or middle self.

UHANE

• Conscious of itself and existence in reality as the individual knows it.
• Ability to reason with logic.
• Has free will, along with the “low self” to create as it wishes.
• The middle self is like the parent of the low self
• Resides in the head.

The third self or mind is the high self, called the “Aumakua” by the Hawaiian Kahuna.

AUMAKUA

• The high self appears to be comparable to Freud’s super-ego in that it knows the rules that were learned over time and is like the parent in that it looks at all the selves or minds and takes into consideration all the information before acting or making decisions.
• This higher self lives at a higher plane of consciousness that is said to exist outside of the limitations of the physical body.
• It will not intervene in the day to day life of the individual unless asked to do so.
• Not interfering until being asked appears to be a cosmic law that the high self must follow.
• This mind or self expresses all the divine qualities like compassion, patience, love, forgiveness
• Considered to be a combined community of spirits
• Considered to be a perfect blending of masculine and feminine, an androgynous self.
• Considered to have individual identity and be a blending of all other high selves at the same time. Interconnected consciousness.

The Aumakua is rather fascinating when examined at some depth. It is the self that directs non-physical matters like dreams and intuitions through using the subconscious self or low self. Hawaiian Kahunas tell us that it is the high self that forms your life by influencing your thoughts, hopes, desires, wants, needs, and fears in the layers of the middle and low selves.

The Aumakua is believed to have the capability to foresee the future. As one’s thoughts change in the low and middle selves from one day to the next, so to does the future of the person change. Huna teaches that the low and middle self communicate with the high self during the sleep process. Getting enough rest is a good idea. The Kahuna believe that during sleep the thoughts that you had during the day, the ideas, the feelings, the experiences that you had are all reviewed at night time as you sleep and are somehow manifested to become your future through some unexplained, magical way.

To help us live an optimal life each of the 3 selves plays a vital role in our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Another belief, (2nd) in the Hawaiian philosophy of our selves or minds is the belief that there is a vital force, or an energy force within the body. This energy can be said to have 3 levels. The lowest level corresponds with the low self, the Unihipili. When the energy is there it is a certain level. When the energy or force moves to the middle self, Uhane, it is believed to be raised to a higher level. Likewise, when the energy is located in the area of the high self, Aumakua, it is said to be at it’s most powerful level. This basic energy flow changes constantly as the needs of the body and mind change.

Thirdly there is the matter of matter. Huna tells us that the 3 selves each have a “shadow body”. These are bodies that exist beyond the physical plane, and yet are very real. These shadow bodies exist not only for each of the selves, but for absolutely everything that exists in the material world as we know it: rocks, trees, fish, and boar. These shadow bodies are like exact duplicates of everything. They are like copies of the physical thing in energy form. They bind all physical things together through their energy bonds.

The shadow body of the low self is believed to be an energy formed replica of every tissue and system in our physical bodies. The low self’s shadow body, if we could see it, would look just like our physical body. Kahunas teach that all memory is stored in this shadow body of the lower self, including emotions and feelings. Huna teaches that all memory is stored in this shadow body of the low self. The shadow bodies for the low self and middle selves are said to penetrate the physical body and reside there.

The high self, Aumakua has a shadow body also. It does not reside within the body at all but is said to be connected to the Unihipili by means of a silver cord, an energy cord.

For the 3 selves to communicate - to work with each other in a dynamic fashion they must be connected by some method. Kahunas tell us that there is a sticky and elastic energy substance they term, “aka” that does this. Aka is a perfect conductor of the energy needed for the 3 selves to communicate with each other.

The lower self is said to be able to morph into the shape of a connective thread between the middle and high selves.

When one uses the threads often and has a continuous interaction between the low, middle and high selves these threads are said to develop into thicker cords. eloped these aka threads into aka cords. Thoughts, ideas, emotions in the form of energy travel along these threads and cords seamlessly between the layers.

In your daily life every time you are interacting with others in the world you are sending out - and they are sending out, aka threads that connect you. These long sticky threads enable communication, and if reinforced with a lot of contact and communication the threads can also become thick cords. I imagine husband and wife have quite an aka cord between them!

Communication between people that are not physically together in close proximity is possible according to Huna and is explained by saying that the communication is enabled by these long aka cords or threads.

So, up to this point we understand that shadow bodies exist for all the 3 selves and for every physical thing in the universe. But, there’s more. Every thought in your mind has it’s own shadow body around it! Each thought that forms is connected with threads between the thoughts that came prior to that thought and after it.

Did you ever notice how your thoughts are connected along the same line? I used to do a psychology experiment on my own and ask people to write down a word and then the next word that comes to mind. I know you’ve heard of something like this, but this is more like a chain. It’s not that I give you one word and you write down a word and I give you another word. I give you one word and you write the whole list - triggering each successive word from the one before.

It’s interesting. Invariably you come back full-circle. Try it. Start with the word love and write the next word… for me it would be “family”. Then, look at family and write the next word that comes to mind… Follow this word link process by writing them all down with a dash between them - like an aka thread holding them all together. You can almost imagine the aka holding these words together in a chain. If you watch your thoughts you can see the same thing. When I meditate I see how one thought is linked to the one that came before it. They can be linked in the smallest way, but still it’s enough to generate the next thought… cool to watch.

So, how can you use the wisdom of the ancient Hawaiians and their Huna beliefs to help you in everyday life? For me it helps by giving me a different way to picture things that I can’t see. I know there are parts of the mind - or areas of the mind that are different. I know that! I can’t see them - so it’s nice to see alternative explanations than just the western ones that have been presented to me growing up in middle America.

The idea about each thing, thought, and part of our minds having shadow selves is interesting because, again, when I’ve meditated I’ve felt this energy force that seems to pervade the entire universe. I’ve felt that it’s all interconnected and not separate entities. It’s as if “I” am not separate from it either - I am part of the same life-force, or energy force I guess would be more appropriate since rocks don’t have life - but they are included in the feeling about the energy that pervades everything.

Best of Life!

Stay tuned for the last in this 3 part series… Hawaiian Philosophy of Life: Reality >

3 Part Series on the ancient Hawaiian philosophy of life, and how their beliefs then can help us now.

Part 1: Hawaiian Philosophy of Life: The 7 Principles of Huna (this page)
Part 2: Hawaiian Philosophy of Self
Part 3: Hawaiian Levels of Reality

My favorite part of the world is Hawaii. Any island. The scenery is incomparable. The power of the elements, the water, the wind, the earth, all combine to form this awe-inspiring surreal experience that makes me feel so insignificant in the big scheme of things. The people have a spirit that is so free and loving and contagious that one can’t help feel at home here.

I can only imagine what it must have been like to experience this great place so many years ago before millions of tourists per year started visiting. I wish I could have seen Hawaii in the early 1900’s when the likes of Jack London was visiting and writing his, “Tales of Hawaii” stories. The culture, the people, the pure base experience of being in Hawaii during that time is beyond my imagination. I can read (and have) Mr. London’s stories over and over and over… each time soaking in the magical words and producing incredible visuals in my head of the characters and settings.

I lived in Hawaii, on the island of Oahu for 4 years while stationed in the U.S. Air Force at Hickam Air Force Base from 1985-1988. Then again on Oahu and Maui in 2002 and 2003. I’ve since returned as I can’t come up with any other place I’d rather spend the rest of my life. It is a truly magical place. Though many of the old traditions have been eroded through time one can still get in touch with those traditions through reading about the history of the islands as well as visiting many historical places located throughout “our” 50th state.

This is the first of a 3-part series focusing on the wisdom of Hawaiian people of long ago. These secret ancient beliefs, Huna, are still of great value and importance for our lives now, and though you may have heard of some of the ideas presented here, you’ve likely not heard them presented quite like this. Some of the ideas are new concepts to us even today. Never before under another name have we seen these concepts grouped together as a life philosophy or guide to knowledge about the world that we live in.

This first part in the Hawaiian philosophy of life series is about the seven principles of “Huna”…

Huna is said to have been developed tens of thousands of years ago by ancestors of present-day Hawaiians in Polynesia. Hawaiian beliefs, religion, or philosophy are linked strongly with their observation of nature, human beings, and flora and fauna around them. Through these observations they sought to make sense of themselves and the world around them and eventually developed some basic “truths” that explained life. These ideas, or this life philosophy one might call it, they named, “Huna”.

The word “Huna” means literally, “secret” and also it refers to the esoteric wisdom of Polynesia. But, like many Hawaiian words, Huna means more than just secret…it can mean “inner knowing” or “hidden knowledge”… it is sort of like the reason behind why all things are as they are. It is the ultimate knowledge about life and this world.

The Seven Hawaiian Huna
Principles of Life:

IKE
KALA
MAKIA
MANAWA
ALOHA
MANA
PONO

IKE (ee-kay).
What we believe is what is real for us. Our ideas create our reality. The world is exactly what you think it is. Nothing more, nothing less. Another way of saying it is that our experience of reality is coming from the inside… from our experiences, our memories, our thoughts, beliefs, ideas, our desires and ambitions. Everything that we experience is phenomenological - which means, specific to ourselves. IKE means that our reality that we experience here during life is flavored by all that we’ve experienced in the past and how the past has molded our minds and personalities to be the way that we are.

KALA.
No limits exist. That which we see as limiting, that which we fear we cannot overcome or surpass… exists in our minds only. If we want to accomplish something we can accomplish it, but we must conquer the mind before the milestone. The limits of the mind are created by the past environment the individual experienced while growing up as a child and adult. All experience contributes to the state of the mind and personality, and it is through this mind that things are experienced and feared. The limits that we see are limits imposed on us by our own minds and are not factual limits imposed by the universe, or something outside of ourselves.

We can only create goals and make decisions related to goals by ignoring the limits that we set for ourselves. If we don’t change what we think are limits - then we never fully enjoy life outside the confines of what our own minds limit us to. If we don’t surpass the limits we live a generic life that could not compare to a life without limits.

MAKIA (mah-kee-ah).
Energy flows where attention goes. Wherever there is a flow of energy and attention, events are created. This is a fundamental principle of creating results. Attention + Energy + Ideas + Action = Results. Wherever your attention is, there is your life. If you focus on your business with the majority of your time then your business is the area of life where you will create the most events and results, both positive and negative. If your focus is primarily on your family life, then that is where energy flows and events are born.

Where does our attention naturally focus? For some, it is the result of their past and all that combined to create who they are. But, you know what? You can choose anytime to change your focus! I can change my focus today from being a blogger that talks about positive personal development issues to being an advocate for the homeless and never touch another computer in my life. It is entirely possible. Our attention, when left alone - will naturally gravitate towards that which has influenced our minds as “important” to pay attention to. For some this is a good thing because they naturally gravitate toward areas that will bring them incredible success and fulfillment in their lives. For others, they might gravitate toward alcohol or drugs and the short-lived pleasure they provide. Others might naturally put their attention on themselves and be withdrawn, anti-social, and selfish. Others might want to help the world live better. Every one of us has a different area our attention goes naturally. It is by choosing to focus our attention on what we WANT that we will break the natural flow of that process and snap us into a new focus for our attention.

MANAWA.
Now is the moment of power. The past and future hold no real power because there is nothing we can do with either one of them. Think about it, what can we do with the past right now? Nothing. What can we do with the future right now? Nothing. There is no cause and effect action we can take right now to change the past or future directly. Impossible. So, what can we do?

Act now. All the power for changing your life exists only in the immediate present. There is no other time. It’s an abstract concept, and yet it shouldn’t be. The reason it seems foreign to us is that we are living in the past or the future for most of our lives. I’d say 99% of our lives is spent living in the past or future. Do you agree with that or no? Here’s why I think that. When you are eating your food at any meal… where is your attention? Where are your thoughts? You might guess that they are on your food, you’d be wrong in most cases. When we eat - our minds are on the future or past. When we talk on the phone to someone, our minds are in the future or the past. We are rarely really present with the person and listening and HEARING as they speak. Our thought runs off into the future as we formulate the next few sentences the speaker has inspired. We don’t listen and we don’t DO in the present.

Try this simple exercise. Try to keep your attention in the present for just one minute. Can you do that? No thoughts about the future, just experience what you are doing right now - for one minute.

That is what the present looks like. We are so rarely there! Can you see that the present is where we can perform action that matters for the future… and maybe erases the past? It actually becomes the past once we’ve done it - so we can positively affect the past and future by acting in the present - but not affect anything by being focused on the past or present.

ALOHA!
Aloha means many things, but in one word perhaps it’s best described as “love”. Love is happiness. Aloha is a caring for others as well as or as much as for your own self. It’s an unselfish love, “agape love” it’s called by some. But in the spirit of Hawaii Aloha means so many things. It is like an underlying tone for living life. In Thailand where I spent some years they have an underlying tone of “mai pen rai” (may ba ly) which means, no matter. The Australians say, “no worries”. The Hawaiians use the idea of Aloha to define their society, their relationship with each other and their philosophy of life. It is with “aloha spirit” that all things are done. Not meant to harm and not meant to cause unhappiness to others.

Aloha has so many meanings, Hawaiian historian Serge Kahili King says…

The Aloha Spirit is a well known reference to the attitude of friendly

acceptance for which the Hawaiian Islands are so famous. However, it

also refers to a powerful way to resolve any problem, accomplish any

goal, and to achieve any state of mind or body that you desire.

In the Hawaiian language, aloha stands for much more than just

“hello” or “goodbye” or “love.” Its deeper meaning is “the joyful (oha)

sharing (alo) of life energy (ha) in the present (alo).”

MANA.
Mana is power or energy. All power comes from within. Hawaiian belief is that Mana is the name for the one source of all the power that exists in the universe. This power is universal and flows through not only us, but through animals and plants, the foundation of the earth, the skies and planets, and everything that we know exists. It’s a life energy so to speak. This Mana flows through us and gives us the power to do what we believe we can do. The power to do anything that we decide to do and that we take action towards.

Vipassana meditation can bring an individual to the point of knowing this universal energy. After a couple months of practice I experienced some phenomena that were extraordinary and impossible to describe with words. The essence of the experience, and it recurred many times, is that I felt the connection between all things. I felt the energy and had a knowledge of this energy that was flowing through all things - or perhaps comprised all things. I wonder if there was some meditation type experience that the Hawaiians practiced. I must research that a bit.

PONO.
Effectiveness is the measure of truth. A method, a plan, certain actions, when put in motion may work. If they work, that is all you need to be concerned with. There are many ways to do most things. Don’t pigeon-hole yourself into thinking that you can only accomplish something in one way or that there is only one truth. For instance, how many ways are there that someone could find happiness? A million? How many ways could someone cook a fish? Create a pyramid? Make money to buy a car? Because you see someone accomplish something using one method, do not believe that there is just that one method. There are likely many more ways to go about it. There are always alternatives to what you’re doing is the crux of “Pono”.

These 7 principles of life, these Huna, are so appropriate for living our lives even today, don’t you think? It’s a philosophy of life that is positive and helps us believe that there are no limits to what might be accomplished. Personally I love the ideas presented here and though I’ve heard some of them before it’s particularly fun to know that people over 30,000 years came up with these same ideas. It makes me think that the ideas have even more truth to them because we still believe them now.

I’d encourage you to research more into the ancient writings of Hawaiian culture. There are some fascinating topics. Did you know that the Hawaiian people of the past practiced human sacrifice? Yes, it’s true… Look up “Heiau” on the internet. These were sacred areas where Hawaiians gathered for prayers to the gods and where sometimes human sacrifices took place. I’ve seen Heiau’s on Oahu and Maui and they are quite eery places if one remembers some of what was said to have gone on there.

Best of Life!

In the next 2 parts of this series we will cover:

Part 2: Hawaiian Philosophy of Self
Part 3: Hawaiian Levels of Reality

Hawaii is filled with so many inspiring things to see and to do.

Pi Hea Trail, Kauai, Hawaii (click for video)

When I land here and step out of the plane - everything is magic. It’s the same everytime I return. It’s as if I cannot BELIEVE my good fortune to be able to LIVE in this place. So few people call Hawaii their home for any length of time, it’s really a phenomenal state of being to live here and experience some of what Hawaii gives.

For me - I feel the most inspiration when I’m either in the water or hiking up a trail on one of the many mountain hikes.

I could talk about the water of Hawaii, the ocean, the streams, for hours… many future posts coming on that subject…

The mountains are so soul-inspiring that it’s like another world. I remember the first time I came through the Pali tunnel which cuts through a part of the Ko’olau mountain range in the Northeast part of the island. I was driving and yet I could barely focus on the winding road. The beauty, the absolute amazingness of the mountains and view is enough to cause a car crash. There are some bad accidents that seem to occur often there.

Hawaii is so beautiful and so special that you might ask yourself like I do… “Am I cool enough to be here?”

And though it feels like home because it’s so welcoming, you may never really feel like you belong. You KNOW you’re going home at some point, and as much as you’d like to call it home it usually isn’t on your first visit. But, I’ve been there for 6 years off and on and this time, it’s HOME!

The video I wanted to share with you today was made a few years back on a visit to Kauai, “The garden isle”. Kauai is incredibly lush with vegetation and there is little development. It’s a favorite for most people as they envision that this is what they expected Hawaii to be like. There are a couple small towns around the island, but overall the island maintains it’s old Hawaiian charm.

I stayed for 3 days during this trip and I always go to some of the same places each time I visit.

This heavenly place is located near the “Little Grand Canyon of the Pacific” also known as Waimea Canyon on the West side of Kauai. There are signs to “Pi Hea Trail” from the main road and it’s not a very far walk to reach this spot. The trail goes on from here, but I usually just stop and stare for a half hour, eating a fruit snack if I had the foresight to bring one.

This is a great vantage spot to view the Ni’ihau mountain range as the short hike goes by this cliff where the view is just awesome. We were at cloud level and then we noticed there were clouds climbing up the ridge and soon they crested over the top and enveloped us in cloud mist. If you’ve never been standing in the clouds before you must experience it. This happens at many of the mountain peaks on Oahu, Maui, and Kauai. I’ve not been to the Big Island but I imagine it’s similar.

When it’s hits you it feels like a cool, fresh spray of the finest mist. It is not at all overpowering… very light, crisp… an absolutely amazing experience that you can’t miss during your lifetime.

Come to Hawaii and stand in the clouds!

CLICK >> Video of Cloud coming over ridge in Kauai >

[ Video is about 10MB and should download quickly with a fast connection ]

Kauai is AWESOME!

Isn’t it?

Best of Life!

In a past life I was a photographer in New York City.

In 1989 I left what I thought was an expensive $800 per month studio flat in Honolulu, Hawaii with views overlooking Magic Island park across from the Ala Moana Shopping Center. I moved with my new wife to a brownstone in New York City between 2nd and 3rd Avenues that was $1000 per month AND we had to walk up many steps to reach our apartment on the 6th floor…

New York City is a city of contrasts. The wealthy and the pennyless. There are people walking up and down the street that are worth anywhere from zero dollars to hundreds of millions of dollars. I saw Donald Trump many times… I believe he was worth over 1 billion at some point if my memory is correct.

As a photographer I would walk the streets and take photographs all day long if I wasn’t working at one of my other photography related jobs. Sometimes I would walk for 15 hours up and down the streets of Manhattan. Of course I’d sit occasionally and wait for something to happen. It was a really wonderfully freeing past time. I took paparazzi photos, artistic color slide photos, advertising photos and even shot models portfolio photos. Incredible thing to do - be a photographer in New York City. I made barely enough to survive, but still - wow, what an experience.

I have stories about things I’ve learned as a result of being in New York City from 1989 to 1991 that I’ll share with you here as this blog matures. I just wanted to share some black and white photography with you that I put into a portfolio of sorts with Adobe Acrobat.

Unfortunately Adobe thinks PDF’s should not be of black background and so it changed the settings to create a white background for all the images and changed the text to black. I really don’t understand the wisdom of it - yes, it will help someone print it without using their entire store of black ink. Wouldn’t it make more sense to ask the user just before printing it out?

So, to me it looks 80% better with a black background. If you want it to have a black background you can alter the settings in your reader by following these links in Acrobat reader:

Edit | Preferences | Accessibility | Choose the checkbox for “Replace document colors” | Custom Color radio button (circle) | Page background - turn to black | Document text - turn to white | OK

If anyone knows how to make Adobe Acrobat Professional save my Word doc with black backgrounds as black - please write me!

These images were taken in 1989 and maybe 1990. They are mostly of homeless people, though there is a fight, some accident footage and some other demonstration type photos that are included.

When I get my hard drive from my brother in New York I will be able to put together a much better portfolio including John F. Kennedy, Jr., his mom, Woody Allen, and some other artsy type photos to balance out all the negativity.

Until then, enjoy these! New York City Photographer Black and White Portfolio e-book >

If you have any questions - just let me know by comments.

Thanks!

Best of Life!