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 cant 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 1900s 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. Londons 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. Ive since returned as I cant come up with any other place Id 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, youve 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 secretit 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 weve 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 dont 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 dont 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. Its an abstract concept, and yet it shouldnt be. The reason it seems foreign to us is that we are living in the past or the future for most of our lives. Id say 99% of our lives is spent living in the past or future. Do you agree with that or no? Heres 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, youd 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 dont listen and we dont 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 weve 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 its best described as love. Love is happiness. Aloha is a caring for others as well as or as much as for your own self. Its an unselfish love, agape love its 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. Its 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. Dont 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 youre doing is the crux of Pono. These 7 principles of life, these Huna, are so appropriate for living our lives even today, dont you think? Its 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 Ive heard some of them before its 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. Id 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, its 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. Ive seen Heiaus on Oahu and Maui and they are quite eery places if one remembers some of what was said to have gone on there.

Part 2 - Hawaiian Philosophy of Self

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 wasnt 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 wouldnt 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 Hunas 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 its 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. Baselevel 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 hierarchy of the importance of the selves. The low selfs 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 Freuds 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 ones 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 its 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 selfs 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, theres more. Every thought in your mind has its 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 youve heard of something like this, but this is more like a chain. Its 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. Its 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 its 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 cant see. I know there are parts of the mind - or areas of the mind that are different. I know that! I cant see them - so its 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 Ive meditated Ive felt this energy force that seems to pervade the entire universe. Ive felt that its all interconnected and not separate entities. Its 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 dont have life - but they are included in the feeling about the energy that pervades everything.

Part 3: Hawaiian Levels of Reality

This is the last in a 3-part series about different parts of ancient Hawaiian Philosophy of Life. We went over a small part of what ancient Hawaiian people came to believe through the teaching of their Kahuna or priests. We have already covered the 7 Principles of Huna, The 3 Selves or Minds, and today we will cover briefly the 4 levels of Reality ancient Hawaiians believed in. The levels themselves are simple in meaning, though not all that simple to say and they categorize all

experience into these four levels or categories of belief: Ike Papakahi covers Objective reality. Ike Papalua covers Subjective reality Ike Papakolu covers Symbolic reality Ike Papaha covers Wholistic reality The kupua (Hawaiian priest, shaman, or sorcerer) learned to move between these realities to change experience more definitively.

Ike Papakahi - Objective reality (facts) This level is taken to mean our conscious and physical state of the body. This level is an objective state of being that is outside the context of being interconnected with the world. This view extends to other life forms as well. The plants are separate from each other. A banana tree is separate from a coconut or Durian tree. The fruit of the tree is separate from the roots and branches and trunk of the tree which are all separate from each other. In this reality everything is separate and can be looked at in a different and unique way. In the case of the trees for instance the leaves might be used to create some medicine. The trunk for wood to build something. The roots to steep tea. The fruit - to be eaten by hungry Hawaiians that have been surfing or hunting all day! When we look at the organism in terms of it being a combination of all the elements that make it up and each of the elements as having completely different uses and functions then we can expand our knowledge about that organism. In the same way we can look at ourselves Our minds have different parts. We have a logical part of our mind, a realistic part, a common sense part, an emotional part, an inquisitive part, and so many more different parts that we can say comprise the one mind. Each part responds differently to stimuli and thought. Each one contributes MUCH to our lives. We have a foot that is different from our neck which is different from our hair which is different from our gonads. Yet, taken together - they form a piece of the puzzle creating one thing, us. Separately - they perform very different functions. In this level of reality if you trip over your shoe-string there is an objective reason for it. Your shoe string is too long, or it became untied because it wasnt tied tightly enough to start with or some other variables entered the equation like maybe it began to rain and that loosened the knot. Ike Papalua - Subjective reality (psychic) This view of reality is where intuition, psychic or telepathic experiences, and all other input outside of the objective facts is taken into account. It is a reality that differs with each individual.

All things are connected in this realm of reality. We are not separate from anything - not as a hand to the body and not as our whole self in relation to the table, computer, wall, tree, flower, and other people. We feel a connection with things at times like we feel a connection with people that cannot be explained, it is just there. When we are alone with an animal or with our garden we might feel connected to them on some level. When we are affected by something that we believe has power - a cross, an image of Buddha, a Pentagram, these are subjective reality influences that are specific to you and that mean something to you. There is a connection between you and the things that you feel connected with. This level of reality would include other ways to access and collect information from sources that are outside of the factual arena things like tarot cards, crystal balls, good luck charms, a deceased persons cremation ashes, crystals, stones, types of metals are all used to give us a different take on objective reality. In this level of reality if your shoestring became untied you might reason that it was a dead-relative or a ghost that untied it - either to do you harm, or to do you good so you slow down and dont forget something. Ike Papakolu - Symbolic reality (shamanic) In this level of reality all of our experience is seen as a dream. Everything is dreaming its own dream. If we look at another person - they are part of our dream. If we interact with that person - that too - is part of the dream. If we are dreaming at night and we are seeing whole scenes of life playing out before us the whole point of the dream is the symbolic meaning of the scenes playing out. In this view, even our experiences during our 16 hours were awake everyday are experiences that are put into symbols as they enter the storage of our minds. They are recalled as symbols, no the real experience. I can remember my sisters 1 year old birthday party when I was just 3 years old. Does that mean that I can recall objectively what happened at the party? No. I remember the feelings - the basic symbols that were stored in my mind about that time. Everyone was happy and asking me about my sister and if I loved her. I remember that they talked more to me than my sister because she couldnt speak - just eat. I remember how they were so gentle with her and took care of her like a precious doll. The security, the safety, the warm loving feeling, the happiness of a celebration. These are the things I remember, not the objective facts. In this way, our whole lives can be said to play out. We interpret everything going on around us as symbolic in nature - and its phenomenological. It means, specific to each person. So, here already we have 2 realities to one that deal with experiences speicifc to the individual and not necessarily shared between people as objective facts are.

When we look at a tree, we recall what a tree is. The symbol for a tree is what we see - not the tree in front of us. The tree becomes a reflection of - a mirror of the symbols in our mind about the tree. There is not any sense of believing in the idea of coincidence in this level of reality. Everything is a symbol for something. If you trip over your shoe string, it has a deeper meaning. If you mean to say, societal and you say, sexual. It is no accident - there is a meaning as to why it happened as it did. Freud liked this same idea, and attributed things to the unconscious mind giving us a message. If you kill a dog as you drive your new Lexus SUV it means something. The type of dog or color of dog may mean something. Carl Jung and Alan Watts produced some outstanding work on symbols if you want to dig into it a little deeper. Ike Papaha - Holistic reality (mystical) This level of reality is the holistic or mystical level. The reality is that everything in the universe is as one. You, your friend, your CD Player, your mp3 player, your table, bed, bottled water and bra are all made of the same stuff. Everything is made up of the same energy, the same underlying building blocks of matter. There are no dichotomies of this vs. that in this level. Since it is all the same in the big picture, it is all the same in the small picture - in the details, as well. In this view of reality if you trip on your too-long shoelaces it is nothing to become upset at. There is no difference between you and the shoelaces. Everything is one - and your shoelaces are undone or they are tied, no matter. If you hit a dog in the road you might feel the pain of that dog dying on the side of the street and you might know that that dog is you and that you are also that dog. You are interconnected with everything so as a result you take care of everything, not just yourself. There can be no selfishness or preferential treatment towards something instead of another thing. You cannot treat other people badly because you realize that were all in this game together and that you dont want your actions to hurt others in any way.

Ultimately, reality is what you think it is

There is good reason that the molecular biologist, the Roman Catholic Pope, Alan Watts, and a fully-conscious Zen monk will not agree on WHY things happen as they do in this life. People today tend to live as believing one of the realities above, or maybe two - a blending of two. Everything that we experience is interpreted according to our own reality. A person that engages in swinging or polyamory has a different mindset than

myself. A person that attends a Christian church, Buddhist Temple or other religious service regularly and believes in their religion has a different reality than I do. I tend to identify with the scientific based fact reality since its what I feel good with. There are 2 other realities that strongly conflict with mine - and the holistic reality is somewhat comfortable to me because Ive meditated in the past and felt that oneness or connectivity between all things - all matter and organisms Yet it isnt something that base many decisions on. Each of us interprets in our own way and live our lives according to our beliefs about reality. None of us is correct absolutely - meaning that our interpretation cannot be good for others - but, its good for us because thats all we have. There is no universal reality that people share. Thats one thing that separates us all - we are profoundly different in this area as its very hard to find even 2 people that believe exactly the same about reality and interpreting experiences. The Kahuna, or the Hawaiian priest, practiced traveling in all these realms of reality to gain a greater more holistic understanding not only for himself, but for others so that he might share what he experienced and learned. If we can also do this - take the role of examining other realities away from the one or two that we traditionally live our entire lives in - we may become more rounded, operating from a higher plane or a more grounded center than we would without experimenting with other realities. Best of Life!