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Post by girlscout on Mar 7, 2018 14:52:50 GMT
www.huna.org/html/ponorevealed.htmlHo'oponopono Revealed by Serge Kahili King (corrected version) Ho'oponopono is a Hawaiian word that is becoming quite well known all around the world. Unfortunately, all too often it is misinterpreted, misunderstood, and increasingly exploited. Recently, the French version of my book, Urban Shaman, which was called Chaman Aujourd'hui ("Today's Shaman"), received a new cover and title, Huna: a la Source d'Ho'oponopono (Huna: at the Source of Ho'oponopono"). This was a big surprise to me, since ho'oponopono isn't mentioned anywhere in the book. And a student even mentioned seeing "blue bottles of ho'oponopono" in a bookstore. Let's go to the source. The Hawaiian Dictionary, authored by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Elbert, defines ho'oponopono as "to put to rights; to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up, make orderly or neat, administer, superintend, supervise, manage, edit, work carefully and neatly; to make ready, as canoemen preparing to catch a wave." Language books on Hawaiian will often have a sentence like, E ho'oponopono i ka hale a me ka pa ("Tidy up the house and clean up the yard." This is the most common use of the word in Hawaiian. In 1972 the Queen Liliuokalani Chldren's Center and the Liliuokalani Trust published a book by Mary Kawena Pukui called Nana I Ke Kumu ("Look To The Source"), intended to be "a source book of Hawaiian cultural practices, concepts and beliefs." On page 60 of that book Pukui introduces the concept of ho'oponopono. In addition to the dictionary definitions, Pukui adds the meaning of "to restore and maintain good relationships among family, and family-and-supernatural powers." Also, "The specific family conference in which relationships were 'set right' through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, and mutual restitution and forgiveness." She then goes on to give case studies and details of the practice. This form of it was from her own family tradition, but it became what might be called the "Classic" form of ho'oponopono for family and group reconciliation. In 1976, according to the websites of Wikipedia and Amazing Women In History, Hawaiian healer Morrnah Simeona created a new system of ho'oponopono, influenced by her studies of Christianity, Eastern philosophies and the works of Edgar Cayce, but essentially based on her deep spirituality and broad knowledge of Hawaiian traditions. What made her system so different was that it was designed for individual practice without the need for a group. The basic practice designed by Morrnah was simply to express forgiveness for something on behalf of someone else. She used to visit battlefields and forgive all the anger and pain and suffering that happened there, and she would walk down the street and connect with the people who had placed coins in parking meters and ask forgiveness on their behalf. As she herself said, "Clean, erase, erase and find your own Shangri-La. Where? Within yourself. The process is essentially about freedom, complete freedom from the past." Her work is being carried on by Dr. Hew Len, who has emphasized the extension of one's identity to include anything or anyone else who needs healing. He developed the formulistic phrase "I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you." By repetition of these phrases a person was supposed to connect his or her own light with the light of the Divine Source and, over time, dissolve disharmonious patterns in the subconscious. Today this is probably the most well-known version of ho'oponopono as a healing practice outside of Hawaii. In the 1980s I began teaching ho'oponopono as a reconciliation technique the way I learned it from the Kahili family starting in the 1950s, and in the year 2000 I published the book Instant Healing in which I included a chapter describing that technique. To differentiate it from other forms of ho'oponopono I called it Kupono. It has both group and individual aspects. The group aspect resembles Pukui's version, but the individual aspect is for resolving individual problems. No doubt there are other forms of ho'oponopono available now, but these are the ones I know best. The important thing to know is that the concept of ho'oponopono is based on ancient Hawaiian tradition. Also, the word does not mean "forgiveness." It means "to set things right" in a morally correct way, regardless of how you do it. palm isle
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Post by girlscout on Jun 15, 2018 17:27:21 GMT
Self Mastery by Serge Kahili King Back when Aloha International was first being formed, we listed one of our goals as being "To provide the means for individuals to attain self-mastery." This sounds very well and good, but it means nothing until we have defined what we mean by "self-mastery." There are connotations to the word "mastery" that may lead some people to the wrong conclusions. If this word is taken in its sense of controlling or ruling, or exercising power over someone or something, then it is easy to imagine a kind of relationship with ourselves in which we use our will to browbeat our "self" into submission, put a leash on our emotions, and forcibly repress all our bad habits and tendencies. Such a course will unerringly lead to catastrophe. Mastery of this kind is nothing more than an ego trip based on a false premise. The false premise, of course, is that a person or thing can be beneficially controlled through the use of direct or implied force. Such an approach always generates fear and anger and the least amount of compliance possible. It amazes me that in spite of massive evidence showing that this is the most inefficient and ineffective way to get anyone to do anything, yet governments keep on doing it to to their people, and people keep on doing it to themselves. Those who suppress and repress with force do so because of their own fears. When the people running a government do it this results in a neurotic society, and when an individual does it personally it results in a neurotic individual. Sooner or later, that which is held in check through force of will is going to explode in destructive fury. Self-mastery of this type is closer akin to slow suicide. When Aloha International speaks of self-mastery, we are using mastery in its sense of having the ability to apply expert skill and knowledge. With respect to the self, this means having the knowledge and skill to properly direct the tremendous energies and talents of the self. It must of necessity include an understanding of yourself as a functioning entity in relation to the rest of the universe. This is self-mastery of the highest type: Knowing what you are, who you are, why you are, and where you are going; and also knowing how to get there. The last sentence above defines the individual goal. The goal of Aloha International, then, is to provide road maps, guidebooks, compasses, walking sticks, and hiking skills to individual men and women trodding their individual paths of life. www.huna.org/html/mastery.html
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Post by girlscout on Jun 15, 2018 17:33:51 GMT
PERSONAL SOVEREIGNTY by Serge Kahili King copyright by Serge King 1996 Personal sovereignty is an issue which affects each of us as individuals and as a society, whether we realize it or not. Understanding it can help us to interpret what is going on within us and around us. Increasing it can radically transform our existence. The word "sovereign" means to be in supreme authority over someone or something, and to be extremely effective and powerful. Therefore, it is usually applied to gods, royalty and governments. We speak of kings and queens as sovereigns (even when they are figureheads), and of the sovereign rights of nations and States. Personal sovereignty, then, would imply the intrinsic authority and power of an individual to determine his or her own direction and destiny. If that sounds suspiciously like free will, it's because personal sovereignty and free will are the same thing. Just as being a sovereign nation means having the right and power to make decisions and take actions in the national interest without being forced to by another nation, so being a sovereign person means being able to choose oneÌs actions and reactions without being forced to by another person. To the degree there is free will in all such choices, national or personal, there is sovereignty. Although sovereignty also means to be powerful and effective, it doesn't necessarily follow that once you have it you can do anything you want. Whether you are a nation or a person, you also have to consider the sovereignty of others. Of course, you could try to diminish or destroy the sovereignty of others to get what you want, the way nations and people sometimes do, but human experience shows that you can usually accomplish more by cooperating than by conquering. Ultimately, however, we each have only as much sovereignty as we can demonstrate. Having sovereign rights and being sovereign are not the same thing. The way to increase your personal sovereignty is to increase your use of free will. The way to do that is to decide for yourself what actions to take and reactions to have in any situation, and to decide for yourself how to interpret your actions and reactions whether they are freely chosen or not. For instance, if you work for someone and are ordered to do an unpleasant task, it can feel like you have lost some of your free will. But in addition to remembering that you can always quit, you can also decide for yourself that you are not working for the boss; you are providing a compensated service, and you can decide to do the task because you choose to, not because you are ordered to. The point is, you can always choose your actions and reactions. Beware, though. Personal sovereignty has a high price. It's called personal responsibility. As you increase your use of free will, you also increase your responsibility for your own actions and reactions. Increase it enough and you won't be able to blame your parents, your enemies, your friends, your lovers or spouse, society, fate, Satan or God for anything having to do with your experience. If a lot of people were to greatly increase their personal responsibility our society would undergo tremendous change. Co-dependent and manipulative relationships would all but disappear; untold numbers of trial lawyers would have to find new professions; politicians would be held accountable for their decisions; insurance companies would have to change a lot of policies; people of different faiths would be more tolerant of each other, humanity would act more from love than fear... Now what kind of world would that be? www.huna.org/html/perssov.html
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Post by girlscout on Jun 15, 2018 17:40:00 GMT
GETTING CENTERED by Serge Kahili King Although they use different terms for the concept, many religions and philosophies emphasize the high importance of "being centered." They may tell you in their own language to be centered in God, in Love, in Spirit, in Service, in Your Heart, in Beauty, in The Present Moment, or in the space two inches below your navel (which goes by many names in Eastern traditions). There's no doubt that it's a great idea to be there. I want to talk about how to get there. Naturally, I'm going to call upon Hawaiian tradition for help. The Hawaiian "place" for being centered is the piko , the navel, which also means a "center." One of the names for Easter Island is Ka Piko O Ke Ao , the "Navel of the World". Quite a number of ancient cities or areas have used that or a similar name for themselves, and that gives us a clue to a deeper meaning. In this respect it refers to "that point from which, toward which, and around which everything else moves." Literally and figuratively, the navel represents our connection to the source of life. Symbolically then, the navel is a direct conduit to the source itself, and to be centered in the navel is to be centered in the source. In case you are starting to wonder whether this is a promotion for meditating on one's navel, rest assured that it isn't. Navel meditation is a good technique for certain things, but my point is leading elsewhere. In Hawaiian culture the navel area is also the center for the "heart, mind, and feelings" because these are alternate meanings for the word na'au , "intestines." Another word, mana'o , relates to thought, mind, belief and opinion, but in addition to expectation, concentration and memory. Hawaiians recognized intellectual thought as being something quite different and associated it with the brain. Manawa , the key word for the Huna principle "Now is the moment of power," also means "heart, feelings, affections" in addition to "the crown of the head." To confuse you a little further before I make sense of all this, the word piko can be used for the crown of the head and the genitals, as well as the navel. Have patience, the point will be made. It seems reasonable to suppose that in order to be centered you have to know what centeredness is like. Surprisingly, very little is written or said about the experience itself. The terms "bliss" and "oneness" have been used a lot, but they don't really convey anything to someone who has never been there. It's like trying to describe your trip though the Sahara Desert to friends and family back in your home town who have never traveled outside of their own area. First they try to look interested, then they go blank, and finally, as soon as they can, they start to fill you in on the local gossip. In order to want to be somewhere, there has to be something there that you would consider worthwhile, something you can relate to as a good thing. So here is my description of what centeredness is like. I can do this because I've been there, and I'm still working on the skills to get back there more often. Anyway, one characteristic of centeredness is peacefulness. When you are centered you feel peaceful. You have no conflicts causing stress, your mind is clear, and your body is relaxed in a way that really feels good. Another characteristic is loving connectedness. You feel loved and you feel like loving everyone and everything around you. Fear ceases to be. A third characteristic is confidence. You feel able to do what you want and able to handle any circumstances that may arise. It's a very creative feeling where anger and frustration are non-existent. The last characteristic in my description is harmony. You feel like a significant part of everything that was, is and will be. All sense of insignificance, alienation, and being out of touch with life is gone. Sounds great, right? Sure. Sounds impossible for most people, huh? It might sound that way, but it isn't. Anyone can do it, but that doesn't mean it's easy to do. If it were easy I wouldn't be writing about it, partly to help you and partly to help myself. If it were easy we'd all be there right now. But it's do-able. What I'm about to give you is a way to get there. It isn't so much a technique as it is a certain kind of behavior to practice. What I'm giving you won't lock you into centeredness (I don't know if that's possible or even desirable), but it will help you get back to center when you've strayed away. The objective here is to get closer to centeredness each time you try. It isn't a promise that you'll experience the whole thing on the first try. If this can help you get a little more centered than you are - a little more peaceful, a little more loving, a little more confident, a little more in harmony - then that's a good thing, especially if you can keep getting a little closer every day. Remember all the Hawaiian stuff above? It leads to the idea that feelings, or emotions, are the meeting place of mind and body. They are the means by which your mind and body communicate, with each other and with the world. Feelings are your feedback. The better you feel the more centered you are. So the practice is one of doing something that will make you feel better, without a lot of effort, something specific. All you have to do is to practice giving, the kind expressed in the Hawaiian word manawale'a. It means "to give freely and willingly' and a root translation would be "glad heart." What do you give? Anything you want, as long as it's done consciously, freely and willingly. But you don't have to be limited to material things. And it's not a question of giving anything away. It's about giving gifts. Here are some ideas of what you can give: acknowledgement, attention, appreciation, gratitude, prayers, wishes, encouragement, support, presents, and healing or helpful thoughts and acts. You can give to other people, to anything in your environment, to anything or anyone you know of, to God or the Universe, and to your own body, mind and spirit. The objective is to give as much as you can as often as you can, and to give with the conscious intention of giving a gift. It sounds easier than it is. At some point you are likely to experience resistance or strange sensations as the practice stirs up deep patterns of thought and behavior. But the path of giving leads to centeredness. The state of being centered is well illustrated in this Hawaiian proverb which refers to a person who can remain calm in the face of difficulty: He po'i na kai uli, kai ko'o, 'a'ohe hina puko'a Though the sea be deep and rough, the coral rock remains standing www.huna.org/html/centered.html
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Post by girlscout on Jun 15, 2018 20:32:52 GMT
<Derived> Urban Shaman Revisited by Pete Dalton Amongst many books that inspired me was Serge King's Urban Shaman. For me it brought together what at first might seem to be two juxtaposed concepts, that of shamanism and urban living (which I also equated with an element of westernised contemporary living). It was over 12 years ago that I first read the book and a lot has happened since then. What excited me was that it provided a sense of a bridge between traditional teachings and esoteric knowledge and the modern world. It showed a way that the two things could coexist and, more than that, be of real pragmatic value and have relevance now. Also in the mix was the link to the Hawaiian traditions, particularly the notion of aloha, which for some reason unknown to me at the time seemed to strongly resonate and beckon. As someone with an empirical and evidence-based background, firmly embedded in modern city living (ok, I live on an island but the similarities with the Hawaiian islands start to run a bit thin after that!) the lure of such a path was not something that was immediately obvious. However, I was gripped, and this was one of the influences which paved the way for me establishing Urban Huna in the UK. Concepts and Labels I have predominately trained in the adventurer tradition of Huna. For convenience when describing this, a near equivalent term, 'shamanism', is sometimes used. Shamanism is actually a term specific to the Tungus people of North Asia but is often been generalised to refer to particular ways of thinking and acting. These practices include: healing; communicating with people, animals, objects, and spirits; ritual; working with symbols; and journeying into inner worlds. Such practices can appear to many to be magical and possibly at odds with much of mainstream modern western living. In ancient times the shaman could be considered as a 'fringe dweller' operating outside of conventional norms. This included an ability to see things differently and take new perspectives on situations and relationships. A shaman was also considered to be a 'walker between worlds' with the ability to provide a bridge between the seen and the unseen. In modern times we may also consider that this can refer to someone who is able to provide a bridge between traditional knowledge and modern ways--an individual who can draw on ancient wisdom and patterns and develop new applications and evolve to suit contemporary circumstances. Despite there being a growing movement of modern shamanism encompassing a variety of traditions, the term 'shaman' may have certain connotations for some which may make such practices seem less relevant to modern life. Of course, this is just a label for particular philosophies and practices and perhaps the use of alternative terms, such as, 'wise woman' or 'cunning man' would be more compelling to some people. The approach to Huna that I work in is the kupua or adventurer tradition. An extended term, 'kalakupua', emphasises the 'magic' of the adventurer approach. Underpinning this is Aloha, relating to love and connection and provides an inherent ethic. Regardless of terminology, it involves a philosophy, mindset and practices which entail treating life as an adventure and being a healer of relationships in the widest sense. This results in bringing magic into your own life and the life of others. The Relevance to Modern Urban Living So why might these qualities and practices be relevant to modern living? I believe we have drives towards connecting with others and our environment and seeking deep meaning. In some ways there may be a paradox that while we live in the most technologically connected time ever, for some people, there is a sense that we are more alienated than ever. Alongside this, for some, there is a certain sense of sacredness that is missing in peoples' lives and a disconnect from a deeper meaning of life which can be obscured in the day to day 'busyness' of modern living. Modern society certainly produces contradictions and extremes, such as: the huge divide between rich and poor; massive amounts of data and yet questionable amounts of trustworthy information; and technology that can be used to harm and to heal. Despite these types of issues in modern life, I don't buy into a dichotomy of modern being considered as negative and ancient being considered as positive; of urban and man-made being somehow bad and rural and natural being good. Each city has it's own energy field as does each forest. It is possible to communicate with man-made objects as it is with trees and plants. Indeed, stretching the definition, one might consider that what we have evolved into as modern urban dwellers could be considered perfectly 'natural' as it is the natural manifestation of much of mankind at this present time. The Kupua Approach Kupua approaches can work quickly, which is especially useful to keep up with the fast pace of modern life. The methods require action and first hand embodied experience and have a high practical value. One notion in Huna is 'pono' which refers to the idea that 'effectiveness is the measure of truth'. Certain philosophies and techniques survive and thrive because they are proven to work in practice. In modern times as in ancient times, effectiveness is a vital criterion for survival. The approach consists of a wide range of high utility techniques which are flexible to adapt to a range of situations encountered in modern life. Moreover, in the adventurer tradition, there is no need for complex tools and paraphernalia. We all have the essential tools of body and mind with which to work. To this end, what I term the 'Huna adventurer's kit bag' contains a huge amount of items yet takes little effort to carry, if you really want to take the journey and bring it with you. Healing Cities Over time, more people are living in cities. It is estimated that now over half of the world's population live in urban environments and that trend looks set to increase. In Urban Shaman, Serge King writes: "Although shamanism is usually associated with primitive or wilderness settings, its application in urban environments is both natural and needed. First of all, a shaman is a healer, regardless of culture or environment. Secondly, there are more people living in urban areas today than in non-urban areas (suburbs and towns are considered urban), and it is these people who need the most healing. Consider the population density of Big Island Hawaii which is approximately 45 people per square mile by some estimates. Compare this with Birmingham, the city in which I live in the UK, with an estimated population density of approximately 10,620 people per square mile and this may provide some sense of perspective. Densely populated urban environments provide great opportunity for healing of relationships. Of course, healing in this sense is not confined here to formal therapeutic or counselling-type approaches. Everything is in relationship to everything else and anything that is done to improve these relationships, on whatever scale, increases effectiveness and makes a difference. So whether you consider yourself a full blown adventurer, a shaman, a cunning man, a wise woman or simply a clued up, curious, modern person who wants to improve their own effectiveness and help others in the process, the concepts and practices that comprise 'Urban Shamanism' are there to explore. In the boardroom, in business, in the underground railway, in cafes and bars, wherever, I believe we all have the opportunity to be effective and make the world a better place, city by city by city, spreading Aloha as we go. Pete Dalton ©2018 Pete Dalton is an Alakai of Huna International living in the UK. For more information on his work visit his website www.urbanhuna.orgwww.huna.org/html/urbanrevisit.html
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