Every week, for the last ten weeks, I’ve been following a line of thought along The Huna Path, an ancient source of wisdom with a wonderful depth of promise and many fruitful possibilities.
I’ve done this through my writing, through research and experience, with a view toward articulating, clarifying, and elaborating the nature, meaning, and realization of personal fulfillment.
In this post, my aim is to revisit the seven principles of The Huna Path in light of what I’ve learned and experienced over the past ten weeks, and to fill in any gaps that I might have missed.
Ike and My Impressions
Ike (pr. ee-kay): the world is what you think it is.
In looking back at my treatment of Ike in my post The World, Version 2.0, which I wrote almost two months ago, there is very little about it that I would change.
The one thing I would change pertains to what I said near the end of my post about being stuck in a routine. But first, a little context to bring you up to speed with what I’m talking about.
I maintain that your version of the world requires a kernel of creation – a basic view of the world that amounts to a rock-solid conviction that your version of the world is valid, which informs, inspires, and guides your interpretations of the events, encounters, and experiences that occur in your world.
My kernel of creation goes like this: the world I know and love is a paradise of peace and prosperity.
In today’s world, this is a rather provocative view – one that I have yet to manifest fully in my own life and to my complete satisfaction.
If this view didn’t rub some people the wrong way, I’d be concerned.
I myself have had some doubts about it, revolving primarily around its viability in a world where many people seem to have allowed themselves to be atomized by the illusions of limitation and separation.
For myself, I cannot blithely ignore or dismiss the dark realities of this world.
The only way that I’ve been able to process this concern is to make several key distinctions between life, this world, the world at large, and people in general, so that I might safeguard myself against conflating their negative influences.
So, for example, life itself is not dark. To put it crudely, life itself does not suck. If life sucks, then it’s my life that sucks.
Also, this world is not the world as a whole.
If I perceive this world as dark, it’s because someone is sucking the life out of it, independent of any darkness that I might be projecting onto the sucking, and I leave open the possibility that portions of the world at large (beyond this world) exist where it isn’t possible for this sucking action to occur.
Lastly, it’s not that this world per se is cold, dark, harsh, cruel, or barren. It’s that people can seem cold, dark, harsh, cruel, or barren (even when you’re feeling on top of the world, vibrating at the top of your game) – and thankfully, in my experience, not everyone is cold, dark, harsh, cruel, or barren.
By keeping these distinctions in mind, it’s much easier to stay vital in your energy, clear in your focus, buoyant in your mood, and serene in your outlook, and avoid any temptation to get stuck in a routine with the intention of protecting yourself, to safeguard your sense of safety, security, and stability.
And so, getting back to the one thing I would change in my post on Ike …
In it, I suggested that you “open your soul to love and beauty”. Elaborating on this, I wrote, and I quote, “rather than stay stuck in a routine that drags on day after day, you might instead leave your comfort zone for a change of scene and a change of pace that nourish the heart of your soul”.
I would now suggest that you cultivate a routine that supports and reflects your view of the world, rather than get caught up in finding antidotes to being stuck in a routine you don’t like.
This, I must say, has been the most beneficial realization I’ve had on this path so far.
Kala and My Impressions
Kala (pr. kah-lah): there are no limits.
In looking back at my treatment of Kala in my post Beyond Our Limits, I’m generally happy with what I wrote on this topic, with the exception of something I said about our comfort zones.
Before I get to this, I’d like to elaborate on some interesting comments that followed this post.
A distinction arose between a limit and the perception of a limit.
In keeping with Kala, there are no limits – only perceptions of limits which limit our perceptions.
It was suggested that “to exceed limits, limits are required.”
I would now say, in response: “to exceed an apparent limit, the perception of a limit would be required.”
Also: “the perception of a limit must be identified or discovered before it can be met or exceeded. Perhaps we need limits, if only to give us a means by which we can grow, evolve, and ascend.”
In light of this, I would add: “It pays to be aware that our perceptions of limitation can sometimes confine us, constrain us, or restrict us unnecessarily.”
By the same token, perceptions of limitation can give us a sense of safety, security, and stability, which are necessary for the experience of contentment in the light of personal discovery.
It’s not so much that comfort zones are constraining, confining, or restricting, necessarily; it’s that different experiences can be enjoyed outside our comfort zones, where we might live, love, learn, grow, explore, design, create, perform, construct, manage, direct, or produce with abandon.
Which brings me to a statement I made about our comfort zones, which I’d like to qualify.
I wrote, and I quote:
When we stay snuggled inside our comfort zones, carefully arranging our schedules and our physical and social environments to suit us at every turn, we simply have no room to grow.
No room to grow, develop, ascend, or fulfill ourselves in any meaningful way.
This is no way to live.
First, there’s nothing wrong with staying snuggled inside your comfort zone for a time – that is, if you’re conscious of what you’re doing and if you’re doing it for a good reason – to convalesce, to relish the fruits of your labor, to explore the sacred aspects of your life, or to do anything that requires stability.
Second, there is something wrong with staying snuggled inside your comfort zone if and when you’ve grown unconscious of your needs, goals, values, interests, choices, or preferences – if and when you’ve cut yourself off from opportunities to live, love, learn, grow, explore, et cetera.
Kala says “there are no limits; anything is possible when you can figure out how to bring it about”.
I say “let us embrace Kala, even as we respect our perceived limitations and use them wisely”.
Makia and My Impressions
Makia (pr. mah-key-ah): energy flows where attention goes.
A quick review of my post, Go with the Flow, reinforced for me the importance of paying attention, directing focus, and managing concentration in everyday life. I appreciate the practical emphasis of this post, but it lacks a strong spiritual focus, which I’d like to address here and provide some remedy.
There is a curious rift between those who embrace the law of attraction (“the Secret”) as a means of manifesting desired effects, results, and outcomes, and those who see little or no value in it.
And yet, no one can deny that attention breeds attraction (or repulsion), which generates energy.
Whenever and wherever you pay attention or direct your focus, some combination of your physical, sexual, emotional, mental, religious, and spiritual energy flows in that direction.
And when someone responds – negatively or positively – to an object of your awareness, attention, or focus, a resonance naturally builds that generates even more energy – negative or positive, depending on the type of vibe that you put out in relationship to the person with whom you resonate.
The same might be said of a delicate, complex piece of equipment. If your focus is essentially positive with respect to it, it will respond well to your positivity, but if your focus is essentially negative, with no respect for it, it will not respond so well to your negativity. In fact, it will do funny things to you.
Think of someone getting increasingly frustrated with a computer and then bashing it into submission (the thing to do, of course, is cut your frustration short by walking away to regain your composure).
Think of the chaotic arrangement of molecules in a glass of water when someone directs anger and frustration towards it, and then think of the breathtakingly beautiful and harmonious arrangement that arises in those same molecules when someone directs love and gratitude towards it.
I would respectfully submit that our capacities for awareness, attention, focus, and concentration are more powerful than we know and more efficacious than we generally suppose or appreciate.
And so, if you desire to heal the body or the mind, to manifest desired results, to learn from nature, or to support the community in which you live, the energy you put into these activities will be of a quality and quantity equal to the quality and quantity of attention that you put into them.
Manawa and My Impressions
Manawa (pr. mah-nah-wah): now is the moment of power.
After reading my post, On Being A Wizard, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
Nevertheless, some interesting views arose in the comments section in response to some pointed questions, revolving around the interplay between positive and negative vibes.
First, I conceded that, yes, putting out positive vibes inevitably attracts negative vibes, but “the one who feels wholly, naturally, and spontaneously positive would have no darkness within with which to relate to those putting out the negative vibes. The negative vibes would merely be a source of amusement or be treated with friendly curiosity”.
Second, I noted the possibility of ambiguity with the phrase ‘putting out’ in a discussion about the relationship between positive and negative vibes. “On the one hand, we might have someone with a positive state of being who emanates positive vibes, as in ‘the serenity she emanated touched him deeply’. On the other hand, we might have someone who feels empty within and yet can still ‘put out’ positive vibes as an actor who might pretend to be positive. Perhaps it is the emptiness within (the darkness) that attracts negative energy, despite positive appearances to the contrary”.
Third, I conceded that I could be ‘positively negative’ in some way. “If I question something someone says or does as a legitimate defense of what I view as positive, and do so only as long as it takes to get my message across, then I am, as you put it, positively negative in this instance. I am risking negative blowback, but I also know that I can withdraw my negative energy, however slight, at any time”.
I provided this scenario as an example:
“If a doctor tells me something that doesn’t feel right to me, I will question it. No one in a position of authority likes to be questioned, especially by those who are perceived to be low in status. Even so, if the doctor feels opposed, challenged, or threatened by a question, I can kindly ask: are you telling me, by the tone of your voice, that I cannot question anything you say? If the doctor cannot respond to this question to my satisfaction, I will find a new doctor”. This scenario would apply to any professional.
On a final note, I’ve learned, for myself, that ‘now’, in the context of power, is a potential that must be earned – at least to some extent. Now is the moment of power, but I’ve also realized I must bring my potential into the moment – to realize my potential in the moment – so as to fully express my power.
Aloha and My Impressions
Aloha (pr. ah-low-ha): to love is to be happy with.
I’m generally happy with my post, Aloha for Everyone, which explores the principle of Aloha in terms of blessings, but in retrospect, I believe that I underestimated the difficulty of blessing in practice.
In theory at least, it’s not hard to bless something that represents your deepest, most heartfelt desires, but in actual practice, especially in a world that seems to be failing on so many levels, I believe I could have done more to support those who feel genuinely inclined to bless all that is good in the world.
And to be honest, I’m not always perfect when it comes to blessing that which represents my deepest, most heartfelt desires. I notice that I sometimes take a lot for granted, which is I why I’ve recently begun a morning practice that focuses on expressing gratitude for all that supports me in my fulfillment.
It’s a simple exercise to do, one that I feel makes blessing easier in practice. It involves completing the following sentence stem as many times as this feels right for me:
“I am so grateful for ___ and I bless ___ now”.
So, for example, “I am so grateful for my life and I bless this now”; “I am so grateful for the love of my life and I bless her now”; I am so grateful for my health and fitness and I bless them now”.
I have found that following this daily practice has carried over into my daily activities and interactions so that the act of blessing becomes a little easier to do on the go throughout the day.
Mana and My Impressions
Mana (pr. mah-nah): all power comes from within.
With one exception, I’m very happy with the result that is Harness Your Power.
With respect to this one exception, I’ve learned that the affirmation, “I have a great deal of power”, is better expressed as “I have the privilege of being able to channel a great deal of power”.
In retrospect, in the final section of Harness Your Power, I posed this question: “If so, what are you waiting for?” I meant this kindly in the context in which I posed it, but I can also see that it could easily have been misperceived as arrogance born of smugness. This is certainly not how I intended it, but nevertheless, I can also see how it could have been perceived as such, and so I apologize to anyone who took it this way. Believe me, I know what it’s like to lose someone or something dear to me.
I know well that those in power, or with power, who have more power than they know how to handle, have a way of glossing over difficulty, of making callous statements, of asserting arrogant claims, of taking action that uses, abuses, or accuses those in their orbit. Rather than hold them in contempt, I believe that it’s better to treat them with compassion, because compassion is what they need.
Pono and My Impressions
Pono (pr. poh-noh): ‘effective’ is the measure of truth.
I’m generally satisfied with my post on Pono, A Morning Routine, but a couple of points are worth touching on here.
First, I didn’t address the question of whether you need a routine at all. I must admit I lived a good part of my life without having a consciously created morning routine, and I did just fine (read: I was happy, but I didn’t live up to my full potential).
If you feel you don’t need a consciously created routine at this time, and feel that you can do quite well without it, then by all means, continue doing what you’re doing. Your growth is likely occurring naturally.
That is to say, do what works, as ‘effective’ is the measure of truth for you.
Second, if you do anticipate the prospect of setting up a consciously created routine, but have a really hard time getting up in the morning, then the attitude of failure is not an option might not work for you.
For me, it works every time, but if you feel another attitude (or approach) would work better for you, go for it.
Google “how to be an early riser” and let ‘effective’ be the measure of truth for you.
This is what Pono is all about.
Walking The Huna Path
The Huna Path, as a path of fulfillment towards the realization of a vision of my promise with a sense of possibility, represents, for me, a unified, harmonious expression of my truth, love, and power.
In my experience, this path is by turns smooth and rough, easy and difficult, straightforward and circuitous. It’s a path with potential to bring out the worst in you and the best in you. At times, I’ve noticed that it demands nothing of you, and at other times, it demands everything you’ve got.
There’s a lot of room for choice, for making choices, but there can also be very little room for error.
Following the principles of The Huna Path consistently, I’ve become acutely aware of my conditioning – both past and present – from growing up, from outside sources (past and present), and from my own laziness and lack of resolve through the years of my life. This, I think, is a good thing.
With awareness comes acceptance, and with acceptance comes allowance – the kind that makes it possible for me to release that which no longer serves me, leaving me with a positive space to embrace that which does. Space, as you may know, has a way of adding significance to the objects that dwell within it.
Speaking artistically, and analogously, if your vision of fulfillment is the figure, then your path of fulfillment is the ground against which the vision can be viewed, understood, appreciated, and manifested.
On The Huna Path, I’ve learned that the ground is as clear as you wish it to be, but not so clear when you suspend or suppress your capacity for choice, which can sometimes happen when you lose sight of your purpose in life.
A Preview of Things to Come
My posts to come will no doubt be informed and inspired by The Huna Path.
One morning, in a single sitting this past week, I came up with the following list of topics, which I intend to explore (some or all) in the coming weeks and months.
In no particular order, they are:
- Absolute Perfection
- Attitude of Gratitude
- Transform Negativity
- Your Best Day Ever
- The Sedona Promise
- Reality is Your Mirror
- Conscious Creatorship
- The Meaning of Life
- Follow Your Heart
- Personality Types
- Situations of Conflict
- Sexual Fulfillment
Perhaps this list will stimulate your creative juices to read or write on these or similar topics.
Here are a few more that come to mind:
- In Praise of Woman
- Fulfilling Relationships
- The Art of Conversation
If there’s a topic you’d like me to cover, or a topic that you’d like me to treat in more depth, please feel free to drop me a line.