Lokahi

The other day we went with Kahu Clark to perform hooponopono or Hawaiian conflict resolution, for a family. This was my third experience with this process and each time I am struck by the lack of focus on what seems to be the issue causing the conflict. What happens instead is a re-establishment of harmony or lokahi and by that re-establishment of lokahi the issue or dis-ease is neutralized. I purposely didn’t say the conflict was erased since the energy of the conflict was not directly opposed. The energy was allowed to flow and conflict no longer existed.

This process is similar to the Chi Balance performed by my chi gong master. Master Qing Chuan Wang is an 18th generation Wu Dang Chi Gong Grandmaster. He is a rare person even in China. The chi balance he performs unblocks stuck energy and re-establishes harmony in the body. I have witnessed him create such harmony that cancer gives way to health. You can visit his website: www.wudangchigong.com or call (808) 234-5508 for an appointment.

I recall a story told of a conversation the Dalai Lama had with a monk who had fled China after escaping a Chinese prison. The Dalai Lama asked the monk if he had been afraid. The monk said he had been afraid. The Dalai Lama wondered if the monk feared being hurt or losing his life? The monk was not afraid of being hurt or losing his life, the monk was afraid of becoming angry with his captors. This level of compassion may seem abnormal or superhuman but to the Buddhist it is a practiced skill and to revert to anger would mean that all the work put into realizing a peaceful, compassionate, and harmonious state of being would be jeopardized by a single rise of anger. The disturbance in the mind of the monk would be like throwing a brick into a still fish tank. The monk was afraid of losing his mental emotional, and spiritual harmony or lokahi by joining with the disharmony of his captors.

Lokahi is balance or harmony. The Hawaiians did not see peace as the eradication of conflict. In fact, Hawaiians saw conflict as a natural part of life that did not necessarily create disharmony. Take for example the wind blowing in the leaves. A gentle breeze produces a pleasant sound. Too much wind energy as in a tornado or a hurricane will break branches and uproot trees. The balance of opposing forces is natural. This is the true meaning of lokahi.

Breathe

One of the definitions of Aloha is Alo: coming face to face, in Ha: the breath of the Creator. So Aloha means coming face to face in the breath of the Creator. Every breath has the potential to be a sacred act connecting us to a higher power. We also use the breath to connect to one another. Traditionally the Hawaiians greet with a honi. A honi is performed by having two people face each other with each person placing their right hand on the left shoulder of the opposite person, the left hand on the right elbow of the other person, touching the forehead and nose together and inhaling deeply. In this way we share our spirit. So when Captain Cook greeted the Hawaiians by reaching out his hand they thought, “This man is without spirit,” or Ha ‘ole.

We use breath as a way to connect the three (3) centers or pikos of the body in order to harmonize and balance the physical, mental, and the spiritual qualities of our being. The mental piko or center is the head, the spiritual piko is the heart, and the physical is the area just below the navel. Breathe in by visualizing the air entering the nose traveling up over the crown of the head, down the spine, circling around the bottom of the spine past the genitals and into the area between the navel and the genitals or the Na’au. Next exhale by visualizing the air rising up the front of the body entering the heart and exiting the nose or mouth. The Hawaiians believed the Na’au to be the primary mind, the head, or Na’au ao to be the secondary mind and the heart or Na’au iki to be the moderator.

As a meditation the inhale is performed for seven seconds, the breath is held and attention settled in the na’au for seven seconds, exhale for seven seconds, and held for seven seconds. The four parts of the breath constitutes one cycle and seven cycles are performed in one meditation session. To make it more of a spiritual exercise, imagine the air to be the breath of spirit or higher power, whatever higher power means to you, to be the breath that you breathe in.

The breath is used to connect the self with Spirit, to connect and harmonize the self, and to connect one another. We pray you explore your connections with Aloha.

Mahalo

Foundations

I, pronounced with a long e sound, is the word for the Creator in Hawaiian. Attach O and IO means truth. Io is also the word for the Hawaiian hawk. The Io or Hawk symbolically takes prayers to heaven. The ti leaf is used in Hawaiian ceremony because it represents the feather of the hawk, and therefore takes prayers to heaven as well. Everything in Hawai'I is embedded with this sacredness. The name Iolani as in Iolani Palace means the palace of the highest heaven or truth.

The word Hawaii is spelled a little incorrectly; it should be Hawai’I with a capital I on the end representing the Creator. The word Hawai’I is a sacred word and means the spirit of the Creator over the sweet water; where Ha means the breath of the spirit of the Creator or I, over wai the sweet water.

For the Hawaiians all of creation is sacred simply because all of creation is made by the Creator. Respect for all of creation and it’s sacredness is if the foundation of Hawaiian spirituality.