THE DEEPER MEANING OF ALOHA
by Curby Rule

For those who follow the path of Huna, or are fortunate enough to live in Hawai’i, it is common for us to use the word Aloha. We use it in greetings and farewells and in expressing love. But the word means even more, it is a way of life.

Besides these common meanings, the word Aloha holds within itself all one needs to know to interact rightfully in the natural world. These insights describe an attitude or way of life sometimes called “The Aloha Spirit” or “The Way of Aloha”.

The spirit of Aloha was an important lesson taught to the children of the past because it was about the world of which they were a part. One early teaching goes like this:

Aloha is being a part of all, and all being a part of me. When there is pain – it is my pain. When there is joy – it is also mine. I respect all that is as part of the Creator and part of me. I will not willfully harm anyone or anything. When food is needed I will take only my need and explain why it is being taken. The earth, the sky, the sea are mine to care for, to cherish and to protect. This is Hawaiian – this is Aloha!
As the child grew, the need for a fundamental code of ethics was taught. This code is found within a deeper layer of the meaning of the word Aloha. The code is derived from one of the acronymic meanings of Aloha.

A, ala, watchful, alertness
L, lokahi, working with unity
O, oia’i'o, truthful honesty
H, ha’aha’a, humility
A, ahonui, patient perseverance
The kahuna David Bray interprets this code as “Come forward, be in unity and harmony with your real self, God, and mankind. Be honest, truthful, patient, kind to all life forms, and humble.” He also stated that to the Hawaiian of old, Aloha meant “God in us.”

So far, within Aloha, we have found an explanation of our place in the world and a code of ethics to help us with our interactions in the world. The only thing we are missing is our “prime directive” while we are here, and that too can be found within the root words that make up Aloha.

alo, 1. sharing 2. in the present
oha, joyous affection, joy
ha, life energy, life, breath
Using Hawaiian language grammatical rules, we will translate this literally as “The joyful sharing of life energy in the present” or simply “Joyfully sharing life”.

But another layer of meaning can be found by factoring in the meanings of the roots words in aloha. “A” means “to burn” (figuratively, to sparkle) and it is also the name of mold found in souring foods. “Lo” is short for lo’o and loa’a which mean “to obtain or procure”. Together these indicate a transformation of energy (burning, sparkling, souring food), a product of an energy transformation (the mold), and an effort to get or obtain something. To me this sounds exactly like consciously manifesting or creating. This brings us to another translation of Aloha. “To consciously manifest life joyously in the present.” This is our prime directive.

Another translation of Aloha gives us the a prime method of acquiring the Mana or spiritual influence, to use in manifesting. Breathing in the present moment. Awareness of your breath and correct normal breathing increases Mana and concentrated breathing increases mana even more.

I have always had a Big Cosmic Question about our existence, which is much easier to contemplate when broken down into smaller parts. The parts are Who, What, When, Where, and Why. Aloha has answered three of these, so far. Who, of course is you and I. What, is the conscious creation of your Reality. When, is Now, the Present Moment, that place between past and future, which is the only place Reality exists. The answer to Where, is Nature. The answer to Why, is because we are here to cherish, protect and take care of this being we live upon, the Earth.

I will explain.

The Hawaiians have no word for “nature” as in the sense of “being outside in nature”, but they do have a word for “world” or “Earth”. The word is honua and it also means “background” or “foundation”. The ancient Hawaiians did not view nature as being something separate from themselves because nature was their reality. So, Where is in Nature, the foundation of our physical world.

To find the answer to Why, we must look deeper.

If we look at the root words in honua we find the word ho’o-nu a. Some of the meanings of this word are: 1. to give generously and continuously; 2. to indulge as a child; and 3. surging, rising in swells, as the sea. So, a deeper meaning of honua is that the foundation of our physical reality, Nature, is continuously and generously giving to satisfy our needs and fulfill our wishes. But here is also a meaning of give and take. Just as the rising swells of the sea recede to gain renewed energy, Nature must also “recede” to renew Itself and give strength to the foundation of our reality. So, just as Nature gives of itself to us, we must give of ourselves back to Nature.

This truth can be found in one the tellings of the creation story about Papa and Wakea, the prime Earth Mother and Sky Father.

“From the first union of Papa and Wakea, comes a male child who is born prematurely. The child is dead at birth and is buried. From his body grows a shoot that Wakea names Haloa. This shoot becomes the first taro plant. The next male child to be born is also named Haloa in honor of his dead sibling and he becomes the prime ancestor of mankind”.

Let me explain the meanings behind this story.

Haloa means “long, waving stem”. This first taro plant represents a staple of the Polynesian diet, but also all plants that grow on this earth. Haloa, also means “long breath” and on an esoteric level, “everlasting cycle.” The life and death cycle of plants sustain all creatures, including us. Plants are a source of food and medicine, and they produce the oxygen we breathe. The first human is named Haloa in honor of these plants and to remind us to honor and tend the “everlasting cycle.” The gift of life passes from a human to the plants and then back to humanity.

This story tells us that the quality of our existence is ultimately tied to Nature. Nature’s continuous transformative cycles of water, air and growth are necessary for existence. Nature is an embodiment of the meaning of Aloha, and vice versa. It is no coincidence that Aloha and Haloa are re-spellings of each other. It is in Nature that we can discover the wonder of our existence here on Earth. Where else but in Nature is the spirit of Aloha easier to experience? Its beauty is awe-inspiring and energizing and draws you into the present moment, not unlike the feelings brought on by love and joy.

Nature is also where we can gain the wisdom to make responsible choices if we approach with Aloha in our heart. With an attitude of Aloha we can gain from the wisdom of the wind and the wisdom of the water and the wisdom of the soil and the wisdom of the trees and learn from the truths and revelations presented by the non-human community.

So, we’ve seen that Aloha is indeed a way of life, an attitude and it even contains guidelines to help us in our lives. It is most definitely a “word to the wise.”

In closing, I’d like to bring to mind another old saying, “a picture is worth a thousand words” and point out that Aloha is a perfect example that in the Hawaiian language sometimes the opposite of this saying is true as well. So, the next time you greet a friend with “Aloha,” hold its meanings close to your heart and think of the picture you’re painting. It is indeed a beautiful world.

(http://www.huna.org/html/deeper.html)

Here is a great blog with a wealth of information.  Below is the latest article from Think Green Live Clean.  Check it out.

Photo Credit: James Jordan

Although it has been touted as a successful alternative to gasoline, some scientists and environmentalists are raising questions about the effectiveness of ethanol as a viable ‘clean’ energy option. Researchers are finding that producing and using the corn-based fuel alternative may not be as great as it sounds.

Ethanol is a type of fuel that was conceived as an alternative to gasoline. Refineries across the country create ethanol using corn as feedstock. The ethanol is mixed with gasoline to lower the amount of pure gasoline needed for fuel. This mixture can then be used in cars, trucks, and anything else that takes gasoline. The idea is that ethanol limits the amount of gasoline one has to use, and is thus better for the environment. There are a number of contentious aspects of ethanol use however.

Firstly, there are a lot of carbon emissions emitted during the production of corn. Emissions coming off of machinery and the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and other things of that nature are all necessary by-products when growing and distributing corn. This clearly is not good for the environment. Furthermore, several ethanol plants have been charged with questionable practices in terms of violating environmental regulations.

To make matters worse for the ethanol industry, other bio-fuels such as soy biodiesel are proving to be less costly to produce from an environmental standpoint. As an Iowa native and proponent of corn in general, it pains me to say that ethanol just might not be the answer we are looking for when it comes to alternative fuel options.

written by Eric Waldstein

http://www.thinkgreenliveclean.com/2010/06/ethanol-a-clean-fuel-alternative/

admina

As you may have heard, Saturday’s Full Moon is also a partial lunar eclipse at 4 Capricorn, occurring at 11:30 UT. Eclipses tend to release their energies over time. (There are always two eclipses. They act like these parentheses, to bracket an energy season. For more info: http://www.astrologycom.com/eclipse.html) The second in this pair of eclipses comes on July 11. This second eclipse is a total solar eclipse and it occurs at 19:40 UT at 19 Cancer.

These two eclipses are VERY strong and strongly united with the Cardinal Cross. The first eclipse on 6/26 shows a very tight square alignment that challenges us to allow our unconscious to become conscious, to allow feelings, thoughts, beliefs, patterns to emerge from suppression into the light of allowance and acceptance. While this process can be uncomfortable – even extremely so – allowing the process mitigates the discomfort and leads to resolution of old patterns and healing. Whatever we continue to suppress becomes volcanic and life-suppressing in effect. It is likely that the mass consciousness will become more restless, volatile and chaotic in the two-week period between the eclipses and in the weeks/months following, as unconscious energies surge for breakthrough to the surface of consciousness and meet with the resistance of fear and threatened identities. (With all this said, isn’t the so-called  ”Gulf Oil Spill” an uncanny outpicturing of our collective internal state?)

Those born in 5-15 degrees of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn have an appointment with this eclipse and with the Grand Cross. Those with planets within these degrees do, as well. Consult your local astrologer for analysis of the relationship between your birth chart and these patterns. I think this is enough on the eclipses. The eclipses are a release mechanism for the energies in the Cardinal Cross.

The Cardinal Cross IS undoubtedly powerful and all of us have to come to terms with it. One estimate I’ve read — I have not done the math, myself — is that the cross will not reoccur for ~5000 years.)

So, what is the Cardinal Cross about?  First, it’s about ACTION, change in action. The Cross provides an energetic driver that stimulates, even requires, action. What kind of action? With the players being Saturn opposite Uranus, with Pluto on the midpoint (and a few minor players providing triggering at various points over the summer), the action required is to submit to transformation through releasing the old and embracing the new. (Fortunately, currently Jupiter is conjuncting Uranus, placing a strong blessing on our movement toward new choices, softening the process and easing our way into the new.) The choice for the new is a crritical choice in that failure to act according to these energies creates a self-imposed sentence of dwindling vitality and influence from the 2D-polarized energies being released into the 3D environment. Choices that align with universal principles enhance life force by drawing harmonious and high-vibration 4D energies being released into our 3D environment. So, we are presented with a very significant choice and, in my mind, this timing correlates with what the Hopi call the RETURN PATH.

(Aside: The Hopi Prophecy speaks of a time “around now,” a moment in time, when our choice of consciousness FIXES our course from that point on. The two-hearteds walk forward with the two-hearteds and the one-hearteds walk forward with the one-hearteds. They say that no matter where your consciousness was before this, that we are destined to live the continuation of the consciousness we are in at this moment in time. They say it’s like an elevator, one-hearteds may become two-hearted and two-hearteds may become one-hearted and all living with the verdict of this moment of time. John Kimmey, chime in here, if you like. I’ll pass along to this list any comments you care to make.)

Here’s the thing: The mass consciousness is vibrating in too low a frequency range and too dissonant a pattern to harness these epochal energies. The mass consciousness will only feel in the unconscious the impact of the Cardinal Cross and will respond by dramatizing the energies, rather than harnessing them. Only those with light-coherent consciousness CAN harness the power of the Cardinal Cross. This means you and me and those we know who are intentionally aligned with Light. Of these, there are two groups: 1) those who can harness this energy in a general way and 2) those with an appointment with this configuration, who must harness this pattern in a particular way. To know your case requires an examination of the birth chart. (See your local astrologer.) In either case, knowing that this opportunity exists is required in order to harness it.

My counsel: Take the time to understand clearly how this opportunity is for you. Are you one for whom this pattern is generally available or are you one who, at a soul level, chose your birth time specifically with this window in consideration so that you would carry out a particular mission with these energies? These are the foundational energies on which we set the pattern for our further participation in the Great Awakening.  Also, intend consciously to take the locks off the unconscious, allowing free flow of all energies of awareness: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Encounter these patterns in love and compassion with yourself and know you are doing your portion of cleaning up the collective unconscious. Finally, set a clear intent for what you desire to accomplish with this important wave, where will you take yourself? And, how will you use your journey to be of service to self and others in balance?

Surf’s up! Enjoy the ride!

Linda S. Masterson

Answers from Within….