Understand Yourself Better – start with the Pō, the Place of Origin

Understand Yourself Better – start with the Pō, the Place of Origin

by | Jul 29, 2022 | Blog Posts, Spirituality

IT ALL STARTS WITH A SPECIAL KIND OF LISTENING. A listening, that is so deep, so clear, so unencumbered that there is no mistaking what you are hearing. It is in PŌ – The Place of Origin – that the Ancestors reside. The Ancestors who know and your potentials. They know all that is possible for you. Want to heal and develop personally and professionally? It all starts with discovering the interconnectedness of your own identity. It is only through that process you will truly understand your spiritual sacredness and the sacred nature and importance of your relationship with “place”…

Listening…to the “song” of Place is to listen into the “songs of PŌ – The Place of Origin. You might have a different name for it in your Tradition or way of understanding things.

We MUST come to understand the Place of Origin, if we are to really understand ourselves. Our history tells us how…

We can go back to the very first Kahunas, the first Kahunas of the First of the First Nations people. They migrated through the South Pacific trying to escape Spiritual Corruption.

Spiritual Corruption continues today and each one of us experiences it AND contributes to it at some point. That’s a confronting thought…

…at some point the Kahunas knew they would have to stop running. There was no escape from the corruption the human mind, the Ego, can inflict on the Practices of Spirit. There was only one decision, to stop and make a stand.

And that’s what they did.

They brought with them profound and intricate understanding – the level of understanding that can only come from Pō, the Place of Origin.

From the level of understanding of Pō, they constructed a way of life around the Teachings of Pō that encapsulated the Spiritual Energy of Pō into a way of thinking about life. And themselves as part of life. One fed the other. Because the thinking was uncorrupted, daily life was also uncorrupted…

And so it continued for generations… The Kupuna/Elders provided the direction of life which included the reverence of care of the land, which was not only part of life, but considered part of the family.

They ensured each person was educated in the TEACHINGS OF PILINA – Relationship, developing Protocols and Ceremonies that upheld AND continued the understanding of the INSEPARABLE UNIFIED NATURE of their relationship with land, the ocean, rivers, streams, rain, sun, clouds, stars, animals, birds, insects and fish – everything that could be seen, heard, touched, smelled, felt, tasted and everything unseen, unheard, untouched, unsmelled , unfelt, untasted as well.

People lived at a different level to most of us today.

They lived at a level of uncorrupted Spiritual Pilina that translated to HOW they lived in each day. They didn’t have to think about their Spirituality, they were it.

They understood themselves. They understood the Cosmos, the Universe. They understood Pō – the Place of Origin. They heard it, touched it, smelled it, felt it, tasted it and learned to see the unseen, then add this learning to how they lived their daily lives.

They heard its “song”, the many voices that are present within Pō. And because they heard its “song”, they could hear and understand the song of their Place, their land, where their homes were built. They understood that there was a COMMUNICATION between their Place and the Place of Origin – a PILINA.

One song is part of another song – the sound of your Place is the sound of Pō. That’s what makes a place SACRED.

Your ability to hear it, understand it and communicate with it – to understand and make yourself understood in return – is what gives you your SPECIFIC & UNIQUE PILINA with YOUR place.

It gives you your IDENTITY. Becomes part of you. You become part of it. It’s a reciprocal relationship. You can’t become separate from it – but when you do experience separation, that conflict you feel within, is the sound of place calling you back.

Your identification with Place, as part of Place, is what gives you AND It, sacredness. You both hold the mana/the spirit energy of the Ancestors, which reside within Pō, the Place of Origin. It’s like a fingerprint, and you and your Place carry it. Together. Sharing the same breath and the same life force.

Both of you powered by the Mana of Pō.

In our School of Hawaiian Spiritual Studies, we learn this type of Pilina has a name: WAHI PANA AU PAU. You and your Place are the sacred story of Pō. When you come to know Pō, which is ongoing by the way, you come to know more of yourself. It’s then that you really begin to understand yourself better.

Your unfolding story of Pilina, gives your Place more mana/spirit power. Makes it more sacred bese you come to know your own sacredness, and this is what you give back to place each time you remember it.

It’s you that keeps your place Wahi Pana – Sacred. And vica versa. Your Place is You…Pilina with Place is Pilina with yourself…

☝🏽 Where to next Kumu?

  • Get to know your Place; what is it now? What is it’s history? What are First Nations stories about it? – doing you research can lead you into an exciting adventure and deeper connection with People & Place
  • Get to know your Place by visiting a spot you feel drawn to: maybe intuitively, maybe through your reserach or other knowing and quietly meditate or pray in this Place. Observe Protocol 👇🏽
  • Develop Yourself: our Spiritual Intelligence Courses 1 – 3 take you on a journey of self-discovery starting with yourself, then Nature and finally the Cosmos. You can do these by Distance Learning, at your own pace with support from Kumu and the Wise Guides when you need it 👉🏽 bingo
  • Join our Path to Pa’a Course: this is for both Spiritual Seekers and Practitioners and is all about the Foundation Teachings of our Ancestors from Halawa Valley Molokai, including teachings about Wahi Pani and how you can develop your relationship .👉🏽 check it out with the free course intro
  • Join our Hawaiian Studies Club: classess, forums, resources, biz building help, discounts on sessions 👉🏽 go here for more

📧 I’d love it if you keep in touch and get to know the SoHAD and what we do better. Every couple of months we send out our free News Magazine with Course Information, articles, first looks and Course Premieres and other goodies from ourselves and our friends.Get on the list if youʻre feeling it 👉🏽 here 😊

I almost didn’t do it…but then I did…getting to Enlightenment

I almost didn’t do it…but then I did…getting to Enlightenment

by | Jul 27, 2022 | Blog Posts, Growing

I almost walked past this one. Stepped over it, thinking “I have had enough Enlightenment for now…”.

And then I heard “the voice”. Retracing my steps, I heard it before I got there. I just knew what this Teaching was going to be about.

Looking down at a Kukui Nut Shell submerged in the sand. Kukui Nuts – literally used to make light in the old days of Traditional Molokai, Hawaii – are all about enlightenment. Beautifully patterned, I knew before I turned it over, it would be only a half-shell…

…earlier, sitting under the Keawe Tree (an invasive and destructive non-indigenous pest), looking out across the Kalohi Channel toward Lanai in morning calm, this was the conversation I’d been having with the Ancestors…

I knew this important Teaching would be reinforced somewhere as I made my way back home to my Kumu’s hale/house. (Put these 3 things together in the context of this Teaching: the Keawe Tree/ an invasive pest, Kalohi/slow, lingering,  becalmed & Kumu – the Source…)

Of course, it would only be half of the Kukui Nut Shell. Of course. Knew it as I turned the pretty thing over. This is the problem we face as a Spiritual Community, and as Teachers of Deep Tradition.

People who only go half-way on the “Path”, thinking they’ve “got enough”, solved their problem, know it all, advice-give to others, think they know enough to teach others.

Going half-way on the Path means there’s still more you don’t KNOW – how could you know, you haven’t completed the Path…

…and if you’re wondering right now “have I…”, then you KNOW you haven’t completed the Path…

The world is full of “teachers” and “seekers” who only have one half of the shell. They sound convincing on the Socials, in their Workshops. They look credible in carefully crafted pics. They sound credible, mostly to people who are just starting the Path, still on the Path, dropped off the Path…

But they only have one half of the shell. They know enough to convince themselves that their work is done, or done enough…

Enlightenment is going the whole length of the Path. Doing whatever it takes. We only know where it ends when we transition into Pō, the place of Origin. And then the Path simply continues but at another level.

We can experience levels before we get to Pō – which is why we “think” we’ve achieved enlightenment, but really what’s happening is we are growing, changing and literally uplevelling our physical experience. It’s enlightenment with a small “e”…

And because we ARE uplevelling, the Path appears to change. Maybe it becomes easier in parts, maybe we become more comfortable with ourselves as we go along it, maybe our KNOWING/Intuition increases, maybe it gets “hard” at times, but we KNOW how to find our way through it.

We know “hard at times” is part of the Path. We KNOW we don’t have to give up and get off the Path, but use what we’ve learned, our Teachings, to get to the other side of “hard”.

The Path seems to change because we do – and because we do, we can change the path through the Path. The Path itself doesn’t change. It’s always going in the same direction – toward Enlightenment.

The Teaching: don’t get caught out thinking you have achieved Enlightenment, and so there’s nothing more left to do. Don’t go through life with only half the shell in your toolkit. Stay on the Path. That’s the only way to get what’s waiting for you within the whole shell. What we call Enlightenment….

☝🏽 What do I do next Kumu?

Take some time to think about where you are and the Path you’re on – take a step back and truthfully ask yourself “am I actually on the Path?” and “If I am, what Path am I on?”. Then take it a step further and check yourself out: “am I where I really need to be, or do I know there’s a few missing pieces in my puzzle?”. And if you’re a Hawaiian Healing Practitioner of Lomilomi or Ho’oponopono who DOESN’T have the Traditional Teachings in place – ask yourself “what is preventing me from learning them?” and “what am I holding onto in my previous training, even if I have a feeling it’s not culturally correct?”.

😊 We’re really interested in working with Spiritual Seekers who want to get on the Path and go the distance in life; we also L-O-V-E–E working with other Healing Practitioners and Teachers…the world needs you and your work, BUT we need, as a deep and culturally esteemed Lineage, to MAKE SURE you have the CORRECT Teachings in place. We are culturally appointed custodians of the Teachings – we don’t decide “hey! I’m going to start teaching this stuff”, the Kumu Pa’a Nui decides on behalf of the Community. And that’s a really significant difference between the Kumu of the SoHAD and most other Spiritual Teachers of Hawaiian Healing.

👉🏽 Development you can do:

  • Seekers and Practitioners: develop your Spiritual Intelligence. Join our distance, DIY Courses with help from Kumu and the Wise Guides on tap whenever you need it whilst you are studying with us or join a facilitated class with Kumu Nalani or one of the Wise Guides
  • Hawaiian Healing Practitioners: start by joining our Path to Pa’a Course – you’ll be so glad you did. It’s got the Traditional Cultural Teachings you need for your Healing Practice. Two options: in a live online class with Kumu Nalani or Distance Education with help from Kumu when you need it. This training is recognised Professional Development in 39 Countries.
  • Join the Hawaiian Studies Club: this is a members only Club – check it out here 👉🏽 Yo! Take me there
  • 1:1 Develoment: do regular sessions with one of the Wise Guides, there’s 5 to choose from. They all work in different ways 👉 Wise Me Up!