Connection
Sep. 7th, 2010 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
donnalotusOur alaka'i (leader) of the Hawaii trip asked us to share a few words about our experience. I have an entire paper journal filled with thoughts, feelings and teachings from the journey. I doubt I'll get much of it up online however, I'm really liking the paper feel right now. But, I did write this to share with her website, so I may as well post it here as well.
Aloha Tracey,
I’ve been having a hard time getting words down about the trip since I got back, I haven’t got the faintest idea where to start!
So, as I have been since getting back, pule (prayer) is as good a place as any.
A big mahalo nui na Aumakua, na Akua, na Kupuna for such a beautiful, nurturing and loving trip with true ohana. Mahalo to Tracey and all the wonderful people we met along the way (too numerous to mention by name so I’ll just say Mahalo Kakou!) who made this a journey of learning and growth on all levels. Mahalo to our guides and our ancestors for bringing us to the shining shores of Hawaii to realise our dreams and to connect (or reconnect) with the ‘aina (land) and history of the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians). Mahalo nui for all the blessings bestowed upon us and for the direction our canoes are now going in, for the healing received, and the insights and teachings we were shown. Continue to bless all of those involved in this trip, and to guide us on the next steps of our journey, continue to put wonderful people and teachers in our canoe, and bless us with the constant feeling of being in aloha. Amama amama ua noa!
I can’t really begin to list everything I got out of this trip, so I’m going to go with one of the last things I said to Lawrence before we left Molokai. I have been involved in protocol before, I knew (mentally) the need for it but I didn’t really feel it on every level. I have sung the songs, and chanted oli around others, but the true connection to the words and the prayer of what I was saying wasn’t always felt.
It was through being involved in the many protocols on both islands that we were privileged to share and be shown, that I truly connected. There was no longer just a singing of the words “because” it was the right thing to do, it became more than that. There was a true connection to what the Oli meant, and why we were singing it. I think deep down there was finally a true connection (instead of separation) to Spirit and na Aumakua which had only been fleeting with the “old me”.
The old me used to waiver back and forth between feeling connected with Spirit, and it’s lonely when you’re feeling disconnected. This trip brought me to a place where nothing is separate, we are all one, and that feeling of ohana with the people, the ‘aina, everything was a cause for great celebration and gratitude. Suddenly, it all made sense why we Oli mahalo all the time! It made sense why we ask permission to enter into sacred spaces and to people’s kuleana.
There are many sayings that tell us about how our angels or guides can’t help us unless we ask for it: free will and all that. This makes more sense to me now. How can anyone help us unless we ask for it, unless we are ready for it? How can anyone know we are ready for it unless we ask? This goes around and around in my head and with it is the oli, E ho mai, e ho mai, grant us…… grant us the wisdom, grant us the power, grant us the healing and the learning.
I can’t speak highly enough of the group of people on the trip, true ohana indeed, the love and support that everyone gave, and continues to give, to each other has been a blessing in and of itself. It was through this aloha spirit and loving care of each other that I feel we were able to make the shifts necessary within ourselves to move beyond the “old” and into the new! I can’t imagine having a better group of people to travel with, and it is truly a sense of family, ohana, for each and every one of them that I carry in my heart.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to share my thoughts, and I hope that those reading it will get an understanding for how important it is to actually go and visit the ‘aina of Hawaii as part of their aloha studies. I know that this realization and rebirth of myself would not have come as quickly (if at all) if I hadn’t taken the plunge and put myself in that canoe with everyone else. For the “old me” it was not an easy decision to make, but the “new me” is eternally grateful to my guides, and to my ohana in Australia for the love and support that I was shown when I did decide to make the journey.
I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone at the dinner in a few weeks time!
A hui hou!
Donna
Some of the phrases used here for those who don't know of them are:
Mahalo - thank you
Mahalo nui - many thanks/much gratitude
Mahalo kakou - thank you everyone
na Aumakua - the ancestors
na Akua - the deities
na Kupuna - the elders
'aina - land
Kanaka Maoli - native Hawaiians
Amama amama ua noa! - The prayer is freed!
Oli - chants
Ohana - family
Kuleana - now days used for the word "property" but more accurately translated as "responsibility" ie. the land is your responsibility
E ho mai - Grant us/Give forth
Aloha Tracey,
I’ve been having a hard time getting words down about the trip since I got back, I haven’t got the faintest idea where to start!
So, as I have been since getting back, pule (prayer) is as good a place as any.
A big mahalo nui na Aumakua, na Akua, na Kupuna for such a beautiful, nurturing and loving trip with true ohana. Mahalo to Tracey and all the wonderful people we met along the way (too numerous to mention by name so I’ll just say Mahalo Kakou!) who made this a journey of learning and growth on all levels. Mahalo to our guides and our ancestors for bringing us to the shining shores of Hawaii to realise our dreams and to connect (or reconnect) with the ‘aina (land) and history of the Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians). Mahalo nui for all the blessings bestowed upon us and for the direction our canoes are now going in, for the healing received, and the insights and teachings we were shown. Continue to bless all of those involved in this trip, and to guide us on the next steps of our journey, continue to put wonderful people and teachers in our canoe, and bless us with the constant feeling of being in aloha. Amama amama ua noa!
I can’t really begin to list everything I got out of this trip, so I’m going to go with one of the last things I said to Lawrence before we left Molokai. I have been involved in protocol before, I knew (mentally) the need for it but I didn’t really feel it on every level. I have sung the songs, and chanted oli around others, but the true connection to the words and the prayer of what I was saying wasn’t always felt.
It was through being involved in the many protocols on both islands that we were privileged to share and be shown, that I truly connected. There was no longer just a singing of the words “because” it was the right thing to do, it became more than that. There was a true connection to what the Oli meant, and why we were singing it. I think deep down there was finally a true connection (instead of separation) to Spirit and na Aumakua which had only been fleeting with the “old me”.
The old me used to waiver back and forth between feeling connected with Spirit, and it’s lonely when you’re feeling disconnected. This trip brought me to a place where nothing is separate, we are all one, and that feeling of ohana with the people, the ‘aina, everything was a cause for great celebration and gratitude. Suddenly, it all made sense why we Oli mahalo all the time! It made sense why we ask permission to enter into sacred spaces and to people’s kuleana.
There are many sayings that tell us about how our angels or guides can’t help us unless we ask for it: free will and all that. This makes more sense to me now. How can anyone help us unless we ask for it, unless we are ready for it? How can anyone know we are ready for it unless we ask? This goes around and around in my head and with it is the oli, E ho mai, e ho mai, grant us…… grant us the wisdom, grant us the power, grant us the healing and the learning.
I can’t speak highly enough of the group of people on the trip, true ohana indeed, the love and support that everyone gave, and continues to give, to each other has been a blessing in and of itself. It was through this aloha spirit and loving care of each other that I feel we were able to make the shifts necessary within ourselves to move beyond the “old” and into the new! I can’t imagine having a better group of people to travel with, and it is truly a sense of family, ohana, for each and every one of them that I carry in my heart.
Mahalo nui for the opportunity to share my thoughts, and I hope that those reading it will get an understanding for how important it is to actually go and visit the ‘aina of Hawaii as part of their aloha studies. I know that this realization and rebirth of myself would not have come as quickly (if at all) if I hadn’t taken the plunge and put myself in that canoe with everyone else. For the “old me” it was not an easy decision to make, but the “new me” is eternally grateful to my guides, and to my ohana in Australia for the love and support that I was shown when I did decide to make the journey.
I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone at the dinner in a few weeks time!
A hui hou!
Donna
Some of the phrases used here for those who don't know of them are:
Mahalo - thank you
Mahalo nui - many thanks/much gratitude
Mahalo kakou - thank you everyone
na Aumakua - the ancestors
na Akua - the deities
na Kupuna - the elders
'aina - land
Kanaka Maoli - native Hawaiians
Amama amama ua noa! - The prayer is freed!
Oli - chants
Ohana - family
Kuleana - now days used for the word "property" but more accurately translated as "responsibility" ie. the land is your responsibility
E ho mai - Grant us/Give forth
