Wow! A five-part post about aloha and we are finally on part five! Please do read the previous posts if you have not.
To re-cap:
A = Ala, Ao (watchful alertness, and light)
L = Lokahi (unity)
O = Oia`i`o (truthfulness)
H = Ha`aha`a (being humble)
Let’s bring it all together. The deeper teaching of aloha helps you on your path and it teaches you some basic concepts that empower your spirit, mind and body. They were taught to me by my kumu (teachers), and I’ve seen the behavior and belief in aloha in some of the most empowered and spiritual people on the planet.
Today, we’ll discuss the final “a” in ALOHA, which can have two meanings:
A = Aho Nui and Aloha.
Aho Nui means patient perseverance.
On the path, you need to have patience, which might seem tough in the instant gratification world that we live in.
By the way, I love getting things right away. I’m old enough to remember before cable television, before VCR’s, before microwave ovens, and before computers!
My son said to me, “Dad, how could you live like that?!?” Skylar last night just looked at me and finally said, “Daddy, that means you are very old!”
Well, either way, I feel lucky that I have seen the before and after of our instant gratification world. Today, we expect things right away. And that is not good or bad, it is just the way things are. There are times when “right now” this is very useful and should be capitalized on.
But in general, life is an aim, not an end. Life is a path that has no finish line. Life is about learning, and the moment you achieve a new level you sometimes need to start all over again. You won’t hear the microwave bell ding and be done. It’s a continual process.
For example, have you ever heard an individual in a relationship say, “You aren’t the person I married!” Well, duh, I hope not! That was decades ago!
Think about it. Last year my wife and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. We met 20 years ago this year and were friends for many years before we dated. When we met, I was a pizza restaurant manager and she worked at a high end retail store in Honolulu. Today, we’ve been married for ten years, are raising two kids and work together and manage our company with just about twenty employees.
I sure hope the two of us are different! To expect us to be the same is unrealistic. A relationship is about relating and continuous growth. I’ve worked with too many couples who thought they’d get married then live happily ever after feeling exactly as they did on their wedding day. Well, to live happily ever after, you need to have patience with yourself and your partner as you both evolve.
It happens in all areas of life. When I became a doctor, in a sense I became a new person. As soon as I was Dr. Matt, much of what I thought about myself previously no longer counted. In other words, I had to re-learn who I was and how others approached me.
This takes patience, because as soon as you think you have something figured out, WATCH OUT!! It is time to learn something new!!
So every once and a while, pat yourself on the back, say “I’m doing a good job.” Have perseverance on your path as it (and you) changes and evolves.
The “a” also stands for aloha which means “true” or “absolute love.”
Aloha is loving both yourself and others. It’s treating yourself the way you would treat someone you love, and treating all others the same. It is that big love that is unconditional and universal.
Aloha also means both hello and goodbye. In ancient Hawai’i, it was believed that you could never say goodbye. When you share something like these teachings or an event or a few precious moments with another, you would say “a hui hou,” which means our paths will come together again at some point. We are a “hui” (group) and we will repeat our connection (“hou”) in some way.
Goodbye meant you were done and there would be no more connection, but that is rarely the case. Even if the connection is in your memories, you can never say goodbye. So we say instead, aloha or “great love to you.”
So mahalo (thank you) for reading these posts, and aloha a hui hou!
Dr. Matt
P.S.~ Attending one of my live NLP training events is a great way to kick off 2013. A bonus day dedicated solely to Huna is available in select cities. To check out the upcoming schedule of dates and cities I’ll be in next, visit www.NLP.com
