Huna Article

Huna International

A Wonderful Adventure
by Graeme Kapono Urlich

When people first begin to study Huna, as taught by the Kahili family tradition from Kauai, or any new learning for that matter, there is a period where they are trying to fit the new learning into their current knowledge base and understand it from that perspective.

When Max Freedom Long worked on an early version of a Hawaiian dictionary to analyse the Hawaiian language for insights into their spirituality, with little or no contact with actual Hawaiian speakers, he would have been looking for words that matched his current, Christian, understanding of spirituality.

While he built a very useful system for personal growth, it is still very much rooted in the Western way of thinking. While Huna Kupua or Kahili Huna, as many call it today to distinguish it from other systems some people have chosen to also call Huna, is taught in a modernised form, usually in a non-traditional way, it is still very much rooted in the Hawaiian way of thinking.

The transition from the Western perspective to a Hawaiian one, and in the case of Huna Kupua, the switch from the typical warrior viewpoint to the Adventurer as used in the Kupua tradition, can be difficult. It often leads to what we call the Huna Crisis.

I myself have experienced this several times over the years as I made intuitive leaps through levels of understanding. This is a process I now call simplification and demystification because really, the more comfortable we get with this knowledge and the more we understand that all of the different systems of thought aren't mutually exclusive, the simpler everything becomes.

It can be quite a rollercoaster ride but if we can stay with it, we realise that our existing knowledge base fits into the Huna Philosophy and not the other way around. The sooner we stop trying to make Huna fit our old thinking and learn that we can shift between different ways of thinking and utilise different perspectives to achieve the best results possible, the more we can relax into the flow of life.

I have found it necessary to carefully watch that I don't allow the wonderfully freeing concepts of Huna Kupua to become diluted and distorted by letting limiting concepts supplant the seven basic principles. My having trained in the traditional way as well as studied in the modern way has made this easier to recognise. When I notice that life is becoming more difficult, it tells me that this is what I have fallen into and I bring myself back to the seven basic principles. The more I can expand my awareness of myself by keeping it simple, the more expansive and joyful life becomes. I have a ways to go and I find I am always learning new things to simplify life all the time. What a wonderful adventure!

Aloha New Zealand - School of Huna and Hawaiian Shamanism