by Stewart Blackburn
The fact that the basic elements of Huna are ancient isn't enough to warrant scrutiny by anyone except for the anthropologists and historians among us. The fact that aspects of Huna are metaphysical in nature doesn't separate it from the hundreds of spiritual philosophies extant today. Not even the connection to exotic Hawaii makes it particularly special.
To me, what makes Huna special is that it is the most powerful and effective system of self-empowerment that I have come across. And please believe me when I say that I have explored many dozens of them. It's powerful and effective because it is not about "the truth" or "Universal Law." It is very simply about what works for you and let's you choose the imagery and beliefs you want. In some ways it goes underneath to the core understandings from which all systems derive their power. How we think of things is not nearly so important as how we feel about things and how we choose to use that energy.
Huna starts with a few unspoken assumptions that distinguish it from most other systems. The first is that we truly are the only ones responsible for our experiences in life. This means that we are the authority in our lives, the authors of our lives, if you will.
The second one is that life is all about feeling good, however we choose to see that. All our desires and decisions are evaluated on the basis of how they can make us feel better. Enjoying life and its pleasures not only is what keeps us healthy and happy, but it is also the path to higher spiritual development.
The third assumption is that we can affect our outer world by changing things in our inner world: As within, so without. Our physical reality flows out of the deeper realities of our being.
The fourth one is that this is a beautiful, loving world, one that has challenges and some pain involved, but one that is inherently working to our benefit. This is a more pleasing and enjoyable assumption than the opposite assumption of danger and suffering everywhere. It is our choice, then, as to which assumption we will make. As part of this assumption, we acknowledge the aid and guidance of the non-physical beings that are there to help us.
And the fifth assumption is that there is no more satisfying way of living our lives than expressing the uniqueness of who we are at our deepest levels. Every time we attempt to conform to others' opinions and rules, we lose a bit of our own personal power. It is only by discovering our authentic selves that we can be at peace, both within and without.
All the techniques and concepts of Huna go to serve these assumptions. Put together, these assumptions give us a picture of an adventurer. We are exploring life and we seek those things that will support and add that exploration. We don't need to get everything "right;" we only need to mindfully choose which paths we will take and which we will pass by.
Huna is a form of shamanism and shamans are healers by definition. All healing from this perspective is about harmonizing relationships. We may need to restore harmony to the relationship between people, or perhaps the relationship of a group of people to the land. But the need for healing is more often the need to harmonize aspects of our lives. When we are suppressing desires and feelings, we create stress. A simple example is the man who hates his job finding that he gets sick often enough to reduce his time spent at work. Another might be the woman who resists her own sexuality and who develops cancer in response.
Shamanism is distinguished by its use of the shamanic journey, which we use frequently. This is an interface between our conscious minds and our higher mind, or actually with any other consciousness we choose to interact with. It involves going into a non-ordinary state of being and doing things there. It is akin to the out-of-body experience and lucid dreaming and is a very powerful platform from which to work.
So we want to help people heal themselves by helping them return to their own harmony within. Oftentimes, there is an immediate need for assistance and we do what we can to provide assistance. No technique or procedure works in every case. We do our work as best we can, and if it doesn't work we try something else. As often as not though, it is the love that we work with that seems to provide the greatest healing. The longer term healing is about feeling all that is there and lovingly integrating those aspects of our being that we resist.
Huna is not a closed system; it does not say that it knows everything. There is a great deal of learning yet to be added as times and people change. But when we take responsibility for our lives, become our own authorities, and understand how to use our minds to change our personal reality, we become the very powerful beings we were born to be.
Copyright 2014 Stewart Blackburn
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