"An open heart ...
That reservoir of goodness ...
If we can find that grace,
Anything is possible.
If we can tap that grace,
Everything can change.
Amazing grace. Amazing grace.
How sweet the sound."
Barrack Obama
I was so frustrated. They were driving me nuts. The easy solution would be to exclude and avoid. But, Uncle Pono taught me to live Aloha. And, he said that living Aloha was like martial arts. You had to train, practice, and live it, every day, to become an authentic practitioner. So, I looked towards the Aloha response, and the first A in Aloha.
Aunty Pilahi taught us that the first “A” in Aloha stands for Akahai. The literal, meaning of the Hawaiian word Akahai is kindness. Kindness can be defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, considerate, and gentle. Nice is good, but being kind is more than just being nice. Being nice focuses on self, whereas being kind focuses on others. Kindness instills empathy and compassion.
There is much to be said about living a life of kindness. But, isn’t this a given? Aren’t we all taught as children that we should be kind to others? In reality, however, we forget our childhood lessons. And, sometimes, we let self-righteous impulses cloud our view. Wayne Dyer has said “when given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.
Kindness should not only be directed to others, but also towards ourselves. None of us are perfect. We make mistakes, some small and some big. If we are not kind to ourselves, we can self-destruct. We need to be able to forgive ourselves. The important thing is that we learn from our mistakes and become better in the process.
Being kind can also mean how we interact with and the attitudes we have towards our aina. Our aina is our home. We need to take care of it and treat it with kindness.
However, there is more to the word Akahai. Hawaiian words have different layers of meaning. The word Akahai also has a deeper esoteric meaning. That meaning is grace.
Grace conveys a spiritual aspect. Grace has been defined as unconditional love. Unconditional love is not a theoretical rarity. If we look, we can see it all around us. We see it in the grace of God, despite our sins. We see it in a mother's love, which knows no bounds. We see it in my dachshund Yama, who loves me no matter what. Grace is love in action.
Uncle Pono visualized Akahai as engaging relationships with white gloves. He stated that when we engage in this manner, it is clean, we do not stain, and we do not leave our fingerprints behind. With that practice, we do not harm or damage. And, we leave things better than they were before.
In our professional setting, mentorship is an act of Akahai. When we mentor, we teach and develop while being careful not to damage the spirit.
Healers are practitioners of Akahai. When we heal, we alleviate sickness and trauma. We make our patients better than they were before. We restore wellness and peace. When healers heal, they achieve fulfilment of their purpose. This provides Akahai back to the healer.
This makes the healer better than they were before.
Embrace Akahai, kindness, and grace. Akahai makes our world a happier, more peaceful, and better place. Live Akahai and spread God's grace.
"Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see."
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