Waikiki Welcome

A  L  O  H  A !

Oahu

Over every mountain 

there is a path, 

although it may not be 

seen from the valley.

   Theodore Roethke

Change your conception of yourself 

and you will automatically change 

the world in which you live. 

Do not try to change people; 

they are only messengers 

telling you who you are. 

Revalue yourself and 

they will confirm the change.

          Neville Goddard

My friend's son welcomes us home to Waikiki

⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛙⛜

Thank You

Friend!

                Fondly, cloudia

Remarkable Cherif

A L O H A

to You Friend. . . Come In!

Photo Click Regime in Place

Workers in Squares

"Whether you think you can - or you can't- you are right."

Henry Ford

Summer Lingers in Waikiki



"We always find what we are looking for."
Psychological Principle



Kitty. . . You LLook...Strange!









Did you ever want to go out into the desert and study with all the contemplative monks in their isolated cells?
To stand upon the power spots of the pyramids
and temples of Egypt?
To read ancient wisdom books at the Vatican in their original words, and to speak many languages?
How would you like to develop so much insight and behavioral prowess that you travel the world as a gifted medical intuitive?





Well, on Saturday I met remarkable young man who has done all of those things; Meet Cherif.






Cherif spoke to a small group about discovering our true desire, about acting with inner conviction, and about achieving that desire "as if you are racing there on rails."






Some of Cherif's Wisdom:




"Without self confidence you will never see the way,"
he told us.
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"The key is knowing yourself, and having such intimacy with wisdom, that you trust & understand that guidance will always be there when needed."
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"If we keep sending present energy into the past and future,
it turns into poison in our lives."
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"Gratitude is power."
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"Once you judge someone or something, you are stuck with the experiences that grow out of that judgement."
<>




"We too often navigate from our experiences - we need to change our minds to change our experiences.
We find just what we expect to."
<>
"Our emotion is the fuel
that makes our thoughts come to pass."
<>
"Nonresistance frees your energy."
(Don't resist - follow your desire somewhere different.)
<>
"Be patient - be happy."
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"Don't analyze - accept and move forward."
<>
"Grace cancels karma, translating you to a place
where you live on divine substance."






Yes, Cherif gave us many tools for changing our lives,
but some seemed dissappointed that it wasn't magic, instant, or something that he would do for us.


Instead he shared what he has learned so far on his remarkable spiritual journey.





Why is it that we seldom want to take the very steps that will take us where it is we say that we want to go?



I have learned that following my bliss sometimes leads (paradoxically) through unsought challenges. I have come to almost enjoy, not fear, such envelope-pushing.






Sometimes a dragon guards the treasure we desire.
Staying in our comfort zone will not get us to the prize.




Cherif has discovered some great truths and lives happily with them. What are YOUR great truths?
Do they serve or hinder you?
Just remember that the Comfort Spiral is here for you,
an oasis on the way out of exile. . .


ALOHA & Thank You for YOUR Visit Today!
Cloudia

Honolulu Chinese New Year

click on photos to enlarge!

This Tong (Association)building was open for Chinese New Year. Note the (practical) store on the ground level. Many altars were upstairs, but the top floor was closed to the public (me).


Even the little markets have Altars. Note the fruit, plants, and Chinese Buddhas next to Japanese "Lucky Cats" of gold and white with their raised paws beckoning customers and good business. Only in Hawaii do Japanese & Chinese cultures mix this way.

Narcissus is a symbol of purity for the New Year.

"There is not enough darkness in all the world to put out the light of even one small candle."

Robert Alden

Above: Barack Obama's favorite meal at Zippy's, Won Ton Min. Notice the one shrimp tempura, the yellow scrambled egg, the noodles, won tons, char siu (red pork), greens, chopsticks & Asian spoon, plus condiments Chinese mustard and shoyu (soy sauce). The metal lid is laid to the side. It is topped by a little receptacle for chopped green onions that you add yourself. The inauguration special this week!

"Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful." Buddha

The main altar inside the tong building shown above. Kwan Yin, the Goddess of Compassion, is wearing her holiday best! Great Headdress. See the floral, fruit, and monetary offerings?

Rambutan Fruit

Japanese Shinto priest conducting service. Note hangings, and the sake bottles offered by parishioners representing agricultural abundance and joy.

Good Luck Lions dancing. The winner will get to eat the child in the stroller. (Just kidding!!) People feed them dollar bills to bring luck for the new year.

Making Jin Dui, "Chinese donuts." The dark stuff is sweet bean paste for the center of the round pastry.

The whole family helps!

Line waiting to EAT the Jin Dui boiling in the big woks!

A cool Pomeranian and companion.

Chinatown is a commercial district. Immigrants from ALL over Asia live and make their living here. You can enjoy food from many nations.

Dragon rests between performances. One person holds each pole; the beast undulates beguilingly as it chases the ball seen here resting on it. The ball represents the "power essence" that the Dragon wants to eat. The guy holding that pole conducts the dragon wherever he wants to!

Below, a beckoning sign offers a late beer in the "Secret Alley."

Zippys (a local chain) is the place that returning Hawaii folks go to directly from the airport. Local comfort food! Usually, I'll have dim sum at my favorite place, but I was "ono" (Hawaiian, means 'hungry' and also 'delicious') for Won Ton Min at Zippys and so began my Chinatown New Year Celebration on Saturday at Maunakea Street & Vineyard Boulevard. The server told me that it's Brack's favourite! This Zippys is right across the boulevard from the beautiful Kwan Yin Temple, and also the site of the original Hawaiian Village of "Kou" which pre-dated our Honolulu Town. A great place to start, I'd say. Walking towards the Chinese Cultural Center, sort of a mall of Chinese businesses and organizations, I passed the Lum Sai Ho Tong (1899-1953). For the first time in my 20+ years in town I found it open for New Years visitors! It was amazing with multiple altars upstairs and a cool, usually inaccessible view across the canal (Nu`uanu Stream). I really need to post more of the pictures I took tomorrow! At the Cultural Center I bought some lucky calligraphy on red paper from the Nu`uanu Chinese Christian Church booth, as well as a lucky "Gau," a round rice "pudding" cake that celebrates family cohesion. Streets were closed, crowds were thick, and dancing lions with their gong/drum/crashing cymbal bands roamed the district to the sounds of firecrackers. I went into a hole-in-the-wall noodle factory and bought some. "Nihau" (Hello) Shi Shi (Thank You) and "Gung Hee Fat Choy" (Happy Lucky New Year!). A bit of patient gesturing along with the linguistic niceties above will take you far, especially at this time of year when merchants make a good part of their annual profit. Walking back to my car with my noodles, lucky amulets, and new red t-shirt, I noticed that the Shinto Shrine on Kukui Street was open too. Inside a Shinto Priest was conducting services for two young Japanese folks. I thought that they were discharging a family obligation, or interested in their roots. The priest took the pole with the hanging white papers off of the altar and blessed the two with it. Then he kindly blessed me as well. Finally, he brought a wooden tray with porcelain cups on it and served each of us a sip of good Sake. Bracing! I had been afraid that I was trespassing so I thanked the Priest sincerely. "Thank you for coming." he generously said. Then I went home and rested for a while so I could return in the evening with the Favourite Husband, the Cholos, and the Cattermoles whom I had promised to guide through all the wonderment. We ended the night (after the boys rejoined us from their interlude in "Secret Alley") with a social libation at one of Hotel Street's best hole-in-the-wall bars, Ke Kai. . .

ALOHA & GUNG HEE FAT CHOY! Cloudia

HUNA: Hidden Wisdom

" We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." Tobias Wolf

"I know what I want to do with my life. I intend to do everything. . . Everything matters! . . . . I am alive . . . I am beautiful . . . .what else is there?" Susan Sontag, age 16

"I hope life isn't a big joke, because I don't get it."

Jack Handey

"Huna" means "hidden." This is the wisdom behind appearances that the Hawaiian Kahuna developed over centuries of learning & practice. These principles are considered practical techniques, not mere symbols. Emerging ideas, such as "The Secret," are uncannily similar, don't you think?

The Seven Principles of Huna

IKE -The world is what you think it is.

KALA -There are no limits, everything is possible.

MAKIA - Energy flows where attention goes.

MANAWA - Now is the moment of power.

ALOHA - To love is to be happy with.

MANA - All power comes from within.

PONO - Effectiveness is the measure of truth.

Food for thought . . . A L O H A! Cloudia

Leaders

Normal is getting dressed in clothes that you buy for work and driving through traffic in a car that you are still paying for - in order to get to the job you need to pay for the clothes and the car, and the house you leave vacant all day so you can afford to live in it. - Ellen Goodman

If you would convince a man that he does wrong, do right. Men will believe what they see.
Henry David Thoreau

The secret of leadership is simple: Do what you believe in. Paint a picture of the future. Go there. People will follow. -Seth Godin

We're all burned out on self-promoters, power-trippers, spokesmen, experts, motivational nazis, and salesmen. The best sort of folks are turned-off by the present circumstances. . . just look at how well everything going for the average person! No wonder lots of the best and most sensitive types remain on the sidelines watching the farce with a weird mixture of aggrieved common sense, public spirited disgust, righteous anger, a humorous long-view, and a profound sadness that permeates society like a bad smell. But the Kupuna (Hawaiian: "Elders/Seniors/Parents/Ancestors") showed the way. They knew that there was amazing influence in authentic living and in authentic people. Those who are always, subtly, reaching out respectfully, with inclusive Aloha in the moment. . . moment to moment. Such people are helping all who feel their emanation to respond, to reconnect with the power of their OWN true integrity. This wave ultimately loosens the power of dogma, checklists, and insincere manipulation. . . Lets stop being a culture of the "eye roll," and let it begin with me. . .

Abundance Subsistance

"A good conscience is a constant Christmas."- Franklin

"Sorrow locks the gates of Heaven" -Hebrew saying

"Nobody ever made a dime by panicking." - Jim Cramer

First I had a cold, or so I thought. Then it turned into the flu. . .When it reached the point where I couldn't breathe I was taken to the hospital - which immediately admitted me. Oxygen helped. The doctors tried antibiotics of various kinds and gave me an HIV test. They finally said that I had some kind of pneumonia.

Growing weaker, everything physical and mental became arduous. When you can't breathe nothing else much matters. I wondered if I'd ever play my flute again. Usually I felt like I'd never "made it" with my music. Sure I'd played in some bands, done a little recording, made some people happy. . . wait a minute! I finally realized what solace, pleasure, sharing, and insight into the deeper rhythms of life that my flutes had given me. I remembered the pleasure of escaping as a kid and playing in the trees behind my house. The birds seemed to listen, and I learned to listen to them. I remembered being the only light-skinned person in a dark backroom in the disreputable part of town, and a teenager to boot(!) yet playing music with old old men who'd lived a long hard life and who knew many deep things unsuspected in my sweet striving suburb. Music opened those doors. John Sephus (sp?) a beautifully worn blues-man said: "You play the hell out of that thing, kid" backstage at some festival years ago. My dear friend Labig, a cowboy/country/folk song-stylist, who made his living as a city desk reporter ,was there: beaming at me. One of the great moments of my life! I guess music brought me my some of my best friends. Laying in that hospital bed, I knew that if I ever had the chance to play a little tune, or to ride my 33 year old motorcycle again, I would finally understand the glory of it and appreciate it! As I hovered close to death, Jim and other friends & family who had passed felt very near. There were others there too; and a little bird came to my window ledge every day. He seemed to know his business and communicated deep things very simply in the dusk. At one point I felt myself moving up and out. I could see the room, the hillside, all of my dear Honolulu and then the countryside on the other side of the Ko`olau range. I felt compassion for myself: "Poor jerk," I had been so busy worrying that I'd never really just ENJOYED this amazing life. I saw and knew (and cared about!) all the people laughing, loving, striving, crying, winning, losing, musing, and dying all over the world. I felt deep love and care for the entire lovely writhing, suddenly very beautiful earth. As I wondered with immense compassionate concern what would happen next to everyone, a voice (that wasn't a voice exactly) whispered in my ear: "It's not your kuleana (Hawaiian: 'responsibility') anymore." Suddenly something snapped. I didn't care about any of it anymore; I was too busy suddenly beginning to remember. . . to real-lax. . . to feel the thrill of finally arriving home at the safest harbor where everything makes beautiful, complete, sense. Later I began to recover. I started to slowly rejoin the world and the illusions that we share. I had seen the complexity of our world that appears so random, responds to each person's choices & actions, and yet fits together seamlessly. Naturally and easily I finally understood some answers instead of just searching for them; and they were obvious once I had a different perspective. My views on lots of things changed. I now understand that most of what we think of as "important" is really just the 'props' and window dressing of our stories and choices. And too much of what REALLY COUNTS we consider trite & trivial. For the most part, it's not the 'whats' of our lives that matter, it's the "WHOs" and the "WHYs" that really are the whole point. Wealth and security are just concepts. True wealth and security are always right here. The wealth of playing a worn instrument for a few moments in a busy day, the wind in your hair, in fact: EVERY BREATH is truly a gift. These are not things I say, they are facts I lived! As long as we live, God, or Spirit, or Aloha, or whatever YOU call it, is with us. I KNOW that now. And I also learned that when we leave this existence: we go to be with Him/Her/Them/LOVE. There is truly nothing to fear, but it would be a real shame to miss the glory while we're in it - this beautiful Earth! I walk down the street loving everyone, because I now know that being "strangers" is just an agreement we made in order to play here.

Subsistence, having enough, is abundance. Wanting more, wanting a guarantee for tomorrow, is just an illusion, a 'plot' in your story. . . ...........A L O H A ! Cloudia

In It Together. . .

"Shared pain is no longer paralyzing."

- Henri Nouwen

"Everyone who enters our life becomes a part of us and we become a part of each of them. We are all the same stuff; we are interrelated; we are inseparable. We experience mutuality all the time."

- Douglas C. Smith

"Our true nature is not some ideal that we have to live up to. It's who we are right now, and that's what we can make friends with and celebrate."

- Pema Chodron

It seems that we live in interesting times. Please turn off the news. Please remember to stop, and to breathe deeply. Stop. Pause. Inhale. Exhale. If this suggestion is irritating, then you really need to do it ;-)

Being in the moment isn't about "winning" over thought. All you need is closer than you think, relaxation invites wisdom. Mental effort defeats itself. "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." This doesn't mean that the 'end' is near: it was written thousands of years ago. No. It means that if you can pause from the movie of your life and your thoughts long enough, you will begin to see that "heaven" is within your reach. If you will, you can remake your life. Do you dare to be happy while others panic? Well, for one thing it is reassuring to everyone to be around a calm presence. Don't just 'do' something. Stand there and notice the beauty all around you. Life goes on. No one gets out alive. We're all in it together.

Kinda cool, isn't it? So go out and VOTE!

A L O H A! cloudia

I'm RIGHT!

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy." - Robt. Louis Stevenson









"Little minds are interested in the extraordinary; great minds in the commonplace." - Elbert Hubbard

"People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of their character."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Why is being "right" so crucial to us? Is it because we were punished as impressionable little-people for doing "wrong?"

Clearly the world is constructed of complexity, of layers, of degrees. View depends on perspective. So why are we SO compelled to imperil even our closest relationships; to suffer, kill and die for "what is right?"

It is "matters of principle" that get us the most unprincipled and unreasoning.

Good parents teach kids that life is often "unfair." Bad parents teach that life always or never is. Which is worse?
We are most effective when calm, so why do we feel a duty to be angry? To "not let them get away with it?"
Do YOU want to be RIGHT or HAPPY?

Personal Power. . .

" I'm not old enough to play baseball or football. I'm not eight yet. My mom told me when you start baseball, you aren't going to be able to run that fast because you had an operation. I told Mom I wouldn't need to run that fast. When I play baseball, I'll just hit them out of the park. Then I'll be able to walk."
~Edward J. McGrath, Jr., "An Exceptional View of Life"



"It is by logic that we prove, but by intuition we discover."

-Leonardo DaVinci

"There is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don't know."

- Ambrose Bierce


What road are you on? If you don't change course, you'll get where you're heading.



"If 50 million people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing."

-Anatole France



Where are your heading?

The subconscious is very literal. What we believe emotionally, it takes for truth and acts accordingly. Your subconscious regulates all the tiny and crucial functions of your cells and organs. If you always feel stressed and anxious, your subconscious and parasympathetic nervous system live in panic mode. Stress is designed to be a short-term solution to a problem NOW, like a charging lion. When you realize that relaxation is your optimum state, and make it a priority to care for yourself, insight arrives, health symptoms improve, you live more effectively. It's easy. Playing sports takes energy, concentration and involves stress, but the attitude of the players makes it fun. Listen to your heart. Have fun. Be patient with yourself and others. Play the game! A L O H A !!!!!!!!

Kolea Cool & Misty. . .

"Experience isn't interesting till it begins to repeat itself; in fact, till it does that, it hardly is experience"
-Eliz. Bowen, Irish Author

"Worldly wisdom teaches that it is better for your reputation if you fail conventionally, than if you succeed unconventionally."

-John Maynard Keynes,

"Great" economist, 1935

"Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore!." - Dorothy Gale

"There are no democratic or republican roads, or health care, or environment. There are only roads and health care, and we all breathe the same air." -Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Skinny Kolea (golden plover) have returned to our misty morning Waikiki lawns after their epic flight from Alaska. A fresh coolness is in the O`ahu air. Albatross who reportedly spends up to 10 years in flight is not impressed by Kolea's feat, but I am. The original "snow birds" will winter in the islands stuffing their beaks till it's time to return north. Cycles continue. . .
A Hawaiian Healing Kahuna tells the story of the woman brought to him suffering from extreme anxiety and depression. "What is bothering you?" He asked. She began talking about the world situation, terrorism, the economy..." He spent the day taking her to beautiful places on his island. At the beach he said: "Look, no bad news." At the pali (cliff) he showed her a peaceful windward side of the island. In the banana patch he showed her that no terrorists were crouching beneath the leaves. "Look at what is really right here," he told her. That night she slept soundly for the first time in years. One thought follows another. Psychologists call it "entrainment." But you don't need to ride that train. Just let it pull out of the station without you. . . The Seasons Are Changing Again!

Just for Today. . .

JUST FOR TODAY. . . Don't worry. . . Just for today, Don't Anger. . . Just for Today. . .


Comfort Spiral is NOT positive thinking! It is more like the last day of school as you begin to suspect how wonderful your life really can be. Dare to believe it. Tons of illusion, mistaken beliefs and "shoulds" can finally be taken off of your shoulders. . . can finally be lain down. . . "If fear alters behaviour, you're already defeated." - Brenda Hammond

"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost." - Chesterton

"All truth passes through three stages: First it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Schopenhauer

Fearless Gentleness: Every day annoyances crop up naturally. They are often triggers for the less-than-perfect sides of our nature. But exploding never accomplishes anything positive. Holding a lid on rage causes physical/mental problems. But all this can be safely dissipated. De-escalate. Then the provocation becomes fuel! It can propel you into the heights of well being. Each time you refuse to "rise to the bait," you develop your perspective and detachment "muscles." Lots of complications are avoided this way! Every time you handle some "problem" with relaxed dignity, powerful inner detachment and increased freedom of spirit become yours. All the kinetic energy of the situation will flow non-destructively to your strength and merit, and also to collective world peace. Really. . . Try to greet each complication as a "work out opportunity" YOU WILL GROW HAPPIER! The Hawaiians say: "He Mea Iki'" it's just a small thing. Come, walk along the shoreline of your heart. . . ALOHA!