Choosing Paradise: Are you willing to change?

Sometimes change arrives in the moment, asking just a small favor and we balk, unwilling to alter our routine or our thinking. At other times change breaks down our door, suggesting the impossible and with tears and open arms we embrace it with a resounding, “Yes, I will”.

I stared at the airline ticket in my hand. I would receive $80 to start a whole new life, for handing it over, for closing the door to the way out. I had used the other half of the ticket a few weeks before. The very moment I took my first breath of warm, flower laden, tropical air, every cell in my being began repeating the mantra, “Stay here, you are home”. I had lived near the ocean and in the mountains, but never before had the two majesties danced before me as one, now delightfully calling my name, proclaiming, “We’re so glad you are here. Now just start over”.

There was such an astounding beauty to this certainty that had no grounds. It announced itself from such a depth within that it echoed through the Universe. The force in its desire dissolved any rational questions of “How will I?, What should I?, Where will I?” This level of trust made me giddy. My old life disintegrated and the scales fell off. The discarded skin lay in another place, another time. I was truly shimmering in a presence I had never felt before. I was undefined. I knew no one. I could be anything.

I could feel no psychic weight in any dimension. I found myself going through a doorway, into an initiation, a marriage. “Do you now accept Paradise, inner and outer, as your new life, from this day forward?” By now, my voice was no longer the only sound. Vibrant forces of nature: the palms, the ocean waves, the clouds, the breeze, the volcano, streams, and lush valleys all joined me in repeating my vow, “Yes, I will”.

Copyright © Bentley Kalaway 2009

Ancient Hawaiian Words of Power

The Hawaiian language is just so much more than the words that are made up from the 12 letter alphabet designed by missionaries in the late 1800’s. Up until that time the Hawaiian language was only an oral tradition. The words were not only used to navigate daily living but also were used for encoding ancient knowledge that was passed on from generation to generation.

Words name things. Even the Hawaiian word for name, “inoa” has deep hidden meaning. A name not only refers to someone or something, but also embodies important information about an individual’s nature and destiny. Names, in ancient Hawaii were viewed as living things, containing power in and of themselves, just as everything else in the world was seen as alive and honored for its own form of consciousness.

Many Hawaiian words relate to the description of light. The sun is la and the night is po, darkness, but also ignorance. The Hawaiian day begins with the night, not dawn. Ao is the daylight, but also means to regain consciousness. This is an example of the hidden meanings within Hawaiian words. Light was never just external to Hawaiians. Light always included the light of being. Everything begins with the hidden light and is light all the way through.


In our modern world, we call transformative and life changing systems, “new age”, and yet Hawaiians lived for thousands of years naturally in a quietly powerful, practical, and balanced way. They had no need to add a new philosophy over the top because they were already focused on the whole person and put their attention on balancing body, mind, soul and emotions with the Divine. Furthermore, they used not just belief, but experience to monitor their progress. They strived to live with a life affirming positive approach toward themselves and others and then noticed how that worked and had systems in place to return to balance when they fell short of this goal.

Hawaiians believed that having a happy attitude and a peaceful state of mind created a powerful mana field that affected every aspect of life and attracted more positive mana. The image of a spiral is helpful in understanding the phrase from The Bhagavad Gita, “Curving back on myself, I create again and again”. We never stop creating because we are always sending out thoughts and emotions. When we truly desire something, we need only trust that the means will collect around the purity of our intention. Our passions are breadcrumbs that lead to the path of our destiny. If you put your attention on your Self evolution, that is what you will create, but there is one more important step. It’s really not about you, It’s about what you bring to the world. Hawaiians brought us “aloha”, which is so much more than “hello” and “goodbye”. It embodies an ideal to strive for in all of our human relationships: to reach out to others from a selfless nature, leading with an empathetic heart and offering a full spirit of peacefulness and generosity.