Tolerance according to the Huna tradition.

 

Before studying tolerance according to the Huna tradition, we would like to consider the present situation in the world that uses intolerance as the foundation for attitudes and actions. This condition causes an established and characterized selfishness, when it generalizes some type of behavior that is common to individuals and also to important communities, in spite of their beliefs and technological or scientific development. It reaches all social classes and includes individuals that are economically inferior, starving and abandoned.

Intolerance is also artful and many times it is linked to belligerence. Therefore, as a first change, wars from now on will be different and so will the way of thinking. Wars will be made with other techniques. It seems that strategy will only change the way of killing. However it can be the first step towards necessary changes.

The intolerant human being is not capable of understanding his fellow creatures, if not according to parameters established by his community, where he isolates himself more, using excuses such as his well being, based on comfort and convenience. Thus, he loses connection with different civilizations and creates a vicious circle that is lost in ideas and beliefs and turns him intolerant too, in the name of a resentful and pitiless God.

Solidarity has disappeared, giving room to power and prepotency. In order to understand such intolerance, we have dedicated some time to study the meaning of tolerance, in the hope that one day man will realize that peace and quietness are not in present standards but inside himself, when he searches for the divine in there. Such divine awakening enables changes with new standards and transforms the relationship of the human being, who starts to see not the other but his fellow man. It is the sharing that makes the man happy.

 

Definitions of tolerance

 

1)   Dictionary – Aurélio Buarque de Holanda. (Portuguese)

a) Quality of tolerant; act or effect of tolerating. Tendency to admit ways of thinking, acting or feeling that are different from those of an individual or groups with different political or religious ideas.

b) Maximum difference admitted between a specified value, a specified borderline permissible for error in a measure or discrepancy towards a standard.

 

 

2) Dictionary – Michaelis

a) The right we give others to have different opinions, even opposite to yours.

b) A good disposition of those who listen patiently to opposite opinions.

3) Sociology. A social attitude of those who give others the right to express differences in behavior and opinions, even when they do not approve

4) According to the “Hawaiian Dictionary” (Hawaiian–English/English- Hawaiian) by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Elbert, the English word “tolerate” is replaced by the word “endure”, when connected to situations referring to the Hawaiian language. “Endure” corresponds to:alo, ahonui, mau, and ō in Hawaiian.

 Alo means to shun, to escape, to evade, to avoid, to omit, omission, to be with, to come close, to go with, to escort, to accompany, to share an experience with, to persevere, to resist and to take care.

Ahonui means patience, patient, tolerate.

Mau means always, constant, permanent, perpetual, firm, preservation and continuity.

Ō means to answer, to agree, to say, to speak, to clink, to ring a bell, to resound, to knock, to whistle, to remain, to tolerate, to survive, to continue, to exist, food supply for a maritime journey.

As seen above, there is a great amount of interpretations for the word tolerance in both civilizations but no clear or precise definition.

The meaning generally attributed to tolerance is to endure somebody or a situation we disagree with or do not accept. By politeness, benevolence, philanthropy or an act of goodwill we listen to or act, feeling that we are doing something kind, not opposite to people who are important to us or to situations that may be transitory and by doing so, a person may benefit of some new though or the situation may become different and the misunderstanding diminish or disappear.

By acting in such a way we may satisfy our desires or vanity, we may be understanding, active counselors who behave as benefactors and thank God for this listening inspiration and help to solve the case. Intellectually there is a great satisfaction as we see ourselves as better people, acting with benevolence and believing that our influence caused good changes or at least softened the situation. However we must not forget that memories will be recorded and they do not correspond to the truth of our basic dream of life.

 The definition in dictionaries state that these are attitudes we have taken with some type of behavior but they are not what we truly feel or think. Therefore, it is not reality but just a charitable illusion and illusions are deceitful in the sense of interior growth or evolution.

Deep in our hearts we have satisfied our desire to act in benefit of others, in a hypothetically conciliatory manner. If we want to know the truth, we must swap roles and place ourselves in the other’s situation and try to feel as he would if he could realize what we are really doing. Probably we would be judged and criticized as false and uninterested in what we show. The best thing would be not to cause irritation or arguments but an intervention that really brings benefit, even if it does not solve the problem that belongs to the other and his healing will depend on our own healing, that may happen with a correct action in face of the situation and ourselves.

The act without a search for truth may apparently be a good action but it can also encourage a harmful behavior. We ask ourselves if tolerance is this, really.

In situations defined in our Portuguese dictionaries, there is always the impression that we will be listening to something that we do not agree with, but we may listen with patience, fulfilling an external situation that has nothing to do with our internal reality. It is a way to avoid arguments, dissentions and misunderstandings that may become completely disastrous when we can not act properly and truthfully.

It is possible to control a certain situation but it does not solve the problem of the complainant, who will continue to think or feel in the same way or even more. It is more an exercise of patience to train our internal control, which can cause tension or even stress. Generally, when we are tolerant in such way, we are fooling ourselves and the others, posing as a perceptive person, when this is an attitude of fear and insecurity, followed by justifications.

According to he Huna tradition, the path of tolerance is much longer and requires a sharper perception of the meaning of words, as each one has in its roots and in the word itself concepts that may seem paradoxical but actually they are paths to be followed, a common situation in this language.

There are four Hawaiian words meaning tolerance, found in the “Hawaiian Dictionary” by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel H. Albert. Each word has several interpretations and the authors warn that the way they pronounced is significant too.

In Hawaiian tolerance is alo,ahonui,mau and ō.

Alo has a whole sequence of meanings, starting with to shun, to evade, to escape, omission, to avoid and also to be with, to come close, to go with, to escort, ending with to share an experience, to persevere, to resist and to take care.

This is a common sequence in Hawaiian words, as their meanings may vary from one end to the other, according to the situation, showing a sense of growth and evolution that may happen to an individual and to things in general. This language was conceived in ancient Havai’i in Mu in a language where secret instructions might be included and perceived by the priests of the Temple, the kahunas and the beginners who transmitted orally the Huna tradition for thousands of years.

It is clear that there is a sequence in the meaning of the word alo, starting with escape, omission, up to the expression to be with, to share, to persevere, to take care, as showing the path one must take when referring to tolerance. The initial tolerant is evading the commitment with himself of agreeing with the truth, felt at the moment he is listening to someone, whatever justifications for such procedure. He omits himself as a way of preservation, trying to avoid conflicts or dissentions that may be inconvenient at the moment, although they may become disastrous but they are always justifications or ignorance related to his internal values. As the basic dream of life develops and grows, the experienced and learned knowledge forms new memories that enlarge one’s perception and general conditions for internal development, the condition of being with, a greater understanding of the situation, and involvement with the person that is saying something.  Now he is capable of giving something of himself, without intervening in the result.

As he reaches a higher degree of growth with some evolution, he is capable of sharing. I this situation he is feeling rather than judging. He will benefit first and then, the other, both contributing indirectly to the whole. When we share, the changes that lead to perseverance are the result. It is an essential condition of the person who, with a new perception is capable of understanding what is being shared and of taking care of himself without worrying about the other, for he is already integrated in the action and knows that everything belongs to its whole (teia-aka).

Therefore the path of tolerance is long and depends on our actions and thus, we can change the perception that came from the outside at the beginning and with “the sharing with” becomes an internal situation, the awakening of Aloha (to love is to share), with the good will of Mana (all the power comes from the inside), both as principles of the Hawaiian shamanism. This indicates the harmony between the unihipili (subconscious) and the uhane (conscious) turning the action of Aumakua (super conscious) easier. Perseverance leads to a new perception that shows us that taking care of oneself is vital to come to the understanding of the blessings we were given, when we changed our standards. An observer who listens becomes an individual that shares experiences from inside out and knows about integration that happens. Consequently, the illusory separation that sets us apart disappears and our fellow man appears.

In alo tolerance becomes reality when we pursue the whole path of changes and acknowledge the new values that appear.

Ahonui means patience, patient-tolerate. This word shows us that only with patience we can follow the path that leads us to the succeeding lives that create in us, through evolution, the feeling of harmony among the three spirits and give us conditions to live in the new Ike (the world is what I think it is), formed by new standards.

Mau means always, constant, permanent, everlasting, firm, preservation and continuity.

When acquiring the above mentioned situations, we have the necessary conditions to feel the meanings of the word mau. Hence, we will always be constantly and permanently with the strong and doubtless belief (paulele) that we have acquired when we changed the standards that come up and develop through experienced actions in our basic dream of life and its modifications and also by the continuity of changes. Then, we will understand the reality of the seven principles that integrate us to the teia-aka as everlasting beings who are returning as children of Tane, worthy of living in the Father’s kingdom the image and likeness that we are.

Ō means to answer, to agree, to say, to talk, to clink, to ring a bell, to resound, to knock, to whistle, to remain, to tolerate, to survive, to continue, to exist, food supply for a maritime journey

With ō we have the answer to our initial actions that gradually acquired a different meaning leading us to a different existence in which agreement comes from the understanding given by Aumakua, who supplies the food for this great journey in the stormy seas of our lives. They come in the programmed, genetic memories that together with the acquired memories, formed by experiences lived in each basic dream of life, allow the continuity of the human being in search of his condition of child of Tane, who progresses towards new dwellings in the Father’s mansion. The Huna tradition is one of these paths.

Tolerance according to our dictionaries does not lead the human being to internal changes necessary to the harmony and internal peace that will reflect on the whole. By healing oneself, we can heal others and together we can heal the world, integrating everything in the teia-aka and extinguishing the illusory separation created by individualism.

 

Sebastião de Melo

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