Aloha

     Aloha is the most widely used, the most sacred and the most powerful word in the Hawaiian language. While most first-timers to Hawaii think it is a word used in greeting, meaning hello, goodbye or love but its true usage means volumes more. It is one of the two words that most represent the values that are cherished and treasured in the Hawaiian culture, the other being Mahalo.

     Hawaiians strongly believe there is that words or sounds have great spiritual power. That is why chanting is making a revival these days as speaking or singing the ancient rhymes or chants are awakening not only personal power but also the power of the tribal identity. Aloha is believed to have the power to heal and transform your life when it is spoken with heart-centered meaning, awareness and intention. When you do so, you are not only extending blessings on the person you are speaking it to, you are also opening your own heart to the joys and blessings of the Universe. Others believe that when your opens, you will also attract spirit guides and angels to protect and guide you throughout your life’s journey.

Secret Meaning of Aloha

Like all the important words in the Hawaiian language, Aloha has several levels of meaning. In kahuna teachings, they always stress the necessity to live according to the secret meaning embedded in aloha.

A, alo,  mindful awareness of the moment

            L, okahi,  balance and harmony

            O, oia’i’o,  truth, authenticity and honesty

            H  ha’aha’a,  being humble

            A  ahonui, patient and enduring

     In a spiritual interpretation of the word Aloha, it means the “divine breath is with us now”. By adding another word either as a suffix or prefix, the meaning changes markedly. “Aloha no” means “my deep love to you” whereas when someone says “aloha mai”, he or she means “my great love to you”. When you are speaking to a person, you can say “aloha kaua” which translates to “may there be love and kindness between us.” However, if you are addressing a group or more than one person, the correct phrase is “aloha kakou.”

Other wonderful phrases with aloha are “aloha akua” which is to wish “God’s blessings”

And “aloha a hui hou akua” is the famous phrase “goodbye, until we meet again.”

Aloha Teaches Love’s True Meaning

     All of us seek love and want to love. Yet there is a high divorce rate and so many unhappy and lonely people in the world longing to find their soulmates or are stuck in abusive relationships. So many people still equate love with desire, possessiveness and dependence. It is not to say there are no fully committed and loving relationships. As we grow in consciousness and awareness, more and more of our hearts open to love – self love, feeling worthy of receiving love, love of another, love for others and love for all life.

     Aloha teaches all these things and its secret meaning teaches us the true nature of love. When you refer back to the kahuna interpretation of the word Aloha, ala also means the path of light. Lokahi as part of the word ho’olokahi means to bring about peace. And the final word ahonui means great breath.

Aloha is Being In the Moment

    Therefore, develop aloha through mindfulness and awareness, being peace loving, and focusing on breath to awaken the light within. After all, breath is necessary to life, and when we focus on our breath, we bring our awareness back to the moment, which is the only place to be to live life fully.

     After all life is a string of moments, once gone is never coming back. When you feel each moment fully, even if you are just sipping a glass of water, all your senses are concentrated on how fresh the water tastes, how cool it is, how smooth the texture feels on your tongue, how lucky you are to have a glass or container to convey life-giving water to you. With attentive mindfulness, you will even start to taste the life-giving energy in the water.

     Therefore, be observant and patient with yourself and others. Work on harmony in relationships. When you are mindful, you find features and traits to love about yourself and about the person you are with. Aloha nurtures, is warm and accepting, tender yet strong, honest and responsible. It is a word endowed with Divine blessings and it is a great gift.

Ke aloha no,

Aloha a hui hou akua

Love and affection and goodbye, until we meet again.