The Intelligence of Insight

Aloha!

I’m back in beautiful Mānoa Valley on Oʻahu after two weeks on Maui cat- and house-sitting in Kula for friends who adventured to Hokkaido to experience the land, food, and culture of the Ainu.

My deep apologies to Maui friends for not contacting you as I used the entire time as a solitary retreat.

Petey and Honey Girl are two rescue cats who rarely take to anyone other than mom and dad. I was surprised when my friends asked me to care for them because when I was last there, the kids just peered at me from perches way farther than petting distance. And if we accidentally crossed paths, they levitated into the air then scooted to the highest point upon landing, leaving heavy cat tread-marks and papers flying behind them.

“They don’t do that with anyone else,” was the report. Evidently with others, the kids never come out of hiding places leaving temporary care-takers to wonder if they ever existed in the first place and how the cat food disappeared.

I trusted my friends knew what was best for their charges though I didn’t see it at the time.

Over the course of the first few days, though, Petey and Honey Girl came to grips with I was “it” until mom and dad returned. Closer and closer they came, throughout the first week, until Petey was on my lap purring as I pet him and Honey Girl talked up a storm and slept on the bed curled against my feet at night and insisted on pettings whenever I got up.

Love-bugs, both of them.

“You got to pet Honey Girl??” was the incredulous exclamation of the neighbor.

Caring for Petey & Honey Girl, the house, and myself came with a schedule – just as what’s suggested for any Buddhist solitary retreat…though, a little different:

– 05:15: wake up
– 05:30: meditate
– 06:30: coffee and create/post quotes on SM
– 07:45: pull Self out of swirling vortex of SM and feed the birds that are amassing on the lanai
– 08:00 (on days with no classes): go for a walk at the park
– 08:00 (on days with classes): prepare myself (wake up my energy centers, raise Lungta, and meditate) then open Zoom at 08:45
– 09:00: class begins (or return from walk and work on class-related things)
– 11:00: feed Petey then clean house, study, or food shop
– When she wakes up (13:00, 14:00, 15:00, or 16:00): Feed Honey Girl
– 14:00: make and eat lunch
– 14:45: work on more class-related things
– 15:45: feed the birds that are amassing on the lanai
– 16:00: water veggie garden and rosemary
– 16:30: clean house
– 17:00: feed Petey
– 17:30: feed Petey again
– 18:00: make and eat dinner
– 18:45: watch NCIS (for the 4th time)
– 21:00: feed kids and bed time

Every day was a practice in mindfulness. That’s what’s called meditation in action.

The result is a profound experience of presence. When we’re in presence (not reviewing the past or planning the future), “thinking” stops as we are directly connected with Source Energy. When we’re connected with Source Energy, we have access to beyond-human perception; which the Buddhists call “insight.”

With practice, we can perceive insight anytime the mind is relaxed and silent. Like the times I would be studying on the couch and “feel” something above me then look up to see Honey Girl peering lovingly down at me from the 2nd story railing. The intended message: it’s time to eat.

There was a time earlier this year when insight saved me from potential disaster. I had made plans to visit Vermont for 10 days then fly to San Francisco for a few months to escape Hawaiʻi’s hot months.

I made all my reservations for the first leg: plane to Boston, bus to Hanover, NH, rental car to a cabin in East Burke, VT. I plunked down my card and paid for it all then started preparing for the trip. Then I secured my flight to San Francisco where I was going to stay in a friend’s studio space so I could write and teach.

Something didn’t feel right.

Every time I pulled out what I needed to take with me or just thought about the trip, my body felt bad – right in my gut.

Eventually, as the trip got closer, the feeling got more pronounced. I thought to myself, “I’m teaching people to listen to the insight that arises in them, maybe I should walk my own talk. So I cancelled the entire trip – for no “obvious” reason. I thought, “Maybe the plane will go down in the Pacific or a massive earthquake will hit San Francisco – who knows!”

People I was going to see were not happy about me cancelling. I wasn’t happy either; I really wanted to see these folks AND I lost money on the AirBnB Vermont cabin and will need to pay for ticket change costs when I fly again.

But, boy, in retrospect am I glad I did!

The week I was supposed to be in Vermont, the news reported, “Catastrophic flash flooding and river flooding occurred across much of Vermont. Extensive flooding to communities, washouts of numerous roads and bridges, and even the occurrence of land and mudslides resulted in significant property losses.”

There it was.

Had I gone, there may have been damage to the rental car and I may have been stuck in the cabin I rented or experienced flooding IN the cabin itself. And who knows how much writing I could have gotten to in San Francisco.

How do you learn to perceive and trust insight? It’s possible to learn on your own – it just takes mindfulness and awareness. Or, if you feel you want a little help, sign up for the free trial period of my course (see From Struggle to Freedom below) where you’ll learn what you need to know and how to do it.

As it ends up, insight is far more valuable than “thinking.”

Because “thinking” only has access to the memories of we’ve already personally experienced, it is very limited and, therefore, struggle or suffering occurs.

Insight, on the other hand, is unlimited as it is information that is constantly arising from all knowledge – past, present, and future – residing within the vast, unified field of ALOHA (Mind, The Tao, The Universe, The Quantum Field, Great Spirit, God, Source Energy – call It whatever you want).

As the Meditation Masters so kindly put it: insight is “arising in the field all the time and you’re missing it because you’re too distracted relying on your thinking!”

I guess it always boils down to a choice. May you choose that which brings benefit.

Be safe. Be well. Be kind.

Much Aloha
Kit

Join Me for a Week-Long Silent Meditation Retreat in Vermont?

I’ll be making my way out to Karmê Chöling in Barnet, Vermont to attend a silent meditation retreat led by Bill Brauer and Caroline Demaio with a group of like-minded people over Thanksgiving week. Please join me!

The retreat will explore the principle of basic goodness — that we are all, at our core, worthy and complete just as we are. By experiencing this through meditation, we make friends with ourselves, drawing out our inherent gentleness and fearlessness.

From this point of view, meditation is not a tool to fix ourselves or improve our abilities. Rather, it is a direct path to connect with our fundamental wisdom.

As the retreat unfolds, we will discover an atmosphere in which we can trust in the experience of truly feeling ourselves, the natural world, and human society.

Tai Chi will be interspersed into each day. The form that will be used is Golden Ball Tai Chi as developed by Master Lam Kam Chuen. Golden Ball Tai Chi strengthens the body, relaxes the mind and lifts the spirits.

Click here for details and/or to register.

From Struggle to Freedom

I want to take this opportunity to invite you to join the other people who will enter a uniquely effective path to living free of struggle, anxiety, depression, mental agitation, and suffering. It begins on Thursday, November 9, 2023 at 3:30pm HST. All time zones are welcome. Click here for details and/or to register.

This weekly live online course is a profound, experiential journey that points the way to living with a fully awakened mind. Today, we call that being mindful. According to Aunty Pilahi Pakī, one of Hawaiʻi’s most beloved and respected wisdom keepers, it’s called Living ALOHA.

Living with an awakened mind means being self-aware – aware of your thoughts, emotions, words, and actions – toward identifying long-held habitual patterns that no longer serve you or others. When you start to un-cover these habitual patterns, you recognize they were never yours to begin with which makes it easier to liberate yourself of them.

As you continue to free yourself of outdated beliefs, your True Nature of ALOHA (which has always been with you) fully reveals itself along with all of your inherent qualities (curiosity, humor, abundance, primordial confidence, insight, imagination, etc.). You begin to live your life based on ALOHA. Life’s struggle, mental agitation, anxiety, and suffering dissolve.

The 78 participants who have graduated and the 63 who are currently in my course are proving this works. Also, because they are consistently living life based on ALOHA, they are perceiving fresh, new solutions to age-old problems at work and in their private lives. And, perhaps best of all, they’re finding that living ALOHA is truly contagious.

Each weekly class consists of sitting in meditation together (instruction is given) followed by a talk and a lively discussion. This is where you can get the deep meaningful conversations on a regular basis that you keep saying are missing in your life. Following class, I send an email with an article or video or two to help unpack the topic of the talk.

I do hope you feel deeply into what this course can do for you, society, and the world. The commitment to start is well worth it. AND the first 2 Levels (21 weeks) are a free trial period – so what do you have to lose? Click here for details and/or to register.

Aloha, Kit

Hoʻi ka Hā Update

The final 2022-2023 profit & loss report is now available for your perusal. As is the final 2023-2024 budget.

The Path of Meditation that Leads to Living ALOHA
This course has been wanting to come out through me for 20+ years but couldn’t until the causes and conditions and my own inner growth were where they needed to be. Now, my heart soars when participants share their stories of inner growth and life improvement as a result of not only what they learn in the course but more so of how they actively incorporate the teachings and tools into their daily lives. THAT is the true ingredient for growth, for freedom. One day, I wish you the good fortune of standing among them.

The 13th live online cohort to begin The Path starts on November 9, 2023 and will meet on Thursdays at 3:30pm HST. Levels 1 & 2 of the course (21 weeks) are a free trial period. Payment is required to continue into Levels 3 – 6. Cohort Lucky Number 13 will be the 5th new cohort to start this year. Click here for more info or to register.

The other 2024 live online cohorts of The Path are now scheduled and available for registration.

The book and on-demand versions of this course are still in process. I’m now looking for release dates for both in 2024.

Awakening Your Light Body
I’ve decided to offer this once a year and by invitation only. It’s very specialized and the perfect next step for some graduates of The Path. This is a paid course and meets 8 times over the course of 3 months. The 2024 offering begins in August. You can see details at the link above.

Retreats & Events
I have decided to cancel the December 2023 meditation retreat in Hawaiʻi for lack of sufficient registrations to date and other pressing reasons. Instead, I am now listing recommended retreats and classes produced by reputable organizations that I know well. Click the link above to view them anytime.

Donations
I am dedicated to making sure everyone can take the main course despite any financial limitations. As a result, program revenue does not cover the ongoing expenses to “keep the lights on” at Hoʻi ka Hā plus expansion (outreach to new communities, grant-writing assistance, teacher training, garnering a physical home for the school, etc.). Donations are vital – especially recurring monthly donations as they help me plan ahead by covering basic expenses.

If you are moved, please offer whatever you can by clicking here – it is greatly appreciated. NOTE: Charges on your statement will appear as a payment to my nonprofit fiscal sponsor: Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network.

Grants
The granting foundation I met with on July 5th and my main course are not a match. The three-years of courting them has been fruitful, though. If it wasn’t for their changing what they funded back in 2015, my main course would not be the success it is today. I have a list of a dozen other granting foundations to approach. Please join me in imagining Hoʻi ka Hā’s account overflowing with support!

Help is On The Way!
Last, but certainly not least, I’m courting a Hawaiʻi-based graduate of The Path to help with the countless details surrounding the school that I can’t get to. It will be a part-time paid position. Please join me in holding the energy that this person accepts and is happily helping the school.

© Copyright - Hoʻi ka Hā. Hoʻi ka Hā is a fiscally managed program of Hawaiʻi Children’s Action Network (HCAN), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (Tax ID 94-3257650).