As a kahuna priest, I see the job of a spiritual teacher as helping people along a path that is life's most incredible adventure. This adventure is a personal journey into higher levels of consciousness. Because what we can see depends upon where we are standing, such journeys are possible only when people are willing to move from perspectives that limit one's ability to see Reality, to perspectives that expand one's ability to see Reality.

By transcending limiting perspectives we experience growth in consciousness as being more awake. The goal of awakening is to step ever more deeply into ownership of one's Divinity which lives in the perfection of Reality, and all of which is constructed completely out of the Law of Love.

However, just because I am a spiritual teacher and someone finds me does not mean I am the appropriate teacher for them. Perhaps my role is simply to offer advice to people who are ready for such an adventure about how they can find a teacher that will work for them. Accordingly, here is some advice. Take it for what it is worth to you.

Perspective is vital

Not everyone sees life the same way. Many people see life as a place designed to test us to see if we are ready for a place with God in heaven or a place with the devil in hell. Others see life as a one-shot lottery where the goal is to enjoy oneself as much as possible because death is the end.

Each of these (and many others) is a perspective that illuminates a certain path through life. Each has many teachers whose service is to guide you along whichever path you have chosen.

Even within any given path, teachers often see their roles quite differently. Some see themselves as rulers, others as gatekeepers. Many see themselves as coaches, and some see themselves as cheerleaders. Some rely on a threat-based style, others teach by example.

Every one is perfect for their purpose. The key to finding one that is perfect for you is to discover your teacher's purpose. To do that, you must come to understand their world-view.

To me, life is about awakening. My goal has always been to be more awake tomorrow than I am today, day after day, for as long as I find myself ingrained in this dream I call my life. I know (because I have been there) that death is the ultimate awakening to a place I call Home. Home is a place of complete awareness.

From that perspective all of Life becomes a mirror. Because our energy manifests as our world we constantly get the chance to see what is or isn't working inside by observing what is or isn't working outside. We are all awakening, bit-by-bit, day-by-day. Growth in awareness is an incredible adventure that has no end during any lifetime.

At some point in that adventure we all must cross one particular bridge that changes everything. This place is a defining moment for each of us in that we must leave behind our previous notions of weakness, sin, and personal unworthiness, to embrace a deeper awareness of our connection to the ALL THAT IS that is God. This is the bridge I call the bridge to Enlightenment.

For some of us it happens before that birth we call death, for others it happens afterwards. Whenever it happens we find we must overcome any notion of shame or blame in order to accept the Divine perfection of who we really are, as well as the Divine perfection of our life - however we might have created it to look.

This is not a simple or straightforward process. There are many diversions, illusions, and disappointments. One of the most critical is located on the way to the bridge. Some call it a trap. I call it a holding area. Whatever it is called it is a place where people become convinced they have already crossed the bridge - when they have not.

There is a large difference between mentally accepting the idea that you (along with everything else) is Divine, and developing a profound Recognition of the truth of that idea. Such a Recognition is an experience that humbles you to the core of your being.

As powerful as such a Recognition might be, even that is not enough. You must come to Realize that you are, in fact, Divine. Realization is what happens when ownership of your personal Divine nature becomes the backdrop of your entire existence.

Once you are there you can know it because profound peace comes to replace fear in your life. You may have your periodic bouts with things like sadness or even grief. You may become defensive or stressed. But once you are on the other side of that bridge you don't identify with the kinds of disempowering thoughts that normally come along with these things. You can afford to be patient and let them run their course. In other words, you cease to suffer.

Especially before actually crossing that bridge, no one can really tell you anything about where you are on your journey. This does not mean that people who are more awake than yourself can't see where you are. It is just that you won't be able to see where you are so you won't be prone to listen.

The degree to which a person is "Awake" is defined by the degree to which that person is unconscious, and by definition, wherever any of us are unconsciousness, we don't know it. That is why the biggest difference between a master and a student is the degree to which they are able to be Humble.

Unconsciousness is the birthplace of pain. We make choices thinking we know what we are doing when we don't. We drive too fast, drink too much, and get into relationships with people who don't have our best interests at heart.
We spend our money, time and energy on things that eventually bring us pain. We become motivated by goals that are untenable. All this and much more is what happens because we are unconscious.

Once in awhile it occurs to some of us that pain is what happens when we are not as awake as we thought we were. This is a most blessed moment. It represents the first true step toward the bridge that leads to Enlightenment. That is the gift I call Humility.

As we take our first few baby steps toward the bridge we realize at ever-deeper levels that pain is the result of choices we have made that are not in Harmony with Reality.

We start to see how many of these choices are extremely subtle in their appearance, yet very profound in their consequence. We become more willing to look at things from perspectives that are different than those with which we have become accustomed.

It is said that when the student is ready the teacher will appear. It is absolutely amazing how that works! As soon as we are finally ready to hear something, along comes a teacher.

They are always there. The trick is in being able to recognize them because they often don't come in the kind of package we are expecting.

In any moment your teacher could be the bagboy at a grocery checkout. It could be a minister at your local church. It could be a parent or a sibling. It could by your child. It could be a book that you pick up by accident. It could even be a television soap opera. It could be almost anything. The Universe is full of teachers.

You may be asking yourself, if that is true, why does anyone need a spiritual teacher? The truth is that no one really does.

Each of us is made out of God for there is nothing else out of which we can be made. Having personally been there twice in this lifetime I know that each of us always wakes up Home, no matter how deeply we have slept. No one ever gets truly lost. No one.

However, if the question is: "Why would anybody WANT a spiritual teacher?" the answer is quite different. Here is why.

Unconsciousness is the birthplace of pain. It is a little like being trapped in a dark box that is becoming progressively more uncomfortable. The door is locked from the inside with a combination lock. Unfortunately, the combination is written on the outside of the box.

If you have gotten to that point in your life, you will realize it might be very handy if you could find someone who is willing to read you the combination.

It is not that you couldn't make it out on your own - given enough time. You can. In fact - you will! It is just that if you can find someone who is both willing and able to read you the combination, you can spare yourself a lot of discomfort.

That is why you might want a spiritual teacher.

For some people this Realization leads to acceptance, while for others it actually leads to more resistance. That is OK. As the Borg of Star Trek are fond of saying: "Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated." The only question is how much pain you choose to endure before you get humble enough to ask for help.

Why do some people feel such a need to resist? Usually, the amount of resistance is directly proportional to the degree to which one believes that having a teacher means giving one's power away.

Many of us have experienced a lot of pain due to "spiritual teachers" who led us to places we didn't like. These memories are not easily forgotten, nor should they be. We become very unwilling to make that same mistake again.

Because there is always a certain amount of trust involved in a student/teacher dynamic, students who have problems with this are often overly involved in wondering how much they should trust their teacher.

Here is a key that will help you get over this. Your job is not to learn how to trust a teacher. The goal is learning how to trust yourself. Teaching you how to trust yourself is the most important thing your spiritual teacher can do.

The job of the kind of spiritual teacher I recommend is to help you make it across the bridge. To do that you will have to face a lot of inner places you won't be comfortable facing.

In Ho'ala Huna we say: "Growth and comfort seldom come in the same package." For those who are not ready to take personal responsibility for how they have created their lives it becomes exceedingly easy to equate a spiritual teacher who points you squarely toward those places where you need to turn on the lights with people from your past who led you into spiritual traps.

The best spiritual teachers will not allow you your "victim stories" nor will they allow you to blame others for why your life looks the way it does. Neither will they allow you to take any shortcuts - for long. They will place you exactly where you belong - at a place of full and complete responsibility for your life. They will do this whether or not you like it, or whether or not you will like them for doing it. This is Love.

That is what makes this kind of spiritual teacher - the kind you really want - so damnably irritating at times, but it is totally necessary if you are to make it across the bridge.

Once you make it across the bridge you will be the first to agree. Until then, you are likely to go through periods where the unbounded love and admiration you have for your teacher because of their wisdom and unfailing patience with you is matched only by the unbounded anger and hatred you feel toward them when you find you are face-to-face with one of your sacred cows you are expected to kill.

It is also true that when the teacher is ready the students will appear. What makes a teacher ready is not only a demonstrated capacity to teach the spiritual skills necessary to help a person find their way. Such teachers must understand this game to the point where they don't take it personally when their beloved students come to dislike or even hate them for a while.

As we say in Ho'ala Huna: "You can't Love that which you care about, and you can't be connected to that to which you are attached."

Questions to ask when looking for a spiritual teacher

Should you begin a quest to find a spiritual teacher, consider the following eight points carefully. While these aren't an exhaustive list, they will certainly give you a big head start.

1. What is this teacher's world-view? In particular, how do they see God and what do they see as the purpose of life? Is God "out there" somewhere, "in there" somewhere, or is God ALL THAT IS? Is life an opportunity to prove that one is "worthy" or is life a game called "Let's wake up?"



2. Does the teacher speak in terms of worthy/unworthy, good/bad, right/wrong, and fair/unfair. If life is about proving worthiness to you, you might not care. If not, you may want to ask a teacher who speaks this way how he/she reconciles these ideas with the Reality of a God that is the ALL THAT IS.



3. How does this teacher see their role in the student/teacher relationship? Is it one of loving service to you, or one that requires your servitude to the teacher? Is it one of assisting you to awaken or is it one of telling you what you must believe to be worthy? Is it one of helping you confront your pain or is it your job to follow the teacher so you don't have to feel responsible for your pain?



4. Does this teacher offer their credentials in the form of their degrees, titles, and designations, or do they ask you to find you're the credential in their message.



5. Does this teacher insist that you believe things you can't recognize to be Real or does he/she ask you to look from their perspective and honor what you see for yourself from that perspective.



6. Does this teacher demonstrate the capacity for honor and respect or do they abuse your trust by asking or encouraging you to mix your business with their personal pleasure. Unfortunately, this is a recurring problem with far too many "spiritual teachers."



7. Does this teacher have the ability to teach an integrated and effective combination of skills and perspectives? If so, how important is the role of prayer and Humility in their process? This is important to know for prayer and Humility is the name of the bridge that takes each of us to that place called Enlightenment.



8. Will this teacher be so likely to care about how you like him/her (whether the reason is friendship, money, prestige, or any other reason) that it will be difficult for him/her to give you a mirror of your unconsciousness when such is appropriate? Is this a demonstrated capacity of theirs or is this just something he/she claims to be able to do?

Finding a clear, wise, and patient spiritual teacher is one of the most loving things you can ever do for yourself. Such people can help you save yourself a lot of unnecessary suffering. More importantly, they can help you unlock realms of awareness you never knew existed. There is a world of magic out there, and the more awake you become the more magical it is.

There is a new movie out there called The Secret that is gaining a lot of attention - particularly from the New Age crowd. It is a compelling new presentation of an old idea that purports to be the solution to all of life's problems. According to the movie, this idea is a universal Law that when properly applied to one's life, will provide a reliable solution to life's most vexing problems. In their words: "The Secret is the key to everything!"

It supports its claims with lots of testimonials from some powerful people. Its production values are high. It is visually stunning and its sound track is perfect for its purpose. It even offers much that is truly valuable. It is the part that is not Real that causes all the trouble.

"The Secret" is all about the Law of Attraction. According to the movie, what this means is that whatever you think about and put your energy into directly corresponds to that which becomes manifest. While there is a perspective from which this seems absolutely Real - this "Law" doesn't work exactly as this movie suggests because the Law of Attraction must live in harmony with other Principles that govern our Universe - not the least of which is the Law of Love. Failure to take this into account is where this movie, as compelling as it is, gets very lost.

In spite of all the claims made to the contrary, the Law of Attraction doesn't work as the movie suggests. You can't manifest something just by thinking about it, wanting it, and visualizing it to be real. While these are critical ingredients in the process of creation, the premise fails to match up to Reality in two important ways. First, it neglects to mention other ingredients that are critical to the process of manifestation. Second, it fails to place the role of manifestation into a context that is in Harmony with the purpose of this process we call life.

These shortcomings were similarly revealed when I went to the official website for this movie at http://thesecret.tv/home.html which is (like the movie) a beautiful piece of work - professional, engaging, and very well done.

On this site is a link on the left hand column entitled "Questions? Need Help? Ask the Genie. So I typed in the question: What does the Law of Attraction provide when that which is asked for is evil?

The answer came back: "The law of attraction states simply that like attracts like. Whatever it is you are emitting to the universe on a consistent basis through your thoughts and feelings you are attracting back in direct proportion. What you think about, you bring about. These things show up in the form of manifestations in your life."

OK, that is actually a rather enlightened answer. Then I asked: "What is the purpose of work?"

The reply: "I don't have an answer to your question, and there isn't an operator online. Would you like me to email your question to an operator and get back to you?" My point is made.

To understand the Huna (Reality) of Creation, we must first begin by realizing that none of us live in a vacuum. Each of us is connected to everything else in the ALL THAT IS that is God. This ALL THAT IS, is complete, and lives in ALL TIME in a place of perfect Balance.

Because each of us is an undeniable part of this ALL THAT IS that is God, we are already complete. This being true, the process of Life cannot be about manifesting "stuff" that we have come to believe we "need." A person who believes that their life should be centered in the gratification of such "needs" is bound to be miserable.

This notion reflects the predominant misunderstandings about the nature of God and Life that are so prevalent in our modern world. It is also the reason why every effective teacher of "Self-Realization" must eventually get around to pointing out that the goal is transcending the illusion of "need" in order to find that place where each of us are already complete within ourselves.

Life is a game called "Let's wake up!" As Ho'ala Huna teaches: "The only thing God needs is a mirror"; and "Life is God's mirror." Because each of us is a part of the ALL THAT IS that is God, these statements apply equally to each of us.
Life is actually a dream in which we get to imagine that who we are is less than Divine, so that as we awaken we come to remember the magic and meaning of our Divine nature as part of the ALL THAT IS.

To the extent we are aware of our Divine nature in our dream we make choices that work to create a flow of life energy. To the extent we are in denial of our Divinity we create pain not only for ourselves but also for others.

In other words, the goal of life isn't to manifest an abundance of stuff. Instead, life is about awakening to our Divine nature.

If we look at the idea presented by this movie in this light, what do we see? The trailer states: "This is THE SECRET to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted." Its metaphor is that of Aladdin's magic lamp. Rub it and out pops a genie whose sole purpose is to "grant your every desire."

Is this an offer of self-gratification or Self-Realization? Which is more in alignment with the Law of Love? Is it more Loving to teach people that the way to deal with a need is own it so it can be gratified, or is it more Loving to encourage people to transcend the idea of lack by finding our inherent completeness in the ownership of our Divine nature.

The movie says: "Life is meant to be full and abundant." Is that true? As unpopular as this might make me, I don't agree. I say that if life was truly meant to be full and abundant for every person it would be, and how to find such abundance wouldn't need "The Secret" to reveal it.

On the other hand, if this dream we call our life is a game called "Let's wake up", then the goal of life is to be more awake tomorrow than you are today. If that is true, then pain is a vital part of this dynamic. Pain is our signal that our choices are not in Harmony with Reality. In other words, pain causes us to move from darkness to Light.

The movie is absolutely correct when it states that we draw to us that which harmonizes with our energy. What is not correct is when the movie states that our energy is the product of our thoughts. What is more Real is that our energy is the product of a process that begins with our perspective. Nor is it real that we can manifest great things solely through the efforts we can make through our marvelous, albeit very small minds. That which is big or great requires far more than mind power - not only to achieve, but also to conceive.

The process looks more like this:

1. Our perspective is like a lens through which we see our world. This is not THE WORLD ? it is simply our world.

2. In THE WORLD there is always a choice that represents the "win-win" Harmony that is the Reality of our Divine condition. In our world, unless our perspective allows us to see THE WORLD, such choices may not be visible to us.

3. Our thoughts as well as our feelings derive from what we see in our world. Without an ability to see outside the box formed by the walls of our unconsciousness, our thoughts and feelings remain ungrounded and unenlightened. Confusion and frustration are the result.

4. Pain is a signal that our perspective could use some elevation. How we do that is by reaching deeper into ourselves to find that place where Light lives. We can't do that by gratifying our supposed "needs." In fact, such an approach is absolutely counterproductive to the process. The only way to such Light is through the surrender that is Humility - and sincere prayer.

Nowhere in this movie did I see any mention of either Humility (the ability to be flexible in perspective) or Prayer (the ability to look outside oneself for inspiration and guidance.) Nowhere did I see the movie mention the importance of doing what we do in an attitude of Loving service. To me, these are major shortcomings that cannot be overlooked if one's goal is to avoid the pain that is sure to result from a Loving Universe that is perfectly designed to remedy such an oversight.

In spite of its claims to the contrary, this twist (as presented by this movie) on the Law of Attraction is not a new idea. It is a reincarnation of a very old idea that comes around over and over again.

Why it becomes popular then fades away is because that contrary to its claims, it doesn't work as advertised. Note that I am not saying that it doesn't work at all or that there is no truth in the idea. Instead, what I am saying is that while the idea makes a compelling movie, as it is presented here it is both unbalanced and incomplete. In fact, those who become convinced "The Secret" is the road to happiness soon find it is the fuel for their misery because those who choose to look for their happiness in their ability to create their future in their image create their present to be disempowered and miserable.

This is not idle conjecture or mere opinion. As a teacher of consciousness I often see those who are experiencing this lesson.

A few years ago there was another expression of this idea floating around the New Age community called the "Women's Gifting Circle." I sadly watched as many women who were on thin financial ice sent every nickel that they could beg or borrow to the person at the top of the list. In so doing they passionately visualized the abundance they were fully expecting to receive.

I knew one lady who took checks that had been sent to her business - added zeros to the ends of the amounts - and thumb tacked them on her ceiling above her bed and all over her house so she could see them and affirm the abundance she was expecting. (This same idea is depicted in the movie.)

Of course this "Women's Gifting Circle" was nothing more than an ordinary Ponzi scheme dressed up in New Age clothes. Like all Ponzi schemes, it HAD to fail - no matter how much any participant may have believed "The Secret" would work for them. No matter how diligently anyone might have applied it to this dynamic the Law of Love would not allow it to work.

The money this particular woman sent to the people at the top of her list was money ordinarily used to pay her bills had it not been for her belief in this idea. While predictable, the result was no less tragic. She lost every nickel AND her business, AND her car, AND her kids who had to go to live with her mother because she also lost her house.

This woman was reduced to living with a friend while she worked a job as a waitress and a second job in a Laundromat. It took the better part of two years to get her life back together to the point where she could support her kids and herself living in a place on their own. To this day she still has to endure the criticism of her parents and her ex-husband who ridicule her as an ungrounded New Age nut.

If "The Secret" doesn't always work with money - does it do any better with health? In my experience the results in this department don't seem to pan out any more reliably - for the same reasons.

In January of 2005 I found myself dealing with another woman in her late thirties. She had a loving husband, and four children ranging in age from 4 to 13. One day she noticed a change in the way her breast looked in a mirror. Upon examination she found a lump and became justifiably concerned.

She sought out a local "naturopath" who carefully explained that she could not afford to think "negative thoughts" about cancer. He did his "live blood analysis" (another fraud) and convinced her what she really needed to do was his parasite protocol (from the book The Cure for All Cancers), change her diet, and go home and visualize herself healed. To make sure her desire was sufficiently rallied behind her intention to heal (as if the prospect of death was not enough) she was told to do her visualizations and affirmations while sitting in front of an altar upon which were located pictures of each of her children and her husband.

I can assure you that this woman had a lot to live for. I can also assure you her motivation was as sincere and her technique was as flawless and dedicated as any ever contemplated by those who hawk this movie.

When she called me she was in a place of complete meltdown. In spite of following all this guidance, in spite of near constant visualization, healthy eating, and avoidance of what she called "toxic thoughts and emotions" cancer had spread aggressively throughout her body. She was dying. Each member of her family who had supported her in this decision was devastated.

From the time I counseled her until the time she died was about six weeks. As a result of my counseling she finally found peace. Her husband however was another story. He became so embittered he could hardly contain his rage. The last I heard he was suing this naturopath and doing all in his power to discredit the entire New Age movement in the community where they had made their home.

If understanding and applying the principles taught by "The Secret" don't always work to manifest money and health, will they work to manifest something easier?

I have known many people who decided to start their own businesses and use these ideas to manifest success. They affirm abundance, they visualize abundance, they see their businesses growing, and they see money being deposited in their bank accounts in larger and larger amounts. Unfortunately, what they don't do is notice that their business plan is flawed, their execution is poor, their marketing plan needs a lot more than creative visualizations, and their work ethic sucks. Bottom line: they fail - no matter how much visualization they do.

Yet, watch the movie and you will be assured by some powerful personalities that "The Secret" works so reliably and flawlessly that its discovery and application is the key to everything. It is said to be the reason why people like Beethoven, Emerson, Edison, Abraham Lincoln, Henry Ford and Einstein were able to accomplish what they did!

So why do such failures occur? According to the advocates for this movie unexpected negative results are the consequence of unconscious negative thoughts interfering with the process. As a spiritual teacher, I find this notion not only arrogant, but also downright cruel.

People who are searching for a sense of self-worth are not helped when they are told that a process that works reliably for everyone else will not work for them.

It is absolutely true that life has the potential is to be unimaginably abundant for each of us. But our world is far bigger than the vision conveyed by this movie. There is more to life than a two dimensional relationship between ourselves and a magic genie who exists to serve our every whim.

Life is not a magic slot machine. It is about far more than learning how to pull the magic handle just right in order to come up a jackpot every time. That is not the purpose of our lives. As Divine beings our happiness is not found by fulfilling desires, but by owning our completeness so we can give our gifts in an attitude of loving service as our Divine parents do for us.

There is no doubt that you will never grasp anything for which you are not willing to reach, that your experience will be created by your attitude, and that an unwillingness to accept defeat is a key to success. No doubt that to the extent Life is predictable, it is because Life is constructed according to Principles that work reliably and flawlessly.

But not everything is so predictable. That is because the Universe is capable of creating miracles. The entire Universe is a miracle! All of Life is an absolute miracle. The fact that any of us are even here is a miracle. Every miracle is personal. I am just like every other person in that I have experienced many miracles in my life. Each miracle has made a profound difference in where I am today. Many are the result of fervent prayer. Most of the biggest cannot be explained by anything I can remember consciously doing.

Such miracles happen because who "I" may think I am here, and who "I" Really am, are two very different expressions of the same thing. The big ME has a Divine purpose for the little "me." This purpose is rooted in Love. My job here is to remember that there is a higher dimension of "us" with whom we can communicate and find guidance. That is why life presents us with problems. We overcome them with insight that comes as the result of prayer and humility - not some "Secret" that purports to give me the ability to succeed in self-gratification.

For me the movie represents a misstatement of the Law of Attraction. It is not "everything." The Law of Love is bigger - far bigger. Nevertheless the movie is valuable in that it demonstrates how powerful and how important our attitudes and thoughts are to the process of manifestation.

The concept as presented by the movie is too linear. In this concept here is an "us" who "wants" things from the Universe, and "gets" them by applying a secret formula. Is this really The Secret to everything? Not for me.

To me, the Real Secret is revealed when I can wake up every day and ask, "what can I give," not "what can I get." Until that happens, no matter what I have managed to manifest, I've missed the point.

Lono Ho'ala
hunawisdom.com