When I was a child I knew I was born to be a priest. I talked about it all the time. Being born into a Catholic family, my parents sent me off to a Benedictine monastery when I was 13 to begin my priesthood training. It was not an easy thing for a boy of 13 years old to do. Being separated from my family was terrifying because the monastery operated under rules that were brutal. We were regularly beat with boards, leather belts, and horse cinches. My first swat was with a horse cinch folded over with leather lacing holding the two parts together and a metal ring at the end. When the monk hit me with that belt it actually lifted me off the ground. The ring hit my hip and created a big laceration. I left a trail of blood from the prefect’s office all the way down the hall to the nurses station. As I walked by the rest of the young boys there was hooting and insults. Unfortunately, that was normal no matter who was on the receiving end of some monk's wrath. The monks encouraged such humiliation.

This was just the first of hundreds of “swats” and other punishments I was forced to endure. If our beds weren’t made to the prefect’s satisfaction or the sink in our rooms or our floors weren’t perfectly clean, there were work hours that involved hard work like scrubbing the black marks off of tile floors with a toothbrush. 

Our lives were run by bells. There was a bell to wake us up, 10 minutes later a bell to be in the showers, 15 minutes after that a bell would ring and we would have to be out of the showers and back into our room dressing in a coat and tie for breakfast, and 20 minutes after that we had to be in the monastery in line for breakfast. It was the same for lunch and dinner. We were allowed 60 minutes in the evening in a TV room as long as we didn’t have any work hours to be accomplished. It was very difficult but I resolved to make the best of it because I knew I was born to be a priest..

Perhaps my most fundamental personality trait is that from a very early age I "needed" to know the "Reality" of things. For some unexplained reason I craved wisdom.

At the age of seven during my first communion ceremony in the Catholic Church the parish priest told all of us going through that ceremony that God would give us our heart's desire because of our willingness to participate in that ceremony. There were about 15 of us. Everyone but me asked for things like a new pony, or bicycle, or BB gun. Not me. I asked for wisdom. 

When I said that you could hear a collective gasp come up in the congregation. Afterwards, instead of being pleased with my request, some parents of the other children became upset with my parents for raising a child to be so "arrogant." It didn't help that the Benedictine nuns who ran our grade school made me tutor certain of their children who were struggling in the second and third grades in their reading and math skills when I was only in the first grade .

Because of my need to see the Reality of things, while at the Holy Cross Abbey I spent a lot of time researching the origins and development of the Catholic church and after that, the origins and development of Christianity. What I discovered was a complete shock. When it came to Catholicism, I discovered that there was no unbroken line of popes going back to Peter. This was the claim the church used to justify its position that it was the one, true church. I discovered (as anyone who wants to do the research can) that it was all made up yet accepted by Catholics as the "word of God." 

When I wrote an article for the monastery's newsletter that detailed my findings I wasn't surprised that it only took about a half-hour from the time I turned in that article to be called into the Abbott's office for a firm "dressing-down" where I was told that Satan had gotten to me and if I didn't repent I would be destined to suffer for eternity in hell. That led me to the need to make a choice between what the church called "faith" or to honor what I knew to be Real. Being me, I chose Reality. 

I also discovered that much of what modern Christianity taught about Jesus was also a lie. In fact what most people believe as "Christians" has very little to do with what Jesus actually taught but rather a narrative constructed by the Roman emperor Constantine around 312 AD to salvage what was left of his empire. In doing that he relied on the writings of Paul. Instead of being an apostle or "saint" it is far more likely that Paul was a roman soldier dedicated to overthrowing the burgeoning numbers of Jesus's followers who were responding to His teachings that all people are Divine because they are made entirely out of God. That was a message the Romans could not tolerate. In fact, I discovered that Paul was vehemently hated by Jesus's actual apostles because he changed Jesus's teachings to make them more palatable to Roman pagan beliefs. Constantine, being a Roman Emperor was considered "Divine", and no true Roman would ever tolerate the common people -  especially the Jews they despised - to be seen as Divine.

By the time I was 18 I could no longer justify giving my life to the Catholic church and left – not only Catholicism but Christianity as well. This caused my whole family a lot of grief so they all disowned me. I worked hard and paid my way through college studying medicine with a focus on biochemistry. My electives included astrogeophysics and nuclear physics - with an emphasis on quantum mechanics which was just becoming popular at that time. Between my college work I also spent many hundreds of hours reading philosophy and studying the whole notion of God, who we are, and why we come to this life, as well as people like Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and many of our Founding Fathers who were Deists - not Christians as is widely supposed.

Eventually I wedded my first wife, but the marriage was very troubled. In an effort to bring my family together I joined the Mormon church, partly because of their emphasis on family and partly because they had a teaching that I knew had to be closer to reality than anything I had studied in religion up to that point. 

The Mormons taught that: "As man is, God once was, and as God is, man may become." I had discovered that what Jesus actually taught was that all things were a part of God, and every person is made out of God because if God is ALL THAT IS, there is nothing else out of which we could be made. In those days I didn't realize the philosophical problem that Mormon idea posed. As with the Christian god, this god is contained by time, instead of containing time. If God is omnipotent, eternal and contains ALL THAT IS, that traditional idea is not possible. 

Sadly my first wife and I didn’t agree about much of anything including Mormonism and after 6 years of hell living together we eventually divorced. Two years after my divorce I met my current wife Lani. On November 25, 1978 we wedded only 7 weeks after meeting. Why she consented to attempt a marriage with me was in no small part because of dedication to my children. I put them before everything. I wouldn't commit to spending time with her if it meant not being with them during my court-appointed visitation. She also admired the fact that as a Mormon, I was unwilling to be sexual with her before being wedded and I kept that spiritual commitment although it was hard because it had been many years since I had enjoyed a truly satisfying sexual experience. She admired my capacity for keeping my commitments. 

Due to my divorce and ongoing child custody battles, I was flat broke. For me it was a bigger problem than for her. I felt irresponsible for even asking her to wed me, but she could see my intellect and my passion for service to my world so she knew we would be OK eventually. Her unconditional support for me was something I had never experienced in my life before.  

We got deeply involved in the Mormon church. We moved to a little farm in a community called Penrose Colorado south of Colorado Springs. While living there I raised labrador retrievers as a hobby. One day a puppy got trapped under our house and drowned in about 18 inches of water that came up in our crawl space because of a failed sump pump. 

The man who I bought the house from was an electrician who had rewired the house. When he installed the new breaker panel he mislabeled the breakers switching the oven for the water heater. When I discovered the bloated carcass of the puppy floating in the crawl-space I turned off all the breakers on the panel except for the “oven” because my wife was baking bread. Of course because the box was mislabeled what I did was turn off the oven and left on the hot water heater which was a 220v electrical appliance sitting in 18” of water under our house.

When I crawled into the water to retrieve the puppy I was electrocuted. The electricity caused the muscles of my body to contract so violently that it broke my back in four places and badly injured my hips (both of which needed to be replaced) and my shoulders. It also damaged my brain so I had grand-mal seizures as well as my heart (I now have to wear a pacemaker because the left side of my heart doesn’t communicate with the right side of my heart.)

Most importantly I experienced “death.” I was completely out of my body and had the classic “life after death” experience. During that experience I returned “home” and “remembered” who I was, why I came here, and came to realize that this life is nothing more than a dream. I was given many other awarenesses – so for me, death was a time of instruction so to speak. The problem was that I knew I had to come back, and that I wouldn’t remember what I was taught there. Then I came back into my pain wracked body. I had a second, mostly similar experience about two years later when my heart stopped beating one morning due to the electrical damage. For those who would like a detailed description of what happened during my "death" experience, click on the player below.

After the accident we moved to Bountiful Utah where I conducted tours of Temple Square in Salt Lake City and was very good at it. Eventually I was asked to redesign the tours of Temple Square which hosts several million visitors a year. I also produced a movie called “Salt Lake Saga” written and directed by Buddy Youngreen (a noted church historian) featuring Lorne Greene (of the TV series Bonanza fame) as narrator and the London Philharmonic orchestra that performed the score. It played in a theater we built in the lower level of the Crossroads Shopping Mall which was across the street from the south entrance to Temple Square. The presentation  was very successful and attracted tens of thousands of people a year.

My time in the Mormon church ended when I came across information that caused me to leave that Church for the same reason I left the Catholic Church. It was the perfect time because I was having a hard time reconciling what I did “remember” from my death experience with the teachings of the Mormon Church. We had also come into possession of some documents from the secret portion of the LDS Church archives that was literally so explosive we burned them because we felt that if the Church knew we had these kinds of documents our lives might not be safe. 

When we announced we were leaving the Church it was at Thanksgiving time. It was a bigger problem than what you might expect because we were in the process of adopting a young girl named Brenda Snapp. One thing we were unable to have between us was more children so Lani and I decided to adopt. We went to LDS Social Services, and after a thorough investigation were approved to adopt. 

Like many people we wanted a baby or very young child. They asked us if we would be willing to consider an older child because they were  not as popular and needed homes too. We said we would look. They showed us a three-ring binder that had the pictures of hundreds of young children. It was heartbreaking to read their stories of abuse and neglect and realize how many kids needed a home. When we came to Brenda's picture something prevented us from going on. 

Brenda was 14 years old when we met her, and had two younger twin brothers. They had all been brutally abused by their birth parents. The abuse was horrific, and left her traumatized and far behind in school. In spite of being listed as a child with such a troubled past, our hearts went out to her and we arranged to drive to Boise Idaho to meet her. 

When we picked her up from LDS Social Services offices in Boise it was in the middle of winter and very cold. She came out to our car with no coat, wearing tennis shoes that were so badly worn with rips across the insteps, and soles that were so detached from the uppers that they offered no protection against the snow. 

As she got into the car she apologized for her shivering. We asked her where her coat and winter shoes were. She said she didn't have any. We were at once angry and horrified that LDS Social Services or her foster home hadn't provided for these basic necessities in such a cold climate. In spite of the fact that this was just our first meeting, and we had made no commitment to do more than meet her, we couldn't ignore her circumstances. The first thing we did was take her to a mall where we bought her a warm coat, winter gloves, real shoes, snow boots, sweaters, warm pants and shirts, and a backpack for her schoolbooks and supplies. She did not expect anyone to treat her that way and was so overwhelmed that she began sobbing as she attempted to thank us over lunch. That lunch was also an overwhelming experience for her because even though it was only a Marie Callender's, she had never eaten in such a nice restaurant before.

She was quiet yet polite. She was thankful that the LDS church had discovered the predicament of her brothers and herself. She said she didn't expect to get adopted because she had a lot of problems in school. She said she was so far behind that might be a problem for us and if it was, it was OK. She would understand. When we dropped her back off we asked her to pray for insight if we would be suitable parents for her, and we would pray about whether or not she would be a good fit for our family, which also included my son and daughter (of whom I had been granted custody by the courts.) It was hard driving away looking at her face with tears flowing down her cheeks as she waved us goodbye. Neither Lani nor I could hold back our tears either.

When we returned home we showed her picture to my children and we all prayed together about whether or not she was meant to be in our home, all the while knowing underneath that she was meant for our family. We talked to Brenda a couple of times on the phone. She said she would be both excited and grateful if we were to attempt an adoption so we notified LDS Social Services that we were prepared to make the commitment. It took about a month, but before we knew it, she was living in our home as our daughter. 

She had been with us for two years when we decided to leave the Church. We could not explain to Brenda why we were making that decision. By that time she was fully and completely our "daughter" spiritually, but not legally. The last thing we had to do to complete the adoption was the signing of legal papers, but because the church was so important to her, especially after having rescued from the hell of her previous family, we did not want to do that without being honest with Brenda that we were leaving the Church. 

Of course she was shocked, and wanted to know why we felt the need to do such a thing. All we could say is that when she got older we would be able to explain but right now it was impossible. She accepted that but needed to tell LDS Social Services. We agreed that was necessary, but we couldn't imagine that they would take her out of our home because we were such good parents to her and she loved us and wanted to stay with us.

We were wrong. She talked to LDS Social Services on a Monday. By Tuesday our bishop came to our home and wanted to know what our problem was being that we had been so active in the Church up to that point. Again we said we had our reasons, but they were private. There was no way we were going to reveal to him or to Brenda the document that had come to us that caused us to make that decision. 

By Wednesday LDS Social Services was demanding to take her out of our home the next day. The following day was Thanksgiving and my wife put her foot down and said there was no way they would destroy our family Thanksgiving dinner in that way so they relented and took her on Friday against our will. 

We have included her full name here because we have never seen her again. They refused to let us have any contact with her. She was our daughter, and we love her, and we want to know how she is doing. Perhaps someone will recognize this story and Brenda might contact us even though by now she would be in her fifty's by now.

After that neighbors we were close to refused to wave as we drove by or acknowledge us. Our son was not allowed to play with his friends or even go to Boy Scouts. Once again I discovered how rare it is for so-called Christians to live by the values they say the espouse.

After that we sold our home in Bountiful and bought a guest ranch in Utah called Red Canyon Resort. My wife and I moved to Aspen where I established my new business headquarters. While in Aspen we had a series of incredible events that led me sell the guest ranch and move to the Big Island of Hawai’i.

After arriving in Hawai’i I finally began to “remember” the things I learned in my “death” experiences. I came to have many insights about the ideas I teach today. I discussed these ideas with friends, and before long my wife and I had dozens of people coming to our home every week for a potluck dinner and a discussion. The word of these meetings began to spread widely. Before long we needed a bigger place and found an incredible coffee farm high in the mountains above Honaunau. Our meetings continued to grow.

After some time some Hawai’ians showed up at one of my meetings. They said they were priests the of the Mo’o clan whose ancestors had survived the genocide perpetrated on by the Ali’i in 1250 AD. These people said they knew who I was by what I was teaching and that they were expecting me. For two months they lived with me, instructed me, and eventually ordained me. That is how I came to be a kahuna priest. My ordained title is Kahuna Kupua A’o (master teacher of enlightenment) of the Order of Kane (high priest) of the Mo’o clan but that is not my credential. My credential is the Message I teach, the truth of which is absolutely self-evident to those who pay attention. No belief is required.

Unfortunately the Ali’i in Hawai’i to this day are still pledged to kill any Mo’o that they find. That is why the remaining members of that culture stay so hidden. Since many people who were aware of these events were present when the Mo’o priest and I were teaching together, it became necessary for me to move back to the mainland. My wife and I moved back to New Mexico, and then to Colorado where I have been running healing and retreat centers ever since.

The point of all this is that I now KNOW who we all are, the true nature of God, and how things work spiritually in this life. Due to my death experiences belief is no longer required. My ordination was a very magical thing that was the fulfillment of what I always knew was my purpose for being born.

Ho'ala Huna (what I call HunaWisdom™ today) encapsulates everything I have ever come to know as Reality. It completely harmonizes with my scientific perspectives as well as what I now know from my death experiences to be true about our world. It even explains some of the conundrums scientists struggle with regarding the quantum world and the Big Bang that is thought to be the origin of our Universe.

Some of this information is on my websites here at www.hunawisdom.com as well as our new website www.eaglesnestfamily.com. People who are interested can join our family through those sites and participate in online ‘Ohana (family) meetings on Sunday’s at noon mountain time. Members as well as the general public have access to our Pearls of Wisdom Blog which covers how current events have to teach us when we elevate our perspectives using HunaWisdom™. Members become a vital part of our Eagle's Nest Family which offers an effective way for clear-thinking individuals to band together and support one another during the times ahead which look like they will be very difficult. Membership is available for a monthly pledge of any amount. 

Our family is about healing. Healing is not about repairing something that is broken. Nor is it about learning something you didn’t know before or becoming someone different that who you see yourself to be right now. In reality it is about remembering who you really are. In fact, I can’t teach you anything you don’t already know. All I can do is remind you of things you already know but have forgotten. This same thing is true whether the need for healing applies to you as an individual, your family, your community or our world. When we remember to treat ourselves and others with the Aloha spirit, we can begin enjoying all this dream/adventure called life has to offer without fear. That is a wonderful thing! All it takes is for you to remember and pay attention to your Divine nature as a part of the ALL THAT IS that is God.

For those of you who would like to know more about how I wound up in Hawai'i and ordained by the Mo'o click on the link below.