Aloha,
My name is Reverend Cindy Palos and today I'm going to be doing a talk on kindness and Aloha.
I've been living in Hawaii,
On Maui for 30 years.
We have a wonderful word here and it's used all the time,
Daily.
I start all of my emails and most of my communication with Aloha.
I did a CD called Practicing Aloha and Aloha is very similar to kindness and good will.
Aloha is really a magical word.
Yes it's also similar to Namaste but Aloha carries with it that living presence,
That living presence of spirit and action.
So when you greet someone with Aloha,
You are carrying your highest spirit and presence and sharing it with them.
And kindness has a similar way of acting when we are practicing Aloha or extending kindness to others.
And Aloha is most effective when we take extra time to be kind in times we normally wouldn't.
Say for example,
In the simple act of allowing someone to cut in in front of you.
If they're making a left turn to let them make the left turn first,
To open the door for someone,
To say something nice to someone,
To share a smile with someone,
To take time to talk and help someone.
These are just a few of the acts of Aloha and they're very similar to acts of kindness.
Now we all know how important it is to be kind but many of us do not know how we can do that.
We feel that well it's such a big thing to do.
How do you begin to accomplish it?
I'd like to share with you a quote from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
Every day think as you wake up,
Today I am fortunate to be alive.
I have a precious human life.
I am not going to waste it.
I'm going to use all my energies to develop myself,
To expand my heart out to others,
To achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.
I'm going to have kind thoughts towards others.
I am not going to get angry or think badly about others.
I am going to benefit others as much as I can.
Now that seems like a pretty tall commitment right because now we're not just talking about being nice and playing nice.
Now we're talking about being harmless,
Not just our actions but even our thoughts.
I can't help but think of President Jimmy Carter.
Years ago he was asked about if he had problems with winter affairs with other women and he came out and admitted that he hadn't had anything physically but he had had thoughts that were lustful thoughts sometimes and he admitted that.
So it was like wow that kind of shocked people.
Being aware of even your thoughts but the thoughts are important as well as the actions.
We know that thoughts carry energy.
So now His Holiness the Dalai Lama is upping the ante and saying let's have not just kindness but kind thoughts towards others.
Let's not get angry or think badly about others.
So this is the good intention now we know we may not always be able to achieve our intention but it certainly is a nice thing to be able to have to start your day out fresh and that's the way we set our goals right.
So carrying forward this aloha in our thoughts,
In our deeds,
In our actions,
In the way we feel and the way we live with that loving kindness is a very wonderful thing to do.
I'm going to say some affirmations on kindness and we can do a prayer and a meditation.
I share daily acts of kindness to serve as God's instrument of creative expression of infinite light.
I repeat that I share daily acts of kindness to serve as God's instrument of creative expression of infinite light.
I hold a sacred space of understanding of the oneness of all life in my mind.
I lay the foundation of compassion as I learn from life each day.
Thank you God and so it is.
And here's a prayer for that acts of kindness concept and intention.
Lord guide me to share just one act of kindness for I know it can open the way for one more act of kindness to help show others that way.
Let kindness be a prayer I convey by living with goodwill I may bring God's goodness out and share love and its amazing grace.
Within my very soul is this cosmic compass to guide me and align me with the North Star as I find the path to follow and each day I set my intention to create a better world that I can make.
Yes I can meditate and pray and live with more loving kindness each and every day.
So it helps when we remember.
I know I have a little app that reminds me to breathe.
Breath helps breath sweet mind.
I haven't found an app to remind me to do kindness.
I'm sure there must be an app out there somewhere to remind you to do an act of kindness.
Share Aloha.
Let's go into a state of meditation and reach inside ourselves and take a few deep clearing breaths get comfortable sit with your spine erect.
Breathe in and hold your breath for a second and breathe out.
Breathe deeply in and feel that presence that Aloha that living spirit of God.
As you breathe out let that loving spirit of Aloha fill your heart and your soul and your mind.
Breathe that Aloha in a deep breath of Aloha and breathe it out.
Go into your heart.
Go within that silence.
Allow yourself to connect with your soul.
See the light of your soul.
See it merging with all of your mind and your body and your emotions.
Finding a perch right there in your heart.
Let's ask right now for that love that Aloha that kindness to have a place in your heart to have a home right there that allows you to base that heart in kindness.
And now for a moment think of how you can be kinder to yourself.
It could be a way of seeking a reward but let's go to that place in our self that we may have been judgmental or harsh about.
What part of you may have judged yourself harshly and been unkind to yourself?
How can you change that part?
If your heart were to speak to you right now what love there inside would it share with you in kindness?
What goodness can you give to yourself right now?
Feel that loving kindness.
Feel your whole being surrounded by that loving Aloha spirit and kindness.
Feel yourself embraced with that love.
Let that spirit illuminate you right now and feel your entire being with that beautiful light.
Now think of someone else that you love.
How can you send a thought of loving kindness to them right now?
How can you send that energy?
Think of their soul,
Their spirit and send them love and light and Aloha right now.
Feel it reaching them and feel how you feel sharing that loving kindness and how would they respond as you shared your love with them.
Open yourself to receive back that kindness,
That love,
That embrace,
That hug and now think of sharing that loving kindness with those you work with and send them your love.
How could you be kind to them?
How could you share Aloha with them?
What nice thing would you say if they were there with you now?
Send that good thought,
That loving kindness to them.
Feel it,
Sense it and receive it back a hundred fold and now think of someone that has pushed your buttons,
That may have stepped on your toes,
Someone you might have had karma with.
Maybe that karma went back lifetimes and send them some loving kindness and forgiveness and blessings of Aloha.
Surround them with that blessing.
Let them be completely open to receive your love.
Sense that shift or change in your energy towards them as you share appreciation for them being in your life and feel the lightness of releasing that burden of judgment,
Of harshness and see it being replaced with understanding and with compassion,
With Aloha so that if maybe you wouldn't have even greeted them before they were there in front of you,
See yourself being able to bow to them and thank them for being in your life and teaching you how to love a little more.
Breathe that,
Free it,
Release yourself from any thoughts,
Buttons pushed,
Your ego issues and realize that your highest self,
Your God self,
Your good self is loving,
Is full of loving kindness.
Accept that and believe it,
Absorb it and be it.
Set your intention to share loving kindness every day.
This is the gift that God offers you.
This is the way that you can use God's love in your life.
Not to judge or be mean but to be kind and loving,
To fulfill your purpose with ease and grace.
Know that you can share this and as you share it you will find amazing changes in the way you live,
The way you work.
You will find more love,
More joy.
You will find that your life is a blessing,
That you are awakening to the lighted way,
That you can indeed feel that energy of doing your soul's work and you can dedicate your heart to loving kindness.
And as you do that you are letting your life be a bow to God's grace and you learn to demonstrate with your life the way you can serve the human race and you learn to care for others as the Lord would have you do it.
You engage with loving kindness and goodwill and bring out God's goodness there in you.
We're going to close today with the Aramaic version of the Lord's Prayer.
Wa shwokon habein aikanada panyin shwakin alhayabane Ulat alan amnisiyonah,
Ella pisan men bisha,
Meital dilakim alkuta u'hayla utish bakta,
Alam,
Amen,
Amen,
Which translated says,
Father,
Mother of the Cosmos,
Shimmering light of all,
Focus your light within us as we breathe your holy breath.
Enter the sanctuary of our hearts uniting within us the sacred rays of your power and beauty.
Let your heart's desire unite heaven and earth through our sacred union.
Help us fulfill what lies within the circle of our lives today.
Forgive our secret fears as we freely choose to forgive the secret fears of others.
Let us not enter forgetfulness tempted by false appearances for from your astonishing fire comes the eternal song,
Which sanctifies all renewed eternally in our lives and throughout creation.
We seal these words in our hearts committed and trust and faith.
I thank you for listening and remember you are love you are loving kindness.
Live with Aloha.
Blessings always.
