Huna teaches how we can treat life as an adventure.
The Kahili lineage of Huna entails following the ‘Way of the Adventurer.’ This is in contrast to the ‘Way of the Warrior’. In Urban Shaman Serge King explains:
“a “warrior” shaman tends to personify fear, illness or disharmony and focus on the development of power, control and combat skills in order to deal with them. An “adventurer”, by contrast, tends to depersonify these conditions (i.e. treat them as effects, not things) and deal with them by developing the skills of love, cooperation, and harmony. Although ultimately, at the level of mastery, both a warrior and an adventurer will achieve similar outcomes, the journey and approach taken by each will be different”.
So let’s explore a bit more about the adventurer way. You might ask, “How do I become an adventurer?” The simple answer is you choose to be one. You may work in a specific tradition, you may have a teacher, or you may have a formal initiation. However, all of this is not necessary. The only necessary thing is that you make the choice.
What happens when you make the choice? As we create our reality through our perception, seeing the world through the metaphor of adventure and using the symbol of the adventurer transforms the world into a different place. Adventures are exciting, intriguing and exhilarating. Change is embraced as another possibility for exploration. The world becomes an interesting place of new possibilities, with challenges viewed as puzzles to be solved with knowledge and wisdom to be gained.
Here are some other things that may help:
Start to behave like an adventurer. Think about how an adventurer would approach a situation and do the same. Act as if you have always been an adventurer. Look for models to emulate–there are many in history, legend, and folklore. Consider the Hawaiian tales of Maui or the symbol of the Fool in the Tarot stepping over the cliff at the start of a great journey. The Hero with A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell is a great source of ideas about the archetypical adventurer. Look to the adventurers portrayed in film and literature or real life heroes throughout history. Think about the qualities you need as you embark on your adventure: courage, humour, open-mindedness, playfulness, tenacity etc.
Learn and use the skills of an adventurer. There is a myriad of tools and techniques that a Huna adventurer can use. These include symbols, words, breathing, bodywork and so on. Find them, try them and see what is most effective for you. Practice, review results and build the habit.
Believe that you can be an adventurer. Without this belief, you won’t be motivated to use the skills and techniques of an adventurer. Notice the times in the past when you have acted like an adventurer, think about situations in the future when you could do so again. Think about other beliefs that an adventurer might have, for example, ‘anything is possible’, ‘there is always a way’, ‘life is fun’ etc. Use these to build and strengthen your own beliefs.
Make being an adventurer important to you. Think about what you would value about being an adventurer. What qualities would it bring you? What would it enable you to do? If it is not important to you, you won’t do it or at least won’t persevere with it for long.
Identify with the adventurer. Make being an adventurer part of who you are, part of your identity. When you are able to truly say ‘I am an adventurer’ you no longer have to ‘act as if’, as you have become the adventurer. There are many different ways to be an adventurer. Indulge yourself and explore what type of adventurer you have become.
Go one step further and remember that everything is connected and take the perspective that everything is one: you are not only the adventurer–you are the adventure. The adventure is you.
The adventure begins inside you, as the shift in perspective brings changes to your outer reality and approach to life.
No matter where your starting point is, no matter what has happened in the past, you have the power to choose to be the adventurer that you want to be now.
Why not make that choice, and as you do so, remember along the way to fill your adventure with fun, love, and joy!