Resentment, Forgiveness, and Huna

“Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.”
Nelson Mandela
In life resentments take up a lot of our energy. We all have them.  It’s that animosity, you are harboring against your friend that never paid you back that money they owed you.  It’s that unresolved anger that erupts as you blame (again) your parents for not giving you what you needed, wanted, or deserved. It is that nagging suspicion that you are being lied to and the distrust that follows. It is that unresolved grief you are afraid to feel. It is when you think you are a victim and find yourself repeating “why does this keep happening to me. I don‘t deserve this“. Resentments are grudges that we are holding or the need for revenge. Resentments surface when we choose being “right” and seek vindication over peace. They emerge when we judge others or we are offended. Resentments are the life blood of the ego for they are the necessary things that are needed to defend “the story of me” (ego). The way our righteousness define us. Resentments are habitual thoughts that keep us stuck in the past. Resentments are ours to choose and when we choose resentment it is our own poison we drink. We are the ones sickened.

“Nothing on earth consumes a man more quickly than the passion of resentment.”
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 – 1900)

It’s true. All those resentments you have are energetic drains. Every single one. Imagine one of those soaker garden hoses. You know where there is a slow drip all along the hose through hundreds of tiny holes. You don’t even really notice the water at first, but over time it can flood the garden. That slow drip is your power being drained away and those tiny holes in the hose your resentments.

The Huna tradition is the ancient spirituality and shamanism of Hawaii and within it exists a way of personifying the interplay between our selves and the nature of resentments that is as beautiful as it is profound.  Huna translated means “unseen or hidden side of things. The secret knowledge“. Within this teaching there exists a substance called “aka” ( translated literally “to hit or smite with direction”) which is said to be all non-physical matter. It is the potentiality of substance, or field, waiting to be activated and when activated creates endless webs of connection between our physical selves and the world. This activation is achieved through mana (power-energy) which is in other words,  directed consciousness. But mana can ignite from different mind states or levels of consciousness.  The origination of mana that activates the “aka”  is important because it’s source decides the outcome, the intention behind the action ,and  the quality of the manifestation.  The three mind stateswhere Mana can activate are:

• The subconscious or unconscious mind of habitual patterns, histories, hidden records, and repetitive default beliefs rooted in cause and effect action. Called “’unihipili” which translates loosely as “consisting of shadowy threads that have the ability to cling like a snare or vine“. The energy doesn’t flow but cling. This is the home of our unconscious life with resentment being a favorite guest.

•  The next level of mind is the conscious mind, which Huna theory defines as a mind state  of logic, reason, and thinking, called ‘uhane (the pipe or channel to whisper). It’s function is a way to connect the subconscious and divine mind.

•  The third level of the mind is the divine mind called makua. It is the higher mind that contains all knowledge, intuition, and unconditional love (aloha). It has been translated as “parent” but has a broader meaning as being engaged in a course of dedication to a higher self. This is our connection to our soul as well as the potentialities of divine purpose, surrendering to our path of highest potential and expansion.

So from the Huna perspective resentments are seen as threads of energy infused with mana from our unconscious selves. Imagine your web of resentments and how your soul energy is being siphoned away. It’s a powerful visualization. In the Huna tradition theses drains are the cause of much disease, unrest, fear and thus healing was addressed from the perspective of the nature, amount, and location of these ties.

“Resenting someone is a way of never leaving that person.”
-Kara Anderson

The slow leaks do the most damage because often the very sign of their presence is the damage they cause in our life. From illness to depression. If there you have an issue in your life look to your resentments and the poison you are swallowing.

“When you hold resentment toward another, you are bound to that person or condition by an emotional link that is stronger than steel. Forgiveness is the only way to dissolve that link and get free.”
– Catherine Ponder

So what do we do with those threads, that web of sticky goo that‘s siphoning off our divine energy? Let’s stay with the Huna tradition for the answer . In very literal terms we undo the ties. Some practices use physical means to undo the ties as in traditional Lomi lomi body work. In addition one may apply ho’onoponopono which means to “align or balance, clearing away to the original light, to go home”. It is a path to forgiveness. Interestingly, the word forgiveness in ancient Aramaic means “to cancel, untie or let loose”. So, by forgiving we untie, we let loose, we detach the energetic binds draining our power.

It must be noted that the forgiving we are speaking about is real forgiveness not this pseudo forgiveness the ego likes to distract us with. False forgiveness tends to overlook it, or to appear the more rightous (“look at how spiritual I am forgiving you“) , or false empathy (“we all make imperfect so I guess I should forgive you”) or even martyrdom (“I‘ll forgive you and then you‘ll owe me” or the infamous “I’ll forgive you but never forget what you did”). True forgiveness is the only way out or resentment.

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.”
-Lewis B. Smedes

What is true forgiveness? I’m working on that one everyday. I know what it’s not and that helps. I know it is a practice, this awareness and then dismantling of resentment. I know I need to tap into divine consciousness to ask for help in seeing the upset differently. To realize that I am never a victim and ultimately come to the realization that nothing in this world of illusion is actually real. Hard stuff. What’s important is this, mystics throughout history have spoken about the world as a mere reflection of ourselves. So when we forgive another  we are really forgiving ourselves. Which is the antidote to the poison of our resentments. The freedom to the binds that trap us in a sticky web. It means siding with truth not ego. When we forgive we regain our alignment with source energy and we can ignite our field of potentiality from this higher perspective. We tap into makua mana, an endless supply of invigorating energy that activates threads of light.  It is in this way that miracles are commonplace and time shifts under our feet.

What could you want forgiveness cannot give? Do you want peace? Forgiveness offers it. Do you want happiness, a quiet mind, a certainty of purpose, and a sense of worth and beauty that transcends the world? Do you want care and safety, and the warmth of sure protection always? Do you want a quietness that cannot be disturbed, a gentleness that never can be hurt, a deep, abiding comfort, and a rest so perfect it can never be upset? All this forgiveness offers you, and more. It sparkles on your eyes as you awake, and gives you joy with which to meet the day. It soothes your forehead while you sleep, and rests upon your eyelids so you see no dreams of fear and evil, malice and attack. And when you wake again, it offers you another day of happiness and peace. All this forgiveness offers you, and more.” (Workbook Lesson 122)