"Don't ask yourself what the world needs - ask yourself  what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive."          ~ Harold Thurman Whitman

Aloha from Hale Pule on Maui, 

It has been an eventful and incredible year. With the coming and going of many lovely retreat guests, the energy has been very high. This has been a year of transitions, including several loved students moving to the mainland and the welcoming of many new students. Mid-year an unexpected opportunity to move to a 2-acre property just down the hill in lower Kula was presented and taken. 

The property, now known as Piku Mala (Fig Gardens), provides a perfect
setting for Hale Pule Yoga studio.  August through November was remodel time for the house and gardens including planting of native Hawaiian trees and plants. 

There are lovely rooms: the Mauka (mountain views), the Makai (ocean views), the Pali (the cliffs) and Pueo’s nest (the Hawaiian Owl).  The spectacular west Maui mountains and south shore are viewed from the large windows, spacious deck, and inviting hot tub. Classes continued throughout that time.  While the students at times were challenged to practice peace amid the turmoil, the construction people enjoyed a sweet and peaceful environment to work in.  I suppose it all depends on one’s perspective of life and its challenges.

The disruption and daily change continually challenged the idea of how life
‘should be’ and inspired me to explore the question of “mental position
versus seeing reality?”. When taking a mental position in which there is no
room for change or growth, we are unable to see another person’s point of
view. As my environment became very different than I imagined it ‘should
be’, a lack of acceptance created stress in me and little opening to other
possibilities.  Once I became aware of the consequences of my thinking,
the Yoga practices supported a shift in my thinking and allowed me to
surrender to each new day. This shift allowed for the channeling of energy
into solutions rather than problems created amazing changes in myself and
allowed me to see the changes in others that I would otherwise have
missed.  Surrender requires putting aside the analytical mind and letting
life present itself from moment to moment and working with that reality. 
Patanjali’s Yoga sutras suggest we work toward developing a transparent
mind that reality can shine through so that we may eventually be a pure
witness without judgment or projection.  This seems like an incredibly tall
order and yet taken one bit and one moment at a time it is possible. The
practices all lead in that direction when we surrender.

In the middle of the remodel (i.e., August), I had the incredible opportunity to
go to France for silent retreat with my teacher.  Once again, it was a
profound experience shaking out the cobwebs and bringing in new light. 
Prolonged silence has helped me see where I have opportunities to trust
life and expand my view of it.

The property continues to evolve into Piku Mala and new pictures are
forthcoming.  Organically grown figs, mulberries, and peas will be the
primary crops along with many other tropical fruits and vegetables for
daily meals. 

Many thanks for your love and support.   Come visit soon.  Blessings to all.   

myra

 A Thanksgiving Wish! From Yoko Ono
11-27-3

We are now facing the dawning of our global village, amidst polluted air,
water and insanity. Fear not. War Is Over.

I believe, we, the human race has opened our eyes to save ourselves and
the planet at the 25th hour. The first good news came two months ago, from
North Carolina scientists who successfully made a monkey move an object
psychokinetically. One monkey influences 100 monkies, as they say. But if
one monkey can move things psychokinetically, imagine what millions of
human beings can move together (We can move mountains!). Military
personnel immediately understood the power of this experiment. "Now we
can kill our enemies psychokinetically." That's what was said. But why not
use the power to save ourselves? I believe you and I will.

The second good news has come from an experiment done by a Japanese
scientist, Masaru Emoto, who has discovered and demonstrated that "water
reads." This is unbelievable information, but it's true. To put it simply,
Emoto put water in a bottle, put a label on the bottle with a word written on it
facing inside the bottle. He then froze the water and examined the crystal
created by the water under a microscope.

The photos of the crystals show, that when you write a word such as, love,
regardless of which language, the water creates a beautiful crystal. When
you write "happiness" it also creates a beautiful crystal.

But when you write "unhappiness" it cannot form a crystal. Interestingly,
the word "Hell" created terrible dirty water. Don't ask me why!

'Messages from Water' ... Masaru Emoto, translated in English
Sentences create equally fascinating results. When you write "how pretty
you are!", it creates a beautiful crystal, whereas "you stupid guy!" creates
muddy, ugliness, reminiscent of extremely polluted water. The water reacts
to very delicate differences, too. When you write "you better do it!" it creates
a muddiness like an expression of rebellion. However, it creates a beautiful
crystal if you write "let's do it, shall we?" Of course, the biggest hit is "I love
you." There is no limit to how much this sentence in many different
languages can do to clean the water and create beautiful crystals. The
muddiest, polluted water can become clean.

The water not only reacts to the written words but to music. When music
was played to the water, many beautiful crystals were created. It was
interesting for me that the song "imagine" created a crystal very similar
to the word "angels."

And, of course, 80 percent of our bodies are made up of water! What does
that mean?

We are probably making very dangerously muddy people as our opposition
by constantly throwing verbal attacks at them. If we make them muddy, we
will pretty soon become muddy, too. Just by sending good words, it not only
clears the people you send the good words to, but it clears you, too. So if
you are insulting someone, that is the same as insulting yourself. All
this is demonstrated by the photos of the waters and their crystals.

The power we have is wisdom based on clear information we share with
each other. The power we have is our sanity and the knowledge that we
are all water, and that water changes by what it reads and what is
communicated. So, now it is clear that we can change the world without
leaving our homes just by thinking, holding, and communicating the
right idea!

Since things happen in threes, I propose that we create the third bit of good
news ourselves - by coming together this New Years Eve, and ending the
year with a clear vision. Let's visualize all the people living life in peace.
l0 seconds. One hour. All day. Anywhere and anytime of the day.

Carry the clearest vision of a peaceful world you can imagine. Let's do it
with a spirit of fun and joy. Not with anger, not with fear. Let's not march.
Let's sing, dance and hug each other to bring in the New year, and, with
it, the new world. Let's report to the Universe how happy we are to be on
this planet which is a part of a beautiful constellation.

For opposite of love is fear, not hate, opposite of wisdom is confusion, not
stupidity, and the shortest distance between two points is our desire and
our unwavering belief. So listen to your heartbeat and enjoy. It's worth
every minute of it.

An extra special Happy New Year to you. Remember, we are all water in the
same ocean. I love you!

yoko ono

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