The word "Aloha" is used in greetings and farewells and in expressing love. Aloha means love, affection, peace, kindness, grace and compassion. But the word means even more, it is a way of life.

Besides these common meanings, the word Aloha holds within itself all one needs to know to interact rightfully in the natural world. These insights describe an attitude or way of life sometimes called "The Aloha Spirit" or "The Way of Aloha".

The spirit of Aloha was an important lesson taught to the children of the past because it was about the world of which they were a part. One early teaching goes like this:

Aloha is being a part of all, and all being a part of me. When there is pain - it is my pain. When there is joy - it is also mine. I respect all that is as part of the Creator and part of me. I will not willfully harm anyone or anything. When food is needed I will take only my need and explain why it is being taken. The earth, the sky, the sea are mine to care for, to cherish and to protect. This is Hawaiian - this is Aloha!

 

As the child grew, the need for a fundamental code of ethics was taught. This code is found within a deeper layer of the meaning of the word Aloha. The code is derived from one of the acronymic meanings of Aloha.

 

A, ala, watchful, alertness 
L, lokahi, working with unity 
O, oia'i'o, truthful honesty 
H, ha'aha'a, humility 
A, ahonui, patient perseverance

 

alo, 1. sharing 2. in the present 
oha, joyous affection, joy 
ha, life energy, life, breath

 

Using Hawaiian language grammatical rules, we will translate this literally as "The joyful sharing of life energy in the present" or simply "Joyfully sharing life".

Another translation is: "To consciously manifest life joyously in the present." This is our prime directive.

 

 It refers to the mutual experiencing (alo) of each other's spirit or soul (ha).

 

"Aloha means mutual regard and affection and extends warmth in caring with no obligation in return. Aloha is the essence of relationships in which each person is important to every other person for collective existence. Aloha means to hear what is not said, to see what cannot be seen and to know the unknowable."