Kalani Honua Blog - Big Island

Some people dont know that you can live at Kalani. We have a stewardship program where you can own a cottage here and rent it out part of the year.

The following words are from Lewie Pell, a well-loved Kalani steward gifted at poetry.

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I live, work, play, pray with my life partner Christiana, in the foothills of the Sierras in Northern California, with 3 months a year at Kalani. I am deeply committed to personal and planetary transformation on all levels.

Ammachi is my guru and Adyashanti our teacher. My works as a pastoral minister with the homeless and runaway kids for 20 years at Covenant House in New York City turned my lifetime poetry/songwriting to rhyming, rapping and spoken word performing which I do wherever, whenever...

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Yo!

Brother Lewie's my name

prayer power's my game-

prayer power, any minute any hour

all we gotta do

is get in touch with you know who

You know who - G-O-D

good orderly direction

that's the connection

you put your life in order

then you swim in happy waters.

How? Jesus said it best

seek the kingdom first, and its righteousness

all will be added unto you

nothing you need to do

but do your very best

and life will do the rest,

reach up as high as you can each day

-the best way to pray-

and God will reach down all the rest of the way.

Then reach out and help someone out

and you'll be helped out no doubt-

it's true as blue sky is blue

all the good you do will come back to you.

and that's the true blue

from your Bro Lew.

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Poem about Kalani...

Sunrain Dance

This lihau (mist) drizzle on my face

pure grace

calls me to lighten up

in the Kalani embrace

of transformation now.

Each Aloha smile

jump starts the radiant

sunrain dance within

to deepen, deepen

run to the ocean's edge,

dive into the sparkle

swim the wide warm deep waters

of our pure being.

let the tide call of

I'm here, I'm here

draw us to new depths

of whole new me - you

one living sea

oh say can you see what I see

can we be what we see

one rainbow family

living a sweet harmony

where jungle sounds surround

coqui, coqui, go free! go free!

coqui, coqui, go free! go free!

GO!

naked

don't fake it

naked me

naked mind

naked be

no me

only we

stark naked

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Transcendence

I woke up this morning

feeling - well, pretty shitty

something about some essentials

I'd forgotten to bring for this day's trip

Sent my mind into

'just is' 'just is'

words of acceptance

like sea waves

in a vision

pounding the Puna pali

will the waves of my acceptance efforts

ever break down all the layers of resistance?

how long O Lord, how long?

..Adyashanti reading after meditation

say's it's simple, just wake up!

No-thing here at all...

I'll let today's waves

keep saying that,

with no words, I hope.

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Because of my age at 75, there's a lot of goodbyes ...

Forever

Clouds come and go

sky remains,

Waves rise and fall

ocean remains,

People come and go

love remains.

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One of many poems to Ammachi, the "hugging saint" of India who has hugged over 26 million people.

Oh Mother

Once again you are in our land in your physical form-

and I am determined to come to you

barefoot, bare mind, bare heart empty of all but my yearning

to melt into your blessed Being...

Why does it seem harder this time - and easier?

Never before the defender of this false self

So arrayed at their crumbling walls

to do battle with this Conqueror

who comes adored with the skulls of former egos

dancing her ecstatic victory dance

bright maya - slashing sword, whirling, flashing

Singing the sonorous war songs.

echoed by her devotees' million voices

armed with a smile that eclipses the sun,

a lover's glance that melts mountains

a hug that embraces the cosmos-

O Ma! Never so easy

for this little one

to lay himself down in thee

and die.

November 6th, 2008

We drove in to Kalani in the dark—air was muggy, and there was a volunteer party happening. I truly haven’t heard that kind of sheer joy from adults in a long time (ever?) and instantly felt welcomed.

Everyone here is incredibly friendly and gracious and Kalani is located on a magnificent tropical spot in the southeastern part of the Big Island.

For two mornings I’ve had the pleasure of greeting the day at the “point” right outside of the property where the wild ocean crashes against a volcanic rock wall. My first morning I stood there marveling at the energy and checking out the huge plume of steam created by the active volcano lava hitting the water less than a mile away. Within seconds I was hit by a rogue wave which doused me from head to toe (as though I had just stood under a waterfall)…. Nature was trying to tell me something no doubt. Quite an intro to the island.

The grounds are lovely…rich, lush jungle apparently quite different from the rest of the island. Mystical, magical and dark are words words I have heard people use frequently to describe this area…it is quite intriguing

November 11th

Life continues to be juicy here. Having been here for almost a week now I feel I can personally (and without hesitation) recommend Kalani to anyone who feels they need to recharge or hit the reset button. There is a certain element which I am not sure I can explain, but it is captured in moments at Burning Man where people extend their arms to you without reservation and without the expectation of anything in return. It is amazing what happens when a community of people choose to interact with an underlying assumption of goodwill. The impact of each generous and thoughtful act is magnified, and completely contagious. It is also quite shocking to a newcomer; I shyly admit to questioning the authenticity of the people around me initially. Having had some time and space to get to know people a little deeper than I can in typical day to day life I am less skeptical. If anything, I think people are more sincere and more able to drop their masks than in ordinary life.

That said, I am still acclimating to the culture and working to open my sometimes fiercely guarded heart a little more…

Like any place it also has its moments, particularly in regard to getting the mind to chill out and match the body. It’s a constant challenge for me in my typical day to day life and that fact has not changed just because I am on the Big Island.

December 3rd

I finally paid a visit to Pele. We journeyed to a spot where the lava from the local volcano pours into the ocean. We walked across the bumpy, dark, glassy hardened lava field in sheer darkness heading towards the red glowing embers and plume of smoke and lava ahead. Pele was magnificent. I understood instantly why Pele is referred to in the feminine—the site embodied creation. It’s the newest, hottest, sexiest earth. As we approached the entry point the rocks beneath our feet were radiating heat from the molten lava below. I walked all the way to the edge of the rock to the most glorious fireworks I have ever seen—Pele shooting fire into the air, a pond of florescent orange lava swirling below peaking out every time the steam cleared away. As the sun rose the colors of the fireworks seemed to mellow out and the harsh light softened a bit…I was ever aware of the danger and watched her show with a great deal of reverence.

December 24th

I spent my last few days at Kalani surrounded and bathed in the love of my `Ohana. I have never experienced so much raw, unbridled love from the people around me. I had a rough few days as I had picked up some intestinal parasite and was sloughing through some emotional yuck… but everywhere I went warm, long hugs were available—arms thrown around my neck the moments I most needed them. Tissues placed in my hand at the right moment without me ever knowing who placed it.

Once again, I was and am grateful for Kalani, for the Aloha spirit, for the people surrounding me.

Jan 26th, 2009

Nature is such a profound force in my life right now. How can I leave her? She surrounds me at night. I taste her sweet, clean air, hear her energy roaring as the waves crash down on sharp black lava rocks. She is protecting me with her warm rains and healing rays of sun. She is forcing me to slow down and look inside myself.

I want to learn patience. Unconditional love. I am learning it’s ok to not always like, but not to love takes away little pieces of your heart from yourself.

I believe I know now where the clichés about love that I previously disregarded might have been born.

All you need is love. Indeed?
Indeed.

I am grateful for all the people she has given me. I lead a wonderful and blessed life. It has taken slowing down to see this.

I steal away from it all to bathe in her soft wind. Stare off into the lush green. Marvel at my own bliss. Mourn days lost. Remind myself she is here, always. Even when the city swirls around me. You are here. And perhaps I can never go back to what was, but I can always come back to Kalani.