QUESTION: You have said that each of the three selves has its own form of pleasure that motivates its behavior. Can you say a little more about that?

ANSWER: Basically, in teaching Huna we assume that each individual has three "selves" or "aspects." We can call them Ku, Lono, and Aumakua, or simply Body, Mind, and Spirit. We also assume that the primary motivator for each one is toward some form of pleasure, and the secondary motivator is away from some form of pain. So, the Body moves toward the experience or expectation of physically and emotionally pleasurable sensations, and away from painful sensations. The Mind moves toward the experience or expectation of mental and emotional pleasure from the resolution of problems, which is evident in such things as the playing and creating of games, or the desire to solve problems in any field, and therefore it moves away from problems that seem to be unsolvable. Our Spirit moves toward the emotional pleasure of harmony, evident, for example, in the love of beauty in all its forms, and moves away from disharmony. This theory gives us a very effective basis for understanding and changing behavior.

Dream Changing

QUESTION: In your classes you have stated that "if you can change your dreams, you can change your life." How do you do that?"

ANSWER: There are three effective ways to change your dreams in order to change your life (this does not include changing your life in order to change your dreams). These methods can be applied while you are asleep or awake, although for most people it is easier to do it while you are awake. The first thing you do is to recall the dream. Then you can apply one of these techniques: a) pick a point in the dream when you feel angry, fearful, or helpless, and use your imagination to change your reaction; b) pick a point in the dream and change the story so that it comes out the way you want it to; c) let the dream continue past the point where you woke up - this one may take awhile, but it will always resolve itself in a positive way if you stick with it long enough. In all three methods, the more sensory involvement (sight, sound, touch) and positive emotion you can add, the better the results. It works because when you change the memory of the dream, you are also changing the attitudes and expectations that gave rise to the dream in the first place.

Effective Affirmations

QUESTION: How effective are affirmations for manifesting? And does emotion make any difference?

ANSWER: Affirmations can be very effective, once you understand how they work. And adding emotional energy to them makes them even more effective. The first thing to understand is that affirmations don't manifest anything on their own. What they can do very well, however is help to keep your attention on what you want. One drawback is that, if you only use verbal or written words, it can take a whole lot of repetitions before anything changes inside of you that allows the manifestation to take place. If you add emotion to the words, the energy influences your subconscious and the subconscious or anyone or anything involved, so that even though you may still have to do a lot of repetitions, you usually won't need as many. One further point is that even so-called negative affirmations can work if the intention is positive. A friend of mine with bad asthma used "I do not have asthma, I never have had asthma, I never will have asthma." It took him six months of emotional repetition, but it worked.