Higher Self Plans

QUESTION: Does our Higher Self have a plan for us in this life? Because I'm afraid of making the wrong choices and messing up the plan.

ANSWER: I like to think that our Higher Self has certain intentions in this life, but no fixed plan. That means that whatever comes into your mind to do is possible, but some things will be a lot harder than others. It's sort of like planning to go to Kauai with the choice of lying on the beach or hiking through the wilderness to the summit of Waialeale. Anything your Higher Self doesn't want to do won't even come to mind.

Becoming Transparent

QUESTION: What do I do about my reactions to someone who sends me angry emails about a business matter? It feels like strong energy coming at me and I react emotionally, which I don't want to do.

ANSWER:  It doesn't matter how strong the energy is that's coming toward you. What matters is how you react to it. From what you say you are taking it personally and resisting it, which produces the emotions you don't want to have.

The more "transparent" you can become to outside energy carrying unpleasant information, the more effective you can be at dealing with it. Here is one of the best techniques I ever learned for doing that:

You know what the person in question is like and what he does is not a surprise, even though you don't like it. So, give him permission to be the way he is and to do what he does. At the same time, give yourself permission to act on what he does in whatever way you think is appropriate.

He is going to be what he is and do what he does anyway, but by giving him permission to do it you are in charge and your resistance to it rapidly diminishes. With a little practice and some reminders, you'll be able to handle any situation like this with aplomb and ease.

Experience & Reality

QUESTION: When you say that "experience is reality," what do you mean?

ANSWER: This idea is based on the 1st Principle of Huna, "The world is what you think it is," which is itself based on the Hawaiian word 'ike. However, the principle as stated in English is only one of the meanings of the Hawaiian word. It would be just as accurate to say that the world is what you feel it is, or hear it as, or see it as, etc. In other words, the basic meaning of this principle is that experience is reality. It doesn't matter whether it is a physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual experience. If you experience it, it's real for you. Even an experience that you interpret as Absolute Reality is a real experience for you. BUT, not necessarily for anyone else.

To put it still another way, all experience is personal experience, that is, subjective. Other people may have experiences that will be very similar to yours, but never identical. You can quiet your thinking, still your feelings, reduce all your physical, mental, and emotional activity to the minimum possible, and all you have is just another experience.

So, anyone's ideas about anything are no more than that individuals ideas about his or her own experience. Other people may be able to use that experience to create their own desired experience... or not. And many people may agree that certain experiences are real (for them) and that other experiences aren't. Nevertheless, no individual's experience, regardless of that individual's confidence, prestige, or position has any more validity than anyone else's experience. Unless you think it does.