Last week, I had a series of blessed encounters with the Honu. The first day, while swimming at a small beach, I came upon a massive sea turtle that I thought was a rock. He or she suddenly turned and started to swim directly towards me. I was startled by what seemed like the biggest shell I had ever seen! While I’ve been in the ocean with many honu before, none have turned to come directly towards me! I jumped a bit, let out a little squeal of surprise and quickly got out of the way.
After finishing my swim, I laid down on my towel for a tiny nap. I awoke to find this ancient family member inches from my feet! I noticed that he had come out of the water and judging by his tracks, had made his way up the beach on a diagonal to where I was lying. I chanted a greeting, said a few words of welcome and scooted away a bit, as we have distance laws here, and laid down again on my towel. Suddenly, a very distinct stream of energy flowed up through my feet and all the way through my body. It was like a pleasant, but strong electrical current. I had the clear feeling it was somehow coming from this meeting. At some point, it just stopped, like a switch had been turned off. I sat up again — both of us gazing into each others eyes. Over and over, he lifted his head and moved his lower jaw up and down, as if he was talking.
I was listening. Listening to the meeting, the life pouring through me, the life that seemed to call to me. I could feel my mind in the background trying to decipher what was happening, trying to draw conclusions and find symbolic meanings. Fortunately, our gaze was too powerful, the motion in my body and breath too strong, the meeting too potent for the mind to permeate. Life was speaking and I was listening — beyond all understanding.
For the next two days, similar occurences unfolded — one with another honu, and another with “my” honu. I am deeply grateful for this ancient family, for the speaking, and for the work that has taught me to listen to Life. These meetings felt exactly like that: Life Meeting Life, so clearly below even the awareness that I am a human and they are honu. Below all the separation that we can perceive, Life is waiting.
This ongoing journey of meeting Life in myself, in all the ways it rises has been the gift of a lifetime. This opening, I believe, brought me to a communion with the honu, transformed in ways I may never understand.
I am overwhelmingly grateful to my teacher, Kahu Abraham Kawai’i, and to the great luck or blessing that allowed his teachings to grow and continue expanding in this life.