HAWAIIAN DREAMS
The day after I graduated from Sunnyvale High School, I was off to find my place
in the sun - I packed my bags and headed off to the Hawaiian Islands. The
plan was for me to purchase a one-way ticket and just let my
life unfolded each day. I was very naive about a lot of things in life and this dream of finding my fortune and fame in Hawaii, was one of those innocent
adventures in which I followed my heart and dreams.
I was able to buy a ticket on an airlines called USOA, United
States Overseas Airlines. The ticket cost me $ 68. You could only buy
a one way ticket. The airplane was old and had four engines. It was a propeller
driven type of aircraft, that you can see in the old black and white movies. In
other words, this was an old airplane even by 1964 standards.
My family did not give me any money. They had made the point of telling me that
I was on my own when I left home. The plane departed from Oakland Airport where
several of my best friends, came along with my mom
and step-dad to see me off at the departure gate. I was leaving with no set
return date. At that time, I was not sure if I was ever coming back again. I
only had $40 cash on me, and one suite case of clothing. I had the address of
a friend's cousin, and my little sister's boy friend's grandfather. That was all
I took with me, other then own wit and courage.
My mom had told me that if I got into trouble, I was not
to call her, because they had no money and would not help me out. My step-dad
looked at her in disbelief. I, myself, could hardly believe that she had said
that to me. However, when she went over to the flight insurance machine and
purchased life insurance on me, I was ready to leave and never
return. I felt my mom was buying a Loto ticket on me. She would make lots
of money, if I got killed in a crash. I hated to think that she
would get rich off my death - it was just so totally cold. I put on a brave face,
and smiled, as I departed. When I sat down inside the plane, I wanted to cry and
had to stop myself. I
felt so alone. I was heading off to Hawaii - my dream adventure, and it was such
a very unpleasant way to begin the journey.
The flight took over eight hours. When we landed, they rolled out a ramp, so
we could deplane. Some FAA Officials had met the plane and put locks on the
wheels. It seemed that they took over the ownership of the aircraft. The Airline
never did fly again. That was their last official flight, before being shut down
by the FAA.
I got out of the Honolulu Airport and caught a bus for Waikiki Beach. I had
little idea of where I was in relationship to anywhere else on the island. I met
some guy about my age, on the airplane. I paid him ten dollars to sleep on the
floor of his hotel room for a couple of nights. It was just a few blocks from
the beach. I went out for a walk that first night on the beach. It was already
late at night, but the water was the warmest I had ever felt in my life. I waded
and walked about four miles down the beach, drinking in all the sights and
sounds of the beach and the people.
There were several fires and groups of young people singing and laughing all
along the beach that night. I felt like I was home. I could not understand why,
but it felt so much like home to me. I felt I belonged to that island. Inside
myself, I was alive with energy and joy at just being there.
My money couldn't be wasted on things like food, so I began a fast. I
also knew that with only $30 left, that I had better come up with a plan of
action very soon. I decided to look up this grandfather who I had an address
for.. I thought that perhaps, he could direct me to someplace to stay, or knew
of some job that I could put in an application for. I took his address out and
went down the street. The first person I asked about
his address, told me to look up at the street sign. It seems that he lived on the
same street as the hotel that I had been staying at. His apartment was less
then half a block away from there. My luck seemed to be working, as
always, but by now, I had come to realize that it was God who was really taking care of my
needs.
I knocked on his apartment door and was met by an old Hawaiian Kahuna. He was
the real thing. His name was David Kaonohiokala Bray. I had never met an
initiated priest of the old Kahuna Religion of Hawaii before, but
this man certainly looked like he was what I thought one should look like. This
man was a local god and folk hero to the people on this island. He had written many
books on the history and religion of the Hawaiian Islands and its people. He was
dark skinned and short. His stomach hung over his belt like a fat "Buddha".
His hair was like sea salt. When he opened the door, he was to open a whole new
world to my young self. He looked at me with eyes that seemed to be ten thousand
years old. There was a long moments silence. We both just stared at each other.
It was like we already knew each other. I introduced myself and told him briefly
about my circumstances.
He invited me into his apartment. Inside it was like some strange new age
church. On one wall was a large painting of the Hawaiian god Pele
coming out of a volcano. There were objects around the apartment that were
different from anything I had seen before in my young life. We sat down and
talked. It was like we knew each other from a past life.
Then out of the blue, he looked at me and began to tell me how much power I had.
He felt I could become his long awaited apprentice. He wanted to teach me the
tradition of the Sacred Secret (which formed the heart of the
spiritual life of the Hawaiian people prior to their contact with the white
man).
David K. Bray both attracted me and repelled me at the same time. He had both
the ancestral, as well as the training, to be recognized as belonging to the
priestly orders of Papa Kahuna Pule, those who were equal to the
ancient, highest ruling chiefs: Papa Kaula, those who spoke as
prophets; and Kahuna Lapa'au, those who practiced the healing
arts. He was also recognized as a chanter of the old hymns of blessings, and was
the foremost expert in Hawaiian folk lore.
That first night we talked forever. He listened to my thoughts on life and
God. I told him about some of my feelings and dreams. He was the first person
who really seemed to understand me. I felt like I had found a long lost piece of
the puzzle of my inner life. This man seemed to know things about me that no one
else ever did. He stated his desire to have me follow his path. He went on to
tell me that he had been waiting for me to come to him for many years. For some
reason, he stated that I was much stronger then he was with supernatural abilities. I was unsure of why he was telling me this,
but my youthful ego was flattered. I really did not know, or even care if he was
right – it just sounded good to have someone believe in my abilities.
He made the offer for me to stay there for a few weeks. I had no other place
to go that, or any other night, so I accepted his welcomed offer. Living at his
place was most interesting. All kinds of people would come by for prayers and
blessings at all hours of the day, or night. The movie "In Harm's
Way", with John Wayne and a cast of all kinds of famous
people, was being filmed in Honolulu then. At night, most of the cast and the
directors came by the place to see and spend time with David. He was also paid
big bucks by other film companies to bless the surf for movies like "Ride
The Wild Surf", with Fabian and Frankie Avalon. The
native workers on the island would not begin any construction projects on state,
or private buildings, unless he blessed the work site first. He got paid $300
dollars for blessing the surf for one movie.
He began giving me information about his life and about his religion. He told
me that he was one of the keepers of the Sacred teachings. It was only
certain Kuhunas, of these teachings, who could utter the Sacred Name of
god of the Hawaiians. He told me that this name could never be uttered except by
one priest in any given generation on each of the major Hawaiian Islands. This
knowledge was never to shared with the common people. This was one major area of
disagreement between us, as I felt all truth should be made available to real
truth seeking souls everywhere. My example was how Kiyra Yoga, was made
available to the followers of the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda.
I saw him do many strange, and some times, wonderful things with his power,
but he also had an evil side. He practiced, on rare occasion, this dark side of
his powers. He did have supernatural powers, which he activated by chanting, or
by prayers. I believed that this power could also become his source of his own downfall. I
could see that his power was slowly becoming corrupted by ego and the power of
darkness. He had made a choice between the light and the dark side. It seems
that he chose darkness and its evil - over the goodness of the light. It is hard
to explain all that happened over several months time in dealing with him. There
was a lot of good still in the man's soul. I tried to open that path up for him.
I was also tested, in that vast amounts of his power and knowledge, could have
been given over to me. I did not want that kind of power and told him so.
(Little did I know, or even realize, at this time, that my mother would form a
relationship with him a few years later. I assume that some information and
knowledge was passed on to her. I did not learn that she was in contact with him
until many years after her death, when my little sister, Marsha told me some
stories about it.)
He did get me a couple of jobs on the island. The first one was on the other
side of the island in Kailua, which is by the Marine Corps Base, at Kaneohe. I
was living at small cabin on the beach, and working at a restaurant near by.
While working in the kitchen one day, I was asked to move a very large pot of
boiling rice from the stove. The pot was at least 2 feet tall. I managed to lift
it up and walk a few feet, when somehow I spilled a large amount of the hot rice
on my stomach and chest. My reaction was to drop the whole pot. The only problem
with that solution was that it spilled all over my clothing and tennis shoes. It
burned me and stuck to me. I had to strip off all my clothing and shoes to stop
the hot rice from burning my skin. I ran over and put cold water on the burns.
Big blisters were already evident all over my legs and chest. My body looked
terrible and it hurt greatly. I was unable to wear anything except a swim suit
for the next several weeks afterwards. I was still unable to wear shoes for
several months. The skin on my legs was burned so badly that all the hair on my
legs never grew back except on my knees. I was in a great deal of pain until
they healed. I did not go to any doctor. I suffered for weeks with large fluid
filled blisters all over my body.
The next job I got was after a long period of unemployment in which I had to
fast to save my money. I was hired as a custodian for a school and also did some
work at the Air Force Base. I was paid $1.25 per hour and worked full time. I
was able to save enough to buy an airline ticket for San Francisco when the time
came to leave the islands.
I spent a lot of time just walking around and being there. I had no real
money to do anything except survive there, but it was my first real adventure
away from home. I was determined to make it work . I was also determined not to
ask any one for any assistance. I had some strange other worldly experiences
while I lived there. However, I cannot share them for many reasons. I did feel
that my life was being directed somehow. I felt that certain things had happened
to me, were some kind of testing process, to teach me some needed lessons in my life.
I used to go to the beach late at night and swim out 3 or 4 miles from shore.
These swims would take my mind away from everything. Sometimes, I would look
back at the shoreline and realize that the lights were fading away in the
distance. I was never afraid of swimming in the ocean alone. The thought of
sharks never entered my mind, until I woke up one day and read the newspaper
account of a shark attack in the same waters that I swam in each night. I went
out any way, but some of the fun was out of it.
When my time came to leave, David took me to the airport. He gave me that
look again and told me a few things about what would happen in the future. I
think he believed we were long lost friends from these islands, from a past
life. I left Hawaii that day, but a part of me is always on those islands. I
always felt that island was my real home. I could not afford to stay there any
longer both financially, or spiritually and I knew it.
When I got on the airplane I had a big send off from David and some Hawaiian
girls. I had several garlands of flowers draped around my neck, as I entered the
plane. I was going back on a United Airlines flight to San Francisco, unlike the
cheap flight over. I wore my suit and had the flowers over my jacket. I also had
no shoes, or socks on. It was rather interesting in that years later my look
would remind others of the way The Beatles dressed on the"Abbey
Road' album with the bare feet and the suit.
I was the last person to get off the airplane. When I did emerge I saw a
large crowd. It seemed that my friends were sensitive to how I felt when I left
for Hawaii, so they took it upon themselves to be there to welcome me back home.
They cheered me when I got off the airplane and soon other people came over to
see if I was some famous person, or a rock star. Soon there was a small mob of
people - many of them strangers just trying to get a look at who I was. I was
loving it all. I rode home with my friends. I felt like I had been successful on
my trip and was now ready for even bigger adventures.
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