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Overview
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781504392228 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Balboa Press |
| Publication date: | 11/27/2017 |
| Pages: | 156 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.40(d) |
About the Author
Dedicating himself to the study of the spiritual teachings of Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism, DeVinck has discovered that the one common truth shared by the great sages and saints of history is to live humbly, gratefully, and in service to others. Selfishness must be transformed into selflessness.
In his inspirational guidebook, DeVinck has distilled the many life lessons he has learned, along with the wisdom of the world's great spiritual teachings, down to one basic principle - the Hawaiian philosophy of Pono, the practice of doing the right thing in all areas of your life. By living, eating, and being Pono in our daily lives, we will come to know who we truly are, the person we were created to be. The Pono Principle will help guide us to doing what is right for our souls, each other, and the world we share together.
DeVinck has a Masters Degree in Human Services Counseling: Life Coaching from Liberty University. He is married, has five children and seven grandchildren.
He lives on the island of Maui.
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
What Is Pono?
Pono is the life, that wonderful life, you were meant to live.
- Ka'ala Souza
Doubt what you will, but let us never forget what is right. In every civilized society since the genesis of the human race, it has been considered wrong for a person to physically assault others, to steal from them, or to harm them in any way. There are laws that exist to protect persons from such behavior (which we call crimes), and laws to punish those who wish to do such harm to others (whom we call criminals). A good society attempts to legislate such that it helps protect its citizens from being victims of such wrong, criminal behavior but also to habituate its citizens to act virtuously. But putting civil laws aside, don't people already have some kind of learned sense of what wrong behavior looks like and feels like? And if they do, then don't they also understand what doing the right thing feels and looks like?
I believe that all of us internally possess a sense of what is right and wrong. It is out of this common sense (that which has been shared by the majority of humanity throughout history) that individuals find it possible to coexist in an otherwise chaotic world. But just being well versed in what constitutes thou shalt not behavior doesn't mean that the majority of people spend much time concentrating on doing what is right. The Pono Principle is the paradigm that makes that focal shift happen.
So many of our day-to-day decisions are based primarily on what needs to be done in the moment, with little (if any) thought to whether such decisions are for the betterment of our lives, let alone for the rest of the world. I will demonstrate how simply tweaking our decision-making process - by asking ourselves what is the right thing to do in this situation - can transform our lives forever. Should I eat a healthy salad for lunch, or a burger and fries from a fast-food restaurant? Should I exercise today, or skip it? Should I get in the habit of saying "good morning" to people I pass on the street, or simply ignore them? Should I pick up that wrapper on the floor, or assume that someone else will?
It is important for you, the reader, to understand that this book is not intended to tell you, or even suggest to you, what you should for shouldn't do in life. As pointed out by Louise Hay in You Can Heal Your Life (1984), the inference in using the word should is that you are doing something wrong. Therefore, I would advise the reader to stop asking questions with the word should and substitute the word could in its place. Could I eat a healthier lunch than what is offered at that fast-food restaurant? Could I make time to exercise sometime today? Could I develop the habit of saying "good morning" to people I pass by? Could I be mindful to start picking up litter when I see it? As Joyce so eloquently reminds us, "Could gives us choice, and we are never wrong."
Most people will say, "I already know that I should (or better yet, could) eat healthier, exercise, and be nicer to other people and the environment." Are you actually doing those things? Knowing what is right is a far cry from doing what is right, and The Pono Principle is your guidebook on how to act on what you already know to be the next right thing to do.
Live and Learn
We learn by observing the world around us, by attempting to understand what we observe, and by remembering those observations. What we refer to as life lessons are those mental, physical, and spiritual observations we have made over a lifetime, observations that have taught us something - a truth, a feeling, a belief. As humans, the gamut of life lessons runs from learning how to take our first steps by holding onto our parents' hands, to learning how to take our last steps by holding onto a cane or walker.
Part of augmenting our own learning curve is to witness how other living creatures learn. As a member of an outrigger canoe club on the island of Maui, I have been blessed many times in being able to closely observe the natural wonder of the seasonal migration of the great humpback whales. To witness firsthand a mother whale teaching her newborn calf how to swim, eat, and navigate the ocean is a transcendent experience. To submerge into their underwater world, and to hear the humpback mating and feeding songs being communicated through miles of ocean, is to witness the innate ability of these graceful leviathans of the deep to both understand and react to the message of these songs.
Through a combination of natural instinct and learned behavior, all animals (including humans) evolve, reacting to their environment according to what they know both instinctively and from observation. Oftentimes, trial and error adds a new dimension to the life lessons we learn. Teaching a child not to touch a hot stove may fall on deaf ears until the child burns his or her finger for the first time, only then understanding that the parental warning was not just empty words but sound advice.
But what we learn in life, about ourselves and the world around us, does not define us as people. The mass accumulation of life lessons over many years only amounts to an encyclopedic measure of knowledge, nothing more. That is to say, what we know (or even how much we know) has little, if anything, to do with who we are. The fact that someone can recite the Ten Commandments verbatim, for example, is a far different thing from someone choosing to implement them as a moral compass to live by. The true measure of a person can only be determined by how we act, based on the life lessons we have learned.
Walk the Talk
For about forty years of my mortal existence, I spent an awful lot of time talking about wanting to be a writer and even more time actually referring to myself as a writer. What was missing from both the former aspiration and the latter self-image was something called a completed book. The fact that you are at this very moment reading these words, while holding this book with my name on its cover and spine, demonstrates that I have just now earned the right to call myself a writer (and a published writer at that).
Some years ago, at a writer's symposium I attended in Washington State, I heard author J. A. Jance give what I believe to be the best definition of a writer: "A writer is someone who has written something today." Boy, that definition shortened the long list of self-proclaimed writers to a precious few. What Jance so boldly stated with her punch-to-the-solar-plexus reality check was that writers write. They don't talk about writing; they write.
In like fashion, for every person who has ever earned a college degree, there are thousands of others who have only thought about getting their degrees but didn't. People who wanted to learn how to play a musical instrument but didn't. People who only thought about reading War and Peace but never did. The only difference between these types of people and the college graduates, guitar players, and the War and Peace readers lies in their inability to act on their passive intentions. College graduates apply to colleges and study hard for four years to attain their degrees, guitar players buy a guitar and practice for years to learn their craft, and War and Peace readers simply take the time to read a classic work of literature one page at a time. One group talks about doing something, while the other is already out there doing it.
Taking action is the key to accomplishing anything. I can't think of any goal in life that doesn't incorporate action steps. Someone desirous of getting from the living room couch to the kitchen refrigerator, for example, cannot accomplish that goal without taking a certain number of steps (physical ones) to get there. So it is with every other desired outcome in life, whether physical, mental, or spiritual. To act is to do.
Follow Your Conscience
Now that we have progressed from thought to action and are actually doing something, what is it that we could be focused on doing? Well, how about doing something that will benefit or improve our personal lives? Better yet, how about acting in a way that will benefit those around us, thus improving our world? Now we're on to something.
The sooner we as people learn that our actions do not exist in a bubble - that everything we do in life (in some measure) affects other people - the sooner we will act in a manner that adds consciousness to the equation. Whether that conscious thought takes the form of social consideration, a sense of morality, or just a feeling in our gut, the action that follows will be rooted in doing what we perceive to be the right thing to do.
Let's take a simple occurrence, like staying at a hotel, to see how other people and our environment could possibly be affected by the personal choices we make as hotel guests. Due to a desire to conserve energy, many hotels today offer their guests the option to go green during their stay. What that means is that guests can choose to reduce or refuse housekeeping service by reusing towels more than once and by not having sheets changed or rooms vacuumed every single day. Because I often travel alone, I always refuse housekeeping altogether. Usually I am rewarded for going green by being given additional hotel reward points, or a $5 restaurant coupon, for every day that I refuse housekeeping service.
When you think about the amount of manpower, water, and energy it takes just to do the laundry in a major hotel, and how easy it is to help cut down on the wasting of those precious resources, how can we consciously not choose to do what's pono? You talk about how one socially conscious decision (i.e. to go green when you stay at a hotel) can benefit you, others, and the environment - all at one time - there it is. Although it is only one example of doing the right thing for the common good, it is a very positive way to demonstrate the classic win-win-win dynamic known as The Pono Principle.
The ABCs of Pono
Not wishing to get into a huge philosophical discussion on the subject of morality and ethics, I am about to make one very broad assumption about you, the reader. Whether I am correct in this assumption only God knows, but I am willing to bet that you and I share a common sense of morality, a common belief in what is right and wrong. Regardless of our differences in race, gender, nationality, political views, or ethnic background, I am confident that the vast majority of us navigate through life sharing a common moral compass.
To make my point I have chosen three very influential historical figures who not only shared, but also preached the benefits of, a common belief that doing the right thing (i.e. pono) should be central to our existence. All three of these men lived over two thousand years ago and their truths are as relevant today as at any other time in human history. Here is a short primer of their basic pono teachings.
"A" is for Aristotle
In Book II of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle posits that the person who possesses moral virtue or excellence of character does the right thing in all things, discerning the right means to the right end. Moral virtue (arete) is the active condition of the soul that makes someone consistently choose the right action to take. According to Aristotle, a person develops this ability based on a combination of his upbringing and his character (ethos). Virtue of thought comes about through teaching, while virtue of character is brought out through habit and constant practice. Although humans may not be born virtuous, Aristotle writes, we are all born with the capacity to be morally virtuous, and it is only by behaving in the right way that we train ourselves to be virtuous. And the earlier in life that we can begin the habit of practicing virtuous behavior (what I call The Pono Principle), the better for all of us and our world.
Moral virtues happen because of habits. The virtue of a man is the habit from which he becomes good. According to Aristotle, moral virtue is best displayed by the "decent person" (epieikes), the person who recognizes and chooses to do the right thing. It is in human decency that he finds the best example of human goodness. And it is in human decency where we find the morally virtuous, the beautiful, and the good. It is where we find pono.
"B" is for Buddha
There are Four Noble Truths at the heart of Buddhist teaching. Once we have acknowledged that we suffer (The First Noble Truth), we then must identify the roots of our suffering (The Second Noble Truth). When we cease to do the things that make us suffer, we have attained The Third Noble Truth. But it is The Fourth Noble Truth, called the Noble Eightfold Path, which holds the answer to our future. It is the path that leads to our transformation from suffering to well-being. The Eight Paths are: Right View, Right Thinking, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Diligence, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
Knowing that the Hawaiian word for right is pono, it is certainly no leap to suggest that if Buddha had been from Hawaii, his entire Noble Eightfold Path would have been called "The Pono Way." In the same way that I define The Pono Principle as being beneficial to ourselves, others, and the world around us, Buddha also viewed the Eightfold Path as "the right way" for us to practice actions that are both personally and mutually beneficial. When we are mindful of our actions, when we know that our intentions are good and that our actions will be helpful to everyone, Buddha says, that's when we know when something is right or wrong.
"C" is for Christ
Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of a life dedicated to always doing the right thing. Those who observed his actions firsthand witnessed humility, compassion, love, tolerance and forgiveness on a level never before seen. Jesus' entire life was a moral template for all to follow. He lived his life in obedience to his Father, and he brought hope and light to everyone he encountered. His primary message was one of love. By emphasizing God's unconditional love for us, Jesus asked only one thing in return – that we love God and love our neighbor. According to Jesus, love is not only the right thing to do – it is actually the only thing to do. So it is with pono.
It is because of God's love for us, and our love for Him and others, that we feel compelled to want to follow Jesus' example of always doing the right thing. We accomplish that, as Jesus did, by loving and serving others. That's the pono way. The most profound transformation one can experience is to become the one who washes the feet of others, and dries them with the towel wrapped around one's waist. The sole purpose of The Pono Principle is to help guide you toward that transformation.
Of course, Jesus also spoke a great deal about Peace. In fact, He uses the word peace over 100 times in the Bible. In the Old Testament, Isaiah prophesized the birth of Jesus by referring to Him as the Prince of Peace. Christians believe that knowing the Prince of Peace (i.e. accepting Jesus as the Son of God), allows them to not only possess eternal peace with God but to also experience a peace in their hearts that transcends all human understanding.
The fulfillment of that promise comes from living a life of pono which I will illustrate using (what I refer to as) The Pono Prayer.
The Pono Prayer
I can think of no better example of a Pono Prayer than that of St. Paul's final exhortations in his letter to the people of Philippi (circa 62 AD). The first verse (Philippians 4:8 New International Version) concerns right thinking - on what "things" our thoughts should be focused on:
Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.
But thoughts without actions, as previously discussed, is not enough to live a fulfilled life. The second verse (Phil. 4:9 NIV) reminds us that thinking about "whatever is right" is only the first step. In this verse, St. Paul teaches us that right living (i.e. living pono) can only be achieved when we take our right thinking and "put it into practice":
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
And the reward for right thinking and right living, according to St. Paul? Nothing short of the promise that "the God of peace will be with you."
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Pono Principle"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Robert DeVinck.
Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Preface, xi,
Introduction, xiii,
Chapter 1 What Is Pono?, 1,
Chapter 2 Doing The Next Right Thing, 13,
Chapter 3 Who Am I, Really?, 25,
Chapter 4 Pono In Recovery, 39,
Chapter 5 Pono In The Workplace, 53,
Chapter 6 Pono In Politics, 67,
Chapter 7 Pono And The Environment, 79,
Chapter 8 Living Pono, 91,
Chapter 9 Eating Pono, 105,
Chapter 10 Being Pono, 119,
Afterword, 131,
Acknowledgments, 133,
Endnotes, 135,
About the Author, 139,