Why Buddhists Should Rise for Mauna Kea
by Reyna Ramolete Hayashi, alum of Block Build Be 2018
I’ll start by sharing that this was really difficult for me to write. In trying to be a responsible ally and accomplice to Hawaiian movements, I wrestle with what my kuleana is (right, responsibility, privilege) especially when asked to share on a broader platform, as a non-Hawaiian. I don’t want to take up space that is not mine to take, or share what is not mine to share. Still, my privilege demands that, with all my limitations, I act, that I not be immobilized by it. So I choose to make the best offering I can, with the insight I have in this moment, imperfect as it is, in my circles of influence. I trust the Buddhist Peace Fellowship community because I’ve seen what you have done to support other indigenous struggles. May this offering be of service so that people can mobilize their communities and resources in support of this incredible movement to protect Mauna Kea.
Here in Hawai‘i, we are all feeling the impacts of overdevelopment, and the privatization and commodification of our islands. The things we love most about Hawai‘i are disappearing –– our undeveloped coastlines, our protected watersheds, our precious agricultural lands that grow local food, our favorite surf breaks, our pristine mountains, the sacred places we return to again and again to heal our bodies and spirits from the isolating, numbing, de-humanizing grind and consumption of capitalism, to immerse ourselves in something real, to re-learn what it means to be in reciprocal relationship to ‘āina (land, earth, that which feeds) and each other. All of what we love most about Hawai‘i is thanks to movements of Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and their non-Hawaiian allies and accomplices that came before us –– Kalama Valley, Kaho‘olawe, Waiāhole-Waikāne, Mokauea (Sand Island), Chinatown Evictions, Pōhakuloa, Mākua, Wao Kele O Puna, so many others –– our movement ancestors took risks, made sacrifices, fought for Hawai‘i’s sacred places, and changed history. We inherited the fruits of their labor and love ... and their kuleana (right, responsibility, privilege).
As a non-Hawaiian, the daughter of Filipino and Japanese immigrants to Hawai‘i, I support Hawaiian movements for ea (sovereignty, independence, life, air breath, to rise) and self-determination because I know the pain of colonization, displacement, forced migration, disconnection from homelands, language, and culture. The Philippines and Hawai‘i are inextricably connected, not only by our ocean, but by our histories of colonization and long lineage of movements for self-determination. In 1893, the Hawaiian Nation was illegally overthrown by Euro-American sugar businessmen, backed by U.S. marines from the USS Boston. In 1898, the same USS Boston participated in the capture of Manila. One of the reasons the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution illegitimately “annexing” Hawaiʻi was to use Pearl Harbor as a coaling and provisioning center for the "pacification" of the Philippines in the Philippine-American war. Our islands are connected. Our struggles are connected. So is our ea.
The labor of Filipinos, Japanese and other migrant settlers to Hawai‘i was essential to the colonial plantation system that dispossessed Hawaiians of their lands. Just because our labor was exploited by the same colonial system, does not absolve us of accountability for benefiting from the theft of Hawaiian land. Let us refuse to be complicit any longer. I know the privilege of settling on indigenous lands and benefiting from a colonial system bent on destroying what I love most about this place that I am from, this place I call home, this place that raised the very best parts of me. That is why I support the kia‘i rising for Mauna Kea. They are rising for all of us.
Block Build Be: Inseparable Strategies to Protect Mauna Kea
I had the privilege of attending the Buddhist Peace Fellowship's Block Build Be Retreat in 2018 where we deepened our dharma practice in Blocking harm and oppression, Building inspiring alternatives, and Being in authentic spiritual alignment toward our collective liberation. Buddhist Peace Fellowship invited me to share about how Block-Build-Be is reflected in the movement to protect Mauna Kea. It’s difficult to process while conditions are constantly changing, emotions are alive, and friends are on the mauna day and night protecting the sacred for all of us. But what I’ve been learning from witnessing kia‘i (guardians, protectors, caretakers) leading this powerful movement is that if you have deep, reciprocal, loving relationships to your land, culture, and community, then there is no distinction between blocking, building, and being, that these things are always embodied and practiced together. They are inseparable.
Kia'i are Blocking desecration, capitalism, and colonization.
Blocking desecration of their most sacred mountain, Mauna a Wākea, skyfather, partner to Papahānaumoku, earth mother, who gave birth to the islands. Mauna Kea is a kupuna (ancestor) to Kanaka Maoli. It is the tallest mountain on earth from ocean floor to summit and contains a vast cultural landscape: iwi kupuna (ancestral bones, burials), ahu (altars, shrines), heiau (places of worship), cinder cone pu‘u (hills), and an ancient adze quarry where stoneworkers would gather materials and make tools. Kia‘i are fighting colonialism, the illegal U.S. occupation of Hawai‘i, by exercising sovereignty over Mauna Kea which is part of the 1.8 million acres of “ceded land” seized from the Hawaiian Kingdom, after the U.S. backed overthrow in 1893, and transferred to the State for the benefit of Hawaiians. Kia‘i are resisting capitalism by successfully preventing the building of a $2 billion dollar, 18-story, 5-acre development in a conservation district; two 5,000 gallon waste storage tanks under the TMT (Thirty Meter Telescope) over Hawai‘i island’s aquifer and source of drinking water; and the continued exploitation of Hawai‘i’s most precious ecosystems to extract profit for multi-national corporations.
Kia‘i are Building ea (sovereignty, independence, life, air breath, to rise).
Hawaiians are exercising self determination, their right to make decisions about the future of their lands and natural resources, and their right to refuse consent. In a moving and powerful display of ea, kia‘i have, in the span of a week, created an entirely self-governed community at Pu‘uhonua o Pu‘uhuluhulu. A pu‘uhonua (place of refuge, sanctuary, asylum, place of peace), a community kitchen and feeding program, a mauna medic and healers hui, bathroom and hand washing facilities, a trash collection and recycling program, a donations drop off and collection system, crossing guards for highway and people traffic, a kūpuna care system, a keiki care system, Pu‘uhuluhulu University ea-ducation system, direct action and legal observer training, kānaka uber, and kia‘i airlines. This is true waiwai (wai: water, waiwai: wealth, abundance). Take what you need, give what you can, each of us invited to offer our very best in service of the movement and the mauna. Kia‘i and Mauna Kea are teaching us that ea is a practice and Hawaiians and island people, already have everything we need ... each other. And love for ʻāina.
There are so many kia'i, both on and off the mauna, building regenerative indigenous futures in their home communities throughout Hawai'i. Re-planting lo'i kalo (wetland taro systems), rebuilding 'auwai (irrigation systems) and loko i'a (fishpond aquaculture systems), creating community-based ahupua'a, watershed, and fisheries management, restoring native forests, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems all across the islands. This is the kind of development kia'i are fighting for, not development that is done to us, development that is by and for us, development that creates thriving ecosystems, where science is culture, where relationships between people and ʻāina are reciprocal, a future where we are all take up the kuleana of being kia'i.
Kia‘i, while blocking and building, are Being in ceremony, in pule (prayer), in oli (chant), in mele (song), in hula (dance), and in kapu aloha (ceremony and discipline to act only with love and compassion).
Aunty Manulani Aluli Meyer explains, “Kapu Aloha is a multidimensional concept and practice inspired by our kupuna. It has been used within a Hawaiian cultural context for many years, but this may be the first time it has been brought out into a public sphere. It places a discipline of compassion on all to express aloha for those involved, especially those who are perceived to be polar to our cause. A Kapu Aloha helps us intentionalize our thoughts, words and deeds without harm to others. It honors the energy and life found in aloha — compassion — and helps us focus on its ultimate purpose and meaning. It is a synonym for ahimsa, non-violence, and peaceful consciousness."
Stories from the Mauna
Please listen and learn from kia‘i’s own experiences and practice in kapu aloha on Mauna Kea:
Kaho’okahi Kanuha: "What kind of kūpuna (ancestor) will you be?"
"My mana‘o to the maka‘i (police/ guards) who are going to come, perhaps unwillingly, perhaps against their will, perhaps to remove people from their own community, from their own ‘ohana (family), maybe from their own pāʻina (party, dinner) they had last saturday [...] We will stand in kapu aloha, we are absolutely committed to peaceful protest, nonviolent action. And so to the maka‘i, I ask you folks to make that same commitment. Because you guys are not my enemy. None of you are my enemy. My enemy is this illegal occupying state that continues to deny the rights of kānaka. [...] So to our maka‘i we love you folks just like we love ourselves. When we say we are doing this for our people, we are talking about you. You are our people. We are doing this for your keiki (children), for your mo‘opuna (grandchildren), for your moʻokūʻauhau (genealogy). This is not just about us. This is about kākou (we, inclusive). And if we need to stand against you for the betterment the future of your keiki, we will do it, for them, but we will only do it with aloha.
[...]
This is about our right to exist, the way our kūpuna (ancestors, grandparents) existed. This is our right to be our kūpuna. And so I ask my people what kind of kūpuna will you be? What kind of kupuna will I be? Like these kūpuna who sit behind me who are not moving. Because these people neva become kūpuna when they turn 67 years old. They were born kūpuna. I was born a kupuna. My keiki not going tell my mo‘olelo (story, history) from the time I turn 60. When we talk about our kūpuna we not just talking about what they did at the end of their life. We talk about what they did in their wā (period of time, season, age) keiki, their wa ʻōpio (youth), and their wa makua (parent), and that's what makes them the kūpuna that they are. So I ask again what kind of kūpuna are we going to be? Now is the time." [video]
Kaleikoa Kaʻeo: "The harder they come the more aloha we gotta have."
"We gotta stand one united. Kapu aloha meaning we gotta stand with dignity. The eyes of the world already watching. [...] They going come through in a way where they have to remove us from this place. But the harder they come the more aloha we gotta have. Cause this not one one day fight. We gotta show the world, even with aloha, it's not weakness, aloha is our strength. Aloha, we know, is what we are as a people. I don't like to go to jail. And look at what feds, locked or unlocked, that going to define when I can and when I cannot go. When I can be Hawaiian, when I cannot be Hawaiian. [...] Going heal them to understand their sense of being a kanaka. So we gotta think about it that way. We gotta bring our medicine to them. We gotta show what it means to be a Hawaiian.”
Pua Case: "Please take care of our people, because our people, are your people."
[Talking to a group of law enforcement officers in riot gear] "I don't care what training you guys had up until this point, to take us down. What I'm saying is, these are your people. These are your nephews, your aunties, your uncles, your grandparents. So what I'm asking is even when you come in, just remember who we really are. We are emotional. We stand for this mauna. And we will do that because we have to, it's our kuleana. We know you going come in. Please take care of our people, because our people, are your people. And you can look at me and be 'oh whateva.' But you know what? I know that in your heart, in your heart, you know we all from Hawai‘i nei. And we all love this mauna, and we all love the ocean, and we all love our lifeways. So please just remember that when you doing what you have to do. [...] We love our ʻāina. And pono is pono (goodness, morality, right, just). And we are standing for the sacred. How can we not? How can we not? This is just me. This is not a strategy. This is my heart.” [video at 36 min]
Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio: "We don’t need force and violence because we have mana (supernatural, divine, spiritual power) and aloha."
[While chained to a cattle guard in the road for 12 hours] “They are about to dispatch 130 police officers to come forcibly remove us from our ʻāina. The ʻāina that fed my father, and his father, and his mother, and her fathers and mothers for hundreds of generations. So we’re going to stay locked in as tight as we can, for as long as we can. And the only way that we’re leaving this mauna is if they pull us off this mauna. [...] But all they know is violence, you know. One of my students said the other day in class, 'When you don’t have power, you need to use force.' That’s what the state is showing, that they don’t have mana (supernatural, divine, spiritual power) so they have to use force and violence. We don’t need force and violence because we have mana and aloha.” [video]
Walter Ritte: "Our kūpuna kept telling us that there was no more powerful weapon than aloha."
“It’s almost like Kaho’olawe, people were saying it was impossible, you cannot go against the security of America. Kaho‘olawe was designated as important for the security of the entire nation, so they would never give it up. It was an impossible dream, so to speak. But our kūpuna kept telling us that there was no more powerful weapon than aloha. And that you can defeat the United States of America’s military might by having aloha. So for us young ones back then that was a hard lesson for us to learn. And that lesson is here today. It’s the aloha. They call it kapu aloha. We called it aloha ʻāina. But the word aloha is in both. Even though about a week ago everyone felt like it was impossible for us to go against the state of Hawai‘i when they are so committed to this project. To me that was the link...saying to people, look we did it, we defeated the United States of America. We can do this. We can do this. So having that base, I think, was important for a lot of our young leaders. So I’m just standing on the side and every time they feel like it‘s not gonna work...ay it’s gonna work, it’s gonna work. So that was my job is to sorta pass the torch to the next generation.” [video]
Imaikalani Winchester: "We weren't blocking anything .... We were bringing things together."
[While chained to a cattle guard in the road for 12 hours] “It is our kuleana, it's our burden as well as our privilege to show our children and the rest of the world how much we love our land. To show my students at home that things are worth fighting for."
"We weren't blocking anything. We were pewa (fishtail shaped patch or wedge used for mending bowls). We were bringing things together." [video]
The Resonance of Kapu Aloha with Buddhist Practice
While I have many spiritual lineages and teachers, in reflecting on my Buddhist practice, there is deep resonance with kapu aloha. I preface this by sharing, that my intention is not to impose Buddhist language and teachings on a Hawaiian practice. The only way to truly understand kapu aloha, a Hawaiian practice, is from a Hawaiian lens in a Hawaiian context. So this offering of a Buddhist lens is an imperfect one, but it is an attempt at translating for this community. I welcome accountability for any unskillful action on my part. This is an invitation to Buddhists to learn more.
Kia‘i are embodying no-self, the teaching that there is no individual, separate self, which is, in reality, deeply understanding the interdependence of all beings. If we look deeply, we can see we are made up entirely of non-self elements. Our bodies are made up of water. Water that comes from our mountain aquifer and watershed. Without water we do not exist. Without the mauna we do not exist. Kia‘i know they are their ancestors. Mauna Kea is their ancestor. They are Mauna Kea.
Kia‘i are teaching us to practice loving-kindness, compassion, and equanimity. My teacher Thich Nhat Hanh says, “In a deep relationship there’s no longer a boundary between you and the other person. You are her and she is you. Your suffering is her suffering. Your understanding of your own suffering helps your loved one to suffer less. Suffering and happiness are no longer individual matters. What happens to your loved one happens to you. What happens to you happens to your loved one.” Kia‘i, in the midst of intense conflict, facing law enforcement officers armed with riot gear and weapons, offer compassion for their suffering, for how officers may be there against their will, for how they may feel conflicted between what they are ordered to do and what they know is pono. Kia‘i use deep listening and loving speech to speak to officers’ values, relationships, and buddha-nature to call them into kapu aloha. What makes this possible on Hawai‘i Island is relationships. The reality is, many of the officers are related to the kia‘i. They are in fact family, friends, and neighbors. And it’s in this context, this web of relationships, that working across difference, accountability, and transformation become possible.
Kia‘i are teaching us that impermanence can be a practice in bringing about “impossible” changes. Accepting the impermanence of all things is also an invitation to accept change, that we are capable of change, that our adversaries are capable of change, that none of us are permanently subject to oppressive conditions, worldviews, and systems. A previous generation of kia‘i made the impossible real by defeating the U.S. military and protecting Kaho’olawe. Impermanence offers us hope, that change is not only possible, but it is natural, and moves us into right action.
These Kia‘i, by practicing kapu aloha, by loving their ʻāina, by loving their lāhui (nation, people), by actively working to love each other beyond the borders that separate us, are inviting us to love fiercely, love beyond our own internalized oppression, in ways that we knew, but have been taken from us. These kia‘i are brilliant teachers, cultural practitioners, aloha ʻāina, and bodhisattva (awakened beings). We all, each one of us, have the capacity to be a bodhisattva. The bodhisattva vow is a commitment to liberate all beings. It’s in that spirit that I ask you, fellow dharma-kin, people of faith and no faith, to rise with the 8 kia‘i who chained themselves to a cattle guard for 12 hours, rise with the wāhine (women) who locked arms and voices, chanting and singing down armed law enforcement, rise with the 36 kūpuna who were arrested in the name of generations after, rise with the thousands of kia‘i in Hawai‘i and beyond who are building resilient, indigenous futures, and join the movement to protect Mauna Kea.
The last of the five remembrances is: “My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. They are the ground upon which I stand.” May we all heal our karma and the karma of our ancestors to return to right relationship with indigenous peoples and the earth by taking compassionate action.
8 Ways You Can Rise in Support of Mauna Kea
1. Sign the Petition to immediately halt the construction of the TMT telescope on Mauna Kea
2. Take Governor Ige’s Poll to voice your opposition to the telescope project
3. Learn more about the movement
- 10 Questions about Mauna Kea Whose Answers May Surprise You
- The Battle Over a Telescope on Hawaii's Sacred Mountain Is Just Beginning
- What you need to know about the fight against Thirty Meter Telescope in Hawaiʻi
- 50 Years of Mismanaging Mauna Kea
- Mauna Kea Temple Under Siege
4. Organize or attend an Action near you, upcoming in Australia, California, Florida, Hawai'i, Illinois, and Oregon
5. Donate to grassroots organizing efforts on Mauna Kea:
- HULI: Hawaii Unity and Liberation Institute provides nonviolent direct action (NVDA) training and support to Hawai’i’s communities.
- KAHEA the Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance:
- The Aloha ‘Āina Support Fund will prioritize funding for frontline logistics, including provision of bail where appropriate, supplies, transportation, technical services, and community meetings convened for such purposes.
- Miles for the Mauna: Donate your airline miles from Hawaiian or Southwest airlines to support inter-island travel
6. Call in (rather than call out) people in your circles who don’t understand. Have difficult, compassionate conversations.
7. Dedicate your spiritual practice (meditation, prayer, dāna) to Mauna Kea
8. Actively support Indigenous movements for land and self-determination wherever you live