Hawaiian Values: Pono

A portrait of King Kamehameha III

Artist Unknown, Bishop Museum

Pono is to achieve excellence, prosperity, and a state of equity.

For ka poʻo kahiko (chiefs of old Hawaiʻi) and their descendants today this means living in balance within ourselves, those around us, and the world that sustains us. To be pono is to be virtuous and true to one’s nature.

King Kamehameha III reminds us of the value of pono with his words:

“Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono."
The 'life' of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

While the Kumulipo – one of several ancient cosmologies kept in Hawaiian tradition – which closes the first eight wā or eras described in it with a drawn out declaration of “pono”, uses its poetic language to point out the fact that our own human awareness and sense of need and desire easily pulls us out of a state of pono, therefore requiring us to put in work to once again achieve balance within and without.

How do you practice the value of pono and find that important balance?