Learn about the Five Pillars with Paraone Tai Tin
My desire is that the path for our young ones is easy.
That the path is light for our children to follow.
The language protocols will help guide them to see the benefits,
the signs, the important knowledge, the examples
so that they are able to grasp to strengthen the heart.
To strengthen the depths of the mind.
To strengthen the soul
so that they understand that their voice instils
these methods to strengthen, develop and enlightenment.
Kindness Rising.
My name is Paraone Tai Tin.
My lineage derives from the Pacific Ocean from Samoa on my father’s side.
On my mother’s side, from Ngāti Hineamaru.
My tribes are Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa.
The Five Pillars: A House of Oratory
I am thinking that a house of oratory can be conducted amongst us,
so that you can see
and hear an example.
So that you and her can speak
and grasp what is being spoken.
Because all of you here are young women I will speak towards that,
okay, to that which relates to young women.
Therefore, it is a house of oratory, that is what we will use,
an example of the house of oratory.
Let us perhaps go to the forest.
When we understand aspects of whakapapa
we can also visualise
protocols of lineage
in our everyday life.
So, to understand that there’s a time to pick medicines
and how it functions,
you also need to recognise
how we function
and when is it the right time to do certain things, okay?
The goal is to always understand
who you are as an individual
and you can support that development
by understanding lineage protocols
and applying it.
Clearly identifying
how to move through a challenge
is really important.
When a tree is in nature
and it’s a windy day, what do you see the tree doing?
It’s moving, isn’t it?
Now, if it’s a really stormy day
it will be a lot violent, eh,
the movement,
and very seldomly
will you see a tree snap under pressure
because the tree has that ability
to go with the pressure
and then retain its posture,
and that there is
another learning for all of us.
We need to be like a tree,
we need to have that conditioning
and then come back and reset,
because it’s always a learning.
No matter what pressure you’re under
it’s a learning.
As soon as you leave this forest
it’s a different space out there
but what makes the difference is
how you live your tikanga.
Do you leave this learning here
or do you start to apply it?
When you walk in to the meeting house
there are five pillars,
our inside and oue on the outside.
There are five pillars of the house.
Every meeting house has amo,
the amo actually
played a big principle in bearing the weight of the whare,
the purpose of the amo is to carry,
that is the amo.
Turn around but stay in position
so you can see.
The tūārongo is
the pillar that connects us all
from life to death,
the tūārongo pillar.
Inspiration always comes from the darkness
then when you bring it in to fruition it comes in to light.
Clarify this topic from the poutewharau,
this part is to protect and guard.
The purpose is protected here.
So, now inspiration has come from
that connection
from darkness to light,
now you start to look after that inspiration
and you put it in to
– you allow it to manifest
Understand?
And you’re looking after
what its design
starts to feel like
and starts to look like.
An example is made from the pou tokomanawa.
This is where
you and I make our connections
on an innate, intimate level
with your purpose.
If it’s not meaningful you wont do it.
If it’s meaningful you’ll naturally do it.
Decide where to stand from the pou tāhuhu.
Now you know who you are
in your kaupapa.
Confirm your decision
on your purpose with the pou kaiāwha.
Here is where you start to share
your purpose with everybody else,
and you have your support systems
beside you, eh?
There are the amo, the amo pillars
to carry the weight so that the house may stand.
Support systems.
Poutuarongo,
poutewharau,
pou tokomanawa,
pou tāhuhu,
poukaiāwha,
pou amo.
House of oratory.
To find yourself
is to understand your genealogy,
and if you don’t have a genealogy
to then trace your source
then follow the genealogy of common sense.
Look for your common connections
that will allow you to gain some foundation
and sometimes that’s talking to a person,
sometimes its reading literature,
sometimes it’s a bit of research in
whatever gets you to that point
it will be about common sense.
There are three ways of looking
at how to care,
manaaki, tiaki and atawhai.
Manaaki is when you’re encouraging someone
to live their mana
that’s within their whakapapa.
Tiaki is when you’re encouraging someone
to do what is right
and that might be by way of example,
that might be verbal,
that’s tiaki.
And then there is atawhai,
and atawhai is when
you’re walking with that person
and you’re following that person
as a form of support
and that connection is always there.
So, we have that
three ways of showing how much you care.
Manaaki, tiaki, atawhai.
The saying within the taumata
is to take care of those with less,
be as one,
talk as one,
work as one.
My final words are those of Ngapo Wehi,
“Ki te atawhaitia te tangata
e koe ka whai atu ia i a koe.”
Mauri ora.