Ho’oponopono Technique
A powerful Hawaiian prayer
SITH (Self -Identity Through Ho’oponopono)
Have you heard of Ho’oponopono and the Hawaiian therapist
who cured an entire ward of criminally insane patients,
without ever meeting any of them or spending a moment in the
same room?
The therapist was Dr Ihaleakala Hew Len.
He reviewed each of the patients’ files, and then he healed
them by healing himself. He cured every patient in the criminally
insane ward of Hawaii’s State Hospital without ever seeing a
single patient.
Dr Len set up an office within the hospital to review his
patients’ files. While he looked at those files, he would work on
himself, and over four years, all the patients were healed. In
addition, the staff who had been calling in sick or quit eventually
loved coming to work.
He used the legendary Hawaiian healing and cleansing
method Ho’oponopono to accomplish all of this. It is based on
healing through loving and taking care of oneself. The amazing
results seem like a miracle, but then miracles do happen when
you use this method called Self Identity Through Ho’oponopono
(SITH).
Dr Len repeated the words “Please forgive me”, “I love
you”, “Thank you” and “I am sorry” over and over again while
reviewing each file individually. After a few months, the patients
who were shackled were allowed to walk freely, patients were
taken off medications, and even the hopeless cases were
eventually released back into society.
Dr Joe Vitale, the bestselling author and personal
development guru, caught wind of Dr Len’s story and wanted
to know about this. According to his YouTube video, he mailed
Dr Len for a weight loss remedy and he got a reply about a
blue solar bottle technique. Then, he decided he had to learn
from him. He learned that by using this potent forgiveness and
releasing process, one is able to “Clear your mind of subconscious
blocks so that destiny and desire can take over and help you
get what you truly want from life. It clears out unconsciously
accepted beliefs, thoughts, and memories that you don’t even
know are holding you back.” Their collaboration eventually led
to the co-authored book Zero Limits.
“No one wanted the job I did with the criminally insane. They were averaging about one psychologist a month.
But I got asked. We had about 25-30 people. Half of them would be in shackles at the ankles or the wrists because they were dangerous. They could either kick you or slam you. Everyone would walk with their back to the wall so that they wouldn’t get struck. They had no family visits. No one could leave the building. A year-and-a-half later, there was none of that. There were people going out on bus rides, nobody in shackles. The level of medication dropped, and what did I do? I worked on myself. I took 100% responsibility.”
–Dr Hew Len
What is Ho’oponopono?
On the surface level, many people have understood
Ho’oponopono to be a mantra where one repeats the words
‘I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you’ as a form
of mental and spiritual cleaning that could be compared to
Buddhist techniques for clearing karma.
The basis of the mantra came from one principle that the
Hawaiians teach: Hurt no one. Along with this principle, the
mantra was used as a form of resolving conflict instead of the
arguments continuing to increase. It was believed that the
resonance of these four words created harmony and balance. It
allowed the conflict you were currently facing to be released and
the energy to change when there were surrounding issues.
It has been defined as forgiveness and reconciliation practice,
cleansing of ‘errors of thought’. The prayer demands that there
is a state of peace and resolution, even if there is no ability to
let go of the situation. You have to connect to the void, the zero,
or you can say, to the universe. The words are able to develop a
state of healing that takes place internally, allowing you to accept what is and to move into a more powerful state of mind. This
way, you can learn to let go and let love back in.
Forgiveness plays an important part in the whole process, to
get rid of any heaviness of guilt in the subconscious. For people
living in Hawaii today, Ho’oponopono is less about being a
personal shamanic practice through chanting a mantra internally
or externally, and more about a traditional system of dispute
resolution. It’s a practice that still holds the values of making
things right and correcting errors. However, in this incarnation,
it is focused on making things right with our relations; coming
back into the right relationship by correcting errors with
living relatives, ancestors and deities as past life regressions
help to rectify and clear the past life hurts and karmas. This
technique helps to clear blockages which create restrictions to
manifestations.
Not only are you resolving conflict with others, you are also
resolving the same conflict within yourself. The Ho’oponopono
prayer for healing is designed to release those uncertainties that
are holding you back from your true potential.
Everything you see, everything you hear, every person you
meet, you experience in your mind. You only think it’s “out
there” and you think that absolves you of responsibility. In fact,
it’s quite the opposite: you are responsible for everything you
think, and everything that comes to your attention. If you saw a
WhatsApp post regarding some murder or negative influence,
everything you see on your messages is your responsibility. That
sounds harsh, but it means that you are also able to clear it, clean
it, and through forgiveness change it.
Like many spiritual practices, such as meditation, it’s not thepractice you do while you’re in the crisis, it’s the practice you
do on a regular basis between the crises that makes it effective
when the storm hits.There are four simple steps to this method and the order
is not that important. Repentance, forgiveness, gratitude and
love are the only forces at work – but these forces have amazing
power.
The best part of the updated version of Ho’oponopono is
you can do it yourself; you don’t need anyone else to be there,
you don’t need anyone to hear you.
“The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive
yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you
realize that the situation is over, you cannot move
forward.”
Step 1: Repentance (I AM SORRY)
As I mention above, you are responsible for everything in your
mind, even if it seems to be “out there”. Once you realize that,
it’s very natural to feel sorry.
I met with an accident last week. Why was I responsible?
Because some days back, I just thought that I was not getting
enough time to finalize my book and if I got bed rest from the
doctor, then I would be able to complete it. I’m so sorry that
someone I know has a broken bone or got injured because of such
a thought. This realization can be painful, and you will likely resist
accepting. But when you start noticing your minute thoughts, you will able to catch up with these things. Like if you are overweight, you may abuse your body by eating inappropriately, or by not doing proper exercises. In fact, people’s pains are also caused by abusing your body, as we take more work from it beyond its limits. So, choose something that you already know you’ve caused for yourself. “I realize that I abuse my body and take more work from it. I am sorry that I didn’t eat appropriate food. I am responsible so I am sorry, I am sorry.”
Step 2: Ask for Forgiveness (PLEASE FORGIVE ME}
When you think of your body and the abuse that you have done,
feel sorry and ask for forgiveness.
All the sayings and conversations are with the body in case
of any disease. But our conversation with the void, universe and
the almighty will increase healing the disputed area. Just ask!
Please forgive me.
Say it over and over. Mean it.
Remember your remorse from step 1 as you ask to be
forgiven.
Step 3: Gratitude (THANK YOU)
Say “THANK YOU” to your body and also to the universe for
everything. It doesn’t really matter who or what you’re thanking.
Thank your body for all it does for you. Thank you is a magical
word, which creates miracles. Thank yourself for being the best
you can be. Thank god. Thank the universe. Thank whatever it
was that just forgave you.
Just keep saying thank you.
Step 4: Love (I LOVE YOU)
Say it to your body, say it to the universe. Say ‘I love you’ to the
air you breathe, to the plants, to the animals, to the house that
shelters you. Say ‘I love you’ to your problems. Say it over and
over, mean it and feel it.
There is nothing as powerful as love.
Dr Hew Len says: “The only purpose in your life and mine is the restoration of our identity, our mind, back to its original state of void or zero (Buddha), of purity of heart (Jesus) and of blank (Shakespeare) through nonstop cleaning
Excerpts from Live Love and Laugh Book, Manjit Sargam Chawla
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