Ho’oponopono is a little known but extremely powerful self-transformation technique.
Ho’oponopono originated from Hawaii and was originally taught by Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona. Morrnah was a healer and in 1983 she received a great honor by being designated as a living treasure of Hawaii. She was teaching Ho’oponopono to small and large groups of people as well as to hospitals, colleges and even to United Nations personnel. She also founded “The Foundation of I, Self-Identity through Hoʻoponopono” to promote principles of Ho’oponopono around the world.
Historically Ho’oponopono healing system required the presence of mediator – senior qualified practitioner who would guide a healing process for practitioner. It is often that the group of people need be to interacting with each other in a certain way for the process to take place.
Morrnah updated Ho’oponopono in a way that healing and transformation process no longer required presence of any other person but the practitioner himself. Neither any specific interaction is required between practitioner and other people.
The miracle powers of Ho’oponopono self-healing and self-improvement practice would still be unknown to the world at large if not for the works of Joe Vitale, published as “The Attractor Factor” and especially his exceptional quality “Zero Limits” book.
Joe Vitale is best known as internet marketer, writer and speaker on the subject of self improvement. While internet marketing is something that perceived by many (including myself) with a great degree of skepticism – Joe Vitale’s experience on the subject of self improvement as well as his in-depth research about Ho’oponopono deserves the highest marks. It’s from Joe Vitale’s “Zero Limits” book that the world found out about true miracles and powers of Ho’oponopono as well as about Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len.
Dr. Hew Len was the most avid student of Morrnah Simeona and practitioner of updated Ho’oponopono technique. He was the first person who got documented and confirmed proof of the healing miracles initiated by the Ho’oponopono process. Dr. Hew Len observed Hooponopono healing powers himself when Morrnah Simeona healed his daughter from painful bleeding shingles (skin disease) that she suffered from for more than a decade without anyone or anything helping.
Being traditionally educated university-trained physician he decided to look deeper into the process that Morrnah Simeona was using. He signed into her seminar in 1982 and not without certain degree of struggle (“…she was talking to spirits and sounding nuts!…” – ‘Zero Limits’, page 42) managed to complete the training. She was staying and learning from Morrnah all the way till 1992 when she passed away. Paying utmost attention to her teaching and practices Dr Hew Len managed to simplify and improve Ho’oponopono process even more and with amazing results.
From 1984 till 1987 he worked as a staff psychologist for Hawaii State Hospital overseeing high security unit housing male criminally insane patients. Now, to make things clear – these are the type of guys you don’t want to turn your back on. These guys committed murders, rapes, assaults and due to their degree of “insanity” were locked into psychiatric high security facility. Violence against each other and staff members were common.
Fast forward to 1987 (3 years later) wrist and ankle restraints were no longer used in this facility. Violence almost ceased to exist, only involving mostly new patients. New off-site activities were introduced to former violent patients. The spirit and order in the unit was greatly improved and eventually the whole unit was closed because there was no need. People just got improved, healed and released or moved into other non-violent wards.
This all was documented, described my multiple witnesses and personnel.
How did such miraculous change took place in the hospital?
According to Dr. Hew Len:
He did not do any therapy or counseling with patients
He did not attend any staff conferences on patients
He practiced updated Ho’oponopono process on a daily basis that included accepting 100% of responsibility for everything being experienced by him.
(Zero Limits, page 142)
Dr. Hew Len improved and practiced updated Ho’oponopono process every day and this process caused the most miraculous transformation within the most challenging environment.
So what exactly is Ho’oponopono and how does it work?
When Joe Vitale met with Dr. Hew Len and asked him how exactly did he manage to heal these violent patients without actually seeing each of them in person, his answer was:
“I didn’t heal them. I healed part of myself that created them”. To me that was the most fundamental revelation to date. That phrase alone explains the most important presumption of Ho’oponopono:
You are 100% responsible for everything. Everything and everywhere! And it means not only your personal screwups and your personal successes. If means if someone somewhere did something and you became aware of that – you are 100% responsible for that.
Ho’oponopono is not your free ticket to guilt trip. Being 100% responsible is not the same as feeling infinitely guilty for miseries. It’s reminder of your creative powers and gentle welcome to return back to your inner nature. That is to Zero. Joe Vitale wrote a great book on the subject called Zero Limits. When you returning back to your most inner nature – to Zero – everything becomes available to you effortlessly and you are being driven by inspiration from Divinity, not by petty ego wants. Ho’oponopono’s Zero is the same thing that Eckhart Tolle names Unmanifested.
Back to practical reality – let assume that Zero is the next great thing after sliced bread. Or even before sliced bread. Whatever. How do we get to that “magical” state? What exactly needed to be done?
This is achieved by constant cleaning process. Cleaning is the actual Ho’oponopono practice. Cleaning what? You clean yourself from subconscious garbage – programs that run your life without your participation.
Apparently Ho’oponopono process is very simple. Actual Ho’oponopono cleaning process consists of repetitions of the following phrases:
- I Love You
- Please forgive me
- I am sorry
- Thank you
These phrases repeated will ignite the self transformation process for the practitioner. This is exactly what Dr. Hew Len did to invite divine transformation powers for his surrounding during his work at Hawaiian mental hospital.
The most powerful phrases here are: “I Love You” and “Thank You”. The powers of Love and Gratitude are unquestionable in every self-empowerment teaching, school or religion.
Who do you say these phrases? Essentially you just say them. No need to feel anything special, imagine anything, or otherwise to complicate this process. As Dr. Hew Len often says “just do it”. The process is as simple as breathing. When you breath in and breathe out – you clean your body from processed “polluted” air and enrich it with fresh, oxygen rich, good energy air. And all this happens without you mixing breathing process with any esoteric or complicated practices. It just happens and your body gets constant supply of oxygen.
Same with ho’oponopono. You repeat these phrases just like a mantra and the cleaning process happens. You may clean life situations, places, relationships and of course financial situations. When something comes to your awareness – you accept 100% responsibility for that and repeat the cleaning process. No guilt trips. No intellectualizing. No judgements. You clean. Divinity does the rest.
Ho’oponopono cleaning is letting go and letting God.
Sincerely I never been a big fan of mantras and procedural practices. I been a few times at a local buddhist center for their meditation sessions. I like group meditation but their mantras about dragons and evils to me was a an utter nonsense.
With ho’oponopono it’s drastically different. I am very practical person and had to try everything on myself. I don’t mind to accept 100% responsibility for stuff or doing mantras as long as I’d see a positive results in my life. I don’t buy promises of salvation in the next life. I want to see results here and now – and better sooner than later or I’ll say “thank you” and move over to the next teaching. And ho’oponopono practice literally did a magic to me, my life, my family and my surroundings.
I stumbled over Dr. Hew Len’s saying “I didn’t heal them, I healed part of myself that created them…” at one of the lowest points in my life. This phase grasped my attention and forced me to read everything about Ho’oponopono. It just made such perfect sense to my miserable depressed mind. And of course I tried to practice it. What followed for me was literally miraculous.
. . . . .
I give fragrant flowers at the feet of your soul.
I bow to you and wish for you a life that is whole.
Full of wellness, peace, and grace
Your Eternal Self shining from your face.
Ho’oponopono, Ho’oponopono, Ho’oponopono
To loved ones past and present, to both enemies and friends
I pray to our collective selves that I may make amends.
Release all encumbrances and forgive into spaciousness.
I breathe Tonglen to all, in mind and heart of graciousness.
Ho’oponopono, Ho’oponopono, Ho’oponopono
I love you, I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you.
