A Gift of Healing from Hawaii-- Ho'oponopono

By Anne Uemura

The "secret" about ho'oponopono may not have spread as quickly as The Secret but it deserves worldwide attention. It is an important and remarkable gift of transformation for anyone wanting to change their life. And from my point of view it is deeper and more complete than The Secret.

Perhaps you, like I, heard about ho'oponopono from Joe Vitale.  In his widely distributed blog entry Joe wrote about a most unusual therapist, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len.  What is unusual about Dr. Len is how he "cured" all the patients in the ward for the criminally insane at the Hawaii State Hospital.  This is the story that ignited the interest in the method of healing that Dr. Len uses. It's called ho'oponopono and it's pronounced "hoe' oh poh-no poh-no."

For months I looked forward to the July publication of Joe and Dr. Len's book, Zero Limits.  Then life got in the way and only last night I began to listen to an audio version of the book.  After 30 minutes of listening I was flying high, inspired and thrilled by what I was hearing. I "had" to call at least 3 friends and tell them about the book.

This week a number of us are having our 3^rd ho'oponopono gathering in a virtual conference room. We have been meeting every 3 weeks. After our first ceremony several of us reported some impressive results. For example, one participant found that her long frustrating repetitive attempts at getting some legal papers together ended.   Several times a week she would take her 60 page document to the courthouse only to be told it wasn't completed correctly. Within days after the ceremony her papers were accepted. 

Another had been struggling with her utility and phone companies over issues for months and not getting anywhere.  Expensive poles and lines had been placed on her property without her permission.  After the ceremony the obstacles disappeared and she learned that her lawyer was moving ahead with the legal case. 

In each gathering, Amy, our ho'oponopono practitioner, explains to us about the cleansing ceremony that we are about to participate in.  We've been told to prepare by writing down a list of "things" such as people, events and emotions we want purified or "made right" (which is the meaning of the Hawaiian word "ho'oponopono"). 

During the ceremony itself, the prayers are said in Hawaiian and we participate in two breathing exercises.  After it is over, we're instructed to tear up our list of things to be cleansed and to put them in a bag to be disposed of outside our dwelling.  At that point our cleansing is complete.

Self-identity ho'oponopono (as this modern version of the healing system is called) works on the premise that almost all of our actions are "caused" by our subconscious.  When we are not purified the memories in our subconscious are dictating our decisions and choices.  These memories are about the negative experiences in our early life.  The ho'oponopono ceremony asks Spirit to cleanse us so that we become more free.

As you read Zero Limits, you'll be confronted with the idea that we're 100% responsible for whatever is "wrong" and "upsetting" in our everyday lives.  Therefore we need to look within to see what in us created such negative results.

Every instance of anger/upset/outrage is an opportunity for us to do more cleaning.  By using phrases such as "Please forgive me," "I'm sorry," "Thank you," and "I love you," an individual cleanses himself of more bad memories and is freer to have a conscious choice.  The more we do this we also increasingly align ourselves with Spirit or the Divine. 

Many current self-help books and programs stress that we are acting out of our subconscious beliefs and memories.  In other terms, we are acting from "old tapes." Consciously trying to change these beliefs and patterns is immensely difficult as you may have discovered.  Unlike many self-help materials Ho'oponopono is a Spirit-based system of working with the subconscious.

If you are frustrated by the lack of change in your life from doing affirmations, consider Ho'oponopono.  If you love The Secret and The Law of Attraction and are still attracting the same life, please consider learning from Dr. Len. Zero Limits contains many stories of how ho'oponopono has changed people's lives.  It is impressive.

In short, Ho'oponopono is extraordinarily unique in the current flood of self-help material.  Not only does it turn the blame and victim mentality on its head, it asks you to change the outside by "cleaning" the inside.  And it provides a key to the subconscious that has, to date, not been available to the lay person.