Contents Overview
The Origin Of Ho'oponopono
Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness and reconciliation. Often termed a spiritual healing practice, ho’oponopono is an approach to heal situations, create harmony among individuals and form a balance in our inner and outer universe.
The origin of ho’oponopono dates back to pre-Western Hawaii, where it was used by families and communities as a common approach to resolve conflicts and restore equilibrium. They believed that if a conflict arose in a group, it was essential to sit and openly discuss it. Solving an issue promptly was a priority to maintain the overall harmony and well-being of the community.
The Hawaiian word ho’oponopono comes from ho’o, meaning ‘to make,’ and pono, meaning ‘right.’ The repetition of pono means ‘doubly right’ or ‘being right with both self and others.’ Overall, it is a process through which we can forgive others with whom we are connected. Practicing ho’oponopono allows us to cut connections in a positive way, believing that we can easily create a fresh connection.
Mornah N. Simeona was a Hawaiian healer who played a significant role in reviving traditional Hawaiian practices, including ho’oponopono. Simeona was born in 1906 and had deep respect and fondness for her tradition. In the mid-1900s, she became involved in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and worked to preserve and promote traditional Hawaiian practices. In 1983, she was recognized as a kahuna lapa’au (healer) and honored as a “living treasure of Hawaii” by the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii. Simeona passed away in 1992, but her work continues to impact the preservation and revitalization of traditional Hawaiian culture.
Though ho’oponopono was practiced differently on different islands, Victoria Shook explained in 1992 that it was often conducted face-to-face in many families. On some islands, it was so vital that if anyone felt they weren’t pono (right) with someone else, they would ask another person, preferably from the family, to facilitate a meeting allowing both individuals to express themselves, resolve the issue and move toward being pono.
Ho’oponopono can also be practiced as an internal process in silence. In this form, only the mind is involved as one converses, solves, disconnects, and reconnects internally. Many people benefit greatly from this practice, which, in a literal sense, is like removing a roadblock to embark on a comfortable journey.
In the modern context, ho’oponopono has been widely popularized by Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len and Dr. Joe Vitale, who extensively studied the practice and have written elaborately about it. Hew Len was trained by Mornah and is known for using ho’oponopono to heal people, including patients at a psychiatric hospital. For four years, he worked at the Hawaii State Hospital, where violence reigned and working conditions were difficult.
Despite being a clinical psychologist, Dr. Hew Len did not perform conventional therapy on his patients. Instead, he reviewed their records from his office and practiced ho’oponopono, working on himself and the memories in him that created that reality. He believed that what happens in front of us is a reflection of the memories playing in our subconscious mind. By practicing ho’oponopono, he released the blocks and as a result, the atmosphere at the hospital progressively and completely transformed. Both patients and staff improved and within weeks, the patients were sent home and the mental hospital was closed.
Vitale, on the other hand, has written about using ho’oponopono as a way to bring abundance and prosperity into one’s life. He teaches that by taking responsibility for one’s thoughts and actions and letting go of negative emotions, it is possible to attract positivity and abundance.
Vitale and Hew Len co-authored a book called Zero Limits, which discusses the principles of ho’oponopono and how it can be used as a tool for personal transformation and manifesting abundance. The book also includes some of their personal experiences with the practice and guidance on how it can improve lives.
The True Meaning Of Ho’oponopono
The true principles of ho’oponopono that Simeona highlighted involve having the courage and sensibility to acknowledge and take responsibility for one’s own actions and their impact on others’ lives. This includes admitting our faults, making amends and asking for forgiveness with an open heart. It also involves letting go of any resentment and negative emotions toward others and replacing them by focusing on love and positivity.
4 Phrases Of Ho’oponopono
The four phrases of ho’oponopono are:
I’m Sorry,
Please Forgive Me,
Thank You,
I Love You!
Each phrase looks simple but carries a much deeper meaning than the words may convey. When we say “I’m sorry” to someone or to ourselves, we show a very vulnerable and humble side of ourselves that is open to growth. This side has no traces of ego. It is a side that acknowledges its flaws and accepts the wrong it has done.
“Please forgive me” implies that a person is not afraid to ask for forgiveness. It shows the importance of humility while seeking forgiveness and the courage to bend when needed.
“Thank you” is a form of paying respect toward a person or a deed. It encourages us to acknowledge the efforts someone puts into almost everything they do. Not only does it uplift our mood, but it is also a silent way of representing our values by finding gratitude in every single thing.
“I love you” is the ultimate expression of love. It’s the ultimate way of telling someone how you feel about them. Every soul on this Earth deserves to be loved and we should never hesitate to say it aloud. More than saying it to others, we should say it to ourselves repeatedly because everything starts from within. Unless we love ourselves, we won’t be able to love others.
Purpose Of Ho’oponopono
Ho’oponopono works with the ultimate purpose of being aware, taking responsibility and working towards living the best life. It can be applied to both inner and outer world concerns, but one must be fully aware of the steps that need to be taken to reach their desired outcome. The points to consider before practicing ho’oponopono are:
♦ Identify the issue/concern that needs to be resolved
Take some time to sit with yourself and identify the issues that are troubling you. These could be inner or outer struggles. It could be about a recent conflict with someone or a personal flaw you’re dealing with.
♦ Acknowledge the issue
Reflect deeply on the issue. How did it start? What about it troubles you? What can you do to resolve it? What have you learned from it? What really needs to change? These inquiries require a lot of self-questioning, so be prepared for introspection.
♦ Take full responsibility
Once you’ve acknowledged the issue and answered the above questions, take complete responsibility for admitting your fault and apologize to yourself first, then to the person involved.
♦ Let go of any negativity
Ho’oponopono deals with releasing negative emotions like doubt, resentment, fear, anger or blame, replacing them with positivity and love. The moment you do this, you’ll feel an instant shift in your energy.
♦ Repeat the Ho’oponopono phrases
Repeat the phrases “I am sorry,” “Please forgive me,” “Thank you,” “I love you.” By repeating these phrases while keeping the issue or person in mind, you’ll release stuck negative energy and bring in fresher, positive vibes.
♦ Take action and make amends
The key step now is to take action to make amends and resolve the issues identified. This includes apologizing to the person involved and finding tangible solutions to the concern.
♦ Visualize the issue being solved
Imagine a scenario in your mind where you are filled with self-love, where everything is resolved with the person you had issues with and where everything is genuinely perfect. Picture your negative beliefs shattering into a thousand pieces, with bright white light healing everything. This is the new you. Live it, breathe it, feel it!
♦ Seal the deal with an affirmation
The final step to releasing your old limiting beliefs is to replace them with an affirmation. For example, if you had an issue with a friend, after repeating the ho’oponopono phrases and visualizing resolving the issue, create an affirmation specific to your situation. It could be something like, “I am so happy that my friend and I share a beautiful, strong bond with each other. There is only mutual respect in this friendship.” Keep repeating this to reinforce it in your subconscious mind.
By religiously following these steps, you can easily find reconciliation and peace in any situation. No matter how old the issue is, it can easily be resolved in the present moment through your thinking and pure intention. It’s the best and least we can do from our side for ourselves.
15 Steps To Practicing Ho’oponopono
1. Find time to sit in silence.
2. Calm your mind by practicing deep breathing or listening to soothing music.
3. Relax your body.
4. Observe anything that’s troubling you in the moment.
5. Note the thoughts crossing your mind without any judgment.
6. Identify the issues clearly.
7. Recognize any repeated patterns.
8. Acknowledge your flaws by setting your ego aside.
9. Take full responsibility for resolving the situation.
10. Be genuinely ready to seek forgiveness.
11. Practice the ho’oponopono phrases (I am sorry, Please forgive me, Thank you, I love you).
12. Show gratitude, positivity and love towards yourself and all around you.
13. Visualize the situation being healed completely.
14. Create positive affirmations and keep repeating them in your mind.
15. Let go and move ahead. Don’t obsess on the outcome. Trust the process of manifestation.
Benefits Of Ho'oponopono
1. Improved mental and physical health
Practicing ho’oponopono will directly impact your mental and physical well-being. You will automatically sense a feeling of peace seeping in.
2. Reduced stress
You will experience stress moving away from you because ho’oponopono will resolve many concealed issues, leaving your mind with a sense of relaxation.
3. Increased emotional stability
Once you start practicing ho’oponopono, you will naturally gain control over your emotions. Your mind will automatically filter out negative emotions and bring positivity into your life.
4. Self-love
You will instantly feel love within you. You will acknowledge your existence and be grateful for whatever little or big things you have in life. That is the power of ho’oponopono.
5. Better relationships
Over time, you will experience your relationships improving organically. People around you will make efforts to bond with you and shower you with love.
6. Encourages acceptance
Ho’oponopono will encourage you to accept life as the beautiful blessing it is. With this practice, you will embrace gratitude for your existence and find the good in everything your eyes can see.
7. Promotes forgiveness
A major part of ho’oponopono is the beauty of forgiveness. Once you forgive yourself for any wrongs you’ve done, intentionally or unintentionally and seek forgiveness from others, you will feel a strong sense of calm and peace within you. This feeling will make your existence feel complete and will eventually guide you to the right path.
8. Magnifies positivity
Once you start meditating on the four phrases, you will notice unexpected opportunities coming your way. People will begin blessing you and deep within, your soul will feel a sense of comfort and love.
9. Complete healing
Ho’oponopono always blesses you with complete healing. With repeated efforts and a consistent routine, you will feel positive changes stirring around you. Your health will improve, positive thoughts will naturally arise and your outer reality will reflect signs through opportunities that will strengthen your belief in manifestation and healing.
10. Moving forward
Ho’oponopono will provide the real push you need to grow in life. It will help build a strong foundation where you will find positive assurance for a beautiful future.
The wonderful part of this practice is that it helps you filter out what doesn’t serve you, allowing you to discover your true self. When you erase old, negative beliefs, remember that you’re also erasing them from your lineage, including your family, ancestors, and relatives.
Role Of Ho’oponopono In Manifestation
Unless and until you’re healed from within, you won’t be able to manifest anything in life. For manifestation to work, you need to have a positive outlook on life, which comes from a sense of stability. If there’s a hurricane running in your mind, no matter how religiously you practice a technique, it won’t yield any benefits because you first need to heal yourself from within.
While many of us may give up at this point thinking healing is a very time-consuming process, I’d like to highlight that yes, it is time-consuming to face your inner demons and fight them for good. It takes a lot of effort, discipline and time- all of which you must balance every single day. These efforts will eventually give you the life of your dreams.
Can’t you spare some time to work on yourself? Don’t your body and mind deserve to be in their best form?
As discussed in detail above, you must now understand what ho’oponopono is. What I really want to emphasize is its role in manifestation. Once we practice ho’oponopono by repeating its four phrases, we create a light within ourselves that grows brighter with each repetition. This light dissolves all the negativity within, allowing us to build a new inner and outer reality.
This beautiful transformation is directly linked to manifestation, as both follow the same formula. So, starting with ho’oponopono, we first identify our issues, break negative patterns, seek forgiveness and protect our energy by showering love. Only by doing this can we move forward and manifest our desires with utmost honesty.
For example, a friend of mine had a money block in her subconscious mind, which made it difficult for her to maintain a healthy relationship with money. Whatever she earned or saved would flow out of her hands because some financial hurdle would always appear in her outer reality.
This block stemmed from her parents’ beliefs about money. For them, money was fragile, something that never lasted and was not easy to gain. Growing up with this mindset, the same belief became embedded in her mind, and she didn’t know of any alternative belief.
When her therapist asked her to practice ho’oponopono, she began saying the four phrases keeping money in mind. She directly addressed money and repeated, “I’m sorry, money, for the wrong beliefs I had about you. Please forgive me for creating an unwanted strained relationship between us. Thank you for effortlessly giving me all that I desire in life. I love you with all honesty.”
By repeating this again and again, she was able to break her negative patterns and attract money from unexpected sources. Some of the best career opportunities started flowing into her life without her even asking for them, and she generated money through her talents.
Within a few weeks, she was a different person with a fresh perspective on money. Once she resolved this, she acknowledged the power of positivity and used it to manifest other desires. It wasn’t surprising to see her climb the ladder so effortlessly after that.
Role Of Ho’oponopono In Healing
A lot of us find it difficult to accept the fact that we are 100% responsible for everything that happens in our lives. Honestly, I was also in that mindset for a long time until I researched and read about it, which grew my faith in my own power. I realized that the reason I didn’t believe it earlier was because of the conditioning I carried based on so many varied factors.
The society in which I grew never believed in something like this. For them, it was the outer reality that ruled the inner reality. But, thankfully, because of my family, who emphasized pure thoughts, I disconnected from the false outer beliefs and created my own universe where I was connected with my true self.
The sooner we accept our power, the better it will be for us. We will be freed and will find the world working miraculously for us. We won’t have any negatives to deal with because when we change, everything changes. This is exactly how we heal!
Whenever we are going through a rough patch- whether physically, mentally, spiritually or in the outer reality, we tend to blame something outside of us to have caused it. This blame game is half true. Yes, there must be something outside of you that caught your attention, but think deeply about where it manifested from.
What’s inside manifests outside. So, the thing that you blame as the cause actually came from your own thinking. The moment you recognize this basic truth is when the process of healing starts. Trust me when I say that there is no situation in this universe that cannot be solved.
From physical pain to chronic illnesses, from tainted relationships to career blocks, from self-doubt to financial obstacles- everything can be solved easily with ho’oponopono. All you need to do is express belief in your own power and trust that you can create miracles.
By following the points mentioned above on what to do while practicing ho’oponopono, you can kick-start your healing journey and live a life that you truly deserve- a life that you imagined and brought into existence. You have the power. You just need to add some courage and step up.
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