Learn the simple and profound ancient Hawaiian practice of forgiveness.
I first learned of this practice a few years ago, when my brother was in a lot of mental and emotional pain. I received some shocking news and had no idea how to help him heal, and I was extremely attached to his pain. I was in Mexico and could not be with him. It just so happened that I was meeting one of my teachers, Leon (who I call Papa Elf), just after I received the news and the wisdom he passed to me greatly helped.
Ho’oponopono is traditionally practiced by Hawaiian healing priests or Kahuna lapa’au. It has been passed down by the elders to generations today and with the emergence of traveling and the internet, is being shared further and we can practice it individually.
The below is taken from the wikipedia description:
“Hoʻoponopono” is defined in the Hawaiian Dictionary[11] as “mental cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were set right through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, and mutual restitution and forgiveness.” Literally, hoʻo is a particle used to make an actualizing verb from the following noun, as would “to” before a noun in English. Here, it creates a verb from the noun pono, which is defined as
…goodness, uprightness, morality, moral qualities, correct or proper procedure, excellence, well-being, prosperity, welfare, benefit, true condition or nature, duty; moral, fitting, proper, righteous, right, upright, just, virtuous, fair, beneficial, successful, in perfect order, accurate, correct, eased, relieved; should, ought, must, necessary.
Ponopono is defined as “to put to rights; to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up, make orderly or neat”.
- Ho’oponopono –
I’m Sorry
Please Forgive Me
I Love You
Thank You
Very simple words. Traditionally it is used with family members, but as you realise that the whole world is your family, it is beneficial in all kinds of relationships. Just repeating the energy of the words and directing them at a person, shifts something energetically and lifts the vibration.
I said the words out loud or to myself a lot over the coming days and found that something not only in my brother shifted, but also myself. I became less attached to his pain. For years I had worried too much for my brother. This helped me to detach from his pain and realise that I could not physically help him, only he could help himself; this is always our choice. By saying the words and directly them towards his soul, I could help him shift in a more energetic way. The next time I spoke to my brother, he was better, he was receiving the help he needed and was on the right track.
I forgot about Ho’oponopono until I recently attended a Native American sweat lodge for the blood moon eclipse. Our teacher spoke a lot of Ho’oponopono in terms of directing it at the individual and the collective.
With all the pain in the world, sometimes we feel helpless to do anything, but if we focused our heart, mind and intention on acceptance, love, forgiveness and gratitude, and surrendered our attachment to the problem, something magical could happen.
If you, a friend or loved one is having problems, or if you wish to send healing to a collective, try Ho’oponopono and see what can happen.
This post was written by Kim Booth