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HO'OPONOPONO
by Joe Vitale
"Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii
who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients - without
ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's
chart and then look within himself to see how he created that
person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.
"When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend.
How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could
even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane?
It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the
story.
"However, I heard it again a year later I heard that the therapist
had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'oponopono'. I had
never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the
story was at all true, I had to know more. I had always understood
"total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what
I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that
most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible
for what we do, not what anyone else does - but that's wrong.
"The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would
teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility.
His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking
on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story
of his work as a therapist.
He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years.
That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous. Psychologists
quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply
quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against
the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant
place to live, work, or visit.
"Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an
office and to review their files. While he looked at those files,
he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began
to heal.
"'After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being
allowed to walk freely,' he told me. 'Others who had to be heavily
medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had
no chance of ever being released were being freed.' I was in awe.
'Not only that,' he went on, 'but the staff began to enjoy coming
to work.
Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff
than we needed because patients were being released, and all the
staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed.'
"This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: 'What were
you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?'
"'I was simply healing the part of me that created them,' he said.
I didn't understand. Dr. Len explained that total responsibility
for your life means that everything in your life - simply because
it is in your life - is your responsibility. In a literal sense
the entire world is your creation.
"Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say
or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life
says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take
complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see,
hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility
because it is in your life. This means that terrorist activity,
the president, the economy or anything you experience and don't
like - is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking,
except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them,
it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.
"I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live.
Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with
Dr. Len, I began to realize that healing for him, and in ho 'oponopono,
means loving yourself.
"If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If
you want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal, you do it
by healing you."
I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing,
exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?
"I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over
again" he explained.
"That's it?
"That's it.
"Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself,
and as you improve yourself, you improve your world.
"Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone
sent me an email message that upset me. In the past I would have
handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to
reason with the person who sent the nasty message.
"This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying,
'I'm sorry' and 'I love you,' I didn't say it to anyone in particular.
I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was
creating the outer circumstance.
"Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized
for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward
action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by
saying 'I love you,' I somehow healed within me what was creating
him.
"I later attended a ho'oponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He is
now 70 years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat
reclusive.
He praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve
myself, my book's vibration will rise, and everyone will feel it
when they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.
"'What about the books that are already sold and out there?' I asked.
"'They aren't out there,' he explained, once again blowing my mind
with his mystic wisdom. 'They are still in you.' In short, there
is no out there. It would take a whole book to explain this advanced
technique with the depth it deserves.
"Suffice It to say that whenever you want to improve anything in
your life, there's only one place to look: inside you. When you
look, do it with love."
Dr. Joe Vitale is the author of way too many books to list here.
His latest title is "The Attractor Factor: 5 Easy Steps for Creating
Wealth (or anything else) From the Inside Out." Register for his
monthly complimentary ezine at http://www.mrfire.com/
What an incredible story. I found this so
exciting that I started searching the web to find out more about
this healing method. What I found is so cool. For the price of $9.95
you can download an mp3 produced by Joe Vitale and Pat O'Bryan.
It is about 12 minutes long and repeats the phases I love you, I'm
sorry, and thank you. There is also music in the background. This
is something that you can have playing in the background while you're
working, studying, playing on the computer, etc. It's not something
that you need to meditate with but you could. It produces a very
calming effect.
Here's
the location to get the mp3
Bonus Section
Here's a powerful audio presentations by Dr. Len:
Part
1
Part
2
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