Today on The Daily Meditation we’re taking a deep dive into Ho’oponopono meditation technique, a method that is beco9ming incredibly popular but which is often misunderstood.
The good news is that when done properly, you’ll find there’s perhaps no better meditation than Ho’oponopono for self healing.
Sadly, from my personal experience in teaching this technique I have found that many people have learned Ho’oponopono incorrectly. Many people think that it is just a prayer that goes, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you”.
In actual fact, the Ho’oponopono prayer is just a simplified version of the proper technique. Traditional Ho’oponopono is much, much deeper.
What Is Ho’oponopono Meditation?
Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice used primarily for forgiveness. At its heart is a four-step process based on Remorse, Forgiveness, Gratitude, and Love. It is believed that through this four-step process we can correct our wrongs. This in turn helps with healing. Why?
Polynesian philosophy states that mind, body, and spirit are one, that our thoughts can have effects on our physical and spiritual health, and that our wrongdoings can cause illness in both mind and body. Thereby, correcting errors in our actions and thoughts can heal us. And I have indeed had success in helping my students to heal by guiding them through Ho’oponopono meditation along with other Huna healing techniques.
Four Steps of Ho’oponopono Technique
There are four key steps to the Ho’oponopono exercise:
Remorse: This is the recognition and acceptance that we have done harm, whether it be to someone else, to an animal, to the world, or even to ourselves. I always reiterate how essential it is to first truly acknowledge our wrongdoings before we can correct them. In this step it is important that we avoid the blame game and truly take accountability for our wrongdoings.
Forgiveness: This is the stage at which we apologize and ask for forgiveness. As you can imagine, this is not always easy, especially in our closest relationships in which we succumb to the blame game “I did this because you did that.” It’s vital that we take ownership of our errors and sincerely apologize for them. In this step we want to assume that our current reality, all of it, is the result of our past thoughts and actions. In this way we take responsibility for our reality.
Gratitude: We must express gratitude both for the person / being we are apologizing to and also express gratitude for any lessons that we have learned from our experience.
Love: We finish by expressing love for the person / being. Thus we have transformed wrongdoing and guilt into love and gratitude.
Beyond the Ho’oponopono Prayer
Today, many people just know about the simple Ho’oponopono prayer, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you”. This is often used as a mantra in meditation. My students are often surprised when I tell them that proper Ho’oponopono is a lot deeper than that.
In the book Change We Must: My Spiritual Journey, Hawaiian scholar Nana Veary states that Ho’oponopono is an ancient practice centered on the idea that breaking spiritual laws (kapu) leads to illness that can only be cured through confession and repentance, usually with the aid of a priest (kahuna). This is usually done as a family. Family members gather together and the wrongdoer(s) admit to their transgressions. This leads to a series of therapy style conversations in which each person releases (kala) each other and cuts off the past (‘oki). The event ends with pani, a ceremony, the eating of limu kala or kala seaweed, and in some areas (mostly Molokai), the giving of a lei made from the fruit of a hala tree.
So where did the prayer come into it?
It wasn’t until the 1970s that the Ho’oponopono prayer that has become so popular today was created. This “prayer” was basically designed by Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona as a way to make Ho’oponopono more accessible to Westerners.
Simeona, a native Hawaiian kahuna (healer / priest), owned health spas on Waikiki Beach in Hawaii. There, she treated many notable individuals including Lyndon B. Johnson, Jackie Kennedy, and Arnold Palmer. However, she noted that most Westerners struggled to connect with some of the more spiritual aspects of Ho’oponopono and also that the notion of extensive family discussions about transgressions were not likely to happen. As such, she decided to create a more individual-focused self-help version of Ho’oponopono, which became the Ho’oponopono prayer “I’m sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you”.
The Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len Myth
I would like to touch on one of the myths surrounding Ho’oponopono. There is a well known story that Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len supposedly cleared out an entire psychiatric ward using the technique. The myth goes that through Len’s peaceful presence and his routine practice or Ho’oponopono at the ward, he was able to cure the patients of all their mental illnesses. However, there is only one testimony from this time, in which a Board-Certified Psychiatrist states that Len’s reports are a lie and that “Anyone who believes that repeating a mantra, no matter how well being it might be, can cure a whole ward full of psychotic criminals lives in Fantasyland”. It’s also quite revealing that Len made these statements while marketing his book. So. Take from that what you will. But also bear in mind, one man’s baseless claims certainly do not undermine an entire people’s spiritual beliefs, and even if Len’s reports are false, there are nevertheless plenty of benefits of Ho’oponopono.
Guided Ho’oponopono Meditation
Script
Welcome to this wonderful Ho’oponopono meditation session. By the end of this, you’re going to feel absolutely wonderful. For now, take a moment to get nice and comfortable, and gently close your eyes. Take a deep breath in through your nose, allowing your breath to go deep down into the abdomen, and gradually exhale back out through the mouth, repeating this process.
All we are doing is calmly observing the subtle flow of the breath through the body, letting go of anything else, and allowing ourselves to enjoy the experience of the present moment as we simply observe the breath. As you continue mindfully breathing, let me briefly introduce our meditation: it is Ho’oponopono, a fabulous meditation for forgiveness and healing. With this meditation, we’re going to transform a cause of sorrow or regret into something much more positive.
For now, just continue to enjoy the experience of breathing as you calmly observe your breath. Take a moment to choose a cause of sorrow that you would like to transform. You are free to choose anything. Perhaps it is something regarding your relationships with another person—something you wish to be forgiven for—or perhaps it is a regret that you have with regards to yourself. For instance, I am choosing to meditate on the sense of guilt that I feel for having lost touch with my fitness practice.
Now, just take a moment to choose a cause of sorrow or guilt that you would like to transform. Label this thing to yourself; simply name what it is that you are seeking forgiveness for and say after me: “I am sorry for [the name of the thing]. I am sorry.”
Now, it’s important that we recognize that whatever it is that has happened, we were responsible for it. Show to yourself how you were responsible for the thing that has happened. Yes, from time to time, depending on the situation, this could be painful, but it is important because when we assume responsibility, we also take control.
Now, repeat after me, with the knowledge that you are responsible: “I am sorry for [the name of the thing]. Please forgive me.”
Be aware of who it is that you’re seeking forgiveness from. Is it another person? Perhaps it is yourself. It could even be someone who has passed, such as a parent whom you feel you have let down. We are acknowledging our responsibility and saying: “I am sorry for [the name of the thing]. Please forgive me.”
With humility, we are asking that person to forgive us. Now, visualize that person—be it yourself or somebody else—extending forgiveness to you. See that person in your mind’s eye forgiving you and smiling reassuringly at you.
Now, let’s repeat up to there, remembering that we are assuming responsibility for all things: “I am sorry for [the name of the thing]. Please forgive me.” Ask with humility and see yourself or that other person forgiving you, then smiling reassuringly at you.
Now, let’s show our gratitude—our gratitude for being forgiven. What a wonderful thing it is to forgive and to be forgiven. Repeat after me: “Thank you for forgiving me.”
Now, our final step is to show love to this person, be it ourselves or somebody else. Visualize sending this person love and them sending it back to you, and say after me: “I love you.”
Now, we are going to go through this a few times, so if it wasn’t quite perfect the first time, do not worry. We’re going to do it again and truly transform that sorrow or remorse into gratitude and love.
So, bringing to mind the thing that we are sorry for, knowing that we are responsible for what has happened, and if you need to, showing yourself why and how you are responsible. Repeat after me: “I am sorry for [the name of the thing]. With humility, please forgive me.”
See yourself or that other person extending forgiveness to you and smiling at you, and repeat after me: “Thank you for your forgiveness.”
Now visualize them sending you love and you sending them love back, and repeat: “I love you.”
This is quite a big process, so let’s take a cleansing breath here. Deep breath in through the nose, and gradually back out through the mouth. And again, in through the nose, and out through the mouth.
Now, let’s do this practice one more time. Bring to mind the thing that you feel remorse about, and repeat after me: “I am sorry for [the name of the thing]. Please forgive me.” See yourself or that other person extending their forgiveness to you, and then smiling at you reassuringly. Repeat after me: “Thank you for forgiving me.”
Feel the love between the two of you and repeat: “I love you.”
And that is our Ho’oponopono meditation. I’d like to explain that you can use this mantra or prayer outside of your formal meditation practice. You can simply say: “I am sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you.” But when you do that, make sure to follow the general steps: be aware of what you are seeking forgiveness for, recognize your responsibility for it, ask for forgiveness with humility, and then show gratitude and love.
And that is our Ho’oponopono meditation.