Ho’oponopono Technique – 4 Powerful Steps to Self-Love and Forgiveness
Ho’oponopono Meaning
Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian forgiveness and healing technique. The basic principle of Ho’oponopono is to forgive others (or yourself) for any wrongs that have been done, as well as to cleanse and release any negative energy or emotions that have built up. This can be done by repeating the mantra “I’m sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you.”
The practice of Ho’oponopono is said to help heal relationships, release negative emotions and thoughts, and connect with the divine. Some people also believe that it can help clear blocks in the energy field and remove harmful spirits or entities.
The Hawaiian word translates into English simply as correction, with the synonyms manage or supervise, and the antonym careless. Similar forgiveness practices are performed on islands throughout the South Pacific, including Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti and New Zealand.
The ancient Hawaiian practice of hoʻoponopono has been gaining popularity in recent years as a way to resolve personal and interpersonal conflicts. Though the details of the practice vary, the basic premise is that by confessing one’s wrongs, making amends where possible, and seeking forgiveness from all involved parties, resolution and healing can be brought about. While there are no guarantees that hoʻoponopono will work for everyone in every situation, it offers a unique and powerful approach to conflict resolution that is worth exploring.
Traditional Hoʻoponopono is practiced by Indigenous Hawaiian healers, often within the extended family by a family member. The modern practice of Hoʻoponopono, as taught by Dr. Hew Len, is a simple four-step process that can be used to clear emotional and mental blocks from the past. It can be practiced by anyone, regardless of their spiritual or religious beliefs. If you’re interested in giving it a try, we’ve included a link to a free online course below. In this course, you will learn how to apply the principles of Hoʻoponopono to your own life and start clearing away the emotional baggage that’s been holding you back.
How to Practice Hawaiian Forgiveness Technique
The four steps of Ho’oponopono are repentance, forgiveness, gratitude and love. While the order is not as important, it is vital that all four principles be enacted for maximal healing power. These forces have the ability to heal relationships, situations and even entire countries.
If you’re looking to try an easy, four-step process that could have a profound effect on your life, Ho’oponopono may be just what you need. Give it a try and see how it works for you!
How to Practice Ho’oponopono in 4 Simple Steps
Step 1 – I’m Sorry
REPENTANCE. The practice of Ho’oponopono is simple, but it’s not always easy. Saying “I’m sorry” may be the first step on your road to recovery, but you have to be willing to keep repeating those words until you start to see real change in your life. It won’t be easy, and it will take time, but if you are serious about taking responsibility for your life, then Ho’oponopono can offer you a path to healing.
Step 2 – Please Forgive Me
FORGIVENESS. The ancient Hawaiian healing practice of ho’oponopono is all about asking for forgiveness. This may seem like a strange way to increase your sales, but bear with me. The basic premise is that if you sincerely apologize and ask for forgiveness, the person or situation you harmed will be healed. You can use this same philosophy to heal your relationship with yourself. Repeat the words “Please forgive me” over and over until you feel a sense of peace. It may take some time, but eventually the negative feelings associated with whatever it is you’re apologizing for will dissipate.
Step3 – Thank You
GRATITUDE. The practice of gratitude is a powerful way to shift your focus and open yourself up to receive more good in your life. By taking a few minutes each day to express thanks for all that you have, you’re training your mind to look for the good in every situation. And by thanking Source, the Universe or your Higher Self for all the blessings in your life, you’re creating an ongoing flow of love and abundance. We encourage you to try saying “Thank You” throughout the day, especially when things are tough.
Step 4 – I Love You
LOVE. Love is the most powerful force in the Universe. When we bless everything around us with the power of love, it transforms our lives and the world around us. The ancient Hawaiian practice of Ho’oponopono can help us to connect with that love and heal any situation or relationship that may be causing us pain. Give it a try and see how love can change your life for the better. Bless everything around you with the power of Love. Practice Ho’oponopono and watch miracles happen in your life!
The Ho’oponopono Prayer
I’m Sorry
Please Forgive Me
Thank You
I love You
Ho’oponopono Meaning and Full Definition
“Hoʻoponopono” is defined in the Hawaiian Dictionary as:
(a) “To put to rights; to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up make orderly or neat, administer, superintend, supervise, manage, edit, work carefully or neatly; to make ready, as canoemen preparing to catch a wave.”
(b) “Mental cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were set right (hoʻoponopono) 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.
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.”
What Does Ho’oponopono, the Hawai’ian Phrase, Mean?
Kumu Sabra Kauka is urging people to start with themselves and forgive. “We have to start with ourselves, because if we don’t have that love for self, then how can we share it with other people?” She stresses the importance of Ho’oponopono as a communication tool for reconciliation in these trying times. We would all do well to remember her words and try this ancient practice in our own lives.
As we enter a time of great global challenge, it is important that we remember the ancient wisdom teachings like ho’oponopono that can help to restore balance within ourselves and our relationships. If we all learn how to implement this simple healing practice in our lives, perhaps we can start to see real change not just within ourselves, but also in the world around us.
It is our hope that you feel inspired to learn more about ho’oponopono and how you can apply its teachings in your own life. We believe wholeheartedly in the potential for human beings to come together and heal one another through love, compassion and forgiveness. Please share this article with your friends and followers, so that we may all continue to spread the message of ho’oponopono far and wide.
Traditional practice
Hawaiian scholar Nana Veary in her ho’oponopono book, Change We Must: My Spiritual Journey wrote that ho’oponopono was a practice in Ancient Hawaii and this is supported by oral histories from contemporary Hawaiian elders. Pukui first recorded her experiences and observations from her childhood (born 1895) in her 1958 book.
Freedom from karma
The site of the partially restored remains of the village of Koaiʻe in the Lapakahi State Historical Park of the island of Hawaii, North Kohala district. Beginning in the early 20th century, this village has been a center for lapaʻau
In 1976 Morrnah Simeona, regarded as a healing priest or kahuna lapaʻau, adapted the traditional hoʻoponopono of family mutual forgiveness to the social realities of the modern day. For this she extended it both to a general problem solving process outside the family and to a psycho-spiritual self-help rather than group process.
As the Law of Cause and Effect predominates in all of life and lifetimes, the purpose of her version is mainly “to release unhappy, negative experiences in past reincarnations, and to resolve and remove traumas from the ‘memory banks’.”
Self-Responsibility
We are responsible for everything in our life. This may be daunting at first, but by accepting this responsibility we empower ourselves to change our past and future. We can create the life we want by understanding how our thoughts and actions shape our reality.
As we become more responsible for our thoughts and actions, the inner peace that comes with it creates a space of freedom in which old hurts and memories can be healed. We no longer have to identify with them or carry their weight. This allows us to show up more authentically in the world and create real change from a place of love rather than fear.
The Original Ho’oponopono Prayer
Divine Creator: Father, Mother, Son as One:
If I (we),________________, my (our) families, relatives and ancestors have offended you, ___________________, your families, relative and ancestors in thoughts, words and actions from the beginning of our creation to the present.
Humbly, humbly I (we) ask you (all) for forgiveness for all my (our) errors, resentments, guilts, hatred, hurts, trauma or pain, offenses, blocks, etc., which ( (we) have created and accumulated from the beginning to the present.
Please Forgive Me!.
(Response) Yes, _________________ I (we) forgive you!
Let this water cleanse, purify and release me (us), offender and offended from spiritual, mental, material, financial and karmic bondage.
Pull out from our Memory Bank or Computer All the Unwanted Negative Memories and Blocks that attach, knot, tie and bind us together.
Sever, detach, unite and release these unwanted memories and blocks.
Transmute these unwanted energies to “Pure Light”!
Fill the spaces those energies occupied with Divine Light.
Let “Divine Order,” Light, Love, Peace, Balance, Understanding, Joy, Wisdom and Abundance be made manifest for us through the Divine Power of the Divine Father, Creator of all life, Mother, Son as ONE, in whom we abide, rest, and have our being… Now and Forever More, Amen.
Ho’oponopono & Aloha Spirit – AUNTY MAHEALANI
Lilou Mace Interview with Mahealani Kuamo’o-Henry
Mahealani Kuamo’o-Henry, Kumu ‘Elele o Na Kupuna …is a kanaka maoli-native Hawaiian Aunty and Kumu from Puna, on the Big Island of Hawaii. Aunty is a teacher-messenger for the spiritual voices of the ancestors within the strong lineage of na Kumu, Kahu, & Kahuna (teachers, guardians, priests, priestess/ advisors and healers) under the leadership of her ancestral Kupuna-Kane (grandfather), named Kaiwikuamo’o kekuaokalani.”
This translates as the “backbone strength of the heavenly chiefs.”.
Ho’opono Pono Ke Ala, is the belief system and method for “making right more right, the path.”
Many are surprised to learn about this form of Ho’opono pono rooted in the Aloha Spirit rather than of the Christian and Western adaptation for “conflict resolutions.”
The practice of Ho’opono Pono Ke Ala is an ancient one that can help us to move forward in our lives with a sense of self-acceptance and self-love. By forgiving ourselves for our mistakes and by recognizing our own greatness, we can find peace and happiness within ourselves.
It is the ancient knowing that you are obviously the best “you” ever, there are no duplicates, you’re It, the original YOU; the god-goddess makes no mistakes! http://alohaspiritaunty.com/
See: Gregg Braden Wisdom Codes; How Your Words Create Reality
State of Zero
After Simeona’s death in 1992, her former student and administrator, Ihaleakala Hew Len, co-authored a Ho’oponopono book with Joe Vitale called Zero Limits referring to Simeona’s Hoʻoponopono teachings. Len makes no claim to be a kahuna.
In contrast to Simeona’s teachings, the book brings the new idea that the main objective of Hoʻoponopono is getting to the “zero state — it’s where we have zero limits. No memories. No identity. ” To reach this state, which Len called ‘Self-I-Dentity thru Ho’oponopono’, includes using the mantra, “I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” It is based on Len’s idea of 100% responsibility.
Interview of Dr Hew Len with Rita Montgomery and Dr Rick Moss.
To live a life of true responsibility would be to shoulder the burden of all that we experience. It is an immense weight, and one that most of us are unwilling to bear. But it is also a freeing realization- once we take on the responsibility for everything in our lives, we no longer have anything to blame but ourselves. And from that place, real change can begin.
The challenge is to take responsibility for our thoughts, words and deeds so that we can create the world we want to see. When we do this, not only do we change our own lives, but also the lives of everyone around us. We are all interconnected and what we do affects everyone and everything. It’s time for each of us to take responsibility for ourselves and our world. What will you do today to create a better tomorrow?
Ho’oponopono Prayer- How to Use The Hawaian Prayer
Total Responsibility, according to Hew Len, advocates that everything exists as a projection from inside the human being. Another source of actively working Ho’oponopono is the book of haiku poems, Ho’oponopono Haiku.
Tools as such are created by Ho’oponopono Practitioners from their journeys and experiences to zero state. You can repeat the Ho’oponopono Mantra on your own or you can listen to a guided meditation as the one below.
The tools and resources that are available to us as Ho’oponopono Practitioners allow us to work on our personal issues so that we can clear them and offer relief to those who come to us for help. As we continue our journey, we learn more about ourselves and the healing process.
Ho’oponopono Guided Meditation for Self love & Radical Forgiveness
Listen to this Ho’oponopono meditation, it is one of the best Ho’oponopono guideed meditations on YouTube/
Ho’oponopono Research
Dr. Matthew B. James, MA, Ph.D., president of Kona University conducted a study and included a test group (a group who experienced ho‘oponopono) and a control group (the group who did not experience the process).
The study found that unforgiveness creates an energetic blockage in the body, which can have a negative impact on physical and emotional health. In the test group who experienced ho‘oponopono, there was a significant decrease in unforgiveness when compared to the control group.
This suggests that if you are struggling with forgiveness (whether it is for yourself or others), ho‘oponopono may be able to help you release those blocks and improve your physical and emotional health as a result. If you would like to try out this process for yourself, Dr. Matthew B. James has written an easy-to-follow guide called The Foundation of Huna: Ancient Wisdom for Modern Times, which details forgiveness and meditation techniques used in Hawaii for hundreds of years.
“Participants were surveyed on their feelings before using the process, immediately after, and two weeks later, then their answers were compared with those of the control group. Simply put, the research showed that the group who practiced ho‘oponopono experienced a statistically significant reduction in unforgiveness compared to the group who did not.”
Matthew B. James, MA, Ph.D., is president of Kona University and its training and seminar division The Empowerment Partnership, where he serves as a master trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), a practical behavioral technology for helping people achieve their desired results in life.
Top 10 Bestselling Ho’oponopono books on Amazon
References
Buck, Peter Te Rangi Hiroa, The Coming of the Maori, Wellington, Whitcombe and Tombs (1950)
Chai, Makana Risser, Na Moʻolelo Lomilomi: The Traditions of Hawaiian Massage & Healing, Bishop Museum Press (2005) ISBN 978-1-58178-046-8
Handy, E.S.Craighill Polynesian Religion, Kraus Reprint & Periodicals (1971)
Kamakau, Samuel, Ka Poʻe Kahiko (The People of Old), Bishop Museum Press (1992)
Lee, Pali Jae, Ho’opono, I M Publishing (2008)
Malo, Davida, (Chun, trans) Ka Moʻolelo Hawaii: Hawaiian Traditions, First Peoples Productions
Oliver, Douglas, Polynesia in Early Historic Times, Bess Press (2002) ISBN 978-1-57306-125-4
Parsons, Claire F., Healing Practices in the South Pacific, Institute for Polynesian Studies (1995) ISBN 978-0-939154-56-2
Pukui, Mary Kawena and Elbert, Samuel H., University of Hawaii (1986) ISBN 978-0-8248-0703-0
Shook, Victoria E. Hoʻoponopono: Contemporary Uses of a Hawaiian Problem Solving Process, University of Hawaii Press (1986) ISBN 978-0-8248-1047-4
Simeona, Morrnah, Self-Identity through Hoʻoponopono, Basic 1, Pacifica Seminars (1990)
Steuterman, Kim Rogers, “Sacred Harmony”, Hawaii Magazine (Jan/Feb 2004)
Titcomb (1948) “Kava in Hawaii”, Journal of the Polynesian Society, 57:105–71, 144
Vitale, Joe, Hew Len Ph.D., Zero Limits, Wiley (2007)
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Last Updated on February 6, 2024
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