Ho'oponopono: Simplicity Accepts Us All

"I wish I could make it more complicated for you,

but I really cannot." ~Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len

I've often heard Dr. Hew Len say this to people, both in person and on teleseminar calls. A combination of laughter followed by silence usually results.

Many of us just can't fathom how saying "I love you" or mentally thinking a so-called cleaning tool such as "ice blue" can do anything in the outer world of effects.

Perhaps that is precisely the point -- it is beyond our human abilities to fathom.

Indeed, one of the things many like about Ho'oponopono is its simplicity. It excludes no one, requires no particular dogma, and can be practiced in all situations. Health issues, family discord, financial challenges, and career or life purpose dilemmas are only a few possible applications.

Soon after meeting Dr. Hew Len, I asked him about additional training beyond "Basic" Ho'oponopono. How he had developed his own understanding of it, over so many years? He worked with Morrnah Simeona from the early 1980's until her death in 1992, accompanying her during consultations and teaching. "She never said much," he commented. "There were some basics, but that's about it."

I can imagine that simply being around Morrnah might have provided countless lessons, even if not offered like a "class". "Whenever there was a problem, Morrnah would always say, 'Look at yourself,' Dr. Hew Len told me.

We are so well-trained to look for external causes of our problems, I personally know that incorporating this idea takes awhile!

In previous years there have been "advanced" Ho'oponopono classes, but these have not been offered for the last several years. Mabel Katz told me that Self-Identity Through Ho'oponopono has evolved; much of what used to be presented in the "advanced" classes is now shared in the "basic" one.

This probably confuses people who are used to multiple "levels" in spiritual and healing paths -- Reiki, Universal White Time Healing, and Healing Touch all provide examples.

But when you consider more deeply, the focus of these others is greatly on what you do "to" others (your clients, for instance). This may come through certain kinds of touch, meditations, use of mental symbols, or other aspects taught in classes. Clients come to the practitioner for some kind of "healing", and the practitioner offers his/her expertise.

Ho'oponopono is not like this at all. Instead it focuses on working with our own problematic memories rather than on doing something to, or "healing," others. It helps us find answers within ourselves. There may be positive ripples for those around us when we work in this way, though.

Through a combination of talks, experiential activities, and question-and-answer periods, the Basic Ho'oponopono training seminar answers several important questions:

• Who am I?
• What is a problem?
• Where is the problem?
• How can the problem be solved?
• What is the purpose of existence?

As Dr. Hew Len is fond of asking, "Have you noticed that when there is a problem, you are always there?" Ho'oponopono posits that we are 100% responsible for all that appears in our lives. The only way to deal with this is to acknowledge it, and ask Divinity for help.

Morrnah once said:

"The main purpose of Ho'oponopono is to discover the Divinity within oneself. The Ho'oponopono is a profound gift which allows one to develop a working relationship with the Divinity within, and learn to ask that in each moment, our errors in thought, word, deed, or action be cleansed. The process is essentially about freedom, complete freedom from the past."

Ho'oponopono is not a system which involves finding yet another guru to follow or worship, or endless "levels" of instruction to complete. It is, however, a process which requires practice, patience, and resolve as we learn to incorporate new attitudes towards ourselves and others.

When our basic response to anything or anyone is "I love you" rather than the abundance of other possibilities, it does change our outlook!

To me this attitude is mirrored also in the words of the Dalai Lama: "There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness."

New "live" Ho'oponopono seminars are being offered all over the country and world -- you can find your closest option by clicking here. Alternatively, Mabel Katz offers her related "Zero Frequency" teleseminars and also Ho'oponopono question and answer sessions.

Ho'oponopono is an inner practice, but connecting with others who are also developing in this way sure helps me keep up with it. I wish I had known Morrnah, but when she was living I probably would not have been prepared to listen. So I am grateful to know Dr. Hew Len, Mabel Katz, Kamaile, and so many others practicing Ho'oponopono. All in its own good time, no doubt.

Peace begins with me,
Pam