Ho'oponopono and the HeartMind: Synchronization Supreme

Welcome to a brand new year, with more opportunities for Ho'oponopono cleaning! They're here in every moment.

Today I listened to a conference call with Paul Bauer, Susan Castle, and Keahi Kawehi Hanakahi, a kahuna on the Big Island of Hawaii. I've known Paul and Susan since 2001, when I first journeyed with them to Kealakekua Bay. Our friendship has grown since that time. In the past year they met Keahi, an amazing and heartful man who speaks from inspiration.

Much of the call focused on a planetary shift from mind to heart consciousness, where centering in one's heart opens the door to all possibilities. In Ho'oponopono, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len speaks of being "pure in heart", and acknowledging that our conscious minds know nothing. In Ho'oponopono, the function of our conscious mind is not to think, but to choose whether to clean or remain stuck in memory.

"I never trust my mind fully," said Keahi, "because it was never meant to be trusted. With your mind, you can never let go of the leash -- the dog [mind] will always jump on someone and then there is trouble. I know what dogs do . . . once I let them go, they jump and bite people. And I think, 'I'm in the middle of something now.'"

Intellectual people (like me) might find these notions disconcerting. After all, we've been raised to value our thinking capacities, command of data, and ability to solve problems. But consider how many opinions, judgments, and assumptions our minds bring with them. Most of these are unconscious, making automatic decisions for us before we even have a chance to "think" consciously about what's present.

Dr. Hew Len has often mentioned the same thing, citing Tor Norretander's book, The User Illusion as he does. If any of us thinks we're really "in charge", reading that book sets us straight!

Unless we carefully observe and train our minds, unconsciously held information runs us and makes our decisions. Our minds are simply carrying out their jobs of protecting us from harm. But in doing that, they flag anything new or unfamiliar as possibly dangerous, and to be defended against. In this way, our very perceptions are limited or distorted -- and we don't even realize it.

How many troubled relationships have you observed, for instance, where the people involved see their conflicts in completely opposite ways? Also, how many times have you noticed they're unwilling to budge from their own points of view?

As a psychiatrist, I see this plenty . . . often in my own family. :-)

According to Ho'oponopono, all this trouble results from data or memories accumulated not only in this life, but through generations of our ancestors -- all the way back to single-celled origins and beyond. Morrnah Simeona once asked a particularly rigid seminar participant, "Did you know that you were once a seaweed?"

I don't know how he reacted, but it brings the concept home!

Ho'oponopono aims to help us release these unconscious memories that cloud reality . . . by asking Divinity's help. If we do this, Divine Inspiration can reach us. If not, it's blocked. Dr. Hew Len tells us that there are only 2 kinds of information in the world: accumulated memories, and Divine Inspiration. Which would we prefer be in charge?

"Judgment keeps us stuck," commented Susan. "When we're in judgment, we're living a memory. Inspiration can't come through, and there can be no pure, new creation."

None of this is to devalue the mind, Paul reminded us. Instead, it's to point out that the mind can be a strong and helpful servant, but a very prejudicial master. Our culture has perhaps over-valued it at the expense of the heart.

Paul also spoke briefly about the Chinese Medicine concept of "Xin", or "Heart-Mind". There, the two are not separate entities as they seem to be in western culture. Instead, they're a jointly functioning unit that, when well-aligned, allows us to live our lives in health and joy.

Echoing this, Ho'oponopono posits the need for solid alignment of all parts of the self, but especially between the Conscious Mind ("Uhane", or Mother) and the Subconscious Mind ("Unihipili", or Inner Child). Without this, chaos and suffering reign.

Heart consciousness -- awareness of what we're experiencing at the heart, body, mind, and even spirit level -- is indeed a whole other realm of possibility. It's also central to Hawaiian healing and manifesting.

For scientific information about heart consciousness, the Institute of HeartMath is a good place to start. Many people think the seat of conscious awareness is in the brain alone. But recent research suggests that consciousness actually arises from the brain and body acting together, with the heart carrying a particularly significant role.

The heart's nervous system (the "heart brain") enables it to learn, remember, and make functional decisions independent of the brain's cerebral cortex. But this extensive neural network isn't the only communication pathway linking the heart with the brain and rest of the body. The heart also communicates through electromagnetic field interactions -- and through all of these ways, it influences the function of higher brain centers involved in perception, cognition, and emotional processing.

Interestingly, the electrical component of the heart's field is ~60 times greater than the brain's. Also, the heart's magnetic field is ~5000 times stronger than the brain's -- and can be detected several feet away from the body by sensitive magnetometers.

Institute of HeartMath researchers propose that the heart's field "acts as a carrier wave for information that provides a global synchronizing signal for the entire body."

In other words, this is VERY powerful. What happens if it's immersed in disturbing memories and trauma, rather than synchronous waves of peace? hmmmmm . . . .

And if I were a Hawaiian kahuna wanting to synchronize myself in my life and work, what would I want to tune into? The Mind Channel alone, or the more powerful Heart one? hmmmmmm . . . .

When practicing Ho'oponopono, I've often noticed a sensation of warmth and relaxation centering in my heart area, and spreading throughout the rest of me. There is peace in my mind as well. In fact, my usual mind-chatter slows down greatly . . . sometimes to complete silence. What a blessed relief! I have never (yet) checked my HeartMath data while doing Ho'oponopono, but I bet there would be a lot of coherence showing up.

Interested in learning more about this crossover between heart consciousness and Hawaiian healing? Susan, Paul, and Keahi will be hosting a retreat on the Big Island in a few weeks, titled "The Ancient Secrets of Hawaiian Manafesting Retreat Seminar." They'll help participants learn to access their hearts' wisdom, trust its guidance, and release long-held unconscious blockages. Hawaiian sacred chanting, "talk story", and learning about "mana" and how to "manafest" are also planned.

Even the dolphins and whales will be there. :-)

If you have questions beyond the seminar information they've published so far, you can contact Paul and Susan at 847-520-1983. I'm sure they'll be glad to talk with you.

Peace begins with me,
Pam