Mana for the Doctor's Soul

For the next several days, I'm in Vancouver BC studying classical homeopathy with Dr. Rajan Sankaran and other colleagues from all over the world. Practicing in Mumbai, India for almost 30 years now, he is well-known for being a keen observer, original thinker, and dedicated physician. Dr. Sankaran's work has significantly deepened our case-taking in classical homeopathy, and our understanding of the medicines we use. His efforts have given us a more reliable system for tracing our patients' suffering down to its core. He argues for eliminating theory about patients, in favor of listening to them. If we do this, they show us directly what's out of balance and what can help. What's more, Dr. Sankaran's video cases illustrate that we are complete beings whose parts are all connected (holism) -- even when we're ill. This is his method of teaching: direct from the patients themselves. And all this makes for much better treatment results. Why mention this in a...

One question people frequently ask at Ho'oponopono live seminars and teleconference calls is whether or not it "works". By this, they generally mean "If I do this process, will I get what I want?" Tracey in Canada has even created a blog about this, called "Ho'oponopono Works" . There, she shares aspects of her life and Ho'oponopono's effects on herself and her family. Mabel Katz , Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len , and Kamaile (who also trained with Morrnah and has been practicing Ho'oponopono for ~38 years) often say that you don't know what you're cleaning when you're doing it. To a scientist then, it's hard to say whether it "works" or not. In the midst of tragedy, I've received an answer. For many months, I prepared to give a talk on Homeopathy and Psychiatry at a conference in another city. This required over 100 hours of research, distilling, and organizing so that the audience would receive good information...

Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len reminded me recently that his teacher Morrnah Simeona , the kahuna who updated the ancient Hawaiian problem-solving practice of ho'oponopono, kept a sign upon her desk. "Peace Begins with Me," it said. People came to Morrnah from all over for various kinds of healing, especially spiritual; she was also expert in massage. She was apparently very relaxed about all this, and was even known to fall asleep during training seminars. She went about her business, practicing the inner peace conveyed by her desk sign. She also got results. This kind of calmness sometimes eludes me. People come to doctors hoping for some kind of relief. So I get anxious when they're suffering; I feel both their pain and and the need to relieve it. Morrnah probably cared a great deal for others, or she wouldn't have made herself available to them. But she also taught that getting too wound up in others' pain makes one useless as a healer. In my own case, the danger ...

"We don't see people as they actually are. We see our reactions to them." ~ Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len Most of the time I am not seeing clearly. This is one of the most life-changing realizations Self-Identity through Ho'oponopono brings home to me. When I look at others, what am I seeing? According to Dr. Hew Len, mostly my own dusty memories. And those often distort and complicate things. Dr. Hew Len echoes one of my classical homeopathy teachers, Dr. Rajan Sankaran of Mumbai India, when he reminds us that there is no "out there" at all. Please understand: getting this has bugged me. I'm a psychiatrist, trained to value my observational abilities. The conventional psychiatry paradigm includes a distinct "I" who objectively views people and events "outside" of me. And then I classify my observations through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM IV-TR). Neat. Simple. Often wrong, even among other psychiatrists. Always wrong, accord...