Mana for the Doctor's Soul

"Forgiveness is the cash you need. All the other kinds of silver really buy just strange things. Everything has its music. Everything has genes of God inside. But learn from those courageous addicted lovers of glands and opium and gold -- Look, they cannot jump high or laugh long when they are whirling. And the moon and the stars become sad when their tender light is used for night wars. Forgiveness is part of the treasure you need to craft your falcon wings And return to your true realm of Divine freedom." ~ Hafiz , in The Subject Tonight is Love, translated by Daniel Ladinsky Certain themes show up in cultures the world over. I love this poem from Hafiz , a 14th century Persian mystic whose work certainly predates what I have learned so far of Ho'oponopono , the Hawaiian method for making things right. It also seems fitting during a time of year when the conflict between commercialism and spirit can be so fevered. Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len says that Ho'oponopono cleani...

A new year is always a chance to start anew, releasing what no longer fits. Some of this could be grudges and hurts held for years. You know the ones: she said this to me; he didn't do that; I got passed over for a promotion; my spouse left me . . . and on and on. Sometimes we simply aren't speaking to someone, and we can't even remember the original insult because it happened so long ago. Perhaps the length of passing time makes it feel too embarrassing to break silence -- after all, how could we explain that we've been stewing in resentment all this time? We might continue the glacial freeze rather than lose face. One of the most painful situations can be when we've sincerely apologized to someone for a hurt we've caused, but they continue the silence anyway. Then we're left with both guilt from our earlier transgression as well as feeling rejected anew. Oh, we can really get embroiled in our woundings. Sometimes we can become so aligned with having been ...

Certain words -- or lack of them -- can profoundly affect our lives. Three in particular, "I am sorry", are huge even though very short. T hey can make the difference between estrangement and healing in relationships. And yet many people resist saying these words, which are part of the Ho'oponopono process. Some say they fear opening the door to undeserved guilt and recriminations, or resent the implication that they could have made an error. Maybe in the given circumstance they are "right", but there is always a cost. There are many other reasons these three words are difficult for many. This week's issue of Newsweek magazine carries a wonderful "My Turn" story by Janice Wilberg, showing the results of "I am sorry" in her life. The Power Of ‘I Am Sorry’ by Janice Wilberg After years of silence between my parents and me, my father reached out with a few simple words. When I was growing up, my family had its own way of dealing with disa...

A friend and colleague, Lucinda Sykes MD in Toronto , sent me a beautiful story the other day about a diver's encounter with a manta ray off the coast of Maui . In it, the author (Jennifer Anderson) is able to free the ray of fishing hooks and line wrapped around and embedded in its body . . . not unlike we humans can be entangled and dragging painful things along in our lives. Dr. Sykes is a Jungian therapist and meditation teacher whose Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction classes train people to be present to their moment-to-moment lives. Through this they can free themselves of chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia, stress, and many other conditions. It's no accident Dr. Sykes would notice such a story in the world and share it with me. It originally comes from the book: Chicken Soup for the Ocean Lover's Soul . I offer it to you in the ho'oponopono spirit of "cleaning" and being free. This Magic Moment by Jennifer Anderson It was like many Maui mornings, the sun...

I've just returned from a workshop with several other doctors, discussing how to modulate the stress in our own lives and teach others to do the same. Our perfectionistic personalities make us ripe for overwork, guilt when things go wrong, shame when we make mistakes, and anger when we can't control outcomes. Through both lectures and exercises, Lee Lipsenthal MD of Finding Balance Productions helped us see ourselves . . . and the view was not always pretty. Much of Dr. Lipsenthal's teaching involved ways of dealing with our own reactions, and how to keep what's important central in our lives and hearts. In fact, many of the exercises focused on heart-based breathing and meditations. I thought about how my personal practice of ho'oponopono fits into these ideas. It's a moment-to-moment working relationship between all parts of me and Divinity within, leading to forgiveness and peace. And, it's definitely heart-based. The process involves noticing whatever...