Mana for the Doctor's Soul

Thanks to cartoonist Leigh Rubin for so whimsically illustrating a common human struggle! "Maintaining Spiritual Balance" can be serious business, but laughter eases the journey. Many hunger for spiritual connection and balance. Some find this through religious activities; others don't. Additional avenues include attending expensive seminars, reading spiritual books, taking online courses, and seeking advice from others who might seem more spiritually advanced than we are. Often, the training seminars come in packages and "levels" -- intimating that the higher the level, the farther along or more enlightened one is. In recent years especially, I've questioned this. It seems our longing for spiritual balance can at times get us very UNbalanced. I'm a veteran of many personal development trainings. My own search for self-understanding, growth, and spiritual communion has led me into all sorts of experiences, including standing atop telephone poles, doing r...

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...

As Mabel Katz often remarks, there are a lot of "weird" things we do in Ho'oponopono . For instance, we say "thank you" when a problem shows up. Is that counter-intuitive or what? We also talk to things: cars, computers, kitchen appliances, houses, sculpting tools, chairs, and more. This sounds extremely odd until you learn that in Ho'oponopono, so- called inanimate objects have three-part identities (subconscious, conscious, and superconscious, all linked to Divinity) just like people do. In fact, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len says there's no such thing as an "inanimate" object. All things have spirit; they can respond to us and how we treat them. Since some of us routinely curse the machines we work with, this talking to things may not really be so alien after all. But what if these "things" can feel when we're disgusted with them, or worse? What if they can also respond when we show them gratitude? Can they learn to do Ho'oponop...

Someone wrote me recently asking whether Ho'oponopono could be helpful in depression . I've been cleaning with this for several weeks. While keeping the writer's confidentiality, I'm moved to share the [slightly abbreviated] note. Perhaps we can all clean with it while reading: "Dear Dr. Pappas, I see you are a psychiatrist who has also learned the art of ho'oponopono . . . I just wondered if you thought that ho'oponopono is able to help people recover from endogenous depression ? As you are the only person I have found who is both a psychiatrist and aware of this hawaiian technique, I just wondered if you practiced ho'oponopono on your clients, or do you mainly practice it on yourself ? If you do not practice it on clients, have you heard (on the ho'oponopono grapevine) so to speak if ho'oponopono is curing people of depression and other serious illnesses. It requires quite a lot of effort to practice this therapy every day and do the cleanin...

"It's important to know that the subconscious -- whether yours or mine or anybody's -- holds all the collective memories of all of creation. So whatever's going on in the cosmos is really going on in you. There is no such thing as outside of you. We have come into this lifetime with all the collective memories of all of creation." ~Ihaleakala Hew Len, PhD I was re-listening to a recorded call with Dr. Hew Len and Mabel Katz today; a caller asked about difficulties with certain others in her life. Dr. Hew Len responded as above. Though I've been working with this concept for many years now (even before meeting Dr. Hew Len), it's still hard for me sometimes. The implications are enormous. So I simply allowed the words to pour over me, reach inside me. And as they did, I felt a deep quiet. The way of Ho'oponopono is to recognize that we truly do share unconscious memories with all of creation, and that these manifest in our lives. People come to us as cu...

Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian method for restoring harmony, solving problems, and releasing stress. Traditionally, extended families used Ho'oponopono to "set things right" when conflict arose.* Moderated by a family elder or Kahuna Lapa'au (healer), this was like a large family conference where all could speak their hearts. But as Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len often mentions, its success required all family members to be present. Depending on the issues involved, the entire process could be lengthy. But the steps would be outlined for everyone beforehand: they include prayer, stating the problem, discussion, confession of wrongdoing, restitution when needed, forgiveness, and release. The Ho'oponopono began with a "pule" (prayer) asking God to help and bless the proceedings. The family and leader together would seek out the cause of the problem or conflict, which might be very complex. The leader focused the conversation, exploring these hurts so t...

A fellow physician wrote in on a Ho'oponopono message board recently, commenting that patients never seen before were showing up in need of emergency treatment. S/he wondered how s/he could possibly be responsible for all this, since it seemed to be happening outside of his/her influence? Moreover, how could s/he shift these emergent situations into healing ones? I empathize, for sure. Daily medical work draws all kinds of people with all kinds of scary situations to us in our offices, clinics, hospitals, and emergency rooms. How can Ho'oponopono help with things like this, or even with something as big as health care reform? I surely don't have all the answers, but I cleaned with the questions. Something is going on in me that my colleague has this pain, and these questions. Then I responded on the same message board. After a little editing, I thought to share this here as well: Dear Dr. X, Your questions are good ones, and are reasonable for anyone who wants to see in t...