Mana for the Doctor's Soul

I'm still sifting through my recent experiences with the Hawaiian kahunas (mentioned in my last post). The benefits were plenty while there, but have increased since my return home. One of these I'll share is the Lesson of the Pipe Wrench. It may sound a little strange, but please bear with me. In addition to being trained since childhood in kahuna ways, Mel Ha'Makua Mason has several other businesses. One day, he had just finished a plumbing job before coming to our small group to teach. He looked around the room at us, and brought out his tool box. It looked ordinary enough . . . and contained no plant roots or other magical concoctions. Each of us was to silently choose a tool. I asked him what the task was? How could I choose without knowing this? He shook his head and told me to choose anyway. I picked the hammer because it could both dismantle old things, and help build new ones. Several other people liked that tool also. He went around the room listening to...

I've been in Hawai'i for the past couple of weeks, gifted with an opportunity to learn from some very wise and articulate kahunas on the Big Island. How rare to spend time with people whose every breath is Ho'oponopono , in a land known as "the Breath and the Water of the Divinity." * My journey overlapped with many, many humpback whales visiting from Alaska. They migrate to Hawaiian waters every year to have their babies, sing, and mate. You really can hear their songs even outside the water . . . and it is an amazing experience also to hear them breathe and see them spout. Not to mention leaping out of the water -- all 80,000 pounds' worth! Even with all their activities, they don't eat while in Hawaii from late November through spring -- they only do that in Alaskan waters. Sometimes the nursing females are skin and bones by the time they migrate back north; baby humpback whales can drink 150 gallons of milk a day. Pretty hefty appetites, yes? Som...

Creatures have volumes to teach us, if only we allow it. Inspiration seems to speak through them -- but not in words. A dear colleague, Dr. Lucinda Sykes in Toronto , responded to my story about the roadrunner roosting serenely on my patio through last week's storms. Besides being an excellent physician, Dr. Sykes is also a long-time meditator and yoga practitioner. She's truly found her calling: she teaches patients to maintain calm awareness through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction . Doctors refer patients with all kinds of anxiety, pain, and suffering to her classes -- and they get good results. She's also attended some Ho'oponopono trainings with me, and loves God's critters as much as I do. My roadrunner friend reminded her of something. So she sent me this poem, which she'd received at a meditation retreat: THE LITTLE DUCK by Donald C. Babcock Now we are ready to look at something pretty special. It is a duck riding the ocean a hundred feet beyond the ...

We've had some vicious storms here in Arizona the last few days -- high winds, damaged homes, flooding, road closures, large event tents sailing away and landing on freeways, and some drownings. Not to mention all the snow in Flagstaff and Sedona. It's nowhere near the suffering in Haiti, but enough to get people's attention. In the midst of it all, a little bird taught me some Ho'oponopono . During the swirling rain and winds the other night, I went outside to wrestle with my dancing patio furniture. It needed a safer place, closer to the house. While out there, I happened to look up at the patio light . . . . where perched in all its fine fluffery and gawky-long tail was my friend, the Roadrunner. S/he (I don't know which) visits often, but usually flies away when I come out. This time s/he looked as if sitting on a nest -- which are usually made of sticks and such in a tree or shrub. Sometimes they even include worn-out rattlesnake skins. If s/he had made ...

"Humans suffer," reads a Ho'oponopono newsletter posting from Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len a few months ago. He continues: "They experience problems in the course of their everyday existence. These problems and suffering are experienced and are caused by memories replaying the past AGAIN in the computer of mind, the subconscious!" Is this suffering so many of us go through, really necessary? Can it be interrupted, even relieved? Pain and suffering, after all, are not the same. All of us experience pain at times -- think toothache, appendicitis, loved ones leaving or dying, etc. But suffering complicates this, and can last a lot longer. We suffer when we want what shows up in our lives to be different from what's actually present. Sometimes we even demand this -- which is a common path towards illness in some form. As a psychiatrist and classical homeopath, I work with people to discover their personal requirements for a feeling of "okayness". Some, for...

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 t...

Christmas Eve is my favorite night of the year. It seems all things are possible, and all is well. Hope is present; goodwill glows in our hearts. Even so, some are separated from families and loved ones by geography; some through misunderstanding; and others by choice. This is painful, because we heal and grow through our connections with others. Steeped in relationship, we learn what we need to know. May all who feel estranged, alienated, or lonely find solace in this night. It celebrates when Divinity enfleshed in the form of a tiny child, loved and raised by humble parents doing the best they could. This is what we all seek to do, even as confused and confusing as we might be. On this holy night, I remind us all of Morrnah's Prayer, which has been published on the internet and elsewhere in slightly different forms. Through it, we can re-establish harmony within ourselves, with Divinity, and with others. Thus it can create peace on earth. I feel special need to work with it myse...