HO'OPONOPONO PRAYER

“Ho’oponopono” is a traditional Hawaiian prayer.  It’s a practice of reconciliation and forgiveness that helps  to restore harmony and balance within oneself. Basically, the prayer is a 4-step process:

1. Acknowledging mistakes

2. Expressing remorse

3. Asking forgiveness

4. Offering gratitude

It’s a beautiful teaching about forgiveness, the power of serenity and the intention of making things right for all concerned.

Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, a therapist, lived in Hawaii and was an expert in spiritual practices.  He passed away on January 15, 2022 at the age of 82 leaving the world with the knowledge of the  Ho’oponopono prayer. At one point during his career he was invited to help at the Hawaii State hospital where the insane patients were totally out of control.

There was a dangerous ward in this hospital where they kept criminally insane patients, it was not a safe place to work. Keeping psychologists and other employees on staff proved to be difficult.  The employee turnover was monthly with high levels of calling in sick.  Employees would feel threatened just walking through the ward, keeping their back against the wall for protection. 

Dr. Hew Len agreed to join the hospital faculty and worked there for 3 years.  It was then the hospital closed the ward that kept the criminally insane patients. Why? All patients had been discharged as being healed!

Dr. Hew Len never counselled any of the patients in person.  What he did do was review each of their files, one by one.  He would study a file and then he would work on himself by repeating a mantra over, and over again. With the doctors working on the files, patients were slowly given rights to walk freely, medication was being reduced and eventually the patients were released from the hospital. 

It proved to help with employee retention as well.  The staff began to enjoy working at the hospital, turnover disappeared, and absenteeism reduced dramatically. 

It certainly sounds like a miracle in the making, yes?  Dr. Hew Len explained, “I was simply cleaning the part of me that I shared with them.”

The Ho’oponopono prayer partners with the one-consciousness, meaning everything in our experience is affected by our actions/reactions.  We are responsible for everything we experience!

Dr Hew Len explains, “total responsibility for your life, means that everything in your life, simply because it is in your life, is your responsibility. In a literal sense, the entire world is your creation.”  He believed if one person changes their consciousness, it can change the whole.

So how does this affect us?

We all go about our daily lives and sometimes difficult situations arise.  For example:

• Personality clashes at work

• Problems with family or friends

• Global crisis events

It seems most believe that each of us has no power to change things, but we do!  We actually hold the power deep within ourselves by focusing on ourselves and remaining open to the power of love.

The Ho’oponopono prayer can and will shift our focus to universal love.  It can change things, we can release our frustration and then something will happen to change the situation, eventually.  This is not necessarily an immediate shift.  Patience, faith and trust will bring about change.

The next time you are in a moment of frustration, worrying, angry or feeling like your surroundings are out of control you can try using the Ho’oponopono prayer to shift your focus and lift your spirits. 

By one man using this prayer to heal a whole ward of criminally insane patients, proves there is always something we can do in any situation.  Recognize and accept you are responsible for everything presented in your life; good, bad, or indifferent will give you the power the change things.

As a summary, here is the Ho’oponopono prayer:

I am sorry….

Please forgive me….

Thank you...

I love you….

There are other variations of this prayer, but in my world, these four statements as listed above have helped me countless times.  In fact, you can use this on a daily basis when thinking negative thoughts or presented with stressful problems.

You are always free to rearrange the sentences as you wish, the result will be the same.

Let’s get more detailed about how to use this prayer.  While speaking this prayer, feel your emotions, feel the love and express your genuine intention of asking for help. Example:

I am sorry, I have attracted this situation to me.

Please forgive me for my part in this and help correct the situation.

Thank you for your help and I love you.

It really is this simple! Try it, you might like it.

This blog details my personal healing journal over the past 2+ decades. I am not a medical professional and offer this information freely as personal research only.

Please click here to read my disclaimer.