Ho'oponopono is a word of Hawaiian origin. It means to repair, to correct, to set right. The word points to an ancestral tradition used to resolve the conflicts that arise within a community. Ho'oponopono thus serves to ease tensions and repair the relationships between the members of that community. It helps restore the group's harmony.
How is Ho'oponopono practised?
Ho'oponopono is considered a "Huna", that is, a secret tradition. It was revealed to the general public by a Hawaiian shaman, Morrnah Simeona. She simplified the practice of Ho'oponopono and made it more accessible. It consists of repeating certain words over and over, turning them into a mantra. When you find yourself facing a conflict, when you start to get angry, impatient or carried away, Ho'oponopono recommends reciting the words "I'm sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you" to restore harmony with yourself.
Healing within yourself the conflicts that come from outside
Ho'oponopono is not just a method. It is more of an art of living that proves deeply liberating for anyone who follows this path. Practising Ho'oponopono opens the way to a journey of growth that is both personal and spiritual. Ho'oponopono can be practised at any time, and moments of conflict are even more fitting. Repeat the mantra within yourself — "I'm sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you" — when a tension arises, when a disapproving look is cast, during an argument, or when you feel emotional pain or excessive frustration. And in this way soothe the negative emotions that shake you.
Why use these particular words? What meaning should we give this mantra?
The words of the Ho'oponopono formula do not refer to the notion of guilt attributed to them.
| Word of the mantra | Meaning |
|---|---|
| I'm sorry | Helps you realise that a problem exists. Being able to acknowledge a conflict lets you step back from the event that caused it. The words "I'm sorry" are used to allow this awareness to emerge. |
| Forgive me | By saying this word, you acknowledge having reacted under the effect of a negative emotion. You express compassion towards yourself and admit that you are responding more to a limiting memory, to a buried painful recollection, than to the situation itself. In reality, we do not react to a difficulty as such; we react to a distant event that hurt us and marked us negatively. You realise your vulnerability. You accept it. You forgive yourself for your past weaknesses and forgive yourself for repeating them, for not leaving them where they belong… in the past. |
| Thank you | Expressing your gratitude. The upsetting event has just revealed a limiting memory and a negative emotion. Understanding this buried pain helps you let go of it — which brings us to the last word of the Ho'oponopono mantra. |
| I love myself | You express your love and your compassion. You send out a vibration of love and cleanse the limiting memory that lies at the root of the negative emotions expressed during a conflict. |
Ho'oponopono is a method of inner healing. The mantra can be recited out loud or silently. What matters is that these four words resonate with your inner voice.
Why recite this formula when the conflict is caused by someone else?
When you are in a conflict situation, you feel sadness or anger. Even though the tension is triggered by an outside event, the negative emotion is an inner reaction that comes from you. Your behaviour will be dictated by anger or sadness, and the problem at hand will scarcely be resolved in a reasonable way. Changing your reaction to a conflict situation means accepting your responsibility in the conflict under way. You may not have caused it, but you did not manage to defuse it. By starting to restore harmony within yourself, you refuse to let an outside event hold sway over you. And it is when you are calm and at peace with yourself that the most effective solutions become obvious.
Am I responsible for the problems that happen to me?
This notion is at once the hardest to accept and the most liberating to experience. When you accept being responsible for your own life and for the events that make it up, you gain a better understanding of everything you have the power to change. There is no point, then, in waiting for the other person to change their attitude. All it takes is to change your own behaviour through Ho'oponopono.
What should you expect once the mantra has been recited?
With Ho'oponopono, you must remain without expectation and let life take its course. The aim of this method is solely to restore harmony within yourself and inner peace. Above all, you must not hope for changes outside yourself, as if, by some miracle, people were going to change their behaviour and act in line with your expectations. You alone are responsible for your life. It is easier to change yourself, to change your reaction to a situation, than to transform another person. When you repeat your mantra, you act under the impulse of a vibration of love. So have faith in what you are doing and move forward in your life. This formula has the advantage of being self-sufficient. You do not need to be guided by anyone at all to practise this method. You can recite your mantra as many times as you like, every time you feel a negative emotion arise.
Do I need to understand the origin of the problem before practising Ho'oponopono?
One of the advantages of this method is that there is no need to analyse the situation or to try to understand the origin of the conflict. There is no need to identify the memory responsible for the inappropriate reaction in a particular conflict situation. As soon as you feel negative emotions surface, recite your mantra — "I'm sorry, forgive me, thank you, I love you" — until you find your inner peace again. In this way you practise the cleansing of the negative beliefs mentioned above. You free yourself from the behavioural pattern that used to push you to repeat the same behaviour or to run into the same kind of conflict. Ho'oponopono is a method of emotional release that lets you improve your emotional hygiene and grow in your life. Of course, you are free to explore your memories and dig up the roots of the limiting memory afterwards…
Am I responsible for the violence of my living environment?
Through your beliefs, your knowledge and your life experience, you create your own existence. Your responsibility comes into play in shaping your beliefs, in changing your knowledge and in the evolution of your experiences. Living in a violent environment instils certain life habits. And it is up to you to change these life habits. You can remain a victim of your past or decide to change your behaviours, by cleansing your negative beliefs one by one. To do so, you simply need to say the four words of the Ho'oponopono method every time a negative emotion arises. Once again, there is no need to identify the exact source of the sadness or anger felt, but to accept that these emotions stem from an old story, past and gone.
Does Ho'oponopono replace therapy?
This method helps you find harmony within yourself, day to day. It is an excellent complement to any therapeutic process and does not replace medical treatment.
Ho'oponopono is a little like what Gandhi said:
"Be the change you want to see in this world." Gandhi
You change without expecting anything other than your inner serenity. This calm radiates from you and can be felt by those around you, who in turn take in the vibrations of love you carry within you. Your handling of conflicts improves, the pressure eases and warmth appears. You may think it is too simple, or too good to be true? There is only one way to know for sure, isn't there?
