HO'OPONOPONO
By Joe Vitale
"Two
years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete
ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them.
The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within
himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved
himself, the patient improved.
"When
I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could
anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best
self-improvement master cure the criminally insane? It didn't make any
sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.
"However,
I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a
Hawaiian healing process called ho'oponopono. I had never heard of it,
yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I
had to know more. I had always understood "total responsibility" to
mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's
out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility
that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else
does--but that's wrong.
"The
Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me
an advanced new perspective about total responsibility. His name is Dr.
Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first
phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a
therapist.
He
explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That
ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous.
Psychologists
quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit.
People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall,
afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant place to
live, work, or visit.
"Dr.
Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and
to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on
himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.
"'After
a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to
walk freely,' he told me. 'Others who had to be heavily medicated were
getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever
being released were being freed.' I was in awe. 'Not only that,' he
went on, 'but the staff began to enjoy coming to work.
Absenteeism
and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed
because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up
to work. Today, that ward is closed.'
"This
is where I had to ask the million dollar question: 'What were you doing
within yourself that caused those people to change?'
"'I
was simply healing the part of me that created them,' he said. I didn't
understand. Dr. Len explained that 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.
"Whew.
This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one
thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is
quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete
responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste,
touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in
your life. This means that terrorist activity, the president, the
economy or anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to
heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections
from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to
change them, you have to change you.
"I
know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame
is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr. Len, I
began to realize that healing for him and in ho 'oponopono means loving
yourself.
"If
you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want
to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal you do it by healing you.
"I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?
"'I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again,'  he explained.
"That's it?
"That's it.
"Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, you improve your world.
"Let
me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me
an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working
on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who
sent the nasty message.
"This
time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying, 'I'm
sorry' and 'I love you,' I didn't say it to anyone in particular. I was
simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating
the outer circumstance.
"Within
an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his
previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to
get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying 'I love
you,' I somehow healed within me what was creating him.
"I
later attended a ho'oponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He's now 70
years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat reclusive.
He
praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve
myself, my book's vibration will raise, and everyone will feel it when
they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.
"'What about the books that are already sold and out there?' I asked.
"'They
aren't out there,' he explained, once again blowing my mind with his
mystic wisdom.’They are still in you.' In short, there is no out there.
It would take a whole book to explain this advanced technique with the
depth it deserves.
"Suffice
It to say that whenever you want to improve anything in your life,
there's only one place to look: inside you. When you look, do it with
love."