Empower Your Life With Ho’oponopono

I was introduced to the Ho’oponopono prayer several years ago by a friend I met at a meditation group. She told me that it is an ancient Hawaiian custom that can be used to resolve karmic issues in life. So, of course, I tried it, but with mixed results.

It is a simple, yet powerful three-line prayer:

I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.

I did not fully comprehend it at the time, but even in my lack of understanding, I still experienced some results. Then I reached a point in life where I was experiencing a lot of personal difficulties, and suddenly this simple prayer took on a whole new meaning for me.

It was at a time when I had lost three loved ones in short space of time, and I was going through an intense grieving process and associated life challenges. I figured trying out this prayer again certainly couldn’t hurt. So, for a few days, I made a conscious effort to repeat this mantra in my mind.

I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.

Then I came across a certification program Ho’oponopono. It is a seminar over multiple days. I had the time and resources to enroll, so it felt like destiny. I then learned a lot more about Ho’oponopono and came to realize it is not nearly as simple as I had originally thought.

The term Ho’oponopono means ‘to make right what is already right.’ The prayer itself is only part of the practice. As a spiritual endeavor Ho’oponopono is about untangling the patterns and blockages that contribute to the challenges we experience in this life. The prayer itself is merely a conduit to experiencing Ho’oponopono, or ‘making right what is already right.’

The Ho’oponopono prayer is intended to move the practitioner into a state of consciousness that is love, free from things like fear, worry, resentment, blame, guilt, criticism, judgment, desire for vengeance, jealousy, and so on.

Love is the only reality and it is not a mere sentiment. It is the ultimate truth that lies at the heart of creation ~ Rabindranath Tagore

As a psychic reader and channeler, I am familiar with this state of higher consciousness and unconditional love, since I have found it to be where the ability to channel comes from.

The real goal of the Ho’oponopono spiritual practice is therefore to gain access to the superconscious mind, also known as the Higher Self, Spirit, God, Source, Universe, the Divine, and so on. It is the realm of the infinite, where everything is already in right order – perfect, whole, and complete.

Using Ho’oponopono as a mantra moves us away from the realm of the subconscious mind and the place where memory is stored.

Most spiritual traditions talk extensively about the importance of mind and consciousness. What we believe about ourselves and about life becomes true for us, so when we are in states of frustration or fear we tend to experience a world that reflects those states of consciousness.

However, when we are in a consciousness of love, our world also reflects that state of consciousness. In fact, love moving through human consciousness is what we call joy. The promise of many spiritual traditions is that we can live a life filled with this joy.

The Ho’oponopono prayer is a process that allows us to untangle ourselves from the past and restore us to a state of consciousness that is loving and filled with joy. This is our natural inheritance as spiritual beings having a physical journey.

Forgiveness is for you – not the other person. It’s something you do inside yourself that you feel in your body and heart that releases you from your past and frees you to live life fully ~ Barbara J Hunt

So, let’s briefly explore the components of this powerful prayer:

I Am Sorry

This phrase is not an apology. In fact, when I teach seminars on Ho’oponopono, I recommend that people change this phrase if they tend to overuse it. Some people are people-pleasers who go through life constantly saying they are ‘sorry,’ as if they must apologize for taking up space in the world. This is certainly not the intention with the Ho’oponopono spiritual practice.

The words ‘I am sorry’ in this context means instead that we are recognizing how our own state of consciousness is contributing to any experience we may be having. For example, if we are having an experience that is causing us to be angry, the anger does not actually exist ‘out there.’ The only place anger can exist is within our own heart and mind. The same holds true for feelings like fear and worry. These are all internal conditions.

Does saying the Ho’oponopono mean we will never again get angry? No, this part of the prayer is about recognizing that as conscious creators we are always attracting the people and circumstances that reflect our own state of consciousness, and that when we shift our consciousness we will create an entirely different experience.

So, if you are someone who says ‘I am sorry’ a lot, I would recommend instead that you replace this part of the prayer with ‘I am willing to release the pattern in my consciousness that is contributing to this experience.’

Please Forgive Me

Most spiritual traditions talk of forgiveness in one way or another. This phrase enables us to release all past conditioning with regards our mistakes and shortcomings. Forgiveness untangles old patterns and restores us to the present moment. A Course in Miracles states that all forgiveness is self-forgiveness.

In Ho’oponopono we therefore recognize that we are all doing the best we can with the knowledge and understanding we have. It is a recognition that our state of consciousness by its very nature will evolve throughout our lifetime. And for the things we do not yet comprehend, or currently fail to do better, we forgive ourselves.

Thank You

By saying thank you we recognize that everything is already complete. There are no problems without solutions. Spiritual teachers throughout the ages have told us that infinite love, joy, and peace is available to us at every moment. The spiritual student is still waiting to have the fullness of this experience. The phrase ‘thank you’ empowers us to live with gratitude and acceptance in the present moment.

I Love You

Saying ‘I love you’ is a restoration of consciousness. The previous two statements in the Ho’oponopono prayer are about releasing the past and finding forgiveness. It allows us to recognize that the past is over and done with and really has no power over us, unless we choose to repeatedly replay the past in our mind.

The statement ‘I love you,’ is instead meant to infuse our present experiences with the most natural state of consciousness, which is love. It is the connection point to the spirit realm and the Divine. Love itself has the power to remove all divisions, in this life and the next. Therefore it is said that ‘God is love.’

The goal of Ho’oponopono is not to make a wrong things right, but instead to elevate our conscious awareness to that which has always been, and will always be right. It makes right what is already right!

At this very moment you are surrounded by Love, Joy, and Peace. Within you exists the wellspring of Infinite Love, Infinite Joy, and Infinite Peace. Spiritual enlightenment and the experience of Infinite Joy is not a ‘far away’ thing. In fact, we often miss joy in our lives because it is too close to us for us to recognize it. We are often too busy conjuring mental images and stories about how life and other people are depriving us, that we are unable to recognize how life itself loves us. We are indeed the ones we have been looking for all this time.