Excerpt from "Zero Limits" by Joe Vitale and Dr. Hew Len contains a fair interpretation of Ho'oponopono and tells the story of Dr. Len. For the record, I don't necessarily agree with how Vitale generally describes Ho'oponopono and its uses in his book, however this is a good backgrounder below.
Originally I heard of Ho'oponopono through an A Course in Miracles study group. I, like Vitale, thought it was an urban legend as there was not much to find about Dr. Len anywhere. However, I did know the process works, and that was enough for me. It's only recently that I've seen videos of Dr. Len, and seen for myself that he is the real deal. In his writings and videos Dr Len's pretty adamant in saying he is not doing a healing on behalf of any one else--that would be manipulative--he is clearing/cleaning reflection/projection; thus simply healing himself, period.
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. 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--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, your 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."
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. 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--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, your 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."
Possibly the doctor's calm presence influenced the staff and they were calmer with the patients, this initiating the change.....do NOT believe the state would pay him to sit in an office and never see patients for four years!!! We all have free will and are responsible for our choices and actions-I am not responsible for anyone else's choices, with the possible exception of someone who is directly in my area of responsibility- i.e. my children-but then only when they are not adult- they then make up their own minds what to do and not to do.
Posted by: S.L. Hayes | 03/12/2014 at 09:09 PM