We live in a world that desperately cries out for healing and unconditional love. The response we often give to that call is war, aggression, self-centeredness, narcissistic governmental intervention and activism that is well meaning though tinged with the persistent presence of anger, self righteousness, arrogance and judgment-- rendering it far less effective and beneficial.
It does not have to be this way at all. If you learn, teach.
I have learned, by way of traveling through the valley of death and despair, through the dark night of the soul, across the rivers of my own doubt, mean-spiritedness and destruction and into Rumi's Sacred Field and Garden where I have met with others who are dispensing with the notions of right and wrong; who are acknowledging that there is in fact a better way.
I have a Ho’oponopono practice. In its simplest and to my belief most powerful expression, the Ho'oponopono practice consists of stating four simple and powerful phrases. These phrases are: I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I want to focus more specifically here on the second and the fourth phrases--I'm sorry and Thank you.
Ho'oponopono practice is to be used in any situation where the practitioner is able to feel any degree of disharmony. It does not matter from whence the disharmony is perceived as coming from. I however, find the practice most effective when I perceive the disharmony (or sadness or unconsciousness) is coming from distinctly outside of me. Writing that last sentence was paradoxical and ultimately inauthentic for me. The reason for that is because at its root and all the way through Ho'oponopono practice is the deep understanding that we are not separate. We are not separate from other people. We are not separate from Mother Earth. We are not separate from the history of Mother Earth. We are not separate from the Kingdoms of people, animals, minerals and plants. With this understanding we begin to see clearly there is no me as a contrast to the other.
Many times I experience the phrases, "I'm sorry" and, "Thank you" as the most powerful. Imagine, if you will, walking down a lonely street minding your own business when suddenly someone comes from behind you, places what you feel to be a gun to your head, places the other hand around your mouth and says, "Give me all of your money or I'll blow your fucking head off." Who is to blame for this event? Is it the perpetrator? Is it the parents of the perpetrator who "obviously" did not provide a loving and teaching home for this individual? Is it the school system charged with teaching the perpetrator in their youth how to interact in a world of social conventions? Is it the banking system that through its greed and avarice created a climate that ultimately caused the near collapse of the entire American economic system resulting in the highest unemployment numbers the country has seen in more than half a century? Is it the police department for not providing adequate security on the street on which you were walking? I do not know the exact answer a skilled and knowledgeable practitioner of Ho'oponopono would give. I do know that part of such a persons response to this situation would be to say, "I'm sorry." Yes, I'm sorry. Can we all just take a collective moment to try and fully comprehend that? Is there anything that anyone or any institution we have ever interacted with in our entire lives has done that has truly prepared us for responding to the horrific situation I have just outlined with a response of I'm sorry?
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Yes, I'm sorry. I am sorry that this is happening to you...you, the one who is holding a gun to my head and threatening to take my life from me and from all those who love me, care about me and depend on me. If this is difficult for us to fathom doing perhaps it will be helpful if we can imagine other heroic figures in world history responding in that way. How about Siddhārtha Gautama? Jesus the Christ? Gandhi? Ramana Maharshi? Saint Francis of Assisi? Martin Luther King, Jr? Peace Pilgrim? Mother Teresa? Aung San Suu Kyi? Thich Nhat Hanh?
Ho'oponopono practice teaches, as I have said, that we are not separate from anyone or anything. So if we can imagine any or all of those people responding in such a way, we can imagine ourselves responding in such a way. And if we can imagine saying I'm sorry, we can then move on to saying, "Thank you."
Yes, Thank you.
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Breathe In, Breathe Out
Breathe In, Breathe Out
I love you. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.
Find out more about Ho'oponopono practice here
sage mahosadha
The First Day of 2011, Gregorian calendaring system
© Raven/Sage Mahosadha
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