Courtney StarkLately I have been drawn to Ho’oponopono, a Hawaiian practise of forgiveness. You may be familiar with this prayer: “I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” This is a simplified version of Ho’oponopono by Dr. Hew Len, based off Kahuna Morrnah Simeona’s modernised version of this ancient Hawaiian practise. Ho’oponopono teaches us that when we surrender into forgiveness and let go, we heal issues we didn’t even know existed and can start to bring our best life into being.
It is a simple mantra that brings about profound results. Traditionally mantras are repeated 108 times, but this can be used as often as required.
“I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.”
“I love you.” This is our connection to the Divine/Source/God. This is not necessarily “God” in a religious sense but an awareness that we are all connected, and we are all capable of love and being loved.
“I’m sorry.” I’m sorry for whatever is going on in me that is not me, that is not my Divine nature.
“Please forgive me.” Let go. Surrender to Divinity and transmute any issues you may be experiencing through the power of forgiveness.
“Thank you.” I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to heal and for this connection to the Divine.
There is beauty in surrender and nature gives us plenty of examples of this. Leaves, fruit, and flowers are dropped to coincide with the seasonal change to cooler weather. In the northern hemisphere, bears hibernate, emerging once the winter is over. Deer shed their antlers once the mating season has finished. They know they don’t need to carry heavy antlers all year round. And of course, snakes are the masters of regeneration shedding their skin regularly to make way for new growth.
Ho’oponopono teaches us that things are being shown to us so that we may heal that aspect within ourselves and let it go. When we surrender to a higher power, be it God, Source or the Divine, we let go of our control and expectations of how things should turn out. When we let go, we understand that we are not here to save people and that the only people we can truly work on are ourselves. We become 100% responsible for our own healing. Can you imagine the partner of a snake sitting next to them saying “Dear, it’s really time you shed that ratty old skin. When are you going to start shedding?”. Of course not, because the snake knows within that it is time for him or her to let go of the old and so, they shed.
The tree drops its leaves because it has surrendered to the inevitable change of season. The stag carries awareness that by surrendering his heavy antlers he can grow stronger by focussing his efforts elsewhere. Surrendering is not done from a place of weakness; it comes from a place of strength. By surrendering my expectations of others, I become 100% responsible for what is happening in my life. This awareness has made me so much more conscious that the only person I can truly change is myself. Moreover, it’s given me control over my own issues and healing. Through the beauty of surrender, I have become much more comfortable with myself and my relationship to the Divine.
Surrendering myself into the practise of Ho’oponopono has allowed me to secure peace within myself. Peace begins with me and is my responsibility. Yet as we are all connected, when I let the suffering go in me, I let it go in you too. By being peaceful in myself, I bring more peace into the world. I sleep better too yet something tells me that these benefits are only the tip of the iceberg as I continue surrendering to the practise of Ho’oponopono.
Try it for yourself and see what you discover.
Written by Courtney Stark 2021 www.thesacredwillow.com.au
Lucy Becks
Vivienne Spanopoulos
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