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Ho‘oponopono is one of the kahuna sciences, ancient shamanistic teachings from Hawaii, and describes a method for resolving personal problems and interpersonal conflict. The aim of ho‘oponopono is to heal relationships on many levels:

(1) with yourself in particular,
(2) with other people,
(3) with your environment (nature) and
(4) with the Source of all things.

Ho‘oponopono has been practised as a kind of family therapy and mediation for centuries, but over the last few decades it has developed from a traditional family conference into a self-help method that is nowadays often used in a simplified version.

The heart of ho‘oponopono is a forgiveness ritual. By accepting, absolving, forgiving and reconciling, ho‘oponopono is an aid for life in three major areas of conflict:

(1) relationships, partnerships and family,
(2) profession, vocation and livelihood and
(3) activating your powers of self-healing (by reducing stress, for example).

The Meaning Of The Word: Ho‘oponopono

Depending on the context, ho‘o can mean ‘to do, arrange or construct something’. Again depending on context, the word pono can be translated as (1) ‘correct’, (2) ‘flexible’ or even (3) ‘compassion’.

In relationships in particular, you have to be flexible and put your ego to one side. Overlooking little faults is not only compassionate but also makes life more pleasant, as it is generally true to say that people who make lots of rules in a relationship will live in close confinement, and who likes to live in a mental prison of their own devising?

As the Hawaiian priest Haleaka Iolani Pule explained to me in 2012:

‘With ho‘oponopono, it’s not about who’s right or wrong, it’s about good relationships.’

Putting Things Right Again

Ho‘oponopono can be translated literally as ‘making things rightly right’, ‘putting things right again’ or ‘restoring divine order’. The idea behind it is that everything flows from the Source of all things (Hawaiian: ke akua oi’a’io), whose essence, mana aloha, is pure love.

To the ancient Hawaiians, life was a great river (Hawaiian: wai wai) of material and spiritual wealth to which one needs only to turn and/or open up mentally and spiritually. Life itself is richness and a person living in harmony with him- or herself and the cosmos is able to live happily, healthily and in prosperity.

Re-establishing The Cosmic Order

The word pono appears twice, as two people are always required – both for a harmonious relationship in which all concerned can grow together, and for conflict, which can be exhausting. For a relationship to be fundamentally balanced, the solution to any problem has to be pono for all concerned: right for you and right for me. Right for people, right for animals, right for every plant and right for the Earth.

The sole aim of this method of healing conflict at every level is to achieve a ‘win-win’ relationship – you are trying to create relationships in which everyone involved comes out on top. A ‘win-lose’ relationship – for example, in your professional life, when workers in third-world countries pay with their health because of precarious working conditions or when pesticides that harm the environment are used in agriculture – is really a ‘lose-lose’ relationship – everybody involved loses out, as you cannot base your happiness on the suffering of others.

Right – Inside and Out

Ponopono, ‘right, inside and out’, is based on the cosmic principle of resonances (Hawaiian: kuolo). This means, for example, that external environmental pollution will resonate within you in the form of a pollution of the heart. By the same token, considerate types of people who cause fewer problems for their fellow inhabitants on the planet would also suffer fewer lifestyle diseases themselves.

But a hole in a heart with no love is a bottomless pit and will cry out to be filled. Symptoms of deficiency appear in the world only because of this vacuum in the heart, as the causal chain begins in the spirit. You could also say that everything is created twice – first in our imaginations and then on a material level.

Le ‘ale’a ka ‘?lelo i ka pohu aku o loko.
If you are calm inside, everything that leaves you is pleasant.

Right For You, Right For Me

When our thoughts and intentions are loving, compassionate and peaceful, the outcome will be a pleasant one. Just like everything else in the universe, ponopono obeys the fundamental law of cause and effect: ka ua mea. Everything we do and everything we fail to do has an effect.

The circumstances of our lives are not there by coincidence, they are the result of our thoughts, the decisions we made on the strength of these thoughts and, ultimately, of our conscious and unconscious actions. It makes a difference whether you encourage or discourage a colleague with your remarks. It makes a difference whether you think well or badly of someone. It makes a difference whether you do sports or not, whether you are a good or a bad example to children, whether you shop sustainably or without thinking about the consequences.

As an enfranchised being with the potential to create, we cast a vote for the world and for ourselves with everything we do. We shall harvest today what we sowed yesterday – and the same is true of tomorrow.

This law of cause and effect contains an incredible opportunity for humanity to heal Nature and bring about world peace; to stop being a ‘spoilsport’ in the ecosystem and return to being a team player in the great family of the world, we have to sow new causes – then we can reap a harvest of peace. Having peace in our hearts will lead to peace in the world.

Divide and Connect: The Destination Is The Journey

I was born under the sign of Capricorn, and if you believe in astrology you know that Capricorns are down-to-earth and practical people. Whether astrology is true or not, I am a practical person and am interested in what works. Because I am looking for happiness and peace, I try to be happy and peaceful. I don’t always succeed but I am working on it, as it is well known that your real destination is the journey.

If I want peace, I must also follow the path of peace. The path and the goal must of course be in harmony. Peace on the outside can only be achieved with inner peace. External wealth is created through inner wealth. External unity and happiness is achieved through joyful and enthusiastic actions – by being happy in the here and now and not by waiting for the future.

All human beings are striving to be happy, and we are happiest when all our relationships are in order. This communion begins with loving interaction with ourselves, entirely according to the motto: ‘Heal yourself and you heal the world.’

The message of this and of all my books is thus a message of peace – inside and out. Indeed, I am entirely convinced that the great family of all living beings and our ecosystem (in other words, the house in which we all live) will come back into balance when we – you and I – center ourselves again, turning our gaze to what connects us in our hearts, to the spiritual Source, and overcome the divisive ego: nana I ke kumu (Hawaiian: look to the Source).

A dog recognises its master whether the latter is wearing swimming trunks or a suit, has a wig on or has shaved off his beard, has donned a boiler suit or is completely naked. A dog recognises its master – always. By the same token, when I fail to see that the spiritual source in every living being is the same, wouldn’t I have to admit that I have understood less than lots of dogs? But to err is human.

When we become aware that there is something in our hearts that connects us with one another, that connects us for the very reason that we are different, we give this something various different names: the universe, an all-pervading intelligence, love, the Source, Krishna, Jehovah, Allah, God, Buddha, ke akua, Vishnu ...

So let us follow the path of peace, all together and yet as individuals. Ho‘oponopono may be of use to you in such endeavours, which will help you heal your relationships on every level.

Wishing you every success on your spiritual journey,

Copyright 2017 by Ulrich Emil Duprée. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher, EarthDancer,
an imprint of Findhorn Press. www.findhornpress.com.

Article Source:

BOOK: Ho'oponopono and Family Constellations

Ho'oponopono and Family Constellations: A traditional Hawaiian healing method for relationships, forgiveness and love
by Ulrich E. Duprée

Many problems are relationship-related, and the good news is that you can heal all your relationship issues! With his best-selling title Ho’oponopono, Ulrich Emil Duprée reveals a healing method for solving problems and conflicts by using the Hawaiian reconciliation ritual to forgive both ourselves and others. This is given even greater power when combined with the family constellations method.

Click here for more info and/or to order this book.

About the Author

Ulrich Emil Duprée is a bestselling author, seminar leader and visionary. He has studied both Western and Eastern philosophy and lived in a Hindu monastery for four years. He has taught Ho’oponopono, the ritual of forgiveness, since his mystical initiation by a Hawaiian Kahuna priest in 2009.

For more info see: http://ulrichdupree.de