MOTIV84GR8

Life, Career, and Leadership Coaching

Etymology of "Hoʻoponopono" 

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There are many articles about what ho'oponopono is and how to incorporate it into your life. Most sites have some of the information; none have all. Even those who grew up in Hawai'i are taught various ideas about it, like me. However, my journey is to understand, heal, and be a source of healing for others.

 

This is what I've learned.

 

​Traditionally, ho'oponopono was used to keep the peace. Before the missionaries came to Hawai'i, there were many villages with ruling chiefs on the islands. Should there be a disagreement between family members or neighboring farmers, fighting could break out, disrupting these small communities' harmony. Ho'oponopono was used to reconcile disagreements, restoring harmony and peace. It was, in essence, a social work practice (Shook, 1985).

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Ho'oponopono became a popular new age healing process when Joe Vitale and Dr. Ihaleaka Hew Lin wrote Zero Limits in 2007. Although it is an interesting read, it's misleading and is not Ho'oponopono. 

 

According to the Hawaiian dictionary, authored by Mary Kawena Pukui and Samuel Elbert, Ho'oponopono is:

 

(a) "To make right: to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up make orderly or neat, administer, superintend, supervise, manage, edit, work carefully or neatly; to make ready, as canoemen preparing to catch a wave."

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(b) "Mental and emotional cleansing: family conferences in which relationships were brought back to harmony (hoʻoponopono) through prayer, discussion, confession, repentance, and mutual restitution and forgiveness." 

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Literally, hoʻo is  an action, defined as: "...goodness, uprightness, morality, moral qualities, correct or proper procedure, excellence, well-being, prosperity, welfare, benefit, true condition or nature, duty; moral, fitting, proper, righteous, right, upright, just, virtuous, fair, beneficial, successful, in perfect order, accurate, correct, eased, relieved; should, ought, must, necessary."

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Pono pono means "to put to rights; to put in order or shape, correct, revise, adjust, amend, regulate, arrange, rectify, tidy up, make orderly or neat." To make right, right. Think about it. 

 

Ho'oponopono means being restored to wholeness. 

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Ho'oponopono is also not forgiveness. However, practicing ho'oponopono helps to diminish the need to forgive.  When we see how our actions have affected others (we're restored to sanity, you might say), then there is nothing to forgive.

 

In today's world, especially with our western social conditioning, we become agitated and unsettled when someone does something we believe to be harmful. The practice of Ho'oponopono offers us the opportunity to deepen our ability to forgive, not only for ourselves but also for others. 

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When we see how interconnected we all are and look truthfully at the ripple effect of our actions, words, thoughts, even seeing how not knowing or thinking that we know the truth creates disharmony and unrest in the people around us, we can begin to understand how to make any "wrong" right. 

 

When we see situations as they really are, we can let go of past hurts. Ho'oponopono is one way of releasing the past by addressing it. 

Learning to release judgment is, in a sense, forgiveness. 

 

This is not an easy or simple process because "time doesn't heal all wounds"...only willingness does. 

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If you are ready to heal all things and grow in ways that amaze you if you want to experience more freedom and ease in your life through interaction in all relationships-call today. 

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References

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Shook, E.V. (1985). Ho'oponopono: Contemporary Uses of a Hawaiian problem-solving technique. University of Hawai'i Press.

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For further reading: Ho'oponopono Explained

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