The Art of Mundane Ho’oponopono: Making Miracles from the Everyday

The 1950s saw the rise of a new form of therapy: gestalt therapy. The brainchild of its ingenious founders, it introduced a novel approach to dream interpretation. Rather than deciphering dreams based on pre-existing symbol dictionaries, as advocated by Carl Jung, or becoming experts in interpreting dreams as Sigmund Freud and Alfred Adler did, gestalt therapists empowered people to interpret their own dreams.

Consider this dream: You’re barefoot, walking on a sandy path, meandering through a grove of trees and leading to a sunny beach. The specifics of your beach may vary. It could be the bustling Coney Island, the rocky Brighton UK, or a secluded tropical paradise. But the details aren’t the focus here. The point is, each of us can relate different experiences to this dream. A skilled therapist, using gestalt techniques, can guide you to give voice or movement to each component, enabling you to construct the dream’s true meaning.

In my own experience as a psychotherapist, I’ve had clients recount real-life experiences with a surreal, dream-like quality. In such instances, I’ve found it effective to treat these experiences as dreams and apply the same gestalt approach.

Then, I discovered ho’oponopono.

Ho’oponopono takes the principles of gestalt therapy a step further. It operates under the premise that our everyday experiences are akin to dreams. We exist in the radiant light of Divinity, which is patterned by the residue or karma of our past actions. By cleansing these memories, we return to our intrinsic purity.

In some ho’oponopono circles, I’ve observed a tendency to focus on grand or complex issues, such as world peace or personal financial woes. While these issues are undoubtedly significant, this approach overlooks a key aspect of ho’oponopono: the belief that our perceptions are projections. Thus, even the most mundane experiences carry messages for us.

Imagine you’re standing in a queue at the supermarket. The person in front of you is taking their sweet time, and they smell of body odour. According to ho’oponopono, this moment is a message for you. It’s an opportunity to take 100% responsibility and ask, “What within me has attracted this situation?”

This philosophy applies to every ordinary situation in your life, from the clouds floating lazily in the sky to the warning light blinking on your car’s dashboard.

Renowned practitioner Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len is known for having healed an entire ward of criminally insane individuals at the Hawaii State Hospital using ho’oponopono. Yet, he didn’t limit his practice to such monumental feats. He applied ho’oponopono to every aspect of his life, from the people who built his wooden deck to the water in his swimming pool.

Dr. Len’s approach teaches us that ho’oponopono isn’t just about addressing the grand problems of the world. It’s about recognizing the messages in every mundane moment of life, taking responsibility, and engaging in continuous cleansing. Even the seemingly insignificant instances hold potential for self-improvement and transformation.

Remember, the magic of ho’oponopono lies in its simplicity, and its power unfolds in the mundane.