Ho’oponopono: Why Does It Work?

This is an odd question because most of us (at least in the Western World) believe that we are individuals, at the centre of our experiences, who through our physical acts are in control of whatever befalls us. When we encounter events which seem to be ‘bad luck’ or ‘outside of our control’ then we tend to ‘blame’ other actors, rather than take any responsibility ourselves.

People from traditional cultures don’t tend to think in this way. The ancient Hawaiians who developed ho’oponopono, for example, felt that we were ourselves responsible for whatever befell us.

When we were unable to come up with a specific deed, attitude, or series of actions that we could attribute to creating our misfortune in this lifetime, then it was assumed that it was due to the past acts of ancestors, or previous incarnations of our souls.

In such a model, other people are seen as projections of our own being. They share our karmic-data yet are viewing it from a slightly different angle, which affects how those experiences are recorded and therefore how they will arise in the real world.

Ho’oponopono works by providing us with the ability to delete karmic-data and so free ourselves from the limits it imposes upon us. As it does so, it will also remove the data within those other beings who have shared it both in the past, and also now.

So, for example, if you’re having an inexplicably bad relationship with a neighbour, then ho’oponopono practices will remove the data’s effect upon both of you. When the cause of the dispute goes back through earlier generations then people living during those earlier times will have experienced better relationships also.

One way to understand this is to think about your body. You may think that it’s solely yours yet you may have your mother’s eyes, or you grandfather’s hair. You age to look like your father, and suffer similar genetic ailments. Yet by reversing the propensity to suffer a specific kind of illness, each of your previous relatives must have suffered them less also.

Ho’oponopono acts as a kind of time-machine, enabling you to jump time-lines and so change history.

Ho’oponopono and The Law of Attraction.

Quite frequently, people ask why they’ve been doing ho’oponopono for some time yet failed to ‘manifest’ a car, watch, money or a found their life-partner.

This really is an error of logic. There is a group on Facebook called Ho’oponopono and The Law of Attraction. Many who claim to practice ho’oponopono also espouse the Law of Attraction. Whilst there are overlaps, ho’oponopono and The Law of Attraction are different.

Significantly, the Facebook Group is named ‘Ho’oponopono and The Law of Attraction’ and not ‘Ho’oponopono is The law of Attraction’.

Ho’oponopono is concerned with you returning to a stage of spiritual oneness with the Spiritual Being you already are (and could appreciate were it not for all the Karmic-Data you are carrying). As it does this, you’ll experience various forms and levels of confusion before finally beginning to fully follow the dictates of your intuition.

Intuition will provide you with all that you need (which may not be all that you want). The Law of Attraction, however, is more concerned with providing you with ‘assets’ in this lifetime. These include the cars, watches, money or life-partners that I discussed earlier.

Be careful because each of these will be a responsibility. Responsibilities mean attachments, and these are connected to karmic-data. You may think your ‘innocent’ motor vehicle to be inanimate, and like a slave the subject of ownership that may be chopped, or changed as a whim?

This is wrong on two counts. Firstly, even a car is a rudimentary being and as such needs to respected lest it rebels. Secondly, every component within the vehicle is karmically linked to a network of connections from the miners who obtained the iron ore, their families, the smelters who worked to convert it into steel ingots, your car’s assemblers, those who have serviced and worked upon it, the salesman who sold it, and all the previous owners and passengers.

Some know this intuitively, which is why they name their cars (and why we always name our ships). This karma sometimes gets recorded in photographs, shared on social media, or in the past was included in family albums. It’s also all known to your subconscious inner-child.

To sum up, ho’oponopono returns you to your original stage of Beingness by (via intuition) providing you with whatever you may need. The Law of Attraction may provide you with all that you may desire, yet can do so at the cost of your Spiritual Development.