HO’OPONOPONO and THE MASTERY of FORGIVENESS by Chris Gruner

Ho’Oponopono – like Buddhism, and like Authentic Christianity – is centered around the mastery of forgiveness. Initially, one learns the benefits of forgiveness by applying Ho’Oponopono in relation to those we have a clear sense of having injured, including ourselves.  As the practice deepens though, we begin to apply it to all those toward whom we harbor grievances, the people we think hurt us. And finally we use it to take total responsibility for having organized our own experience exactly as it has been – our karmic harvest.   This unequivocal embrace of forgiveness, which arises out of the realization that there is nothing to forgive, is the ultimate ground of liberation – what the Bodhisattva comes back to share again and again until all beings are Awake! Ho’Oponopono – is a Hawaiian word which means “to correct or make right, to come to balance”. In traditional Hawaiian culture, this also refers to a process of setting things right by bringing a person, or ohana (one’s extended family), into proper, healthy balance.  Each individual within the ohana strives to stay in balance, in service to the larger goal of maintaining collective health and unity with all others in the extended family unit. Much like Buddhism, Ho’Oponopono invites the practitioner to accept 100% responsibility for all of one’s personal experience as well as for our part in co-creating our collective experience. --

Working at the level of taking 100% (total) responsibility for all of your experience, now try experimenting with Ho’Oponopono in this way…. Bring to mind an individual against whom you are holding a grievance.  Contemplate for a moment how you want to blame that person for hurting you in some way. Then apply Ho’Oponopono as follows.   “I’m sorry for asking you to be in my life in a way that provoked my anger toward you.” “Please forgive me for generating an experience that was so painful for both of us.” “I love you because I realize now that you are actually a part of me.” “Thank-you for being in my life story in exactly the way I asked you to be.”    The Pay Off of this practice is that once you settle into routinely working with Ho’Oponopono you will find that you are able to extricate yourself from both guilt and grievance almost instantly! With each passing day you will find your life is less and less about resentment and fear as it becomes more and more about love and appreciation! Here are the details...