Could an ancient Hawaiian practice hold the key for forgiveness, mental health, and even physical healing?
Dr. Joe Vitale, a spiritual healer and bestselling author, says the Hawaiian practice known as “Ho'oponopono” is “probably the most profound, the most mysterious, the most mystical, the most spiritually empowering tool” he’s ever come across in his life.
Vitale sat down with Freedom Media Network founder Curt Mercadante for an interview on manifesting abundance, conquering fear, and spiritual healing. Mercadante ended the interview by asking Vitale about Ho'oponopono, about which Vitale has written a number of books.
Vitale said he first heard of the practice “almost 20 years ago about a therapist who helped heal an entire ward of mentally ill criminals by working on himself” and using Ho'oponopono.
“I first heard the story and dismissed it. That's how open minded I was. Another year passed and I heard it again” explained Vitale. “I’m like, give me a break. But I got curious because I thought, well what if it's true? What if it's true? And I did the detective work, I did the leg work and back then 20 years ago there wasn't anything on this subject. And I'm talking about Ho'oponopono.”
He said the method was eventually taught to him by that same therapist, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. Vitale and Len ended up writing a book, Zero Limits, that told the story of Len’s work in the mental hospital.
“He did help heal those people, and they were released as being whole and natural, which is just so crazily mind boggling because they had been sedated or shackled on a daily basis,” he said. “And they were so disturbed and disturbing, the doctors and nurses would quit. They couldn't stay there in a hellish environment.”
Vitale explained that Len was hired by the hospital because the hospital needed to have a degreed therapist on staff in order to get funding. Len agreed to work at the hospital, but decided he would work on himself, instead of the actual patients.
“And this is where it becomes one of the most unusual stories of responsibility because whatever he noticed in those patients by reviewing those charts, he also noticed how he emotionally was responding,” said Vitale. “So if he was angry or he was repulsed or he was embarrassed or appalled because the criminals did criminal things.”
Continued Vitale, “He used Ho'oponopono on what he was feeling, and Ho'oponopono was very easy. He basically was saying inside himself, four phrases: I love you; I'm sorry; Please forgive me; Thank you.”
Those four phrases are the foundation of Ho'oponopono.
“He never said them to the patients. He never said them out loud,” said Vitale. “The way Ho'oponopono works is you have an inner connection to what he would call the divine. For everybody, it's different. You can call it God, you can call it nature. You can call it source. You can use a Greek term of, stoicism term, you can call it anything you like. But there is some sort of higher power that most of us would agree we are of and we are connected to. And in Ho'oponopono, you imagine you have a dialogue with it, that you are praying to. Ho'oponopono was a kind of a petition. And so you notice what's going on like he did.”
Vitale explained how anyone can use the practice in their own lives, especially in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Maybe people are confused right now. Maybe they're scared right now. We’re talking about uncertainty. Some people aren't working, but the bills are still coming. So they're worried, they're uncertain, they're fearful, they're not trusting, confused, whatever the different phrases are,” he said. “Own what you're feeling. Whatever you're feeling is okay. And as you're feeling it, you imagine you speak to God, to the divine, whatever the word is for you. And that's when you're saying, "I love you; I'm sorry; Please forgive me; Thank you. I love you; I'm sorry; please forgive me; Thank you.”
He added, “You're repeating it. It's a kind of a prayer. You're doing the phrases inside yourself to your connection, to the divine while you're feeling whatever you're feeling, what's going on.”
Vitale explained that the four phrases are a “shorthand for a longer message.”
“I'm sorry for the beliefs that may have attracted this event; please forgive me for being unconscious to how I've been involved or how I co-created what I'm feeling; thank you for healing this, erasing the beliefs and taking care of me; I love you for this process; I love you from my life; I love you, period, God,” he said.
“Inside yourself, you imagine you're picking up the phone and you're going to call God, the divine. And then you're saying, ‘I love you. Please take care of this problem. I'm sorry for whatever part of me created it. Please forgive me for my ancestors, for my beliefs, for the mindset that I have. Thank you for this healing.’"
Learn more about Ho'oponopono and the amazing story of Dr. Hew Len by watching Vitale’s full discussion with Mercadante by clicking here.