National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Each year, September 30 marks the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. The day honours the children who never returned home and Survivors of residential schools, as well as their families and communities. Public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.
As individuals, it can be difficult to know what one person can do. The pain is so great. As I pondered what can I do today, I was inspired to create an audio of the Ho’Hoponono prayer for the survivors of the residential schools, and the deep suffering that has plagued humanity throughout history. This prayer technique is from a legendary Hawaiian method of healing and purification that is centred on self-love as a means of healing.
Ho’oponopono means doing something right or putting something right – it stems from “Ho’o” doing something and “Pono” balancing out or the path to perfection. It’s about taking personal responsibility for not only my own actions, but for how I deal with everything that crosses my path. As I clean up any aggression inside myself, my outside world returns to order, because it is an expression of what is going on inside me. Prayer is the first step. Contributing in more physical ways is the next.
From my heart to yours, thank you for considering this prayer as a means of contributing to the healing of humanity. Healing and peace, begin with me. Click here to listen or download.
More information on the prayer:
The prayer came to me through the story of a therapist who achieved miraculous healing outcomes at a Hawaiian state hospital through the use of four simple affirmations. Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, a spiritual practitioner well-versed in the ancient art of Ho’oponopono shared this legendary Hawaiian method of healing and purification, is centered on the concept of self-love as a means of healing.
Dr. Hew Len meticulously reviewed the files of each patient at the mental hospital he worked in. He didn’t meet the patients, as he perused their records, he intoned a specific mantra for each individual file: “I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.” He repeated this process consistently for months. Patients who had previously been restrained were granted their freedom, while others were gradually weaned off their medications. Eventually, all the patients experienced healing and were reintegrated into society.
What makes Dr. Hew Len’s approach intriguing is that he did not request the patients to recite the mantra themselves. Instead, he held the belief that, as individuals interconnected by a shared energy, we possess the capacity to influence this energy either positively or negatively for others. He believed that our actions and intentions have the power to attract healing. Thus, by choosing to focus on the one aspect he could control—himself—his humility ultimately facilitated the healing of those connected to him, in this instance, his patients. While this concept may seem radical and almost implausible to many, it has been profoundly transformative for many, including me.
May each one of us be inspired, to continue to “feel to heal,” and do our part to embody a consciousness that transforms pain into peace. Our continuation as a species demands it, our divinity directs it, and our willingness to forgive and be forgiven ensures it.