“I’m sorry,
Please forgive me,
Thank you,
I love you”
Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian practice for forgiveness and reconciliation. It translates to ‘to make things right in your relationships with all around you.’ The philosophy behind this practice is that we’re each responsible for what shows up in our reality. We own our feelings and our experiences. So even if someone else has wronged us, we’re the ones saying “I am sorry. Forgive me…”
The foundation of this practice is unity: an unbreakable bond connects you to everyone else, even though we seem so separate. When you focus on healing the past, you help heal your life in the present. When you right any wrongs in your thinking, you adjust and amend problems in the physical realm.
Four forces are at work in this prayer: repentance, forgiveness, gratitude, and love. These are reflected in the four phrases that make up the prayer.
The phrases, which you can repeat in any order, silently to yourself or out loud, are:
- I am sorry.
- (Please) Forgive me.
- Thank you.
- I love you.
Before reciting this Ho’oponopono mantra, the first step is to think about who or what you want to send this prayer. Ho’oponopono healing is done from a distance. You can do this prayer by forgiving and sending love to yourself.
This traditional Hawaiian forgiveness ritual is powerful because it first requires you to acknowledge that wrong was done by saying you’re sorry. Having other people acknowledge our feelings is a universal need, but in Ho’oponopono, you must first acknowledge that wrongdoing exists, which is a way of acknowledging these feelings. Only then will it be possible to find it in your heart to forgive someone else, or yourself.
Gratitude towards the universe is an important part of the healing process in Ho’oponopono. Saying thank you for all the forgiveness, thank you for all the change within you, thanks to yourself for being who you are. Gratitude is an emotion that must be said repeatedly to bring in the fresh air of positivity.
Say I love you to yourself, to God, to your body, to the sheltering house you live in, to your surroundings, to the air you breathe. Say I love you to your challenges. Say it over and over. Just say I love you and mean it. There is nothing as powerful as love, with love comes layers of warmth and security. Giving love is a caring and affectionate emotion that accelerates the healing process in Ho’oponopono.
Ho’oponopono reminds us that everything happening to you right now is happening inside us. Everything you see, everything you hear, and the perception you have of every person you meet, is not “out there” it happens in our mind and is shaded with all our perceptions, fear, and beliefs about that experience.
Start off this practice by repeating this prayer three times and observe your spirit lighten and your soul expand.
