Ho’oponopono
is an ancient tradition of creating balance and harmony in the
relationship among your three selves—the union of the evolving
selves of your past, present and future--your Identity. Holding the
beginning of you and the infinite of you at the same time—the whole of
you. As a sensation, it's the moment of standing on a surfboard pa’a
with the fluidity of the water element and in communion
with the energy that is the force of the wave. It’s pono. Rightful.
Ho’oponopono
is not a religion; it’s a spiritual practice. While forgiving and
reconciliation is a set of skills from ho’oponopono, the
vast and timeless expression is to remain in alignment with the
agreement humanity committed to at the beginning of time.
At that crack of the first dawn
in this new universe of Male and Female--spark and space, Ku and Hina—we
stood before the creators of this new infinite, and proclaimed “I am IN.” We had all come from other universes for
the
opportunity of being in a universe where discovery rules and "what if?"
motivates. We became a fabric of light, each of us holding a thread of
intention and together weaving the story of love prevailing all trauma.
We accepted responsibility for our unique capacity to transmute negative
energy into positive energy, and we committed to forever learning how to co-create manifesting love from nothingness and space.
Like
most lucky Hawaiians, I got my ho’oponopono from my Grandpa, Harry
Uhane Ekau Jim, of the Kaimikaua ‘ohana of Maui and Molokai. I
also had TuTu Moki Mano’i, ‘ohana of Kalaheo, Kauai. They were my
babysitters. Dad and Mom both worked back in the early 60s all the time,
so on summer off and Catholic school holidays, I
was entrusted to their company and entertainment! They challenged me by sharing skills men have…setting bird traps,
cleaning lohi, working the taro in Hanapepe, and collecting medicine plants at the old heiau, our sacred spaces.
Neither
men used that word, ho’oponopono….It’s become a catch-all concept
representing the missing cultural behavior of the colonizers—the
relationship skills to create safe change. Some Hawaiians knew this
form of ho’oponopono as closing a circle while staying in your own
orbit, Huki.
Both
men held Ku-Hina as their whispered lineage. The universe is made of
two, the spark of male and the space of female. All life,
all vibration--everything--is in this truth. Grandpa and Tutu Moki were
both Mormon, and both shared lives, at different times, with Catholic
women. They spoke of a big difference between their religion and their
spiritual practice. With sweet humor, Grandpa
explained it this way:
“Went
on a hike to the top of hill. A park, rest, and view. There, on a huge
round flat rock, was this old man. Half his teeth, nearly
half his youthful size, not much of his hair, and childishly laughing
straight at me. ‘What’s the difference between a spiritual man and a
religious man?' he poked with a strong voice! I gave him a solid ‘I
don’t know!' ‘Ha ha,' he said. ‘A religious man
works his life to avoid hell. A spiritual man has been there, done
that, and moved on.'”
Tutu
Moki was lame from his left leg--the “Pearl Harbor war.” Undaunted, he
used a stick to go slow and all over the forest. He was
a still man. Uncle Mano’i, as he was known, had a story about Hawaii's
first mother and father.
On
the island of Kauai, on the southwestern rim of the Lihue Depression is
Mount Kahili, a huge peak with a flat field about 70 yards
wide at the top. It is here that the first man and woman lived. They
too had lived in a heaven on earth, but unlike Adam and Eve they were
not chased out for unworthiness. They decided to leave Eden to explore
the unknown. Ku and Hina were clear that nothing
would follow them out of heaven—no animal, no plant, no bird, no
insect. Everything was already in heaven outside. Together, they seeded
Aloha everywhere.
Divine
breath connects us and brings us love in our relationships with
all. Aunty Margaret Machado said Aloha means “the Breath of God
is in our presence.” Finding our common source of harmony can afford
your Identity safe change, purposeful orbit of service transmuting
negative into positive and engaging Aloha’s Illumination. May we
all share Ho’oponopono: love prevails all trauma.
