Ho'oponopono for the Doctor's Soul

Ho'oponopono: Place of Refuge, Way of Forgiveness, and Process for Peace

2012-01-14T21:33:00.003-07:00

Pu'uhonua O Honaunau: Place of Refuge

I've just returned from the Big Island of Hawaii, where I had the good fortune to attend IZI LLC's Self-Identity through Ho'oponopono Basic II seminar. It felt very important to me to be there, since they have not offered this class in many years.

I always learn deeply from Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, both through his words and example.   He shared many aspects that were new to me, such as soul restoration and additional ways to clean. And yet, the primary reason to be there did not seem to be gaining "information." Instead, it seemed to be the process of cleaning itself, especially for the land we were on.

Over the 2 days, he asked multiple people to speak. When he came to me, I had no words . . . just a feeling of absolute stillness and peace. Having come through a challenging last few months, this was a great relief for me! I tried my best to express it, and hope it came through.

What was happening for me most of all was the feeling of communion with the wind, water, birds, plants, flowers, and earth. I found myself wandering out to the grass, walking on it gently in bare feet and saying "thank you." I know this sounds strange. Fly all that way to go talk with the land? It happened.

There were whales, too. Spouting, spy-hopping, flipper-flapping humpback whales, doing what they've done for eons. It filled me with such love I cannot describe. On top of it, a full moon by the gently lapping sea. I still feel the breeze, and hear the waves.

What I want to say about Ho'oponopono for me, is that it is not about getting more wealth, happiness, relationships, jobs, or business. It may well pave the way for these things, and many people focus on them in speaking about Ho'oponopono. Yet these attributes are not its main purpose.

For me, Ho'oponopono is a process between my triune self and my Creator. It's about communion, being who I truly am, and letting go of all the stuff I've accumulated that is not really me. It's about humility and gratitude for being alive in this time, able to make amends for all my impatience, errors, judgments, and opinions about the way I think things "should" be.

I don't mean becoming passive or hopeless. I mean embracing the full catastrophe of life, as Jon Kabat-Zinn PhD has written. It means responding as best I can in each moment -- in my Ho'oponopono cleaning and in peace, allowing Divine Inspiration to come through. There are many ways to live in peace; Ho'oponopono is this for me. It is a guide for living life. Somehow, joy seems to be coming naturally all on its own as I practice.

Perhaps we humans need to be enticed into such a practice at first, with hopes of what it can bring us. Some books, products, and seminars about Ho'oponopono are advertised this way. One example is Joe Vitale, who has helped publicize Ho'oponopono widely. I met many people at the seminar who live in the Islands, yet had not even heard of Ho'oponopono until reading Vitale's (and Dr. Hew Len's) book, "Zero Limits."

I am grateful, even though my first learning about Ho'oponopono came through Victoria Shook's book using it for conflict resolution in groups. So even I had needed a "why".

While on the Big Island, I wanted to visit a place that's special to me: Pu'uhonua O Honaunau, the Place of Refuge. In ancient times, Hawaiians who broke kapu laws were punished by death.   But if one could could escape his or her pursuers and reach the nearest Pu'uhonua, s/he could be saved. A large wall divides the Place of Refuge from the Royal Grounds; the bones of chiefs buried there give it mana, or power. It is a very peaceful place to me, even though there was certainly conflict and pain on the land at one time.

I asked a woman concierge at the hotel how long it might take us to drive to Honaunau? She immediately asked, "Why would you want to go there?" I smiled and said, "For me it is a place of forgiveness and peace." She calmed and answered, "50 minutes." Her question surprised me, but maybe I surprised her by not being more interested in the shops at Waikoloa. :-)

If only it took 50 minutes for any of us these days to reach a place of refuge and peace, would the trip not be worth it? Perhaps this also is what Ho'oponopono is to me. Thank you Dr. Hew Len, Joe Vitale, Mabel Katz, and all who are cleaning in this way. Thank you especially to Morrnah Simeona, the kahuna who simplified these processes so that many more of us can use them.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono Cleaning: An Easier Way to Clarity and Peace

2011-11-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

One of Ho'oponopono's main teachings is that when we clean, the right and perfect thing comes for us and everyone else.

Yet when the seemingly "wrong" thing lands on our doorstep, this can be hard to accept. Our human minds insist on logic -- linear cause and effect. We forget that healing might be a journey or a process. If Ho'oponopono "works", we think our lives should always be easy.

I'm coming to realize that "easy" does not mean without challenge. Instead, "easy" relates more to our own attitude and perceptions than it does to outer circumstances.

In the last 6 weeks or so, I've been dealing with a painful situation concerning my office. I won't disclose all the details. Just know things were distressing enough to make me want to move.

What's surprising is that I didn't completely melt down and give up. I continued Ho'oponopono cleaning throughout this time, even with all the anger, fear, and hurt that arose. It definitely wasn't "easy."

Some nights, I couldn't sleep. I would wake up at 2-3 a.m., and end up reading Mabel Katz's The Easiest Way.   This book is always on my bedside, along with my Ho'oponopono tools and training manuals. Reading Mabel's stories gave me a feeling of companionship, when I was otherwise feeling alone. Reading Morrnah's meditations and the words of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len did the same.

I cleaned while consulting attorneys, searching for new office space, and meeting and speaking with all the other practitioners involved. I cleaned while terminating the old lease and negotiating a new one. Then came the tasks of finding movers, changing phone service, creating messages for my patients, packing, and . . . well, you get the picture.

I noticed that I could focus on what needed to be done, rather than feeling embroiled in personal drama. My previous way (not the "easiest" one!) would have been trying to figure out "why" this was happening . . . which would drain my energy and distract from the things I actually could do.

This time, I could simply notice what was taking place, clean, and act as inspired. I've often been puzzled when hearing Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len say that when you're inspired, you just "do" -- without wondering whether it's the right decision or not. There are other decisions I've agonized over, trying to ferret out every possible eventuality before moving ahead. But with the cleaning this time, that didn't happen. Also, the right people to help me, showed up.

Of course there were and are still times of tension and stress. I clean with these as they arrive. Also I was and am wearing my Ho'oponopono "embracer" which keeps reminding me to say "thank you" and "I love you," no matter what comes.

I don't know "why" any of this happened -- but Divinity does. I can only guess that I was there to clean, and then was done in that particular situation. But I don't really know.

Dr. Hew Len tells a similarly sudden story about resigning from his part-time job at Hawaii State Hospital. After he'd been working there for several years, Morrnah told him he was done there. He knew she surely did her cleaning, just as he did. "And so, I ended it. I didn't even attend the going away party the staff gave me," he said. I'm sure there must have been some details to clean up, but the decision to move on came clearly.

Some would say events don't happen TO you, they happen FOR you (to grow). I can say that through Ho'oponopono, my attitude towards "what happens" has shifted profoundly over the last several years. In fact, these recent events provided an acid test! :-) Even so, my feeling was simply to let go of what wasn't working, while caring enough for myself and my patients to find something better. Without the need to blame or fight with anybody.

What happened as a result, you wonder?

Well, my office is now in a stable, calming, beautiful place, shared with several other like-minded practitioners. The office is called "Optimal You," and embodies the idea that mental health is much more than absence of diagnosable illness. It also includes a feeling of well-being, resilience to stress, healthy relationships, recognizing one’s own potential, ability to work joyfully and productively, and contributing to one’s community. Experiencing (at least sometimes) a sense of spiritual peace is part of it too.

It means a great deal to me to work with others who feel similarly, and who hold these ideals in their daily activities. This provides a very healing environment for patients as well. And it all gives me a feeling of hope, even in the midst of what appeared to be chaos.

I believe Ho'oponopono cleaning has a lot to do with this outcome, even though I can't "prove" it.

Any suffering I experienced over the last several weeks had to do with my unwillingness or forgetting to let God help me. When I did not choose to clean (and got upset instead), I suffered. When I kept cleaning and did as inspired, the way seemed smooth -- not necessarily "easy," but doable. After all, there were a lot of boxes to schlepp, and a whole office to reorganize on the other end! One can experience poise and clarity, even when surrounded by cardboard boxes and furniture that doesn't yet know where it goes.

The physical move is done now, and the doors are open once again. I look forward to practicing and cleaning in this new space -- whoever and whatever shows up. And whenever I forget, I have my reminders.

Thank you dear Divinity, Morrnah, Dr. Hew Len, and Mabel, for showing me an easier way.

Peace begins with me
Pam

Lee Lipsenthal MD: Ho'oponopono Light from Within

2011-09-24T21:41:00.003-07:00

To me, some people are living, breathing examples of Ho'oponopono. This can surely last after they pass on. Some have been to seminars to learn about the process, and others have come to this on their own.

Some people naturally come to an acceptance that we are not "in control" of outcomes, but can certainly practice peace in every moment -- no matter what. Not all of us get this lesson so easily, even while actively doing Ho'oponopono.

A comparison between my own recent activities and the attitude of a dear friend and colleague will illustrate. I supposedly practice Ho'oponopono; he doesn't. It's definitely in him anyway.

A couple of weeks ago I was in San Diego for a session with my current homeopathic training program, California Center for Homeopathic Education. The session contained several classroom days, a graduation evening, and also a quiz for which I needed to study.

Imagine my growing concern when, around 4pm on the 100+ degree afternoon of 9/8/11, I was working in my hotel room . . . and it started to get hot. Also, my computer flashed a warning that it was now on battery power, needing electricity soon. This seemed very odd, since it was plugged into the wall.

In my academic fervor, I was NOT Ho'oponopono cleaning.

My insistent human brain thought something might be wrong with the electrical receptacle, so I chose another. And another. These were no help at all.

After unsuccessfully trying all the lamps in the room, I had a diagnosis: electricity off. Brilliant -- and still not a single "thank you" or other Ho'oponopono cleaning tool came to my mind. I was lost in space for sure.

The phone was still working, and I called the front desk to let them know that my room was without electricity. A kindly voice on the other end replied, "Ma'am, the electricity is out over all of San Diego County. We're trying to find out what happened, and we're sorry for your inconvenience."

In my human self-referential state, I'd had no idea anything was happening to anyone else. I had been ensconced with my books and computer for hours -- isolated from the rest of the world. And I shamefully admit: forgetting to clean.

I wandered through very dark hallways to the stairs, and climbed down to the lobby where others were milling about. Word was, the outage extended from San Diego north to the LA area, east to Yuma, AZ, and south to Mexicali, Mexico.

Thankfully, my world could expand beyond room 312 of the Hilton Garden Inn. I started to clean. Lightswitch! :-)

As the sun went down, the hotel staff mentioned how lucky I was to be here already. All the traffic lights being out left gridlock on the freeways and streets. The airport was closed. Also, no restaurants could serve patrons. Fortunately, I'd eaten a late lunch. There was plenty of water, though, and people in the bar were happy to sample more exotic concoctions.

Still having studying to do, I used the last remaining daylight for review -- with Ho'oponopono cleaning now added. How had this precious process slipped out of my mind before? I don't know, but it had.

Suddenly the woman behind the desk came up to where I was sitting in the darkening lobby. "Would you like a glow stick?" she offered. "You just crack it and it gives light for at least 12 hours!" This seemed absolutely wonderful to me.

I'm sure Dr. Rajan Sankaran would love the image of a student poring over his "Sensation in Homeopathy" text with a glow stick -- but that is exactly how I studied that evening. Just like Abraham Lincoln with his candle flame, but probably much safer.

Somewhere in the wee hours of the next morning, electricity returned. And I was grateful for the MANY reminders to clean.

On the other hand, my friend and colleague Lee Lipsenthal MD is a beautiful contrast to these lapses shared above. He has worked with Dean Ornish MD, and has taught physicians all over how to find balance and calm in their busy medical lives. I have enjoyed working with him in many locales -- including Molokai, Hawaii for a "Healer Within" retreat in late May 2009.

Lee has personally helped thousands of people along their healing paths -- sometimes through quieter methods such as HeartMath meditations. His more lively, invigorating processes include shamanic journeying with holotropic breathwork. Through this latter, he helped me make inner peace with my father. He also brought dance back into my life after several years without it. Following a week of properly healthy organic food, we ate sloppy Molokai hamburgers in celebration! It was marvelous to laugh and get ketchup all over ourselves.

But not long after after our Hawaiian adventure, Lee was diagnosed with stage 4, metastatic esophageal cancer. Nobody saw that one coming.

For most everyone else, it was a time of shock and disbelief. But maintaining his sense of peace, Lee wrote, connected, and meditated, between rounds of chemo and radiation -- even though suffering all the pain that goes with those treatments. He spoke his message of living each day with grace to many, many people, including the American Academy of Family Physicians.

For a time it seemed he had beaten the odds. He continued his teaching and traveling. I spoke with him in late July, for the mundane reason of needing a receipt . . . . not realizing he'd just learned that the cancer was back until he said so. We talked about what he wanted to do, and what mattered most to him. He continued to write on Huffington Post, and completed a book due for publication later this fall: Enjoy Every Sandwich. His love for songwriter Warren Zevon inspired the title.

This past Tuesday, Lee passed on to his next great adventure -- leaving behind his physician wife Kathy, his children Will and Cheryl, his parents, and friends the world over. He recently created a video for Enjoy Every Sandwich that expresses his inner peace and amazement with life. To me, Lee embodied Ho'oponopono -- certainly better than I did in the story above. It wasn't always that way for him, but his example gives me great hope for myself and the rest of us, waking up.

Here's the video:

Thank you, dear Lee. I send you wishes for the peace that passes understanding -- but you already know what that is. I send wishes of healing peace to your family and all the rest of us who love you, too. Your light is still shining, here -- and it's far, far brighter than any glow-stick.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono, Haboobs, and Being Citizens of the World

2011-08-27T00:04:00.000-07:00

The last several months have seen really rough natural events all over the world -- earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, flooding, and hurricanes.

Here in Arizona, we have all-time high temperatures of 117 degrees (today) and major dust storms that paralyze highways and cities. The proper name for these storms, which occur naturally in the Sonoran and Saharan Deserts, is "haboob". It comes from an Arabic term meaning "strong wind."

Unfortunately, using this word also stirs hornets' nests in certain Arizonans -- who insist that we don't have anything like those storms they have in the Middle East.

Seriously.

“I am insulted," wrote Gilbert Arizona resident Don Yonts to the Arizona Republic, "that local TV news crews are now calling this kind of storm a haboob,” This was after a particularly fierce, mile-high dust storm swept through the state on July 5. “How do they think our soldiers feel coming back to Arizona and hearing some Middle Eastern term?”

Thankfully there are also those who recognize that we're citizens of the world, linked even by the type of storms we have. David Wilson of Goodyear AZ wrote: "according to his [Yonts, above] logic, the following words of foreign origin should also not be used as they may insult him and our armed forces? Typhoon, shawl, pajamas, and kiosk. Also, we should not teach "algebra," use the "zero" or wear "khaki" pants."

Thanks, David.

Ho'oponopono is a process that honors our connections, even those to which we are blind. There is both shared responsibility and shared benefit in it. We are united in the memories which materialize in our lives as "problems" . . . and we have no idea who also may be sharing these. Count on it, though: whoever shows up in our lives, is one of these people.

And count on it also: whatever we clean in ourselves, comes off of everyone else too. That's the shared benefit.

The first time I saw Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len after my initial Ho'oponopono training, he said to me, "Ah, you're giving me another chance." At first I didn't understand what he meant. Then he taught me this notion that people who keep showing up are giving us another chance to make amends.

I felt bad, thinking maybe I was bugging him -- bringing back old "stuff" that I didn't even know I carried with me. I feel great love for this man; I don't mean to make anything worse for him! But then he said this is the perfect thing to do, a good kind of "bugging," if it's bugging at all. My showing up allows him to do his cleaning -- and me to do mine.

"A lot of people might come to one Ho'oponopono seminar," he said. "But the ones who keep coming back, those are the ones to watch out for." :-)

So I could see from my behavior [attending so very many Ho'oponopono trainings!] that I must have an awful lot of cleaning to do. Being a doctor, I have a lot of people to clean with also. Lord knows what kind of karma I'm carrying.

It seems no accident at all that haboobs happen in the Middle East as well as deserts here in Arizona. For sure we share memories, and now blood. Some of my patients are Muslim, and they are fasting for the holy month of Ramadan. I thank them for the cleaning they're doing, in their own way.

I saw something today on the news that tore at my heart: a hospital in Tripoli, Libya where patients had been abandoned amidst chaos. It was all about clashes between rebel forces and those still loyal to Moammar Gadhafi. Piles of bodies left behind, some still living . . . in pain, needing care. Doctors shot, still in their scrubs -- bodies dumped in a canal. Nobody knows who did the killing.

One of my colleagues is in Libya, with the International Medical Corps. I can only imagine what he's seeing, the situations he's dealing with, and the many people he's assisting. Most likely, he's feeling like he can never do enough. He is very brave, and I am grateful to him.

I'm cleaning. Truly, we are all connected.

Peace begins with me,

Pam

You Can Lead a Horse to Blue Solar Water, But Can You Make Him Drink?

2011-07-10T15:51:00.004-07:00


"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." -English idiom

Sometimes cartoonists say the darndest things.

Patrick McDonnell, creator of the comic strip "Mutts" above, really hits home for me . . . and maybe all of us at some level.

But as a case in point, let's take doctors.

We work with patients -- educating, helping, treating, prescribing, sometimes operating on, and doing all kinds of other procedures too.

Sometimes the patient accepts the prescription, suggestion, recommendation, or diagnostic test. Many times -- at least 50% or more in some sources -- they don't.

We wonder, why would a patient spend time and money to see us, and then not follow through with suggestions they receive? There are papers galore examining this question . . . but that's not the miracle in the comic above.

The miracle is that the "horse" drinks at all -- even if it's Blue Solar Water. And that in the cartoon, Mooch (the tuxedo cat with attitude) attributes this result to his own ministrations. What would Mooch say if the horse continued to balk?

So many times we run into this paradigm, in both medicine and Ho'oponopono. We do our cleaning, and sometimes "it works": we get the raise, the romantic partner, the contract, the car, the house, whatever. Of course this has to be because "we" are brilliant, are doing it "right", or have our you-know-what together, etc.

We forget that more is going on than meets the eye.

As patients, we have millions of reasons why we won't fully "drink" the medicinal water -- whatever it may be (allopathy, homeopathy, surgery, meditation, St. John's Wort, you name it.) We also have many reasons why we do, but I think they have more to do with US than with our doctors.

I can recall plenty of times I've patted myself on the back just like Mooch above, when actually my "horse" was thirsty and simply ready to do the work. This doesn't mean my participation wasn't useful or timely -- just that the seeming "success" isn't because of ME. I apply my science and my art (my "tools") as best I can, and I am as present with my patient as I can be. S/he then does what s/he does with these things. It may be to "drink", or not.

The bottom line is, I am not in charge. This is a very hard truth for most of us, physicians included.

It can be especially painful when someone is suffering, and we think we know how to heal them. We forget that all healing is ultimately self-healing -- and that the patient's own inner resources (which are part of Divinity) do that miraculous work. We doctors try to best leverage these things in the patient's favor, but it's true nevertheless.

Likewise in Ho'oponopono, we clean with moment-to-moment situations, using whatever tools or processes we know. Amazingly then, the right and perfect next step shows up -- and the next, and the next, and the next. We are not "in charge," and the best thing we can do is our cleaning. Sometimes we're inspired to speak up, to do, or to act. We are clear, and we do. If not, we clean.

Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len has often said, "If you wonder whether you're inspired, you're not. Keep cleaning." :-)

Thank you dear Mooch. I love you. You're helping me let go of my hero complex, and simply do what's in front of me to do. As a dear friend of mine in North Carolina (fellow psychiatrist Dr. Julia Lunsford) would say, "That's a gracious plenty."

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono and Business: "Just Get on the Bike"

2011-07-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Do you remember learning to ride a bike? Who taught you? Did it come easy, or was it hard to get the hang of it?

For me, it was tough. My parents had given me a Huffy 2-wheel bicycle for Christmas, and I was so excited. I could just imagine flying down the street, the wind in my hair -- it was the call of freedom for me. But every time I tried, I kept falling down. I just could not get the balance right; I would try to pedal briefly, and then, boom!   The driveway would rise up to meet me.

My father and mother both got exasperated with their clumsy child. Looking back on it, I can't imagine how a parent would go about teaching teach such a skill, though. It seems like one of those things you just have to get into your own body -- and once you have it, it stays.

Still, I was afraid I would never have the kind of fun I saw other kids having, riding their bikes to school. It was also a matter of pride, even though school was only a few blocks from my house. :-)

I wouldn't give up, no matter how many skinned knees I got (and there were plenty).

One day, I begged my dad to try again. So he ran along behind me as usual, holding the bike up. I pedaled as fast as I could, determined that THIS time, I would make it. There were a few wobbles, but I kept going -- it seemed a lot longer than usual this time.

Suddenly I looked behind me, and Dad wasn't there. He was standing WAY behind me -- and I was still upright, on my own! I kept going a little farther, and then hit the brakes. I put my feet on the ground, one on either side of the bike, and laughed. Dad was laughing too. "You little dickens," he said.

Then I got back on, and found I could ride all by myself! It was as if my body had always known how to do this.

One minute I couldn't, and the next minute, I could. It felt like breaking through a fierce barrier -- "I can't" is often this way, for so many of us. I will never forget that feeling of freedom and joy. After this I remember many wonderful excursions up and down my street: a nice, not-too-steep hill providing all the adventure a 7-year-old could want.

Now, what could this possibly have to do with Ho'oponopono, you wonder?

A couple of weeks ago I was part of a conference call with Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len and Kamaile Rafaelovich about money and building your business.

Like everything else in creation, businesses have 3-part self-identities that can be talked with, engaged with, and cleaned with.   Kamaile shared that the business is a person, and has its own purpose -- regardless of our expectations of it.   We can say "I love you" to the company, and be its caretaker. (Or, we can whine and complain, but that doesn't help the situation any -- meaning, no cleaning gets done while we're doing that.)

The whole idea of Ho'oponopono with businesses, explained Dr. Hew Len, is to let go of blocks within ourselves -- and apply our Ho'oponopono tools to whatever our experience of that business might be.   Through this cleaning, the right people and situations show up -- in order to "bug" us in the most perfect way. These, in turn, offer us countless choices to let go of data or memories that are replaying.

However, we never know what is "really" happening in any one moment, or exactly what we're cleaning. The only thing we do know is that it's something within us, since we're there.   :-)   Just like us, our businesses have subconscious aspects that are full of memories coming up for release.

Specifically with our businesses, we can clean with the office space we're using, the bank accounts, checks, receipts, and all customers (or patients) who come. So, when entering invoices, payments, and bills (yes! even the bills!) into Quickbooks, I clean with each submission, saying "Thank you." I do the same when taking checks to the bank.

I asked Kamaile and Dr. Hew Len if they could please suggest a special cleaning tool to use with my business, which helps people heal themselves. After a brief pause, Dr. Hew Len said he saw "Just get on the bike." Kamaile saw a vision of a bike hanging in mid air, with its wheels whirring. :-) They shared that simply saying, "Get on the bike," is like telepathy between the conscious and subconscious, starting the cleaning process. Once you "get on the bike," all is initiated and moves on its own.

They had no idea of the story I told you above, or what it would mean to me. It's a perfect cleaning tool for me though, and I use it every day before going into the office. This tool starts things I can't possibly understand -- but with my previous history with my father and bike riding, it touches my heart also.

Other Ho'oponopono conversations like this will be scheduled in the future, covering all kinds of subjects. Other long-time Ho'oponopono practitioners were also on the line, offering their own experiences. I found the whole conversation very helpful, and full of laughter too. If interested, you can check out www.zerolag.biz for more information -- I'll enjoy being on more of them myself.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono: Can You Hear Me Now?

2011-05-27T21:50:00.011-07:00

"It's the memory that hears, not you. If I do my cleaning, Inspiration shows up."

~Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len

Last weekend I had the good fortune to attend a Ho'oponopono training with Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len and Dr. Kikikipa Kretzer in Los Angeles.   Each time I attend, my experience is a little bit different, and I hear more.

One of the things I heard this time (which could have been said before, but I had missed it!), was Dr. Hew Len repeating the above about "hearing." We think we hear accurately, but we don't.

Our ears deliver air pressure changes and bone vibration, which is transformed into neurological impulses by our auditory nerves. Our brain receives and processes these. It matches these impulses with what it has already experienced before, checking to see if they signal danger or not. Perhaps it might be food, or a territorial threat. It interprets these impulses and passes them along to the rest of our body, accordingly.

Though it only takes milliseconds, interpretation is still involved -- and that makes all the difference. Because the basic impulses are processed through our memory-rich minds, we can distort whole interactions in those milliseconds, never realizing we're doing it. We can't help it, because it's the way we're engineered. Our brains/minds are built to compare and file things into some kind of order, so that our world makes sense to us.

Unfortunately, the "sense" created may be way, way off from the original message transmitted. Sometimes we can tell how sick we are, by the "sense" we create. In homeopathy, the more rigid it is, the more stuck (and ill) we are. Ho'oponopono sees this not as being "sick", but as simply being full of memories that throw us off course.

Regardless, the only way to deal with this situation, explained Dr. Hew Len patiently, is to take 100% responsibility for our memories (or our filing system, as I'm mentioning here), recognizing that it is flawed. As beings we are perfect. It's the memories, or data in us that gums up the works.

We can take 100% responsibility, and then can choose to clean. We can say to our Inner Child, "I'm sorry [for being unconscious, for the error in me]." If we befriend and care for our Inner Child (or Subsconscious), it can connect with our Superconscious, so that all 3 parts of us -- Conscious, Subconscious, and Superconscious -- are aligned. "Mother, Father, Child as One."

Then whatever memories might be ready for cleaning can be churned up from the Subconscious. We don't consciously know what they are. But our Superconscious, always in perfect harmony with Divinity, can receive and order these memories in the best way possible so that Divinity can do Its work -- forgiving and transmuting them into pure light. Zero. Then Divinity fills up the space with "Mana," or divine energy.

Not a bad exchange, I'd say. :-)

Perhaps we can better comprehend need for this with so-called "bad" memories -- the ones we judge as "toxic", painful, angering, etc. But someone in the group wanted to know if we need to clean with "good" memories too?   Wouldn't these be okay to keep -- since they make us feel "good"?

"There's no such thing as a good memory," replied Dr. Hew Len. "You have to give up the world, even good memories. All of them take us back to another time -- we're not present."

"Only when we're nothing ["Zero"] can Inspiration show up," he went further. "No thought is contented. When the mind is in memory, it suffers, and the Subconscious (Inner Child) suffers."

I took notes, because I knew I wouldn't remember correctly. It's too much wisdom in a gulp. My mind wants to think it knows, but it doesn't. "You have to get clueless," he shared. Coming from a man who admits to having thousands of questions himself, this need for becoming clueless comes through even more powerfully for me.

Some people also wonder if there's any possible chance to get completely clean [of memories, etc]? "You've got to start," Dr. Hew Len replied, "or you will never be free. The process cannot start unless you begin."

Finally I feel it's not cleaning to get somewhere, or to "do" anything, but it's assuming my task without complaint. With dignity and peace, even -- at least for now. I'm glad I have my notes, memories though they be. They can remind me to start again. And again, and again, and again. I'm sure glad Divinity is patient with me.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono, Homeopathy, and that Precious "Zero" State

2011-04-13T10:41:00.008-07:00

Dr. Joe Vitale and Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len

Listening to a patient yesterday, I was struck yet again with the overlap between what I do as a homeopathic physician, and Ho'oponopono.

The woman described a situation where she had been extremely upset, lost in an avalanche of emotion. One painful feeling tapped into another, defenses erupted, and she felt herself flame up like a bonfire, unable to stop or let go. Even though something inside told her "this is not right -- back off," she couldn't.

The specific triggers could be different for each of us, but this is what it's generally like when we lose our center. Very important in this scenario: even while this woman was immersed in her swirl of pain, part of her stood outside and could "watch", or witness, what was happening. She had not been aware of that previously.

The homeopathic remedy I had given her -- a deep-acting one prescribed specifically for her individual disturbance -- gave relief when she re-dosed herself. Homeopathic remedies stimulate our own innate healing capacities (or Vital Force), and this takes over to bring us back to center again. This Vital Force is always present in us. Always.

This doesn't mean our disturbances won't still "flare" from time to time. On the path of healing, they do.   When we're healthy, we're resilient enough to deal with things without getting lost in an emotional avalanche. Or even if we do temporarily "lose it", we can re-equilibrate within a short time.

An accurate remedy is there to support us when we can't seem to find our center on our own.

The "zero" point in Ho'oponopono -- where we take responsibility for, and clean with anything we perceive as a problem -- allows an experience of peace, quietness, and stillness. No more old dramas, ancient resentments, or dialogs about "what I should have said to her", blah blah blah, are running. It's only from this point, the "zero point", that new ideas -- inspiration -- can come in. Otherwise we are being run by the Same Old Stuff.

With true healing, we can experience more and more of this state. Others can be as they are, and still we feel peace. We are resilient, unperturbed.

This is what I have seen over and over with people in their homeopathic healing process: the situations which used to drive them to distraction, no longer do. And in the process they learn about -- and begin to genuinely love -- themselves.    It means embracing of all things within themselves and others, all manner of strengths and failings, from a position of non-judgment.

Grace returns.

As I listen to my patients, I am also cleaning through Ho'oponopono. Among many other things, I often clean with my need to "help" them, and to find the "right" remedy. As a professional, of course I want to serve people as well as I can. But I don't want to get so worked up about being "good" at what I do that it obscures what they're showing. Seeing clearly leads precisely to a homeopathic remedy that can assist them in the manner above.

It is only from this point of "zero" -- that peace, non-judgment, and clarity -- that I can let go of my personal stuff and see what the patient is showing and telling me. Inspiration can then come in, not anything "rote".

And of course, we never know for sure that we're at "zero", so we keep cleaning -- asking Divinity's forgiveness for our unconsciousness, and inviting Divinity's help. Only Divinity can transmute -- or vaporize -- whatever memories are running within us and showing up at this time. That's why Dr. Hew Len will always tell you: "I'm only here to clean". He means it. I have taken him at his word, and practicing this process has helped me more than I can say.

Morrnah has truly left us with a gift.    Others like Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, Mabel Katz, IZI LLC, and Joe Vitale have helped spread this gift further throughout the world. In my view, it's much needed.

Joe Vitale has made a new resource available: some free video clips of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len and himself teaching about Ho'oponopono at the Zero Limits III seminar last year. Right now, only Video #1 is available, but Joe promises two more in coming days. I don't know if this series will ultimately end with a sales offer of some kind. But still there is value here -- especially for the millions of people who have not yet heard about Ho'oponopono. I like the way he highlights specific aspects of Ho'oponopono -- so far, Dr. Hew Len talking about knowing who you are, and the importance of that Zero state.

Here's the link: http://www.zerolimitsonline.com/ Enjoy!

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono Cleaning with Diet Coke Addiction

2011-04-10T01:38:00.001-07:00

Ho'oponopono deals with all kinds of human problems, seeing them as distorted memories retained unconsciously within us.

Choosing to use any of the various Ho'oponopono cleaning tools invites Divinity to "erase" these memories, transmuting them into pure energy -- bringing us back to "zero" at the same time. Through this process, we can experience relief from suffering.

It has always intrigued me that there are cleaning tools relating to addictions, which also are seen as the manifestation of memories needing release. All kinds of addictions -- such as smoking, alcohol, drugs, food binging and starvation, sex, and intense attachments to other persons, etc -- are examples.

Among many cleaning tools shared at Ho'oponopono training seminars, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len teaches about Lehua Honey -- and this one can be used with addictions. Made from beautiful red lehua flowers growing on 'Ohi'a trees in Hawaii, it's only available 3 months a year. But someone was inspired with a cleaning process involving this honey, which can be eaten or used mentally.

I asked him about this in conversation, and he casually commented that blue solar water works too.

I don't know if he knew it, but I have long struggled with a tenacious addiction to Diet Coke. (Perhaps this declared itself to him, as he is known to be a "seer.") I also don't know why I drink the stuff -- it contains aspartame, a known excitotoxin that can overstimulate and possibly damage or kill brain cells. Who in their right mind would offer their neurons such poison? Especially someone who knows about the science of both these substances and addiction? Uncanny.

I have tried to stop many times. I can desist for a week or two, always drifting back to drinking at least one can or medium-sized bottle a day. Is this nutty or what? No, it's like an alcoholic who tries to stop drinking when s/he knows it's damaging health, but the lure of the drug is chronic and enticing. I've tried to substitute other carbonated waters, and colas sweetened with Stevia. No help there either. Only Diet Coke will do.

On top of it, a family member was recently diagnosed with dementia. Not only does this explain some of his erratic behavior, but it also tells me to care more faithfully for every precious neuron I have.

So, I've been cleaning rigorously with this problem, including drinking blue solar water till it comes out my ears . . . . and elsewhere. :-)

Despite everything, this afternoon I had STILL not yet firmly committed to stopping my addiction. I had continued to keep 2 liters of Diet Coke in the refrigerator, right next to my blue solar water. It's clear: I am very firmly in its grasp.

Along about 2 pm, I craved my "fix". So I went to the fridge, and pulled out my first liter of deliciously cold buzz-juice. I could almost taste the fizz in my mouth. I twisted the cap, but it seemed stuck somehow. I kept working with it until my hand was sore. Strange. No matter, I thought. I'll just set this one aside and use the other for now.

I pulled out liter #2 . . . tried to twist open the cap . . . and it wouldn't open either! How in the world could this be?? I got out some pliers to grip the bottle cap more fiercely. They kept slipping. I tried knocking the bottle top on the counter -- no results. Both bottle caps sat there tauntingly, with nary a sign of my battle. It was a standoff.

Then I realized -- whoa! Could there be a message in this, at all? hmmmm. Those Diet Coke bottles had been right next to my blue solar water ones. Maybe I'll try some of that. The bottle opened easily, no problem. And the water itself tasted DELICIOUS! It always does, to me . . . except this time, I'd been wanting Diet Coke.

Remarkably, after a glass of fresh, cold blue solar water, the Diet Coke lost its appeal. Rather, it seemed that this water was much nicer tasting to me.

I don't know how the next few days will go, but I threw out the Diet Coke and don't plan to buy any more. Before today, I've never had any trouble whatsoever opening a bottle of it. I could imagine this happening with one bottle, but TWO?? No, to me something's going on. Ho'oponopono is like that: very, very weird. I'm thanking my Inner Child as well, knowing she must have been doing some powerful cleaning too.

And, I'm making more blue solar water as soon as the sun comes up in the morning. We'll be going through a lot more of it, from now on.

Thank you Morrnah, for updating Ho'oponopono as you did -- and thank you Dr. Hew Len, for seeing into me. And if anyone reading this has a similar addiction, thank you also for cleaning along with me.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono: Drinking the Tears of the Clouds

2011-03-20T23:53:00.002-07:00

"Next time you have a swig of water, remember that you're drinking the tears of the clouds."

~Martha Beck, life coach, author, and social scientist

Like most of the world, I have been shocked and saddened by the earthquakes, tsunamis, and radiation emissions in Japan this past week. So much suffering, with 18,000 counted dead so far.

Radiation is contaminating spinach and milk in the Fukushima region so far, too. The area is known for its rich farm country that feeds its nation -- including with melons, rice, and peaches. People in Tokyo are afraid to buy fresh produce.

Not to mention that the Kilauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island has been spewing lava 65 feet into the air again, and civil war in Libya is expanding into international conflict.

All at the same time.

My homeopathy class met in San Diego last week, beginning on the same day of Japan's 8.9 scale earthquake. One of my classmates is from Tokyo, and had arrived in LA the night before. Fortunately she learned that her family was okay, and chose to move ahead with the class.

But here's a very weird synchronicity. Our classes are planned in advance, with dates selected so that everyone can come. Topics and cases are prepared ahead of time according to our need, not what's going on in the news.

It so happened that for this past class our topic turned out to be radioactive elements, volcanoes, and the like. Who knew that as we studied, Mother Nature would be displaying these very same things? After all, these can be remedies for someone's illness.

During this same time, certain members of my family are having their own meltdowns -- seemingly not connected to all the above. Or is it?

Along with my Ho'oponopono cleaning, I have wondered if Mother Earth herself is not cleaning. Her work is cataclysmic in scale, while mine seems minuscule. Am I seeing it at all, or possibly the lack of enough of it? I don't really know.

The point is that, as Martha Beck tells in her quote above, in water we are surely one -- not only with each other, but with Nature itself. We drink the tears of the clouds, sharing molecules with the stars and each other. My Ho'oponopono cleaning affects molecules and memories in you, or in someone injured in Japan.

Your cleaning helps me when I cry, and when the world cries. In our own small spaces, we are each responsible for far more than we know -- and as we clean, the memories come off of all of us. Even the Self-Identity Through Ho'oponopono web site appears as a white board this evening, with the word "clean" on the title bar.

So thank you for your cleaning this day, this night. As I drink my water, I am cleaning with all of you.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono -- a Pathway to Hope

2011-02-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we get lazy, putting off things that need regular maintenance. Maybe it's cleaning the house, doing the dishes, balancing the checkbook, or changing the oil in the car.

We could even put off our Ho'oponopono cleaning. :-) (Who, me??)

Sometimes instead of saying "thank you", or "I love you" as we move through our day, we let our "usual" inner meditations take over. You know the ones: "I'm tired/bored"; "I don't have enough money"; "how dare s/he do that to me!"; "I'm a failure", and the like. We can get very good at those, repeating them unconsciously thousands of times a day. Mantras like these can become our constant unconscious background music . . . and probably do, unless we're awake.

Dr. Hew Len says its impossible to stay awake all the time, because our thoughts form before we're even aware of them. We can't predict our next thought. Try it! You can't.

But we CAN listen, and if we have established a good relationship with our inner child by caring for it, can trust what we hear.

We can also relate to the "things" in our environments, such as computers, houses, heat pumps, and cars. Sometimes we can hear messages that need attending to -- even if others say we're crazy for listening like that.

And when seeming "troubles" come up, we can see these as opportunities to clean rather than get upset.

I have an older car with 120,000+ miles on it. I have taken good care of it, and usually maintain it on schedule. Several years ago it came to me that this car that had been supporting me had a name: "Esmeralda". So Esmeralda she has been ever since. She's carried me faithfully to work and even across the country many times. In a way, Esmeralda talks to me -- sometimes warning me about things.

For the last 3 weeks I've been hearing: "Take me to the Toyota place." It's been like a gentle inner nudge I can brush away. So due to other activities (like work, and sometimes laziness), I had not taken her there.

This morning was different. I woke up early and heard a much louder: "Take me to Toyota NOW!" Okay, okay. Let me get a shower first.

I drove to the Toyota place, and a nice gentleman directed me into the garage. As soon as I rolled my window down, I smelled something odd -- like burning. Could this be from MY car? Surely it had to be someone else's. I couldn't place the aroma -- it almost smelled like an electrical fire.

"Do you have an appointment?" he asked. "No," I replied, "but my car needs a Yellow Service (oil change, regular checking out, rotate tires, etc)." "That's okay," he said. "We can fit you in."

"Do you smell anything from my car?" I asked him. He sniffed and shook his head no.   With a vaguely uneasy feeling, I took my book and walked into the waiting area -- saying "thank you" many, many times.

Sometime later, the same man returned. "Your valve cover gaskets are leaking -- there's oil all over the engine. That may have been what you smelled!" Of course, this had to be fixed. The total bill was ~$700, most of which was labor.

In the past, I might have gone to victim mode -- "Why me?" "Does the Universe hate me?" The afternoon would have been miserable, angry, and despairing.

This time, the feeling was entirely different. It was just an older car -- Esmeralda -- with needs. I said "thank you," grateful that I had FINALLY listened to her this morning. What worse damage could have happened with a longer delay?   I paid the bill and drove home.

I took a nap this afternoon, dreaming of Esmeralda. There she told me clearly, "My name is Esperanza now." Since "Esperanza" is the Spanish word for "hope", the message sank deeply into my heart. She (and I?) are no longer like the dramatic, cast-off character from "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" -- wounded, weary, and victimized. We have hope now.

Ho'oponopono does that, for me. It's a pathway into a much healthier, less dark and negative, way of living life. And now IZI, LLC has published its 2011 schedule of trainings. I'm looking forward to joining in. Are you?

Peace begins with me,
Pam

PS: The photo is of Gold Star "Esperanza", with a Queen Monarch Butterfly nuzzling into its beautiful blooms.

Ho'oponopono: When the Spirit Moves You

2011-02-05T20:22:00.003-07:00

Practicing Ho'oponopono can be a paradox at times. In many ways it brings peace and balance, yet for some of us it also seems to bring more complex cleaning situations into our lives.

In fact, some might ask whether the appearance of problems or additional complexity means one's Ho'oponopono cleaning isn't "working".

In such cases, I always think of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len shaking his head and remarking: "A problem is only a problem because we say it is." After many experiences over the last few years, I really think he's right.

Since my last post, I've moved my office to a new location. This is a big undertaking for any kind of business, including a medical practice. So many pieces need to come together, and so many people play a part! And although for several years I'd enjoyed sharing space with some delightful, very skilled therapists, the lease was running out.

So I'd been cleaning with this situation for several months, not sure what was going to happen. But suddenly, a beautiful opportunity with another integrative medical practice showed up.

I double and triple-checked with my inner child, visited the building many times, met the others who also work there, and talked with the other physician in depth. Every time she was warm and gracious, responding thoughtfully to all my questions. I also meditated in the office I would have, asking the space itself if it was okay with my being there. In all areas, I kept getting "yes". Having a window was a nice plus also! :-)

So I signed the lease.

The timing of the move, though, seemed a "problem" because of some simultaneous family issues back east. My sibs and I needed to clean our family home, which meant traveling and working intensively together just days before the movers would come to my office.

It seemed a logistical nightmare . . . . cleaning (manually, not only through Ho'oponopono) a house that had been lived in for 25 years, and then returning here to move and clean my office? Eeeeek!

Fortunately Mabel Katz had suggested some Ho'oponopono preparations to make for the office move at least, and I had been following through as best I could.

I cleaned with the address of my new office building, as well as all the people's names within it. For this, I placed a print-out of its web site and photos of all its people under a glass of water which I changed at least twice a day. I placed my own business card and the other physician's business card there also. The building itself has some history, so I went through it with "Indigo, Emerald Green, Ice Blue, and White" -- focusing especially on "my" little room. I placed a tiny Ceeport sticker in one of its corners.

I also cleaned with the moving company and its address, using my pencil and eraser. Its web site showed photos of each worker; I cleaned with all of these too. Several times in meditation, I heard "lehua honey" -- so mentally used this as well.

I meditated in my old office, thanking it for allowing my patients and me to be there.   During the general purging and letting go of no-longer-needed items, I drank blue solar water -- and while packing the things that would come with me, I used several additional cleaning tools as inspired.

I bought a new desk to be delivered from the store, and cleaned with this business, its address, and the salesman's business card. When it came to my new office, I placed my Ho'oponopono manual on it and left it out until moving day, so that more cleaning could take place in the room.

The day before the move, I received an email from the moving company naming the 2 men who would work with me the next day. With my eraser and "thank you", I cleaned again with these names. It seemed surprising that on the actual day of the move, 2 other company employees showed up instead -- both happening to be from Hawaii!   There had been a sudden scheduling change that morning, and they hoped I didn't mind. :-)

I smiled both inside and out, feeling Divinity's love through the whole thing.

All the furniture and box logistics went perfectly . . . but the telephone hook-up did not. What a laugh -- I had not cleaned with Cox Communications, since they were the same company I'd had in my old office. Oops!

It took multiple phone calls and emails to get things arranged correctly.   And once all was hooked up, they even ended up giving me the wrong phone number!   It took a little while to sort this out, but now I'm in my new space. With a phone, the right number, and ability to get my messages. Yay!

The final thing I did not do -- and realized too late that I should have -- was to clean specifically with my credit card machine. I saw patients for an entire week, not realizing anything was amiss . . . but later discovered that the credit card deposits weren't making it to my checking account. Yikes!

It took 3 separate phone calls with the merchant company's technical team to get my terminal working correctly. Maybe it would have been easier had I remembered this specific cleaning piece. Or, maybe this "problem" was only a shadow of the actual thing needing cleaning -- and the mishaps allowed me to connect and clean with 3 more people I would never have contacted had the machine functioned perfectly.

Maybe it DID function "perfectly", if seen from another perspective -- the one that Dr. Hew Len and Mabel Katz seem to see when looking at my misadventures! (Are you reading this, Mabel and Dr. Hew Len? I thank you from the bottom of my heart.)

And I'm still laughing at how those amazing (and strong!) Hawaiian men showed up to move me to my new place of business. Mahalo nui loa to them, and to Divinity.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

"It's Not Out There" -- Morrnah Nalamaku Simeona

2010-12-23T11:23:00.005-07:00

Many people are traveling for the holidays, especially on airplanes. Someone spoke with me the other day about her fear of flying, which was intense enough to sideline her from certain trips.

She shared that for her, the worst part of this is "turbulence". She couldn't stand the feeling of inner lurching, seeing things fly off seat trays, and flight attendants grabbing onto seats to walk. Even the potential for this was too much to risk.

I remembered a story that Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len told about his own travels with Morrnah Simeona, the Kahuna Lapa'au who updated Ho'oponopono for modern times. Morrnah taught all over the world, including at medical centers and the United Nations 3 times. For her expertise in Hawaiian language and culture, the Hawaii State Legislature and the Hongwanji Mission of Honolulu named her a "Living Treasure of Hawaii."

Anyway, Dr. Hew Len worked and traveled with Morrnah for about 10 years before her death in 1992.

They would always do their Ho'oponopono cleaning before and during their trips. But on one of their flights, the plane hit turbulence, lurching up and down. Instinctively, Dr. Hew Len looked out the window. "I don't know what I thought I would see, but I looked anyway," he said.

Sitting next to him, Morrnah had appeared to be asleep (as she often did). But she softly said to him, "It's not out there."

Huh?

Dr. Hew Len realized that she meant the TURBULENCE was not "out there" -- it was IN HERE. The air turbulence on the flight, like any other potential "problem" we might encounter, was simply memories within -- showing up for release. On the flight they could look out the window for something else to blame, or take 100% responsibility for their experience, and clean.

They picked option #2, and the turbulence soon disappeared.

Lots of us are walking around all the time with inner turbulence. For the least seeming impertinence, we snap at each other. We shove and jostle our way in lines, cutting off others so we can be "first". We get surly with airline workers at the check-in areas. It all happens in a split second, unconsciously -- no thought, just lizard-brain activity.

What if we cleaned instead -- BEFORE and during our travels? What if we simply said "thank you" at each juncture, at each step of the journey? What if we said (maybe silently) "thank you" to the plane, the seats we're in? What if we really took responsibility, and -- through Ho'oponopono as well as literally -- cleaned up our places before disembarking?

What if Dr. Hew Len is correct, and "If you could see what happens every time you clean, you would never, ever stop?"

I'm taking him up on that, including when people talk to me about their fear of flying and turbulence. What about you?

Peace (and safe travels) begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono: Healing Balm for Fearful Souls

2010-12-12T00:18:00.004-07:00

I have a story to tell. It's been brewing for several weeks.

Many of you have written me with questions about whether Ho'oponopono really "works", and how we can tell. I've heard similar questions on conference calls and live seminars also.

Usually Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len breaks out laughing when we ask such questions, because it's impossible to know at any one moment whether we're being run by "data", or by Inspiration. The best we can do is "just clean", and know that if we do that, all falls into place as it should. Mabel Katz often says that we usually only "know" when looking back.

Despite this, it's human nature to get a little impatient sometimes.

Anyway . . . the story. Please bear with me. I share the many steps so you can walk along with me.

I've been dealing with a large government institution that manages some of my savings from many years' work as medical school faculty. I had applied for a disbursement on the phone with a company counselor, as required. And of course, Ho'oponopono cleaning with "thank you" all the while, as well as using the 3/4 full glass of water.

The process got off to a challenging start, as the man kept changing figures and seemed confused about what forms were needed. But he ultimately sent several which I could download from the web site, fill out, and return. Only original forms were acceptable -- no faxes. But supposedly once returned, I could receive my money in 3-5 business days.

I did as instructed, and mailed everything back immediately. Thank you, thank you. I love you.

Then I attended a several day conference, during which I remembered that the financial company's original time estimate had passed by ~1 week. So I called during a break.

After waiting in "queue" for ~30 minutes, counselor #2 answered. I was irritated about waiting so long. He checked into my case, and informed me that my packet was missing a necessary form that the University required. My application could not be processed without this, and all my work would be null and void if their receiving this from me took longer than 10 days total from the time we started all this.   Ach!!!

It turned out that counselor #1 had not included this missing form in those he initially sent me. Counselor # 2 didn't believe me at first, and went back to check on what they'd sent me. Discovering I was correct, he apologized and said that the company had snail-mailed a copy to me. I asked him if the company had included an address to return it to? Should it go to them, or to the University? He really wasn't sure. "There's an address in the middle of a paragraph, and that's probably where it goes." Okay . . . .

I was upset, but still cleaning. I would not be home for several days to get to the form, which they refused to email or place in their web site "message" area as they had the other forms. Had they done this, I could have accessed the new form from where I was.   Instead, the clock continued to tick.

Arriving home, I found the nearly indecipherable form -- along with a letter saying the company could not act on my instructions because my request was "incomplete". It also told me to return the form "in the enclosed envelope." No envelope came with the mailing. Thank you . . . grrrr . . . . thank you.

Frustrated, concerned about my bank account, and also fearful that I would have to re-do the whole process because of elapsed time, I called the company again. The queue was 25 minutes -- and I kept cleaning while trying to understand the form with its miniscule print. Thank you . . . . flypaper . . . . thank you.

While waiting, I checked through more mail that had come while I was gone. A letter from Aetna was there -- saying that it planned to increase my health insurance premium in January. Egad! I was already tense about money, and here was an added, unexpected expense. How could I pay for this too? Thank you . . . hot chocolate . . . need Divinity now . . . :-)

Ultimately, on came counselor #3 -- a friendly-sounding man who apologized for the wait. I explained my situation, and he read notes left by the other 2. Could he help me fill out this form, which the University apparently needed -- and could he tell me where to mail it?

Um . . . . no. Those are University forms. Their company, though it manages funds for them, does not keep up with University forms. However, the form is definitely required before any of my own money can come to me.

After multiple questions, and multiple times placing me "on hold", he eventually found a name and phone number I could call at the medical school, to ask my questions. (Including where to send the form.) Thank you . . . grrr . . . thank you.

And, oh by the way -- the company will not be able to do an automatic deposit because my voided check does not list my full name. "It will take 5-7 more days to mail the amount to you, once we receive what we need," he said.

By now I was very tired, almost despairing. But I called the number, and asked for the name I'd been given. A pleasant woman answered -- telling me this person had been retired since March. Yikes!! My heart sank further. Was there no end to this torture?

I explained my situation again, and asked if there might be someone there who could help me? The same woman said, "I can. I am doing the job she was." Eureka! I thought. "But I have a question to ask you first," she said. Uh-oh. I felt myself clench. Thank you . . . . flypaper . . . light switch . . .

"Would you like to apply for the health insurance?"

"What health insurance?" I asked.

"The health insurance you're entitled to, because you're vested with this system," she replied. "All it requires is setting aside a small amount of your funds in an annuity, for a minimum monthly disbursement. Then you can be included in our group coverage. We have a liaison with that [financial] company who can tell you exactly what to do."

"I can do that? Even though I don't live in North Carolina any longer?"

"Oh, yes," she said. We have all kinds of faculty who've retired from our system, and they live all over the US. They have our health insurance, and you can too. It is also free for the rest of your life."

Oh. My. G_d.

Had I not been through what felt like purgatory, my path would never have led to this Human Resources office or this very helpful woman. I would never have known about this provision -- a Divine Provision, I think -- right when I agonized about paying the higher health insurance premium.

Within 5 minutes, she got me through the form, gave me the correct address for both mail and fax, AND got me the cell phone of the aforementioned university liaison. She immediately emailed me the health insurance forms, and explained them to me. Thank you!! Thank you!!

I felt "bathed in healing balm", as one of my patients once described. Immense gratitude, far deeper than even "Thank you" can communicate, still floods me about this -- and I marvel at Divinity's ways. I feel humbled, just what I needed. There I had been, all puffed up and indignant about jumping through so many hoops for money I had worked hard for -- and all the while, Divinity was preparing my way. I was being given opportunity after opportunity to clean with each of these people, and probably countless others behind the scenes.

Ho'oponopono keeps me in partnership with Divinity, rather than thinking I know how things "ought" to turn out. And so, it "works" for me. Of course I slip sometimes (okay, a lot of times). But this situation was like thinking everybody forgot your birthday, and suddenly everyone you love shows up with smiles on their faces, bringing you a party.

An ancient Hawaiian saying goes like this: "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." I know this for sure, now -- deep in my heart. As Mabel says, "You never know where it's going to come from. Just clean." Thank you, dear Divinity, for loving me even when I slip.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

An Open-Hearted "Thank You" Package, Wrapped in Pink with a Bow

2010-11-27T19:59:00.001-07:00

"Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do." ~ Rumi

There are many ways to say "thank you".

Shown here in her pink finery is 7-month old Sienna Hoagland, who recently received a precious gift at St. Joseph's Hospital here in Phoenix: a new heart, just in time for Thanksgiving.

Holding her is her mother Stephanie Provencio, and Dr. Stephen Pophal is in eye-and-finger lock. St. Joseph's pediatric heart transplant program only started this year . . . and Sienna received its first successful transplant. The gift was possible because of a selfless decision by parents in another state.

Born with a cardiomyopathy, Sienna needed a pacemaker because her heart would only beat 50 times a minute -- far from the more normal 120 in babies like her. Unfortunately, pacemakers did not work as hoped. Sienna would not be alive today without the donated heart; it is rare for such a tiny organ to be made available.

See how Sienna gazes at Dr. Pophal in this photo? Isn't her entire being a "thank you"? And she can't even speak words!

How is it that such heartache for one set of parents, can bloom into new life in another?

I marvel at the whole process, and at this beautiful little girl who now flourishes, smiles, and learns to drink from a bottle. She embodies "thank you" for me.

"Thank you", of course, is a wonderful Ho'oponopono cleaning tool on its own -- and very easy to use.

We can say "thank you" for everything and everyone that comes our way -- no matter what these might seem to be. Like all other cleaning tools, "thank you" starts the process of repentance, forgiveness, and transmutation of all memories by Divinity. It is like the "delete" key on our computer, and our using it automatically gives Divinity permission to help us by clearing what ails us.

Being around Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, I am always amazed by how often he says "thank you" -- at every seeming opportunity, to everyone who speaks to him, it seems.   You cannot thank him without his thanking you back. I have tried. Almost always you will hear, "Oh no, thank YOU!" It warms my heart.

So I'm practicing with more "thank you" in my own life, including when people seem to offer criticism or other painful [to me] comments. Why should I be bothered anyway? After all, people are only bringing me opportunities to clean -- of course I should be grateful!!

I'm working on remembering this more often, so that my ego won't have to be in charge so much. (It isn't in charge anyway, no matter how much we think it is!)

Saying "thank you" comes more easily for me when I think of little Sienna, whose eyes communicate far more than words ever can. Maybe our own inner children have eyes like hers, and are wondering how to live our lives. We can show them gently, by example.

Sienna's parents want to someday meet the other parents, whose amazing gift brought their daughter back to the vibrancy shown in the photo. Perhaps "thank you" can do the same for us in our own lives, if we remember. (And not just at Thanksgiving.)

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono, Talking, and Divine Gifts

2010-10-24T17:41:00.002-07:00

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~Plato

Sometimes life can feel very difficult, even when practicing Ho'oponopono.

Sometimes it seems like problems line up one after another, like legions of ants swarming in for a meal.

Sometimes there are no words for such situations.

I have been going through something like this for the last while.

Morrnah Simeona, the Kahuna Lapa'au who modernized the ancient Hawaiian practice of Ho'oponopono as Self-Identity Through Ho'oponopono, said that talking about such things doesn't help anyhow.

Being a psychiatrist trained in various kinds of "talk" therapy, I have struggled with this idea. But in many ways I believe she was right.

For instance, many of us are very stuck in human stories of hurt, blame, resentment, anger, and shame. No matter what the venue, our "talk" remains endlessly mired in these themes, and we have no insight into our own contributions to painful events or our misperceptions of them.

Witness types of "talk" such as gossip, comparisons to others, or attempting to convince others to change. Even in certain psychotherapies, the therapist tries to shift the patient's attitude -- judging himself/herself ineffective if s/he cannot. Sometimes the therapist can focus more on personal performance than on what the patient actually came there for.

These are examples of "talk" that is unhelpful, or even harmful -- especially if we as health care practitioners do them. We can inadvertently bring our own agendas into our consultation rooms, eclipsing patient needs. It takes a conscious, humble, compassionate person not to fall into this mode when "talking" with others.

Mabel Katz often says, "If you're going to talk about your troubles, do it with someone who knows how to [Ho'oponopono] clean!" By this she means recognizing the "100% responsibility for whatever shows up" part, and cleaning with all we hear. Otherwise our "talk" is just more commotion and commiseration -- with no progress to a place of greater acceptance or wholeness.

If we truly adopt a "100% responsibility" point of view, humility follows immediately. We recognize that something is going on within us that we must respond to, confusing as it may be. We comprehend that whatever we're experiencing has larger spiritual perspectives than our conscious minds can ever hold -- and we turn to Divinity within for help.

This has changed my entire view of the psychotherapy I do. No longer am I the brilliant interpreter of unconscious motives that my patient cannot see. I am just a compassionate listener, gently allowing blocked inlets to open . . . and cleaning as I go. I do not do this perfectly, though.

Back to my own life issues over the last several months. During this time, 2 primary resources have helped me: Divinity, of course . . . and Mabel Katz's new book, "The Easiest Way to Live." Each chapter seems a Ho'oponopono meditation of its own, on different subjects such as forgiveness, judgments, erasing, the best time to talk to people (when they're asleep!), and money.

I love the book. I took it everywhere, reading from it every night while dealing with some recent family concerns. It became a cleaning tool for me, keeping me on track rather than getting completely lost. I could choose to get tangled in memories (which I certainly did at times), or say "thank you," "light switch," or "flypaper" in response to painful emails, phone calls, or in-person conversations.

If interested, you can get your own copy by going here: The Easiest Way to Live.

Then, the other day, Divinity sent a complete surprise: the flower you see pictured above. It's the San Pedro cactus in my yard. We planted this about 4 years ago now, and I have talked to it lovingly since. (yes, talked to it, with "ice blue" and "I love you," etc.) But this is the first time it's ever bloomed! Such a lovely, Divine gift. When you realize the cactus itself holds an entheogen (a spirit-facilitating substance), this gift becomes even more profound.

Thank you, Morrnah, Mabel, and Divinity, for showing me what kind of "talk" my soul most needs.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Connection or Disconnection: Our Choice in Ho'oponopono

2010-09-18T22:52:00.006-07:00

"The rainbow is a sign from him who is in all things."
~ Hopi saying

A physician colleague wrote this past week asking about Ho'oponopono, as he had come across this blog. He had also attended a recent Ho'oponopono training near his home.

It was a blessing to hear from him. Although Ho'oponopono is a way for all people to make amends for our misperceptions about others and life itself, I feel this is especially important for those of us in healing professions. Not all are willing to consider these ideas, but I offer this blog from the part of me who is in all things.

As far as healers go, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len often shares that as a psychologist he was trained to "help" other people. But in practice, this doesn't work. How many patients do my colleagues know, who are not "helped" by what we do in medicine? Is this not uncanny, when we are trying so hard?

In Ho'oponopono, we are not really here to help others at all; they (and we) are already perfect. Our perceptions, though -- which arise entirely within us -- are NOT perfect. Our perceptions are made up of unconscious memories or data, rather than representing others as they actually are.

If you're asking, "Huh?" right now, I empathize. This has been hard to get my mind around also -- especially when someone is suffering in my office, in an emergency room, or in a hospital.

But when I remember that what I think I "see" actually starts out as simple neurological impulses that my brain/mind then interprets in some way, things get a little clearer.

After all, misperceptions can be shared with countless others, and be transmitted from generation to generation. And again, they're unconscious -- also outnumbering our conscious thoughts by the billions. In fact, these unconscious memories can run us by their sheer number and our lack of awareness.

If we all have this going on, and it affects what happens in the present, how can Ho'oponopono help?

Ho'oponopono is a method of problem solving; it involves repentance, forgiveness, and transmutation of these problem-causing memories by Divinity.

In this process, Ho'oponopono sees us as having 4 aspects of mind: the Divine Creator, the Superconscious, the Conscious, and the Subconscious (or Inner Child). All these can work together so that Divinity can solve the problem by erasing these memories, if we give permission.

The Divine Creator can create mind, and is the only One who can transmute memories to zero. When we are at zero, the Divine Creator can also provide us with inspiration or insight -- leading us to right and perfect action in the present (including right and perfect medical treatments or procedures, etc).

When we're embroiled in memories, we are not open to this inspiration at all.

The Superconscious within us is perfect, and is always perfectly connected and in tune with the Divine Creator. It's the part of us which directly petitions the Divine Creator for help, once our Conscious mind initiates the process by using a cleaning tool. This can be as simple as saying "Thank you."

The Conscious Mind can choose either to get upset, or to make amends for the erroneous memories within. It is the part which initiates the "cleaning" process, using Ho'oponopono tools. It is also the part which cares for the Inner Child; this is a vital role.

The Subconscious, or Inner Child, is extremely important in all this. It's both a great ally, and is also where so-called "problems" occur. It carries all memories and data for eons, and it suffers. Unless we learn to embrace and care for it, its suffering causes havoc -- which according to Dr. Hew Len, includes everything from hurricanes in the Atlantic to a woman in Africa having trouble with labor.

From Dr. Hew Len's article, "Who's in Charge?":

"The Subconscious Mind experiences vicariously, mimicking, echoing memories replaying. It behaves, sees, feels, and decides exactly as memories dictate."

But the Inner Child is also our ally, because it is the part of us that, when lovingly cared for and taught, connects us to our Superconscious. If we're NOT lovingly connected to our Inner Child, we're not connected with anything else either -- except memories. We're unconscious, in chaos, and confused about who we are. We're even disconnected from Source or Creator. In a way, says Dr. Hew Len, we're dead.

I've learned that this isn't the best way for me to practice medicine!

The very first step of the 12-step Ho'oponopono process (taught at live Ho'oponopono trainings) is connecting all parts of us: Mother (Uhane, Conscious) with Inner Child (Unihipili, Subconscious); Inner Child with the Father (Aumakua, Superconscious); and all three with the Divine Creator.

In this initial prayer, the Mother says to the Child:

"Come and hold my hand and reverently, ask the Father, our Aumakua, to join us and hold our hands. As a unit of two, please ask the Father to join us and make the three of us a unit of one."

When all is connected, the Divine Creator can embrace all in Divine Love.

When we consciously decide to clean, we are repenting for our errors of perception -- for having been unconscious. For instance: "I'm sorry for whatever is going on in me that sees my patient as depressed, anxious, angry, stubborn, in pain, diabetic, hypertensive, having cancer," etc.

Once initiated, the cleaning process initially goes down into the subconscious where the "problem" is expressing. From there it travels to the Superconscious, which can amend the petition as necessary -- and then present it to Divinity. Only Divinity can respond with "mana" and forgiveness, transmuting our memories from the "thought forms" they are, into pure light. But as Dr. Hew Len reminds us: "When we do our part, Divinity always does Its part."

Physicians and other health care professionals may have trouble imagining that what we think we "see" in our patients, actually originates in us as these thought forms. According to Ho'oponopono, these can materialize in physical form unless one consistently maintains the above kind of inner connection and constant cleaning with whatever presents itself.

It's a very humble attitude one maintains -- a recognition that people only come to us when it is time to let go of particular memories. When we do, the patient gets what s/he came for, too. We never really know how far back the problem goes -- to our relatives and ancestors, or beyond. Thankfully, we don't need to, because Divinity does.

This doesn't mean we don't need to "treat" the problem the patient presents; we may need to do exactly that. But I ask my professional colleagues: when treating your patients, would you rather be immersed in your own extraneous "stuff", or operating from a peaceful place that allows you to see what is, as clearly as possible?

That is why I keep saying "thank you," no matter what shows up -- and why I want to be as open to Divine Inspiration as possible while working with those who come to me.

Thank you, dear colleague, for your interest in Ho'oponopono. May more of us learn this humble way of being as we care for those in our offices, clinics, emergency rooms, and hospitals.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono: Power Lifting for the Soul

2010-09-07T17:04:00.006-07:00

People's experiences with Ho'oponopono are very individual. For instance, after practicing this for awhile some feel peace, some feel nothing at all, and some might notice that they feel worse -- at least temporarily.

Given our varying sensitivities, it's easy enough to understand the first two. But feeling worse with a spiritual practice like Ho'oponopono? How can this be?

It might even scare some people away from doing it.

My own experience has been all three (as well as others) at different times.

In this practice, we're adopting a world view that differs from most other cultural norms: accepting 100% responsibility for everything that shows up in our lives. For many, this is a deal breaker and they get no farther. After all, how can we be responsible for things we've never even been involved with in this lifetime? Afghanistan? Iraq? Massive oil spills? Patients committing suicide, or dying of cancer?

We may not understand our personal connections with any of this, and yet Ho'oponopono suggests that our own faulty memories are fueling these events. If that's so, how can we not feel absolutely crummy for bringing all this on?

Hence, that's one way people might feel "worse" as a result of practicing Ho'oponopono.

It's interesting that Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len frequently says that when we're born, we "come in with it all." Meaning, we are laden from the beginning with ancestral, possibly even universal, memories that it is our task (or opportunity) in life to clear or "clean." The most recalcitrant and tedious memories are often our ancestral ones. These may show up in our current, external experience -- or we painfully embody them ourselves in sick ways of responding to others, and to life.

In his book A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, Eckhart Tolle expresses a similar concept that he calls the "pain body": an involuntary, automatic, and repetitive emotional response pattern that seems to take over our entire beings at times. Often we're so immersed in this we don't realize what's happening at all. It can be like a haze that permeates, surrounds, and even lives our lives for us.

And "pain bodies" can interact: they can collide or even fuel each other -- much the way Ho'oponopono memories (housed in and expressed by our "Inner Child" part) can do as well.

Is it any wonder that becoming aware of such ancient and powerful things in ourselves might leave us feeling a little, um, puny?

Fortunately, Ho'oponopono does not leave us alone with this, though. It also offers a method that brings us back to awareness of who we really are (NOT the memories or "pain bodies" masquerading as us). Peace and pureness of heart come with the process too.

But the tension before feeling that can be intense.

My friend and colleague Dr. Lucinda Sykes recently shared a beautiful metaphor with me. An accomplished mindfulness meditation teacher in Toronto, she describes the results of meditation as being like a small green sprout pushing through concrete. The concrete might be the "stuff" we feel we must do or accomplish -- or even masks we feel we must wear -- in order to get along in the world. Or it could be our thinking and opinions, layer upon layer upon layer.

Burdening ourselves with all this takes us away from our natural, essential selves (the sprout). Mindfulness -- paying attention to what we're experiencing, moment to moment and without judgment or expectation -- is one way of bringing us back to ourselves. Our green sprout might seem small, but it's a life force with deep strength and resilience. It can be fortified with consistent, patient mindfulness practice.

As she spoke, I couldn't help but think of Ho'oponopono cleaning -- especially for people new to the practice. After all, we're invoking a whole new way of approaching life when we do this. (Even though it may ultimately be "The Easiest Way", as Mabel Katz writes so well.)

A question for you: when something new is coming up in your garden, what do you see first?

The green shoot? No! You see a little mound of dirt! (See the photograph above, as the sprout's innate life-force heaves dirt off its back).

What must that sprout experience before breaking through the ground? Pressure? Pain? Intense effort? Is it like Atlas holding up the earth? I can only guess.

To me, the practice of Ho'oponopono cleaning is like this. Thank you, I love you, Dewdrop, Lightswitch, or applying myriad other cleaning tools. Only, I have no concept of all the "dirt" (memories, data, crud, etc) my Divinity-within is lifting off as I do my moment-to-moment cleaning. It can seem like hours, days, weeks, months, or even eons before I see the sun -- or relax into peace (break through the ground). But eventually, this does come.

Dr. Hew Len has also said, "Once you do your part, Divinity has to do His part (transmute the memories into pure light)." A loving father would have it no other way.

I'm always amazed that little dry seeds can turn into such powerhouses of life force -- but they can. I invite you to try this in your own yard. Get some relatively big seeds, such as sunflower, squash, or cantaloupe. (I suggest larger ones so you can really see the dirt mounds as they're coming up.) Plant them in some soil, and water. Observe daily. You may get impatient, but don't dig them up. :-) Think of your Ho'oponopono cleaning process as liberating your own pure-hearted self . . . but there's some dirt to throw off first.

Even though we practice Ho'oponopono with no expectation, it can't hurt to have a little visual metaphor from time to time!

Thank you, Dr. Sykes, for the tip.

Peace begins with me,

Pam

Who's in Charge? A Visit from the Spirit of Transformation

2010-08-29T22:49:00.001-07:00

Some people maintain that we're in conscious control of our thoughts and reactions, but Ho'oponopono suggests otherwise.

In fact Ho'oponopono posits that we are run by information that is so far unconscious we don't have a clue what's going on. The "information" running us can come from generationally-transmitted memory, or from Divinity as inspiration. We never know which it is.

As a psychiatrist, this intrigues me.   Many psychotherapies aim to make the unconscious conscious -- hoping that by so doing, people can gain insight into their emotional troubles. Healing is then possible. Even cognitive behavioral psychotherapy is built on the idea that negative ideas about ourselves [negative self-talk] is what drives our sour emotions.   Yecchy, self-critical thoughts result in yecchy, depressive emotions and mood states. Interrupt the cycle and you can interrupt the depression.

We hope. :-)

A recent experience showed me how clueless my conscious intellect is, and how rapidly my unconscious can take over.

One balmy Phoenix evening this last week, I was leaving my friends' home after a visit. We were still on their front porch, in lingering conversation -- the front door wide open. We were relaxed, feeling good. Two of the men had walked out ahead of us.

Suddenly down by my left ankle I heard a high-frequency rattle (or a sprinkler going off, if you were one of the guys). Immediately my insides went cold, all senses alert. "DANGER!" cried my adrenals, before anything even registered in my mind.

In a split second, my body sprang off the front porch, every muscle focused on escape. "Shut the door!" I yelled to my friend. She slammed it hard, not exactly knowing what I was screaming about. Mentally, I didn't know either.

Safely away from the sound, my brain kicked in that it was a rattlesnake . . . shown in the photo above. Of course, this was taken safely from the front, not within a foot of the creature where our legs had been.

The men ahead of us thought the sound was water, or sprinklers going off. To them, we must be getting wet -- otherwise why would we be jumping around like that?

How funny that THEIR memories framed what they saw as "sprinklers going off, women getting drenched." And mine, seemingly, were full of reptilian threats and the instinctive need to MOVE.

There is no reasoning to what happened. I stood out on the sidewalk taking things in, amazed at how rapidly all had transpired. I wondered how my friend's husband, now standing in his front yard, would get back into his house. (As if there was no longer a back-door entrance -- had ALL my intellectual reasoning vaporized? Yes, at least for the moment.)

Maybe my ancestors had more experience with "Snake!" than theirs did, and some of my 11 million bits of unconscious data had me leaping off the porch before anybody said "Boo!" My body made the choice before my brain even thought what to do.

When snakes visit private homes here in Phoenix, the Fire Department will come and help the critters go back to the desert. Thank heavens they could do this, and not hurt the snake. S/he was just looking for a calm place to rest, after all.

This situation of "11 million bits of data" goes on constantly, and there are more computer programs running in me than anyone can ever count. From time to time, some of these come out to be seen, like "SNAKE!" This particular program/memory had me springing to safety . . . but what of all the others that don't?

Time for more cleaning, and humbly realizing Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len really knows what he's talking about. Also, thank you to the rattlesnake for this demonstration of who's really in charge -- surely not my conscious mind!

By the way, according to Animal Speak by Ted Andrews, the rattlesnake is the healer, transformer, and the spirit of life and death. It is not really aggressive, since it will warn before striking. "The rattlesnake," he writes, reminds us to be alert to warnings and to alert others before we strike. . . . And when it appears as a totem or messenger, we can expect opportunity for healing our life and transforming our world."

With that, I leave you to ponder, my dear Ho'oponopono friends.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono, Life Transitions, and Sewage Trucks

2010-07-24T21:49:00.004-07:00

There has been a death in my family, and I have been spending time with my father. His wife (my stepmother) has been ill for a long time -- but died in Hospice very recently.

It has been a difficult process for both of them, and for the rest of the family too. Evolution is sometimes like that. Even the beautiful, flowering lotus pictured above is known to grow from mucky origins.

All along, I had been asking Divinity how to best to clean. Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len had also been kind enough to share a cleaning tool with me -- which I have used liberally. It has given me great peace.

For the first few days after his wife of 45 years died, my father wanted no one to come.   After all, she wanted no memorial, and he didn't think he needed any help. I spoke with him daily on the phone, and although he called himself "lachrymose," he insisted he was fine.

Despite Ho'oponopono I had struggled with this, not knowing what was correct for me to do. Suddenly one morning I felt guided to make plane reservations; there was no hesitancy, no further questioning. Later that day, my father said it was all right for me to visit.

Through this, I understood what Dr. Hew Len has so often told me: when you clean enough for Divine Inspiration to come through, your next steps appear and you simply take action. No second-guessing or worry to confuse things. I have to say this was the case with me.

The overall family situation has been challenging for us all, yet similar to many other families I've assisted in my work. It's very different when it's your own family needing healing, though.

I wasn't sure what I'd find on arriving, but was clear that Ho'oponopono cleaning was the main thing to do. I care about my father of course, but this process seemed somehow more loving than any other kind of support I could offer. So I came prepared, with my book of Ho'oponopono tools and manuals. I breathed "Ha" many times a day, and talked with my inner child moment to moment. I talked with the house, and with my step-mother's spirit as well.

It turned out that the house had not been physically cleaned in many months either. It asked for help. My stepmother had been at home for part of the time, but unable to maintain household chores. Proud and also mistrustful of others, she wouldn't allow housekeepers in either. My father, and sometimes visiting nurses, attended to her personal needs.

In addition, she'd been hospitalized for the last several months. My father would come home at night, go to bed, wake up, shower, and return to the hospital each morning.   Exhausted on all levels, he had no energy to deal with anything but immediate crises. This is the case with many caregivers.

You can imagine that there was plenty of opportunity to clean with vacuums, mops, and rags . . . . along with Ho'oponopono cleaning tools.

And so I did. It seemed the right and perfect thing to do.

My step-brother and his wife came and joined in the process. Their three little kids livened up the energy further; the house resounded with laughter and squealing along with the vacuum's roar. Spider congregations disappeared, and decaying food got launched from the fridge and freezer.

My father seemed to appreciate the company, and even asked me to help him organize the papers that were all over the floor in his office. Usually he wouldn't allow women to do such things, but this time was different. I cleaned with each one, placing it carefully where it belonged. Some he allowed to be shredded or discarded -- a miracle in itself.

Other odd things happened during this visit also.

As background, some of you might recall my writing about "The Lesson of the Pipe Wrench" in this blog a few months ago. A Hawaiian kahuna had recommended I keep a pipe wrench handy with certain family members, in order to disconnect from "sewage pipes" overloading me. He was referring to the old memories and data I share with my family -- all needing to be cleansed and released rather than be flooded by.

Well, I didn't bring a physical pipe wrench during this visit . . . but actual sewage trucks showed up!

One time, my father and I came out of a restaurant to find such a truck pumping its wares from a drain right next to our car. On entering the place, I hadn't noticed this very important drain in the ground, but sure enough there it was. The gentleman doing the work apologized. "I waited to see if whoever owned this car would come out before I started, but then I couldn't wait any longer. Sorry about the smell." I could only laugh inside -- and say "thank you" for the reminder to clean.

Driving the next day, I somehow got directly behind sewage truck #2. Thankfully, it didn't leak! Then 2 days later, I stopped to put gas in the car. Noticing a familiar stench in the hot summer air, I looked up to find . . . . you guessed it! Sewage truck # 3, doing its deed.

Those kahunas know what they're talking about. :-)
In all of this, I noticed a feeling of deep peace -- despite these stressful, painful circumstances. My father and I had some very frank discussions about previous events, but nobody got mad. I cleaned during each of these talks, both while listening and also so that whatever I might say in response could come from inspiration rather than from memory. Though I'm far from perfect at this, there seemed better alignment than in other conversations I've had with him about similar things.

My stepmother is free of her suffering now, and we are all thankful for that. Yet we as a family face many more decisions in the months to come. Ho'oponopono is helping me show up and do what's needed so far. Without it, I would only add to the memory pile, rather than letting them go. It is tedious at times, and yet I know deep inside it's mine to do.

I am grateful.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Just What are We Cleaning, Again, When Practicing Ho'oponopono?

2010-07-03T22:10:00.033-07:00

The other day I received some alarming evidence of my own lack of clarity. It came in a friendly email, for which I am grateful.

But the author went on to show me how I had apparently been unclear in my blog posts, or he would never have written me.

After cleaning by myself for some time, I felt inspired to ask several other Ho'oponopono colleagues to join me. They graciously did.

What had happened? The friendly person invited me to join his newly formed web site which cleans on behalf of its members, who pay a monthly fee for this service. He explained:

"I teach and practice [a type of energy therapy] and Ho’oponopono. A couple of weeks ago my partner was watching Hew Len and got the idea that we should start a private members site to clean on behalf of the membership. It has been profound for us and our members. You have probably heard Dr Len talk about the gift of Ho’oponopono to “therapists”. People are attracted to your services because you are cleaning and growing in clarity. They come to you and you clean on their problems as they become your gifts. [my emphasis] They find more clarity and peace and they pay you. This is exactly what is happening at our private members site called [name omitted]."

The site says this:

"Do you feel like you don't have the time to think about how to clear up your problems, fix what's wrong in your life or practice the practices you think you should practice in order to find relief from problem/challenges regarding your health, relationships and money?

What if we pledged to do that on your behalf, 7 days a week?

This service provides the opportunity for you to send us your data and we will clean on it . . . . We are responsible to clean on EVERYTHING that comes into our awareness. You would provide us service by sending us your problems so we can clean on them. As we transmute your issues/problems within us, they also will be transmuted in you and all those who share these memories."

Please understand that I'm grateful for the message and the invitation, as these allow me to clean. But I'm deeply sorry that I've inadvertently misled anyone about my own cleaning process either in my clinical work or other parts of my life. I watched the same [Zero Limits III] videos these people watched, and did not get the same impression they now seem [in my limited consciousness] to be acting on.

So I'm cleaning, cleaning, cleaning on all this confusion in me.

I'm sorry also for whatever is going on in me that shows up as someone feeling s/he should clean "for" anyone else. Ho'oponopono teaches us that whatever seems to present TO us is IN us, period.

It is only our misperceptions of others that need cleaning, not any "problem" we think others might have. Our thinking that the problem is outside us in the first place is part of the data showing up at that time.

But naturally, we never know for sure what all we're cleaning. We might THINK we know, and we'd be wrong.

Divinity is also the only one who can transmute -- not any other human. Dr. Hew Len is fond of asking, "Who's in Charge?" and reiterating time and again it's Divinity, not us. He asked me one time whether I would rather allow Divinity to help others, or try to do it myself? Would I rather stand in the way with my assumptions and opinions, or allow Divinity to provide what is right and perfect?

He's no shrinking violet. I love that he was so direct!

Even at Hawaii State Hospital, he was never cleaning "on" others. He always said he was cleaning with his own erroneous perceptions. He worked there only part-time, but the cleaning was basically a full-time job. He would do it before he went there, while he was on site with the patients' charts (never actually seeing anyone in therapy), and more after he left.

Dr. Hew Len wrote me:

"the cosmos runs on information pam, either inspiration from the I or memories in the subconscious. mind experiences information about a person, place, or situation, not the person, place or situation itself, and therefore the conscious mind is truly clueless.

'look at yourself,' morrnah would repeatedly say."

I mean no unkindness to some who might feel this cleaning service is exactly what they need, or to the ones who have formed it. I only mean to clarify what I have shared so poorly.

I humbly ask forgiveness, and hope I'm clearer now.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Being Kind and Being Ruthless, Through Ho'oponopono Cleaning

2010-06-27T17:42:00.026-07:00

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible."
Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

There are times when kindness is the only thing that makes sense. Perhaps this recognition dawns on us once we have lost enough in our lives -- relationships, jobs, pets, health, possessions, anything we value -- to connect with other beings experiencing the same.

Once there, life is never the same again.

It's like your heart is broken open, and no self-righteous stance holds any longer. There is only marveling at the diversity of life, the variety of human and other kinds of suffering, and offering of ourselves where we can.

As a doctor, I see and hear a lot. As a homeopath, I have the chance to listen even more deeply than I could when practicing conventional psychiatry alone. From this quiet place within, I simply allow the other to be as s/he is. We gently track and find what needs healing. It gradually shows itself.

I, too, have a homeopath who does this for me -- even when I'm talking absolute nonsense. Like most other humans, this is frequent. He simply observes, following the trail I leave. And although not pushing, he misses nothing. Sometimes what I find at the bottom embarrasses me. It's a state that is "not me", yet has been with me 24/7 for a very long time. How my homeopath stands me at times I do not know.

"It isn't really you I'm talking to anyway, Pam," he says. "Actually Pam can stay in the car, because she's just fine. It's your disease I need to hear from, and let it self-excavate itself so we can see how it is."

This attentiveness on his part is definitely kindness. But it's not the type that says, "Oh, you poor thing; let me make it all better."

Instead it says, "Let's understand your particular suffering and how it saps your life. I'm observing every gesture you make, and hearing every word you utter. It all comes together to show what's out of tune in you. Once we see this, can we encourage your own life force to take the reins once more -- rather than this mindless, reactionary thing inside that seems to live you you at times?"

He simply employs his skillful compassion -- and the remedies (homeopathic medicines) that come from this understanding -- the best that he can. I am responding by gradual -- yet to me amazing -- growth. There is also quieting of what was a hypersensitive, easily insulted or slighted, being inside.

Once we see that we're really run by information, data, "memories", etc rather than our conscious minds, we can also understand that everyone else is run by this also. A certain forgiveness comes; things said by others don't have to be experienced as personal attacks any longer. For me this has a deeply freeing and mitigating effect. Of course I will get out of the way where I need to, but my armor doesn't need to be "up" all the time. Relief.

Ho'oponopono helps me listen to others in the same unperturbable, focused way I have been listened to. In being heard that way, I somehow get quiet enough to heal myself. All of us can do this, when attended to carefully enough. I hope my patients experience this with me. As I become less scattered and more able to see and hear, the more I'm able to attend to others in a neutral yet ruthless way.

I want my homeopath to be ruthless with me too. This is the ultimate kindness he can offer -- by exposing the masks I wear but really do not "need". It seems to come naturally to him, and I'm grateful. Well, mostly. :-)

In my own practice with others, Ho'oponopono keeps me balanced, firm, and collected as I go about my life and work. It opens my heart to others, but also quiets me enough so my eyes can see. Perceiving clearly, I can ruthlessly follow the person's sensitivity trail to what is unbalanced or "stuck". Were I lost in my own delusional song, I would be befuddled and of no help to anyone.

It's curious that homeopathy posits an "other song" that runs our lives, and which can be quieted through skillful application of a remedy -- while Ho'oponopono posits "memories" or "data" which Divinity can transmute. They may be connected, I don't know. The attitude one needs to be effective is the same in both, though. Kamailelauli'I, President of IZI LLC, once told me on a phone call that to be of service in Ho'oponopono cleaning, our attitude needs to be very firm. It isn't a place for pity or sympathy, no matter how the person suffers.

This sounded cold at first, and then I realized she and Morrnah were right. Unless we're very careful, it's easy to get lost in the agonizing stories humans tell. If we do this, we are completely lost -- the same way I have sometimes been in my homeopathy cases if I lose the trail.

Uncannily, this ruthless clear sightedness allows us to also see that we're all swimming in the same memory soup . . . leading directly back to simple compassion and kindness for us all.

I still marvel -- consistent Ho'oponopono cleaning is definitely not for wimps. And yet, it's the kindest, most compassionate thing we can do when anyone in our lives is suffering.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono for Mixed-Up, Addicted, or Otherwise Suffering Families -- and Beyond

2010-06-19T10:58:00.031-07:00

Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian method of problem solving, stress release, and making things right. It can help us no matter how resentful, angry, hurt, frightened, or righteously indignant we might be feeling.

Historically, doing Ho'oponopono required all people involved in a conflict to be present -- along with a moderator (usually an elder) who would also offer prayers at appropriate times. The process was a ceremony aimed at resolving differences and restoring harmony.

Morrnah Simeona was a Kahuna Lapa'au (Hawaiian healer employing prayer, herbs, love [aloha] and touch to restore health to ailing people) who updated this ancient process for modern times. This became Self-Identity Through Ho'oponopono (SITH), as now taught by Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len and others all over the world.

Morrnah's SITH process allows each of us to work with Divinity within, rather than physically bringing together everyone with whom we might be having trouble. Ho'oponopono sees any "problems" we might be experiencing as faulty memories or data anyway . . . and any of this can be cleared.

As Morrnah said, "We can appeal to Divinity who knows our personal blueprint, for healing of all thoughts and memories that are holding us back at this time."

I do not understand how this process "works" in terms of physics, principles of non-locality, or anything else. But over the last several years -- and particularly in the last few months with a most challenging situation -- I've had personal experience that it does.

I have previously written about my distress over a family member's long-term health and addiction problems. As these have progressed, the entire family has been through chaos and discord -- with the pain being so deep, some have refused to speak to each other. There have been excuses, lies, blame, loud cries of injustice, and real fear for the future. All in my family have been wounded by this person's behavior, as well as whoever has enabled it.

My own personal cauldron of fury and helplessness has seemed to continue bubbling, despite all the Ho'oponopono cleaning I could muster.

Many times over this period, I've been grateful for help from Dr. Hew Len and Mabel Katz. My voice is on many of Mabel's teleseminars, with both she and Dr. Hew Len offering cleaning suggestions. The calls themselves are opportunities to clean with ALL things raised by ANYONE, not just our own situations . . . . so hopefully others have benefited as well. As Dr. Hew Len and Mabel say, "Whatever comes off of us, comes off of everyone else too."

Back in February-March of this year, weird things started happening in my house. Lights and fans were going "on" without anyone hitting the switch to make them do that. Things started coming out of kitchen drawers and ending up on the floor, when I hadn't put them there. Really, I would be sitting in my family room and the ceiling fan would suddenly start whirring overhead. Or I would leave the room and come back, noticing that the ceiling light had come on in my absence.

It was spooky.

In fact, these events were eerie reminders of Dr. Hew Len's experience at Hawaii State Hospital -- when showers would go on and toilets would flush with no one in or on them.

Though he is very busy and I hesitated to bother him, I finally asked Dr. Hew Len for a cleaning tool I might use in this escalating situation with my family. He wrote back with one, which because it is unique to me, I will not share here. I thanked him profusely and have used it A LOT over the past few months, along with my other cleaning practices. (glass of water, drinking blue solar water, breathing HA, etc).

My family member got sicker and more addicted, with even more distress resulting in the one trying to take care of/control her. Many hospitalizations later, she was found to have a growing lung mass -- which she didn't want diagnosed fully or treated. This is her right, of course.

Whenever worry, anger, hurt, or whatever would rise up in me, I would keep cleaning with Ho'oponopono, especially my particular "tool". Any of us can ask Divinity for such tools on our own -- but I felt overwhelmed at the time. I cannot fully convey the depth of this suffering; I felt so torn about what I should "do" or "not do", it seemed like I was sinking.

But a couple of weeks ago I noticed a very strange thing. Where for years I had been so full of rage, shame, guilt, and a multitude of other painful emotions about and towards this family member, all of this was simply and inexplicably gone. Vanished. Poof!

I have no idea where it went -- but it's not in my experience anymore.

I was able to collect my wits, and connect with family members who had all seemed to go their separate ways. There was no longer need for drama, blame, righteousness, or reference to the past. My actively ill family member is now in Hospice, receiving the care she needs until the end. Where I was so contorted with my own misery before, I am able to respond in the moment and from the heart.

It's not that previous painful things did not happen -- but it's more that my emotional charge about them has left. I see the suffering, but am not wallowing in it. I feel compassion and care, but not pity or further need to self-justify.

I do what comes naturally in response to what seems needed -- and this to me feels like inspiration coming through. It feels authentic, unconflicted, and clear -- a huge difference from before.

I offer this follow-up in case anyone ever wonders whether Ho'oponopono "works". The biggest thing it has changed, though, is ME -- and this is exactly what needed changing the most.

"It's only about persistent nonstop cleaning," said Dr. Hew Len. "We don't experience [others] directly; we experience them as memories replaying. SITH is a simple process of petitioning Divine Creator to release the memories through repentance, forgiveness, and transmutation."

I am grateful.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Ho'oponopono Cleaning: Divine Inspiration in the Gulf

2010-06-14T20:23:00.015-07:00

Many people wonder what "inspiration" really is, even though Ho'oponopono mentions it frequently. When we allow Divinity to transmute to zero whatever we're experiencing as problems, Divine Inspiration can supposedly come through. This may show up in all kinds of ways.

I've often asked Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len about this myself, wondering how -- in the course of Ho'oponopono cleaning -- we can "know" when we're inspired. After all, we might experience peaceful feelings, urges to call certain people, or some other thing. How to differentiate our own inner ego (conscious mind) talking, from the urges of Divine Inspiration? Dr. Hew Len has often answered, "If you have to ask whether you're inspired, you're not." :-)

It sounds glib, but it's really not.

There's a big difference between trying to obsessively plan out an idea that sounds good, and moving forward with something that arises naturally from within. The first example can be full of anxiety, anguish, and "what ifs". There might be procrastination and paralyzing fear.

The second kind of "idea" stirs from within -- and as it bubbles to the surface, first steps towards its realization show up. There is no hesitation, worrying, or endlessly asking "should I?" More steps appear, and we simply do them. Dr. Hew Len has talked about things you just "do" automatically. Work is definitely involved, but it doesn't feel burdensome like the first type can. And you don't have to know all the steps -- or even the final outcome -- to begin.

In this way, he reminds me of a Hawaiian Yoda: "Do or do not. There is no try."

The brown pelican accompanying today's blog post was painted by an inspired 11-year-old girl, Olivia Bouler, from Long Island, New York. A bird lover and artist for many years, she was heartbroken when the recent BP oil spill polluted the Gulf of Mexico. She and her parents had often visited Orange Beach on the Alabama coast; Olivia learned about all the birds who live there. Long before the oil spill, she had already decided she wants to be an ornithologist. Pretty amazing for one so young.

Well, Olivia wanted to do something to help her feathered friends who were stuck in the oily mess. "A lot of people just want to sit there and say, 'Oh, it'll be fine, BP will do it," she said. "But that's not going to happen. BP made a huge mistake and I want to make up for that mistake."

So she started putting her talent to work: drawing pictures of birds that people might buy, and sending the donations to the National Audubon Society.

Things started out slow . . . but so far Olivia has created 150 bird paintings. The project quickly evolved into something much larger when AOL joined in the effort, giving Olivia her own AOL Artist page. If you donate to Audubon's Gulf oil spill cleanup efforts, you can receive one of Olivia's beautiful pieces. After she's drawn 500, donors will receive prints -- and she's well on her way.

Olivia and her paintings have raised $100,000 to help clean up oiled birds thus far. Who would ever have dreamed of this, starting out? She didn't think twice about it . . . she just did it. And she's still doing it. This evening she was even featured on Katie Couric's CBS News.

To me this is inspiration, and it touches my heart. It's also some major, major cleaning. Are YOU listening to your own inspirations, like Olivia did hers?

Thank you Olivia, for showing us your courage and your talent. And thank you for helping all our bird friends in your very special way.

Peace begins with me,
Pam

Mother Earth's Lifeblood and Ho'oponopono

2010-05-29T21:26:00.013-07:00

Mother Earth is bleeding.

The above photo has been widely published, showing the rupture of a BP oil well pipe 5000 feet deep in the Gulf of Mexico. From this wound gushes live, liquid, and pressurized crude oil into the ocean above.

I can't help likening it to hitting a major vessel in an accident or surgery -- I have seen this too many times in my career not to be triggered this way. But with human patients, bleeding eventually stops. Either doctors can repair the injury, or the patient bleeds completely out.

In comparison, Mother Earth shows no sign of stopping her bleeding. It continues billowing forth, despite multiple attempts to shut off or cap the broken pipe.

Ever since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and burned several weeks ago, many sources have spewed as many estimates of "how much" oil is actually gushing into the water.

Eleven men died in the disaster, whose story becomes more graphic and painful with time.

I have watched this news evolve, and wept as the oil flows closer to shore -- threatening all kinds of wildlife and human livelihood too. I am simultaneously mesmerized and heartsick at the videos of the wound itself, the brown liquid clouding up as if issuing from a vital, pulsing organ.

I believe it is.

Oil like this is made of the bodies of countless carbon-containing beings -- small plankton, and maybe even parts of dinosaurs -- laid down, compressed, reconfigured, and stored for eons. All this takes at least 150,000,000 years to become crude oil, and is a non-renewable resource.

What I see flowing from that pipe is billions upon billions of wayward memories released from their holding zone . . . . and lots of Ho'oponopono cleaning to do.

I have only to look in the garage at my car for confirmation that my own memories are part of this mess. So I'm taking 100% responsibility for them, even though I don't know consciously what they are. I'm thanking Divinity for the opportunity to clean. Each time I feel shock at yet another layer of truth revealed in this disaster, I keep saying "Hawaii" (the water and the breath of God) and "Ice Blue". These aren't the "only" ways to clean with this oil spill, but these cleaning tools came to me so I'm working with them.

Also I'm making and drinking lots of Blue Solar Water to help clean memories in me that I can't consciously know about or access.

This special water is very simple to make at home, using a blue glass bottle with any kind of cap except metal. Just fill it up with tap water (or use your filtered water if you prefer) and place in the sun for 15 minutes to an hour. With one of my bottles, I put saran wrap on the top while it's "solarizing", and then use the metal cap again once this is complete. Inspiration can tell you how long is just right for you. Then put the bottle in the refrigerator, and enjoy!

Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len often reminds us that even one drop of this water can "solarize" many bottles of water. But it tastes so sweet and good that I love to drink it straight. Also, running out gives me more opportunities to go enjoy my yard while setting those blue bottles in the sun. :-)

I don't know "why" Mother Earth is bleeding right now. I only know it's in my experience, so it's mine to clean with. As Dr. Hew Len puts it:

SITH (Self-Identity Through Ho'oponopono) is only about letting go and letting God release memories replaying in our souls that we re-experience as spiritual, mental, physical, material and financial woes and problems.

Only Divinity who created each of us can solve our problems. Only Divinity can inspire our minds to experience perfect and right relationships, sources of wealth and peace beyond comprehension.

Thank you for cleaning. Your cleaning is a salvation to all.

I am grateful.

Peace Begins with Me,
Pam