forgiveness part one

LoveandtheArtof Forgiveness 

March 2013 By Carmen Allgood Contributing Writer for Wake Up World 

 At some point, each of us will reach that most depressing point in life where we just want to throw in the towel, call it quits, and abandon earth. When we aren’t certain of our purpose in life, we find ourselves in the most uncomfortable position of feeling helpless and hopeless. We will then start looking for a better way and embark on a serious, sometimes desperate search for an answer to this problem. Let’s start our journey of learning the art of loving and being loved by admitting that there is nothing anyone will ever desire more than the experience of love in their lives. Surely this is a constant companion and weapon of choice we want to arm ourselves with as we tiptoe through this fierce and unforgiving world. 

Becoming a Teacher of Love through the Mastery of Forgiveness is Our Highest Calling Our purpose here is to bring peace to the world. The only part anyone has to play in the accomplishment of this is their own part, which manifests by bringing peace to their own mind. This simplifies the journey immensely when we recognize this is true, and allows us to stay focused on our heart’s desire. Given the fact that nothing is more difficult or exhausting than being unhappy, acknowledging that holding grievances is the underlying cause of all misery is essential to accomplishing our purpose. We are all here having a human experience, and it goes without saying that somewhere along the line we have been injured emotionally. 

These experiences are the perfect opportunity for us to rise above the situation, practice forgiveness, and take back our personal power. Learn now to see conflict as a call for help or cry for love – in yourself and others. Surrender Means to Give in to Love Surrender in the ego world is equated with loss, defeat, and sacrifice. In the world of spiritual attainment and perfection, surrender is the Holy Grail and the pivotal moment when we truly realize that we not only have everything, we are everything. There is no need to suffer, and there is no need to learn through pain, because loving lessons are gladly remembered. Surrendering unhappy, unloving thoughts through forgiveness allows us to experience personal healing transformation. When we truly forgive, we release ourselves from conflict and become completely aware of our own invulnerability. 

The only reason we want to be a master of forgiveness is so we can be happy, not just some of the time, but all of the time. Forgiveness: A Means to an End Forgiveness is how we surrender to inner peace and happiness, which is not a place or space in time or part of the physical world, but a state of mind. The real question is whether or not we feel worthy of love. Ask if it is possible that anyone can deprive us of love, which is always the problem in any situation. This problem is totally unreal because the separation from love never happened. 

The remedy for understanding that this is true is the fact that everyone is, and has always been, connected to the Source of Love. Eclipsing the Means and Attaining Our Goal The third and final step will actually be taken by Love itself, when we have become completely ready and willing to be happy and at peace. Once the means – forgiveness – has been completed, the memory of love floods the mind because all obstacles to peace have been given up in favor of joy. This is not a condition set by love, but a decision the individual has made to side with peace instead of conflict. Conflict resolution can seem to take forever, but only peace of mind is eternal. Surrender. 

We are all surrounded with a love so real and gentle, so all-encompassing that it offers us the way out of conflict, loneliness, fear, and releases us forever from the thought of death. Forgive and you will see things differently. Love is the Answer

Ho’o pono pono

(photo courtesy criswatk)


Joe Vitale tells the story of the absolutely amazing Huna practice of Ho’o pono pono of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We are powerful agents of change as we learn to utilize the energy of true love and forgiveness.

"Two years ago, I heard about a therapist in Hawaii who cured a complete ward of criminally insane patients--without ever seeing any of them. The psychologist would study an inmate's chart and then look within himself to see how he created that person's illness. As he improved himself, the patient improved.

"When I first heard this story, I thought it was an urban legend. How could anyone heal anyone else by healing himself? How could even the best self-improvement master cure the criminally insane? It didn't make any sense. It wasn't logical, so I dismissed the story.

"However, I heard it again a year later. I heard that the therapist had used a Hawaiian healing process called ho 'o pono pono. I had never heard of it, yet I couldn't let it leave my mind. If the story was at all true, I had to know more. I had always understood "total responsibility" to mean that I am responsible for what I think and do. Beyond that, it's out of my hands. I think that most people think of total responsibility that way. We're responsible for what we do, not what anyone else does--but that's wrong.

"The Hawaiian therapist who healed those mentally ill people would teach me an advanced new perspective about total responsibility. His name is Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. We probably spent an hour talking on our first phone call. I asked him to tell me the complete story of his work as a therapist.

He explained that he worked at Hawaii State Hospital for four years. That ward where they kept the criminally insane was dangerous. Psychologists quit on a monthly basis. The staff called in sick a lot or simply quit. People would walk through that ward with their backs against the wall, afraid of being attacked by patients. It was not a pleasant place to live, work, or visit.

"Dr. Len told me that he never saw patients. He agreed to have an office and to review their files. While he looked at those files, he would work on himself. As he worked on himself, patients began to heal.

"'After a few months, patients that had to be shackled were being allowed to walk freely,' he told me. 'Others who had to be heavily medicated were getting off their medications. And those who had no chance of ever being released were being freed.' I was in awe. 'Not only that,' he went on, 'but the staff began to enjoy coming to work.

Absenteeism and turnover disappeared. We ended up with more staff than we needed because patients were being released, and all the staff was showing up to work. Today, that ward is closed.'

"This is where I had to ask the million dollar question: 'What were you doing within yourself that caused those people to change?'

"'I was simply healing the part of me that created them,' he said. I didn't understand. Dr. Len explained that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life- simply because it is in your life--is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation.

"Whew. This is tough to swallow. Being responsible for what I say or do is one thing. Being responsible for what everyone in my life says or does is quite another. Yet, the truth is this: if you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life. This means that terrorist activity, the president, the economy or anything you experience and don't like--is up for you to heal. They don't exist, in a manner of speaking, except as projections from inside you. The problem isn't with them, it's with you, and to change them, you have to change you.

"I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility, but as I spoke with Dr. Len, I began to realize that healing for him and in ho 'o pono pono means loving yourself.

"If you want to improve your life, you have to heal your life. If you want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal, you do it by healing you.

"I asked Dr. Len how he went about healing himself. What was he doing, exactly, when he looked at those patients' files?

"'I just kept saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you' over and over again,' he explained.

"That's it?

"That's it.

"Turns out that loving yourself is the greatest way to improve yourself, and as you improve yourself, you improve your world.

"Let me give you a quick example of how this works: one day, someone sent me an email that upset me. In the past I would have handled it by working on my emotional hot buttons or by trying to reason with the person who sent the nasty message.

"This time, I decided to try Dr. Len's method. I kept silently saying, 'I'm sorry' and 'I love you,' I didn't say it to anyone in particular. I was simply evoking the spirit of love to heal within me what was creating the outer circumstance.

"Within an hour I got an e-mail from the same person. He apologized for his previous message. Keep in mind that I didn't take any outward action to get that apology. I didn't even write him back. Yet, by saying 'I love you,' I somehow healed within me what was creating him.

"I later attended a ho'o ponopono workshop run by Dr. Len. He's now 70 years old, considered a grandfatherly shaman, and is somewhat reclusive.

He praised my book, The Attractor Factor. He told me that as I improve myself, my book's vibration will raise, and everyone will feel it when they read it. In short, as I improve, my readers will improve.

"'What about the books that are already sold and out there?' I asked.

"'They aren't out there,' he explained, once again blowing my mind with his mystic wisdom. 'They are still in you.' In short, there is no out there. It would take a whole book to explain this advanced technique with the depth it deserves.

"Suffice It to say that whenever you want to improve anything in your life, there's only one place to look: inside you. When you look, do it with love."

Joe Vitale

Ho'o ponopono mantra:

I love you
I'm sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you.