Written by: Patrick Batson, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
As a spiritual consultant, I find that clients often struggle to practice compassion, forgiveness, and positive expectations in light of the violence, bigotry, and division they see in the world. “How can I be happy when so many are suffering?” they ask. “How can I forgive someone who has hurt so many?” Questions like these may seem difficult. However, when we embody the understanding that all life truly is one and everything we experience is our own creation, the answers become clear.
An ancient tradition with modern significance
Ho’oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian spiritual practice brought to international attention in recent times by the work of Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len. He famously healed an entire ward of patients diagnosed as criminally insane using the technique. Amazingly, Dr. Hew Len had little or no direct contact with many who were healed. When asked what caused the patients to change, he said, “I was simply healing the part of me that created them.” At the heart of Ho’oponopono is the understanding that we create everything in our lives without exception—even the unpleasant things we only hear about in the news. This can be difficult to accept at first because we are conditioned to believe in duality and separation. From such a perspective, what I choose for myself would seem to have no effect on someone I will never know, and vice versa.
We truly are all connected
To unravel this apparent dichotomy, we must elevate our consciousness to see beyond physical conditions. Humanity is truly connected at the soul level—the part of us that transcends the limits of time and space which define our physical world. In other words, my Higher Self is one with your Higher Self. While in the physical body, we create our lives from a limited perspective, including all of the conditions we judge to be “bad”. Why would an unlimited soul choose to experience life from a limited point of view? To achieve the growth and learning that comes with reawakening to its true nature.
While our conscious mind is typically caught up in the separation of the physical world, our subconscious mind remains connected to our Higher Self’s perspective of limitlessness and unity. Our subconscious also stores 95% of our beliefs and memories, making it a powerful force in creating our life experiences. Many of these stored patterns reinforce our sense of separation and lead us to blame everyone but ourselves for the state of the world and our own lives. Nonetheless, a part of the subconscious never forgets how magnificent and connected we all are. Sometimes we receive glimpses of this magnificence in a flash of intuition or inspiration—when we simply know something without understanding why.
We create our reality from subconscious patterns
Dr. Hew Len taught that everything we see and experience is the result of our individual and collective memories, which exist primarily in our subconscious. Therefore, the most immediate and impactful thing we can do to create a more benevolent world is to clear and elevate our subconscious patterns. Admittedly, it can be challenging to reach this perspective, so I encourage my clients to simply be open to the possibility that everything they experience is their own creation. I then encourage them to examine why they might choose to create something undesirable.
It helps to approach the question neutrally; in the same way one might consider what to eat for dinner or what clothes to wear. Our subconscious preferences are expressed in such common choices. At the same time, our subconscious is concerned primarily with our survival. Therefore, it might prefer a seemingly undesirable life circumstance that it judges to be optimal for survival. This can be as subtle as, “I have experienced a certain level of anxiety about the state of the world my entire life, and yet I am still alive. Therefore, my anxiety helps to sustain me.” And it can be more direct, such as, “The world is harsh, and you have to struggle to get ahead.” With such points of view driving our choices, it is easy to see why we would subconsciously choose to experience stressful situations.
We can spend our entire lives subconsciously addicted to conditions that the conscious mind does not prefer. However, when we come to the conscious understanding that we create our reality moment by moment through our subconscious thoughts, emotions, and beliefs, then we are empowered to create from preferences that are much more expansive than the survival instinct. Loving, compassionate, and forgiving choices now become preferable because we have a greater sense of how powerful and far-reaching our choices are. We realize that we have the power to positively influence humanity every moment of our lives.
How to practice Ho’oponopono
Ho’oponopono is a simple and effective way to do just that. It’s as simple as offering a prayer to yourself whenever you become aware of something you judge to be undesirable—whether it is happening in your own life or somewhere else in the world. With this prayer, you invoke divine assistance (i.e. the Higher Self) to clear your subconscious of limiting patterns and pave the way for divine alchemy to elevate the entire situation. When practiced consistently and with strong intent, “miracles” truly are possible.
Dr. Hew Len honed his Ho’oponopono prayer down to a very simple but effective 11 words: I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you. Say this whenever you encounter a person, condition, or story you find undesirable or upsetting. Also say it when you experience internal conflicts, such as regrets about the past, fear about the future, and even unwanted physical symptoms. Recognize that you are not “fixing” any external people or conditions. By taking ownership of everything in your experience and invoking divine assistance to clear it, you are cleaning your perception of your life conditions. You will immediately experience a feeling of greater lightness that can have a profound impact on your life experience. The more you practice, the more positive your worldview will be, and the more positive circumstances you will create.
When enough people in the collective of humanity take responsibility for the creation of their lives and intentionally practice benevolent creation, physical reality will begin to elevate for the entire collective. So, practice as often as you can. Judge nothing, expect miracles, and watch how your life improves!
For a more in-depth look at Ho’oponopono, check out the book Zero Limits by Dr. Hew Len and Dr. Joe Vitale. And for perspective on why an incarnating soul would choose a difficult experience, see Your Soul’s Plan by Robert Schwartz.
Patrick Batson, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Patrick assists people on their journey of awakening to higher consciousness. Drawing upon decades of study and practice of Spiritual wisdom, as well as executive-level management and modern family life, Patrick serves as a guide for bridging the physical and Spiritual worlds. He has authored two books and publishes a monthly blog of channeled content on topics common to the human experience, as observed from the perspective of the Higher Self. Through his healing practice, Patrick helps clients connect with their Higher Mind. By bringing unconscious, limiting beliefs into alignment with the Higher Mind's vision of wholeness and abundance, clients are able to amplify and accelerate positive life changes.
