Peace Through Ho'oponopono

Joe Vitale & Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len

This weeekend will mark the 3rd anniversary of my official introduction to SITH: Self I-dentity Through Ho'oponopono. My course with Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len was one of the major turning points in my own life and one for which I am eternally grateful. [Read an interview with Dr. Hew Len and learn more about ho'oponopono.]

Ho'oponopono is a Hawaiian practice which means, "to make right," or "to rectify an error." According to the ancient Hawaiians, error arises from thoughts that are tainted by painful memories from the past. Ho'oponopono offers a way to release the energy of these painful thoughts, or errors, which cause imbalance and disease.

One of the prayers that is practised after each event or day, is the Peace of I.

The Peace Of "I"

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Peace be with you, All My Peace,
The Peace that is " I ", the Peace that is "I am".
The Peace for always, now and forever and evermore.
My Peace " I " give to you, My Peace " I " leave with you,
Not the world's Peace, but, only My Peace,
The Peace of " I ".

When I first heard that prayer, shivers went down my body as I realized that I wasn't responsible for the world's peace (an impossible task from an individual's point of view), but I could be responsible for my own peace.

It was then that I began making peace the focus of my life.

A friend of mine has recently started blogging about the subject at Peace Ripples as she feels as strongly as I do that it's vitally important in this world for each of us to do our own part in creating peace for ourselves.

There are many ways to make peace a priority. One of the main ways is through forgiveness. Another is through gratitude.

I remember a Dr. Phil show about a woman who had many blessings in her life, but who was always discontent. He pointed out everything that she had to be grateful for, which was a lot, and told her to make a list of 100 things she was grafetul for EVERY DAY FOR A MONTH!

I was totally taken aback and wondered how in the world she would accomplish something so difficult, but after thinking about it a while, I decided to challenge myself to do the same exercise. It was not easy - I can tell you. But I managed it. Some things were repeated each day, but very few.

There is so much "bad" news each and every day, and peace looks like the only thing missing when we read the papers or watch TV, but that exercise really opened my eyes to all the things we can be grateful for.

Search for peace in your own life and it will filter into the lives of others. That's the only place where we can start making world peace.