Ho’oponopono

 

Ho’oponopono is a simple, gentle, but very effective ancient Hawaiian approach to healing.

In my understanding, Ho’oponopono works as it is premised on the metaphysical principle that we create our own reality. Each one of us, through our ignorance of the divine principles, contributes to the manifestation of diseases and social ills in our world. A healer has as much a responsibility in creating a disease as the sick person himself. (Of course the sick person did not consciously ask to be sick, but through what is happening in his mind, he may have unwittingly allowed illness to touch him). Similarly, if the healer himself does not ‘see’ lack, limitations, impairments, diminishment, illnesses, such conditions will not be created. This is why in Ho’oponopono, the healer says sorry, asks for forgiveness, and then activates love vibration and gratitude in place of the unwanted conditions that have already been created.

The master healer is like Jesus. He who dwells in a very high frequency range that he does not see any kind of impairment in another. Instead, he only sees the perfect well-being of the patient, an image he powerfully projects to the patient. And if the patient is receptive (or has faith), he is, in no time, healed.

Another way of storytelling this is — there are different timelines we live in or have access to. A master healer, like Jesus, dwells in a very high frequency timeline where the thoughts of lack, illness, and limitations are virtually unknown and, thus, uncreated. In this high frequency timeline, all of us are in perfect well-being, unimpaired and lacking of nothing. The master healer unwaveringly focuses on that version of the “patient” where the latter is in perfect well-being. This heals the patient. Surely, the patient himself can be his own healer. All he needs to do is to tap into that high frequency timeline and access that version of himself where he is in perfect well-being. He consistently focuses his attention on that perfect-well-being-image of himself until he becomes it.

In the timeline of Duality, the healer and the patient are co-creators; while in the timeline of Unity Consciousness, the healer and the patient are one and the same entity. So when a healer heals a patient, he is, at the same time, also healing a sick part of himself. In Ho’oponopono, this sick part of himself is his misguided or false perception. This is why in Ho’oponopono, the healer does not have to personally meet the patient in order to heal the latter. Instead, the healer takes full responsibility of what he created in his reality by correcting his false perception.

The healer thus says:

I am sorry for perceiving you as the bad person, as the criminal, as the sick one, as the drug addict, etc.

I am sorry for my part in sustaining the illusion (false perception) and thus co-creating it in our reality.

Please forgive me for my misguided way of seeing.

I love you (love to one’s self and love towards the patient)

I thank you (gratitude to one’s self and towards the patient)

There are no drugs involved in Ho’oponopono. Healing happens on the level of heart and mind and that’s why the need for sincerity when reciting the mantra.

My basis in coming up with this explanation is from my shamanic hallucinatory vision where I had a glimpse of that timeline where diseases, lack, and limitations do not exist (recounted in Chapter 32 of my book). These unwanted conditions will continue to play-out in our reality for as long as we keep on energising them by focusing on them.

To bring heaven on earth is to anchor the energies of that very high frequency timeline on earth.

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SHAMANIC HEALING (IGOROT)

My friend Chris, from Toronto, a healer himself, asked me to share what I learned from my shaman grandmother about the Igorots’ wisdom on healing — the understanding, the approach, the methods, the techniques, the processes, the rituals, and the results.

Thank you for asking, Chris.

I will try to answer your question the best possible way I could even though I’m well aware that my answer would be limited and very subjective according to my personal capacity to comprehend the Igorots’ worldview in general and in relation to how they view or deal with illnesses and healing in particular.

First of all, as I mentioned in my book, after caring for me since I was a babe, my grandmother died when I was about 10 years old. And when I was with her, she was already too old to be performing the healing rituals. So, I’ve not actually seen her perform a healing ritual. My knowledge of my grandma’s healing processes is from what I heard from my mother, elder siblings, and other people who have known her.

But more than the actual healing rituals, what she directly (consciously and subconsciously) imparted to me are, I think, even more valuable than the specific forms of healing rituals that she performed. She was, after all, not only an herbalist, a midwife, and a spirit medium but she was also a storyteller and a deep “contemplator” (what I’d like to call a philosopher). And this philosopher facet of her was what I chose to get from her as it deals more with ‘healing the mind’ than ‘healing the body’ — the former being my personal preference as a healer myself.

In my personal quest, I have discovered that to heal the mind is also to heal the body. Thus, the content of my book is more on shamanic philosophy rather than the usual shamanic healing that we are more familiar with.

 

WHAT CAUSES ILLNESS

Similar to other animistic cultures around the world, the traditional Igorot worldview holds the perspective that illness is almost always caused by supernatural factors. I think that this belief actually made a lot of sense for them at that time.

In a time where people consumed only organic foodstuff and lived simple, stress-free lives, and their bodies strong and sturdy, how could they blame chemical imbalances in their bodies to be the cause of diseases? It must have been displeased spirit-beings who made them ill!

Even an accident was not really an accident. For example, if someone had an “accident” and had hurt himself badly or got killed, it was believed that he might have done something displeasing to other beings. He might have transgressed a custom (rules and regulations to keep peace and order in pre-industrial societies). He might have displeased the nature-spirits by trespassing into their territory. He might have failed to give the spirits of dead ancestors their due. Or, he might have a conflict with another human and the latter did sorcery on him!

 

HEALING

From what I gathered from the stories told, and through keen participatory observation and deduction, Igorot shamanic healing is done by considering the three aspects of a human being: body, mind, and spirit — the trinity.

The first is on the level of matter through the use of ‘chemistry’. Here we find the shaman’s use of herbs and other healing concoctions.

The second is on the aspect of metaphysics. Here is where storytelling and ‘consciousness or mind over matter’ comes in. The use of talismans and other sacred, energetically-charged objects to assist in what I call ‘mind tricking’ may also fall in this category.

Third is supernatural intervention. Spirit mediumship, dream interpretation, interpretations of signs/events, divination, chanting, praying and invocations may fall in this category.

All three aspects are wholly considered by the shaman emphasizing one aspect over another depending on the circumstances and needs of the patient.

Of course the people in my hometown would not simplistically categorize, label, or differentiate these three interwoven aspects. This is solely my attempt of systematization in order to ‘translate’ the complex nature of Igorot shamanic healing for the understanding of “outsiders” (sorry for my use of this barbaric term) and the general public.

The healing techniques of sucking, spitting, blowing (air) and yawning, accompanied by invocations and prayers, and perhaps the sacrifice of an animal or two may fall in all three categories of so-called aspects of the body-mind-spirit connection.

 

RESULTS OF HEALING

If what is meant by ‘results’ is if Igorot shamanic healing is effective or not, then here is what I know:

Just like in modern times with modern-trained doctors, hospitals, and even with advanced technologies, in shamanic healing, some illnesses get cured and some still not. The difference, I think, is that in shamanic healing, the approach is more holistic than the approach of many modern doctors. And this difference in approach may have a significant effect on the result. Having said that, however, still, Igorots believe that if every healing technique is done meticulously and yet a patient dies, it is simply because it’s the latter’s time to leave.

Needless to say, there are many various factors that contribute to the success or failure of a certain healing technique whether it be traditional shamanic healing or modern-western healing.

In today’s Igorot society, just like in religion wherein Christianity and animism are mixed, many people choose to subscribe to both systems of healing. They can go to a doctor and take modern medicine, and yet they may still consult a traditional healer and agree to conduct traditional healing rituals. Whatever works!

 

IS IT TRANSFERABLE?

Is Igorot shamanic healing transferable or applicable to non-Igorots?

The answer is both yes and no.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine consulted me as she had been also consulted about the prospects of using Igorot ancient shamanic healing techniques in healing the traumas of American soldiers who fought in Iraq.

The Igorot shamanic system does include methods to heal traumas and mental depressions. In the distant past, after engaging in a battle, warriors were quarantined, processed and “cleansed” before they were allowed to go home to their families. This same processing and cleansing practice is applied to people who have witnessed, or were involved in tragic incidents. Even able-bodied rescuers who helped in rescuing people involved in tragic accidents had to undergo cleansing healing rituals.

But is the traditional Igorot system of healing trauma, depression, and other psychological disturbances transferable or applicable, for instance, to traumatized American soldiers?

 

The answer is no:

The Igorot traditional healing rituals are culture-specific and context-based. Performing the culture-specific rituals for an American soldier will not work as the ‘codes will not match’, so to speak. The rituals will makes sense to an Igorot who is keyed-in to the peculiarities of his culture, but not to an American who has a totally different orientation, programming, belief systems, and, ‘chromosomal configuration’.

 

The answer is yes:

Shamanism is a universal phenomenon. Before there were different world religions competing with each other, there was shamanism. Shamanism is humanity’s common ancient spiritual heritage. Although the forms of shamanic rituals and practices vary from society to society as shamanism is fluid, flexible, and adapted to the peculiarities of every social grouping, there is a common ‘golden’ thread that runs in the heart of all shamanic cultures. This is the core-essence of shamanism.

The core-essence of shamanism is independent of the different visual forms and culture-specific biases of the many shamanic healing techniques around the world. This core-essence is so fundamental that it transcends the differences in shamanic ritual forms.

This core-essence is what is transferable. The most fundamental codes within the ancient Igorot warrior and the modern American soldier, given the right conditions, will respond to this core-essence leading to the healing of both — notwithstanding their very different backgrounds, value systems, conditioning, and, so-called chromosomal configurations.

 

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As Chris had sent me a video of Ho’oponopono, an ancient Hawaiian healing technique, my next post will be on my take on this phenomenon.

 

TO OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK

“You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. Matthew 5:38-39. (New Living Translation)

In a relationship, when a couple breaks-up without a closure, there is a feeling of betrayal, rejection, resentment, and victimhood. This usually results in blaming, badmouthing, and the desire to revenge. From ancient times, we were hardwired to get even.

But just like in technology where old tools and programs are continually being phased out to be replaced by more advanced ones, so is the case of human evolution. Instead of the usual human response of fight or flight when faced with interpersonal crisis, when acceptance, understanding, compassion, and letting go replace the old ‘survival response’ program, a new program is well underway.

An individual who would choose to install this new program on their system could be said to have attained a vibrational leap forward in their personal evolution (akin to a far-reaching technological advancement), which impacts the evolution of the human collective as a whole.

It is a leap forward  because it takes a lot of inner strength to ‘turn the other cheek’ when the aggrieved is impulsed to hit back to get even.

 

 

NON-DUALITY

Non Dual Yin Yang Dog

 

See yourself as the experiencer of everything that life has to offer.
Feel every frequency range you find yourself in; and you do not need to judge the situation as either good or bad, right or wrong. Simply feel what resonates with you and what doesn’t. Then with the power of your attention, consciously choose to create more of the experiences you prefer to experience.

Duterte & Asian Values

Caution: this is a political commentary, a big diversion from what is usually posted in this blog platform. Read at your own risk.

When asked what he did when he made his official visit to China, Duterte said he went there “just being nice” and “did not talk about anything except to cook siopao and chopsuey“. To a layperson, this statement may sound inconsequential, or simply, one of Duterte’s bemusing jokes. But to a political analyst who is knowledgeable on how Asians do their politics, Duterte’s statement is, in fact, politically revealing.

To just “be nice” and to talk about how “to cook siopao and chopsuey” simply means that Duterte and his Chinese counterparts focused their bilateral talk on common heritage, culture, kinship, and common goals and interests while deliberately downplaying differences, conflicts, and divisions.

This is the very essence of the so-called Asian Values approach.

Some of the key elements of Asian values — common to the nations of Southeast Asia and East Asia — include the following:

• ‘Saving face’ by not resorting to the western culture of direct confrontation.
• Negotiations based on what negotiating parties have in common (siopao and chopsuey?)
• Emphasis on cooperation over competition
• Collectivism rather than individualism
• Cultural Relativism as opposed to the European ideals of the universality of human rights.

In line with Asian values, Duterte did not confront and provoke China over an international arbitration court’s ruling that proclaimed the Philippines to be the winner in its South China Sea territorial dispute with China.

Can you blame Duterte? Can you justifiably accuse him of handing the country’s sovereignty over to China?

The hard truth is, in realpolitik, this so-called landmark “win” by the Philippines, is substantially empty. There is zero enforcement mechanism to back it. Immediately following the verdict, China issued a statement rejecting it. And Duterte, being a no-naive realist, is not blind to the raw nature of realpolitik. He knew exactly what is at stake.

So what did he do?

He went to China “just being nice and talked about cooking siopao and chopsuey” with the Chinese Communist party top guns. He came back bringing home billions of dollars worth of Chinese trade, investments, and loans.

Did Duterte do the best he could given the current political landscape wherein our next door neighbor’s economy is so huge it cannot be ignored? Wherein the Philippines, undeveloped and militarily incapable, would only appear naive and irresponsible to challenge a giant to war? And the US, a declining power with a huge deal to lose if it fights against China?

There was a saying: “If you cannot beat them, join them.”

Interestingly, further analyzing current political developments, there was this news article about Chinese coast guards in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, who, instead of chasing away the Filipino fishermen, as they used to do in the past, approached the fishermen to share their food, liquor and cigarettes. This act by the Chinese coast guards is another politically telling symbolic act, an invocation to a shared cultural value, if you will. I have the feeling that the no-nonsense Chinese leadership have specifically instructed their coast guards on how they, from now on, behave towards Filipino fishermen in the disputed shoal now that the two countries have become good ‘friends’ and ‘brothers’.

To quote from the news article:

“Following a visit to Beijing by the Philippine president, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying confirmed to the public that Beijing made“proper arrangements” regarding Scarborough Shoal after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte expressed concern about the matter.”

Among many Southeast Asian and Austronesian culture groups, historically and culturally, the sharing and partaking of food, liquor, tobacco, or betel-nut symbolizes an affirmation and confirmation of friendship and trust. In fact, in the past and even until now among some uncolonized/unwesternized ethnic groups, the practice is done to test a person or people’s willingness to trust another in friendship and brotherhood bond.

My final point is, looking at the regional political landscape, to understand Chinese politics, a clever statesman has to weigh in how the Chinese greatly appreciate invoking cultural commonality when politicking with them.

And that was exactly what Duterte did when he went to China “being nice and talked with the Chinese how to cook siopao and chopsuey”.

 

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*Asian values was a political ideology  which defined elements of society, culture and history common to the nations of Southeast and East Asia. It aimed to use commonalities, for example, the principle of collectivism, to unify people for their economic and social good and to create a pan-Asian identity. (Source -Wikipedia)

*Realpolitik – from German: real “realistic”, “practical”, or “actual”; and Politik “politics”,  is politics or diplomacy based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical premises.

*Re·al·ism – (ˈrē(ə)ˌlizəm/ noun)  The attitude or practice of accepting a situation as it is and being prepared to deal with it accordingly. Synonyms: pragmatism, practicality, common sense, levelheadedness.

 

The World Inside A Glass Bubble

This was a dream I dreamed several years ago. I dreamed that the world is trapped in a huge thick glass bubble, spellbound by a dramatic but repetitious movie it is constantly watching. The multitude’s faces were anguished and world-weary in the dark — caught in a cyclical shadowy human condition. No one in the dark was aware of their predicament.

          I saw the whole world inside a dimmed movie house. The whole world was watching a movie. The movie screen looked like a giant computer screen. All eyes and attention were focused on the movie which was taken as real by the moviegoers. At one point in the dream, I, too, was inside the movie house and I could agree that the movie was very interesting, except that, I noticed, the plot was nothing new. It appeared to be an old story being revived over, and over again through different times and locations with a different set of actors acting the same roles. I was going to speak to the man seated to my right, to say a casual comment about the movie when I sensed he did not want to be bothered. He was laughing at what he was seeing in the movie. I turned to the woman to my left, but she too sent the vibes that she did not want to be disturbed. She was crying at what she was seeing in the movie. I thought it quite amusing that an exact same scene in a movie could make one cry and another laugh.

          As I was watching the people watching the movie, it occurred to me that it was only their collective perception which was making the movie appear like real, for in my vantage point, as I watched them from outside the movie house, they are only looking at a man-made movie. Then I noticed that the movie house and the people in it were inside what looked like a huge bubble. I concurrently became aware of the distraught and world-weary faces of the moviegoers. I thought that as it is merely a bubble encasing the whole world, the bubble could easily burst and everyone in it would be freed. A closer look, however, revealed the bubble to be thicker than it initially appeared. It was a very thick glass bubble. Nobody among the moviegoers seemed to be aware that they are watching a movie in a dark movie house contained in a glass bubble. I thought, if only somebody would poke at the glass bubble to create noise, the viewers’ one-pointed attention on the movie would be momentarily broken, enough for someone to take notice of the confinement and inform the others. I had the idea of hurling a stone; even if it lacked enough impact to break the huge thick glass, it might distract some to notice their enclosure. I scrounged for a stone, but could not find any. And then, a most astonishing revelation took place: it was the multitude’s age-old, deep-seated, complex and tangled thoughts, which, over eons, consistently wove a membrane that solidified into an impenetrable hard glass bubble. I knew then that the bubble could only be cracked from the inside – from its very source. As this almost frightening realization struck me, my body involuntarily convulsed, and I awoke from the dream.

The world’s prevalent and enduring thoughts compounded, gained density, and formed a spherical aquarium-like glass bubble that confined a whole world which is totally oblivious of its confinement.

Is Spiritual Enlightenment Earned?

In my perspective, the answer is no.

To be enlightened, all an aspirant has to have is a pure desire to be enlightened. Desire is the key. Without the desire for anything, that desired thing does not occur in one’s reality. Hence, I found it ironic that Buddhism shuns desire when it is the very act of desiring that summons experience, that summons life. And to determinedly rebuff having a desire is itself an intense and arduous desire. Perhaps Buddha was misunderstood.

Spiritual enlightenment is not earned. That is, if ‘earn’ entails doing some specific steps, processes, or special actions to earn points and merits to make enlightenment happen.

When I was little, my catechist Catholic mother and Baptist brother passionately discussed whether the grace or the mercy of God is acquired through good works. The Bible stated that the grace of God is not acquired through good works, but through faith – and faith alone. I found this to be true in the case of spiritual enlightenment.

Amidst all the unfairness, injustices, strife and tragedies we see around us, it seems to me that the fair, merciful, and just Creator made sure that the Kingdom of God is accessible to everyone, regardless of who they are and what they do, or not do.

If spiritual enlightenment is attained only by doing certain good works or any of the so-called preconditions to enlightenment, it would be unfair since not everyone is in the position to act in certain ways to get enlightened.

For example, some people can’t afford to attend spiritual talks and seminars, buy certain books, or travel long distances to meet a certain guru. Does it mean then that these people are unfortunate (have bad karma) and are farther from being enlightened (or are more distant from the Kingdom of God) than those who are in the position to do one or all of these things?

Those who dress in certain ways, eat only certain “spiritual” foods, speak softly and calculatedly, offer money and incense to a deity, live in an ashram with a guru, meditate long hours, chant mantras – are they any closer to God than those regular-looking people in the street?

Third Dimensional tools and processes do not guarantee that one gets closer to the truth, or to God. Tools could be helpful up to a certain point, and then if one clings to them, like most seekers do, they become the trap of the seeker.

So what to do then?

There is no one right or even wrong path to God. There is no secret method available only to a chosen few. There are no specific steps, procedures, or hallowed practices that one must strictly adhere to in order to get closer to God.

But in every thing desired, whether it be spiritual awakening or any other wanted thing or experience, all one needs is a burning desire that is so pure and focused. This intense desire itself is what summons the means for one to access all that one uniquely requires for his or her journey towards enlightenment. If one needs to meet a certain teacher, or to travel to a certain place to get to the goal, what is needed to do all these things will be provided for, in expected and unexpected ways.

However, if the means towards what is wanted does not show-up, do not despair. This only means that you do not really need what your physical mind thinks you need in order to be what you want to be or where you want to be.

After all, if it is God you seek, if it is the Truth you seek – know that It is within. And the one who looks inward, rather than outward, is the one who will find It.

The Kingdom of God is very much open for those who seek it. There is not even a gate or a heavy door to push open in one specific fashion or another in order to get in.

Just enter.