Can we heal the world with Love? 3
6th Sep 2009
Hello lovely people
Dr Joe Vitale, in his book Zero Limits, describes a Hawaiian healing process called ho’oponopono. The therapist that made this healing process famous was put in charge of a ward of criminally insane patients. This was a ward where psychologists quit on a monthly basis and staff either called in sick very often, or simply quit their jobs.
This therapist never saw any of the patients. He simply went through their files every day, and then looked within himself to see how he created that person’s illness. The therapist then repeated “I am sorry, I love you”. As he learnt to love the parts of himself that he earlier did not want to acknowledge, the patients improved significantly. Some patients were released, others were taken off heavy medication, and others were allowed to move around without shackles.
This method of therapy was so successful that eventually there were more (happy) staff members than patients, and today that ward is closed. This is not an urban legend. It was confirmed by the therapist, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, who is the co-author of the book.
What if we do not try to find existential or practical or morally right answers to any of the questions raised in this article? What if we simply try this method of ho’oponopono to love ourselves, rather than take part in the debate about issues that we can never resolve by debate?
Is ho’oponopono the ultimate combination of justice and mercy?
And if that sounds like a pipe dream, have you heard about the hugging judge? Lee Shapiro was a retired judge, living in San Francisco. He was a very popular speaker at conferences, where he delivered his message of unconditional love.
At a conference he was challenged by the media to prove his message. The first challenge was simply to approach any person in the street and offer a hug. When that proved easy, he was told to approach a meter maid who was having a hard time with an offender. She gratefully accepted his hug, to the chagrin of the media team.
The team then decided to set him a real challenge. When a bus stopped, they told him to approach the six foot two, 230 pounds, mean, tough bus driver and offer him a hug. Lee did this. The bus driver accepted the hug and continued with his task. This left the media team speechless.
Lee was then taken to a home for the disabled. He was not comfortable with this, because he had never hugged people that were terminally ill, severely retarded or quadriplegic. But he believed in his message, and hugged people that he otherwise would never have noticed or approached. There was one particularly disabled man that was drooling on his bib. This man was a real challenge for Lee, but he bent down and hugged the man.
The next moment the man began to squeal and the other patients clanged items together to express their joy. When Lee turned to the medical staff for an explanation, he found that they were all crying. The reason was that it was the first time in 23 years that this man had smiled.
It seems possible, or even probable, that we can heal the world by healing the part of ourselves that created the part of the world that needs healing. Justice always has consequences. The one consequence that we tend to overlook when we demand justice is the effect that any just action will have on ourselves. Of course this approach of offering justice with love will not satisfy the public demand that is often based on an eye for an eye. People have been conditioned for thousands of years to demand retribution. However, it is possible to swing the pendulum to demand love, and if it takes another thousand years to do this, it will be a job well done.
First printed in The If Journal volume 124
Please leave a comment if you feel inspired.
Love and Light
Elsabe
