Could Ho'oponopono Bring Peace to the Middle East?

Let me tell you a true story. A couple of years ago I was teaching Ho'oponopono in Chile. The training was all day Saturday and half day Sunday.

At the first break on Saturday morning, a Palestinian man came up to me and told me that he didn't agree with anything I had just shared with them.

He also told me that he really didn't want to come to the class because when he saw my Jewish last name, he thought "what does she have to teach me?"

He went on telling me everything he believed and when he finished, to his surprise, I told him that I agreed with everything he just told me.

I asked him to be open and flexible because I thought that we were talking about the same thing, maybe calling it different names. He accepted and decided to stay.

The next morning he shared the most amazing story with the class about a serious problem with the police the night before. He used one of the tools I had given them on Saturday and couldn't believe the results. He was amazed at how things had resolved in a miraculous way.

At the end of the class, he gave me a huge hug and screamed "This is Peace in the Middle East."

I hope you understand how profound this is. I didn't have to convince him by talking or arguing or being right. I didn't have to have the last word. While he was talking to me, I just needed to keep my mouth shut and say "I am sorry, Please forgive me for whatever is in me that has created this."

I had to be conscious that he was not out there, that he was my own thoughts, my own memories. That he showed up in my life to give me a chance to make it right this time.

If you want freedom and peace, look at yourself and realize that you are building on top of memories, making decisions based on memories. You are judging based on memories and seeing everything through memories. You are blind and deaf but you think you know. Most of your memories are your ancestors' memories, not yours.

Somebody has to clean this up.

Forgiveness is the only way. When you don't forgive, you are hurting yourself, not the others. Be willing to forgive yourself first for not knowing what you're doing.

Ho'oponopono, this very ancient Hawaiian art of problem solving, reminds us that the only reason we are here is to make amends. It's the only reason we came back.

It's a gift to be here right now, and we need to wake up and say "I am sorry." Not because we're guilty or sinners, but because we're 100% responsible.