Law of Attraction meets Ho'oponopono

I've been researching, writing and sharing info on Law of Attraction for almost 4 years, long before it became globally popularized by the movie The Secret. I've ghost-written articles and edited books for a couple of Master Teachers in this field. I love reading all I can get my hands on; I'm a passionate student of this subject. Two days ago I opened up a new book, literally hot off the press and settled in for a quiet evening of reading. Hours later I reluctantly made myself put down the book and go to sleep, vowing I would change my TO-DO list for the next day and read for as long as it would take to finish the book. I did just that...finished the book and then sat there...stunned at the huge paradigm shift I was about to make.

The book is called, Zero Limits, The Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More, by Joe Vitale and Ihaleakala Hew Len, PhD. It explores the ancient Hawaiian teachings of Ho'oponopono.

What is Ho'oponopono?
Definition: Ho'oponopono is an ancient Hawaiian problem solving process updated for today's use by Morrnah Halamaku Simeona, Kahuna Lapa'au, recognized as a Living Treasure of Hawaii in 1983. It is composed of three elements; repentance, forgiveness of self, and transmutation. Petitions initiated by the Conscious Mind are sent to Divine Intelligence to void memories to re-establish Self I-Dentity. It begins in the Conscious Mind.

In other words, Ho'oponopono is a self-help methodology that removes the mental obstacles that block your path, freeing your mind to find new and unexpected ways to get what you want out of life. It clears out unconsciously accepted beliefs, thoughts, and memories that you don't even know are holding you back.

The book was easy to read and well-written. I was enjoying myself immensely until I got to page 174 and read the following by Joe Vitale.
“One thing bothered me about my work with Dr. Hew Len. As I kept growing and having insights, I worried that all my previous books were wrong and were going to mislead people. In The Attraction Factor, for example, I praised the power of intentions. Now, years after writing that book, I knew intention is a fool’s game, and ego’s toy, and that the real source of power is inspiration. I also now knew that agreeing to life is the great secret to happiness, not controlling life. Too many people, myself included, were visualizing and affirming in order to manipulate the world. I now knew that isn’t necessary. You’re better off going with the flow while constantly cleaning whatever comes up.”

Guess what book I just put down moments before picking up this one? That’s right! The Attraction Factor, my brain still soaking up its 5 key steps (p.176).
1. Know what you don’t want.
2. Select what you do want.
3. Clear all negative or limiting beliefs.
4. Feel what it would be like to have, do, or be what you want.
5. Let go as you act on your intuitive impulses, and all the results to manifest.

Written in 2005, Joe Vitale teaches in step 4 to, among other things, use affirmations and attach passionate feeling to imagery to anchor new thoughts into your subconscious mind, replacing old thought patterns that no longer serve to help you attract the people and circumstances you want in your life. And on p.177, he states,
“…state your intentions and let the world arrange itself to bring your goals to you.”

All the master teachers of Law of Attraction teach a similar process using different key words and phrases to get you to the same goal; deliberately attracting more of what you really want and less of what you don’t.

So here I am, soaking up a familiar methodology taught with Joe Vitale’s wonderful passion and flare one day and then, within 24 hours, I’m closing the pages of his brand new book on Ho’oponopono, closing my eyes and regrouping my thoughts, trying to get my bearings on this new self-help process that throws intention out the door and calls imagery, visualizing and affirmations unnecessary.

I must admit, I had to sit with all of this for a good long time and carry it around with me all day, returning to the book time after time to reread key passages…slowly…ever so slowly integrating it and melding it with the processes and methodologies I practice every day.
The hardest part for me is reading that visualizations and affirmations aren’t necessary. I’m very visual and I love the hope I get from my quiet time of daily visualizations. Right now, less than a day after closing the book, I have decided that although they may not be necessary, I’m going to continue using visualizations because they make me feel good AND I’m going to also use Ho’oponopono for each scenario I visualize about. In other words, I’m going to integrate the new with the old until I build up some trust and belief in Ho’oponopono.

I like the last sentence of this selection from this new book about being “…better off to go with the flow…” because that is precisely what I’ve been experimenting with for the last couple of months; giving myself permission to select activities and tasks according to how ‘in the flow’ they make me feel has really kept my vibe strongly positive for longer periods of time.
So, today is the first day of the rest of my life and today I used Ho’oponopono many, many times whenever I was aware of a negative thought or situation arising in my being. Stay tuned as I continue to make the shift into this new paradigm.

I’m Gizelle, a vibrational being navigating a vibrational universe. Thanks for joining me!