You don’t need to chant on a mountaintop to clean your life.
But you do need to stop blaming the mountain.
Ho’oponopono is not a gimmick. It’s not “The Secret” in Hawaiian. It won’t help you manifest a yacht. It doesn’t ask you to visualise, affirm, or attract.
What it does ask is far harder and infinitely more powerful.
It asks you to take full responsibility for your inner state, and to accept that every single thing you perceive in your outer world from your relationships to your inbox is arising from within.
Not your fault.
But your field.
And fields can be cleared.
What Is Ho’oponopono?
Ho’oponopono (pronounced ho-oh-pono-pono) is an ancient Hawaiian practice for restoring energetic alignment through a deceptively simple principle:
"You are responsible for everything you experience because it lives within your consciousness."
You don’t change the world by forcing it.
You clean the internal lens through which the world appears.
And when the lens is clean, the reflection changes.
Four Phrases That Unlock the Door
At its heart, Ho’oponopono is a quiet practice of release. You repeat:
I’m sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you
I love you
Not to control events but to invite Divine Intelligence to clean the data stored in your subconscious.
These words aren’t magic spells. They’re invitations.
What they open is not the world, but you.
This Is Not About Guilt
Ho’oponopono is radical yet not punitive.
It doesn’t mean you're “to blame” for what happens around you. It means that everything arises through the interface of your subconscious. And if it shows up, it’s yours to clean.
As Dr. Hew Len famously said, “I see the problem, therefore it is mine.”
Your Mind Isn’t a Mirror. It’s a Desktop
Think of your perception like a desktop.
What you see, people, events, triggers, are icons. They’re not the code. They’re not reality. They’re representations, coloured by memory, trauma, and karmic residue.
You don’t fix the icons.
You clean the code.
That’s what Ho’oponopono does.
Three Layers of the Self
The practice draws on a layered model of consciousness:
Divinity – the realm of infinite wisdom
Superconscious – the go-between, your internal “navigator”
Subconscious – the storehouse of pain, memory, and pattern
The cleaning happens when the subconscious petitions Divinity, via the Superconscious , to clear the stored data that keeps cycling through your life.
Let’s Be Clear About What It Won’t Do
Ho’oponopono won’t:
Guarantee success
Heal others on your behalf
Deliver external outcomes on command
This isn’t transactional spirituality.
It’s inner hygiene.
You clean for the sake of clarity.
You clean to open space for the divine to move.
That’s enough.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is this a religious practice?
No. It draws from spiritual roots, but requires no belief. It’s a method, not a dogma.
Q: Does it mean I shouldn’t take action?
No. But the action will be cleaner — less reactive, more intuitive — when the inner debris is cleared first.
Q: Is “I love you” really directed at me?
Yes. And no. It’s aimed at the part of you carrying the memory. It’s also an offering to the Divine.
Q: Will this fix my relationships?
It might. But not by changing the other person. By dissolving the pattern you’ve been holding with them.
Start now.
Not because something’s wrong. Because something’s ready.
Say the words.
Breathe gently.
Clean the lens.
And watch what returns in the mirror.
Because the world is not separate from you.
It’s simply waiting for you to remember where it begins.
Right here.
In you.
Always.
Buy the full Ho’oponopono: What is it? What are its limits? by Stephen Bray here.
You can also listen to a podcast about the book here.
Stephen Bray mentors people navigating change in business, family, or self. He helps them find the signal in the chaos. Learn more here.
© 2025 Stephen Bray. Patterns in life and business — told simply.