Ho’oponopono: The Hawaiian Forgiveness Ritual

Ho’oponopono: The Hawaiian Forgiveness Ritual as the Key to Your Life’s Fulfillment, by Ulrich Dupree.

This really wonderful little book, by Ulrich E. Dupree, is deceptively simple. There is a lot packed into it that is not obvious at first glance. The author presents Ho’oponopono in a heart-felt way, rather than in a very mentally stimulating way. He does not go into a lot of details, stories, or overtly ‘brilliant” ideas – however, they are in there. This book mainly appeals to the heart, while giving a few things that help to keep our busy modern minds happy while that heart connection is made with Ho’oponopono.

This is a small format book. Yet, the author has managed to put in as much, if not more, useful content as you would find in many a full-sized work. It is beautifully done with lovely pictures and layout.

Ulrich, the author, explains that Ho’oponopono is four sentences “I am sorry. Please forgive me. I love you. Thank you.” (The actual order of the sentences does not matter according to the experts).

He then shows us how to use Ho’oponopono in a different situations such as clearing old patterns of resentment and bitterness. The examples given include forgiving ourselves as well as forgiving others.

The book also give a bit of detail on the background of Ho’oponopono, such as where it came from and how it is used in Hawaii for healing an individual, in group and in family situations. It also touches on the spiritual principles behind Ho’oponopono as well as ideas for healing our money situations, work issues health and so on.

I’ve noticed that different authors seem to arrive at different ideas as to what Ho’oponopono actually means. Ulrich seems to have his own definition which works in the context of his book and in using the material. I have also seen very different definitions of what ‘Aloha’ means too, so perhaps that is a quirk of trying to translate something with deep cultural significance into another language (ie even the casually used word ‘goodbye’ in English actually means ‘God bless you’ – but not so many translators realise that, use it that way, and translate it accordingly).

I learned some very useful things about Ho’oponopono from this book. I gained in finding out how I could apply it in real life. I think the real value of this book is how it shows the application of forgiveness in simple, basic real-life situations.

Although I have not had any contact with Ulrich Dupree the author, I should declare a minor interest in that we both have the same publisher.

I am happy to recommend this lovely and very practical book for anyone who wants an introduction to Ho’oponopono or a better sense of how to use it.

Ho’oponopono: The Hawaiian Forgiveness Ritual as the Key to Your Life’s Fulfillment, Ulrich Dupree – Amazon US Review
Ho’oponopono: The Hawaiian Forgiveness Ritual as the Key to Your Life’s Fulfillment, Ulrich Dupree – Amazon UK Review

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