Four years ago I discovered the story of Dr. Hew Len and how he cured an entire ward of criminally mentally ill patients using the simple ancient Hawaiian healing method of Ho’oponopono. Although this story changed my life, at first I was convinced that this story wasn’t true.

I have always been cynical of any faith healer. Watching these so-called men of God perform such apparent drama on television offended me. Even though the source of the allegation seemed credible, I decided to do my own investigation, researching this doctor and his unbelievable claims. It wasn’t easy getting documented proof of his story, but there was some irrefutable information available on this incident.

I first researched the Ho’oponopono movement. I learned that “Ho’oponopono” is defined in the Hawaiian dictionary as mental cleansing and setting things right through mutual restitution and forgiveness.

Preeminent Hawaiian scholar Mary Kawena Pukui wrote that was a practice in ancient Hawaiian mediation. Hawaiian documented a belief that illness was caused by breaking spiritual laws, and that the illness could not be cured until the sufferer atoned for this transgression. The practice was most often used to mediate unresolvable disputes between families. They healing could only come with complete forgiveness of the whole family.

I discovered that Dr. Hew Len was a student of Ho’oponopono and had worked at the Hawaii State Hospital in the high security ward for the criminally insane from 1983 to 1987. Many witnesses claim that Dr. Hew Len didn’t do any therapy on the patients. He would walk through the ward, and review the patients’ files, but not for the purpose of therapy.

This mental ward was supposably so chaotic that nurses reported that no day would end without a brawl among patients, the nurses, and the rest of the staff. The mental ward was so destructive and depressive that the staff would go on sick-leave a lot of times.

The way the story goes is the Dr. Hew Len would arrive in the office every morning with a cheerful and tranquil disposition. Dr. Hew Len never made personal visits to the inmates, but he would browse through their files from time to time. Strangely enough, things started to change in the mental ward.

The prisoners and staff gradually go along with each other. The inmates were less destructive and the mental ward employees made more initiative to make the ward a better place.

Dr. Hew Len worked in the the mental ward for almost four years, and during that period, prisoners were released and the staff performed their responsibilities dutifully again. Only a few inmates were left and eventually, they were transferred to other wards. The clinic was closed down because barely any inmates were left.

Dr. Hew Len says that Ho’oponopono is the process where we say to The Divine: “I love you” (unification), “I’m sorry” (repentance), “Please forgive me” (forgiveness), and “Thank you” (transmutation).

When he asked what caused the patients to change, his simple answer is always “I was simply healing the part of me that created them.” He believed that total responsibility for your life means that everything in your life – simply because it is in your life – is your responsibility. In a literal sense the entire world is your creation. If you take complete responsibility for your life, then everything you see, hear, taste, touch, or in any way experience is your responsibility because it is in your life.

Ho’oponopono teaches taking 100% responsibility in everything you see, feel, and experience is the only way to live a miraculous life. Everything we see and experience is nothing more than our individual and collective memories. Dr. Hew Len believes the miracle in the hospital was nothing more than him cleaning and cleaning the memories in him that were demonstrating in the hospital.

He believes that only The Divinity can reach down into the sub-conscious mind and take the problem memories and neutralize them, and then remove the memory into storage, and leave the mind blank.

Once the mind goes into this state of emptiness and peacefulness, Divinity comes through with inspiration, and as the inspiration comes in, the canceling/transmutation of memories takes place – which only The Divine can do.

The Ho’oponopono cleaning is profound because we are dealing directly with The Divine, and The Divine can do its job perfectly.

This is the big awareness that changed my life. Nothing exists except as projections from inside me. The problem isn’t with anything in the world, it’s with me, and to change any effect, I have to change me or at least my resistant beliefs of the world.

I know this is tough to grasp, let alone accept or actually live. Blame is far easier than total responsibility. But I began to realize that Ho’oponopono means loving myself, and that if I want to improve my life, I have to heal my life. If I want to cure anyone, even a mentally ill criminal I have to heal that through me.

Since leaving his practice at the state hospital, Dr. Hew Len has become a world renowned spiritual healer. He now travels the world teaching Ho’oponopono.

I am now a faithful student of this miracle practice. I use the practice throughout my day to let go of any resistance and open my consciousness for divine flow. I clean and release mind activity, forgiving misalignments and continually accepting what is. Cleaning and clearing is done to get the circumstances that are perfect and right for me. But I don’t know what that is. Only The Divine knows.

What are some of your thoughts on Ho’oponopono?