Welcome to part six,
The heart of hoʻoponopono,
Mihi,
The act of forgiveness.
We have been through a lot in parts one through five and now we offer a space for forgiveness.
This is the heart of hoʻoponopono known as mihi,
M-i-h-i,
Meaning to confess,
Offer remorse,
Or regret.
This is created for forgiving,
Confessing,
Or apologizing to one another.
There are two components of this phase that require one,
Genuine truth-telling and two,
A release.
Truth-telling is free of any and all judgment and sincerely emotionally felt by others.
The honest truth of what has happened is shared here among everyone and it is received no matter how difficult or hard it is to hear.
This is followed by forgiving or kala,
Releasing as not to cause the painful aspects of the problem to resurface again.
Kala is defined as loosening,
Untying,
Freeing,
Releasing,
Removing,
Unburdening,
Absolving,
Letting go,
To take off.
The undercurrent of this aspect of forgiveness knows that the hurt has occurred.
It acknowledges the hurt but it does not repress it,
Ignore it,
Or justify the pain that was caused.
It simply releases it in a way that all those involved become emptied completely of the problem.
During this part of hoʻoponopono,
The ability to liberate from the pain then makes room for all to feel lighter,
More aloha or love,
And grace.
And it is okay for some not to be ready and to request more time for healing,
Though the group must agree on how to move forward from that point.
Questions for reflection.
Why is forgiveness important to me?
What can I forgive myself for?
What do I need to release to forgive another person or people?
In the act of forgiveness,
In mihi,
Offering regret or remorse,
What comes after this is kala,
Where we are able to release and absolve others of pain.
We become lighter,
More free,
And feel the burden has been lifted.
This concept of kala is also understood in Hawaiian as offering a prayer or intention to release and absolve others of pain.
In many ways,
It seals that moment and it is lifted.
Finally,
The group,
Family,
Or partnership is reunited under the objective and mission from where they began by stepping into the fullness of the vision that each had hoped for.
And we express gratitude,
Seeing the other and ourselves in a brand new light.
In our prayer,
We give thanks to the powers that be,
Both seen and unseen,
For strength to unite as one and with aloha.
This time came to pass but with the hope and faith that each individual cared enough about the other and the collective good.
They have arrived,
They showed up,
And you showed up too.
As we complete our reflection on the true essence and meaning of ho'oponopono,
Remember it is so much more mana-filled and powerful so as not to be diluted by our Western minds.
It is meant to absolve us of our pain,
Not only and just for us but for our future generations.
What are you grateful for?
Who are you grateful for and why?
List the qualities,
Perhaps new,
That you see now in the other person but you also see in yourself.
What lessons did you learn about yourself and others during these challenging moments?
What can you take with you?
What values do you hold to be true that you can teach future generations?
Mahalo,
Mahalo,
Mahalo.
