It was about 15 years ago that I attended a class to actually learn Ho’oponopono, which I had been practicing on my own after reading the book. The first thing that surprised me was that the man, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, began his lecture without even a single “hello” or any other common greeting.

I listened in amazement, but all I knew was that Ihaleakala was talking about and practicing cleaning from start to finish.

Before taking the class, when I was still only reading and practicing Ho’oponopono, a change came over me. I began to see spirits (spiritual beings).
For example, when I woke up in my room in the morning, many people were standing at my feet. I was terrified by the experience of seeing things that no one else could see but me.
That was not the first time I had such an experience; in fact, I grew up with such problems from an early age. I spent my days constantly seeing such things and not knowing how to handle them.
However, one day I stopped seeing them, but after learning about Ho’oponopono, I started seeing spirits again, and I was very confused.
Fearing that I had reverted back to my old state of mind, I enrolled in a class to find out what I could do about it.
So I wanted his advice on what to do about this experience.
However, during the class break, there was a very long line of participants who wanted to speak directly with Ihaleakala. I tried to get in line, but I decided that it would never be my turn during the short break, so I gave up and went back to my seat.
At that moment, Ihaleakala said goodbye to the woman he was talking to and walked straight to me.

“It seems I need to talk to you.”
Ihaleakala said.

He didn’t even know who I was, so I wondered what was going on.
I explained that I had come to the class to hear what was happening to me, and that I could see entities that were not there. I explained that these bizarre experiences, which had been tormenting me since I was a child, had increased as a result of my own attempts at cleaning.

“What are they telling you?”
Ihaleakala asked me.

“I don’t understand. Everyone speaks to me in different languages. They speak to me in German, Japanese, and many other languages, and I can’t tell if they are alive or dead,” I answered.

So Ihaleakala gave me some very valuable advice.

“Don’t worry about it. If I were you, I would just clean the way they are talking. Through your cleaning, they feel dignified, and you and they can be free.”

Hearing Ihaleakala himself share in class his own experiences of interacting with beings that were not really there anymore, I began to trust and do as he said.
And not only did I feel calmer and less fearful, but I also felt a return of trust in living my life.

A short time later, I received an inspiration that I needed to attend a class in Las Vegas. I flew five hours from Boston to attend the class.
When I arrived at the venue, it held over 150 people, but the acoustics were terrible right from the start of the class. Many of the participants were angry and frustrated.
It was a test of the question that Ihaleakala always asks: “Who’s in charge?” I kept cleaning, wondering “What memories do I hold that contribute to this experience?”

But just as the sound of frustrated complaints began to fill the room, Ihaleakala said, “Go outside and take a dip in the pool, and everything will be all right.”

Ihaleakala actually said that to the angry participants. Everyone seemed surprised, including me. But with those words, the angry and heated room quickly quieted down, and at the same time, the sound problem disappeared. It was as if we were able to experience that the problem is not outside, but ourselves that we should work on.

On another occasion, two neurosurgeons from Canada attended the class. They could not fully accept what Ihaleakala tells us that we are responsible for cleaning every experience at any time.
For the doctors, who are constantly tested by their professional skills and knowledge, they were not convinced why it was their own responsibility that patients were experiencing illness, and why they had to clean and petition to the Divine Intelligence. 

Ihaleakala suggested that everyone in the class read the “I am the I (the opening prayer)” together.
After the prayer was read in all languages, Ihaleakala asked the participants what they experienced, and they responded in a variety of ways: “I felt calm,” “I felt angry,” “I felt sad,” and so on.
Ihaleakala then said that you just need to clean it now.

Then the two doctors could see their questions being answered. It became clear to them that their job was to clean the experiences and emotions that manifest through their work and experiences during the treatment, and through that, to get on with their original divine work. And it was something that everyone in the room could feel. The concentration that occurred in the class at that moment, the powerful moment of shared wisdom, was very impressive.
Ihaleakala always encourages the other participants to clean while the person speaks, whenever someone asks a question. As a result, they are made to embody that there is no difference at all between the questioner and themselves, that everything is inside of them.
It is the experience of realizing that the “transformation” that Ihaleakala manifests in every moment of every experience through introspection, caring and cleaning the inner child, has occurred in us at the same time.

Every day, our heads are full of thoughts, and sometimes we are so busy that we don’t even have time for cleaning, even though there are things happening right in front of us that need to be cleaned. At such times, I am reminded of Ihaleakala’s suggestion to read “I am the I” and feel what happens in the mind, and then clean with it.

And it is my job to continue to find the light, however small, that I always feel after being cleaned there.