I have only met Ihaleakala a handful of times.
However, the fact that I am here on this earth today would not have been possible without his presence.
So, instead of sharing my personal memories of Ihaleakala, I would like to share how Ho’oponopono, as taught by Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, has changed my life.

I first heard about Ho’oponopono in June 2009 after listening to a podcast by Ihaleakala.
At the time, I was mentally unstable to the point of having a panic attack just going to the mailbox to pick up my mail. I was financially strapped and had trouble breathing every time a bill came in the mail.

A few hours after listening to the podcast, I signed up to ask a question that was advertised on the podcast. I wanted to ask Ihaleakala a question about a problem I was facing at the time.

The next day I was able to participate from Germany in a podcast that was being recorded in the US.

I talked about “panic attacks triggered by simply opening a mailbox.
Ihaleakala said to me, 
“You need to do cleaning all the time, not just when you are having a panic attack.

I didn’t really understand what that meant at the time.
But I realized then, somehow, that I had been desperately clinging to that thought, wishing to be free of this suffering.

Three months later, in September, I attended a class near Munich.
It was within driving distance of my home. I was financially strapped, so if the class had been held elsewhere, it would not have been possible to attend the class. I was strangely convinced by what Ihaleakala said that nothing is a coincidence.　

My first class with Ihaleakala was like visiting a different galaxy.
In response to a participant’s serious question, he replied, “Now is not the time to talk, it’s time to clean.
Now I understand the reason for that statement, but at the time I felt the answer was disrespectful to the participants. But at the same time with that feeling, I wondered what the heck was going on here, and I intuitively felt that something was happening, even though I didn’t know.

And when I reflected on myself, as Ihaleakala said throughout the class that every experience is one’s own responsibility, I realized that Ihaleakala was not being rude to the other person.
The trigger that made me feel rude was something that happened in the class, but I realized that the thought was originally within me.
That realization was my first step in Ho’oponopono. When I truly realized that the cause of what happened was within me, I felt life return to my being.

That was the beginning of my cleaning. I am still grateful for that.
From there, I learned that I was being guided by a force beyond human knowledge, and from there I was able to clean when I faced difficulties, whereas before I had thought I was a helpless little being who would drown in the ocean.

Economic hardship led me to Ho’oponopono, which became my reset button.
Otherwise, I would never have come to my essence of what Ihaleakala calls “purity.

It took a lot of cleaning. And it is that cleaning that allows me to live my life today, where I can still clean every memory through life, and where I can choose to clean whatever happens to me.

I am truly grateful for this opportunity.
Every day, every moment, this gratitude never ceases.