Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len says, “Love the problem.” When your body is in constant pain, when your beloved child is suffering, or when you see heartbreaking news of war every day, can you really love those problems? What does it mean to “love the problem”?
In Ho’oponopono, “loving the problem” refers to recognizing that the subconscious (Unihipili) is showing you the true cause of the problem—the memories it has stored and held onto—to resolve them, and showing respect for this process by actually cleaning it. It’s not about despising the problem, but about acknowledging its existence and bringing it to the path of resolution. That is what it means to love the problem.
As a result, you may experience that the problem is not resolved or that nothing changes at all. However, even then, continuing to choose to clean, continuing to love the problem—this is what Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len talks about.
Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D. heir to SITH Ho’oponopono and a leader in its spread throughout the world. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1962, then the University of Utah, and received his doctorate from the University of Iowa in 1973, where he was Dean of Education and Director of Special Education. He later became President of the Medical College and Assistant Professor of Education, then Assistant Professor at the University of Hawaii in 1974, and Executive Director of the Hawaii Association for the Mentally Handicapped in 1976, where he worked on rehabilitation of offenders and support programs for the physically handicapped. He was a frequent speaker at the United Nations, UNESCO, and World Peace Conferences, etc. He passed away on January 15, 2022 at the age of 82. He published many books (click here for the list of publications). Click here to read an interview with Ihaleakala Hew Len, Ph.D.
