By Deep Krishna
Behind every event we live through, there is a memory. The Ho’oponopono prayer is a simple Hawaiian practice for clearing those memories with four phrases and no special setting. Here is a prayer for self-forgiveness, and how to practise it.
THE PRAYER
To the woman who put others first, silenced her own truth, and sometimes abandoned herself while trying to love others.
Today, I ask forgiveness from myself.
I am sorry for the times I did not choose me.
Please forgive me for ignoring my own needs, my inner voice, and my truth.
Thank you for staying with me, even when I forgot your worth.
I love you for everything you have carried, endured, and become.
I ask forgiveness for not honouring the Shakti, my inner power, and the Shiva, my inner stillness and consciousness.
I forgive myself for the years I spent disconnected from this sacred balance within me.
I no longer choose myself out of guilt or fear. I choose myself out of love.
I return to myself. I honour myself. I welcome the wholeness that has always been within me.
I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.
THE IDEA BEHIND IT
If an image on a screen upsets us, tearing the screen changes nothing. The slide in the projector has to change. Life works the same way. The slide we can change is within us: the thought, belief, or memory that colours what we see. This does not mean we caused what others did. It means our inner response is the one part we can always work on.
HOW TO PRACTISE
The four phrases are: I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. We can say them aloud or silently, use only “thank you, I love you,” or choose words that feel sincere, such as “I accept” or “light.”
The process is simple:
- Notice the discomfort.
- Accept it without fighting.
- Look at our own inner response.
- Ask for release.
- Let go of the outcome.
- Return to the day, a little lighter.
Let us try it in the next uncomfortable moment, or sit for a few minutes tonight. Self-forgiveness is not weakness. It is a way of returning to ourselves with compassion.
#Hooponopono #SelfForgiveness #SelfLove #ShivaAndShakti #InnerHealing
