Kamal Tolia & Lotus Healing Seva Group

Asking For Forgiveness

Part 9 Forgiveness for the Soul contd.

Dr Hewlen did not counsel the patients nor did he administer any medicines. He used an old Hawaiin healing sytem called Ho’oponopono which means ‘to make right’ or ‘correct an error’.

An ancient Hawaiian belief is that each family is a connection between the past and future generations. Hawaiians also believed that if you misbehaved or even kept anger in your heart for others, you would incur God’s wrath which would manifest as ill fortune or ill health for you. Further, since each member of the family was connected to his future descendants, if he did not correct his errors and make amends, the harm could move down to his children and grandchildren.

Therefore Hawaiians tried very hard to live harmoniously with each other and with nature, for it was believed that accumulated bad behavior would spill out and also affect nature negatively. Mistakes were accepted, but people had to repent for them, make amends, AND the hurt party must also forgive! Only then could they move forward in peace. The first step was to solve the conflict within the home ground itself. If that was not successful, a senior member of the family or a Kahuna (priest) would be asked to help.

The ancient Ho’oponopono was carried out thus: 1) A prayer was said 2) Each side was allowed to present their views 3) The discussion would continue, punctuated with intervals when each party was asked to reflect on their actions 4) Regardless of who had started or who had continued the conflict, each person had to ask forgiveness from the other. 5) Finally, each party had to forgive the other party!

Thus we can see that each person forgave the other, and asked for forgiveness from the other. This forgiving and asking for forgiveness went hand in hand. This is the golden rule of the ancient practice of Ho’opono pono. You forgave the other for the wrong he had done to you and at the same time you admit you had wronged him too and asked for forgiveness.

Extending this to our personal lives, all that is happening to us and around us is there because we have not asked for forgiveness and not forgiven! Modern Ho’opono pono has arisen out of this ancient practicing of accepting that you are responsible for what is going on in your life. Knowingly or unknowingly, you have wronged somebody, somewhere!

Kamal Tolia

Founder Member LHSG

Asking For Forgiveness

Part 8. Forgiveness for the Soul contd.

From last week: The cheerful smiling Dr. Iheakala Hewlen did not resign like his predecessors from the Hawaii state hospital. In fact, against all odds, his criminally insane patients became better and better! How did he do it?

The doctors and nurses watched him closely. He was a strange one, that doctor ….they thought. They noted two things: A) he continued being his smiling, cheerful self. How could he continue being that way? Did he not realize he was in charge of the worst of the worst wards? Was he a little ‘mad’ himself? B) He never even saw the patients. He did not even visit them in their rooms, not so much as put a stethoscope to their chests. All he did was to sit in his office, pick up a patient’s file, look at it for a while, and put it down. Then he would pick up the next patient’s file, look at it for a while, and put it down. He did this for the next patient, and the next, and the next, always picking up the file, looking at it, and putting it back … until the whole pile of patients’ files was done.

To the astonishment of the other doctors and nurses, as the days passed, the mentally insane patients, who everybody had given up on, started to get better and better. Violent situations reduced. The patients started to act more responsibly. The need for shackles and locked rooms decreased, until they were no longer needed. The quality of life improved for the inmates as well as the staff. The patients improved so much that they were ready for release from the ward. One by one, they left the hospital. Any new patients were treated by Dr. Hewlen in the same manner, and they too did not spend too much time in this special ward.

Dr. Hewlen continued working in this ward till 1987. By this time, because fewer and fewer patients were sent to him, this special ‘criminally insane’ ward had to be closed down.

What did Dr. Ihaleakala do that healed the patients? How did this miracle come about? More to the point, you might think, what does this article have to do with asking for forgiveness? You might even secretly wonder if perhaps Kamal Tolia has lost her mind? Well, I haven’t, as you will read in the next few weeks! 

Next week: Forgiveness for the Soul contd.

Kamal Tolia

Founder Member, LHSG

Asking For Forgiveness

Part 7. Forgiveness for the Soul

About 30 years ago, in Hawaii, the state hospital had a high security ward. Here the patients were criminally insane. They had committed crimes like murder, rape, assault, molestations. They were detained in the ward because they were certified mentally ill with disorders like bipolar, schizophrenia, manic – depressive, etc. Or they were in the ward because their level of sanity had to be established before trial. In either case, they exhibited ‘mad’ behavior…..they were very aggressive towards the doctors, nurses and other hospital staff.

Each day, there were even reports of inmates attacking each other!

The situation was so bad, that the hospital staff had no choice but to keep them secluded even from each other. Strict measures had to be put in place to ensure their own safety and that of the staff. They had to be locked in their rooms so that they could not harm others. In the very worst of cases, sadly, the patients had to be shackled to their beds limiting their freedom completely!

Of course this sounds horrible! How can you treat sick people like animals?! But the truth of the matter was that these patients were so violent that the staff were even afraid to go to this special ward. They felt threatened. Many a doctor and nurse asked for immediate transfers when assigned to this mental ward.

And if the transfer did not come through, they asked for sick leave. And if even that was not granted, they simply resigned. Such was the fear attached to this section of the Hawaii State Hospital.

Enter Dr. Ihaleakala Hewlen. This doctor was assigned to this frightful ward in 1983. Dr. Hewlen was a very cheerful man. He went about his work, never losing his cool.

The staff watched the ever smiling Dr Hewlen … and mentally gave him a few weeks at most before his cheerfulness would be replaced by moroseness. Oh, they were sure that it would only be a matter of a few weeks, at the most a couple of months before the doctor would throw up his hands in despair and resign. History, they were sure would repeat itself as it had been doing all along …

But, SURPRISE, SURPRISE! NOT ONLY DID THE DOCTOR STAY ON AND NOT RESIGN, BUT THE PATIENTS STARTED TO GET BETTER! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? WHAT WAS GOING ON?

To know more, read on next week ……

Next week: Forgiveness Forgiveness for the Soul contd …

Kamal Tolia

Founder Member LHSG