
Hoʻoponopono, Hawaii’s trendy word that’s misunderstood - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20180916-hawaiis-trendy-word-thats-misunderstood
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rebuilder
My comment is not about ho'oponopono, it's about cultural appropriation, which
is mentioned in the article but probably wasn't why the submitter found this
story worthwile. Sorry for that.

Can someone help me out with a dilemma? OTOH, I can see the point that
minority cultures have been, and continue to be, horribly mistreated. I can
see how cultural appropriation can be hurtful in that context.

At the same time, I can't get past how the whole concept reeks of stuffy
nationalism. Can you defend the right of minorities to define and protect
their cultures without supporting the idea that the nation or race you are
born into defines who you are?

~~~
blacksmith_tb
My sense is the general argument goes: if you, as a member of the dominant
race/class do something (adopt a style of dress, way of wearing your hair,
style of music, etc.) which, when it is done by its originators leads to
discrimination against them (for example people of African descent wearing
their hair in dreads) but becomes cool and even profitable for you (think
Elvis playing R&B), that's appropriation. I agree it's tricky because I don't
think we want to advance essentialist arguments in general, but the focus is
more on the unfairness than the "only X can do Y".

~~~
whatshisface
If the majority starts doing something then they'll stop discriminating
against everybody else for doing it, so that sounds like a net positive.
Cultural appropriation is a good thing because it dissolves the boundary of
unfamiliarity.

~~~
drak0n1c
If formalwear of the future is to consist of multiple popular styles, and not
just the western suit, then we shouldn't discourage people from trying
clothing from other cultures.

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henpa
I practice self-identify throught ho'oponopono (sith) for almost 3 yeas now.
This is an "updated version" of traditional ho'oponopono created by Morrnah
Simeona, and it became popular with Dr. Hew Len with the help of Joe Vitale (a
popular self-help book writer featured in "The Secret" movie). In essence, you
take 100% responsibility for all problems that you experience. By taking
responsibility, we can become free of them. All problems are nothing but
memories stored in our subconscious. With ho'oponopono, we appeal to the
divinity (god/universe) to transmute those stored memories into void, and then
void becomes filled with love.

So if you have a problem with someone, by taking 100% responsibility, and by
doing the cleaning processes, you and that person becomes "free".

I've studied a lot about modern ho'oponopono. I can see resemblances with
other books and philosophies such as Eckhart Tolle's Power of Now books, A
Course in Miracles, etc.

~~~
X6S1x6Okd1st
> In essence, you take 100% responsibility for all problems that you
> experience. By taking responsibility, we can become free of them.

This was one of my biggest take aways from working up the ladder of starcraft
2. If you don't take responsibility for a loss then you don't have the power
to prevent it in the future.

> All problems are nothing but memories stored in our subconscious.

I suppose so

> With ho'oponopono, we appeal to the divinity (god/universe) to transmute
> those stored memories into void, and then void becomes filled with love.

Wait, what?

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whatok
Grew up in Hawaii, had no idea the word was trendy and don't think I've heard
it since grade school. Really weird to me.

~~~
blinkymach12
Same.

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Razengan
I love reading about anything related to Hawaii.

Any HN'ers who live there? What's it like for [remote] tech work?

~~~
nathancahill
Have worked there remotely. It's ok, the time difference is a pain especially
for clients on the east coast. Internet was fine. Pretty expensive cost of
living, probably wouldn't rush back there. If you're going to deal with the
time difference anyway, might as well go all the way to SE Asia and save a lot
of cash.

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cuboidGoat
>Leslie Tuchman was visiting the Hawaiian Islands when she came across the
concept of ‘hoʻoponopono’ in her Reiki class, introduced by her teacher as a
word for self-forgiveness.

What is the world coming to when you can no longer trust the people with magic
hands?

I knew a reiki master. He broke his leg and had pins put in it at the
hospital. So, being a reiki master, he pulled the pins out himself with pliers
and then used his reiki powers on his leg. He now only has one leg, after
infection nearly killed him, but last I heard is still claiming to be a reiki
master.

~~~
ramy_d
wow. I can't even imagine the amount of confidence you must need to think to
even do that AND think it's a good idea. It must have been incredibly painful
to do himself too (I'm guessing he pulled them out before his leg was even
ready for such a procedure). Having had a few pins in my wrist I can not
discourage this enough. wow.

~~~
cuboidGoat
He does also take a fair amount of heroin. That probably helped with the
process.

