Is hoʻoponopono traditional Hawaiian?

Both yes and no. The name and the underlying practice of family reconciliation are traditional Hawaiian, documented by Mary Kawena Pukui in 1972. The four-phrase modern version popularised online is a 1976 reformulation by Morrnah Simeona, who herself was clear that it was an update rather than a continuation.

Who created the modern hoʻoponopono?

Morrnah Simeona, a Hawaiian kahuna lapaau (healing specialist), in 1976. She reformulated the traditional family ritual into a personal practice she called Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono (SITH). Her student Ihaleakala Hew Len, working at the Hawaii State Hospital, applied it clinically in the 1980s and 1990s.

How do you actually practice hoʻoponopono?

For the traditional version, you would need a haku or kahuna to lead a family ritual; this is not something practised solo. For Simeona's SITH version, the practice is internal: when you become aware of a conflict, illness, or disturbance, you take responsibility for the part of it operating in your own consciousness and silently repeat the four phrases as a sustained training, not a quick fix.

What does it mean?

What does Hoʻoponopono mean?

By Kamlesh Sharma Last updated 10 July 2026 Contact

Hoʻoponopono is a Hawaiian practice of reconciliation, forgiveness, and the restoration of right relationships. The literal translation is "to make right" (hoʻo meaning "to cause" and pono meaning "right, correct, in good order"). Two distinct traditions share the name. The classical practice, documented by Mary Kawena Pukui in 1972, was a complex family ritual led by elders to resolve disputes and illness. The modern Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono (SITH), reformulated by Morrnah Simeona in 1976 and popularised by Joe Vitale and Ihaleakala Hew Len in their 2007 Zero Limits, is the four-phrase practice (I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you) widely shared online today.

Where it comes from

Morrnah Simeona · Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len · Mary Kawena Pukui · ancient Hawaiian tradition. The word belongs to the broader lineage of practice practice, but the shape of it is distinctly Hawaii. That shape is part of the answer.

What the practice actually is

In the late 1970s a Hawaiian woman named Morrnah Simeona took the ancient family-reconciliation practice of hoʻoponopono and stripped it down to a self-administered version with four phrases, I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Her student Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len then used those phrases to help treat a…

Where the word comes from

From Hawaiian hoʻo (causative prefix, "to cause" or "to make") plus pono (right, correct, balanced, in proper order). The compound means "to make right" or "to put in order." The word is attested in Hawaiian texts well before sustained Western contact in 1778, with the modern spelling and pronunciation regularised through nineteenth and twentieth century Hawaiian-language scholarship, most notably Mary Kawena Pukui's 1957 Hawaiian Dictionary. The Hawaiian okina (ʻ, glottal stop) is essential to correct spelling and pronunciation.

The traditional context

The traditional practice documented by Mary Kawena Pukui in the 1972 Nānā I Ke Kumu was a structured family ritual led by a senior elder (haku) or kahuna (specialist). It addressed family illness, dispute, or disorder through a sequence of steps including pule (prayer), kūkulu kumuhana (a focused gathering of psychic force), mahiki (uncovering of the entanglements), mihi (confession and repentance), kala (the cutting and release of the offence), and pani (formal closure). The practice assumed a Hawaiian cosmology in which family disorder produced disease and disorder in the wider world, and in which restoration required active confession and forgiveness rather than passive waiting. The Hawaii State Legislature recognised the practice formally in 1983.

How it travelled to the modern world

The modern usage is dominated by Morrnah Simeona's 1976 Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono (SITH), her reformulation of the older family ritual into a personal practice for individuals. Simeona herself was a kahuna lapaau (healing specialist) and explicitly framed her reformulation as an update, not a continuation. Her student Ihaleakala Hew Len applied SITH at the Hawaii State Hospital in the 1980s and 1990s, in a story Joe Vitale popularised in his 2007 Zero Limits. That book made the four phrases (I am sorry, please forgive me, thank you, I love you) a global meme. Pat Pitzer's 1989 article in Spirit of Aloha helped establish the popular framing. The practice has since been integrated into therapy, coaching, and self-help, often without the distinction between Pukui's traditional ritual and Simeona's modern adaptation. See our dedicated explainer at /hoʻoponopono/four-phrases for the full sourcing story.

Common misunderstandings

The biggest misunderstanding is that the four phrases are traditional Hawaiian. They are not. They come from Morrnah Simeona's 1976 reformulation. The traditional practice had no fixed four-phrase chant. Simeona herself was clear about this; the loss of clarity came later through popular retellings. The second misunderstanding is that hoʻoponopono is a solo practice. The traditional form is communal and led by an elder. Simeona's SITH is the solo adaptation. The third is treating it as a mood-fix mantra. The traditional practice took hours or days. Simeona's SITH is also closer to a sustained training than to a five-minute fix. The fourth, common in Western retellings, is treating the practice as a generic "ancient Hawaiian secret" without naming the specific lineages and the modern reformulation, which both diminishes Hawaiian credit and confuses what is being practised.

Related traditions on this site

Tonglen A structurally similar move in a different tradition. Take responsibility for what is in the field of your experience, breathe it through, release something cleaner.
Ubuntu The African ethical insistence that personal restoration is inseparable from communal restoration. The traditional hoʻoponopono is the Hawaiian version of the same principle.
Maat The Egyptian framework for the active restoration of order against drift, the same ethical move as hoʻoponopono in a different vocabulary.

A small practice for today

Identify one specific relationship or situation in your life that is out of order. Not a dramatic one. A small one. A conversation that ended badly, an apology you have been postponing, a piece of work you let slip. Sit with it for two minutes. Internally name what you contributed to the disorder, even if it was small. Then take one concrete action toward repair. A text. A call. A note. The traditional hoʻoponopono treated repair as something done rather than wished for. Simeona's SITH treated the inner repair as the prior move that made the outer action possible. Either entry point works. The Hawaiian framework is that nothing is repaired by waiting.

Questions people ask about Hoʻoponopono

What does hoʻoponopono mean?: Literally "to make right" or "to put in order" in Hawaiian. The practice is one of reconciliation, forgiveness, and the restoration of right relationships. Two distinct traditions share the name: Pukui's 1972-documented classical family ritual, and Simeona's 1976 Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono adaptation.
What are the four phrases of hoʻoponopono?: I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. These come from Morrnah Simeona's 1976 reformulation and were popularised by Joe Vitale and Ihaleakala Hew Len's 2007 Zero Limits. They are not traditional Hawaiian; the traditional practice had no fixed four-phrase chant.
Is hoʻoponopono traditional Hawaiian?: Both yes and no. The name and the underlying practice of family reconciliation are traditional Hawaiian, documented by Mary Kawena Pukui in 1972. The four-phrase modern version popularised online is a 1976 reformulation by Morrnah Simeona, who herself was clear that it was an update rather than a continuation.
Who created the modern hoʻoponopono?: Morrnah Simeona, a Hawaiian kahuna lapaau (healing specialist), in 1976. She reformulated the traditional family ritual into a personal practice she called Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono (SITH). Her student Ihaleakala Hew Len, working at the Hawaii State Hospital, applied it clinically in the 1980s and 1990s.
How do you actually practice hoʻoponopono?: For the traditional version, you would need a haku or kahuna to lead a family ritual; this is not something practised solo. For Simeona's SITH version, the practice is internal: when you become aware of a conflict, illness, or disturbance, you take responsibility for the part of it operating in your own consciousness and silently repeat the four phrases as a sustained training, not a quick fix.

Sources

Pukui, M. K., Haertig, E. W. & Lee, C. A. (1972). Nānā I Ke Kumu (Look to the Source), Volume I. Hui Hānai.
Simeona, M. (1990). Self-Identity Through Hoʻoponopono. Pacifica Seminars.
Vitale, J. & Hew Len, I. (2007). Zero Limits: The Secret Hawaiian System for Wealth, Health, Peace, and More. Wiley.
Pitzer, P. (1989). The Most Hawaiian Thing. Spirit of Aloha, magazine of Aloha Airlines.
Pukui, M. K. & Elbert, S. H. (1986). Hawaiian Dictionary. University of Hawaii Press.

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