The 4 Most Powerful Phrases In The World

I read a while back about a therapist in Hawaii who practised something called Ho'oponopono (took me weeks to learn how to spell that reliably).

Annnnyway, the way the story goes, this therapist, Dr Len went to work at an ultra hardcore insane asylum. The staff turnover rate was crazy high, and the patients were so violent that most of them were pretty much shackled up. Not a nice place.

So, Dr Len starts working there, and never sees a single patient. He just sits in his office, all day every day. After a few months, the shackled patients were being allowed to walk around freely. Others were coming off their medication. Staff absenteeism & turnover dropped to zero. After three years, all the patients had left & the place closed down.

Yes, an asylum for violent & criminally insane patients closed down because everyone was healed & there was no-one left to treat!

Needless to say, this pretty much got my attention. What the hell was Dr Len actually doing in his office?

Well, he looked at the patient's files, looked within himself to see how he created that person's illness, and then healed himself. As he healed himself, the patients got better.

No, I didn't mis-type that. He healed himself, and the patients got better. You can read more about Dr Len here.

The next question, of course, is how did he heal himself? Actually, it was very simple. He just looked at what needed healing inside himself, and said four things (the basis of Ho'oponopono), over and over:

  • I'm Sorry.
  • Please Forgive Me.
  • Thank You
  • I Love You

So imagine my surprise when I was recently reading "The True Power of Water" by Masaru Emoto. You may remember Emoto (what a great name!) — he wraps bottles of water with words, and then photographs the crystals that develop (or don't).

Given that we're 70% water, I figure it's probably worth paying a little attention to what he has to say on the subject.

Now, Emoto has spent decades trying different words, different languages, all to see the effect they have on water. His basic discovery is that negative words (whether written down, sung, or thought at the water) result in ugly looking water, whereas positive words result in beautiful looking water structures.

Which I guess also means that whatever we're bombarding ourselves with is more than just affecting our brains, it's actively changing 70% of our physical bodies.

The really interesting thing though?

Guess what the single most beautiful crystal he ever found was.

water_love_gratitude.jpg

The water that was wrapped in words for "Love" & "Gratitude". That's right — I Love You, & Thank You — or two of the magic four phrases from Ho'oponopono.

  • lynnivere

    Let me please add one more to your list.

    I've found it immense in meaning & sentiment.

    "I am here for you."

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    Saying that to your inner self, or to someone else?

  • lynnivere

    I typically think that is the kindest thing you can say to another.. but saying it to yourself is oneness indeed!

  • http://twitter.com/dotarray Jessi

    I read about this a while ago but didn't really try it at the time. Reading it again now prompted me into action — and I'm actually finding it really difficult to do, but I'm taking that as a good thing.

    I've been practicing this while out walking the dogs, letting my mind drift to various people and repeating the statements to them until it felt better and then moving on. Almost immediately I noticed that my inner voice stumbled, nearly every time, when it came to "Please Forgive Me". I'm guessing that's something to do with the admission that I've done something wrong (otherwise, why would I need forgiveness?), which is a very difficult thing for me to do. The first time I tried it, I had no stumbles, but I'd also mis-read it as "I forgive you", which I think is also a useful one, but was trying to stick to the four you mentioned.

    The others are more suited to my mindset, and flow much more smoothly (although I'm interested in *how* smoothly I'm apologising — and how much I'm meaning it). Interesting exercise, though. I'm still trying, one day I'll work out why it's so difficult for me, and it'll get smoother.

    Have you done much with this since the discovery, or have you flitted on to something else by now?

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    That's very interesting about forgiveness. A lot of people have trouble with that one. It's generally just your (or my) ego screaming for control. As a general rule, I've found that anytime I'm squeamish about anything like that, it's a good sign I need more work in that area.

    I do use those four phrases as general "feel better" phrases — although they're also helpful if you think of a person or situation while you say them. They're in my general toolkit & get pulled out when I get the urge.

    Oh, and I've put words on my water jug too :)

  • Alysa

    I have had this book sitting on my shelf for months…Must pull it out now! Thank you for this!

  • http://sidawson.org Si Dawson

    ha ha! Awesome! It's a nice quick read.. lots of pictures :)

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