INNER LIGHT – A REIKI NEWSLETTER FOR REIKI PEOPLE
Volume 5 Issue 3 – May 2023
REIKI SHARE
There will be a Reiki Share from 10.00 – 11.00am on Saturday 20 May.
To book your Zoom link, contact Carole on rwh2019@btinternet.com. A recording of the meditation will be available the following week.
REIJU FOR YOU
It’s not always possible to attend a Reiki Share where Reiju is often part of the Share, so Carole provides Reiju remotely. Any Reiki person can ‘tune in’.
In Traditional Japanese Reiki, students receive Reiju empowerments every time they are with their Reiki Practitioner/Teacher. This tradition is echoed when Reiju is available at Reiki Shares. And in the same way that Reiki can be applied remotely – or ‘by ‘Distance’ – remote Reiju works really well.
Carole ‘broadcasts’ a remote Reiju empowerment every Sunday for the whole week with the intention that it can be experienced by any Reiki person.
The simplest way to experience Reiju is to sit and quietly bring yourself present, breathing down into the Hara with your hands in Gasshô, then think to yourself “I will experience Reiju Empowerment from Carole now”.
It is as simple as that.
Simply Reiki With Heart
The Reiki With Heart Website now has a number of meditations in the Simply Reiki With Heart series. These are short meditations which you can access at any time. The next one in the series is the Mother-of-Pearl meditation and is available here.
The Gokai
How many versions of the Gokai do you use or know? There are a number. Sometimes Reiki Practitioners wonder if they are doing ‘the right thing’ in chanting the version they trained in or have seen in books and they have liked.
Every kanji can be translated in many ways – interpreted if you like, depending on the circumstances or the person who has trained you. The more you read, the more variations you can find.
We are familiar with the version that Frans Stiene teaches:
Kyo dakewa (Just for today)
Ikaruna (anger not)
Shinpai suna (worry not)
Kansha shite (Gratitude do)
Gyō o hageme (practise diligently)
Hito ni shinsetsu nee (be kindness – or more usually, be Compassionate)
There are many meanings to the words, for instance Gyō can mean practice or work, but also refers to karma and also to having pure experience. On top of these meanings, there are the ‘hidden teachings’ which have come from the Eight-fold Path and the 6 Paramitas. The results of our ‘work’ means each day we live out the teachings of Reiki we can see in the way our Being changes – if we do not anger so quickly, then we will speak differently – we might respond rather than react for instance, and as a result of this our body language is different, so people know that we are congruent and authentic – we practise what we are taught instinctively – which has come from our diligent practice each day – which in other words means we are being true to our way and our being… another interpretation of the kanji!
Compassion can also be used as a translation of ‘kindness’. What Usui-Sensei meant by Compassion was being kind to others, irrespective of the circumstances. And it also means to include ourselves in that word ‘others’. We cannot be kind to others if we are not kind to ourselves. If our internal language is unkind to ourselves and we are struggling with that inner critic which says we are not good enough, then how can we interact with others seeing only their ‘good enough’ Self?
This is why Usui-Sensei suggested:
Shôfuku no hiho manbyo no rei yaku The secret method of inviting blessings, the spiritual medicine of many (all 10000 things) illnesses
Asayuu Gasshô shite (Morning and evening Gasshô perform)
Kokoro ni nenii (Pray from your Heart silently)
Kuchi ni tonnae yo (Chant from your mouth)
Shinshin Kaizen (Reform Heart and Body – where kaizen means through tiny steps to make a difference)
The Taoist meaning of the idea of ‘the spiritual medicine’ is the aspect of moving from all 10,000 things to three (Mind/Body and Spirit), then to two (Heaven and Earth) where our humanness is the bridge to the One – or the Space of Oneness. The secret method of ‘inviting blessings’ is not to do with the Five Spiritual Faculties of Reiju, but the blessings we receive in life when we let go our anger and our worry.
The ’mystery teachings’ of Shinpiden and Shihan bring all our training together. The Five Spiritual Faculties link the the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path and other teachings such as the Three Diamonds, and keeping each of the three diamonds (The three Centres of Mind, Heart and Hara) cleansed and balanced through the Mindfulness of the Kokyû (breath training exercises) and of course the Gokai.
So as each Reiki Practitioner proceeds (if they choose) through Shoden (Reiki I) to Okuden (Reiki II) and on to Shinpiden and Shihan (Reiki III and IV) each layer is practised and integrated in Mind, Body and Spirit so as to lead to more balance within the individual’s Spiritual Life, hence leading to Enlightenment.
However, if you only choose to train in Shoden, there is no reason why you cannot reach enlightenment because as you practise the Gokai daily and try to ‘live’ according to the Gokai then you will find that the layers of the meanings will be revealed, and your Reiki will deepen and you will practise differently. In truly embracing the System of Reiki, then everyone we come into contact with will experience this because we will enter that space of Oneness where there is no one giving the treatment and no one receiving the treatment, because there is no ego ‘I’ to screw it up.
So – be diligent in your practice!
Be Peaceful
I have always loved the Gandhi quote that I must be the change I wish to see in the world. As a scientist I have also loved the next line “if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”, as this ties in with scientific research that when you look at atoms, for instance, then somehow they know you are looking and they don’t necessarily behave the way you expect!
Frans Stiene has recently posted on his Daily Quote a similar theme of Thomas Merton, the Trappist Monk. It is based on the premise that if I am at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. But that is not enough.
His quote goes on that if I do not like something then I should change it, and if I cannot change it then I have to change my attitude. The final line is very Buddhist in that the idea of ‘being perfect’ doesn’t exist – I can only ever work towards perfection. To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
In a world that at times seems very far from peaceful, it is easy to feel ineffectual and inadequate. But as we know from our Reiki practice, the vibrational quality of everything about us affects the world in which we live, so Merton’s suggestion that we share our peace with everyone and everyone will be at peace helps to encourage us to work constantly at being peaceful.
The Mask of Knowledge
Today there are many forms of Reiki. Western Reiki, Traditional Japanese Reiki, Karuna Reiki and Jikiden Reiki to name a few. There are also adaptations like Crystal Reiki, Angelic Reiki and others.
In Shinpiden, at the start of Teacher/Practitioner training we learn about the integrity of Reiki. How we remain true to the principles of Reiki and yet remember Reiki Healing Energy is unique to each of us, so we need to honour ourselves and our unique Reiki whilst applying the tenets of Reiki. It means to pass on Usui-Sensei’s teachings without change. This can mean that for some people practising Reiki ‘exactly’ as they were taught means they are unable to be open to Reiki as taught by others.
Usui-Sensei, through the Gokai, asks us to be Compassionate to others and this means the learning/knowledge they already bring from other teachings, not just Reiki.
Having spoken to other Reiki Practitioners and having helped people adjust their previous Reiki training to Traditional Japanese Reiki, it would be easy to dismiss what others have been taught. Usui-Sensei taught his students to be open to the knowledge of others. If we become intolerant or prejudiced about the work of others, then we allow the mask of our own knowledge to dominate; we move away from being kind and gracious in the need to impose our own beliefs.
Over the years, I have heard numerous weird and wonderful ways of utilising Reiki as taught by others. I have also witnessed the ‘competition’ between Reiki Practitioners. What I have needed to remember from my training with Frans Stiene and Taggart King is that Usui-Sensei taught we do not need to compete – there is enough work for everyone.
Similarly, I do not have to prove someone wrong in their thinking, but open a conversation or exploration of perspectives on the ‘truth’ of Reiki. And to remain open to the aspect that in exploring perspectives on the ‘truth’ I can find clarity in obscure aspects as well as respect for other people’s need to practise what they have been taught without feeling I have to defend my own knowledge. If I honour the Gokai and other teachings from Usui-Sensei and my own Reiki Healing Energy, then all will be well.
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