Silence

This Sunday’s quotation comes from Mahatma Gandhi.

"In the attitude of silence..." ~ Mahatma Gandhi ~

Most of us are guilty of thinking too much, talking too much and worrying too much – I know I am! In addition, we surround ourselves with external noise – music, tv, radio, films, games, the list goes on. That’s why meditation plays such an important part in spiritual advancement. It takes us out of the bustle of everyday life and allows our bodies, minds and souls to drink from the deep wells of collective intelligence and life source.

eunice7

By on Sunday November 18th, 2012 at 09:00 in Quotations, Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Reiki Meditation

In the Japanese Reiki tradition, meditation was the central practice, considered essential if anyone wanted to progress on the path to spiritual enlightenment. This continual meditation, which comprised the daily practice of mindfulness and a wide range of energy exercises, by balancing and clearing the student’s energy system made it possible for them to carry out self-healing and treatments on others.

Mikao Usui’s students were taught to meditate daily on the five precepts and it was believed that this meditation alone had a greater effect on the students spiritual development than any of the other traditional practices.

When Reiki travelled to the west with Mrs Takata the emphasis changed from spiritual enlightenment and self-treatment to treating others. The use of Formal Hand Positions together with the Reiki Symbols more or less replaced the meditation practices of the original tradition as a means to connect with the Reiki energy.

Today in Western Reiki, although there is a move back towards teaching the original meditations, the main emphasis is on receiving attunements, practising self-healing and using formal hand positions together with the Reiki symbols to treat others.

eunice7

By on Thursday November 15th, 2012 at 09:00 in Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Attunements

If you study Reiki with a Western trained Reiki Master you will go through a series of ‘attunements’ as part of your training programme. There are an enormous number of different variations within each tradition.

Attunements are the procedures which Western Reiki masters use to connect their students to Reiki Energy at Level 1, to three Reiki Symbols at Level 2, and to the Master Symbols and various other symbols at Level 3. Each level has a prescribed number of attunements attached to it depending on the tradition being taught.

Attunements are for life. Once you have received the attunements at a given level there is no need for them to ever be repeated. However some students like to have them repeated and there is no problem with this.

eunice7

By on Tuesday November 13th, 2012 at 09:00 in Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Think less…

Osho was responsible for this Sunday’s quotation.

"Get out of your head..." ~ Osho ~

Head knowledge is good – it can enable you to sort out all kinds of things, but without heart knowledge it’s a bit like a desert without an oasis.

Sometimes we spend so long thinking about things – we think about them before they happen, we think about them while they’re happening, we think about them after they’ve happened – that we don’t actually get to really experience them.

For example, when I meditate on the energy of the Reiki symbols I start off by following visualisation instructions with the goal to feel myself ‘become’ the energy. If I hold onto the visualisation too tightly, I never experience ‘becoming’ the energy, but if I let go of the visualisation I find that ‘I’ quickly disappear – and I ‘become’ the energy.

Try it for yourself – spend some time today letting go of your thoughts, just allowing yourself to be.

eunice7

By on Sunday November 11th, 2012 at 09:00 in Quotations, Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Empowerments

If you study Reiki with an Eastern or Japanese trained Reiki Master you will experience a series of ’empowerments’ as part of your training programme. You will also be encouraged to receive empowerments as a regular and ongoing part of your daily life subsequent to your connection to the Reiki energy.

Empowerments, or Reiju Empowerments as they are correctly named, consist of Tendai Buddhist Blessings given to the students with the intention that they will receive whatever they need. There are many different variations of the details of the ritual which depend on the lineage and traditions of the Reiki Master performing the Reiju Empowerment. This is the tradition of the course I am following:

First degree focuses on connecting you to the Reiki energy
Second degree focuses on connecting you to the three Reiki symbols – Cho Ku Rei, Sei He Ki and Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen
Third degree (Masters) focuses on connecting you to the two Master symbols

Following the First degree course, students are advised to ‘tune in’ to weekly empowerments. This works on the same principle as distant healing. In addition, teachers are encouraged to hold ‘shares’ where students can get together to share experiences, practice on each other and receive empowerments from their teacher.

eunice7

By on Thursday November 8th, 2012 at 16:35 in Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Different Traditions

Studying for the masters level of Reiki is helping me to better understand the differences between traditional Japanese Reiki and Western Reiki.

One of the biggest difference I see between them is that of focus. Where traditional Reiki focuses on the practitioner and experiencing the energy, Western Reiki Focuses primarily on the client using predefined procedures for channelling the energy. This creates a number of fundamental differences which can be very confusing.

Over the next few posts I will be covering the following different approaches in an attempt to make things clearer.

Empowerments
Attunements
Meditations
Energy exercises and Reiju
Precise Hand positions and timings
Experiencing symbol energies
Ritual use of symbols

Although there are so many different approaches to Reiki, amazingly all of them work, making it a matter of personal preference which tradition you train under.

eunice7

By on Tuesday November 6th, 2012 at 09:00 in Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Arithmetic!

Thinking about Thanksgiving later this month, I chose this Sunday’s quotation from Eric Hoffer.

"The hardest arithmetic..." ~ Eric Hoffer ~

Why is it that if we look back over any given day in our life, we can easily come up with a long list of grumbles and complaints, but find it so much more difficult to list the good things that have happened? Could it be that we just take the good things for granted?

Since I started practising Reiki I have been trying to be more aware of the good things in my life every day as part of my daily precept meditation. Although we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in the Uk, I intend to make November a Thankful month and keep a daily tally of the things I am thankful for. Do you have any special plans for Thanksgiving?

eunice7

By on Sunday November 4th, 2012 at 09:09 in Quotations, Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Why All the Hard Work?

Reiki for me is as much about self-development as it is about healing others. I have always believed that you need to heal yourself before you can help others effectively. This is echoed very strongly by the Japanese Reiki training programme which originally focused almost exclusively on self healing.

I have been practising energy exercises and meditations virtually every day since the completion of my Reiki l course. During this time a number of changes have been taking place. I have become much calmer and more able to cope with difficult situations. The flow of Reiki energy during my treatment of others has got much stronger and more consistent.

Would this have happened without the exercises and meditations? Definitely not. I have been experiencing and experimenting with different kinds of energy on and off for the last thirty years. I learned a lot about the energies, but it never had any lasting effect on me or my life.

Is it worth the effort? For me the answer is a resounding, Yes!

eunice7

By on Thursday November 1st, 2012 at 09:00 in Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

A way of Life!

Studying Reiki in the lineage I have chosen is not just a case of reading a book or learning symbols and hand positions, it is about making it into a way of life! My teacher, Irene, doesn’t just show us how to do things then leave us to get on with it, she offers us ongoing encouragement and support as we continue to develop ourselves and our practice.

One of the first things we learned about was Reiki energy, what it is, how to experience it, and how to channel it. The energy is also known by other names – chi, prana, ki – but it is more easily understood in the west when it is referred to as ‘Life Energy’ or ‘Universal Energy’. It is that magical substance which animates all living things.

Since I began my Reiki studies I have learned the importance of making time in my life for daily meditations and energy exercises. Each successive course has necessitated changes to my routines as I have learned to deepen my connection to the Reiki energy firstly through the use of symbols and subsequently through additional symbols and sounds.

It may sound like a lot of hard work, but the benefits are enormous.

eunice7

By on Tuesday October 30th, 2012 at 09:00 in Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply

Yesterday…

This Sunday’s quotation comes from Mother Teresa.

"Yesterday is gone..."    ~ Mother Teresa ~

How many times have you said “I’ll just leave it till tomorrow? I know I say it far too often! Fretting over the past and worrying about the future are both distractions from life itself. We only get one stab at life – right now.

Let’s take note of Mother Teresa’s words:

“Let us begin!”

eunice7

By on Sunday October 28th, 2012 at 09:00 in Mindfulness, Quotations, Reiki - No Replies - Leave a Reply