Being Honest
I’ve been giving a lot of thought to being honest (precept number four) just lately. Thinking about the less obvious ways in which I am not always quite as transparent as I think.
Yesterday, when I was taking a picture for my daily photograph blog, I chose to post a self portrait taken from behind. It occurred to me that it was a good analogy for the things I like to hide from myself, but which are clearly visible to others. I’m very good at pretending the things I don’t want to see, don’t exist. How about you?
Be Humble
Be humble, the third of Mikao Usui’s Precepts, a very old fashioned word; and what does it really mean anyway? Dictionary.com gives this definition:
1. not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful.
2. having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.
3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home.
4. courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong.
5. low in height, level, etc.; small in size: a humble member of the galaxy.
Alright – so now we know what it means, but how do we go about being humble? What does it take to make a person humble?
Possibly one of the best ways to be humble is to be thankful for everything, even the things that are not very pleasant.
What do you think?
Do Not Worry!
Do not worry, the second of Mikao Usui’s Precepts, is so much easier to say than to do! Many of us quite happily spend several hours a day worrying about the ‘what ifs’ in our lives only to discover a little later that most of what we worried about happening just didn’t happen. What causes worry? In almost every case – worry is caused by fear. Fear of failure, fear of lack, fear of authority …. the list is endless.
Susan Jeffers book Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway: How to Turn Your Fear and Indecision into Confidence and Action
Do Not Anger!
Do not anger – the first of Mikao Usui’s Precepts is probably one of the hardest precepts to keep.
Maybe you don’t ever get really angry or shout at people, but I bet you sometimes get annoyed over other people’s silly habits, or get irritated by other drivers on the road! Anger, annoyance, and irritation all create stress within you that does you far more harm than the people to whom it is directed.
It would do us all good to remember these words of Friedrich Nietzsche:
“You have your way.
I have my way.
As for the right way,
the correct way,
and the only way,
it does not exist.”
Just for Today!
What are you doing NOW this minute? What does it feel like? Are there any particular smells or tastes peculiar to what you are doing? This is what the first line of Mikao Usui’s five Precepts is all about – being mindful or aware.
Most of us travel through life on automatic pilot, blissfully unaware of our surroundings or the details of our actions. When was the last time you felt the bubbles as you washed dishes, or smelt the unmistakeable smell of a clean metal saucepan (we call it the ‘fresh metal smell’ in our house)? Did you stop the car to admire that sunset? Did you even notice it – or were you too busy talking to your friend beside you?
Take a moment right now to stop and look around you – I mean really look. Now listen. Now smell. Take a deep breath and allow yourself to be aware of all the things you have just noticed using your senses. Breathe deeply for a few more moments just being aware, noticing any changes.
This is called being mindful. You don’t actually need to stop what you are doing to be mindful, but you do need to focus exclusively on whatever it is you are doing at any given moment in time.
This book The Miracle Of Mindfulness: The Classic Guide to Meditation by the World’s Most Revered Master (Classic Edition)
Reiki in Japan
Most of Mikao Usui’s students started out as his patients. As part of the treatment he would give them empowerments so that they were permanently connected to the energy source and could treat themselves until their next appointment with him.
His first manual contained the Precepts, Meditations and Waka poetry. His teachings were given one to one and were varied to each student’s need. The teachings comprised three levels: Life teachings, Mystery teachings, and Deep mystery teachings and focused on meditation, chanting sacred sounds and self-treatment.
In 1923 Usui was approached by the Japanese military and asked to teach them a simple hands-on healing system to supplement their shortage of medically trained officers. This changed the focus of his system from healing self to healing others. Usui together with one of his advanced students, Eguchi, devised the symbols we use today as a quick way for the officers to learn to use the energies, allowing them to achieve in a short space of time what had taken his former students months of meditation and chanting.