Articles on Reiki Ryoho Page 12
Symbols of Reiho and Reiki Part IIPublished in the June 2000 issue of "The Messenger"
This month’s article lists some fun ways to become sensitive to energy. They are only intended to help a Reiki practitioner (or any energy practitioner) to hone their sensitivity to subtle frequencies of energy. I would suggest you begin experimenting with a few of your favorite objects around the house. Gather 6 or so objects…. could be a crystal, a statue, a clock, a stuffed animal, a small plant, a small fish bowl with fish, a food item or any of your own favorite items. It is good to have a friend with you for this experiment, who will blindfold you, so you can’t peek at the objects. It is best to be blindfolded, so you can’t see the objects. Then you hold your hands open, palms facing one another (a distance of about 5 inches between), arms and hands resting lightly on a table-top. Have your friend put an object on the table between your hands and you just feel the energy of the object, try to guess which one it is. Have your friend keep score of your hits and misses. It won’t take long before you will be getting more right than wrong and then it will be time to move to a more difficult task.
Next you might want to get a deck of cards and pick out 5 or 6 of the most commonly-popular ones; perhaps the four Aces, and a Joker, or maybe four of the face cards (Queens, Kings or Jacks) and maybe an Ace or Joker. Then have your friend shuffle the cards, and pick one at a time, place it between your hands to perceive which card you are holding. Give yourself 3 chances per card. When you are pretty good at picking the card correctly, it is time to gather several photos of family and friends… maybe 7 – 10 of people that you know energetically. Again have your friend place one picture at a time between your hands and just feel the energy of the person in the photo, and begin simply by picking the sex, maybe the approximate age, and then the name of the person you are holding. After some practice, you will become quite accurate in your speculations. Then set the objects aside for a while, and gather some friends together for a ‘free Reiki treatment’. You will have a lot of takers.... Anything for free is quite popular. Placing one at a time on a massage table or something similar (end of a bed, a cushioned table, a couch, or carpeted floor, begin to scan their bodies from their head to their feet, detecting and calling out any energy distortion (could be hot or cold sensation, tingling, slight push or pull energetically over a spot, even discomfort in your own body corresponding to the similar area you are scanning) you feel, having someone write down each area and what the sensation you feel. When each person has been scanned, and the sensations recorded, have the recorder read out the list slowly, asking for a response from the person just scanned as to the accuracy of the reading. But do tell the person scanned that you may be picking up energetically on some injury/trauma/surgery in the distant past, recent past, and you may even pick up on an imbalance that has not yet manifested in the body. After you have finished scanning and verifying your sensations, you can finish the gathering by doing Reiki on the ones that want to receive. If there are other Reiki practitioners present, they can be invited to help with the treatments. Now you can go back to the photos of friends and family members, and scan them at a distance, recording all of the sensations you experience. Then call, email or write each person asking them if they are experiencing any imbalance in the area(s) you detected to be out-of-balance. You can send them a distant treatment individually or collectively…. time allowing. Now you are ready to extend your intuitive sense to people you don’t know. Have your friends write down 2 or 3 of their family members or friends who they know to be having health issues. They will write down as much as they know about each person’s health on a piece of paper, then fold the paper several times, so the writing cannot be read, stapled or taped shut, and the person’s name, age, and location written on the outside of the folded paper. Then again, put on blindfolds, have your friend hand you one folded paper at a time, and you intuit the sex of the person, and any other information written on the outside of the paper. Then you can hold the papers in your closed hands, visualize the image of the body of the person whose papers you are holding, and visualize being able to see energy distortions within, on and around the body. Your friend will write down your sensations, identifying each intuitive guess with the name of the person. Then you will set the paper aside, create an imaginary ‘light body’ (any size) between your hands, and scan the image with one or both hands to intuit finer, more detailed analyses, having your friend record that information also. You can remove the blindfold, and have your friend read through your intuitive renderings about each person individually, then open the sealed paper to check the accuracy against the known health issues written inside. Record the hits and misses.
Now you may want to keep the papers and photos that you have worked with, and send distant Reiki to each as you have time. Any intuited information that comes to you during distant treatment you will want to write down. And then contact the friend or family member who gave you the person previously unknown to you, tell them about your findings, and ask them to get up-to-date information on the condition of the person you worked on. You will be amazed at the accuracy of your “guesses”. In fact, if you get more than 50% of the health issues correct, you are definitely in the upper percentage of sensitively aware practitioners in the world. Keep up the good work, and let us know how these techniques worked for you.
Blessings to you in your service to humanity.
The 4 original Reiho symbols and their energetic connections by Adonea When we look at Reiki as a Spiritual discipline instead of a healing technique, the information and symbolism takes on a different light. In second degree there are 3 symbols taught, if we are not taught that they represent certain qualities of energy like Wisdom/Power/Focus, Light/Peace/Harmony and Love/Compassion/Connection they are only marks on a page or something we are told to draw because it will help balance the mental/emotional bodies for example. Why would a simply symbol balance the mental/emotional bodies? I often wondered about the symbols and thought to myself drawing lines on paper or in the air is going to connect me to someone on the other side of the world, why? All of the Reiki teachers I worked with could not answer that question, they simply said it works just do it, again why? Here is what I have come to understand, the symbols call upon specific deities that represent qualities of energy or 'God Virtues'. When using the harmony symbol to do mental/emotional balancing for example, the energy and qualities of the Amida Buddha who will bring spiritual 'Peace of Mind' are called upon. Each symbol represents a concept, supported by particular energy qualities. It is also interesting that the symbols are in a particular order as drawn by Mrs. Takata and Hayashi Sensei - First/Power/Focus, Second/Harmony, Third/Connection. If one looks to Buddhism and the Amida Sanzon a trinity of deities, one finds First/Seishi the Bosatsu of the 'Vigor or Power of Wisdom', Second/Amida Nyorai who represents 'Infinite Light and Peace of Mind', Third/Kannon Bosatsu of Compassion who reaches out to those in need with a 1,000 arms. The inner connections are amazing and truly were eye opening for me. So what are the symbols teaching us? The connection symbol teaches us to hone our compassion body by reaching out to those in need and send them Reiki via distance. We also use the other symbols to bring forth the qualities they represent i.e. we add the focus symbol to increase the power/focus on the Wisdom of being compassionate and reaching out to those in need (which opens and softens/strengthens our hearts bringing forth Divine Love); or perhaps the Wisdom of 'Peace of Mind' through calm mental and emotional bodies with the ability to relate to others insightfully and peacefully in all situations. When we become a teacher we get a symbol which contains within it the qualities of all the symbols, it is all we need to connect to the fullness of the energy with the goal of totally becoming or merging with the energy itself. Once this is accomplished the use of symbols is no longer needed. This is part of the awakening process giving us back responsibility for our creations and leading us to Enlightenment.
Information on the deities is important because it gives a broader perspective of what the symbols mean and the qualities they bring forth in all who utilize them. Each Buddhist deity is also represented in other religions in some way (perhaps not as a deity but a concept). Here is an example, Dainichi Nyorai is MAHAVAIROCANA BUDDHA who if you look at the description of this Buddha represents all creation (what is known/matter) and the void (the knower/mind), supports all life through his vital force, etc., in other words is creator of all that is... he is what Christians refer to as God, Native Americans as Great Spirit and so forth. Just different ways of describing the greatest force/love of the Universe. Buddhism also teaches that all other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are various emanations or qualities (i.e. Love, Wisdom, Peace, Compassion, etc.) of Dainichi. This is also true in Christianity (saying we are all children of God), with Jesus representing his undying Unconditional Love, Mary his complete Compassion, etc., praying to these beings brings forth the qualities they represent. I feel that religion was originally created to help a person be reverent, humble and thankful, giving them a place and time, out of their busy schedule each week/day to commune with Creator directly. It also reminds us to seek a 'good' life, be compassionate towards others and so forth. It is also important to keep in mind that each deity is a representation of a quality of energy or God Virtue. Each quality is important to embody within oneself, rather than worshiping the deity him/her self as this puts the quality outside of ourselves which may seem unattainable. We as corporial beings (humans) sometimes get caught up in the facts presented, or the worship ceremony/deities themselves and lose the true essence of the message itself.
One need not be Buddhist to see the value of the information presented. There is no dogma or need for one to believe a certain way to garner Truth from it. The concepts presented are guideposts to right life/thought which will ultimately align one with Creator/Source and thus help gain Enlightenment or Satori.
Questions and Answers about Reiho from Usui Sensei Taken from the Usui Reiki Ryoho Hikkei, Usui Sensei's Shoden Manual
Usui Sensei said, "It is an old custom to teach the method to only my descendant for keeping a wealth within a family. Especially the modern societies we live in wish to share happiness of coexistence and co-prosperity. So I don’t allow my family to keep the method to ourselves.
My Usui Reiki Ryoho is an original, there is nothing like this in the world. So I would like to release this method to the public for everyone’s benefit and hope for everyone’s happiness. My Reiki Ryoho is an original method based on intuitive power in the universe. By this power, body gets healthy and enhances happiness of life and peaceful mind.
Nowadays people need improvement and reconstruction inside and outside of life, so the reason for releasing my method to the public is to help people with illness of body and mind.
What is Usui Reiki Ryoho?
Graciously I have received Meiji Emperor’s last injunctions. For achieving my teachings, training and improving physically and spiritually and walking in a right path as a human being, first we have to heal our spirit. Secondly we have to keep our body healthy. If our spirit is healthy and conformed to the truth, body will get healthy naturally. Usui Reiki Ryoho’s missions are to lead peaceful and happy life, heal others and improve happiness of others and ourselves.
Is there any similarity to hypnotism, Kiai method, religious method or any other methods?
No, there is no similarity to any of those methods. This method is to help body and spirit with intuitive power, which I’ve received after long and hard training.
Then, is it psychic method of treatment?
Yes, you could say that. But you could also say it is physical method of treatment. The reasons why is Ki and light are emanated from healer’s body, especially from eyes, mouth and hands. So if healer stares or breathes on or strokes with hands at the affected area such as toothache, colic pain, stomachache, neuralgia, bruises, cuts, burns and other swellings with pain will be gone. However a chronic disease is not easy, it’s needed some time. But a patient will feel improvement at the first treatment. There is a fact more than a novel how to explain this phenomenon with modern medicine. If you see the fact you would understand. Even people who use sophistry can not ignore the fact.
Do I have to believe in Usui Reiki Ryoho to get better result?
No. It’s not like a psychological method of treatment or hypnosis or other kind of mental method. There is no need to have a consent or admiration. It doesn’t matter if you doubt, reject or deny it. For example, it is effective to children and very ill people who are not aware of any consciousness, such as a doubt, rejection or denying. There may be one out of ten who believes in my method before a treatment. Most of them learn the benefit after first treatment then they believe in the method.
Can any illness be cured by Usui Reiki Ryoho?
Any illness such as psychological or an organic disease can be cured by this method.
Does Usui Reiki Ryoho only heal illness?
No. Usui Reiki Ryoho does not only heal illness. Mental illness such as agony, weakness, timidity, irresolution, nervousness and other bad habit can be corrected. Then you are able to lead happy life and heal others with mind of God or Buddha. That becomes principle object.
How does Usui Reiki Ryoho work?
I’ve never been given this method by anybody nor studied to get psychic power to heal. I accidentally realized that I have received healing power when I felt the air in mysterious way during fasting. So I have a hard time explaining exactly even I am the founder. Scholars and men of intelligence have been studying this phenomenon but modern science can’t solve it. But I believe that day will come naturally.
Does Usui Reiki Ryoho use any medicine and are there any side effects?
Never uses medical equipment. Staring at affected area, breathing onto it, stroking with hands, laying on of hands and patting lightly with hands are the way of treatment.
Do I need to have knowledge of medicine?
My method is beyond a modern science so you do not need knowledge of medicine. If brain disease occurs, I treat a head. If it’s a stomachache, I treat a stomach. If it’s an eye disease, I treat eyes. You don’t have to take bitter medicine or stand for hot moxa treatment. It takes short time for a treatment with staring at affected area or breathing onto it or laying-on-of-hands or stroking with hands. These are the reason why my method is very original.
What do famous medical scientists think of this method?
The famous medical scientists seem very reasonable. European medical scientists have severe criticism towards medicine.
To return to the subject:
Dr. Nagai of Teikoku Medical University says, “we as doctors do diagnose, record and comprehend illnesses but we don’t know how to treat them.”
Dr. Kondo says, “it is not true that medical science made a great progress. It is the biggest fault in the modern medical science that we don’t take notice of psychological affect.
Dr. Kuga says, “it is a fact that psychological therapy and other kind of healing treatment done by healers without doctor’s training works better than doctors, depending on type of illnesses or patient’s personality or application of treatment. Also the doctors who try to repel and exclude psychological healers without doctor’s training are narrow-minded."
Nihon Iji Shinpo
It is obvious fact that doctors, medical scientists and pharmacists recognize the effect of my method and become a pupil.
What is the government’s reaction?
On February 6th, 1922, at the Standing Committee on Budget of House of Representatives, a member of the Diet Dr. Matsushita asked for government’s view about the fact that people who do not have doctor’s training have been treating many patients with psychological or spiritual method of treatment.
Mr. Ushio, a government delegate says, “a little over 10 years ago people thought hypnosis is a work of long-nosed goblin but nowadays study has been done and it’s applied to mentally ill patients. It is very difficult to solve human intellect with just science. Doctors follow the instruction how to treat patients by medical science, but it’s not a medical treatment such as electric therapy or just touching with hands to all illnesses.” So my Usui Reiki Ryoho does not violate the Medical Practitioners Law or Shin-Kyu (acupuncture and moxa treatment) Management Regulation.
People would think that this kind of healing power is gifted to the selected people, not by training.
No, that isn’t true. Every existence has healing power. Plants, trees, animals, fish and insects, but especially a human as the lord of creation has remarkable power. Usui Reiki Ryoho is materialized the healing power that human has.
Then, can anybody receive Denju of Usui Reiki Ryoho?
Of course, a man, woman, young or old, people with knowledge or without knowledge, anybody who has a common sense can receive the power accurately in a short time and can heal selves and others. I have taught to more than one thousand people but no one is failed. Everyone is able to heal illness with just Shoden. You may think it is inscrutable to get the healing power in a short time but it is reasonable. It’s the feature of my method that heals difficult illnesses easily.
If I can heal others, can I heal myself?
If you can’t heal yourself, how can you heal others.
How can I receive Okuden?
Okuden includes Hatsureiho, patting with hands method, stroking with hands method, pressing with hands method, telesthetic method and propensity method. I will teach it to people who have learned Shoden and who are good students, good conduct and enthusiasts.
Is there higher level more than Okuden?
Yes, there is a level called Shinpiden.
Reiki eases the work necessary for Divine Growth and Alignment by Adonea I have come to the understanding that all we need to do in life is just be. Does just being mean doing nothing? Or letting go of the need to do. Just being may ultimately mean doing nothing (I don't think this is True, but lets say that it is); getting to that point requires work on self (i.e. letting go of false beliefs, habits, patterns, thoughts, actions and attachments that we have bought into and truly believe are 'what' and 'who' we are). It also requires placing nothing outside of self (as we truly are co-creators; creating every moment and experience through our thoughts, words, feelings and actions). Even if we know this concept intellectually we may not have (most likely have not) implemented it, certainly not fully. That is where the work comes in. Recognizing the patterns, etc. for what they are within ourselves, then working to not repeat them... that can truly be hard work indeed, if the patterns are deeply ingrained.
We must also work on releasing our attachments to everything. It is not until we are totally free of attachment of any kind that we can fully experience 'Peace', 'Freedom' and 'Enlightenment'. This does not mean that we must abstain completely, and never have relationships or things. It is about how we view relationships, things, etc., which is the key. In themselves things, money, relationships are not good or bad, they simply are. For example having things adds comfort to our lives, but holding on to them so tightly that we need alarms, and anti-theft devices, and fearing someone may take them from us, causes distress and blocks the free flow of energy. They are only things, are not necessary and can always be replaced. However, having fewer things is freeing and means less societal responsibility. Relationships are much the same, we may truly enjoy them, but if we do not allow them to flow, we smother our partner/friend hanging on for dear life; fearing they will be stolen from us - again claiming ownership. This holds us in a place of FEAR - Future Expectations Appearing Real - which is a false concept and blocks the free flow of energy/abundance/Joy in our lives.
Being non-attached, means letting relationships, things, thought, feelings, etc. come and go freely without expectation or ownership. Enjoying them, and being happy while they are in our lives; and enjoying our lives and being happy when they are not. This is a difficult concept if we bought into the idea of ownership, which is so prevalent in today's society.
It is possible to let it all go in an instant, if we are ready and using Reiki daily will assist us. But it usually happens in steps, one pattern or attachment is recognized, and released, then another, then another, etc. It is an ongoing process which is only complete when we become an Enlightened Being or Buddha. An interesting thought "If we are still corporeal, limited to being only in physical body on the Earth plane we haven't got it FULLY yet."
Attunement Variations Published in the July 2000 issue of "The Messenger"
Why are there so many variations of the attunements? If Usui passed on his attunement procedures to his students, then why aren't we doing them as he instructed? How similar are the westernized attunements from those that are taught in Japan, the country where Reiki was received as a result of the enlightenment of Usui Sensei? And how many variations are there? And are some better than others? What is truly necessary to pass on the empowerment to students? And which is the 'right' attunement?
In order to answer these and other questions, it is necessary to explore some ideas of how Usui may have come to create the attunement process. As we now know, Usui had been trying to receive enlightenment for most of his life. Having failed to reach it through the practices of various religions, he finally turned to Zen Buddhism. And having experienced frustrating results from his Zen practice, Usui consulted his Zen Master, who told him". to die one time". What we understand of this is that Usui Sensei was to give up trying to reach Satori, that he was to go into the quiet space within and die. figuratively speaking.. And Satori came to him. and he "felt one big Reiki over his head". This means that he understood everything about this energy, that it was the answer to his prayers and desires, and that it could benefit others as well as himself. He went home, and excitedly convinced his family members to let him experiment on them with this newly tapped energy source. He saw amazing results; in fact, his wife's health improved because of his hands-on transference of energy that he called "Reiki". And when he saw what Reiki could do, he wanted to share it with others, not desiring to keep it within his family, as was the tradition. He began a society of Reiki practitioners called the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai and it is still going strong today. Teachers are keeping Usui's teachings intact without changes, as much as humanly possible.
Now to get to the meat of the story... attunements. It is known that Usui would sit with a student knee-to-knee and intend the student to feel the Reiki energy, and once experienced, it could be recalled by the student with will/intent alone. As time went on, Usui Sensei experimented with a kind of ritual; he would actually perform energetic motions and movement over a student's head and hands, and this worked also. And a few of his students experimented with some slight variations to Usui's process and they seemed to work as well. The secret it seems was in the 'intent'. A teacher who worked with the energy in a disciplined manner, practiced connecting to the flow of Reiki energy could intend a student to be similarly opened to this flow, thereafter recalling it whenever desired. After a while, Usui Sensei realized that not everyone could detect energy with the same sensitivity that he could, so he borrowed some symbols from Buddhist and Taoist teachings and from the Kanji form of writing of his language. These symbols represented the energies that he experienced when he performed his Reiki empowerments. And soon, the symbols found their way into the attunement procedure. Well, to shorten this story, Usui never intended the symbols to continue to be utilized in the attunements and treatments, but to be discarded once a student could sense the various subtleties contained within the Reiki frequency. As the teachers taught students their versions of the attunements, the students would carry on the tradition of passing the same empowerment procedures without changes. But consider that there were many lineages of Reiki teachings with their corresponding empowerments. So this is one of the reasons there are so many variations today.
There is no exact number of known empowerments, but suffice it to say there are many. So which is the 'right' one? It would seem that all empowerments work to some degree of efficiency, but the ability to connect one to the flow of Universal energy is not in the techniques, but rather in the strength of intent, as well as the amount of energy sustained/called forth by a teacher. Is one attunement better, more strongly experienced than another? Which is the 'right' one? I can only say that the simplicity of Usui Sensei's empowerment method makes it my empowerment of choice. Adonea and I have chosen to follow his simple, yet powerful techniques as well.
There are a great many differences between Reiki as Usui Sensei taught it, and the westernized variations with their eclectic techniques me from other philosophies/religions/energy practices. Reiki seems to me to be getting more complicated, with more and more symbols, longer empowerment procedures, and ever-increasing 'branches' that have very little to do with Reiki as it was and is still taught in Japan. Reiki is simple when not complicated by loads of added techniques and procedural steps. I entreat you the reader to learn the original Reiki techniques of Usui, and maybe you too will gain the enlightened knowledge tapped by Usui Sensei. Blessings on your Reiki path.
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