More on Personal Responsibility and Being Reiki
Reiki author Pamela Miles added this comment in response to Heather Alexander's Jan. 8 article, Personal Responsibility and Being Reiki, and for those who receive the Digest by email and may have missed it, we are republishing it here. Thanks, Pamela, and thanks again, Heather. To contribute your comments to this discussion, just click here to add a comment on our web site or email editor@thereikidigest.com.
Here's Pamela:
Thank you, Heather, for your beautifully written and inspiring article.
The critical piece that we are Reiki is usually lost in translation. Although the essentially non-dual interconnectedness of all reality is implicit in Japanese culture, this understanding does not exist in mainstream European-based culture. Reiki initiations and practice do not give us something that is outside us; rather, they open our awareness to our own essential being.
Once we understand Reiki in this way, we can see that Mrs. Takata also understood. Perhaps she felt constrained by the times from expressing it more explicitly, sensing that even after the animosity of World War II began to subside, such an Asian approach was more than the public could absorb. And because Mrs. Takata stressed the importance of disciplined daily self-treatment, she knew that in time, her students would come to understand the essential non-dual nature of reality from within (whether they would ever conceptualize it that way is another matter).
The current time is very different than the time in which Mrs. Takata so capably brought Reiki out of Japan. We can express such concepts as non-dual reality openly without fear of being persecuted (although some may vehemently disagree with us). Because much contemporary Reiki training does not stress the importance of consistent daily practice, it may be a service to be more explicit about how profound the fruit of Reiki practice can be.
We are Reiki. That is neither magic nor entitlement, but rather responsibility. Reiki initiation empowers us to practice self-treatment, and thereby reconnect with our essence. When we practice self-treatment every day, we are more able to honor the Precepts and live Reiki mindfully and responsibly throughout the rest of our day. What a simple and effective way to address not only our own suffering, but also that of our struggling world.
The critical piece that we are Reiki is usually lost in translation. Although the essentially non-dual interconnectedness of all reality is implicit in Japanese culture, this understanding does not exist in mainstream European-based culture. Reiki initiations and practice do not give us something that is outside us; rather, they open our awareness to our own essential being.
Once we understand Reiki in this way, we can see that Mrs. Takata also understood. Perhaps she felt constrained by the times from expressing it more explicitly, sensing that even after the animosity of World War II began to subside, such an Asian approach was more than the public could absorb. And because Mrs. Takata stressed the importance of disciplined daily self-treatment, she knew that in time, her students would come to understand the essential non-dual nature of reality from within (whether they would ever conceptualize it that way is another matter).
The current time is very different than the time in which Mrs. Takata so capably brought Reiki out of Japan. We can express such concepts as non-dual reality openly without fear of being persecuted (although some may vehemently disagree with us). Because much contemporary Reiki training does not stress the importance of consistent daily practice, it may be a service to be more explicit about how profound the fruit of Reiki practice can be.
We are Reiki. That is neither magic nor entitlement, but rather responsibility. Reiki initiation empowers us to practice self-treatment, and thereby reconnect with our essence. When we practice self-treatment every day, we are more able to honor the Precepts and live Reiki mindfully and responsibly throughout the rest of our day. What a simple and effective way to address not only our own suffering, but also that of our struggling world.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home