A way of life

Ik kreeg een mail toegestuurd met een mooie tekst van Frank Arjava Petter. Het beschrijft hoe ik zelf ook Reiki tracht te zijn. Ik wil deze tekst graag met jullie delen.

ReikiDharmaNewsletterVolume 23, August 10, 2008

Dear friends! Hello again from somewhere on Planet Earth. After a lovely vacation in Greece and a delightful trip to Jamaica I am happy to send you another newsletter. I write theses newsletters three or four times a year, about common issues on the Reiki path. Please forgive me if I cannot publish the newsletters in other languages (only Spanish editions are available on my website). You may think that I have a large office and lots of help, but in fact I am a one- man show.

Recently I have been asked again and again about the proper attitude of a Reiki Teacher. This is a complex issue, because each and every one of us walks his own individual path. However, there are signposts that may lead you in the right direction, and about these signposts I would like to talk to you in this newsletter.

Reiki, a way of Life

The first thing to understand is that Reiki is a way of life. It is not a thing that you do for half an hour and then you forget about it for the next twenty- three and a half hours. This requires for the teacher that he emerges himself in Reiki- and that he disappears in it. So, the path begins with you, and it ends with your absence. In Japan, Reiki is a path that you travel from now on until you take your last step and breathe your last breath. It becomes your life.

To be more specific, Reiki is you and you are it. The more you dissolve your personality, your many masks, your conditioning and negativity, the more the energy takes over. You are in the service of Reiki.

The inner emptiness

As your own interests and your own story becomes less and less important, the inner emptiness increases and makes space for energy. That does not mean that you become an energy- junkie who floats on cloud seven and cannot utter a normal word anymore. But it does mean that you become filled with love, light, energy, and compassion. This is what is seen from the outside and- experienced from the inside. When you look for a Reiki Teacher, look for these qualities. When you look at yourself with this in mind, you always know just where you are. And when you know where you are, you can work on polishing the diamond more and more.

On a practical level the best way to get to this understanding is to give treatments. My teacher, Chiyoko Yamaguchi's first question to her new students who practiced Western Reiki already, was" Do you do treatments"? If they declined she would ask: "What in the world do you teach if you have no experience in giving treatments?"

If they replied that they do give treatments, she would ask you if you had ever witnessed any healing. If you said yes, she smiled…

She told me that she gave 2 or three treatments a day for 65 years. Also she relayed her experience of growing four boys with Reiki. Now that I have children of my own, I understand what it is like. You practice all day long between bruised knees, toothaches and fever.

Chiyoko Yamaguchi made a strong impression on me. I always wondered how someone who practiced Reiki in a proper way would develop as a person. I had met and heard about so many arrogant Reiki teachers that I was wondering if I was doing the right thing?

Thousands of treatments and the constant emergence in the energy made her humble and gave her a heart of Gold. And her hands melted away all of your worries, anxieties and other toxic materials. In a Reiki treatment, if done properly your 'personality' disappears. The reason for this is in the nature of Reiki.

The meaning of the word 'Reiki'

Originally Reiki meant "Soul energy" or "Spirit energy". The soul is something that is common to all of us; it belongs to all beings, sentient and insentient. Usui Sensei said in an interview that humans, as the most evolved beings in existence, have the capacity to pass this Soul energy on to others. But on the "evolutionary" path of humanity, this connection to the source has gotten lost along the way. We have forgotten our true nature, the essence of our being. With a Reiki attunement (Jap. Reiju= giving or granting the soul) we are reminded of what we are. So, when receiving an attunement or when receiving a treatment the soul energy is re-activated and so comes into consciousness. And what is in consciousness becomes alive and potent.

Connecting to your Essence

When you reconnect to your essence in this way you become instantaneously happy. This happiness fills you and then spreads from your heart to that of the people around you. So, the first step is transformation. But the initial transformation is just an opening. Imagine that a door opens into a new dimension. You are in awe of what you experience, but now it is your turn to walk and to put this transformation into action.

Putting the transformation into action

Usui Sensei told us that Reiki is the secret art of inviting happiness and the spiritual medicine for all illness. He also is reported to have said that one needs to heal the mind first before the body can follow suit. For this we have been given a wonderfully practical map, the Reiki Principles (Jap. Gokai). These Principles are a Mantra and must be recited in the original language.
If you would like to practice them with me, please visit my website at www.ReikiDharma.com where you can watch or download an instructional movie. For more background info on the Reiki Principles, please refer to Newsletter# 19.

Reciting the Principles is just the very beginning. The Gokai are not a philosophy, but practical instruction for living a healthy and happy life. They have to be lived. Chiyoko Yamaguchi once told me that when you have integrated the Gokai in your life, your inner work is done. A teacher who puts the Principles into practice emits a certain fragrance. This fragrance is not of knowledge but of experience and love. If you are looking for a teacher, check if he lives what he teaches
(the wisdom of your heart and the first impression you have will tell you). As a teacher, be kind and accommodating to your students and strict with yourself.

The last Reiki Principle, Chiyoko often said, is the most important of all. " Be kind to others" This kindness has two aspects. The first one is to develop compassion, which is aided by giving treatments and having an open heart, void of personal pains and attachments. Compassion does not arrive in your heart all by itself. It is coupled with gratitude and this is a rare treasure. Allow your heart to open… and to remain open whatever you do. This needs a little awareness, but it is worth the effort. Keep being kind in all life situations. Be kind to others, the environment, and , yourself.

The second aspect of kindness is Reiki- specific. In a Reiki Attunement or treatment, you activate the Soul Energy in your client/student and this is the greatest gift you can give to someone. Reconnected to his essence he experiences himself.

Suggestions for teachers and students

To aid your inner process I suggest the following:

1-Be absolutely honest to yourself and others. Don't lie to yourself or to others, even if telling the truth will be a disadvantage to you. This means that you stop playing games, you stop deceiving yourself and others. Especially when you deceive yourself you violate your nature, and this is something that deep down you don't forgive yourself for. Remember that every time you follow a bad habit or an old pattern, you re- enforce it. Stop it right now. Remember the headlines for the Gokai (Reiki Principles) " Kyo dake wa"- Only today…

2- Celebrate yourself as you are. Stop hankering for this or that. Stop in this moment, right now and love yourself as you are. Acknowledge your faults, your shortcomings and your not- knowing, and enjoy them. What freedom this gives you!

3-Let go of negative patterns. Thoughts and emotions visit you in old patterns. First become aware of them and don't try to fight them. Relax and accept whatever visits your mind. When you have become aware of a thought or an emotion that you would not like to entertain, stop energizing it. Remember that it is you who is thinking the thought or feeling the emotion. Just say no… Whatever you energize grows strong. What you don't give energy to withers away.

4- Deal with conflict situations right now, don't carry them into the future. If you have a problem with someone, clear it up the moment it occurs, without attacking the other. This way you don't accumulate future movement… If there is something that you regret in your life, make an effort and clean it up now. Right now…

5-Let go of judgment, and make space for everything under the sky. Void of judgment the self becomes empty and you are able to act from this inner emptiness. Action that comes out of emptiness is a blessing.

6- Take responsibility for your own life and stop projecting your guilt, fear and negativity upon others. When you take responsibility for what you do, think and feel, you become humble. Practice humility whenever you meet another person. Look at the lady at the cash register of your local super market. Be kind and loving.

7- Stop complaining. Understand that everything that is happening to you and in your environment is part of your life story. Whatever you experience is you: celebrate it.

8-Let go of fear and guilty feelings. Fear and guilty feelings poison the mind. If you want to be healthy, stay away from them.

9-Make peace with your parents. Alive or not your parents are the key to your happiness. If you are well connected to both of them, and love them as your parents, you are fed by the powers of the sun and the moon, and the circle of energy is complete. Out of completion a new being can be born.

Practical suggestions

1- Awaken your senses. Become aware of where you are and what is happening around you. Use your senses for this. Awareness helps to appreciate life and appreciation leads to an open heart.

2- Don't talk about things that you don't know about and practice saying " I don't know". A teacher who has to pretend that he knows everything is a bad example. The best medicine is to be yourself.

3-Nourish your social contacts. I always suggest to teacher colleagues to cherish their social contacts, to nourish the treasure of friendship. Also a healthy partnership is most important. After a teacher has reached a certain maturity in his work, his students won't criticize and stimulate him openly anymore. I have seen countless well- known teachers go overboard, because no one tells them off anymore. Your friends and your beloved will let you know when you are going off the track.

3- When giving treatments touch your clients with the same love you would touch your own child. This way the "you" and the "I" disappear and both of you become love, light and pure energy.

4-On your spiritual path, keep things clear and don't do too many things at once. In life it may be helpful to know how to do many things, but in the inner world, you fill up too much valuable space with intellectual junk. Keep the house clean and Zen-like, then the guest will come…

Thank you for listening to me again. I wish you a wonderful day, today with love from Germany, your friend

Frank Arjava Petter