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| ISBN-13: | 9781785350566 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Hunt, John Publishing |
| Publication date: | 10/30/2015 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 208 |
| File size: | 3 MB |
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The Inner Heart of Reiki
Rediscovering Your True Self
By Frans Stiene
John Hunt Publishing Ltd.
Copyright © 2014 Frans StieneAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-78535-056-6
CHAPTER 1
Reiki Is True Self
The word "Reiki" has been translated in different ways but the real inner meaning of the word Reiki is True Self. Think about it, the word Reiki literally translates as spiritual energy. But then we have to ask ourselves: What and where is this spiritual energy? Is it outside of us, is it inside us, or is it both? If it is outside of us, then we see that spirituality is very external, never looking within, never looking at the real issues. If we think it is only inside us, then we start to forget about others; we become more selfish. But if after investigation we start to realize that spiritual energy is both inside and outside of ourselves, we start to get a much better picture of what it really embodies.
However, we can go even deeper than experiencing that it is both inside and outside of ourselves: we can start to rediscover that this spiritual energy is neither inside or outside of ourselves; it is all-encompassing. Imagine an empty glass jar; we might think that the space inside the jar is very different than the space outside the jar, but what if we take a hammer and smash the jar to pieces? Can we still say what space was inside or outside the jar? No, because the space inside and outside the jar has mingled and we cannot distinguish them; we could say, they have become of one taste. Another word for this experience of "one taste" is non-duality. This non-dual experience is our True Self, who we really are without the boundaries of the ego. This is spiritual energy. This is Reiki, our True Self.
We can also use the image of a chick in an egg; when the chick breaks the shell, the space inside and outside become the same. However, and this is a very important point, the chick breaks the shell from the inside out. This is the same within our own spiritual rediscovery of our True Self: it needs to come from the inside out. This is why all spiritual teachings are about going inwards.
This One Mind that is within you and me is not inside, outside, or in the middle. And at the same time it is inside, outside, and in the middle. Like the stillness of empty space, it pervades everywhere.
– Xunyun, in Sheng Yen, Attaining the Way: A Guide to the Practice of Chan Buddhism
However, there is one difficulty within this teaching, and that is that we cannot show someone their True Self. Why not? This is because the True Self, like the space inside and outside the jar, is very difficult to point out. How can we point out space? We can't hold it, it has no color or smell, and so how can we say to someone, "Look, here it is"? Therefore the masters of old used poetry, symbols, rituals, cryptic words and sounds as signposts to point us towards our True Self. Often we forget that these signposts are just that: signposts, pointing us towards our True Self. We often get distracted by the signposts themselves. We start to say things like, "This signpost is so powerful, we always have to use it!" We hug the signpost, never letting it go, instead of looking at where the signpost is pointing to: our True Self. Within Mikao Usui's teachings we find five signposts:
• The Precepts
• Meditation Techniques
• Symbols and Mantras
• Reiju/Initiation/Attunement
• Hands-on Healing
All of these five signposts are pointing towards our True Self. This rediscovering of our True Self in Japan is called anshin ritsumei or satori. By following these signposts, one day we will be like the jar: we will smash through the barrier of separateness and realize our non-dual nature, our True Self. At this point we have become Reiki and our practice moves from "doing Reiki" to "Being Reiki." This is the inner heart of the system of Reiki: how to embody Being Reiki.
When we truly forget the self, there is no division between inside and outside, no division between yourself and externals. In such a way, we can appreciate life in its fullness.
– Taizan Maezumi, Appreciate Your Life: The Essence of Zen Practice
Mikao Usui used a wonderful metaphor for our True Self within his teachings and that is our own innate great bright light (Jp. Dai Kômyô – the Shinpiden Reiki Level III mantra). Our True Self is always bright no matter what happens. Imagine a lamp with a lampshade over it; if we place more lampshades over the light it looks like the light is diminishing. If we take all the lampshades off, it looks like the light becomes stronger. But in reality the light itself didn't diminish or become brighter, it stayed the same. This is the same with our True Self, our great bright light. When we practice the meditation practices it looks like our light becomes brighter, and when we get angry, for example, it looks like our light diminishes. But in reality our light is always bright. We might say that during our practice we become clearer, or that we can connect to more energy, but from the viewpoint of our True Self, our great bright light, there is nothing to enhance or improve. To realize this straight away is very difficult. Mikao Usui understood this too, and therefore he created a specific system of teachings so that one day we can lay bare our great bright light.
So the old Gakkai members said that Usui Sensei taught the way to Satori very intensely to those who had achieved a certain level.
– Hiroshi Doi, A Modern Reiki Method for Healing
Let's go back to the image of a lamp with many lampshades. What if we start to take the lampshades away – what will happen? It looks like our light becomes brighter, but what else? Our light becomes great, because each time we take a lampshade away our light will shine out farther and farther. This has a huge impact on our compassion to others, because now our light will be able to touch all sentient beings. And all sentient beings, if they want, can benefit from this light.
Now we have come to a very important teaching by Mikao Usui, and that is the question, "What is healing?" In many modern teachings the idea of healing has become mainly focused on physical healing. But what is real healing?
The word healing means to make whole. From a spiritual perspective, to make ourselves whole again we need to remember that we are the universe. Or in other words, we need to rediscover our True Self because it is only in that state of mind that we fully realize that the universe is us and we are the universe. Mikao Usui pointed this out within his precepts. His precepts are all about the mind. He pointed out that if we heal the mind, the body will follow. The deepest level of healing for ourselves is therefore to rediscover our True Self, and the deepest level of healing others is to help them to rediscover their True Self.
Within the precepts we have the precept, "Show compassion to yourself and others." Remembering our True Self is the most compassionate thing we can do for ourselves, and helping others to remember their True Self is the most compassionate thing we can do for them. Rediscovering our True Self is all about letting go of the "I" or the ego, because it is the "I" who is in the way of remembering that we are the universe. This is why the precepts are all about letting go of the "I." Thus the precepts also point out the journey to remember our True Self.
Everybody worries about the body, its beauty and its health. We worry too much. Diseases are partly the by-product of the ego. So we have to begin by healing our ego. Be open. Abandon the ego, and illnesses can be neutralized in advance. Following the cosmic order is the best preventative therapy for body and mind, the healthiest.
– Taisen Deshimaru, Mushotoku Mind: The Heart of the Heart Sutra
Because Japan borrowed kanji (written characters) from China, it is also interesting to look at how the kanji of "Reiki" is seen from a Chinese traditional viewpoint. The kanji of Reiki in Chinese becomes Ling Chi. My Taoist teacher, Li Ying, told me that from a Taoist perspective Ling Chi is the Tao, or in other words our True Self. She stressed that this kind of energy can only be accessed through serious meditation practice.
Ling Chi is the subtlest and most highly refined of all the energies in the human system and the product of the most advanced stages of practice, whereby the ordinary energies of the body are transformed into pure spiritual vitality.
– Daniel Reid, Chi Gung: Harnessing the Power of the Universe
CHAPTER 2Usui Reiki Ryôhô
The common name used for Mikao Usui's teachings is Usui Reiki Ryôhô.
Reiki = True Self
Ryô = to cure or heal
Hô = method or dharma, teachings, truth
Usui Reiki Ryôhô can be read as: Usui's teachings (dharma) to cure and heal one's True Self. Of course Mikao Usui is using a metaphor: to heal one's True Self. He knew that there was nothing to heal – we just need to remember our True Self. However, if we say to people, "Just remember your True Self," they might get confused. Due to all our lampshades we might think that just remembering our True Self is way too easy and wouldn't work. Thus we need to use the word "heal" as a metaphor. To heal is to make whole, thus we can also say: Usui's teachings (dharma) to remember the wholeness of one's True Self. We might be able to remember our True Self for a very short moment in time, but then the lampshades take over again and our great bright light looks as if it has vanished. Thus we need specific practices that help us to remove these lampshades once and for all.
This Dharma (ho, "truth") is amply present in every person, but unless one practices, it is not manifested, unless there is realization it is not attained.
– David Edward Shaner, The Bodymind Experience in Japanese Buddhism
The name "Reiki" describes a healing system to rediscover your True Self and doesn't say anything about hands-on healing. The name itself provides the clue that it is only through the rediscovery of our True Self that we can start to do hands-on healing on others at a much deeper level. Mrs. Takata, who brought the system of Reiki to the West, also pointed out that Reiki starts with rediscovering the "energy" of the True Self. Mrs. Takata's diary, dated 10 December 1935, says that the
meaning of "Reiki" Energy within oneself, when concentrated and applied to patients, will cure all ailments – it is nature's greatest cure, which requires no drugs. It helps in all respects, human and animal life. In order to concentrate, one must purify one's thoughts in words and meditate to let the true "energy" come out from within. It lies in the bottom of the stomach about 2 inches below the navel. Sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes, concentrate on your thoughts and relax.
Here she is saying that Reiki is the energy within oneself; she even calls it the True Energy, which lies at the bottom of the stomach. She is emphasizing that we need to concentrate and meditate to let the energy come from within. She was pointing out already the heart of the system of Reiki; however, most of these teachings by Mrs. Takata have been lost and are not taught in many of her teachings.
By looking at these clues we can see the importance of the system of Reiki as a method of rediscovering our True Self before we could even think of helping others. The Usui Reiki Ryôhô Gakkai (Society of Usui's Teachings to Cure and Heal One's True Self) in Japan also concurs:
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, the body will get healthy naturally.
If you can't heal yourself how can you heal others? – "Reiki Ryôhô Hikkei," a manual handed out by the Usui Reiki Ryôhô Gakkai
From these clues we can see that we must start with the self in order to rediscover the True Self, and this is the ultimate healing journey. For me, Usui Reiki Ryôhô is a spiritual practice whose teachings help us to move from not knowing our True Self to knowing our True Self.
Everything in the Universe possesses Reiki without any exception.
– Note from a student of Mikao Usui from Hiroshi Doi's manual
When we start to rediscover our True Self we also start to see that everything else is made up of this great bright light: a person, an animal, a rock, a blade of grass, everything. And if everything is a great bright light then we are all interconnected. If we discover this we also have the direct experience of compassion, because pure compassion only takes place when all things are included. Many people claim to be in the direct lineage of Mikao Usui, and that they are teaching the "true" teachings of Mikao Usui. But is this possible? This is an interesting question since it is said that Mikao Usui taught different students different things depending on their spiritual progress.
Usui Sensei had no standard curriculum, and the length of time of the training depended on the spiritual progress of each student. It is said that he gave one-on-one lectures mainly on the right mental attitude needed for spiritual advancement based on his own experience.
– Hiroshi Doi, A Modern Reiki Method for Healing
This means that different teachers are teaching different aspects of Mikao Usui's teachings and these will relate to the teacher's own personal understanding, as well as the particular teachings given by their Reiki teacher, their teacher's teacher, and so on. For example, one teacher might focus on a clinical hands-on healing method, and another teacher may emphasize the spiritual aspects of Mikao Usui's teachings. These different "ways" with Reiki indicate each teacher's own personal interest. In addition, Reiki students will gravitate to the teacher who speaks to their own spiritual understanding, progress, and "way." One is not better than the other, just a different path. In addition, each practitioner's unique contemplation, practice and experience of the tools they are given is much deeper than lineage and teacher, as it consists of a simple and direct experience of Mikao Usui's teachings, which is for me his real heritage and lineage. Despite these differences related to each Reiki teacher and practitioner's uniqueness, it is also interesting to think about what Mikao Usui, himself, had in mind.
... although the style may still exist, it is difficult to know in many cases what the founder's original intentions were, how he expressed himself to his students, or if the style has indeed changed over the centuries. What prompts or handbooks still exist may mean very little to the uninitiated and sometimes even to the current teacher himself.
– William Scott Wilson, The Swordsman's Handbook: Samurai Teachings on the Path of the Sword
In this book I'd like to take a look at the tools Mikao Usui left behind and see what clues about his teachings we can find hidden within these tools. To understand better Mikao Usui's tools I'd like to attempt to see them from a late 1800s to early 1900s perspective, rather than a modern Japanese outlook. Taking a historical perspective is an important way we can try to see things with his eyes so we can more deeply investigate the clues he left behind.
CHAPTER 3The Precepts and Our True Self
The system of Reiki is often called a system of healing, but what is "healing"? As I've mentioned earlier, to "heal" doesn't mean only to physically heal ourselves but most importantly to heal our heart/mind. This kind of healing is about rediscovering our True Self, the deepest healing of all. Fortunately, Mikao Usui left us the precepts, central to the system of Reiki, which points this kind of healing out as well. The following version of the precepts is from the Usui memorial stone, a translation found in Hiroshi Doi's manuals:
Just for today,
Do not be angry
Do not worry
Be thankful
Do what you are meant to do
Be kind to others
Within the precepts, whatever version we may be contemplating, Mikao Usui is pointing to the heart/mind element that in essence is our True Self. He is not saying anything about a physical issue, and we can see that helping others is not mentioned until the last precept. First he states that we need to heal ourselves of our anger and worry, because these are obstacles that prevent us from helping others. And what does helping others mean? Healing them on a physical level? If that were the case he would have pointed this out in the precepts as well. No, he is pointing towards helping others to get rid of their anger and worry, and to find their True Self. In other words the precepts are pointing out anshin ritsumei – spiritual peace, or enlightenment. Anshin means "peace in your heart/mind," and if we have found peace in our heart/mind then we can start to help others find this peace in their heart/mind. This is the ultimate kindness. This is the ultimate healing. This is rediscovering our True Self.
Heart is simply heart. Mind, a key term in Buddhism, is a synonym for the same thing. – Taizan Maezumi, Appreciate Your Life: The Essence of Zen Practice
(Continues...)
Excerpted from The Inner Heart of Reiki by Frans Stiene. Copyright © 2014 Frans Stiene. Excerpted by permission of John Hunt Publishing Ltd..
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents
Contents
Digging for the Truth – A Glimmer of Hope,Foreword,
Preface,
Part I: The Inner Heart of the System of Reiki,
Chapter 1: Reiki Is True Self,
Chapter 2: Usui Reiki Ryôhô,
Chapter 3: The Precepts and Our True Self,
Chapter 4: Hara/Tanden,
Chapter 5: Mind, Body, Energy,
Chapter 6: Meditate to Rediscover Our True Self,
Part II: The Precepts,
Chapter 7: Translation of the Precepts from Usui's Handwriting,
Chapter 8: Exploring Some of the Kanji,
Chapter 9: The Precepts on Mikao Usui's Memorial Stone,
Part III: The Reiki Symbols and Mantras,
Chapter 10: Choku Rei – True Self,
Chapter 11: Sei Heki – True Self,
Chapter 12: Hon Sha Ze Sho Nen – I Am Right Mind,
Chapter 13: Dai Kômyô,
Chapter 14: An Overview of Japanese Esoteric Traditions,
Part IV: Reiju and Your True Self,
Chapter 15: Reiju,
Chapter 16: The Inner Heart of Reiju,
Chapter 17: Heritage of Reiju,
Chapter 18: How to Give and Receive a Reiju,
Chapter 19: What Is Real Giving and Receiving?,
Chapter 20: Spiritual Rain,
Chapter 21: The Umbrella,
Part V: Practice,
Chapter 22: How Do We Learn?,
Chapter 23: Different Tools, Same Thing,
Chapter 24: Ready or Not Ready,
Chapter 25: The System of Reiki Is Meditation,
Chapter 26: Meditating on the Precepts,
Chapter 27: Hands-on Healing as Meditation,
Chapter 28: Symbols,
Chapter 29: Signposts to Our True Self,
Chapter 30: Keep Practicing,
Chapter 31: Intimacy,
Chapter 32: Doing Reiki versus Being Reiki,
Glossary of Japanese Terms,
Bibliography,
Who Is Frans Stiene?,