P: For- Power Through Reiki

                                                         

Reiki is a Japanese word meaning Universal Life Energy.  It is an ancient healing art, rediscovered about more than a hundred years ago by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese spiritualist, healer, physician and scholar. He was guided to search for the secret behind the miracle healings of Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. After many years of dedicated research, and travel abroad to countries like America, China, India and Tibet, he discovered the key to understanding the miracle healings in the Tibetan Lotus Sutras. In order to read and understand the Sutras in their original script, i.e. Sanskrit, he even learnt and mastered that language. 
Realizing that he had found the key to the healings, Dr.Usui went back  to Japan, to the Zen monastery  which had all along supported him in his quest.  He had knowledge – but that was not enough : he had to be empowered to use it. Along with the Abbot of the Zen monastery, Dr. Usui decided to meditate. Together through their meditation, it was revealed to them that Dr. Usui should proceed to the sacred Mount Kuriyama,  and commence a 21 days fasting and meditation . 

 Nothing unusual happened, until the last of the 21 days dawned. it was still dark about, when he saw a shining light moving towards him  at great speed. It became bigger and bigger, and finallly hit him in the middle  of  the forehead.  Millions of white glowing bubbles, each one containing a three dimensional Sanskrit character in gold, appeared one by one just slowly enough for him to register each character. He was now completely empowered- he was connected to the cosmic energy and was armed with the knowledge and ability to transfer this unique power of healing to others. 

Thus was born the Usui system of natural healing- or Reiki, as it is popularly known to us.

Shortly before Dr. Usui’s death, Dr. Usui charged one of his most devoted teachers, Dr. Chijiro Hayashi, a retired naval officer with the responsibility of carrying on the traditions of Reiki. Dr.Hayashi founded the first Reiki clinic in Tokyo.

In the year 1935, Hawaya Takata (1900-1980),  a young Japenese – American woman from Hawaii was led to Dr.Hayashi’s Reiki clinic for treatment. Once she was completely healed, Madame Takata became a student of Dr. Hayashi.  After years of dedicated practice, she was made a Reiki Master by Dr. Hayashi in the year 1938.  On his death in 1941, Madame Takata succeeded him as Grand Master.  It was through Madame Takata that Reiki was made available to people all over the world.  She brought it to mainland United States, and finally to Canada and Europe.  In the last 10 years of her life,  from 1970- 1980, she initiated 22 Reiki Masters,  both women and men .

  
This is only  a very brief history of Reiki.  You would have to read some good books on this subject to get a better idea  about Reiki.  The books that would help are: Reiki- Universal Life Energy by Bodo J.Baginski, The Complete Reiki Handbook by Walter Lubeck, Reiki The Healing Touch First and Second Degree Manual by William Lee Rand, Empowerment through Reiki by Paula Horon.

                                      
The Attunement

  

  What makes Reiki different from other healing methods is the attunement  (initiation) process which the student undergoes in the various levels of  the Reiki class.  Reiki is not taught in the way other healing  techniques are.  It is transfered to the student by the Reiki Master during the attunement process. This process opens the Crown, Heart and Palm Chakras, and creates a special link between the student and  the Reiki Source.  In the few short minutes of attunement process, the reciever of Reiki energy is given a gift that forever changes his or life in every positive way.

                                       

                                How Does Reiki Work ?

 Reiki energy is naturally available to all living beings from birth.  In time, various life experiences, emotional and mental stress, obstruct the free flow of Reiki, and the natural healthy connection is distorted.

 Just as Television waves flow in the atmosphere,  but require a suitable reciever tuned to its frequency to reproduce the sound and visual picture, similarly, we too need to be re- attuned to the cosmic energy to remain healthy or regain lost health.

 The attunement does not give the receiver anything new – it simply opens up and aligns what was already a part of her/ him. the process  is very much like plugging in a lamp in a house  already wired for electricity. Once you have received the attunement, you will have Reiki for the rest of your life.  It does not wear off, nor can you ever lose it.

                                     Channeling Reiki

After attunement, all that is necessary for the practitioner to use  Reiki is to place their hands on themselves, or on the person to be  healed, with the intention of healing. The healer may not know what needs healing , but Reiki  energy has an intelligence far beyond human, and will go where it is needed. It heals on all the levels – physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. It can never do any harm- one can never use it for negative purposes.  Since you are not using your own limited energy  to heal,  you do not have to fear that you might end up with symptoms of your patient, (unlike other types of healing). You are using only the Reiki energy or the Universal life force energy, and you are just the channel.

Reiki can be used alone, or in conjunction with conventional medical treatment. It will improve results of all medical treatment, acting to reduce negative side- effects, shorten the healing time, reduce or eliminate pain, reduce stress and help create a calm state of mind. 

                                              Is Reiki A Religion?

Reiki is not a religion. It has no dogma, and there is nothing you must believe in, in order to learn and use Reiki . Because Reiki comes from God, many people find that using Reiki puts them more in touch with experience of their religion, rather than having only an intellectual concept or awareness of their own religion.                                    

                                                                                      

Most learning about Reiki comes from doing healings , and letting the energy teach the healer.  The more the student uses Reiki, the more it teaches him, and stronger his healing ability becomes. The more it is used the more Reiki also works in the healer’s life to accelerate her or his personal growth and self- healing.

                                What Reiki Can Do For You

1. Reiki brings the body into harmony by relieving the physical and emotional blockages.

2. Reiki heals the root cause of any ailment and eliminates the effects of imbalance.

3.Reiki helps minimimize your sense of helplessness when facing disease or trauma of modern society.

4, Reiki helps lower the increasing cost of conventional medical care , easing strain on your finances .

5.Reiki is completely impersonal and positive- you can’t do anything wrong with it.

6. Reiki is a technique which allows you to assume responsibility for your health and well- being.  It shows you how to become the master of your destiny.
There are 3 degrees/ levels to learn in Reiki. The 1st level, empowers you ot heal by placing your hand on yourself or on others, called Touch Healing.
After 21 days of  sincerely practicing it , you should go in for the 2nd level. The 2nd level empowers you to send healing energy to anybody or anything without touching, this level is very powerful and is also important in the completion of this course for normal people.
The third level is for people who want to take it up as a profession, they are empowered to teach. All the levels are certified.
All that I have said or claimed is true, for I have been in this field for the last 18 years.
However, Reiki is all about seeking for your own self and finding the right road that would lead you to your destination. There can be no forcing, convincing or persuading, for we believe when the time is right you will find the right master, and if you are meant to learn and use it for your own well being you would do it, and would never stop using it.
Anybody who has done the Reiki course or had some experience with Reiki healing, are welcome to share it with all of us here.

So do you think Reiki is for you?
If it is, then all you have to do is to look for a good Reiki Master near your place and get down to learning this wonderful art of healing not only yourself, but also others.

                                                         

(Compiled from various sources )

Break From The Past : In A State Of Contemplation (part 8)

I got into my car and just drove off with no specific destination in my mind. I kept on driving at a steady pace and tried to control myself. I decided to go to my dance teacher’s house. Paula was the right person, for she was not only my teacher but also my best friend and business partner. We owned the "Dance Studio" together. At this moment in my life I really needed her companionship and her counsel.  She was shocked to see me, looking teary eyed and shattered. She thought something had happened to Chandran. When I told her what had happened, she was as stunned as I was. She quickly went and got some ice cubes from the fridge, wrapped them in a napkin and gently pressed it to my cheek.  Then she told me not to think about anything, and just rest.

 However,  thoughts have a way of coming unbidden, with torturing regularity, and I was neither physically or mentally fit to think coherently. I was in a stupor for a long time before  sleep finally overtook me. Next day Paula called up one of our students who was also a  doctor to come and examine me.  He prescribed some anti depressants, and advised complete rest. I felt I could do with a complete rest from life itself. A week went by with no word from Chandran.  Weeks turned into months and by and by, Chandran receded to the background.  My business was flourishing, and both Paula and I,  we were very much in demand.  We were invited to give talks on Dance and dancing, and even bagged a contract for a short serial on TV, teaching dance steps and techniques. It was so much fun, things were going very well in life, I really stopped missing Chandran altogether.

 My children came to visit me often, which brought great joy and solace to me.  Everything seemed just fine. In the mean time, I heard from a friend of Chandran that he had resigned from his post at the company, and had bought the Gym he was working out at,  after becoming a certified fitness guru. His friend added  that now Chandran was fitter looking, more leaner and muscular, having all the time to devote to his favorite hobby-  body building. I wondered why my children didn’t care to share this news with me.  Well, how could they since it was I who had forbidden them from talking about their father in front of me. If now I were to enquire about their father, they might think I was interested in getting back to him, which I most certainly was not.

 The shrill ringing of the phone brought me out of my reverie with a jolt.  I got up to pick up the ringing phone. It was from Juliet, one of my students.  She was a Reiki master and asked me whether I would now consider taking up Reiki seriously : we had earlier discussed quite a lot about Reiki, which was said to be a simple and effective alternative healing technique.  I felt she was truly perceptive when she used to point out during our chats that although I seemed happy with my life on the surface, there was a wound hidden deep inside of me, which kept me from being fully at peace with myself.  She had also vouched,  that with Reiki, I would be able to heal whatever had to be healed to attain complete peace and harmony in life.  She had a group of people who had signed up for a course she was conducting in two days time.  In the state I was in presently, I jumped at the opportunity and signed up for the course.

I successfully completed the first level of competence in Reiki, and started to practice it very regularly.  The results were truly incredible.  I started seeing things and people in a very different way.  I could feel a new sense of  forbearance and patience envelope me.  I was no longer short of temper,  and never in a hurry : it was a beautiful feeling.  Before the mandatory 21 days of practicing Reiki was over I was engulfed by a strange sense of peace and happiness, but I was also occasionally sick with mild cold, runny nose, and occasional stomach upset and headaches. But instead of getting worried and running to the doctor,  I was happily intensifying my Reiki self- treatments, for as Juliet had forewarned me,  this was just the detoxification stage that one had to go through, while practicing Reiki. There was nothing to worry. Everything was just going fine. You see I had to release all the pent up emotions, my expectations from my husband, my anger, my disappointments, etc. It was a kind of therapy for me to go to the root of the matter that was troubling me, confront them face to face and find ways to resolve them. Just as I was beginning to see issues that were thus far daunting, with a greater sense of confidence and clarity,  so too some of the symptoms of my illness due to practicing of Reiki began to disappear, leaving me feeling more and more energetic and confident :  at peace with myself and the rest of this world.

I was now ready to do my second level of the Reiki course .It was an absolute stunner, for I realized I could literally reach across the barriers of time and space, anytime I wanted to.  Wow! it was really amazing to learn all the unlimited and mind- blowing possibilities Reiki offered: it was awesome.  One really ought to do the course to feel and experience the full power of Reiki.  First and foremost it made me understand my relationship with Chandran with more clarity.  I could now understand why such unpleasant things kept on happening to us. I could now see that each one of us was wrong in some ways,  and my only mission in life from that time was to try and heal our relationship - nothing else seemed more important to me.  I no longer looked at the issues in my life as problems that could not be solved.  Instead I looked at them as challenges that had to be overcomed.  I started practicing my second degree level of Reiki not only on myself  but I also sent healing energies to Chandran, for now I had learnt the technique of  sending healing energies to others, which was known as distant healing.

  I knew things were not going to change overnight. The damage that had happened, had taken a long time to come to breaking point, and so too, the repairing of our relationship would take time.  I must give Reiki the time to slowly yet subtly show me the way to resolve it .  It was almost one year  since we had separated, and with the new found confidence in Reiki, I was sure the time for reunion was not far away. But Reiki also teaches that being obsessed with achieving results would be counter productive. I had to just do my bit and let things take their own course. I was also not bothered about why Chandran never tried to contact me even once, after that fateful day, it was immaterial, I felt this break could be blessing in disguise for both of us to reflect on ourselves individually without any pressure.

 On several occasions, while driving out, I caught myself unconsciously taking the turn that took me past his Gold Gym, hoping all the time to catch a glimpse of him through those wide  clear glassed panel of windows of the gym.  I would then deliberately cruise slowly  through the narrow lane,  utterly unmindful of the furious honking behind.me.  But alas,  I had no luck.  But one day,  while in a shopping mall, I spied him in the grocery department, and My God, he was really looking  wonderful, and young as if age had totally left him free from its ravages.  Just then he turned around, and caught me staring at him like a zombie. I quickly turned to look away, when he called out to me and I had to face him again, and look into his mesmerizing eyes. He walked up close to me and looking into my eyes, he smiled, took my hand and said “come Sudha, we need to talk, but not here, lets go to the coffee shop, please”.  Before I could think of anything to say, he was leading me with my hand in his, to the café,  just like old times – it was déjà vu all over again.

 But although he looked really dashing,  there was something missing in him - the spark of happiness had gone out of his eyes. He looked at me so deeply, that I was almost afraid he would catch me blushing.  Oh God ! how could he still have that effect on me: was I so vulnerable, and so transparent?

“Every time I think of that awful night, I hit you and shouted all kinds of obscenities at you, I have been  wanting to come to you and apologize to you, but did not have the guts  to do so.  How could I have behaved like that, what had come over me ?

I never could understand.  The irritation, the taunting behavior, the habit of degrading you in front of everyone - that man was not me, yet it was me. Where did I let all that love disappear? 
Your lovely face kept haunting me, questioning my very existence. I knew I was at fault, and I had to get out of this gutter which was killing me with its stink. I struggled with my work, with my ever pricking conscience, and my love for you. I could take it no longer, I had to do something and I did: I resigned from the company as it was really stressful.  Then, I took off ….revisited some of our favorite haunts in this world, trying to recapture the beauty of the places we enjoyed in our journeys together. I found the powerful fragrance of the love shared by us still lingering in each and every little corner and nook, every flower, every little gurgling stream, every glade, every tree under which we romanced :  taunting me, as if, questioning me, “Yeah, where have you let all the love fly away, you fool, do something before it is too late, you moron “ : all singing in a chorus, : It was a stinging pain in my ears and, resounding like an echo in an empty room.."

Chandran continued, “I came back with the intention of talking to you and begging for your forgiveness, but till now I could not do it. But seeing you here all of a sudden, and seeing your beautiful and calm face, I felt I had to talk to you now, come what may. What do you say Sudha, please tell me.. can you forgive this monster, who still loves you and cannot think of a life without you”?

 All this was so overwhelming and so sudden, that, for a minute I could not believe such a thing could be happening to me. But it was happening to us. I reached out for his hand - but wait a second, what was happening to me I could not reach him, my hand----- it was not able to touch his hand, he was drifting away from me, going away from me,  farther and farther, very far……so far away.  Why ?……Chandran, Chandran,  I was trying to shout out loud but no sound came from my lips, !  what was it ? a nightmare ?  and then with the sound of  crashing of cups and plates, I found myself too, crashing to oblivion………………..

Sorry for such a lengthy post.

 (to be continued)