Reiki Help Blog

If you’re Level II Reiki or above, you’ve been introduced to the infamous Reiki ’symbols.’ I use quotes because they’re not really symbols, but more on that later. The “To or not to” in the title question refers to whether these symbols ought to be published for the general public to see. My position has always been to not make them available to untrained eyes, and my reasons may surprise you.

The often repeated reasoning is that since the symbols don’t work unless one is Reiki-trained, then there’s no harm in publishing. With that reasoning, then why publish them? How does it help the public? And those who’ve been trained already have the needed information. Another perspective may or may not be helpful if one isn’t grounded in the explanations given by your teacher. And such a perspective can always be indulged sans images.

When I think about any Reiki-related subtlety my bottomline is always: Does it contribute to Reiki’s and humanity’s knowledgebase? When it comes to Reiki’s innermost teachings my answer is “no” and here’s why:

1. The symbols suggest Reiki is mechanical.
2. The symbols are misleading because they are merely representative.
3. The practitioner is entrusted with specific teachings, thus it isn’t dinner conversation.
4. The symbols are not a commodity.
5. The symbols are secondary to the use of primordial vowel sounds.

Geometric shapes hold a certain power within a specific pattern. Various geometric symbols have been part of human psyche for eons. Our imagination and unconscious have much invested in symbols. Today this also shows itself in corporate logos, or global signs such as these warning of industrial hazard:

The Reiki ’symbols’ and what they really mean is on an altogether different order. Let’s explore how…

1) The symbols suggest Reiki is mechanical: We’re surrounded my machines and gadgets. We drive a machine to work or take our kids to school in one. We wash our clothes in a machine and stay in touch with a gadget. It’s natural for us to easily relate to the workings of the mechanical and physical world.

But this isn’t the only world we occupy. And Reiki is our means of access to that other one, the one we yearn for and crave. The one that expands possibilities, deepens meaning and propels consciousness.

Reiki has been reduced to a modality by many as it is! Overexposure of the Reiki ’symbols’ perpetuates the fallacy of this toolbox mentality. If Reiki were that, then we could just as easily pop an Aleve or Claritin.

Fortunately, Reiki is a process of inner growth. It’s non-mechanical, non-linear and doesn’t depend on power tools.

2) The symbols are misleading because they are merely representative: While all symbols hold some potency, transformative ones like the Reiki ’symbols’ derive their force from the living energies they represent.

Even if we were to understand them only as symbols, it’s a mistake to limit them to two-dimensional, flat line drawings on a page or online. These shapes are at least three-dimensional, generate certain qualities and initiate a lot of dynamism.

And most importantly, Reiki ’symbols’ stand-in for various living energies and spiritual truths; they are means to an end. In and of themselves, they are nothing but a curiosity.

3) The practitioner is entrusted with specific teachings, thus it isn’t dinner conversation: Let’s settle the most popular interpretation that the Reiki ’symbols’ are sacred but not secret. “Secret” is a derivation from Latin secretus, from past participle of secernere to separate, distinguish, from se- apart + cernere to sift. Another derivation is “to set apart.” How well this fits where we need to be in relation to how we respect the teachings of Reiki. There’s no hint of how we use the word “secret” today to mean “hidden.”

Spiritual teachings help us sift through our patterns and habits, our neuroses and weaknesses. We distinguish the wheat from the chaff. And spiritual teachings are set apart from other types of learning, having a special place in our heart.

Reiki is sacred. This necessarily means that we don’t make everyday fodder from any of its inner workings.

4) The symbols are not a commodity. Thus they have no place on jewelry, T-shirts, bags, CD covers, Reiki manual covers, Reiki webpages as decoration, watermarks, candles, crystals, fountains, art or any other medium.

5) The symbols are secondary to the use of primordial vowel sounds.

Reiki is a living teaching that contains primordial forces, which when utilized with understanding transforms you. I’ve written a lot about Reiki as consciousness on this blog. Before there can be energy, there has to be consciousness. Energy is a densification of consciousness, and matter is a densification of energy.

There are sub-frequencies in the overall spectrum of Reiki that relate to creation in its cosmic and natural formation. Two of these (there’s more) are identified as Earth Ki and Celestial Ki. This is the stuff of life and the universe we get to interact and play with in Reiki, that grows us and gives us an opportunity to enhance life through spiritual practice.

We are actually composed of these polar forces, which actually point to a unity. The founder of these teachings Usui Sensei, emphasized a vibrational approach to better embodying and integrating Earth and Celestial Ki. For a long time he gave his students only primordial vowel sounds that have the ability to open up these energies within us like the morning glory in the warming sun.

Intoning seed syllables is a vibrational practice that brings in a set of qualities associated with each syllable or a certain sequence. It really makes sense to use a vibrational method to become consciously one with energetic forces in and around us; it’s direct and thus much more effective.

The Reiki ’symbols’ were later included to give a visual representation, which was an easier connection for some students. The symbols were and are an additional method, and don’t replace the practice of primordial syllables. These sounds are not the names commonly associated with the symbols.

I don’t send MP3s of Reiki’s sacred sounds to the uninitiated. By the same principle, keep Reiki’s symbols in your heart. Practice sincerely and consistently. There’s no good reason to risk dilution, or making the sacred profane through overexposure. The banal and the mundane are already abundant. Let’s leave some things apart and distinguished. Please.

Update 11/13/08

This post has been republished in The Reiki Digest, a regular roundup of news about Reiki from around the world.

Reiki One-Liner^SM

On July 30, 2008 I started a new service in the microblogging world by sending out this one-liner about Reiki:

Reiki is living with wisdom & compassion.

Since then Reiki One-Liner^SM has gone out to Plurk and Twitter everyday between Monday and Friday, with two breaks of a few days since its inception.

Here, presented in alphabetical order rather than the order they went out are the first 50 Reiki one-liners:

1. Reiki accepts all.
2. Reiki balances & harmonizes.
3. Reiki beautifies.
4. Reiki blesses giver & receiver alike.
5. Reiki blesses you. Reiki is a blessing.
6. Reiki boosts brain power.
7. Reiki boosts intuition.
8. Reiki brings wisdom.
9. Reiki clarifies choices before you.
10. Reiki cools your emotions.
11. Reiki enhances everything.
12. Reiki enhances learning.
13. Reiki gives unconditionally.
14. Reiki gives you the keys to the universe.
15. Reiki heals & uplifts.
16. Reiki heals body, mind & soul.
17. Reiki heals the heart.
18. Reiki heals. Period.
19. Reiki helps the human.
20. Reiki helps you appreciate true prosperity.
21. Reiki helps you see through fear.
22. Reiki helps young & old.
23. Reiki helps. Period.
24. Reiki identifies your strengths & weaknesses.
25. Reiki improves life.
26. Reiki improves sex.
27. Reiki improves your relationship with life.
28. Reiki improves your relationship with others.
29. Reiki improves your relationship with yourself.
30. Reiki increases your light.
31. Reiki is a corner of peace & gentleness in your life.
32. Reiki is a lifestyle enhancer.
33. Reiki is a noun. Also a verb.
34. Reiki is a personal HMO.
35. Reiki is a personal Polaris.
36. Reiki is a way-shower.
37. Reiki is an energy aid on your journey.
38. Reiki is an inner & outer ecology.
39. Reiki is an ocean of compassion.
40. Reiki is certain in uncertainty.
41. Reiki is inspiration.
42. Reiki is living with wisdom & compassion.
43. Reiki is motivational.
44. Reiki is nonharming.
45. Reiki is peace of mind.
46. Reiki is perfect balance between Heaven & Earth.
47. Reiki is portable.
48. Reiki is preventive health.
49. Reiki is rootedness.
50. Reiki is self-organizing.

The holiday gift-giving season is upon us. Pocket-books are on all our minds. I can’t recommend a more rewarding, long-lasting and special gift for yourself or a loved one than these Attars: Divine oils. These are almost exclusively the only ones I use personally and in my work.

ATTARS

Attar is a Persian word meaning “fragrance, scent, or essence.” We use the term Attar because both the manufacture and application of oils that we supply belongs to this East Indian and Persian tradition.

Unfortunately, in the West, the word ‘perfume’ has come to mean a range of products that contain primarily alcohol, and are heavily diluted with synthetic additives. But originally, perfumes meant pure, natural extracted oils, either individual oils, or their blends.

The word perfume comes from the French par fume, meaning ‘through smoke’, as it was common to burn the oils in order to gain access to the essential etheric qualities released by burning. All plants are comprised of carbon-based matter. By igniting the extracted oils of plants, they are convened into light-based matter, which directly acts on the angelic realms, and influences the emotional and spiritual realms.

Attar perfume oils are a specific type of fragrance product derived from natural plant substances, both single ones, and those blended together carefully to produce remarkably rich scents. Although some attars are simply individual oils, which on their own are suitable for fragrance use, such as Amber, Sandalwood or Patchouli, they are usually composed of careful blends of various oils, resins and concretes—two or more—placed in a natural base or carrier oil.

The beauty of using attar oils is that by wearing them you create an aura of tranquility, confidence and mystery around yourself. Because attars contain no alcohol, the scent “clings” within one or two feet of your body, in the “zone of intimacy.”

Attar Bazaar Oils for Healing, Emotional Balance,
Mental Power and Spiritual Upliftment

Before delving into this subject, it may be useful to outline what ‘energy’ and ‘integrity’ mean in this context. Where we relate to energy most easily is the energy we use to function through the day, and the energy that powers our various devices and machines. The first is specifically described as metabolic energy and isn’t what is being referred to here, although it too can be enhanced by having overall integrity which will be detailed below. And the second is an even more material form of energy, which is also not the subject of discussion, although again having inner integrity can bring about better energy solutions in the world, and there are several posts about that on this blog.

The energy in question here is subtle or spiritual energy. It doesn’t exist in the electromagnetic spectrum. Yet it does exist and powers all we are. It has been given various names which all coalesce to a single meaning: Life energy. Reiki is a life energy teaching.

Integrity is used here to mean the quality of being whole or united and of being unharmed or sound. Further, integrity reaches into who we are and how we live: a consistent set of principles that determine our thoughts, words and actions.

Another premise is being employed as well: The physical body’s biochemical molecules are a form of vibrational energy. Einstein’s E=mc² and quantum physics can be looked into for a working knowledge of this, as well as various wisdom teachings including Reiki.

I teach my students that Reiki is a form of energetic integrity, that this isn’t the type of learning normally provided us in our schooling or other training, and as such Reiki Training is highly unique and beneficial. But I want to expand the scope and talk about the tremendous value of energetic integrity. Reiki directly helps to create energetic integrity because of its special access to an energetic level of reality, but any authentic wisdom teaching worth its salt can. And that is the caveat: find a true teaching and practice it sincerely to return yourself to a sound and whole state.

All manifestations in the material world, together with our own deeds and creations have an energetic blueprint that acts as both ground and springboard.  Therefore, energetic alignment is integral to bringing about the highest versions of yourself and your impact on the world. Disease has energy behind it, as does health. Giving is of a certain energy, looks and feels very different than taking. Drama comes along with certain disharmonious emotions, while detachment is much less burdened. Sincerity feels one way and insincerity always catches up with you.

Since energy is primary toning, strengthening, balancing and harmonizing yours means results are clearly noticeable in all parts of you and all areas of your life. Air is present everywhere, just like energy. Energy can be likened to air: we know it’s there when a tree sways in the wind or we feel a draft on our skin. Although energy is invisible to normal perception, it can be sensed and densifies into tangible human experiences.

It can also be likened to water which collects at the lowest point. Beware where you put your energy. Energy like water can flow through bottlenecks or around blocks, but repeated obstacles cause it to stagnate, as does repetition of unhealthy physical, mental and spiritual personal patterns.

In the vibrational model of human existence and the nature of reality there are layers of subtler gradations. For humans, we begin with the densest which is the physical body. Surrounding and interpenetrating it is a subtle field known as the etheric body, which occupies the same space as the physical but which vibrates at a higher frequency, and on which the physical is based.

Then each with progressively higher and finer vibratory rates we have the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. Surpassing and containing all of it is Consciousness which is the subtlest, most highly vibrating, all-permeating and crucial, yet least understood component of our makeup. Consciousness is the prime Energy.

Often Consciousness is confused with the functioning of the brain. Here it doesn’t mean the chemical, and electrical signal-processing of the brain and it isn’t limited to the brain. Not only is it everywhere in the body, but it’s also part of the universe.

One of the most common analogies used to describe the Buddha-nature is space itself. This analogy has three aspects. First, just as space is omnipresent and yet is unpolluted by everything it pervades, similarly, Buddha-nature pervades every sentient being without being in any way tainted. Second, just as galaxies and universes arise and pass within space, so do the characteristics of our personalities arise and pass within Buddha-nature. Our sensations arise and pass away; Buddha-nature continues. Third, just as space is never consumed by fire, so this Buddha-nature is never consumed by the “fire” of aging, sickness, or death.

–B. Alan Wallace

Consciousness is also very much an integral part of the human heart. While the physical heart is far more intelligent and sophisticated than originally thought, it is the heart space that has a direct link to Consciousness that is referenced here.

Just as we limit Consciousness to the brain, we limit our understanding of emotions to neurochemical reactions in the limbic system or the emotional centers of the brain. Yet, there is a greater field which enables us to experience and share finer, elevated feelings. Love, kindness, compassion, empathy, or as the Dalai Lama calls it “warm-heartedness” all come from a spiritual field that encompasses and influences us. Of course to really receive this benefit, we must put in the time for sincere spiritual practice.

When the brain and a warm heart go side-by-side, then all our ability becomes constructive.

–Dalai Lama

to be continued

October 15, 2008 is Blog Action Day, an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. The aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.

I am once again happy to include the Reiki Help Blog in this effort. This year the theme is Poverty. Last year it was The Environment and you can revisit my contribution.

The organizers have suggested that a blogger may publish on the subject, donate, or promote Blog Action Day. I’ve chosen to do all three. Poverty is a complex global challenge. It would require serious study to fully grasp all its implications and intricacies (resources below).

Since action is often most effective when it’s practical, I’m going to focus on one area:

The availability of clean, potable water to all the populations of the world.

Currently over one billion people lack access to simple, life-sustaining clean water. That works out to be 1 in 6 of us. This also ties in with the lack of basic sanitation, which 2.6 people lack globally.

What does lack of clean water and basic sanitation have to do with poverty? Drilling a well can cost from $4,000 - $ 12,000. 

Unfortunately:

• Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day.
• More than 660 million people without sanitation live on less than $2 a day, and more than 385 million on less than $1 a day.
• Access to piped water into the household averages about 85% for the wealthiest 20% of the population, compared with 25% for the poorest 20%.
• 1.8 billion people who have access to a water source within 1 kilometer, but not in their house or yard, consume around 20 liters per day. In the United Kingdom the average person uses more than 50 liters of water a day flushing toilets (where average daily water usage is about 150 liters a day. The highest average water use in the world is in the US, at 600 liters day.)
• Some 1.8 million children die each year as a result of diarrhea.
• The loss of 443 million school days each year from water-related illness.
• Close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem caused by water and sanitation deficits.
• Millions of women spend several hours a day collecting water.
• To these human costs can be added the massive economic waste associated with the water and sanitation deficit. The costs associated with health spending, productivity losses and labor diversions… are greatest in some of the poorest countries. (GlobalIssues.org–Causes of Poverty.)

Unsafe water and poor sanitation play a major role in the transmission of diseases including Diarrhea, Cholera, Malaria, and Typhoid. The lack of access to clean water and sanitation translates into lost educational opportunities, particularly for women and girls. Time spent collecting water – often many hours each day – means girls do not have time to attend school.  Studies show that girls are 12% more likely to attend school if water is available within 15 minutes from home versus a one hour’s walk. Young girls are also less likely to attend classes if the school does not have adequate and separate toilets for girls.  In addition, water-related illnesses increase absenteeism for all children and result in a loss of over 443 million school days globally each year. (One.org.)

Recently I came across charity: water, a non profit organization bringing clean, safe drinking water to people in developing nations. charity: water says that “only! (my italics) $20 can give a person in Africa clean, safe drinking water for 20 years.” I donated then and I’m donating again today.

Please join me!

Our planet is 70% water. 97.5% of that is saltwater. This means only 2.5% is available for the 6 billion people on the planet today. We get our water from the 30% of freshwater that exists in underground lakes and aquifers - mainly by digging wells.  Many communities in developing nations often have a plentiful supply of clean water just below the ground, but no way to get to it. Here’s where we, and our partner organizations come in. The local community is engaged in the well building process, carrying out small tasks for free to reduce labor costs. This also encourages community participation and ensures community ownership after the project is complete. When the well is built, a water committee is formed. It generally consists of 6-8 people, half of them female. In the case of hospitals, the committee will generally consist of nurses and hospital staff. In schools, the committee would likely be comprised of teachers. (charity: water.)

While we’re on the subject of poverty, let me introduce two other organizations.

A) End Poverty 2015: This is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs are an eight-point road map with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. World leaders have agreed to achieve the MDGs by 2015. The eight goals are:

1. End Hunger
2. Universal Education
3. Gender Equity
4. Child Health
5. Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS
7. Environmental Sustainability
8. Global Partnership

B) ONE: A campaign of over 2.4 million people and growing from all 50 states and over 100 of America’s most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. ONE seeks to raise public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger and disease and to ask our leaders to do more to fight these problems in developing countries.

You can sign the ONE Declaration.

You can also petition Senators Obama and McCain to keep their commitments to fight global poverty.

Thank you for your time, effort, donations, volunteerism, and heart.

It is every man’s obligation to put back into the world at least the equivalent of what he takes out of it.
-Albert Einstein

I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.
-Maya Angelou

I do not know what your destiny will be, but the one thing I know: the only ones among you who will really be happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.
-Albert Schweitzer

This foundational training offers specific techniques for tapping into spiritual and healing consciousness and energy. Reiki fosters spiritual evolution, bodily and mental/emotional health; has uses for food, water, environment, relationships and work. Reiki holistically augments care giving, enhanced learning, social projects, global thinking, animal and pet care.

Shoden / Level I Reiki Training at Florida Atlantic University’s Christine E. Lynn’s College of Nursing, Boca Raton, Florida

Sat Nov 1, 12 Noon-6:30
Sun Nov 2, 10-5:30 

Presented by Pamir Kiciman, BA, RM, CHt

Training Summary

Hikari no Kokyu-ho: method for breathing in Light
Gassho Kokyu-ho: method for breathing Light through hands
Kenyoku-ho: method for personal energy cleansing
Self-Treatment / Reiki for Others
Additional uses: pets, plants, home, work; mental, emotional, spiritual healing
Nentatsu-ho: method for healing the subconscious
Jakikiri Joka-ho: method for purifying the energy in objects

and much more…

Prepaid reservations required, space is limited
Registration closes October 30
Everyone must be registered by then

954-661-HAND (4263) or info{at}reikihelp{dot}com for details

What an amazing experience this training has been for me. Divine timing for sure. You are a true teacher and it is so refreshing. Love and Light to you Pamir, and with gratitude from my heart.

–L.G., Fort Lauderdale, Fla

Related:
Anatomy of a Reiki Training: A poetic rendering in text and slideshow.

Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa is a Zulu Sangoma (traditional healer) and High Sanusi from South Africa. He is well known and respected for his work in nature conservation and is an author of books on African mythology and spiritual beliefs.

In the first video he speaks about “mother mind” that part of human consciousness that feels what is happening in the world. He simply and gently states:

We must not just listen to newspapers, we must ourselves feel! It is said by our Zulu people, that women think with their pelvic area, where children grow and are born. We must think that way. We must no longer look at a tree but must see a living entity like me in that thing. I must no longer look at a stone but I must see the future lying dormant in that stone. What universe are they? We must think like grandmothers…that’s all.

(Note: If you’re subscribe via email to this blog, you must click to the blog itself to be able to watch these fantastic teachings.)

In the second video he describes the African philosophy, Ubuntu—”I am because you are”—as the root of humanity’s interconnectedness:

It’s not a mystery, it is something plain and simple. We are human beings and we should feel with each other, and feel for each other. This is Ubuntu. That I must do to other people what I want other people to do to me. That I am a Muntu, a human being, because of other human beings around me. If there were no other human beings on this planet, if I was alone, I would no longer be a Muntu, no longer be a child of Ubuntu.