01/22/2010

Reiki Stories Project

Reiki Stories ProjectOnce again, it’s time for a Reiki story. This one is from another practitioner I trained and describes the experiences that occurred in the 21 days immediately following completion of Shoden (Level I) Reiki. There’s much to savor here even though it’s only an excerpt of everything reported.

Click here to find out more about Reiki Training, and make sure you listen to the Reiki Primer audio.

If you take some time to read the previous entries in this category, you’ll see that I place a significant emphasis on “story.” Pages and pages can be written about the features and benefits of Reiki, but when someone relates their own practice and use, Reiki becomes real and alive. Nothing says it better.

Reiki Stories ProjectSM (RSP) is open to anyone who wants to share. Please submit your story to me from the link in “contact” above. For the time being stories are being published with only first and last initials and your location. I may lightly edit your submission.

I cannot describe how good I feel about myself for taking this important step to become a channel for the healing light to come into my daughter’s life. I practice Reiki on her almost every night. Her health and well being have improved greatly.

There was one night I left my daughter with my mother, while my husband and I were running some errands. She had a mild cold that was under control with Reiki. Suddenly, my mom calls me saying the fever has spiked to 104 degrees and that it didn’t go down even after a double dose of Tylenol. I rushed to my mother’s house and saw my daughter delirious. I took her to the hospital immediately. At the hospital her temperature was even worse, 105 degrees. They gave her another dose of Motrin and the nurse kept coming back to check her but nothing…nothing was working.

So I calmed myself down, focused and centered myself. It was hard because I was nervous but ended up calming down and practicing Reiki on her. A few minutes after I started her fever dropped down to 103 and half an hour later the fever was gone.

The doctor ordered x-rays that night and she was diagnosed with pneumonia in early stages. She was released the same day without fever. The next day she was miraculously healed. Yes, she had a little congestion but no fever, and she was in good spirits all happy and jumping! I continued giving her Reiki at night along with the medicine the doctor prescribed and now she is better than ever.

I have used Reiki in my house. I did a deep cleansing that took me about an hour and a half. I felt the corners charged with stubborn energy and the closets were full of still energy. After the cleansing, a harmonious atmosphere settled in my house. Now it’s easier for me and my husband to relax and we don’t get angry, depressed or drained when we get home after work. The same everyday issues might still be there but our attitude has changed. Things are better between us and we are in a better mood to take care of our 2 year old daughter.

A few days after I cleansed my office, I received very nice compliments from bosses and other professional consultants. They were saying how professional, competent and thorough I am at work and that it is a real pleasure to work with me. I am receiving more responsibility now and getting ready for a possible promotion in the near future. I am excited about this new opportunity.

Also, Reiki might have found its way and touched my best friend, who used to work in the office right next to mine. He had been talking about opening his own business for about a year and I noticed that right after the cleansing he decided to quit his job and start his own small business. Yes, one day he just woke up and decided to never come back to the office again. We are still friends and I am very happy that he finally made up his mind.

–P.V., Coral Springs, Florida


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01/15/2010

Haiti: Getting to the root

Haiti EarthquakeWhether it’s the recent earthquake in Haiti or the Asian Tsunami of 2004, the world becomes a little smaller and kinder as humanity bands together and suffers with the suffering, as well as pouring in aid. These are heart-wrenching events, together with remarkable responses in the form of millions of dollars donated via text messaging and social media.

There’s no doubt that aid on the ground is sorely needed. Rescue workers, medical help, drinking water, food and other supplies are how we respond to natural disasters because these are what the situation calls for. Everyone is “praying” too, giving thanks that it’s not them and in general “thinking” of the victims.

As spiritual practitioners we have even more specific and powerful methods at our disposal. This is what I’d like to explore. Consider these words from Paramahansa Yogananda, one of the greatest representatives of Sanatana Dharma (Eternal Truth) from India who lived and taught in the West. He said this in 1940, right around the start of WWII:

Everything that has happened throughout the ages is recorded in the ether. The vibrations of evil that mankind leaves  in the ether upset the normal harmonious balance of the earth. When the earth becomes very heavy with disease and evil, these etheric disturbances cause the world to give way to earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters (…)

So, just like the human body, the earth suffers from inharmonies and disease. And it is because the combined actions of all people all over the world affect the planet on which we live. There is no question about that. The good and bad karmic conditions created by man determine and influence the climate; they affect the wind and the ocean, even the very structure of the earth, sometimes causing earthquakes. All the hatred, the anger, the evil we send out into the world, and the agony and rebellion they cause — all these are disturbing the magnetic force of the earth, like static in the air.

On-the-ground aid and healing help in the form of distant Reiki or other subtle action such as prayer is fine. These must and naturally take place. We can’t exactly stand around and watch. But, responding to single events simply doesn’t get to the root. It doesn’t address the next natural disaster, war or injustice.

Yogananda also said, “When materiality predominates in man’s consciousness, there is an emission of subtle negative rays; their cumulative power disturbs the electrical balance of nature…” By “materiality” he doesn’t mean only materialism but also spiritual ignorance: that there’s an enlivening subtle reality underpinning all we perceive as real with our five senses, central nervous system and brain.

Certainly take your subtle and overt action! As you donate time, funds, goods, and from your heart chant “May the Great Light bring everything Haiti needs to heal and rebuild!” also, ALSO set a steady intention that we, humanity, find and abide in a new balance, a new peace at the causal level. The solution is at a causal place and that’s what needs to be addressed.

To further illustrate the point, let’s look at a different, living teacher, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche from the Shambhala tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

According to many wisdom traditions, we are in a dark age. More than a thousand years ago, Padmasambhava, the great teacher who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet, predicted that this particular age would be distinguished by our increasing cleverness. We would create myriad ways to keep ourselves entertained, becoming experts in how to spend free time. We would use our intellect not for betterment but for hanging out in one form of distraction or another, constantly on holiday. Our discursive minds would run rampant. Padmasambhava predicted that as we became shrewder and cleverer, compassion would seem increasingly futile and we would forget to bring meaning to our lives.

Think aimless texting, YouTube, Cheese Whiz and other junk foods, lolcats, MySpace, and “there’s an app for that” mentality, to name a few. Now, read on:

In the Shambhala teachings, we call this dark age the “setting sun.” The Tibetan word for “setting sun” literally means the dregs, the remains of the day. “Remains” refers to the last remnants of virtue, the positive activity that takes us forward and open our hearts and minds rather than shuts them down. Virtues like compassion and loving-kindness lead to happiness because they uplift our being. In a time when positive activity is not valued, turmoil and negativity thicken our minds, causing confusion and unhappiness. We don’t have a clear understanding of our purpose or potential. When an activity that enables us to move forward to enlightenment is on the wane, our life-force energy is low. If we do not really understand where things are going or what the journey is — if we do not have a  map, so to speak — we lose energy by spinning in circles, not practicing in the right direction.

As spiritual practitioners we have at our disposal a range of methods to shift humanity and the Earth. Instead of healing each situation as it occurs and recurs (engage that as well), intend a shift in life’s vibratory essence, a shift to wholeness and harmony. If you’ve been watching the news about Haiti, despite millions in aid much of it can’t even land at the airport in Port-au-Prince.

The mechanical solution is a hard one. By the time this aid is distributed how much good will it do? It makes more sense to bring our healing action to the causal level and ensure future generations don’t bear the burden of unenlightened ways that are perpetuated blindly. Make it count!


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01/08/2010

Biodiversity and the United Nations

There’s no time like the start of the year to plunge headlong into conservation issues. The United Nations thinks so too. Read on to find out why.

But first let’s talks about dolphins. “Dolphins have been declared the world’s second most intelligent creatures after humans…” reports the Times Online. Their intelligence has been well documented. What’s new about this reporting is even more confirmation about what kind of intelligence dolphins have. And, for me, the most crucial point:

The researchers argue that their work shows it is morally unacceptable to keep such intelligent animals in amusement parks or to kill them for food or by accident when fishing. Some 300,000 whales, dolphins and porpoises die in this way each year.

And:

The neuroanatomy suggests psychological continuity between humans and dolphins and has profound implications for the ethics of human-dolphin interactions…

And:

The scientific research…suggests that dolphins are ‘non-human persons’ who qualify for moral standing as individuals…

Enough said.

Species are disappearing, have been disappearing at an alarming rate for quite some time now. ScienceDaily reported in October ’08 that “Earth is in the midst of the sixth mass extinction of both plants and animals, with nearly 50 percent of all species disappearing…”

To find out the current classification of threatened species, visit IUCNRedList.org.

The dolphin news isn’t about extinction, but the ethics of the relationship humans have with Earth’s other lifeforms. Whether we recognize all species as “individuals” or not, as the ones endowed with self-reflection we are being asked to act.

That’s why the United Nations is launching the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity (IYB) on Monday, January 11 with a special celebration in Berlin.

The 2010 IYB is promoting some important messages. First, humans are part of nature’s rich diversity and have the power to protect or destroy it. Second, biodiversity is essential for sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with health, wealth, food, fuel and the vital services our lives depend on. Third, human activity is causing the diversity of life on Earth to be lost at a greatly accelerated rate; but we can prevent this loss. And fourth, we have made some achievements to safeguard biodiversity but we need to do much more and we must act urgently.

The fact of the matter is that biodiversity is closely linked to our own survival, if we were to ignore all its other significant aspects and narrowly focus on one alone. Find out more about the International Year of Biodiversity here and here.

You may also take these quotes into your Heart contemplation:

  • There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. –Robert Wilson Lynd
  • Only after the last tree has been cut down, only after the last river has been poisoned, only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten. –Cree Indian Prophecy

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01/05/2010

Presence 2010

Happy New Year dear readers. After low activity for the past few weeks, posts will be flowing again from the great river of truth. Looking forward to our journey in this brand new year which promises to be exceptional. I leave you with this today:

Sit quietly and look inside, feel the sensations in your chest. Notice how some are protective. These are the “felt” defenses. Honor and thank them. Now look behind them to what they are protecting. There might be a quiet, or an ordinary, openness. Let yourself get curious, and feel it.

You might notice it is restful, with not a lot happening there. Rest and allow the body to be nourished by the stillness. If there is a sense of relief or gratitude, let that express itself…if there is any lingering agitation, let it be as it is and notice it is appearing in a calm openness.

Now, the mind might express some doubts; if it does, allow them – and invite the mind to take a rest.

As your attention is resting, notice that it does this naturally when it encounters peacefulness. Also invite the body to rest. Any sensations and emotions will alert you to where there is remaining tension, and where gentleness is needed. As everything within starts to relax, feel it deeply with gratitude.

Now, observe attention itself…become curious about its ability to soothe body and mind.

Express gratitude for no reason, and then rest as you are.

When the body and mind are at rest, it is easy to see who we are, innate naturalness, the presence that is always in the background. Before, your attention was on the personality – not the property of being that was wearing it. Now that role can be surrendered.

Somehow, the body, emotion and sensations have always known our true nature. They have always presented themselves to this gentle openness within, asking for kindness and understanding.

–Pamela Wilson


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