The ‘energy’ we’re talking about isn’t metabolic energy, which is what the physical body uses for its everyday functioning. Instead it’s subtle energy, a core level complex system and driving force. All of life and creation has energy at its core and perhaps this is why it’s become so popular to say, “everything’s energy” and leave it there. But if it’s so central, doesn’t it ask us to know more about it?

Cyndi Dale explains energy very simply as: “information that vibrates.” She also states: “Information with a speed faster than light is received as subtle energy…Information that moves at the speed of light or slower is received…as sensory, and will impact physical reality.”

Scientific research has proven that everything energetic contains information: data that tells an atom whether it should occupy a kidney or outer space…. Besides “being informed,” energy also vibrates…. Vibration is produced in the form of amplitude and frequency: oscillations that generate more energy. These oscillations carry information that can be stored or applied. The information (as well as the vibrating oscillations) can also change depending on the nature of a particular interaction. All of life is made of information and vibration. — Cyndi Dale

Now we’re getting somewhere! It seems ‘energy’ is housed in a greater field of vibration. A subtler source of energy is vibration.

… all healing starts with oscillation, which is the basis of frequency. Frequency is the periodic speed at which something vibrates. It is measured in hertz (Hz), or cycles per second. Vibration occurs when something is moving back and forth…. Everything in the universe vibrates, and everything that vibrates imparts or impacts information (the definition of energy). To broaden our discussion of particles and waves to include health, we can define health as the state of an organism with respect to its functioning at any given time. — Cyndi Dale, The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy

The disadvantage of framing Reiki as energy is that electricity is a form of energy too. There’s also mechanical, magnetic, chemical and thermal energy. Well, Reiki has an impact on the body’s electricity, magnetism and chemical/hormonal firings.

It also greatly influences our mind, and has a huge spiritual influence. Thus, we have a conundrum. A conundrum that’s best answered by moving to yet another layer. Notice how reality is layered and there’s a spectrum; there’s always a spectrum.

Behind changing mental fluctuations is a constant awareness, an unbroken sense of self or being, an ongoing ability to observe, witness and perceive…. Therefore the mind itself is not awareness…. Awareness, unlike the mind, has no form, function or movement. It is not located in time and space but stands apart as their witness…To know this awareness, we must learn to go beyond mind, which means to disengage from its involvements. This is our real work as human beings and the essence of the spiritual path… — Dr. David Frawley

In terms of the map that’s emerging here, we can say that ‘awareness’ houses ‘vibration’ which houses many kinds of ‘energy.’ This is simplistic, yes, but at the same time it helps to grasp the big picture. When you give yourself Reiki, or meditate using one of Usui Sensei’s authentic methods, you don’t dissect reality, you have an experience that leads to an overall effect. That effect penetrates all levels of being, concentrating where you need assistance the most at that time.

Over time you notice that you’re transformed. Not in one area, but in all. Reiki is able to effect such change because it originates at a meta layer.

The following posts detail a lot of what’s been discussed here:

• Reiki as Consciousness
• Reiki as Consciousness II
• Reiki as Consciousness III

If you have any questions, please ask in comments and I’ll respond.

———
Having provided free content for over two years, the Reiki Help Blog is now asking for your support. Actually, the content remains free, but your support is needed. The button or link below will take you to a secure PayPal page where you can give any amount of your choosing.

“Pamir, I really enjoy reading your blog. I would like to make a wee contribution to support your work. Thanks for doing what you do! Many, many Reiki blessings!” — J.A.P

Please donate what feels right. Each post is a considerable investment of thought, heart, energy and time.

Donate to this blog. Thank you!

• Since you can see the body, you’re not the body. You’re the seer.
• Since you can feel emotions, you’re not emotion. You’re the feeler.
• Since you can observe thoughts, you’re not thought. You’re the observer.
• Since you can wield energy, you’re not energy. You’re the wielder.
• Since consciousness allows you to witness, you’re That.
• Being That; consciousness, witness, bliss… you’re free.

Let’s take each one and expand on it.

The body is something we relate to very easily because it’s with us everyday. Its pains and pleasures are never farther than our next action or behavior. Our identity is closely tied up with the body. Yet, who is it that feels pain or pleasure? Who is it that looks and sees your hand or leg? If we are the body, then how is the body self-observant?

Most of us are very close to our emotions as well. We live on an emotional plane and relate to life and others emotionally. This can be challenging. At the same time, emotions make life richer. We have the capacity to feel. If you know what you’re feeling, who is it that knows? Who is it that identifies anger or joy? Is it the body? It can’t be because there’s a knower who knows the body already.

The mental realm is highly regarded. As a society and culture we’re heavily invested in the intellect. And like the body and emotions, we live with our thoughts night and day. All the while though there’s an awareness outside of the thought process that knows the thoughts we’re thinking.

We also have the ability to sense the energy of a meeting, event or relationship. We get a feel for someone in a direct way. Similarly we can create or generate a certain energy that infuses whatever we may be doing. But we’re more than a flavor of energy. And there’s the sensing. Who senses energy? It can’t be the thought process because there’s an awareness that already knows that.

There is something beyond our mind which abides in silence within our mind. It is the supreme mystery beyond thought. Let one’s mind and subtle spirit rest upon that and nothing else.

– Maitri Upanishad (VI: 20)

If we can be conscious of the body, emotions, thoughts and energy, then we must be something other than each of these, or even a conglomeration of them. In the same way, we’re free of their limitations. If we’re not the body, we’re not bound by it. If we’re not emotion, it doesn’t have a hold on us. If thoughts aren’t what we are, they can’t dictate to us. If we wield energy, then energy we’re exposed to is powerless over us.

It’s not even a question of being free. We are free. In truth we’re formless. We come from silence, dwell in silence, and play in form.

Don’t let the play trap you.

———
Having provided free content for over two years, the Reiki Help Blog is now asking for your support. Actually, the content remains free, but your support is needed. The button or link below will take you to a secure PayPal page where you can give any amount of your choosing.

“Pamir, I really enjoy reading your blog. I would like to make a wee contribution to support your work. Thanks for doing what you do! Many, many Reiki blessings!” — J.A.P

Please donate what feels right. Each post is a considerable investment of thought, heart, energy and time.

Donate to this blog. Thank you!

Do notice, however, Reiki’s profound impact. Click here to find out more about Reiki Training, and make sure you listen to the Reiki Primer audio.

Reiki Stories Project^SM (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 anonymously. I may lightly edit your submission.

If you wonder why this project is so very important, and why I’ve decided to curate such stories these words from Muriel Rukeyser say it all:

“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”

I will always remember the day last summer when a woman at my job, from whom I picked up such a feel-good vibration every time we met without knowing why, told me that she was practicing Reiki. I had seen the word before but never knew of what it really was.

What is that, I asked. She started to explain and at that very moment, as she spoke, in an instant, I realized that I already knew this. It was already inside my soul and her words just reminded me of what I had forgotten and had spent my whole life searching. The knowledge of Reiki fitted exactly in that empty spot that always had been in my soul as a mark of something lost. First time I received distant Reiki healing last summer, there were several things revealed to me. My experience of the world has not been the same since then. It was as if the physical world and the spirit world merged like two overhead stencils were put on top of each other and I saw the dimensions inside each one.

I have carried a sort of faded inner knowledge and along with that faded memories in my soul as long as I can remember. I knew at a very young age that we are living in a very special time. Over the years though, for various reasons, I both lost and gave away contact with my inner truth and my soul until the knowledge of Reiki gently reminded me.

Reiju Blessing

I found your website, the Reiki Help Blog and immediately felt the connection. This is the place were I go to rest my soul and to put the pieces together. In the words and knowledge you share I find the truth I always carried.

And the beautiful way you paint with words is the same beauty I find in my own soul.

So there I was April 7 tuning into the Reiju Blessing you offer. It was a very gentle experience, very soft yet vibrating with energy. The day after when I sat down to practice distant Reiki, I noticed the first reaction.

I usually feel the energy strongly and can also have visions and pictures or feelings shown to me. This time it was so much more. As I started I felt the energy as if I stood in a shower. The energy just poured over my whole being and opened up my mind as never before. And the location of the third eye was like a marked spot of energy during the whole session. It was an amazing experience and clearly something had happened.

The next day I started to notice a change on the inside.

A new kind of joy and happiness filled my heart so strong that I cannot describe it properly. And every morning the feeling increased and stayed throughout the day until this Monday when I found myself connected with the universe and my soul in a way that I’ve never felt before.

My soul was singing, my heart was filled with light and for the first time I felt Love flow through my veins. Pure Love! I became One with every creation, every mind and soul. One with the Universe. One with my Soul. I reached out and touched the Truth. And I let it all go, the pain, the sorrow and the hurting.

I was at peace, at true peace for the first time in my whole life and I felt so loved. I was complete. And that was exactly what I asked for when I signed up for the Reiju Blessing on your list. It was an amazing moment, a magical moment. The moment of the absolute beginning of my new awareness and consciousness. It was breathtaking!

Pamir, I don´t have words enough to express my gratitude towards you and the Universe for this very life-changing moment. Thank you!

Best Wishes,

–A.L.H., from Europe

You’re so very welcome. What’s your Reiki story?

Read the previous stories in the project.

———
Having provided free content for over two years, the Reiki Help Blog is now asking for your support. Actually, the content remains free, but your support is needed. The button or link below will take you to a secure PayPal page where you can give any amount of your choosing.

Please donate what feels right. Each post is a considerable investment of thought, heart, energy and time.

Donate to this blog. Thank you!

Do you guess I have some intricate purpose?
Well I have, for the Fourth-month showers have,
and the mica on the side of a rock has.

Do you take it I would astonish?

Does the daylight astonish? does the early redstart twittering
through the woods?
Do I astonish more than they?

This hour I tell things in confidence,
I might not tell everybody, but I will tell you.

Who goes there? hankering, gross, mystical, nude;
How is it I extract strength from the beef I eat?

What is a man anyhow? what am I? what are you?

All I mark as my own you shall offset it with your own.
Else it were time lost listening to me.

Taken from Song of Myself,
Leaves Of Grass by Walt Whitman

What Is Your Purpose

I was at a spiritual retreat where the retreat leader told  this story when people complained about having to pitch in to help out with doing dishes or cleaning:

There was  a club in which only the elite of the country could attend. To be a club member you had to agree to participate in all the various roles that allowed for the smooth running of the many parties that were hosted by the club. At each party the participants played a different role from the previous one. These roles included being the butler, the valet, the maid, the dishwasher, the cook, the bathroom attendant and the master of ceremonies. To ensure that each occasion was a success and that everyone was able to enjoy the evening, the participants who helped to host the parties took their roles very seriously. Although in their regular lives they never had to do the tasks they did at the club, they welcomed the opportunity to serve in the way that was assigned to them for the evening. Each person held an important position in their community, but at this club, it did not matter how great their standing, they did whatever was required of them, no matter how lowly, for the sake of the enjoyment of all.

I like this teaching story; this world is like the elite club as we are all great beings. What we do does not make us greater or lesser than others. For many of us, we wish that we had some special purpose in life. I like to think that everyone’s role is a special purpose. Even this blog is dependent on so many others.  I would not have the privilege of writing this post without the hard work of all the people who made it possible: the person who invented the computer, right down to the person in the micro-chip assembly department, the blogging software designers, etc.

In response to a question from a student who asked him if he should renounce his home, the spiritual master Ramana Maharshi said, “If that had been your destiny, the question would not have arisen.” It intrigues me when reading biographies of people who are famous that most often these people have felt driven to do what they have accomplished, and have had synchronistic experiences of being at the right place at the right time to meet the people who were instrumental in making their careers happen.

I believe in reincarnation and I like to think that if, for example, someone was a great leader in a past life, they  would welcome the opportunity to have some down time in the following one. So if you are fretting about your purpose because you have stirrings of past glory in your soul, a long to-do list, maybe it’s your turn to just take it easy in this life.

Perhaps our special purpose is the one right in front of us. Why not make it a special one for yourself and all those whose lives are connected to your purpose. The highest purpose of all though, is getting to know the truth of who you are, asking, Who Am I? Many of us who are asking ourselves what our purpose is, are also looking for our purpose in order to feel fulfilled from engaging in that. On the contrary, it is when we already feel fulfilled that we are truly able to serve from our highest potential. Getting in touch with our own truth, feeling fulfillment from within, is our main purpose.

Miruh is an acupressure therapist who lives in British Columbia, Canada. She writes about spirituality for a general audience. She synthesizes the wisdom teachings of eastern mysticism from her many years of study in meditation, Yoga and Buddhist philosophy. Her blog posts give insights on how to bring spiritual awareness to daily life. She relates stories from her own life and invites her readers to come to know the value of the spiritual healing journey to live life fully and joyfully.

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

Usui’s family was hatamoto samurai. The hatamoto were the shogun’s personal guard. The Usui family crest, also known as the Chiba crest, is a design that is a circle with a dot at the top. The circle is the universe, and the dot represents the North Star. The North Star is a polestar, it never moves, is ever constant, while life moves around it.

Three Japanese budo masters were contemporaries of Usui Sensei. Gichin Funakoshi founded Karate. Jigoro Kano started judo. Morihei Ueshiba created Aikido a little later on. Mikao Usui was born a Tendai Buddhist and studied in a Tendai monastery as a young child. At age 12 he began the practice of a martial art known as aiki jutsu, made popular by Takeda Sokaku who was Ueshiba’s teacher. This form included harmonizing with Ki, making it possible to experience calmness, concentration, willpower and physical fitness. He also studied yagyu ryu, and it’s interesting that this tradition includes both life-giving and -taking techniques.

About two years ago I had come across a Samurai’s song. It was impressive and thought-provoking. Let me share it here and we’ll look at some ideas that emerge.

A Warrior’s Creed

I have no parents
I make the heaven and earth my parents

I have no home
I make awareness my home

I have no life and death
I make the tides of breathing my life and death

I have no divine powers
I make honesty my divine power

I have no means
I make understanding my means

I have no secrets
I make my character my secret

I have no body
I make endurance my body

I have no eyes
I make the flash of lightening my eyes

I have no ears
I make sensibility my ears

I have no limbs
I make promptness my limbs

I have no strategy
I make “unshadowed by thought” my strategy.

I have no design
I make “seizing opportunity by the forelock” my design

I have no miracles
I make right action my miracle

I have no principles
I make adaptability to all circumstances my principle

I have no tactics
I make emptiness and fullness my tactics

I have no talent
I make ready wit my talent

I have no friends
I make my mind my friend

I have no enemy
I make carelessness my enemy

I have no armor
I make benevolence and righteousness my armor

I have no castle
I make immovable mind my castle

I have no sword
I make absence of self my sword

–Anonymous Samurai, 14th century

Admittedly it’s a little austere and minimalist. This has advantages, however. Many times, there’s nothing quite like a bare bones view to gain clarity and hone in on essentials. Let’s break it down.

• In Reiki we work very closely with heaven and earth in the form of Earth and Celestial Ki.
• Uncluttered awareness in the moment is key.
• Understanding is an enhancer of Reiki practice, whether it’s better results with techniques, or with people. When Reiki is practiced or shared with understanding, its power deepens.
• Reiki constantly gives us ample opportunities to improve our character.
• Quieting the busy mind is a core practice that rewards in multiple ways.
• Right thought, right speech, right action are built-in Reiki ethics.
• Being the bending but not breaking bamboo is the adaptability Reiki brings us.
• Knowing when to be empty and when to be full is a skill Reiki helps us develop.
• Befriending ourself is where healing begins.
• Being careful is a prime example of being full. Full of care.
• Reiki is the way of compassion, which includes benevolence.
• Immovable mind is the beginning and end of meditation.
• Absence of self in the Self is the way of peace and enlightenment.

Reiki is a way of living with wisdom and compassion. It’s a way to reclaim your authentic self. To move out of the past, return from the future and live fully awake in the present. Reiki shifts your paradigm too, revealing the many layers of reality. It helps you find energetic integrity. Reiki heals the human condition. It transforms your consciousness so you can be your true self. Your heart and mind become unified and you’re empowered to walk in peace. Reiki brings you what you need. Through the years, I’ve witnessed with inner joy and gratitude everything student practitioners share about their Reiki training experiences. These are nothing less thanpoetic and I’ll now attempt to convey some measure of what I was privileged to witness this past weekend.

An ocean, cloud and light was received. Plans changed many moons ago came to completion and an ordination was received. Tears inspired by sheer beauty flowed. Peace was tangible. Never before reached depth in meditation was commonplace. After lunch heartburn relieved completely. Back pain healed. Several first-time spiritual awakenings. The courage to face things one doesn’t want to. A young person’s talent validated. Success affirmed. Shoulders lightened. Realization of inner powers. Wonder. Recognition.

And hugs. Heart on heart hugs.

Always heart on heart hugs.

Updated July 2, 2008

An early testimonial:

“…Now that I have had a little time to reflect and absorb, I want to thank you for being YOU and what you brought to me this weekend. I can already notice changes in me, there is a deepening sense of calm within, much more energy both physically and spiritually. It has been both a fulfillment and rebirth of sorts. I am different, I am one with myself, and my surroundings. The teaching and empowerments brought through you this weekend are amazing. Thank you for thus far guiding and teaching me. The teaching and tools you brought to me will continue to aid and guide my journey…”

–J.G., West Palm Beach, Fla

Consciousness is the substratum of everything, the first thing created that creates everything else.
–Dr. David Frawley

We all know there’s a brain in each of our craniums and it is what ‘thinks.’ Yet our brain is 90% fat and water. How exactly does fat and water ‘think’ as well as self-organize and self-regulate? After all, the brain really doesn’t have a direct experience of the world.

Wisdom traditions such as Vedanta and Buddhism accept that before creation there is a nondual state. To make a simplistic correlation to quantum physics, this is the unified field. Wisdom traditions identify this field as Pure Consciousness; Chit in Sanskrit. Pure Consciousness is unborn.

Chitta on the other hand, is conditioned consciousness (thought) and is the primordial state out of which the universe is born. This field of thought is high vibration subtle energy which is the basis of material creation. Thought creates all, but this is at a primordial level compared to our ordinary mental reactions.

The ghost in the machine is consciousness! A consistently effective and reliable way of outing consciousness and working with it to our benefit is to implement an authentic spiritual practice. Reiki is one such practice.

Neuroscience has mapped mindbody functioning in terms of electrical, chemical and hormonal signals from one part to another. The brain has been identified in all of its parts: cerebrum, cerebellum, limbic and reptilian. Each has a specific function; thought and action, movement and balance, with feeding, fighting, fleeing and procreation assigned to the remaining two brain structures.

Yet, we are still unhappy, depressed and ill. The observation and tweaking of the physical components of the mindbody web is inadequate in finding wellbeing.

At the moment of enlightenment the Buddha said, “How strange–all living beings have the fully awakened nature, but none of them knows it….” Luckily it doesn’t have to remain unknowable. The Buddha and every authentic wisdom tradition advocates a return to the ground state of consciousness.

You may have heard of Reiki or even experienced it. What you may not know is that Reiki is much more than a healing modality alone. Reiki is an authentic wisdom tradition. It’s a path of enlightenment, with healing being a natural part of personal evolution.

We have to turn to wisdom teachings and practices to first understand consciousness and then delve deeply into it. Consciousness is our true nature. It also has the capacity to remember our divinity. This is true memory and not the false memory of our personal history.

Going back to the question of how our mindbody does in fact have the capacity to self-organize and -regulate…Dr. Frawley again:

Consciousness is responsible for the existence and movement of the cosmos. It functions behind all forms of matter and energy. Some type of consciousness exists everywhere in Nature, even in inanimate objects. It sustains the cosmic process on all levels, staring with the atom itself. Whatever exists must contain some degree of consciousness or it could not be perceived.

So there is a vast intelligence with which we are inextricably linked. This intelligence naturally produces methods with which it can be accessed. The human spiritual software is perfectly matched to run on this cosmic operating system, while harmonizing and balancing human hardware.

In the next part we’ll look at how Reiki is able to reestablish this link between the personal and the universal.

Reiki links personal & spiritual consciousness

We’re encased in skin, our largest organ. We have mind and ego to navigate this plane. All three have specific functions to make the physical experience work.

Yet all three also separate and disconnect us, even in mundane terms. We may feel disconnected from our heart, loved ones, our job, our friends and our body.

Still underlying these is a core separation. The skin, ego and mind, separate us from the source of our being. As it is, this happens so easily in a limited physical world where we rely on sensory information to perceive and understand. The separation is compounded by all that is unhealed in us.

Our person needs healing. The little self has healing to do physically, emotionally and mentally. This is important work for it is foundational.

Then there’s the healing of ignorance. Not knowledge ignorance, but spiritual ignorance, which is essentially not knowing that we are only in part skin, ego and mind. Only in part.

Reiki is able to grow us out of personal pain, and out of self-imposed and design limitations because it sources at a non-collapsed level of reality, whatever you may want to term that. Here it’s termed consciousness. Any practice that arises out of consciousness heals the little self and opens the gates to everything beyond the hard and wetware of our being, because consciousness is always overarching and all-encompassing.

Reiki is mostly accepted as energy and a modality. Reiki is in fact a spiritual teaching that doesn’t fit well in the skin of modality.

As for energy, consciousness is really far too subtle and vibrating too quickly to be considered energy. It has to further densify to manifest form. During this densification, ‘energy’ or life force as we understand it begins to show up. This energy is still very subtle, compared to say electromagnetic energy.

To say that Reiki is ‘universal life force energy’ or any of variation of this statement needs to be qualified: Life force is dependent on, supported by and sources out of consciousness. Healing takes place in Reiki at the level of personal consciousness being transformed, with a solid connection to the greater field.

There’s the direct action of life force moving through the mindbody and engendering healing through balance and harmony, but the real transformation takes place in consciousness.

Reiki as Consciousness parts 1 & 2.

The College is deeply grounded in a philosophy of caring. This extends to a holistic approach in all aspects. Even the building is Green, one of the few LEEDS “gold-rated” educational buildings in the United States, featuring Feng Shui principles and environmental sustainability. Included are several spaces for meditation and holistic practice and contemplation.

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. See contents of this training.

Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, June 29 10 AM-5 PM
College of Nursing Room 116
Presented by Pamir Kiciman, BA, RM, CHt
Prepaid reservations required, space is limited
954-661-4263 or info [at] reikihelp [dot] com

In oneness, I think we can say, there are many onenesses. That is to say this oneness manifests itself, or we come across it in almost infinite number of ways. While it always remains, in a sense, the same, it is always a different oneness. Perhaps this is because God is always happening…For instance, God is so dynamic, it goes so fast that you can never see him…You can’t catch him, and yet there’s nothing to catch because he’s already here. Otherwise, it goes by so fast, that by the time you take peek, he’s already back here…So at every moment this oneness is offered to us in a different way, in a new way. A charming way, sometimes difficult way, sometimes challenging way…So human experience needs to be very diverse in order to adjust to the diversity in which God is oneness…

See video for full speech, very highly recommended. If you get the email version, click back to original post to watch the video.

Father Thomas Keating entertains and enlightens with humor and wisdom, covering such complex subjects as oneness, diversity, nonlinear time, God’s speed, the now, contemplative prayer, and faith (which he calls the 3rd eye: “Another sense that is very important is the awakening of the third eye, which is faith. Faith becoming not just an acceptance of belief systems of one kind or another, however enlightened, but rather the movement of trust in the mystery, in the ultimate reality. In the oneness, dimly perceived, and perceived not even as oneness, but nevertheless, enabling one, little by little, to be sensitive to the divine presence in all creation and in every detail.).

You’ve heard of relaxation techniques, CDs, gadgets and products. You even have some MP3s on your iPod but have yet to listen. These are inviting and make sense on the surface, but perhaps you’re a ‘show me’ person. Do you only operate in two modes? Go, go, go, and crash? Do yourself a favor and read this.

There is an all-around lifestyle enhancer and it’s called Reiki. You can receive Reiki from a qualified practitioner until your challenges dissolve. You can also further invest in yourself and become Reiki-trained for lifelong benefit. In either case ROI is through the roof!

Reiki stimulates all factors involved in whole-person wellbeing simply and effectively. Meet Peter, a 30-something upper management guy with a wife and two kids. He has chronic back pain, doesn’t see much of his family and despite all the hours he puts in, his productivity is plummeting. It’s harder and harder for him to wake up after having trouble falling asleep. The day drags on, he doubts himself and low grade anxiety has become near panic for him in meetings, conference calls and in front of his team. He feels he’s losing his edge, his eyesight and acumen.

Out of sheer desperation and dislike of mood medications, he opts for Reiki. After only a little time, he starts to demonstrate observable changes. He feels much less pressure and is sleeping better. His back improves although the pain returns when he compromises his self-care. There’s more spaciousness around his anxiety and it escalates less frequently. His team is responding better and he feels more confident once again. He still struggles with productivity and seeing his family.

After a little more time, he starts to develop a crucial self-awareness. This helps him observe his mental and behavioral patterns. The insight he receives from such observation gives him the ability to be responsive and adjust his patterns. This in turn brings more spaciousness and his back begins to feel very solid and comfortable. His mind is sharper and anxiety only returns when there’s a real fire to put out. He’s much happier and realizes that when he commits to family time, all his work deadlines are met anyhow.

Reiki helps you physically but also helps with everything that is human in you. For anyone in business (corporate or home office) in the computerized and digitized world here are some common challenges Reiki will alleviate:

Physical:

• Postural/Musculoskeletal
• Repetitive strain injury (RSI)
• Eye strain
• Headaches/Migraines
• Dizziness
• Insomnia
• Longterm effects of being sedentary
• Sick building toxicity
• Exhaustion
• Loss of sex drive
• Weight gain or loss
• High blood pressure
• Ulcers

Emotional & Mental:

• Overwhelm
• Lack of focus
• Depression
• Interpersonal issues
• Job dissatisfaction
• Ennui
• Lack of motivation
• Emotional eating
• Mental dullness
• Lack of creativity
• Worry
• Multitasking drain
• Stress
• Work/Life imbalance
• Fear of layoff/Fearful anticipation
• Poor memory
• Powerlessness

Living our life deeply and with happiness, having time to care for our loved ones–this is another kind of success, another kind of power, and it is much more important. There is only one kind of success that really matters: the success of transforming ourselves, transforming our afflictions, fear, and anger. This is the kind of success, the kind of power, that will benefit us and others without causing any damage.

–Thich Nhat Hanh

Soul as operating system

Soul is the human being’s operating system. Your computer has an operating system that makes it work. Additionally, it has specific software for e-mail, documents or graphics. And all of it works together with the hardware of drives, monitors and keyboards.

Your soul is your operating system. One kind of software you have is the ego. Another is the mind, or wetware, which includes the brain and the nervous system. The physical body is of course your hardware.

It can be easy to miss the soul, because unlike Windows or Mac OS, its logo is much muted. It doesn’t shout out its presence when you look in the mirror. When you look in the mirror, you see a round or square face, perhaps a crooked nose and full lips. And your face needs to be shaved, or made up, your hair needs combing and your body covered in clothing.

What covers your soul? Is it your skin? Perhaps you think your soul is elsewhere, waiting in some standby mode while your body gets used up and your mind gets more and more lost. When, helpless at last you die, you’ll be reunited with your soul. Is that what you think?

You can’t deny your physical body, it’s so there, all your senses tell you it’s alive. You’re able to experience your feelings and emotions everyday too. And you have enough self-awareness to track at least some of your thoughts. “I’m a thinking, feeling, breathing being,” you say. And you are!

Yet without your operating system what would you be, what would animate you? We bandy about this word “soul.” We talk about soul music, soul kitchen, soulful, soulmate, and good for or feeds my soul; it has soul, or what a great soul. Certainly, soulfulness can infuse daily experience: going below the surface, finding depth, meaning and connection, being inwardly warmed by intangibles. We tend to seek such moments, but too soon, a deadline or crashing chore closes the opening, the entryway, and the expansion of our set perceptions skids to a halt.

The moment is then gone, it disappears, perhaps to appear never again. But the soul doesn’t go away, it doesn’t disappear or disconnect. In fact, soul is always present. It beckons, guides, and experiences all you do, feel and think. Soul is inseparable from you. It commiserates all your losses and cheers all your successes. Your every pain and sorrow is a chance for your soul to befriend you more. Your every joy and celebration is forever cherished by your soul.

Without the soul, you’d be hollow, rudderless, without wisdom. Your eyes would be dull; no evidence of light in you would exist. Your skin would be sallow and your voice mechanical. You wouldn’t display even simple intelligence. You’d be unoriginal, without qualities and talents. You’d have no power, no love, nothing to give and receive. You’d always be hungry, never sated, interminably bored and irremovably sad. Beauty would elude you and you’d be perpetually tortured. You’d be collapsed and invisible and no breath of life could give you dimension.

Since none of these are true, for you are reading this and it stirs you, and since soul is the very source of your being, then surely your forgetfulness and indifference are harmful to you. You attend to a thousand insignificant things a day, thinking that the damage would be too great if you didn’t. Yet to soul memory, you give only a random glance.

Yes, the soul is shy and sensitive. It is subtle and plays hide-and-seek with us. It prefers a rarefied atmosphere. Always approachable and willing to build an aware relationship with you, its language is intuition. Intuition bridges the gap between the soul and the ego’s thoughts and sensations. Of fine vibrations not found in the material realm, its colors are gossamer, not merely pigment hues. The body is usually not conscious of the soul, but the soul is aware of the body. Soul is present from the very pinpoint of conception and continuously directs the shaping and growth of the physical form, and the individual. The soul commands certain cells to become brain or muscle tissue. With conscious intelligence behind it, the body develops in symmetrical fashion.

The soul’s nature is pure bliss and wisdom. Human intelligence models soul intuition. To illustrate progressively: the soul’s directing intelligence creates mind, then the senses, then the body.

Since soul comes first, it makes sense to put it first in our life. As soul has the blueprint for the body, it has the blueprint for your entire life. It is an awesome databank that contains all of your potential and the power to actualize it. Ever watchful, it is an insider helping you understand life, your place in it, your work here, opening the right doors, creating the right circumstances, meeting the right people to bring to fruition your purpose. Soul is your essence, your very spark of life. It functions as a wellspring of all your qualities and talents, inspiration and creativity, your uniqueness. It is a map, a resource, a GPS, a ray forever lighting your way through the eons.

All you have to do is get quiet, get close, and be open and willing enough to hear your soul whisper its harmonics to you. You won’t be disappointed. You’ll have come home to the hearth where it’s warm, blissful, loving and eternal. Thus, you’ll find yourself and all suffering will be gone. Go now and receive the blessings of your soul.

No weapon can pierce the soul; no fire can burn it; no water can moisten it; nor can any wind wither it.

–The Bhagavad Gita

© Pamir Kiciman 2007

I thought this would be a good opportunity to echo her with some content from archives here and expand the conversation:

The Self

I have always been; I am now and ever shall be. There was never a time when I was not. This I is not the me-of-today, but the continuous thread of the Self. The me-of-today is a precious pearl adorning the Self. There are many such pearls and I am all of them.

Self & Divine

The Self is a spark of the Divine; the me-of-today a spark of the Self. I knew nothing of the bridge between me, Self and Divine. Experience separated me further and further, until I was sure I was me. Now this me stifles and hurts. This me stubbornly asserts its rightful existence.

Wholeness / Duality

The me exists in duality; the Self in wholeness. There is wholeness in duality. The existence of me-in-today is a seeming separation from the simultaneous existence of Self-in-Consciousness. The realm of pure Consciousness is hurt-free. The membrane of separation being highly permeable, Self and me dance intertwined. I let one seep into the other, dissolving ignorance in the unity of conscious existence.

Wholeness in duality is realized by the unity of conscious existence.

I exist in a physical body and I am simultaneously conscious in the nonphysical Self.

I occupy the vast region between matter and Consciousness. In this vast region Spirit always prevails. Spirit is hurt-free. And for that I give countless thanks.

Before all that there is:

Awakening

Between birth and death is the hopscotch of daily despondency. Dimly in the background, the whoosh of eternity is coursing through my cells. The alarm clock of awakening is on perpetual snooze. It rings at regular intervals, yet an automatic programming silences it. Until the next time. And the next. And the next.

And of course:

Reiki as Consciousness parts 1 & 2.

The word “Buddha” comes from the root buddh, which means to wake up. A Buddha is someone who is awake. When Buddhists greet one another, we hold our palms together like a lotus flower, breathe in and out mindfully, bow, and say silently, “A lotus for you, a Buddha to be.” This kind of greeting produces two Buddhas as the same time. We acknowledge the seeds of awakening, Buddhahood, that are within the other person, whatever his or her age or status. And we practice mindful breathing to touch the seed of Buddhahood within ourselves….

Our true home is in the present moment…The miracle is to walk on the green earth in the present moment. Peace is all around us—in the world and in nature–and within us–in our bodies and our spirits. Once we learn to touch this peace, we will be healed and transformed…We need only to bring our body and mind into the present moment, and we will touch what is refreshing, healing, and wondrous.

–Thich Nhat Hanh

Don Alverto Taxo, a Quichua elder and Iachak (community leader/healer), speaks of the ancient prophecy of the eagle and the condor meeting to bring a new harmony into the world. Don Alverto invites us all to trust the universal human intuition to bring greater harmony into our lives, and to seek after life’s deeper meaning. (Video below…if you have an email subscription, click to the original post to view it.)

No matter the circumstances, acknowledgment is a powerful form of love. Be generous in your big or small acknowledgment of family, partners, friends, neighbors, colleagues, coworkers, and even when interacting with strangers.

Sometimes acknowledgment is an act of bravery. It requires one to go against the tide, to stand up for or admit something. Unless there are people willing to take such a risk, individuals, families, nations and the world continues to suffer. Acknowledgment is a powerful change agent.

When we see and hear others, we see and hear ourself. Our stories unite and each becomes enriched. We realize we share humanity and this leads to understanding, which fosters compassion. Acknowledgment is a mirror that eliminates “other.”

Acknowledgment is a way of knowing, not merely a nod or a tip of your hat. It’s connective. It weaves a fabric of knowing which holds and cradles us. It’s a form of selflessness that leaves our individuality intact. Essential life information and meaning are imparted to us when we see and hear others. Our sense of self deepens and expands because acknowledgment jumps over divisions of economic status, race, language, culture, and belief. It even reaches across species.

And there the vacuum fills itself, the isolation ends.

Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.
–Rainer Maria Rilke, “Selected Poetry“

This is part of Nneka at Balanced Life Center’s 2007′s Season of Gratitude. My first post in the series is here.

© Pamir Kiciman 2007

Related:
Ever-present Love
Threshold of Healing
Spiritual Love
The Self
Self & Divine
Existence
Wholeness / Duality
Order & Unity
Rounds of Incarnations
Pain
Searching

This writing is prompted by Jenny and Erin specifically in The Bravest Thing I’ve Ever Done and earlier when Understanding Courage was explored. Thanks for tagging, challenging and asking me. Taking responsibility is plenty courageous. There’s a point of total breakdown, of annihilation. It’s a death for certain.

Then courage in the from of an honestly raw accounting of the mess you’re in. This is what I call the ‘blood and guts of healing.’ It need not stop there. In my case and the possibility exists for everyone, taking responsibility for myself lead to something much scarier: embracing my true nature. It launched me into a quest, which wouldn’t have been possible without the ‘first’ courage.

One of the biggest things we run from is our true nature. Afterall drama is so much easier. You know it inside out, can give a command performance in your sleep, and really validate how miserable your life is like 2+2=4, no room for error. This is the persona I’ve donned, these are my poisons and you better get the hell outta my way! I’m running from my Self and even Olympic athletes don’t have the steroids I do.

I did that into my early-mid-thirties. Amongst many other things. It was hedonist, escapist, lustful, fun, utterly dysfunctional, I loved and wept and guffawed, opined, judged, raged, gave and stole, alienated and hurt people and myself, danced my tush off…and…

One dawn after Hurricane Andrew had torn through Southern Florida, I woke up. The proverbial light bulb. And that was still way back in the dark days, when the courage I knew I’d have to muster terrified me.

You have to be brave to have courage. Ironic isn’t it?

Folks, I’ve news for you. There’s so much unseen Grace. Divine intervention is waiting like a flickering candle about to drown in its own wax at the edges of our willingness. Initially it only takes your cupping the flame to steady it against the draft, to tease the wick out of the wax. That’s all. That moment of caring attention where you’re quiet and still enough that your true nature can enter, after its years of knocking and show you your colors.

Then the journey begins of healing the wounds of the human, and even more fear-wrought, that foundation propelling you into Self.

Self can be described in many ways and it’s not so important to do that here. What’s important is that upping the ante is courage on an entirely different level. This is the courage to own that while you were broken, your spirit never was; while you believed you were flesh and bones, your soul smiled and winked; while you felt worthless, gold poured into your heart; while you felt unloved, you were cradled in patient compassion; while your mind was weak, your consciousness was fortified; while you were in darkness, the Light buoyed you; while you were lost, wisdom protected you.

I know this. As a child, even though my personality never took it seriously, even though it was by rote and I thought I didn’t know how to pray, my soul took over and prayed and prayed and prayed everytime my house was filled with voices bellowed, things smashed, doors slammed, love crushed and laughter squelched. When later I consciously prayed my soul just beamed warmly.

In the physical world, you can’t ignore a wall. In the spiritual life, you can’t ignore Eternity. Eternity in this sense is the absence of time, not an endless span of time. Eternity is as real as the street you live on. Your street exists in Eternity. So there are two choices. Numb and run, and my god are there countless ways to do that! Consumerism is geared for that alone.

Or, allow the bravery of your true nature to infuse you and take the lead. This is going to require spiritual backbone, vigilance, recommitments, endurance, sourcing courage again and again, along with a host of other resources. But it then becomes a meritorious life. And simply happy and healthy.

That’s the one I chose, choose and re-choose.

I’ll end with a haiku of mine from way before my dawn, a kind of precursor:

hide and seeking
our souls
games people will play

© Pamir Kiciman 2007

Read the original meme “What Gives You Courage?” by Lorraine Cohen

I choose to expand myself until I feel the unity of Love
Feeling the unity of Love, I see only Divine Order.
The core of my being is in Divine Order.

Unconditional Love fosters unconditional healing.

I love the me-of-today for giving me the lifetimes of obscuring and then revealing the Self. I love the Self for it is what I am.

I love the Divine for it is where the Self belongs.

I am able to love all others because I have a right relationship with me, who has a right relationship with the Self, who being anchored in Divinity recognizes Unity and the illusion of ‘other.’

© Pamir Kiciman 2007

Wholeness in duality is realized by the unity of conscious existence.

I exist in a physical body and I am simultaneously conscious in the nonphysical Self.

I occupy the vast region between matter and Consciousness. In this vast region Spirit always prevails. Spirit is hurt-free. And for that I give countless thanks.

© Pamir Kiciman 2007