Hua t'ou, awakening a liberating doubt by Xu Yun

HUA TOU AND DOUBT
In ancient times, the Patriarchs and Ancestors directly pointed at the mind for realization of self-nature and attainment of Buddhahood. like Bodhidharma who 'quietened the mind' and the Sixth Patriarch who only talked about 'perception of self-nature', all of them just advocated the outright cognizance (of it) without any more ado. They did not advocate looking into a hua t'ou, but later they discovered that men were becoming unreliable, were not of dogged determination, indulged in playing tricks and boasted of their possession of precious gems which really belonged to others. For this reason, these ancestors were compelled to set up their own sects, each with its own devices; hence, the hua t'ou technique.
There are many hua t'ous, such as: 'All things are returnable to One, to what is (that) One returnable?' 'Before you were born, what was your real face?' but the hua t'ou: 'Who is repeating Buddha's name?' is widely in use (today).
What is hua t'ou? (lit. word-head). Word is the spoken word and head is that which precedes word. For instance, when one says 'Amitabha Buddha', this is a word. Before it is said it is a hua t'ou (or ante-word). That which is called a hua t'ou is the moment before a thought arises. As soon as a thought arises, it becomes a hua wei (lit. word-tail). The moment before a thought arises is called 'the un-born'. That void which is neither disturbed nor dull, and neither still nor (one-sided) is called 'the unending'. The unremitting turning of the light inwards on oneself, instant after instant, and exclusive of all other things, is called 'looking into the hua t'ou' or 'taking care of the hua t'ou'.
When one looks into a hua t'ou, the most important thing is to give rise to a doubt. Doubt is the crutch of hua t'ou. For instance, when one is asked: 'Who is repeating Buddha's name?' everybody knows that he himself repeats it, but is it repeated by the mouth or by the mind? If the mouth repeats it, why does not it do so when one sleeps? If the mind repeats it, what does the mind look like? As mind is intangible, one is not clear about it. Consequently some slight feeling of doubt arises about 'WHO'. This doubt should not be coarse; the finer it is, the better. At all times and in all places, this doubt alone should be looked into unremittingly, like an ever-flowing stream, without giving rise to a second thought. If this doubt persists, do not try to shake it; if it ceases to exist, one should gently give rise to it again. Beginners will find the hua t'ou more effective in some still place than amidst disturbance. However, one should not give rise to a discriminating mind; one should remain indifferent to either the effectiveness or ineffectiveness (of the hua t'ou) and one should take no notice of either stillness or disturbance. Thus, one should work at the training with singleness of mind.
(In the hua t'ou): 'Who is repeating the Buddha's name?' emphasis should be laid upon the word 'Who', the other words serving only to give a general idea of the whole sentence. For instance (in the questions): 'Who is wearing this robe and eating rice?', 'Who is going to stool and is urinating?', 'Who is putting an end to ignorance?', and 'Who is able to know and feel?', as soon as one lays emphasis upon (the word) 'Who', while one is walking or standing, sitting or reclining, one will be able to give rise to a doubt without difficulty and without having to use one's faculty of thought to think and discriminate. Consequently the word 'Who' of the hua t'ou is a wonderful technique in Ch'an training. However, one should not repeat the word 'Who' or the sentence 'Who is repeating the Buddha's name?' like (adherents of the Pure Land School) who repeat the Buddha's name. Neither should one set one's thinking and discriminating mind on searching for him who repeats the Buddha's name. There are some people who unremittingly repeat the sentence: 'Who is repeating the Buddha's name?'; it would be far better merely to repeat Amitabha Buddha's name (as do followers of the Pure Land School) for this will give greater merits. There are others who indulge in thinking of a lot of things and seek after everything here and there, and call this the rising of a doubt; they do not know that the more they think, the more their false thinking will increase, just like someone who wants to ascend but is really descending. You should know all this.
Usually beginners give rise to a doubt which is very coarse; it is apt to stop abruptly and to continue again, and seems suddenly familiar and suddenly unfamiliar. This is (certainly) not doubt and can only be their thinking (process). When the mad (wandering) mind has gradually been brought under control, one will be able to apply the brake on the thinking process, and only then can this be called 'looking into' (a hua t'ou). Furthermore, little by little, one will gain experience in the training and then, there will be no need to give rise to the doubt which will rise of itself automatically. In reality, at the beginning, there is no effective training at all as there is only (an effort) to put an end to false thinking. When real doubt rises of itself, this can be called true training. This is the moment when one reaches a 'strategic gateway' where it is easy to go out of one's way (as follows).
Firstly, there is the moment when one will experience utter purity and boundless ease and if one fails to be aware of and look into the same, one will slip into a state of dullness. If a learned teacher is present, he will immediately see clearly that the student is in such a state and will strike the meditator with the (usual) flat stick, thus clearing away the confusing dullness; a great many are thereby awakened to the truth.
Secondly, when the state of purity and emptiness appears, if the doubt ceases to exist, this is the unrecordable state in which the meditator is likened to one sitting on a withered tree in a grotto, or to soaking stones with water. When one reaches this state, one should arouse (the doubt) to be immediately followed by one's awareness and contemplation (of this state). Awareness (of this state) is freedom from illusion; this is wisdom. Contemplation (of this state) wipes out confusion; this is imperturbability. This singleness of mind will be thoroughly still and shining, in its imperturbable absoluteness, spiritual clearness and thorough understanding, like the continuous smoke of a solitary fire. When one reaches this stage, one should be provided with a diamond eye and should refrain from giving rise to anything else, as if one does, one will (simply) add another head upon one's head.
Formerly, when a monk asked (Master) Chao Chou: 'what should one do when there is not a thing to bring with self?' Chao Chou replied: 'Lay it down.' The monk said: 'What shall I lay down when I do not bring a thing with me?' Chao Chon replied: 'If you cannot lay it down, carry it away.' This is exactly the stage (above mentioned) which is like that of a drinker of water who alone knows whether it is cold or warm. This cannot be expressed in words and speeches, and one who reaches this stage will clearly know it. As to one who has not reached it, it will be useless to tell him about it. This is what the (following) lines mean:
'When you meet a fencing master, show to him your sword.
Do not give your poem to a man who's not a poet.'

TAKING CARE OF A HUA T'0U AND TURNING INWARD THE HEARING TO HEAR THE SELF-NATURE
Someone may ask: 'How can Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva's "method of turning inward the hearing to hear the self-nature" be regarded as Ch'an training?' I have just talked about looking into the hua t'ou; it means that you should unremittingly and one-pointedly turn the light inwards on 'that which is not born and does not die' which is the hua t'ou. To turn inwards one's hearing to hear the self-nature means also that you should unremittingly and one-pointedly turn inwards your (faculty of) hearing to hear the self-nature. 'To turn inwards' is 'to turn back'. 'That which is not born and does not die' is nothing but the self-nature. When hearing and looking follow sound and form in the worldly stream, hearing does not go beyond sound and looking does not go beyond form (appearance), with the obvious differentiation. However, when going against the mundane stream, the meditation is turned inwards to contemplate the self-nature. When 'hearing' and 'looking' are no longer in pursuit of sound and appearance, they become fundamentally pure and enlightening and do not differ from each other. We should know that what we call 'looking into the hua t'ou' and 'turning inwards the hearing to hear the self-nature' cannot be effected by means of the eye to look or the ear to hear. If eye and ear are so used, there will be pursuit after sound and form with the result that one will be turned by things (i.e. externals); this is called 'surrender to the (mundane) stream'. If there is singleness of thought abiding in that 'which is not born and does not die', without pursuing sound and form, this is 'going against the stream'; this is called 'looking into the hua t'ou' or 'turning inwards the hearing to hear the self-nature'.

Tribute to the Sly Man

Holy-Affirming,
Holy-Denying,
Holy-Reconciling,
Transubstantiate in me
For my Being.

Beelzebub's Tales

Relaxation

Reiki is a wonderful tool to help trigger a relaxed state of oneself. Receiving a Reiki session can bring one to a deep state of relaxation. This is a comment I have often heard from people receiving Reiki for the first time as well as with people already acquainted with this practice. In itself it is very good, relaxation being a “luxury” for most of the people nowadays, plagued with the cares, anxieties and stresses of their own lives. Unfortunatly, this state of relaxation is generally of a short duration and gets dissolved rapidly in the usual stress of one’s life. There are several reasons for this, one being the state of identification one is constantly in about one’s life and all the cares and anxieties that go with it. Another reason is that this state of relaxation has been induced from the “outside” : one laid down on a table and let the Reiki practitioner did the session. So apart from the desire to get rid of tension that led one to request a session, the relaxed state didn’t involve any conscious act to be brought about; it “happened”.

In the system developed by Gurdjieff to bring one to self-knowledge, a great emphasis was put on relaxation, conscious relaxation. It is reported by Maurice Nicoll that Gurdjieff said that the essence of his teaching was contained in “relaxation and self-remembering”. Gurdjieff was pointing to the state of tension in wich we live our lives and gave the advice to his pupils to get the awareness of this fact by realizing how our body bears so much unnecessary tensions even in the act of just picking something light on the floor. And it even goes further than that : just sitting on a chair, we still are in a state of tension.

If you wish to have a glimpse about this, right now as you read, just try to turn your attention on yourself and especially on your body. Try to feel, or to be more precise, to sense your body in a general way : the way you are sitting. How do you feel ? How is your neck ? Your shoulders ? Your belly ? The arm you use to move the mouse of your computer ? How is your face ? How is your breathing ? Do you feel relaxed ? If you have sincerity towards yourself, and you are not someone that is used to practice conscious relaxation, the answer is probably negative. You probably caught your body in more or less this state : stiff neck and shoulders, contracted belly, tense face (clenched jaws, wrinkled brow), short breath.

Now, as you keep reading, you can try to relax in a conscious manner. Bring your attention to your face...and then bring it to your eyes...just sense the muscles of your eyes...and relax them consciously (here of course, not to the point they get closed, so you can keep on reading !)...then slowly move down your attention under your eyes...around your nose...and let it expand to your chicks...and relax them...consciously...let your attention spread to the other parts of your face...your lips...your chin....until it encompasses your whole face...then move to your forehead...feel the tension there...and relax it...consciously...then spread your attention to include your entire head...be aware of your head...and the tensions going on it...and relax them...consciously...then move down to your neck...the back of your neck...then the front of your neck...and let them relax...now move to your shoulders...relax them... bring down the attention to the arms...relax them...consciously...try to feel the relaxing effect combine with the outgoing breath...as you do this, can you notice a flow of energy spreading into your body ?...now bring your attention to your upper body, the torsoe and the back...and let them relax in the outgoing breath...do this for a moment : just try to feel your entire body...and let it relax in the outgoing breath, natural breath...do it for a moment...how do you feel now ? Can you feel a flow of force in your body ? Do you feel different ? More alert but at ease. Look around you at your direct environment. Isn’t everything more clear, more vivid ? And at the same time, isn’t there a stronger sense of presence and attention ? If this is so, you have a slight taste of what Gurdjieff called self-remembering. Of course, this is not going to last and you’ll be brought back to your usual state of tension without even realizing it. But you have a clue of what conscious relaxation means.

If you can practice everyday an exercise of this type, say for 10 minutes, you’ll be amazed to see what changes it can bring to your life. Gradually you’ll be able to evoke this state of relaxation in the midst of your activities and so take some distance with the tensions provoked by the events that you encounter everyday; events that invariably drain force out of you and leave you in a state of negative emotions. In short you will begin to understand what drags you down in your life and brings identification -- I still have to remind that it’s not going to happen in a few days (we’re so used today to have what we want by pushing a button). You will begin to grasp that another state of yourself is possible, even in the midst of your daily life, without having to engage into a spiritual retreat (short or long) or looking for the “secret practice” or the “ultimate mantra” or whatever of the sort.

This way of working on oneself has been beautifully summed up by Machik Labdron, a tibetan yogini from the 12th century, in these words : “Relax, be aware.”

Three-brained being, multiple 'I's

It became a “standard” to present the Reiki teaching together with an introduction to the chakras. For those of you who are not familiar with this, the chakras are described as wheels of energy forming the parts of the subtle energetic anatomy of man. Gurdjieff, when he started to introduce his teaching at the beginning of the 20th century, presented a model of the inner functioning of man that has a certain resemblance with the indian chakras system but which is actually different. One element that is similar to the chakras system is the number of centers which in both cases is 7. So far, the comparison stops here. To me, Gurdjieff model is more coherent and insightful to bring an understanding of the way man functions. It is truly a map that can help one understands oneself.

As was said, the system of centers presented by Gurdjieff is sevenfold. In this post, I will mainly focus on presenting three of them, which is more or less what Gurdjieff did at first with great ingeniosity, for it connects to other “ideas” that composed the whole teaching. “Ideas” that I intend to touch few words on in future posts.

The three centers I want to talk about can be acknowledged by anyone. They are what compose the fabric of our inner life : thinking, feeling, moving/sensing. These three elements are the means through wich we live our life. We have thoughts, emotions, sensations and movements. Unfortunately, these elements are not working in harmony towards one another and that is one of the reason why we bear much suffering and contradictions within. They actually run by themselves, in a mechanical way, by reacting to the influences of the outside world. It can be said these three centers have “minds” of their own. They have “independent” impulsions, reactions, towards the events that we have to face in the course of our life. Say we decided in our thinking, to wake up earlier the next morning to be able to have a longer meditation session, thoughts that brought with them a slight emotional response colored with enthusiasm, then the next morning when the alarm rings, we definetly don’t want to wake up and actually don’t. What happened ? Well, another “mind” took control of the situation that is not the same mind that decided the night before to wake up. This example shows how divided we are innerly without really being aware of it. We actually have multiple ‘I’s living inside of us due to the lack of harmony between the three fundamental aspects of our being. Those ‘I’s have their origin in one or the other center and combine or use the other two. And this without any form of consciousness or attention but mainly through mechanical reaction. One doesn’t acts, but reacts. And what reacts is one of the multiple ‘I’s that developed itself through one’s life and the situations one has had to go through. The only way to “see” this for oneself, so that it doesn’t remain just an information that we agree with, is self-observation over a long period of time. One has to recognize by “taste” how one or the other of these centers is at work in a given situation. That is, throughout one’s daily life. This is the object of work on oneself : first, acknowledging our inner divisions (the mess we call our inner life), then working towards unification.

This three-brained being model is really worth putting one’s effort to understand. Enounced by Gurdjieff almost a hundred years back, it matches today the discoveries made by science in the neurobiological field over the last fifty years with its three-fold brain description : reptilian brain, limbic brain and neo-cortex that developed in the course of evolution. And in the practical spiritual field, the alignment or unification of these three “brains” is probably the only way to reveal the most elusive, mysterious and quite not understood part of our being : Consciousness.

Resources :
Man - A Three-brained Being. Keith A. Buzzell. Fifth Press
Becoming Conscious With G.I Gurdjieff. Solange Claustres. Eureka Editions

Self-remembering (bis)

Not pretending myself being an authority in the work, I wanted to add the voice of one of it to what I said about self-remembering in my previous post. Though it is short, this excerpt bears insightful indications about the practice of self-remembering.

“People keep on thinking about self-remembering, but they do not do it. It is necessary to stop the chain of automatic associations every day. This can be done by inner stop -- that is, stopping everything, all thoughts, etc. This is the beginning of self-remembering. But people, as I say, keep on thinking of remembering themselves, and never do. To remember oneself one must stop everything and lift oneself into total silence and total loss of all ordinary sense of oneself. This takes a little time. But most people cannot spare even one minute to do it because they are slaves to their machines, so they are bound and glued to the ceaseless and useless flow of mechanical thoughts, negative emotions, personal accounts, etc. It is a great pity, especially today, when the external hypnotism of life is so strong that people even think such toughts as that the war will make everything better, that people do not give themselves the first conscious shock. Help can reach a man only as the result of this shock. It cannot reach him in the flood of his personal thoughts and troubles and emotions. Help, wich comes from the direction of higher centers, cannot reach the Second State of Consciousness ; it can only reach as far as the Third State of Consciousness. Today, when so many people are hypnotized by war, there is more force available in the world than at other times for those who seek it, if they can only touch it. But it cannot be touched by associated thinking wich only keeps a man on the same level as if he were saying again and again : “I must jump”, not realizing that if he wishes to reach a higher level he must really jump. It is no use saying : “I must remember myself.” You must actually remember yourselves.”

Maurice Nicoll. Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (p.90)

Self-remembering

Self-remembering is undoubtedly the “icing on the cake” of what Gurdjieff brought to the world in his incredible teaching. All that have been said and written by Gurdjieff or Ouspensky or other exponents of this teaching find its meaning and resolving in this one and only point : self-remembering. Without it all the theoritical aspect of the work (a term used to call this teaching) can easily remain on the level of the intellect only, and in this case will fail to bring one to a deeper understanding of oneself and one’s relationship to the world. I would even go further in saying that it can bring the opposite of the intention behind all this fabulous work that certainly demanded tremendous efforts from those who transmitted it. The opposite effect I have in mind is the inflating of one’s ego with all its pride and vanity instead of a diminution and an eventual eradication of these undesirable properties of oneself.
So what is self-remembering ? There are many aspects in the work that can refer to the term itself and also many ways of self-remembering but ultimately it points towards our own deeper nature, what or who really are. And the term itself implies that we forgot something that we have to remember; in this case : our own inner self. This is the state we leave in and that Gurdjieff calls “sleep”. Self-remembering can help us to awaken from this “sleep” we live in and moreover self-remembering is the state of awakening itself. It can be said that there is the practice of self-remembering and the state it leads to, the practice of self-remembering being tied to the exercise of self-observation. Genuine and persistent self-observation throughout one’s whole daily life will inevitably brings one to a first taste of the state of self-remembering. An awakening. One will be “puzzled” if I may say so. Awakening brings a total shift in the perspective in which one understand and view oneself and so in some ways we can say that one will inevitably get “puzzled” by this reversal in perspective and find oneself a bit like the Hanged Man of the Tarot. This is self-remembering. This is also connected to what Gurdjieff called “seeing one’s own nothingness”. Here I find meaningful connections with some teaching of the Ch’an tradition that, in how I understand self-remembering, can be very valuable to study. Some texts from the old chinese Ch’an masters are really amazing evocations of the state of self-remembering and also more recent ones. I think particularly of Xu Yun, and the verbatim of his talks called “The prerequisites of Ch’an training”. In this text he described at some point in a very simple and insightful way the practice of the hua tou which is a form of questioning one have with oneself. And he explains that this questioning, which is based on asking oneself when one is doing something “who” is doing this something, should gradually evoke a kind of doubt about oneself; and this doubt needs to be cultivated if one wants to find what one really is. This, I feel, is really evocative of self-remembering, which brings a feeling of uncertainty or more a form of questioning, but that in this case wouldn’t be coming from the intellect and covered with words but a direct feeling or cognition, of uncertainty. It’s not like panic what I try to convey, even if in panic itself, the state of self-remembering could happen. But true, like the chinese master said, from this point you can really get uplifted and have a glimpse of your true self, Real 'I'. Again, I recall, like Gurdjieff and even Ch’an masters did, it takes some time before getting to that and it takes a lifetime to mature. But they also say that it is our birthright.

"Know thyself"

Reiki spread in the West under the category of a “healing technique”. And surely, it made its proof in this field : it became one of the most practiced “alternative healing”. But was it really what Usui Sensei had in his heart ? In the light of the researches and discoveries made over the last 10 years, it seems that we can answer : no. What he developed was a method for self-realization that he himself called a method to achieve “personal perfection”. And self-realization can only come through self-knowledge. So the whole method was oriented towards that goal and not in making someone a “healer” after receiving an initiation. Sure this prospect must appeal to a large number of people that claim they want to “help others”. But this claim of “helping others” is highly questionable. “Who” really wants to help others ? I mean, what aspect of yourself ? And what kind of help do you believe you can offer ? Does it come from the fact that you think you know what is good for others ? Or does it come from your agreement with one particular “truth” ? I know, these are tricky and disturbing questions to our "natural" self-righteousness, but these questions if genuinely asked to oneself could be the real beginning of self-knowledge. You might argue that your desire to “help” is coming from your goodwill. But don’t we know that “Hell is paved with goodwill” ? And besides, how can we help someone when for the most part we fail to help ourselves ? Remember, the first goal of all spiritual teaching is : “Know thyself”.

Fingers...

Nine-tenths of the ideas which occupy our thoughts, which are the subjects of our conversations, discussions, discourses, public and private, have no existence in Reality.

Political, ethical, and social notions are in this category. They are phantasies, make-believe, comparable with children's games of 'let's pretend'. (Ouspensky found that he could obtain no answer to such questions, when he was in contact with the noumenal plane, and when he sought the reason he found that it was because the questions referred to something that has no existence.)

Dogmas, religious, political, or moral, are ipso facto untrue. Truth itself cannot be expressed in words. Relative truth cannot be conveyed dogmatically. Yet we confound dogma with truth!

Wei Wu Wei

The Great Unknown

In spite of everything that has been written about Reiki, it still remains a great mystery. Here I'm talking about the essence of Reiki, not the practice. Practice can easily be described and it can be said that it's "fingers pointing towards the moon". But the essence of it. What is it ? A lot of words can be used : universal energy, the source, power of the universe or even God. But they remain words, don't they ? Maybe they can evoke a certain emotional associative reaction but does it mean that we're done ? That we "got it" ? Let's be honest : do we really have an understanding of the power that created the universe and that keep maintaining it ? What is really the force sustaining the spinning of all the galaxies, planets ? And closer to us what is the force that maintains you as a body made of billions of cells into a cohesive structure that doesn't fall apart except when your "time is up" ? True we can always refer to an esoteric conceptual framework, but it still remains conceptual, no ? Do we have the experience of it ? Do we directly see it as I can see my computer screen in front of me ? We can appeal to all sorts of descriptions, they will remain descriptions, words aligned one after the other : "fingers...". How can the Unknown be described ? Well, it cannot, sorry. Hints given by great sages and enlightened beings to actually experience directly the mystery of creation will be a much greater help than any description. Try the Tao Te Ching for instance. One thing is for sure : the journey to the Unknown is a neverending one ! And also, it might be that this journey begins with oneself.

Reiki and Zen

"How sad that people ignore the near and search for truth afar."
Hakuin

There are truly meaningful connections that can be made between Reiki and the writings of Zen masters even if you're not a buddhist or a zazen practitioner. This of course is also true of other buddhadharma teachings whether they are from Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana. In a way it is common sense as we know that Usui Sensei drew much of his teaching from buddhadharma. Today I would like to recommend the writings of Hakuin Ekaku (1686-1769) also called Hakuin Zenji. His teaching is relevant for Reiki practitioners because it insists on the fact that practice should be accomplished in the midst of daily life and not in retiring to a monastery. Here, people involved in the Gurdjieff work can also find meaningful insights. So if you want some good hints that could potentially enrich and deepen your Reiki practice and understanding, try the Orategama of Hakuin.
Gassho !

The "Tales"

"FIRST SERIES : To destroy, mercilessly, without any compromises whatsoever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world."

This quote, taken from the first page of Gurdjieff's "Beelzebub's Tales To His Grandson" strikes me in the way it parallels another profound spiritual teaching. I'm sure that those of you who are not just a little acquainted with buddhadharma will be able to see that it mirrors the message of Siddharta Gautama and his explanations of Nirvana. Nirvana being described as a state beyond any conceptualization. Interesting, no ? The reading of the "Tales" have been for me one of the most profound spiritual experience that I've been given. There is so much in this book. And even more ! So I intend, in this blog, to post now and then some quotes from the "Tales" and try to make connection with the other teachings and of course with Reiki. There is a goldmine of knowledge in the "Tales" about energies and the way they work wich I have found invaluable to help me to understand Reiki. I hope that this will inspire you as well.

A little bit of juice

Be humble for you are made of dung. Be noble for you are made of stars.
Serbian proverb

When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything. The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything.
Shunryu Suzuki

The mad mind does not halt.
If it halts, it is enlightnment.
Ch'an saying

That the world is, is the mystical.
Ludwig Wittgenstein

Approach it and there is no beginning;
follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it,
At ease in your own life.
Lao Tzu

There are no facts, only interpretations.
Friedrich Nietzshe

If you try to know it, you have already departed from it.
Chuang Tzu

God has no religion.
Mahatma Gandhi

Quotes from "The Essential Crazy Wisdom" by Wes Nisker.

The Pharisee syndrom

"...God, I thank you that I'm not like the other men..."

Anyone following a spiritual path should be familiar with this parable found in the Gospels. But somehow, I wonder... True there are several interpretations of this parable. But I feel that it exemplifies perfectly well an attitude that we find widely spread among the people that claim to follow a spiritual path (but not only : self-righteousness is endemic in the social and political). And I've been affected the same at some point. Who can claim that he or she had not been feeling superior to others after discovering and starting to follow a spiritual teaching ? And this affection can last a long time if not all of one's life. This attitude is the perfect "compost" to develop a cultic and fanatic approach. And it doesn't have to refer to any church or group or teacher. It can definetly turn to be just the cult of "me", of my view, my way, my approach, especially in these times of self-proclaimed gurus. The Reiki world is not devoid of such an attitude. And this is also the case of many other teaching. So we might do well to try to understand this parable and avoid to be affected by the "Pharisee syndrom". For this matter, sincere and honest self-observation will be the only cure.

Reiki : the 5 Principles

For today only,
Anger not,
Worry not,
Be humble,
With gratitude work on yourself,
Be kind.

In these principles, enounced by the founder of Reiki, Mikao Usui, we find the essence of all spiritual teaching. Seemingly simple, they actually bear a profound meaning. In the Reiki teaching they are proposed as a daily attempt to actualize them in our life. I feel that they are somewhat underestimated in the Reiki world (but not by all). Nevertheless, they are the essence of the teaching. They are made to undermine a major cause of our suffering : our egotism. Can we honestly say that we don't get irritated, if not angry, over nothing ? Can we say that we're not plagued by worries of all sorts, specially nowadays in this uncertain world ? And how many times do we feel we're better than others ? And are we really grateful when we are shown by life that we're not the perfect human being we believe to be ? As for kindness... Still, if we deeply intend to work those principles in our day, as it is suggested, and repeat this exercise day after day, we might begin to smell that in many places in our life, there is something "wrong" going on. Also we might begin to taste from time to time an unusual feeling of ourselves. A feeling of ourselves devoid of tension and anxieties. Sure it's going to be fleeting and almost immediately swallowed by the usual stuff made of tension and anxieties. But after that, you have a first taste of what freedom could be. One thing : it's not going to happen in a matter of a week or even a month. Patience is paramount on the inner journey to freedom. Gurdjieff used to say : "Patience is the Mother of Will."

Fingers pointing towards the moon

In the spiritual and esoteric teaching, words are only meant to point at some truths. To point at some truths and no more. Unfortunately, words are taken for the truth and we imagine that the description in words of something gives us the understanding of this something. Understanding is beyond words. Real understanding is freedom.