"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.