REIKI AND THE SLY MAN

Merci encore Monsieur Gurdjieff...et a la votre!

2011-10-29T17:28:00.003+02:00

"Real love is the basis of all, the foundations, the Source. The religions have perverted and deformed love. It was by love that Jesus performed miracles. Real love joined with magnetism. All accumulated vibrations create a current. This current brings the force of love. Real love is a cosmic force which goes through us. If we crystallise it, it becomes a power - the greatest power in the world".
G. I. Gurdjieff

Bon appetit! (morons)

2011-03-18T13:52:00.002+01:00

Only after the last tree has been cut down,

only after the last river has been poisoned,

only after the last fish has been caught,

only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.

Cree Indian Prophecy

Illusions and delusions

2010-06-24T10:04:00.005+02:00

It is painful – and difficult – to recognize one's own illusions and delusions about oneself. But it is necessary and potentially liberating.

Simple truth (but do you get it?)

2009-08-20T18:40:00.003+02:00

"The map is not the territory."

Alfred Korzybski

New Reiki Book

2009-04-03T09:41:00.004+02:00

Review
“In this book, we are invited to explore one of the great spiritual movements born in the twentieth century: Reiki. Don Beckett, unlike many writers on the subject, comes not with blind affirmations regarding the life of Reiki's founder, Mikao Usui. Instead, gathering the latest discoveries made about Usui, Beckett attempts to paint the most accurate portrait possible of a man whose life has been, until now, cloaked in legend. We now see Mikao Usui more fully, as a seeker of truth, concerned about human beings and the true meaning of a human life.

“Beckett describes in detail and with clarity many of the Japanese healing techniques associated with Reiki, as well as those used by the practitioner to increase his or her connection to the universal Source. Also discussed are the archetypal Reiki symbols, their inner meanings and uses, and the energetic empowerment procedure called Reiju, which is largely unknown in Reiki today. Also incorporating selected knowledge from other disciplines, Beckett reveals not just a deeper understanding of Reiki, but a holistic understanding of the energetic nature of life. This book is not only the exploration of a teaching, but the exploration of our true nature and the means leading to its discovery.”
—Karma Tsering, teacher of Reiki, Paris and Amsterdam

“In what is destined to become a classic work about Reiki, Beckett-sensei takes us on a step-by-step journey toward spiritual healing, which then manifests as tangible healing in all aspects of our lives. Having begun our own healing, our influence on the world around us—like ripples from a pebble dropped into a still pond—benefits everyone and everything. And we learn to focus our healing energy as needed. This wonderful book is your opportunity to be healed and to help heal the world.”
—Gyo Bo In Nichijo Fumon, Abbot, Fumon Shugyo-An (Hokke-Mon Shu Buddhist Tradition)

Product Description
Reiki: The True Story is a comprehensive investigation of Reiki as both a healing practice and a lifelong path of spiritual awakening. Author and Reiki expert Don Beckett weaves together a new story about Reiki’s origins and its founder’s true vision. The foundation of this book is the teachings of a group of Reiki founder Mikao Usui’s original students, who held their master’s knowledge in secrecy for more than seventy years.

After a general introduction to Reiki, Beckett presents a thorough history of the discipline (including the testimony of some of Usui’s students) as well as an in-depth manual for practice. The author rounds out his exploration with material from world renowned, contemporary Reiki Masters, Beckett’s own insights into the nature of Reiki energy, as well as information about the chakra system, yin and yang, and the Five Transformations. The book concludes with a chapter entitled “Beyond Reiki,” which bridges knowledge of Reiki with the lesser-known practice of Johrei. Thorough explanations coupled with cutting-edge discoveries about Reiki’s past make this a compelling volume for novice and experienced practitioners alike.

Reiki The True Story

Maurice Nicoll, little florilegium

2009-02-04T11:32:00.005+01:00

"Often people who have listened to the teaching of the Work even for years do not understand what it means to work on themselves..."

"The only person you have to work on is yourself."

"Negative emotions keeps us where we are. If you are negative it is always your fault."

"The personal work of self-observation is for all one's life."

"Realization of mechanicalness is one form of Self-Remembering."

"Identifying is the enemy of Self-Remembering."

"Man must realize his mechanicalness before he can change... Work is a question of increasing one's consciousness, not imitating virtues like monkeys."

"No effort - no work : no work - no awakening : no awakening - death."

"When we begin to observe ourselves sincerely our whole fate begins to change. But this means noticing, over a long period, the way we talk, the way we think, the criticisms we make, the resentment of what is said to us, the way we react to others, the opinions from which we argue, the way we are flattered, how we judge others, our vanity, cruelty, moods, emotions. Unless we detach ourselves from these things, we remain mechanical. We have to have an observing part and an observed part. When the observing I is established in us, it is from this I that everything else follows. Small to begin with, it is like a window to let in the light."

"We project onto others what we cannot see in ourselves."

"To see I's in yourself, notice where you criticize others."

"To become conscious of something unattractive in yourself gives a sense of freedom."

"To talk about one's difficulties is a sign that one has not understood much."

"Our greatest danger is to crystallize out in our idea of ourselves."

"Which of you have observed yet that you are working more for greater comfort than for consciousness."

"A man must get to know himself before he can change... Our mental habits are to us not habits, but truths. They seem quite right to us. We cannot see them as habits and this is the tragedy."

"The secret lies in taking Life as an exercise."

Die in This Love

2009-01-03T21:08:00.006+01:00

Die, die, die in this love.
If you die in this love your soul will be renewed.
Die, die, don’t fear the death of that which is known.
If you die to the temporal you will become timeless.
Die, die, cut off those chains
that hold you prisoner to the world of attachment.
Die, die, die to the deathless and you will be eternal.
Die, die, come out of this cloud.
When you leave the cloud,
you will be the effulgent moon.
Die, die, die to the din and noise of mundane concerns.
In the silence of love you will find the spark of life.

Rumi

A la votre Monsieur Gurdjieff !

2008-10-29T09:06:00.012+01:00

"Only he is not a nothing who has understood his nothingness and has worked on himself to change it."

"It is only by grounding our awareness in the living sensation of our bodies that the "I Am", our real presence, can awaken."

Storing energy, negative emotions - Ouspensky

2008-08-06T11:30:00.005+02:00

Q. Can energy be stored ?

A. Yes, energy can be stored when you are able to store it. But at first the question is not about storing but about not wasting. We would have enough energy for everything we want to do if we did not waste it on unnecessary things. For instance, the reason why we are so formatory is that we are too dull, we do not feel enough. We think we feel, but this is an illusion. And the reason why we feel so little is because we have no energy available for the emotional centre.
Leaks of energy were already spoken about, but the worst of all is expressing negative emotions. If you can stop the expression of negative emotions, you will save energy and never feel the lack of it.
We can only hope to become conscious beings if we use in the right way the energy that is now used in the wrong way. The machine can produce enough energy, but you can waste it on being angry or irritated or something like that, and then very little remains. The normal organism produces quite enough energy not only for all centres but also for storing. Production is all right, but expenditure is wrong. These leaks have to be studied, because with some kinds of leaks it is not worth going on until they are stopped, for the more one accumulates energy, the more will leak out. It would be like pouring water into a sieve. Certain negative emotions produce precisely such leaks. In certain situations some people go through a whole range of negative emotions so habitual that they do not even notice them. It may occupy only five minutes or five seconds, but it may be sufficient to spend all the energy their organism produced for twenty-four hours.
I want particularly to draw your attention to this idea of negative emotion and the state of negative emotion. This is really the second important point; the first referred to consciousness-that we are not conscious and that we can become conscious. It is necessary to realize that there is not a single useful negative emotion, useful in any sense. Negative emotions are all a sign of weakness. Next, we must realize that we can struggle with them; they can be conquered and destroyed, because there is no real centre for them. If they had a real centre, like instictive emotions, there would be no chance; we would remain for ever in the power of negative emotions. So it is lucky for us that they have no real centre; it is an artificial centre that works, and this artificial centre can be abolished. When this is done, we will feel much better for it. Even the realization that it is possible is very much, but we have many convictions, prejudices and even 'principles' about negative emotions, so it is very difficult to get rid of the idea that they are necessary. Try to think about it, and if you have any questions I will answer them.

Ouspensky in "The Fourth Way"

Meister Eckhart "It is not necessary to understand this"

2008-05-21T19:18:00.005+02:00

Beati pauperes spiritu

Blessedness opened its mouth of wisdom and spoke: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Every angel and every saint and everything that was ever born must remain silent when the wisdom of the Father speaks; for all the wisdom of the angels and of all creatures is sheer nothingness before the groundless wisdom of God. And this wisdom has declared that the poor are blessed.

Now there exist two kinds of poverty: an external poverty, which is good and is praiseworthy in a person willing to take it upon himself or herself through the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he was himself poor on earth. Of this poverty I do not want to speak any further. For there is still another kind of poverty, an inner poverty, by which our Lord's word is to be understood when he says : "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Now I beg you to be such poor to understand this speech. For I tell you by the eternal truth, if you are not equal to this truth of which we now want to speak, then you cannot understand me.

Various people have questioned me about what poverty is in itself and what a poor person is. That is what we want to answer. Bishop Albrecht says that a poor person is one who takes no satisfaction in any of the things that God ever created-and that is well said. But we say it better still and take poverty in a yet higher understanding: he is a poor person who wills nothing and knows nothing and has nothing. Of these three points we are going to speak and I beseech you for the love of God that you understand this truth if you can. But if you do not understand it, do not worry yourselves because of it, for the truth I want to talk about is of such a kind that only a few good people will understand it.

First, we say that one is a poor person who wills nothing. What this means, many people do not correctly understand. These are the people who in penitential exercise and external practices, of which they make a great deal, cling to their selfish I. The Lord have pity upon such people who know so little of the divine truth! Such people are called holy on account of external appearance, but inwardly they are asses, for they do not grasp the real meaning of divine truth. Indeed, these individuals too say that one is a poor person who wills nothing. However, they interpret this to mean that one should so live as to never fulfill one's own will in any way, but rather strive to fulfill the ever-beloved will of God. These people are right in their way, for their intention is good and for that we want to praise them. May God in his mercy grant them the kingdom of heaven. But in all divine truth, I say that these people are not poor people, nor do they resemble poor people. They are highly considered only in the eyes of those who know no better. I, however, say that they are asses who understand nothing of divine truth. Because of their good intentions, they may receive the kingdom of heaven. But of that poverty of which I now want to speak, they know nothing.

These days, if someone asks me what a poor person is who wills nothing, I answer and say: So long as a person has his own wish in him to fulfill even the ever-beloved will of God, if that is still a matter of his will, then this person does not yet possess the poverty of which we want to speak. Indeed, this person then still has a will with which he or she wants to satisfy God's will, and that is not the right poverty. For a human being to possess true poverty, he or she must be as free of his or her created will as they were when they did not yet exist. Thus I say to you in the name of divine truth, as long as you have the will, even the will to fulfill God's will, and as long as you have the desire for eternity and for God, to this very extent you are not properly poor, for the only one who is a poor person is one who wills nothing and desires nothing.

When I still stood in my first cause, there I had no God and was cause of myself. There I willed nothing, I desired nothing, for I was a pure being and a knower of myself in delight of the truth. There I willed myself and nothing else. What I willed, that I was; and what I was, that I willed. There I stood, free of God and of all things. But when I took leave from this state of free will and received my created being, then I had a God. Indeed, before creatures were, God was not yet "God"; rather, he was what he was. But when creatures came to be and when they received their created being, then God was no longer "God" in himself; rather, he was "God" in the creatures.

Now we say that God, insofar as he is "God," is not a perfect goal for creatures. Indeed, even the lowliest creature in God possesses as high a rank. And if a fly possessed reason and could consciously seek the eternal abyss of divine being out of which it has come, then we would say that God, with all he is as God, would still be incapable of fulfilling and satisfying this fly. Therefore we pray God to rid us of "God" so that we may grasp and eternally enjoy the truth where the highest angel and the fly and the soul are equal. There is where I stood and willed what I was, and I was what I willed. So then we say, if people are to be poor in will, they must will and desire as little as they willed and desired when they were not yet. And in this way is a person poor who wills nothing.

Second, a poor person is one who knows nothing. We have said on other occasions that a person should live a life neither for himself, nor for the truth, nor for God. But now we say it differently and want to go further and say: Whoever achieves this poverty must so live that they not even know themselves to live, either for oneself or for truth or for God. One must be so free of all knowledge that he or she does not know or recognize or perceive that God lives in him or her; even more, one should be free of all knowledge that lives in him or her. For, when people still stood in God's eternal being, nothing else lived in them. What lived there was themselves. Hence we say that people should be as free of their own knowledge as when they were not yet, letting God accomplish whatever God wills. People should stand empty. Everything that ever came out of God once stood in pure activity. But the activity proper to people is to love and to know. It is a moot question, though, in which of these happiness primarily consists. Some authorities have said that it lies in knowing, some say it lies in loving, still others say that it lies in knowing and in loving. These are closer to the truth. We say, however, that it lies neither in knowing nor in loving. Rather, there is a something in the soul from which knowing and loving flow. It does not itself know and love as do the forces of the soul. Whoever comes to know this something knows what happiness consists in. It has neither before nor after, and it is in need of nothing additional, for it can neither gain nor lose. For this very reason it is deprived of understanding that God is acting within it. Moreover, it is that identical self which enjoys itself just as God does. Thus we say that people shall keep themselves free and void so that they neither understand nor know that God works in them. Only thus can people possess poverty. The masters say that God is a being, an intelligent being, and that he knows all things. We say, however: God is neither being nor intelligent nor does he know this or that. Thus God is free of all things, and therefore he is all things. Whoever is to be poor in spirit, then, must be poor of all his own understanding so that he knows nothing about God or creatures or himself. Therefore it is necessary that people desire not to understand or know anything at all of the works of God. In this way is a person able to be poor of one's own understanding.

Third, one is a poor person who has nothing. Many people have said that perfection consists in people possessing none of the material things of the earth. And indeed, that is certainly true in one sense: when one holds to it intentionally. But this is not the sense that I mean.

I have said before that one is a poor person who does not even will to fulfill God's will, that is, who so lives that he or she is empty both of his own will and of God's will, just as they were when they were not yet. About this poverty we say that it is the highest poverty . Second, we have said one is a poor person who himself understands nothing of God's activity in him or her. When one stands as free of understanding and knowing [as God stands void of all things], then that is the purest poverty. But the third kind of poverty of which we are now going to speak is the most difficult: that people have nothing.

Now give me your undivided attention. I have often said, and great masters say this too: people must be so empty of all things and all works, whether inward or outward, that they can become a proper home for God, wherein God may operate. But now we say it differently. If people stand free of all things, of all creatures, of God and of themselves, but if it still happens that God can find a place for acting in them, then we say: So long as that is so, these persons are not poor in the strictest poverty. For God does not desire that people reserve a place for him to work in. Rather, true poverty of spirit consists in keeping oneself so free of God and of all one's works that if God wants to act in the soul, God himself becomes the place wherein he wants to act-and this God likes to do. For when God finds a person as poor as this, God operates his own work and a person sustains God in him, and God is himself the place of his operation, since God is an agent who acts within himself. Here, in this poverty, people attain the eternal being that they once were, now are, and will eternally remain.

There is a saying of Saint Paul's which reads: "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (I Co. 15:10). My own saying, in contrast, seems to hold itself above grace and above being and above knowing and above willing and above desiring. How then can Saint Paul's word be true? To this one must respond that Saint Paul's words are true. God's grace was necessarily in him, and the grace of God accomplished in him the growth from accidental into essential being. When grace finished and had completed its work, Paul remained what he was.

Thus we say that a person must be so poor that he or she is no place and has no place wherein God could act. Where people still preserve some place in themselves, they preserve distinction. This is why I pray God to rid me of God; for my essential being is above God insofar as we consider God as the origin of creatures, indeed, in God's own being, where God is raised above all being and all distinctions, there I was myself, there I willed myself, and I knew myself to create this person that I am. Therefore I am cause of myself according to my being, which is eternal, but not according to my becoming, which is temporal. Therefore also I am unborn, and following the way of my unborn being I can never die. Following the way of my unborn being I have always been, I am now, and shall remain eternally. What I am by my [temporal] birth is destined to die and be annihilated, for it is mortal; therefore it must with time pass away. In my [eternal] birth all things were born, and I was cause of myself and of all things. If I had willed it, neither I nor any things would have come to be. And if I myself were not, God would not be either. That God is "God," of this I am the cause. If I were not, God would not be "God." It is not necessary, however, to understand this.

A great master says that his breakthrough is nobler than his flowing out, and this is true. When I flowed out from God, all things spoke: God is. But this cannot make me happy, for it makes me understand that I am a creature. In the breakthrough, on the other hand, where I stand free of my own will and of the will of God and of all his works and of God himself, there I am above all creatures and am neither God nor creature. Rather, I am what I was and what I shall remain now and forever. Then I receive an impulse which shall bring me above all the angels. In this impulse I receive wealth so vast that God cannot be enough for me in all that makes him God, and with all his divine works. For in this breakthrough I discover that I and God are one. There I am what I was, and I grow neither smaller nor bigger, for there I am an immovable cause that moves all things. Here, then, God finds no place in people, for people achieve with this poverty what they were in eternity and will remain forever. Here God is one with the spirit, and that is the strictest poverty one can find.

If anyone cannot understand this discourse, let them not trouble their hearts about it. For, as long as people do not equal this truth, they will not understand this speech. For this is an unveiled truth that has come immediately from the heart of God. That we may so live as to experience it eternally, so help us God. Amen.

Being a sly man (or a sly woman of course)

2008-05-07T10:08:00.010+02:00

The sly man is not a cunning man. He doesn’t deceive others. Being a sly man is not being a little smart ass.

The sly man knows that work on oneself is work on himself, not on others. The sly man knows that it is pointless and fruitless to try to correct others. The sly man only corrects himself.

The sly man doesn’t judge others’s negative attitudes or behaviours. The sly man knows through work on himself that he is filled as much as others with negative attitudes or behaviours, sometimes even worse than others.

The sly man doesn’t criticize others’s opinions, philosophy or religion.

The sly man knows that all philosophy or religion bear some truth worthy of attention.

The sly man doesn’t show off with his knowledge. He knows that he doesn’t know anything.

The sly man is seeking the Truth. He’s not trying to know the “truth” of the “behind the scenes” of the political or social games, about which he couldn’t care less.

The sly man knows he is going to die. He reminds himself constantly about it, so he doesn’t forget.

The sly man knows that he is not going to “save the world”.

The sly man strives to achieve peace, harmony and freedom within so that he can share peace, harmony and freedom with others.

In Silence...

Forgotten Wisdom

2008-05-01T11:22:00.006+02:00

If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.

The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.

Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.

Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching 57

Master Han Shan

2008-03-26T12:31:00.005+01:00

True Dharma seekers who live in the world use their daily activity as a polishing tool. Outwardly they may appear to be very busy, like flint striking steel, making sparks everywhere. But inwardly they silently grow. For although they may be working very hard, they are working for the sake of the work and not for the profits it will bring them. Unattached to the results of their labor, they transcend the frenetic to reach the Way's essential tranquillity. Doesn't a rough and tumbling stream also sparkle like striking flints - while it polishes into smoothness every stone in its path?

Han Shan

Sly Man's Wisdom

2008-03-25T11:37:00.003+01:00

Never forget that any stick has two ends.
The devil can lead you to Paradise, and God, directly to Hell.

Gurdjieff

A born seeker by Henri Tracol

2008-03-23T12:30:00.003+01:00

Man is a born seeker.
Equiped as he is by nature for vibrating to a vast range of impressions, is he not predestined to an endless wondering? Bound by necessity to select from these impressions those suitable for conscious assimilation– and thereby to approach a genuine perception of his own identity– is he not singled out for continuous self-interrogation?
Such is his true vocation, his birthright. He may forget it, deny it, bury it in the depths of his unconscious being; he may go astray, misuse this hidden gift and increase his own alienation from reality; he may even try to convince himself that he has reached, once and for all, the shores of eternal Truth. No matter; this secret call is still alive, promting him from within to try, and to try increasingly, to realize the significance of his presence here on earth. For he is here to awake, to remember and to search, again and still again.
Search for what? it could be asked. Surely there must be a definitie aim, a purpose, a mark to be hit in due course. Have we not been warned only too often by modern scientists that “if you don’t know what you are looking for, you will never know what you actually will find”? According to their view, mathematical predictability must always prevail over the fertile challenge of uncertainty. And none of them will listen if you venture to remark that to “know” beforehand inevitably means that you will never “find” anything. Indeed there is no escape from the old bugbear of “whatness” unless we remember Scotus Erigena’s distum, “God does not know what He is, because He is not any ‘what’.”
This cannot but remind me of my last meeting with an aging friend who was about to undertake what he sensed would be his last journey to sacred places and wise men of the East.
Bidding him good-bye, I said, “I hope you will find what you are seeking.” He replied with a peaceful smile, “Since I am really searching for nothing, maybe I shall find it.”
Let us get rid at once of a possible misunderstanding and clearly state that no real knowledge can ever be attained by mere chance. There is such fascination in the shifting lure of existence that it draws our interest away from the immediate perception of the essential. Letting oneself drift into persuasive “visions” and “discoveries”, no “search for the sake of searching,” is merely to indulge in daydreaming–a form of self-tyranny very much at variance with man’s objective needs.
Then how is one set about an authentic quest? Instead of surrendering at once to the call of any particular “way”, one should first try with humility to discern some of the requisites for setting off on the right foot.
Is it not the first essential an act of recognition–recognition of the utter necessity of search itself, its priority, its urgency for him who aspires to awake and assume as fully as possible his inner and outer existence?
Whenever a man awakes, he awakes from the false assumption that he has always been awake, and therefore the master of his thoughts, feelings and actions. In that moment, he realizes–and this is the shadow side of recognition–how deeply ignorant he is of himself, how helplessly at the mercy of any suggestion that happens to act upon him at a given moment.
He may also awake–if only for a flash–to the light of a higher consciousness, which will grant him a glimpse of the world of hidden potentialities to which he essentially belongs, help him transcend his own limitations, and open the way to inner transformation.

Henri Tracol

Be "yourself"

2008-01-03T10:50:00.002+01:00

There is a saying that is used frequently these days by spiritual teachers belonging to different traditions, or at least claiming their filiation to a spiritual tradition or another. It seems to be a kind of new “sesame” to help one to reach total freedom. This saying is : “Be yourself”. In a world where individualism (even though the term is highly misunderstood) in the form of the fulfillment of the individual has become the ultimate social achievement, it is no wonder that presenting the spiritual path as just being “oneself” is magnetically appealing. But is it really what true and genuine spirituality has to offer ?

All the spiritual teachings from different traditions, begin their teaching by informing us that in some way, there is something “wrong” within ourselves that is the main cause of our suffering. And they all agree with their own words that this cause is what is commonly known today as our ego or personality or “me”; in short : “oneself”. This “oneself”, this “me”, is exactly what one has to work on if one wants to realize who or what one really is and get rid of one’s suffering. In this light, it seems that the “be yourself” advice can lead to a huge confusion and misunderstandings about the actual spiritual path and consequently bring even more suffering. Even tough following a genuine spiritual path will lead one to be oneself ! (There is no spirituality without paradox)

Before being oneself, one needs to sort out what really is this oneself one takes for granted. Is “oneself" this collection of contradictory opinions, full of pretence, self-conceit, self-satisfaction, that gets upset over nothing and is always up to judge, to criticize and to give opinions about all and everything when in actuality one has no idea about what one is saying and is just repeating like a parrot what one heard or read somewhere and that was fitting with the mood of the moment ? Is this really “myself” ? Well if this is the case, what a piece of crap !

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

2007-11-18T11:26:00.002+01:00

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

2007-10-29T10:39:00.001+01:00

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

Beelzebub's Tales

Relaxation

2007-09-20T16:24:00.002+02:00

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

2007-09-15T11:48:00.004+02:00

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)

2007-09-09T12:06:00.002+02:00

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

2007-09-04T22:54:00.004+02:00

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"

2007-08-28T12:04:00.001+02:00

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...

2007-08-26T10:09:00.001+02:00

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

2007-08-23T11:24:00.001+02:00

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

2007-08-21T10:32:00.001+02:00

"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"

2007-08-20T11:19:00.002+02:00

"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

2007-08-19T20:17:00.001+02:00

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

2007-08-19T16:24:00.002+02:00

"...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

2007-08-17T20:36:00.001+02:00

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

2007-08-15T11:07:00.003+02:00

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.