Reiki

I took my Reiki 1 class in April 2006 from my RMT Gina Decker. It was certainly very new to me, but Reiki brought me to the right time and place to take my level 1 class from just the right RMT and with just the right classmates.

I took my Reiki 2 class in  April 2007 from my RMT Gina Decker. This was another exercise in growth for me. I had new classmates for this class, and I made new friends. Level 2 really kicks it up a notch. It made a difference in my desire and therefore my ability to give Reiki to others.

I took my Reiki 3 class in February – May 2008 from my RMT's Gina Decker and Veronica Dougherty. This class simultaneously tough me how much and how little I had learned over the previous years. In completing this class I felt like I had reached an educated starting point for the never ending learning that is Reiki.

So what is Reiki?

I have answered this question more than a few times over the past few years. There are many books about Reiki and there are many web pages about it. If you were to tell me how you wish to view Reiki (assuming you have a notion about it), I could certainly find information to support your view point. I will not answer to all that. I am going to answer this question a little differently.

What is Reiki to me?

I am an engineer. I am predisposed to the “show me” syndrome. There is one very cool thing about being an engineer when it comes to the subject of energy. I believe in energy because I can see and measure it. I know it flows from one point to another because there is a difference of potential (an imbalance if you will). Energy likes to have balance. So when someone tells me things can change in me (or others) due to correcting imbalances it is not really such a big stretch of my imagination. Reiki is energy, Life force energy or Divine Energy. Reiki is a Japanese word so there is a bit of translation, but it means essentially Divine energy.

When my son was very young, and was sick we came up with a little gesture that we still do to this day. I held out my index finger and made a little sizzle noise and said “My heart to yours, my energy to yours”. It is our expression of purest love we just do the gesture without saying anything today but that is the meaning. That was well before any of my Reiki training. It is the feeling of “I would gladly be sick for you in your place, because I love you” I am sure you feel that way about some people, If not, I hope you do soon. On occasion I find myself doing that gesture to people I care about, just kind of naturally flows out that way. They usually look at me like “what the heck was that?” In a nut shell that is Reiki to me, it is the purest of love and intent that flows to someone else. It doesn't start from me and it does not end with me, I am just a link in the chain. To me it is prayer, prayer for someone far away, or maybe hands on prayer for someone near. It has a lot more energy than my before Reiki prayers had, but that likely has more to do with the strength of my faith than anything else. My faith got much stronger through my Reiki Journey.

OK, So what is Reiki to me?

My heart to your heart, may the Divine energy that the Holy Spirit gives to me also pass to you for your greatest good, and for the good of all people.

And so it is, I give thanks to God through Jesus Christ.

Just some closing thoughts, mine obviously.

Reiki isn’t tied to any religion. Reiki as it is taught is just about the energy, and sharing the energy for the greatest good of others. It originated in Japan and has a somewhat incomplete or unclear history (There seems to be quite a few histories of Reiki). What is clear from the histories is Usui Sensi had a grand vision of helping and healing people, to raise them from their despair and heal them into a better more productive life style. It was to this goal that Usui Sensi dedicated his life and energy.

I do have a religion. I am a Christian first, and a Reiki practitioner. Reiki has been a difficult journey for me as I am a conservative Christian and none of my prejudices went unchallenged. But God took me here. I do not question that wisdom any more. I am a Christian Reiki Practitioner, and so I will remain.

Sometimes Reiki gets a bit of a spin on it just because the way the teacher believes. They add things to the basis of Reiki because they think it will be helpful for their students. I am sure I put a part of me in my classes. I practice Reiki with a lot of different people with a lot of different religious beliefs. I love them dearly and I wish I could find a Church where the people were so open, loving and genuine. In the group I have shares with it is always about the energy and for the good of the people we are working on.

Like I said before, if you tell me what you want to believe about Reiki, I can find stuff on line that will most likely support your view. But just because you read it on line does not make it true or false.

I would like to define a symbol (word) for you which has multiple meanings as words tend to have. It is the word Namaste which means to me: “I honor the Spirit in you which is also in me”. Honestly, as a Christian I view this as an extremely beautiful word picture (symbol). Since I brought symbols up, there are some symbols in Reiki. Some people tend to freak at this (the pre Reiki me for instance). Words are symbols. If the symbol is written in some language other than my language it is not really a good reason for me to freak out. At least I find out what the symbol means before I freak out these days. The symbols in Reiki are word pictures that represent things like “Please Put Power Here” or “Please Put Power On This”, and “Please Heal this person body and mind” and “May the Spirit in me connect to the Spirit in you”. These are 3 of the 4 symbols in Reiki. These symbols are just ideas in the form of a shape or Japanese word.

I am at the end of my view on Reiki and a few of my thoughts on it.

Namaste,

Lou  

I Live in Corona Ca. USA.