Nature
Students often ask about using Reiki on nature – on trees for example –
and during the time Chiyoko Yamaguchi was doing seminars, Westerners
would ask about this. Chiyoko Yamaguchi found this a very strange idea,
not because she didn’t care about nature but because she understood that
nature already has Reiki flowing well through it, that the interference in
the flow of life is not nature, it is us. In fact it seems arrogant to be trying
to give Reiki to nature when we are in such a state ourselves. Usui knew
that when we find the depth in the simplicity of what he taught, when we
find our connection with nature again and begin to live in harmony with it
rather than trying to control it, then, collective healing will occur. So the focus
is on giving Reiki to us and healing the humans rather than nature. In this way,
at a time it is needed more than ever, we will stop destroying the very thing
our lives depend on.
Gokai
Chiyoko Yamaguchi urged people to practise, and then practise some
more, to use Reiki as much as possible. She calmly and patiently reassured
those who could not initially feel Byosen to relax and let it come. It can be
incredibly frustrating not to feel much at first when you learn Reiki, and
(especially with our Western mindset) we tend to want to reach outside to
find ways to make our Reiki flow improve and to feel more. Many people
find themselves taking endless courses and workshops for various things,
bumping from one technique to the other if they don’t immediately feel
they’ve ‘got’ what they’re looking for. This is the time to stop reaching
outside and instead to be still and go within. The Gokai (five principles)
can help us with this. Those who practised Reiki in Japan in the early days
placed great emphasis on the Gokai, it is an integral part of Reiki and the
fact that it is on Usui’s memorial stone indicates how highly regarded it
was. It is easy to miss the remarkable depth of the Gokai because of its
simplicity but anyone who spent time around Chiyoko Yamaguchi came
to understand just how important it was. To look at oneself and do inner
work is our responsibility and is a part of Reiki. “Look after the first four
principles,” she would say, “and the fifth will look after itself.” Once we are
not locked in anger, free from worry, living in gratitude and calmly doing
whatever needs to be done in our lives, kindness is our natural state, it
flows out of us effortlessly.
Going within
Today many people look to find something or someone to make them
more ‘powerful’. They look for the quick fix, the magic symbol, the new
way to improve. Chiyoko Yamaguchi, in the early days of teaching Jikiden
Reiki to non-Japanese, found some people who had already learned other
kinds of Reiki in their home countries felt there weren’t enough symbols,
they wanted to learn the magic and become more powerful. It’s a simple
misunderstanding of what Reiki is, and who we are. The magic and the
power is all already there in Reiki, but not as an ego-based exercise.
We don’t have to find new and complicated ways to make Reiki happen or
work out how to improve it, we simply need to have the patience and
make the time to allow what is already there to emerge. Chiyoko
Yamaguchi never aspired to make herself magic or powerful, yet she was
both in the sense of what happened when she gave Reiki. All the time we
are reaching outwards to find ways to improve, we are moving further
away from finding the depth within and connecting with what we are
truly looking for.
Those who already practise Reiki may think, ‘I get this’, but take a
moment to think about a time you did a treatment and nothing appeared
to happen for the person. Inside, things are happening of course, but
nothing that can be seen or noticed on the surface and the receiver therefore
feels the treatment didn’t work. Have you ever felt worried when this
happened? Have you wanted in that moment to make your Reiki stronger
somehow? To find a magic way to guarantee people always feel the Reiki
and the benefits? To ensure there are immediate palpable results? In these
moments it is tempting to look for something outside us to make these
things happen, yet these feelings are the call to look within, to notice our
frustration and the desire to control outcomes. Doing Reiki can help us
identify the parts of us that we need to see, to love, to allow and release.
The more we let go of these worries and connect to the stillness already
inside us, the more we can truly experience everything. In this way we
connect more deeply to the flow of life. And that is what Reiki is.
Gratitude
Chiyoko Yamaguchi didn’t glamorise or dramatise her beloved Reiki. She
was just using the natural connection we all have to source energy to help
those around her. It is possible to see that many of today’s attitudes to
Reiki contrast strongly with her approach. As a whole, we have moved
from the simple gratitude for Reiki in our everyday lives to some kind of
competition about the best, the strongest Reiki and the most powerful
techniques. This takes us further away from the spirit of Reiki.
We can honour her and all those women who were involved in beginning
and preserving the practice of Reiki by living with the Gokai, going
within, helping each other, finding the depth in the simplicity and being
willing to ‘just put our hands on’ for 60 odd years.
You can purchase Women in Reiki by Amanda Jayne and Silke Kleemann from online stores now.
Comments