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 Like
all systems that deal with energy, Reiki practitioners are extremely
conscious of the positive and negative energies that swirl around them.
Their life mission is to eradicate negative energies and harness positive
energies for the betterment of themselves, their patients and the humanity
around them.
The Wheel of Life:
East vs. West
So Reiki practitioners attach much importance to building up
“character” in the followers. Every practitioner is given five affirmations
that have to become part and parcel of his or her daily existence.
Surprisingly, the five affirmations that are
taught to Reiki students were not laid down by Dr. Usui the founder of Reiki
practice. These were propounded by Japanese Meiji emperor as five guiding
spiritual principles for the Japanese people.
The Wheel of Life in Buddhism
Dr. Usui adopted them as they
helped Reiki students build greater awareness in their daily practice.
"Just
for today I will live in an attitude of gratitude."
This is the first of the affirmations that
direct the attention of the student towards the need to always count his
blessings rather than bemoan all that he has not acquired in life. This
consciousness brings with it a feeling of fulfillment in life and creates an
actual environment of abundance. It connects the individual to the treasures
that lie buried in the consciousness and fosters a sense of wonder. It makes
the practitioner humble, stabilizes and calms his mind and strengthens his
resolve in the face of adversities.
A good way to begin is to maintain an attitude
of gratitude while doing Reiki for others. This prevents ego from asserting
itself. Every session is to be regarded as an opportunity for service and
every act is to be seen as a chance to discharge a debt for the bounty that
nature has conferred on us. One begins to see the wealth that we have been
conferred with and our gratitude grows geometrically.
"Just
for today I will not worry."
This is the second of the affirmations. Worry
is an expression of a fear that our desires may not be fulfilled. It is also
an indication that the ego is predominant and will tolerate no loss of face.
The worry then begins to impact the whole being. It deprives the individual
of sleep, puts him off his food and distorts his facial expressions and
causes a lot of stress to him and those around him. It is a declaration of a
lack of trust in the Universe.
When there is a commitment to drop worry from
your mind, you are taking our first step towards empowerment. It is a call
to do your duty without expectation about the fruits of your action. It is a
state of mind where you will take appropriate and right action for a given
task but will not focus on the results of the action. You will develop a
dispassionate state of mind where the action and not the results are
important—a state of mind where you will trust the Universe decide on what
is the best and most appropriate result of a given action. This will help
you see life’s little setbacks as challenges posed to you by the Universe.
It will de-stress you and help you develop an impartial perspective on the
events that happen in your life. You will appreciate that concern for the
events is OK but not anxiety about them.
"Just
for today I will not anger."
This is the third of the five affirmations.
Anger is a function of the ego and must be recognized as such. A thwarted
ego reacts with anger. Resistance to anger will make it persistent. It has
to be rooted out. This affirmation is an expression of your desire to root
out the anger and in the process, the ego.
When anger rises within you, pause a while and
examine it dispassionately. What is causing this anger in you? Has some
desire – expressed or unexpressed – been thwarted by some event or action of
someone else? If so, examine whether the desire was right or appropriate in
the given circumstances? How was your desire viewed by the other person?
Does the non fulfillment of the desire in any way make you worse off than
you are? Does it change the way you view life?
Reiki practitioners advocate that when anger
rises within you, it would be desirable to visualize it as a red fiery ball
that you are flinging away from you or it is gradually expanding till it is
completely dissipated.
"Just
for today I shall do my work honestly."
Is an affirmation that is a natural corollary
to the above affirmations. Honesty is a willingness to accept our
limitations and work upon our strengths to the best of our abilities. This
affirmation re-establishes your contact with the real you and enables you
transcend the ego which tries to overreach and is dishonest or boastful of
your abilities. It will bring with it a deep contentment and an acceptance
of yourself as you are. This will be reflected in your attitude to life and
help you live your life with gratitude and tolerance of others weaknesses.
This awareness will destroy your anger and overcome your tendency to worry
about outcomes that you boasted about dishonestly.
The last of the affirmations is a celebration
of life itself:
"Just
for today I will show love and respect to all living beings."
This affirmation is intended to foster in the
Reiki practitioner a sense of oneness with all life on this planet and
elsewhere in the Universe. It is a tenet that Jesus Christ advocated in the
Bible “Love thy neighbor as ye love thy self”. It is also a call to mankind
to “do unto others what ye would have done unto ye”.
By affirming that you will spend the day giving
and spreading love you are delving into the roots of existence itself – you
are defining the meaning of life, of creation.
As a Reiki practitioner you are acknowledging
that God created this world out of love. He wanted to share his love and
wanted to be loved. Love is the foundation upon which the wrap and woof of
the Universe was defined. Without love there is no life. Hate is an
invitation to sin and death. Reiki is a positive energy that is given for
love. It is soothing, healing and curative energy that loves the being it is
coursing through. You as the medium of transmission must be a
personification of the love. You must be an effective instrument that
transmits the energy selflessly and unconditionally.
Reiki affirmations are not in the exclusive
domain of Reiki. They are universal affirmations that are the very
foundations of every spiritual teaching. A practitioner who strictly follows
these five tenets of the teaching will find that he is directly connected to
source of energy and the more he gives the more he receives to give.
For more information about Reiki by the book
Learn Reiki in 7 Days!
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