The light is always warm. It’s never cold or distant. It invites us into positive experiences. There isn’t an inner light that is negative. Light glows and is always pure. There isn’t a murky light in healing or meditation. It radiates and permeates all the spaces of the body and our being. When we make ourselves available to self-existing light, it’s freeing and we feel alive. The light is life! Another reason it’s freeing is that light is always open. We may contract to the light for various reasons, but there’s no contraction in the light itself. It’s expansive and infinite. The light goes on and on. In its expanse there’s much peace and we feel greatly comforted. And light heals. There’s no doubt that light heals. It’s light that heals. The light is life force and love. We can also wear it like a protective garment, and carry it like a protective shield.

As part of the Reiki Training I provide, I offer a lot of mentoring and support. One format this takes place is a practitioner-only meeting every month, a dojo meeting. And often in these meetings we crowdsource wisdom by sharing and listening.

Last week I asked participants how they were going to make the light more visible in 2012. This is what emerged!

• Encourage others: This is in regards to all the people around us. Encouraging people is a natural outgrowth of living a life of spiritual healing. When we ourselves become empowered, healed and benefit in all the ways spiritual practice adds to our life, we’re naturally motivated to lift others and have the resources to do so.
• Open minds: Healing transformation and spiritual growth need a certain willingness and ability to entertain possibilities. Without open-mindedness we don’t leave outdated beliefs and patterns behind. Helping others open their minds to greater realities is a way of sharing the light.
• “Taking care of your own house”: It all starts with ourselves. We have to engage the light first within our being and establish it in our heart and mind, and in our life. Otherwise it isn’t authentic, and we aren’t able to really bring the light into all the spaces the world needs it.
• Being present/mindful: This may seem obvious, but putting it into place and remembering it every moment is quite an undertaking. And it’s a prime way of sharing light. In presence and mindfulness we can drop expectations and judgments, and be with others and life in a natural, open way.
• Just being: This is a state of simply being the light we are. Often we are on the way to becoming this or that. We have to-do lists, goals and ambitions. Those have their place. But constantly being on that treadmill is exhausting!
  
• Smiling: The light spreads so wonderfully when we smile genuinely. It lights up others’ faces and lightens their hearts.
• Selflessness: When we receive so many blessings because of our dedication to our path, it becomes harder to hold on to them selfishly. There’s a natural abundance in blessings and it wants to be part of a domino effect of giving.
• Next generation: These are our kids, and all younger folk. They carry the light of the future as it is. As conscious and compassionate adults, we have a significant role to play in modeling how best the light can be harnessed and embodied.
• Service: This is outreach. Being full, we give. The light passing through us without resistance is limitless and more than enough for anyone who needs it.
• Listening: This is an echo of being present. Both the world and the earth, as well as other people and species need us to hear them! We’re wrapped up in our own busyness and distractions, but with spiritual practice we’re able to lower the noise and focus on the signal. If we listen without filters, the light flows unhindered.

Reiki is light. Life force is light. Ki is light. Light is consciousness. I’m a fortunate teacher to have people come to me to learn Reiki who can articulate and express so many facets of the light in a single meeting, spontaneously. I didn’t ask them to prepare these responses beforehand.

Light that is knowingly radiated into the world has a different vibration from light that is unknowingly brought into life. Light that is knowingly directed carries consciousness. It vibrates at a higher frequency and can directly interact with the consciousness of those whom it affects.

— Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee

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Units of divine light, finer than electrons and other subatomic particles, are the bricks of which matter is composed. All things seen on the screen of the universe are differentiated currents of cosmic light…

— Paramahansa Yogananda

In the physical world objects are illuminated by outer light, not having a light source of their own. Objects can only be seen by the light which reflects off of them. It’s the same with colors. We see the color of a red apple because it absorbs light except for the frequency equivalent to red, which is reflected back to our eyes.

On the other hand, human beings have an inner light. Although housed in a physical form, the human soul provides a source of light from within. Without the soul we’d be hollow, rudderless. Our eyes would be dull; no evidence of light would exist in us.

Other living things can be said to be structured the same way, or at least interact with available external light such as the case with plants and photosynthesis.

“Nature emits a light, and by its radiance she can be known. But in man there is still another light apart from that which is innate in nature. It is the light through which man experiences, learns, and fathoms the supernatural.

Those who seek in the light of nature speak from the knowledge of nature; but those who seek in the light of man speak from the knowledge of super-nature.” — Paracelsus

The sun is the greatest provider of light and heat to the world, and artificial light has made it possible for life to go on even at night. Humans absorb and use different components of sunlight through the eyes and skin. The production of vitamin D is one example. Another is how light travels into the eye where retina sends nerve signals to the visual cortex in the brain. From there light also travels to the limbic system, which has a role in emotion, learning, memory, and sexuality. The hypothalamus is also stimulated by light, and is linked to both the autonomic nervous system and the pituitary gland.

Color and light have also been used in healing since ancient times:

The priests of ancient Egypt, Babylonia, and China used color or colored light in many of their healing practices. Sunlight therapy was a common medical practice in historic Greek, Chinese and Roman times… — Richard Gerber, MD

Matter can exist in different states such as solid, liquid, and gas. In actuality solids, liquids and gases are different vibrations of the One Light. This primordial light is sound, light, heat emotion, thought, matter and all other things and processes that exist in the universe.

The omnipresent light of Spirit evolves all creatures and forms and forces in the universe, and sustains them by the continuous manifestation of that light. — Yogananda

Then there is the light of awareness. Spiritual light is the fundamental light of consciousness and awareness.

In the heart of every person is a spark of light, the secret of divine presence. This is the seed of our consciousness. Without this light there would be no consciousness. — Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee

The true nature of the human being is light. It’s an inborn light. Being self-reflective, it can show the way. It leads to understanding and wisdom. It ignites the mind and the heart. It’s the light that enables us to evolve. Within it is everything we need to create, improve and prosper.

The light is there in everyone. Some recognize and know it more clearly and powerfully. Those with a greater light quotient can utilize it to help others and the world. Each person has the capacity to increase their light, whether it’s by facilitation from another or direct awakening. Awakening is the dawning of light in the darkness of ignorance. This ignorance isn’t related to education, but the knowing of the true self, and the nature of reality.

We all know intuitively that light is a positive force, an on an empirical level we can see how important light is in nature and our surroundings. Light makes crops and vegetation of the earth grow. We can observe houseplants follow the light, turning their leaves toward its nourishment…

Spiritually light is central to many traditions, celebrated at festivals and other commemorations with candles, decorative lamps, or sacred fires. Light is associated with divinity in several faiths…

Despite our attempts to describe it, absolute light transcends the limitations of space, time, measurement, or concepts. It is inseparable from the enlightened mind and total openness.

— Tulku Thondup

When life is easy, let’s shine the light. When life is hard, let’s shine the light. Whether it’s meditation or laundry, the light is there. Let’s hold space for it every moment.

Holding the light is a singular act of power.

The light is on every moment, switchless, wireless. Awareness ignites this truth, so every activity is graced by it. We’re illuminated from the inside. The source of all light is subtle. Even so, it’s observable and we can wield it. We can use it for good.

In 2012 how are you going to make the light visible and where will you direct it, in what will you invest it?

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"Intuition comes from within; thought, from without." — Yogananda

Humans today have money worries. Money is the primary way our society is setup to ‘secure’ survival. Humans today are afraid of not being loved; of not being successful; of not looking a certain way. We’re not facing wild animals anymore, instead they’re inside! And the triggers for negativity are still there, albeit they’re sanitized, complicated and hidden under layers.

The result is what scientists call a “negativity bias” in the brain. It’s like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. This is a great strategy for passing on gene copies – which is the engine of biological evolution – but a lousy one for quality of life. The brain is tilted toward survival, but tilted against happiness. — Rick Hanson

You may wonder what chance there is to be positive if the brain is wired this way. It gets worse:

…the more we practice reactivity to our fears (e.g. from small fears to PTSD), the stronger the neural connections in our brains become that make us more likely to be automatically reactive to our fears. Or, the more often we practice automatic negative thinking, the stronger the neural connections become that lead to more automatic reactivity toward automatic negative thinking. — Elisha Goldstein

The good news is that the same is true for positive thinking. Neuroplasticity works both ways. The brain is malleable and it can trend positive or negative.

 …it is the simultaneity of firing (within a few thousandths of a second) of neurons that are connected with each other that leads to strengthening existing synapses – which are the junctions between neurons – and to building new ones.

For example, if you routinely dwell on your resentments and regrets, the neurons involved in that particular mental activity will fire busily together, and automatically start wiring together as well. Which will add one more bit of neural structure to feeling discontented, mistreated, angry, or sorrowful. On the other hand, if you regularly focus on the good facts around you and inside you – like your own good qualities, such as patience, determination, or kindness – then the neurons involved will wire together, stitching more resilience, hopefulness, confidence, and happiness into the fabric of your brain and your self. — Rick Hanson

All well and good. We can mold our brain. Much admired, researched and fawned upon, the brain is near deity status. However, the brain is still a material object, an organ. There are two other levels to our existence than the physical. These are mind and spirit.

Mind isn’t physical matter, but it is subtle matter; it’s ethereal and luminous. The mind isn’t limited to the confines of the brain. Every cell of the body has mind in it. It also goes beyond the body in the exchange of ideas and how thoughts live in our creations and relationships. The mind is mobile in its nature and influence. It’s local with the body and personal experiences, but it’s also nonlocal in its reach, what it influences, and what can influence it.

Since the mind is not the brain alone, it can be used to train the brain, and also to make choices moment to moment. The mind is able to observe our autopilot reactions and impulses. Observation is the first step to modification and change. The mind can help us to stop being victims of past patterns that have been wired in the brain by life experiences, heredity, and by the way we ‘view’ these experiences, in other words our attitude toward them.

It’s best if the mind itself is informed by something other than itself.

Generally, we think that the mind dwells in either the head or the heart. The head us the center for the outer mind that works through the senses. The heart is the center of the inner mind or feeling nature that transcends the senses. The brain is no more than a screen on which the energies of consciousness from the get reflected… This is not the physical heart but the core of knowing deep inside ourselves. We should not confuse this center with a physical location. It pervades all our mental activity. — David Frawley

The brain becomes what is fed to it, positive or negative. The mind can oversee that what the brain engages is healthy and productive, if awareness is cultivated. The question remains, how accurately is the mind perceiving. Ordinary mind processes input from the senses. The senses are prone to dullness, error, bad habits, and a host of other filters that can be delusive.

The senses and the mind are the outer doors through which knowledge percolates into the consciousness. Human knowledge filters in through the senses and is interpreted by the mind. If the senses err in perception, the conclusion drawn by the understanding of that data is also incorrect. — Paramahansa Yogananda

The next time you’re overcome with negative thoughts and feelings about yourself, your life, your circumstances, realize that these perceptions may not be true at all. Even if there are some real issues to deal with, negativity certainly won’t find you solutions. Most often, even if your perceptions have a tinge of truth, negativity takes on a life of its own and colors events darker than they actually are.

This is where intuition comes in. Intuition perceives truth directly. Everyone has native intuition. A lot of it is schooled out of us, but doesn’t disappear and so it can be cultivated, to be established again. Intuition is read in the heart. It’s independent of the brain, senses, or mind.

Instead of paying attention to the thoughts that the brain produces, or the habituated thoughts of the mind, get a better handle on your situation by first perceiving from a cleaner awareness. An awareness cultivated by mindfulness. At least use some of the mind’s higher functioning. There’s strength there and clarity.

In time you can bypass the past, any habits that don’t serve, the brain itself and even the mind by being informed at a soul level, working with intuition, honing and trusting it. Negative patterns may still arise of their own accord, however, you’ll be equipped to dismiss them, because you know the truth of yourself.

The cultivation of intuitive calmness requires unfoldment of the inner life. When developed sufficiently, intuition brings immediate comprehension of truth. You can have this marvelous realization. Meditation is the way. — Paramahansa Yogananda

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Buddhism is a one of the world’s wisdom traditions. To illustrate just exactly how a wisdom tradition works and why it’s so precious and significant, let’s look at one buddha and the inner workings of related teachings. The Japanese names are going to be used since this is a Reiki blog, but Sanskrit versions will also be given.

DAINICHI NYORAI  大 日 如 来
Literally, “Great Sun” (Mahavairocana or Vairochana in Sanskrit)

This is an image of Dainichi Nyorai (Vairocana) in the Kongo-kai (Diamond World) who makes a Chike-in sign (entering the world of Buddha's wisdom) in front of its chest. Dainichi Nyorai is the central deity of the Kongo-kai Mandala that represents the structure of the spiritual world in esoteric Buddhism.

Variously known as the Great Buddha of Universal Illumination, Cosmic Buddha, All-Encompassing Buddha, Life Force of the Universe, Spreader of Light in All Directions, or Great Shining One, Dainichi is a ‘celestial’ buddha. Buddhism teaches that there are three bodies (kayas) or manifestations of enlightenment. Of these dharmakaya is that aspect of the Buddha which is unchanging and eternal, referring to the essence of awakened being, absolute buddha nature. It’s the basis of all existence, including human. It’s also the spiritual body or “truth body” of all buddhas. This is Dainichi Nyorai, and where the ‘cosmic’ or ‘celestial’ reference comes in.

Dainichi is said to be omnipresent and all things, like the air we breathe, with all other buddhas and deities being emanations of Dainichi.

The first virtue of Dainichi Nyorai is the universal radiance that dispels darkness, with the ability to destroy suffering and despair. The second virtue is that this radiance has neither beginning nor end, and that the light of wisdom is like the sun, which always shines regardless of whether it’s day or night. The third virtue is an ability to enlighten living beings, and that great compassion is the parent of life which continues to nourish all living beings at all times.

Dainichi Buddha corresponds to the historical Buddha’s first turning of the Wheel of the Law in Deer Park in Sarnath, India. This is where the historical Buddha gave his first sermon after attaining enlightenment. The Turning of the Wheel is a metaphor for the teaching of the path to enlightenment.

One of the ways that wisdom comes into play is in understanding the mind of enlightenment and its various facets. The “five buddha families,” is an ancient Buddhist system of doing just that. The buddha families are traditionally displayed as a mandala. Each buddha in the mandala embodies one of the five different aspects of enlightenment. These manifest themselves as enlightened qualities as well as neurotic states of mind. The buddha families clearly present a complete picture of both the world of enlightened mind and the world of ego.

Traditionally, at the center of the mandala is Vairochana [Dainichi Nyorai], lord of the buddha family, who is white and represents the wisdom of all-encompassing space and its opposite, the fundamental ignorance that is the source of cyclic existence (samsara). The dullness of ignorance is transmuted to a vast space that accommodates anything and everything.

In the east of the mandala is Akshobya [Ashuku Nyorai], lord of the vajra family, who is blue and represents mirror-like wisdom and its opposite, aggression. The overwhelming directness of aggression is transmuted into the quality of a mirror, clearly reflecting all phenomena. Vajra is associated with the element water, with winter, and with sharpness and textures.

In the south of the mandala is Ratnasambhava [Hōshō Nyorai], buddha of the ratna family, who is yellow and represents the wisdom of equanimity and its opposite, pride. The fulsomeness of pride is transmuted into the quality of including all phenomena as elements in the rich display. Ratna is associated with the element earth, with autumn, with fertility and depth.

In the west of the mandala is Amitabha [Amida Nyorai], buddha of the padma family, who is red and represents discriminating-awareness wisdom and its opposite, passion or grasping. The intense desire of passion is transmuted into an attention to the fine qualities of each and every detail. Padma is associated with the element fire, with spring, with façade and color.

In the north of the mandala is Amogasiddhi [Fukūjōju Nyorai], buddha of the karma family, who is green and represents all-accomplishing wisdom and its opposite, jealousy or paranoia. The arrow-like pointedness of jealousy is transmuted into efficient action. Karma is associated with the element wind, with summer, with growing and completing.

— Irini Rockwell (brackets are mine)

Correspondingly, Dainichi’s characteristic hand gesture in Japan (although not always) is the Mudra of Six Elements (seen in the picture above as Chiken-in — also called the Knowledge Fist mudra.) In this mudra (hand gesture), the index finger of the left hand is clasped by the five fingers of the right. It symbolizes the unity of the five elements (Goshiki) — earth, water, fire, air/wind, and space/void — with spiritual consciousness.

Wisdom Fist mudra or simply Wisdom mudra speaks to the truth that only by adding the sixth element — mind, perception, or spiritual consciousness — do the five elements become animate. This equates to the Diamond World (noted in the picture above, it’s a metaphysical realm inhabited by the five wisdom buddhas, also detailed above). Put another way, there’s “unity” only when the sixth element is added. Without the sixth element, ordinary eyes see only differentiated or separate forms or appearances.

In summary, Dainichi Nyorai is known as the Supreme Buddha of the Cosmos in Esoteric Buddhist thought, being the source from whom all other deities and everything in the universe emanates, as light does from the sun. The hands form the mudra of perfect knowledge, which holds the power to restrain passions that hinder enlightenment. With the left index finger surrounded and protected by the fingers of the right, this gesture expresses the all-encompassing union of the spiritual and material realms of existence, and how the spiritual gives life to and sustains the material.

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Through the ages, meditation has always brought great benefits to the human condition. Remember that meditation has been around since well before the time of the Buddha, stretching way back into antiquity. Today, it probably holds the greatest benefits for us than it ever has.

Meditation practice predates Buddhism and all of the world religions. It has lasted through the centuries because it is direct, potent, and effective. — Sakyong Mipham

In meditation, what we’re doing is looking at our experience and at the world intelligently. — Sakyong Mipham

What is intelligence? On one level it’s what an IQ test reveals. Intelligence doesn’t end there. It moves into knowing, wisdom, intuition, and clear-heartedness. Without these forms of intelligence we’re nothing but math geeks or some kind of super efficient robots. Intelligence includes our humanity, which includes our spirituality.

For a short while the immortal ray of light that is our soul wears a perishable mortal garment…but for all eternity the soul is sustained by the Infinite Source of that light. The more we meditate, the more we feel that consciousness. And the less we meditate, the less able we are to transcend identification with the little self—so many pounds of flesh encasing a limited mind bound by sense perceptions to the troublesome environs of the world. We have to get to the Self beyond its physical and mental instrumentalities to realize we are not fragile mortal beings… — Daya Mata

The human mind, normally equated with the brain by neuroscience, is limited. As Sakyong Mipham puts it, “Meditation is based on the premise that the natural state of the mind is calm and clear.” This is the knowledge that our various wisdom traditions have imparted. There’s the daily mind, and a higher mind with greater discernment, accessing wisdom and knowing.

This level of mind is termed buddhi in Sanskrit, from the root bud which means ‘to perceive’ or ‘to become awake.’ This form of intelligence discerns the true and the real from the false and the unreal. As Matthieu Ricard says, “It is through this unconditioned aspect of consciousness that we can transform the content of mind through training.” That training is meditation. Otherwise we remain in manas, or ‘outer,’ ‘sense’ mind, which is on the surface and handles impressions.

Here are a couple of more perspectives to help understand this:

Our minds are field-like, they are not confined to our brain. — Rupert Sheldrake

The conscious mind fails to grasp that which lies beyond the spheres of time, space, and causation. — Swami Rama

Pure consciousness without content is something all those who meditate regularly and seriously have experienced… — Matthieu Ricard

That “content” is the stuff of personality, the not-so-fun stuff! We want to move from content to substance. The substance of eternals like compassion, peace, and wisdom.

We’re also dealing with a paradox. There’s the real nature of the mind, and the mind we’re stuck with every day. There’s our humanness, then there’s our divinity. Leonard Jacobson puts it well: “We are on a journey of becoming that which we already are. That is the impossible paradox of our lives.” It’s not really impossible. It feels impossible until we get informed and empowered, and put into place a set of practices, the primary of these being meditation.

Meditation transcends time, the senses, and the subject-object relationships. By transcending these three, meditation takes us beyond the intellectual or rational level of consciousness. It is like looking through a screen; on one side of consciousness is all existence—thoughts, emotions, negativity, and our life patterns; on the other side is a very fine energy level—a deep meditative state. — Tarthang Tulku

Meditation is a first-person experience. It’s not looking at the world in the third-person. It’s not trying to understand our inner workings in the third-person. The first-person realm of meditation is holistic. It doesn’t cut reality up into pieces. It doesn’t need to understand how the brain works, to improve the workings of one’s mind. In meditation what’s known as the discursive mind can be disengaged. This is the mind that rambles. It’s unable to settle, to find its own depth. It remains on the surface, distracted and can’t get to the essence of things.

Whether it’s understood in terms of mind or being, our minds and our beings have a place that is calm and abiding. Calm abiding lives within us. It’s always there. There’s no app for it. There’s nothing to install. There is, however, an uncovering.

We have to uncover this lost place through meditation, and the application of meditative insight and orientation in daily living. Calm abiding is lost underneath all our pettiness, delusions and neuroses. The rational mind and the five senses informing it in their regular mode, give us only a partial and incorrect view of reality. This view keeps us trapped and attached. We’re operating within a limited informational field in daily living. In meditation, we have access to an informational field that penetrates the heart of reality.

It’s only from this wider and deeper field that we can make choices and decisions about how to best live, and to actually live well. It’s from this same field that we can positively influence the current state of affairs on our planet, and ensure a multi-generational sustainability of living and social systems.

When we talk about the techniques of meditation, these are techniques of life. — Sakyong Mipham

Meditation is a vast subject. Here’s some related material to help you with it. You may also add your input or ask questions in comments below. Often, answers tailored to your questions about meditation are the best way to get help with meditation.

Related:

Meditation reveals…

Put on the brakes with meditation

The Life of Meditation

Why Do Humans Meditate?

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Profit patterns with disregard for all other considerations and concerns, and entrenched power loci are having a comeuppance.

The world’s conscience is telling us to implement enlightened systems globally. Polarizing, fear- and greed-based systems are out! — Pamir Kiciman

The noise the world is making is important. It isn’t garbage noise. It’s pointed and urgent. We must listen to it and act, and a lot of action is already self-propelled because we’re at a tipping point. At the same time, when there’s so much upheaval (a sign of mass healing), wisdom and balance need to be kept close and deepened.

We can make this a teachable moment for all of humanity only if we anchor silence within and in the world. In fact, if all along we were being with silence, the kind of riotous and apparently spontaneous ‘eruptions’ may not have been needed. Too late. Now we delve into silence, as often and as deftly as we can, and emerge with some pearls of solution.

Silence lies at the heart of all great spiritual traditions and pilgrimages. It is the vehicle that encourages us to dive beneath words, ideas, chatter and concepts. To discover the unspoken truths and the unfathomable mystery of being. The variety of forms of contemplation, prayer and meditation meet together in their reverence for the act of silence. Through them we learn to still the clamor of our hearts and the competing voices that cascade through our minds and discover a place of profound stillness and receptivity. — Christina Feldman

In the previous post, Unstruck Sound, the power of Aum was explained. Such primordial sounds come out of silence, and take us back into silence. Here’s a simple recording of OM. Listen to it and also follow the journey Yogananda has given below. Chant as long as you want, then go into quietude and bless the world. As you can see, Aum is also a state of Oneness, and it’s Oneness with life, the world and the cosmos that’s going to end unenlightened ways of governing, sourcing energy, consuming and resolving conflict.

AUM Mantra

Tune In with the Cosmic Sound by Paramahansa Yogananda:

Listen to the cosmic sound of Aum, a great hum of countless atoms, in the sensitive right side of your head. This is the voice of God. Feel the sound spreading through the brain. Hear its continuous pounding roar.

Now hear and feel it surging into the spine, bursting open the doors of the heart. Feel it resounding through every tissue, every feeling, every cord of your nerves. Every blood cell, every thought is dancing on the sea of roaring vibration.

Observe the spreading volume of the cosmic sound. It sweeps through the body and mind into the earth and the surrounding atmosphere. You are moving with it, into the airless ether, and into millions of universes of matter.

Meditate on the marching spread of the cosmic sound. It has passed through the physical universes to the subtle shining veins of rays that hold all matter in manifestation.

The cosmic sound is commingling with millions of multicolored rays. The cosmic sound has entered the realm of cosmic rays. Listen to, behold, and feel the embrace of the cosmic sound and the eternal light. The cosmic sound now pierces through the heartfires of cosmic energy and they both melt within the ocean of cosmic consciousness and cosmic joy. The body melts into the universe. The universe melts into the soundless voice. The sound melts into the all-shining light. And the light enters the bosom of infinite joy.

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In Sanskrit Anahata Nada refers to the “Unstruck Sound.” It literally means, “the sound that is not made by two things striking together.” Two physical things that is.

…the ancients say that the audible sound which most resembles this unstruck sound is the syllable OM. Tradition has it that this ancient mantra is composed of four elements: the first three are vocal sounds: A, U, and M. The fourth sound, unheard, is the silence which begins and ends the audible sound, the silence which surrounds it…The lovliest explanation of OM is found within the ancient Vedic and Sanskrit traditions. We can read about AUM in the marvelous Manduka Upanishad, which explains the four elements of AUM as an allegory of the four planes of consciousness.

“A” (pronounced “AH” as in “father”) resonates in the center of the mouth. It represents normal waking consciousness, in which subject and object exist as separate entities. This is the level of mechanics, science, logical reason, the lower three chakras. Matter exists on a gross level, is stable and slow to change.

Then the sound “U” (pronounced as in “who”) transfers the sense of vibration to the back of the mouth, and shifts the allegory to the level of dream consciousness. Here, object and subject become intertwined in awareness. Both are contained within us. Matter becomes subtle, more fluid, rapidly changing. This is the realm of dreams, divinities, imagination, the inner world.

“M” is the third element, humming with lips gently closed. This sound resonates forward in the mouth and buzzes throughout the head. (Try it.) This sound represents the realm of deep, dreamless sleep. There is neither observing subject nor observed object. All are one, and nothing. Only pure consciousness exists, unseen, pristine, latent, covered with darkness. This is the cosmic night, the interval between cycles of creation, the womb of the divine Mother…

Which brings us to the fourth sound of AUM, the primal “unstruck” sound within the silence at the end of the sacred syllable. In fact, the word “silence” itself can be understood only in reference to “sound.” We hear this silence best when listening to sound, any sound at all, without interpreting or judging the sound. Listening fully, openly, without preconceptions or expectations. The sound of music, the sound of the city, the sound of the wind in the forest. All can give us the opportunity to follow the path of sound into the awareness of the sound behind the sound.

— David Gordon

It’s very important for us to find a foundational level of reality in our daily lives. We’re living in an age of hyperconnectivity, made possible by Internet and gadget technology. Ancient wounds are also surfacing globally.

Here’s me chanting Om Shanti Om Shanti Om 54 times, with 3 AUMs at the end. Shanti means peace. Mantras are best intoned 108 times; 54 is half that. This is not a professional recording.

Om Shanti Om

After chanting, sit for a good while in silence and feel the vibrational blessings of the mantra permeating you and your environment. There are many available.

The source of the mystical sounds of the universe is vast silence. In yogic terms, silence is known as thoughtless reality.  By immersing in this rich silence, the sages of the east, discovered divine echos of sacred sound.  It is from this communion that Sanskrit mantras revealed themselves to the wise seers.

In the practice of the Yoga of Sound, the master advises the student to chant a certain Sanskrit mantra.  He will select a mantra that is particularly beneficial to the student.  After chanting the verse, the student is advised to sit quietly and feel the energetic waves that emanate from the chant.  Further, the teacher will say, “Watch the thought waves as if you are watching a passing show but do not becme identified with the thoughts that ticker across the field of the mind.”  When you pull out of identity with the thought waves you begin to feel space between You and your mind.  In that space, you will feel the vibrations of silence.  These vibrations become sounds that often morph and shape, manifesting into different sounds, melodies and rythms.  The experience of pure vibration beyond thought is profoundly healing.

— Manorama

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The ‘energy’ we’re talking about isn’t metabolic energy, which is what the physical body uses for its everyday functioning. Instead it’s subtle energy, a core level complex system and driving force. All of life and creation has energy at its core and perhaps this is why it’s become so popular to say, “everything’s energy” and leave it there. But if it’s so central, doesn’t it ask us to know more about it?

Cyndi Dale explains energy very simply as: “information that vibrates.” She also states: “Information with a speed faster than light is received as subtle energy…Information that moves at the speed of light or slower is received…as sensory, and will impact physical reality.”

Scientific research has proven that everything energetic contains information: data that tells an atom whether it should occupy a kidney or outer space…. Besides “being informed,” energy also vibrates…. Vibration is produced in the form of amplitude and frequency: oscillations that generate more energy. These oscillations carry information that can be stored or applied. The information (as well as the vibrating oscillations) can also change depending on the nature of a particular interaction. All of life is made of information and vibration. — Cyndi Dale

Now we’re getting somewhere! It seems ‘energy’ is housed in a greater field of vibration. A subtler source of energy is vibration.

… all healing starts with oscillation, which is the basis of frequency. Frequency is the periodic speed at which something vibrates. It is measured in hertz (Hz), or cycles per second. Vibration occurs when something is moving back and forth…. Everything in the universe vibrates, and everything that vibrates imparts or impacts information (the definition of energy). To broaden our discussion of particles and waves to include health, we can define health as the state of an organism with respect to its functioning at any given time. — Cyndi Dale, The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy

The disadvantage of framing Reiki as energy is that electricity is a form of energy too. There’s also mechanical, magnetic, chemical and thermal energy. Well, Reiki has an impact on the body’s electricity, magnetism and chemical/hormonal firings.

It also greatly influences our mind, and has a huge spiritual influence. Thus, we have a conundrum. A conundrum that’s best answered by moving to yet another layer. Notice how reality is layered and there’s a spectrum; there’s always a spectrum.

Behind changing mental fluctuations is a constant awareness, an unbroken sense of self or being, an ongoing ability to observe, witness and perceive…. Therefore the mind itself is not awareness…. Awareness, unlike the mind, has no form, function or movement. It is not located in time and space but stands apart as their witness…To know this awareness, we must learn to go beyond mind, which means to disengage from its involvements. This is our real work as human beings and the essence of the spiritual path… — Dr. David Frawley

In terms of the map that’s emerging here, we can say that ‘awareness’ houses ‘vibration’ which houses many kinds of ‘energy.’ This is simplistic, yes, but at the same time it helps to grasp the big picture. When you give yourself Reiki, or meditate using one of Usui Sensei’s authentic methods, you don’t dissect reality, you have an experience that leads to an overall effect. That effect penetrates all levels of being, concentrating where you need assistance the most at that time.

Over time you notice that you’re transformed. Not in one area, but in all. Reiki is able to effect such change because it originates at a meta layer.

The following posts detail a lot of what’s been discussed here:

• Reiki as Consciousness
• Reiki as Consciousness II
• Reiki as Consciousness III

If you have any questions, please ask in comments and I’ll respond.

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The following is taken from The Three Pillars of Zen, compiled and edited by Philip Kapleau, a seminal work on Zen Buddhism. While there are certain references specific to Zen, the appeal of the hara and its cultivation is obvious.

Hara literally denotes the stomach and abdomen and the functions of digestion, absorption, and elimination connected with them. But it has parallel psychic¹ and spiritual significance. According to Hindu and Buddhist yogic systems, there are a number of psychic centers in the body through which vital cosmic force or energy flows. Of the two such centers embraced within the hara, one is associated with the solar plexus, whose system of nerves governs the digestive processes and organs of elimination. Hara is thus a wellspring of vital psychic energies. Harada-roshi, one of the most celebrated Zen masters of his day, in urging his disciples to concentrate their mind’s eye (i.e., the attention, the summation point of the total being) in their hara, would declare: “You must realize”—i.e., make real—”that the center of the universe is the pit of your belly!

To facilitate his experience of this fundamental truth, the Zen novice is instructed to focus his mind constantly at the bottom of his hara (specifically, between the navel and the pelvis) and to radiate all mental and bodily activities from that region. With the body-mind’s equilibrium centered in the hara, gradually a seat of consciousness, a focus of vital energy, is established there which influences the entire organism.

That consciousness is by no means confined to the brain is shown by Lama Govinda, who writes as follows: “While, according to Western conceptions, the brain is the exclusive seat of consciousness, yogic experience shows that our brain-consciousness is only one among a number of possible forms of consciousness, and that these, according to their function and nature, can be localized or centered in various organs of the body. These ‘organs,’ which collect, transform, and distribute the forces flowing through them, are called cakras, or centers of force. From them radiate secondary streams of psychic force, comparable to the spokes of a wheel, the ribs of an umbrella, or the petals of a lotus. In other words, these cakras are the points in which psychic forces and bodily functions merge into each other or penetrate each other. They are the focal points in which cosmic and psychic energies crystallize into bodily qualities, and in which bodily qualities are dissolved or transmuted again into psychic forces.

Settling the body’s center of gravity below the navel, that is, establishing a center of consciousness in the hara, automatically relaxes tensions arising from the habitual hunching of the shoulders, straining of the neck, and squeezing in of the stomach. As this rigidity disappears, an enhanced vitality and new sense of freedom are experienced throughout the body and mind, which are felt more and more to be a unity.

Zazen (meditation) has clearly demonstrated that with the mind’s eye centered in the hara the proliferation of random ideas is diminished and the attainment of one-pointedness accelerated, since a plethora of blood from the head is drawn down to the abdomen, “cooling” the brain and soothing the autonomic nervous system. This in turn leads to a greater degree of mental and emotional stability. One who functions from his hara, therefore, is not easily disturbed. He is, moreover, able to act quickly and decisively in an emergency owing to the fact that his mind, anchored in his hara, does not waver.

With the mind in the hara, narrow and egocentric thinking is superseded by a broadness of outlook and a magnanimity of spirit. This is because thinking from the vital hara center, being free of mediation by the limited discursive intellect, is spontaneous and all embracing. Perception from the hara tends toward integration and unity rather than division and fragmentation. In short, it is thinking which sees things steadily and whole.

The figure of the Buddha seated on his lotus throne—serene, stable, all-knowing and all-encompassing, radiating boundless light and compassion—is the foremost example of hara expressed through perfect enlightenment. Rodin’s “Thinker,” on the other hand, a solitary figure “lost” in thought and contorted in body, remote and isolated from his Self, typifies the opposite state.

¹ “Psychic” here does not relate to extrasensory phenomena or powers but to energies and body-mind states which cannot be classified either as physiological or psychological.

Serene Buddha and The Thinker

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I’ve featured the haiku of Mitsu Suzuki here before. She wasn’t only a haiku poet, but wife to Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and with him played an important role in bringing Zen Buddhism to North America. First a couple of her haiku written in the summer months, then a spiritual teaching from Suzuki Roshi based on his visit to Yosemite National Park.

by RobW

Too small
to call it a Zen garden
moss blossoms
—
Gardenia’s
whiteness remains
the night is complete

——

I went to Yosemite National Park, and I saw some huge waterfalls. The highest one there is 1,340 feet high, and from it the water comes down like a curtain thrown from the top of the mountain. It does not seem to come down swiftly, as you might expect; it seems to come down very slowly because of the distance. And the water does not come down as one stream, but is separated into many tiny streams. From a distance it looks like a curtain. And I thought it must be a very difficult experience for each drop of water to come down from the top of such a high mountain. It takes time, you know, a long time, for the water finally to reach the bottom of the waterfall. And it seems to me that our human life may be like this. We have many difficult experiences in our life. But at the same time, I thought, the water was not originally separated, but was one whole river. Only when it is separated does it have some difficulty in falling. It is as if the water does not have any feeling of being separate when it is one whole river. Only when divided into many drops can it begin to have or express some separate feeling.

Before we were born we had no such feeling; we were one with the universe. This is called ‘mind-only,’ or ‘essence of mind,’ or ‘big mind.’ After we are separated by birth from this oneness, as the water falling from the waterfall is separated by the wind and rocks, then we have such feelings. And you have difficulty because of such feelings. You attach to the feeling you have without knowing just how this kind of feeling is created. When you do not realize that you are one with the river, or one with the universe, you have fear. Whether it is separated into drops or not, water is water. Our life and death are the same thing. When we realize this fact, we have no fear of death anymore and we have no actual difficulty in our life.

— Shunryu Suzuki Roshi

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Do notice, however, Reiki’s profound impact. Click here to find out more about Reiki Training, and make sure you listen to the Reiki Primer audio.

Reiki Stories Project^SM (RSP) is open to anyone who wants to share. Please submit your story to me from the link in “contact” above. For the time being stories are being published anonymously. I may lightly edit your submission.

If you wonder why this project is so very important, and why I’ve decided to curate such stories these words from Muriel Rukeyser say it all:

“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms.”

I will always remember the day last summer when a woman at my job, from whom I picked up such a feel-good vibration every time we met without knowing why, told me that she was practicing Reiki. I had seen the word before but never knew of what it really was.

What is that, I asked. She started to explain and at that very moment, as she spoke, in an instant, I realized that I already knew this. It was already inside my soul and her words just reminded me of what I had forgotten and had spent my whole life searching. The knowledge of Reiki fitted exactly in that empty spot that always had been in my soul as a mark of something lost. First time I received distant Reiki healing last summer, there were several things revealed to me. My experience of the world has not been the same since then. It was as if the physical world and the spirit world merged like two overhead stencils were put on top of each other and I saw the dimensions inside each one.

I have carried a sort of faded inner knowledge and along with that faded memories in my soul as long as I can remember. I knew at a very young age that we are living in a very special time. Over the years though, for various reasons, I both lost and gave away contact with my inner truth and my soul until the knowledge of Reiki gently reminded me.

Reiju Blessing

I found your website, the Reiki Help Blog and immediately felt the connection. This is the place were I go to rest my soul and to put the pieces together. In the words and knowledge you share I find the truth I always carried.

And the beautiful way you paint with words is the same beauty I find in my own soul.

So there I was April 7 tuning into the Reiju Blessing you offer. It was a very gentle experience, very soft yet vibrating with energy. The day after when I sat down to practice distant Reiki, I noticed the first reaction.

I usually feel the energy strongly and can also have visions and pictures or feelings shown to me. This time it was so much more. As I started I felt the energy as if I stood in a shower. The energy just poured over my whole being and opened up my mind as never before. And the location of the third eye was like a marked spot of energy during the whole session. It was an amazing experience and clearly something had happened.

The next day I started to notice a change on the inside.

A new kind of joy and happiness filled my heart so strong that I cannot describe it properly. And every morning the feeling increased and stayed throughout the day until this Monday when I found myself connected with the universe and my soul in a way that I’ve never felt before.

My soul was singing, my heart was filled with light and for the first time I felt Love flow through my veins. Pure Love! I became One with every creation, every mind and soul. One with the Universe. One with my Soul. I reached out and touched the Truth. And I let it all go, the pain, the sorrow and the hurting.

I was at peace, at true peace for the first time in my whole life and I felt so loved. I was complete. And that was exactly what I asked for when I signed up for the Reiju Blessing on your list. It was an amazing moment, a magical moment. The moment of the absolute beginning of my new awareness and consciousness. It was breathtaking!

Pamir, I don´t have words enough to express my gratitude towards you and the Universe for this very life-changing moment. Thank you!

Best Wishes,

–A.L.H., from Europe

You’re so very welcome. What’s your Reiki story?

Read the previous stories in the project.

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Time seems to be malleable, even when it seems to exist. The ancient Greeks had a special way of looking at this; they had two words for time, kronos and kairos. Kronos or Father Time refers to chronological or sequential time. Kairos signifies a time in between, a moment of undetermined length in which something special happens. Kronos measures, it goes tick tock and is quantitative. Kairos is qualitative in nature, it flows.

Kairos brings meaning because it’s accessed in those moments we transcend the finiteness of time.

When we participate in time and therefore lose our sense of time passing we are in kairos; here we are totally absorbed in the present moment, which may actually stretch out over hours. –Jean Shinoda Bolen

It’s unlikely that Dali was in kronos time when painting his famous canvas.

The ‘now’ moment is creative and fathomless. It’s where we live out our passion and purpose. We get to express our true self and touch a depth that exists perennially. Now is like a great river. It flows with the totality of cosmic and human experience. When it’s tapped, that totality is available to the individual, who brings another stream to it, and so it goes on.

How can you deepen your presence in now? Journal using the following prompts. Remember to let your thoughts, feelings and intuitions surface on the page without being censored.

• What makes me regularly feel I’ve stepped outside of time?
• What does it feel like when I’m engaged in this?
• How do I lose my sense of flow?
• How can I bring flow even to routine activities?
• Who’s with me when I step out of time?
• Who pulls me back into time?
• How does now enhance my contribution to the world?
• What would I be living if I didn’t have responsibilities in time?
• How can I live my essence while in time?

I am letting go of my idea of time. I see that eternal life is not a question of “I will be forever,” but of “Now I am.” Eternity is time dying in me. –Jean Lanier

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I wear a watch only occasionally. I still have to get my son from school at a specific time. And the basketball game or nature show we want to watch starts at a specific time. Payments on credit cards are due very precisely too. Car loans are typically for 60 months and mortgages for 30 years. Time rules life on earth.

Yes, it does. Life on earth. We are more than earth, more than physical bodies obeying mechanical strictures. Dealing with time is a dichotomy, because clearly the body ages, and clearly everytime you meditate, you enter a timeless dimension.

Then there are meditation timers and the recommendation that you meditate for 20 minutes. Wait a second! These come from the recognition that we are here and have responsibilities, and our hereness and all it entails is profoundly enhanced by meditation or any other concept-busting practice.

And in these practices we are timeless. We become one with our true nature which is timeless.

When you know that you are eternal you can play your true role in time. When you know you are divine you can become completely human. –Mother Meera

How do we walk this; this being timeless and having to live in what seems like time? Recently it was Valentine’s Day, a day that if you’re a man in a relationship, you’d better remember! No matter what the commercial calendar says, I like to turn my thoughts to underlying truths. So in February I was thinking of love quite a bit, not that it’s relegated only to that month.

As a meditator, healer and citizen with a spiritual worldview, I dwell on, practice and embody love as much as I’m able. Love is a perfect buster of concepts for it can’t be contained and it doesn’t conform. Borrowing from and simplifying quantum physics, it became apparent to me that love is both wave and particle.

Love simply exists. It seems to have no origination. It needs no place and time. It’s pure potential and possibility. It’s in wave form.

When you kiss your child goodnight, love becomes a particle.

I believe what Mother Meera is hinting is that while time doesn’t exist as ultimate truth, it structures our temporary sojourn here, and we need that structure because we’re in form. Further, as we navigate time and form we need a purpose. This purpose isn’t merely to fill time and form, but to better and perhaps transform it. Usually this is impossible if your purpose is driven from inside time/space perceptions. From inside the ‘game,’ your purpose may only serve your ego, or keep you in servitude to a paycheck, or limit your potential because others on the inside have negated you.

We must take love from a wave possibility and make it a particle of value in the world. Just like love, we are a continuum that has frozen into a biological form for a certain duration, on a physical planet. And equally like love, we were before and will be after this.

Love is there naturally, but it’s deepening is moment to moment cultivation. If you’re anxious, depressed, fearful or ill, step outside of time and observe what happens. Observe how much power becomes available to you, how resourceful you become. Watch the peace descend and the joy rise.

Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere, and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past nor the shadow of the future. –Herman Hesse

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There are worthy commemorations like Mother’s Day, and historic holidays have their place, but again with language like “Black Friday” it seems these have become focused on the exterior of life.

There’s quite some disagreement that the Gregorian calendar is even valid and authentic to natural and cosmic cycles, and plenty of other calendars available, some still in use. But, essentially the whole world has adopted a premise of 24 hours in one day, 7 days in one week, 52 weeks in one year.

It’s stifling! And not true. Time is a human construct. It actually works pretty well for living in a physical body, driving on asphalt and going to work in steel structures. It organizes life. And it runs out. That’s why it’s called a “deadline.”

The truth about time is that is doesn’t exist. Well, it does exist in the gears of your watch and for your kid’s soccer practice and a host of other events that make a life. So we’re dealing with shades of reality conjoined. We have to operate in time, but we come from outside of time.

Actually it’s not even “outside of time,” but timelessness. We originate in and return to timelessness and in between a large part of us hangs out there. Where? Um…”there.” If time doesn’t exist, there must not be space either, you may be thinking. Bingo! There isn’t.

Well, there’s the space you’re sitting in and the cosmos out “there,” and walls will stop you painfully. So again, we’re dealing with gradations of reality.

Let’s focus on the interior of life. It’s a common misconception to think of eternity as an endless span of time, whereas in fact it is timelessness; the nonexistence of time.

…time and space are in you; you are not in time and space. –Swami Vivekananda

This is very liberating! For instance, when we look at the potential of healing through this lens we understand that symptoms are data in time. Healing takes place at a meta level. Healing isn’t a cure as a cure is in time/space, whereas healing is abiding.

Spiritual healing is to erase the ignorance of what we are as metaphysical entities. When we take form, some limitations are imposed because that’s the nature of physicality, but we arrive and are unlimited.

Once this is remembered, life is lived with an expanded perspective, an and/also not an either/or. Breath is freer, creativity flows and the mind is sprung from its trap.

to be continued…

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Sit quietly and look inside, feel the sensations in your chest. Notice how some are protective. These are the “felt” defenses. Honor and thank them. Now look behind them to what they are protecting. There might be a quiet, or an ordinary, openness. Let yourself get curious, and feel it.

You might notice it is restful, with not a lot happening there. Rest and allow the body to be nourished by the stillness. If there is a sense of relief or gratitude, let that express itself…if there is any lingering agitation, let it be as it is and notice it is appearing in a calm openness.

Now, the mind might express some doubts; if it does, allow them – and invite the mind to take a rest.

As your attention is resting, notice that it does this naturally when it encounters peacefulness. Also invite the body to rest. Any sensations and emotions will alert you to where there is remaining tension, and where gentleness is needed. As everything within starts to relax, feel it deeply with gratitude.

Now, observe attention itself…become curious about its ability to soothe body and mind.

Express gratitude for no reason, and then rest as you are.

When the body and mind are at rest, it is easy to see who we are, innate naturalness, the presence that is always in the background. Before, your attention was on the personality – not the property of being that was wearing it. Now that role can be surrendered.

Somehow, the body, emotion and sensations have always known our true nature. They have always presented themselves to this gentle openness within, asking for kindness and understanding.

–Pamela Wilson

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In his book “The Formation of the Noosphere” (1947), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote:

No one can deny that a network (a world network) of economic and psychic affiliations is being woven at ever increasing speed which envelops and constantly penetrates more deeply within each of us. With every day that passes it becomes a little more impossible for us to act or think otherwise than collectively.

The term noosphere was coined from the Greek word for mind “noos,” adding to the biosphere (animate) and geosphere (inanimate). This essentially mental place could only have arrived at a time when technology can shrink the world and its distances. While there is still misinformation and prejudice about cultures and lifestyles, overall we seem to better understand each other, and at least in spiritual circles, reach out in compassion.

Meditational and healing link-ups made possible by online connections have enabled us to generate positive energy and intention for many situations we normally would not be involved in, let alone know about. The unique nature of Reiki has played a big part in this.

At the same time there is an incredible acceleration in all walks of life, stress is rampant and meaningful belonging is elusive for many. We also have escalating world crises and a general lack of planetary peace.

Despite our rising spirituality our times often reflect meaningless violence, cynical values, nonacceptance of diversity, and a lack of sense of place. The predominance and pervasive influence of scientific materialism has largely negated anything transphysical (metaphysical). It’s precisely in the search for place, belonging and meaning that Reiki can play a crucial role.

I would like to suggest a new sphere — Onesphere — to indicate our transpersonal (spiritual) dimension. While we have concepts for physical and mental spheres detailed, mapped and accepted, our transpersonal habitat is still under scrutiny, doubt, attack and bad press.

What the Onesphere can do for us as individuals and communities is misjudged, misreported and often too easily dismissed. Yet it is the home that we can carry around, the home that gives meaning, real security and purpose. Without the Onesphere, all other spheres would be bereft and perhaps nonexistent.

Spheres are circular, like our planet, and thus create connection as well as unity. The entire sphere of life is deeply unified. Where we belong is where everything else belongs — we share a common home. That humans are the supreme expression of life is sheer, illusory arrogance.

In the unfolding process of Reiki we have a great opportunity to heal a basic separation from the Onesphere of life, with all of its richness. Meaninglessness and existential homelessness are the result of severing ourselves from the deep ground of our essential nature.

When we consciously swim in the “Onenergy” of life in the form of Reiki, our spiritual roots are reinforced, nourished, and reminded that possessions or accolades don’t bring happiness.

The entire scope of Reiki is truly connective. Whether it’s self-Reiki or working with another, this gift brings us treasures hidden in the unseen.

Reiki is like a key that unlocks the unseen and makes it available as a part of daily experience. It gives us a knowable sense of support and significance. Events are no longer arbitrary or random and this eases our neuroses.

We feel that we can contribute to the world in a blessed way and be full in return. This is true of nonlocal (distant) Reiki as much as any of its applications. In fact the very experience of flowing Reiki beyond time and space is possible thanks to the Onesphere.

In this sense nonlocal Reiki is its own place, sense of belonging and meaning. Reiki removes limitations. It provides the ability to feel and care for anyone or any situation we choose to give our attention.

The more we choose compassion and giving, the richer our existence, the larger our home becomes. It’s as if we could be friends with all six billion plus of the world’s population. Then there are all the other spheres of creatures, minerals and stars!

Reiki honors life and when we experience that honor we derive life-sustaining meaning and belonging. We realize it all makes sense.

The energy in question here is subtle or spiritual energy. It doesn’t exist in the electromagnetic spectrum. Yet it does exist and powers all we are. It has been given various names which all coalesce to a single meaning: Life energy. Reiki is a life energy teaching.

Integrity is used here to mean the quality of being whole or united and of being unharmed or sound. Further, integrity reaches into who we are and how we live: a consistent set of principles that determine our thoughts, words and actions.

Another premise is being employed as well: The physical body’s biochemical molecules are a form of vibrational energy. Einstein’s E=mc² and quantum physics can be looked into for a working knowledge of this, as well as various wisdom teachings including Reiki.

I teach my students that Reiki is a form of energetic integrity, that this isn’t the type of learning normally provided us in our schooling or other training, and as such Reiki Training is highly unique and beneficial. But I want to expand the scope and talk about the tremendous value of energetic integrity. Reiki directly helps to create energetic integrity because of its special access to an energetic level of reality, but any authentic wisdom teaching worth its salt can. And that is the caveat: find a true teaching and practice it sincerely to return yourself to a sound and whole state.

All manifestations in the material world, together with our own deeds and creations have an energetic blueprint that acts as both ground and springboard.  Therefore, energetic alignment is integral to bringing about the highest versions of yourself and your impact on the world. Disease has energy behind it, as does health. Giving is of a certain energy, looks and feels very different than taking. Drama comes along with certain disharmonious emotions, while detachment is much less burdened. Sincerity feels one way and insincerity always catches up with you.

Since energy is primary toning, strengthening, balancing and harmonizing yours means results are clearly noticeable in all parts of you and all areas of your life. Air is present everywhere, just like energy. Energy can be likened to air: we know it’s there when a tree sways in the wind or we feel a draft on our skin. Although energy is invisible to normal perception, it can be sensed and densifies into tangible human experiences.

It can also be likened to water which collects at the lowest point. Beware where you put your energy. Energy like water can flow through bottlenecks or around blocks, but repeated obstacles cause it to stagnate, as does repetition of unhealthy physical, mental and spiritual personal patterns.

In the vibrational model of human existence and the nature of reality there are layers of subtler gradations. For humans, we begin with the densest which is the physical body. Surrounding and interpenetrating it is a subtle field known as the etheric body, which occupies the same space as the physical but which vibrates at a higher frequency, and on which the physical is based.

Then each with progressively higher and finer vibratory rates we have the emotional, mental and spiritual bodies. Surpassing and containing all of it is Consciousness which is the subtlest, most highly vibrating, all-permeating and crucial, yet least understood component of our makeup. Consciousness is the prime Energy.

Often Consciousness is confused with the functioning of the brain. Here it doesn’t mean the chemical, and electrical signal-processing of the brain and it isn’t limited to the brain. Not only is it everywhere in the body, but it’s also part of the universe.

One of the most common analogies used to describe the Buddha-nature is space itself. This analogy has three aspects. First, just as space is omnipresent and yet is unpolluted by everything it pervades, similarly, Buddha-nature pervades every sentient being without being in any way tainted. Second, just as galaxies and universes arise and pass within space, so do the characteristics of our personalities arise and pass within Buddha-nature. Our sensations arise and pass away; Buddha-nature continues. Third, just as space is never consumed by fire, so this Buddha-nature is never consumed by the “fire” of aging, sickness, or death.

–B. Alan Wallace

Consciousness is also very much an integral part of the human heart. While the physical heart is far more intelligent and sophisticated than originally thought, it is the heart space that has a direct link to Consciousness that is referenced here.

Just as we limit Consciousness to the brain, we limit our understanding of emotions to neurochemical reactions in the limbic system or the emotional centers of the brain. Yet, there is a greater field which enables us to experience and share finer, elevated feelings. Love, kindness, compassion, empathy, or as the Dalai Lama calls it “warm-heartedness” all come from a spiritual field that encompasses and influences us. Of course to really receive this benefit, we must put in the time for sincere spiritual practice.

When the brain and a warm heart go side-by-side, then all our ability becomes constructive.

–Dalai Lama

to be continued

Each post for the Reiki Help Blog can take anywhere from 1-5 days to write/research, proofread/edit, and post with an appropriate image and formatting. If you leave this space with any value, knowledge, joy or understanding, please consider making a donation of your choice.

Donate to this blog. Thank you!

Reiki is a way of living with wisdom and compassion. It’s a way to reclaim your authentic self. To move out of the past, return from the future and live fully awake in the present. Reiki shifts your paradigm too, revealing the many layers of reality. It helps you find energetic integrity. Reiki heals the human condition. It transforms your consciousness so you can be your true self. Your heart and mind become unified and you’re empowered to walk in peace. Reiki brings you what you need. Through the years, I’ve witnessed with inner joy and gratitude everything student practitioners share about their Reiki training experiences. These are nothing less thanpoetic and I’ll now attempt to convey some measure of what I was privileged to witness this past weekend.

An ocean, cloud and light was received. Plans changed many moons ago came to completion and an ordination was received. Tears inspired by sheer beauty flowed. Peace was tangible. Never before reached depth in meditation was commonplace. After lunch heartburn relieved completely. Back pain healed. Several first-time spiritual awakenings. The courage to face things one doesn’t want to. A young person’s talent validated. Success affirmed. Shoulders lightened. Realization of inner powers. Wonder. Recognition.

And hugs. Heart on heart hugs.

Always heart on heart hugs.

Updated July 2, 2008

An early testimonial:

“…Now that I have had a little time to reflect and absorb, I want to thank you for being YOU and what you brought to me this weekend. I can already notice changes in me, there is a deepening sense of calm within, much more energy both physically and spiritually. It has been both a fulfillment and rebirth of sorts. I am different, I am one with myself, and my surroundings. The teaching and empowerments brought through you this weekend are amazing. Thank you for thus far guiding and teaching me. The teaching and tools you brought to me will continue to aid and guide my journey…”

–J.G., West Palm Beach, Fla

Consciousness is the substratum of everything, the first thing created that creates everything else.
— Dr. David Frawley

We all know there’s a brain in each of our craniums and it is what ‘thinks.’ Yet our brain is 90% fat and water. How exactly does fat and water ‘think’ as well as self-organize and self-regulate? After all, the brain really doesn’t have a direct experience of the world.

Wisdom traditions such as Vedanta and Buddhism accept that before creation there is a nondual state. To make a simplistic correlation to quantum physics, this is the unified field. Wisdom traditions identify this field as Pure Consciousness; Chit in Sanskrit. Pure Consciousness is unborn.

Chitta on the other hand, is conditioned consciousness (thought) and is the primordial state out of which the universe is born. This field of thought is high vibration subtle energy which is the basis of material creation. Thought creates all, but this is at a primordial level compared to our ordinary mental reactions.

The ghost in the machine is consciousness! A consistently effective and reliable way of outing consciousness and working with it to our benefit is to implement an authentic spiritual practice. Reiki is one such practice.

Neuroscience has mapped mindbody functioning in terms of electrical, chemical and hormonal signals from one part to another. The brain has been identified in all of its parts: cerebrum, cerebellum, limbic and reptilian. Each has a specific function; thought and action, movement and balance, with feeding, fighting, fleeing and procreation assigned to the remaining two brain structures.

Yet, we are still unhappy, depressed and ill. The observation and tweaking of the physical components of the mindbody web is inadequate in finding wellbeing.

At the moment of enlightenment the Buddha said, “How strange–all living beings have the fully awakened nature, but none of them knows it….” Luckily it doesn’t have to remain unknowable. The Buddha and every authentic wisdom tradition advocates a return to the ground state of consciousness.

You may have heard of Reiki or even experienced it. What you may not know is that Reiki is much more than a healing modality alone. Reiki is an authentic wisdom tradition. It’s a path of enlightenment, with healing being a natural part of personal evolution.

We have to turn to wisdom teachings and practices to first understand consciousness and then delve deeply into it. Consciousness is our true nature. It also has the capacity to remember our divinity. This is true memory and not the false memory of our personal history.

Going back to the question of how our mindbody does in fact have the capacity to self-organize and -regulate… Dr. Frawley again:

Consciousness is responsible for the existence and movement of the cosmos. It functions behind all forms of matter and energy. Some type of consciousness exists everywhere in Nature, even in inanimate objects. It sustains the cosmic process on all levels, staring with the atom itself. Whatever exists must contain some degree of consciousness or it could not be perceived.

So there is a vast intelligence with which we are inextricably linked. This intelligence naturally produces methods with which it can be accessed. The human spiritual software is perfectly matched to run on this cosmic operating system, while harmonizing and balancing human hardware.

In the next part we’ll look at how Reiki is able to reestablish this link between the personal and the universal.

Reiki links personal and spiritual consciousness

We’re encased in skin, our largest organ. We have mind and ego to navigate this plane. All three have specific functions to make the physical experience work.

Yet all three also separate and disconnect us, even in mundane terms. We may feel disconnected from our heart, loved ones, our job, our friends and our body.

Still underlying these is a core separation. The skin, ego and mind, separate us from the source of our being. As it is, this happens so easily in a limited physical world where we rely on sensory information to perceive and understand. The separation is compounded by all that is unhealed in us.

Our person needs healing. The little self has healing to do physically, emotionally and mentally. This is important work for it is foundational.

Then there’s the healing of ignorance. Not knowledge ignorance, but spiritual ignorance, which is essentially not knowing that we are only in part skin, ego and mind. Only in part.

Reiki is able to grow us out of personal pain, and out of self-imposed and design limitations because it sources at a non-collapsed level of reality, whatever you may want to term that. Here it’s termed consciousness. Any practice that arises out of consciousness heals the little self and opens the gates to everything beyond the hard and wetware of our being, because consciousness is always overarching and all-encompassing.

Reiki is mostly accepted as energy and a modality. Reiki is in fact a spiritual teaching that doesn’t fit well in the skin of modality.

As for energy, consciousness is really far too subtle and vibrating too quickly to be considered energy. It has to further densify to manifest form. During this densification, ‘energy’ or life force as we understand it begins to show up. This energy is still very subtle, compared to say electromagnetic energy.

To say that Reiki is ‘universal life force energy’ or any of variation of this statement needs to be qualified: Life force is dependent on, supported by and sources out of consciousness. Healing takes place in Reiki at the level of personal consciousness being transformed, with a solid connection to the greater field.

There’s the direct action of life force moving through the mindbody and engendering healing through balance and harmony, but the real transformation takes place in consciousness.

Reiki as Consciousness parts 1 & 2.

Each post for the Reiki Help Blog can take anywhere from 1-5 days to write/research, proofread/edit, and post with an appropriate image and formatting. If you leave this space with any value, knowledge, joy or understanding, please consider making a donation of your choice.

Donate to this blog. Thank you!

The College is deeply grounded in a philosophy of caring. This extends to a holistic approach in all aspects. Even the building is Green, one of the few LEEDS “gold-rated” educational buildings in the United States, featuring Feng Shui principles and environmental sustainability. Included are several spaces for meditation and holistic practice and contemplation.

This foundational training offers specific techniques for tapping into spiritual and healing consciousness and energy. Reiki fosters spiritual evolution, bodily and mental/emotional health; has uses for food, water, environment, relationships and work. Reiki holistically augments care giving, enhanced learning, social projects, global thinking, animal and pet care. See contents of this training.

Saturday, June 28 & Sunday, June 29 10 AM-5 PM
College of Nursing Room 116
Presented by Pamir Kiciman, BA, RM, CHt
Prepaid reservations required, space is limited
954-661-4263 or info [at] reikihelp [dot] com