The Reiki Principles were originally called the Gokai (Go = 5, Kai = Principles.) While they haven’t been given much attention in western Reiki classes, they were very important to Usui in teaching his students. He realized that if people wanted to be truly healthy, they needed to address their psychological health, as well as their physical health. So he put together the 5 principles for his students to chant out loud, every day, mornings and evenings, with hands in the Gassho prayer position. When asked, “What is Reiki,” Mikao Usui would say, “The secret method of inviting happiness. The spiritual medicine for all diseases.” These are the same two lines that he used to introduce the 5 Reiki Principles, which he considered to be instrumental in healing the mind and spirit first, so that physical healing could then take place more effectively. The opening line Kyo dake wa (Just for today) reminds us to forget about the past and the future and to live in the moment. It encourages us to be in the “now.” “Just for today, just for right now, I will follow these principles.” And moment-by-moment, day-by-day, our lives become blessed. One needs to understand that the Gokai are not intended as strict rules or commandments, but are more like very practical advice. The “na” in the first two principles means “don’t,” as in “don’t angry” or “don’t do worry.” This is not a moral directive. The “na” is the specific Japanese word used when speaking from a place of experience, understanding and higher wisdom. An everyday example would be “Don’t touch the stove.” The first two principles address negative states of being: Anger and Worry, which are highly toxic to the human mind. Both of these states can create serious physical illness. They are counterproductive - wasting energy and accomplishing nothing. And they take us out of the “now.” Anger is about the past. It keeps us living in the past and prevents us from taking right action in the present. Worry is about the future, it keeps us steeped in fear, and again it ties up so much energy that we cannot possibly take the proper action. Usui gives us a valuable tool with the third principle… Be grateful. Being grateful means nourishing gratitude in your heart, for no specific reason. It means being grateful for the gift of existence. Gratitude eradicates anger and worry. It’s impossible to be angry or to worry when you are feeling gratitude. Gratitude brings you here, into the present moment. And when you are present, you become well! The fourth principle, Do your duties fully, can be interpreted in two ways. Duty can be understood to be one’s job, obligations, responsibilities, and even one’s life’s purpose or mission. And in this case, it means doing it to the best of one’s abilities. But a deeper understanding of this principle is to be and to act responsibly, to take right action, to right a wrong if it’s within your power to do so. And duty is what you choose to do, not what someone else imposes on you. Duty is what comes naturally when we realize that we are all one. The first four principles bring us through a personal transformation that will probably continue throughout the rest of our lives, but it leads us to the fifth principle, Be kind to others. The greatest kindness to others is to remind them of their essential spiritual nature and their connection with all of creation. We do this in Reiki, especially when we treat the head or attune people because it wakes up the seat of the soul center in the brain. Often, people see an etheric light that is considered to be the light of the soul. When the soul center is activated, we become peaceful, calm, connected and transformed. As wonderful as these philosophical teachings are, when translated into different languages, they lack the uplifting vibrations of the sacred sounds that are in the original Japanese. You see, Usui carefully crafted the words in these teachings based on the sacred sounds within them. He meant for his students to chant out loud every morning and evening, letting the sounds reverberate in their hearts. The sounds felt within and without would elevate their energy above and beyond the meditation on the principles. And his students always chanted the Reiki Principles as a prelude before receiving attunements. So the Reiki Principles are not just a back page in a manual, they are an essential part of the Reiki experience.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 23:20:35 +0000
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