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Reiki as a spiritual practice

Reiki cannot be separated from Buddhism. The Founder Mikao Usui was for his entire life Buddhist. He gifted Reiki as a means for people to practice a spiritual path without dogma. But he provided a means for Buddhism to be accessible during times of political unrest and religious discimination.
If you are Buddhist you can see clearly through the precepts, motivations for daily practice. Depending on a person’s motivation to practise Reiki allows them to access the system in a simple or more profound way. In general terms we don’t think of Reiki as Dharma, but it is. It just depends on the mind of the person utilising the system to uncover the hidden treasures. Once uncovered the Buddha’s teachings help transform ones awareness.
The system of Reiki is really about the practitioner watching one’s own mind. The more one practises it exposes the system as a sequence of meditation techniques leading to profound knowingness of truth. But Reiki also involves studying the relationship between body, mind, external influences and karmic tendencies.
Through the techniques we become aware of the internal and external conditions that influence our lives. This in turn enables us to see these environments with wisdom enabling us to question our assumptions and preconceptions. This is the practice of Reiki which is no different from Buddhism. The techniques and tools used doesn’t really matter it about our motivation.

Considering the above we can see that the system of Reiki is a spiritual practice. Reiki over the years  morphed to utilise the treatment aspect of hands on healing in a professional or clinical way. Hands on healing being peoples more common understanding of Reiki but in essence it’s a by-product of the spiritual practice.

A wonderful consequence of using the body as a method for the inner teachings. For the practitioner facilitating a treatment with a client is an extraordinary opportunity help another glimpse at their truth.

Therefore, the methods and tools within the system of Reiki are truely for a practitioners own self care and self healing. When we say healing it seems an odd choice of language in the spiritual context but essentially refers to a practitioners ability to self realise.

Usui himself stated, ‘First the mind must be healed for the body to be sound”.

When a practitioner begins to understand mind consciousness, they can draw association to universal consciousness which is Reiki. Understanding universal consciousness moves one to know the subtler levels of truth. This is the healing and the practice. Its a process of slowly letting go of duality and learning to reside more in suchness.

Hidden Treasures

No Reiki or other spiritual teacher can show another how to attain self realisation but they can facilitate the journey by means of laying down the bread crumb trail. Its the trail that points the student in the general direction but the discovery is unto them.

In the beginning of a students journey it’s important to have a bread crumb trail or path which helps to move through understanding gross levels of mind. Once the gross levels are understood the more subtle levels can be exposed using the methods and tools within the system.

Gross mind states being object or form, thoughts, feelings, senses and so forth of what passes through the space of mind. Whereas, the more subtle spaces of consciousness is abiding in simple awareness and empty form. Abiding in awareness is to see these arisings as just that, passing through the mind space. The practice is to abide with non attachment or clinging. Simply letting go and seeing things just as they are objects.

Some may ask, but what are we letting go of?

This is a perfectly good question for the beginners mind.

A beginners journey is learning to let go of the things that cloud the natural state of mind which is clear light. To know what clouds your mind is to choose to work on your own arisings of what you attach and clinging to, along with other mental defilements.

The precepts in the system of Reiki act as touch stones pointing us towards the practice of awareness of our delusional mind states, such as anger or worry. They remind us to keep polishing the dirty stains from the aware mind or seeing the arisings in our mind as clouds drifting away to expose the sun. The more we polish the stains or clear the clouds that taint the mind the clearer our abiding in suchness.

Suchness refers to true essence, true nature of things that is beyond words or language.

Bread crumbs

Here’s where the bread crumbs come in. Like everything we learn we have to start somewhere. Using the body as a vehicle in Reiki practice simply helps us to take the steps needed to access subtler levels of consciousness.

Initially learning to trust in our hands in the practice experience and over time moving from awareness of sensation to letting go. We place hands and give to the experience and let go of the want for an out come. Sensations that may arise such as hot, cold, tingly or sensing of any change in the hands we let go to simply abide.

We learn to move in flow and become one with the dance expanding and deepening our awareness and knowingness. The practitioner simply holds the space.

 

~ Makoto ReikiDo ~

Caron