3. Uses & Benefits Of Reiki

1.6 The Reiki Principles:

Having now understood some of the basics about what Reiki is, let us now introduce you to the idea of the Reiki Principles which have been established as part of the Usui Reiki healing system. These principles can be thought of as ‘ethical guidelines’ that can help us to govern our Reiki practices to help us live a more happy & loving life.

Te Five Reiki Principles

1. Just for today, I will let go of anger Anger usually appears afer we step out of love in any given number of situations and is a very destructive emotion. We ofen see anger as a sign that there is something lying un-healed beneath the anger and most commonly, it can be the emotion of sadness that is being covered by anger. So please, next time you see anger flaring up from within you, ask yourself “where does this anger come from?”. And most importantly “how can I help to heal this issue?”

2. Just for today, I will let go of worry Worry lowers our energetic vibration - it represents a lack of faith in the divine plan and is very rarely a helpful emotion in any situation. What problems have ever been solved through worrying?

3. Just for today, I will do my work honestly Project your honesty outwards towards other people and inwards for yourself. Try to be truthful and authentic in all things that you do so that you can speak your truth, live your truth and be your truth! Do not give in to guilty feelings - just be honest with yourself and with your own feelings and express your honesty with much love in your heart.

4. Just for today, I will count my many blessings How ofen do we give thanks and feel grateful for everything we have been given in life? Giving thanks for our eyes, our hands, our legs, the food we eat, the water we drink, the experiences that we have. There are so many blessings every day to be grateful for and so many benefits to being grateful for those things.

5. Just for today, I will love and respect all living beings Everything that lives is part of the universal plan and has a function to fulfil in life; even down to the tiniest of insects. When we live in love & respect for all living beings, we help to open up many new doorways on our healing pathway.

So these are the 5 Reiki principles - something that can help us to lead a more peaceful, loving and fruitful life. Usually for any spiritual tradition, there are a set of commonly agreed upon ethics or morals which help to form the foundations of the spiritual practitioners pathway. Typically, it is normally through a belief in the law of karma that helps to shape these. It is the notion that a set of ethical guidelines or principles can help to guide the spiritual practitioner towards performing good actions (and cultivating good intentions) which is ofen thought to help in the creation of good karma and karmic merit. Ultimately, this helps the practitioner to accumulate good karmic merits which is ofen considered to be an essential part of any journey towards purification, healing & enlightenment. In this way, we can more easily understand why these principles have been passed on through these Reiki teachings. By reading through these principles and by reflecting on these, it is said to better help us to move towards more love, light & purification in our life. As an example of this, let us reflect on the last Reiki principle - to love and respect all living beings. How can you bring this into your life more effectively? What changes can you make to your life so that you honour all life?

These kinds of personal reflections are usually best done over a longer period of time noting that the changes that are ofen brought about from these inner reflections are very genuine, deeply loving and long lasting. We hope that you will enjoy reflecting on these very simple Reiki guidelines in your life!

1.7 A Deeper Perspective Of Reiki:

One of the best things about learning Reiki is the depth at which the learning can be done; from the very basic introductory aspects to the very eternal depths of pure consciousness, there are indeed many different levels of understanding about Reiki. One very beautiful aspect of Reiki is the opening up to the idea that by helping others, we are also automatically helping ourselves. And this understanding comes to us through our experiences of giving Reiki healing sessions to others. You see, as you give a Reiki healing session, you are also helping to create the necessary energetic circumstances for healing to happen within yourself. Yes - there is indeed a direct link here!

And as we learn more about this inter-relationship between helping others and healing ourselves, we can then start to open up to a new understanding about how to attain genuine and long lasting happiness in our own life!

Of course, Reiki can also help you to heal your own physical body as well through your self healing practices however we ofen feel that the true power of Reiki lies in the understanding that by helping others, you are also helping yourself. And within this type of thought-stream, you can now also be lead towards a very deep and profound inner transformation which helps you to move towards your own truly divine essence. And within this stage of growth, you are able to realise more deeply that:

You are a truly divine, infinite being!

You are like the sun shining magnificently throughout all time & space. You are far more expansive than you realise and through practices such as Reiki, you are now able to unlock and understand more about this beautiful & expansive ‘divine self’. As you grow and evolve with your Reiki practices, the beautiful side benefits of all of this are health, happiness and well-being in your life. You are able to gain a deep sense of inner peace, love & happiness in your life as you find your balance at a physical, mental, emotional and spiritual level….

…….such is te beaut of practsing Reiki.

2. The History & Origins Of Reiki:

Whilst the true origins of Reiki are said to date back to the beginning of time, it was through the spiritual work of Dr Mikao Usui during the late 19th century that the Reiki energies were rediscovered and brought into the world as a form of energy based healing. The following story that we will be providing you with here is the ‘official Reiki story’ as explained through the western ‘Hawayo Takata’ Reiki lineage. As we present this information to you, we will also be doing our best to clarify some additional things along the way about the different Reiki lineages and about how Reiki has now grown and expanded into the 21st century.

2.1 Introducing Dr. Mikao Usui:

During the mid 1800’s in Kyoto Japan, Dr Mikao Usui was the Dean of a small Christian University called Doshisha University where he taught Bible studies. One day, his students asked him whether he believed in the Bible to which Dr Usui replied that he did. The students then went on to ask if he believed that Jesus was able to heal the sick with his hands and again, Dr Usui nodded in agreement. The students then quoted the words of Jesus where He proclaimed that ‘you can do this too, and more’ and then again,

the students asked Dr Usui whether he believed in this statement.

Agreeing with his students, Dr Mikao Usui felt that he was unable to answer them completely and as such, honour demanded that Dr Mikao Usui resign immediately from his position as Dean, as he set out to find this divine healing ability.

Starting His Search Given that Jesus had spoken of this divine healing in the Bible, Dr Usui started his search by exploring the Christian religion. And as part of this, he felt that he would find the answers he was searching for in a Christian country. For the next seven years, Dr Usui would live in Chicago where he would study Christianity, the Bible as well as other ancient scriptures & religions at the University of Chicago. However afer this long search, he was unable to find what he had sought. During this time however, he had learned that Jesus had travelled through India and Tibet so as a next step, Dr Usui decided to follow in these footsteps in search of more answers. It was here in these regions that Dr Usui was said to have learnt Sanskrit as well as studying the Indian and Tibetan Sutras. Unfortunately however, he was still unable to find what he was seeking.