Reiki
|
||
|
Reiki
|
||
|
Newsletter
Archive
|
||
|
ReikiDharma.com
|
|||
|
Meeting Chiyoko Yamaguchi
|
|||
ReikiDharma Newsletter Volume 22, February 12, 2008 Dear friends! In the last newsletters I mentioned that I now focus on teaching mostly Jikiden Reiki- the teaching I received from Chiyoko Yamaguchi and her son Tadao. The reason for that is twofold. First, I would like my students to receive the most accurate information and teaching there is. And second, I have recently been given the permission to teach… In the following pages I would like to tell you how and what I learned from the Yamaguchis. What I will speak about is not only my personal Reiki story, but also Reiki- history unfolding. The advent of the Yamaguchi’s presence in the Reiki world has shed new light on the original teaching- as well as on the history. Please forgive me if you have received this newsletter already, I have had some technical difficulties in the past few month. Jikiden Reiki After the Yamaguchis were ”discovered”, they called what they teach “Jikiden Reiki”. The reason for choosing this term was not disrespect for other Reiki teaching. And it was not meant to create a new, “superior” or “different” kind of Reiki. The word “Jikiden” The Japanese word “Jikiden” is often used in traditional Japanese arts, when someone wants to say that they teach exactly what they have learned from their teacher. This is a term of respect towards the teacher, and towards the teaching. The first word “Jiki” means “Direct” and the word “Den” means “Transmission” or “Teaching”. In this case it means direct transmission/teaching from Chujiro Hayashi - Chiyoko Yamaguchi’s beloved teacher. Luckily I wrote a diary when I first met Chiyoko and Tadao Yamaguchi. In the evening after each day of the seminar, I sat quietly in the hotel in Kyoto, listening to the breath of the ancient city, letting the events of the day pass once more before my inner eye. Now, seven years later, some of the memories are still as present as they were then. Others have just been awoken from their slumber. In the following I will address the Japanese Teachers with the proper term “Sensei” (respected teacher). Yet I will call Tadao by his first name, because over the years we have grown were fond of each other. In the twelve years I lived in Japan, he is the only friend I found, and I am grateful for his love and friendship. Reiki Training with Yamaguchi Sensei, July 24-29, 2000 In the winter of 1999 I came across a Japanese book on Reiki that one of my student’s student had written. Part of it was an “interview” with a Japanese student of Hayashi Sensei whose name was not mentioned in the text. However, the author shared with his readers that the old lady he had talked to lived in Kyoto. “Kyoto”, I thought, “ I love Kyoto.” Even now (2007) I sometimes think that I would like to have an office or a Reiki center there. Until that point I had not come across any information about Hayashi Sensei at all. Some of the members of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai (Usui Reiki Healing Method Association) had never heard of him, while others knew his name but had no information about him. They seemed to look at him as a bad boy, who had left the fold. Mr. Fumio Ogawa, one of the few Shihans (teachers) of the Usui Association had recently died. He was my sole contact in the association and it seemed that my only door to possible traditional Reiki training had closed with a big bang. Now I was thrilled by the prospect that another door may be opening in the future. After calling a few of my students in Tokyo, I was given the telephone number of Mrs. Chiyoko Yamaguchi, who was said to have learned Reiki in the 1930’s. I was thrilled and yet a little apprehensive, because it had always proven difficult to get a big foreign foot into a small Japanese door. In 1994, we had talked to Kimiko Koyama, the president of the Usui Association with little success. She was quite unfriendly on the telephone and kept saying, “ I have no interest in Reiki that comes from a foreign country.” She told me that she was not interested in meeting with me and would not read my books either... I am sure she must have had reasons for her behavior, but it was nevertheless a great disappointment on several levels. A little while after this conversation, I was introduced to Ogawa Sensei. I treated our developing relationship like a fragile flower. For about two years, one of my students, Shizuko Akimoto, used to visit him at home, while we were waiting for a good chance for me to be introduced in person. In Japan this is a slow process, but we were proceeding well. One day he gave Shizuko three documents to give to me: Usui Sensei’s workshop manual, his own memoirs and Koyama Sensei’s teaching manual. We were about ready to meet and he passed away… Contacting Yamaguchi Sensei Judging by the interview in the book, Yamaguchi Sensei seemed to be teaching in Kyoto and I was hoping that she would accept me as her student. Yet, after the difficulties of the past, I was prepared to be turned away again. But this time I was in for a surprise. Chiyoko Sensei’s youngest son, Tadao, answered the phone. He was very friendly and even though he was told that I was teaching Reiki already for six years, and that I was a foreigner, he remained open and amicable. I asked if his mother would accept me as a student, and he said that since I spoke Japanese there would be no problem at all. I was speechless. Kyoto was about 1500 kilometers south of the city I used to live in, but I would have walked… Tadao Sensei told me that his mother was teaching the same way that she had learned from Hayashi Sensei. She asked her students to begin again with Reiki One- even though they may have had previous training. She did not require this because she did not accept what other people teach and learn. She wanted to keep her teaching in the original form- out of respect towards Hayashi Sensei and the Teaching. “When is the next workshop, I asked?” “Sorry, Tadao answered, the next one is already fully booked.” I was thinking that he would tell me that there were so many people interested, but he said: “We have six people already and the next workshop will be held next summer!” Wow, I thought, two workshops with six participants per year!!! After the little disappointment that meant that I had to wait seven or eight month, I was excited to have at least new perspective. The first Meeting On July 24, 2000, I met the Yamaguchis for the first time, and it was love at first sight. They held the workshop in the second floor of a traditional Kyoto house built about 120 years ago. Downstairs was a stationary shop- their family business- an ancient kitchen and then a very narrow flight of stairs led up to the second floor. The floor was laid out with tatami mats, there were a few cushions for the participants and a low Japanese dining table that later on turned into a massage table. The room was adorned with antique Japanese furniture, and I was in paradise. And then there were pictures of Usui Sensei and Hayashi Sensei I had never seen… I had loved all Japanese things since I was a teenager and felt right at home. This was the right atmosphere to learn a traditional Japanese healing art! Tadao Sensei noticed that I liked the ambience and we found out that we share the same passion for beautifully crafted things. The other students called Mrs. Yamaguchi Chiyoko Sensei, and I did the same. This is a friendly term to use the first name mixed with the word Sensei, and everyone felt instantly at home. We were five or six students in the workshop and it felt lovely to be a student again. It was refreshing to sit with an open heart and mind and not to think that I know everything already. One of the participants had no previous Reiki training and I listened with his ears… The first thing Chiyoko Sensei asked me was whether I gave Reiki treatments. I said yes, and she continued to ask me if I had ever witnessed any healing. I nodded and told her that I had a certain skill for specific illnesses (asthma, edema, back problems and psychological challenges) and that my clients tended to get well…She was happy to hear that and replied “goooood”. Then she continued, ” This is my standard question to people practicing Western Reiki. Very often they say that they don’t have time to give treatments. I ask them” if you don’t give treatments, and have no experience in giving treatments to sick people, what on Earth do you teach?” Chiyoko is unpretentious, warm and kind- hearted. She is down to Earth and just like your beloved grandma. The feeling of being at home spread all over my Kokoro (mind and heart)… The first Day of Shoden (Reiki One) Today, Chiyoko began with telling us her personal Reiki history. She was born in 1921, like my father. This made me feel even more at home…Her uncle, Wasaburo Sugano, who was her surrogate father, came across Reiki in 1928, two years after Usui Sensei’s death. He had lost both of his children due to tuberculosis, and was looking for a way to avoid this terrible fate for future generations. He was a wealthy business- man located in Osaka. Originally he had come from Ishikawa prefecture in Western Japan. Mr. Sugano was introduced to Hayashi Sensei in 1928, and took the first two levels, Shoden and Okuden with him then. Whenever they returned to their home in Ishikawa they spread the word of what they had learned. One day the idea was born to ask Hayashi Sensei to come to Ishikawa to teach. This was realized in 1935, and from that year on Hayashi Sensei came twice a year to Ishikawa to teach Shoden and Okuden. Chiyoko’s older sister, Katsue, learned in 1935 and Chiyoko was a little jealous. Katsue was good at giving Reiki treatments and was often picked up by a car with a driver and was delivered to someone’s home to give treatments. In those days not many people had cars and a young lady being driven around was something very special. Chiyoko was burning. She had been around Reiki since she was seven, and wanted to learn it herself, but her uncle, Sugano, always said to her When I asked her what Hayashi Sensei was like, she replied With time Chiyoko’s whole family got infected with Reiki. Her older brother, Yoshio Ushio, was the last to learn. He studied with Chie Hayashi, Hayashi Sensei’s wife in 1943. My next question was ”How was Mrs. Takata, Hayashi Sensei’s successor? You must know her well.” Chiyoko’s face started to twitch and she was obviously upset when she answered “Mrs. Hayashi (Chie) took over the Hayashi Reiki Institute after her husband’s death! I don’t know any Mrs. Takata.” Knowing that this was the way that Reiki history was taught in the West, Tadao saved me from feeling silly.” Mom” he said, “ This is what they all say in the Western Reiki world. I took a deep breath and thought, ”Oh, no, here we go again.” At that time I was quite fed up with my role as the bad boy in the Reiki family. I had exposed so many myths about Usui Sensei and now the same thing was beginning with Hayashi Sensei. “Oh well”, I thought, after another deep breath…”if it is my job, I may as well accept it with gratitude.” In the next few days I was to learn more about Hayashi Sensei than I dreamed I ever would.
The first attunement Tadao closed all the curtains and shut off all the lights. We were told that we would be receiving our first attunement, called “Reiju” in Japanese. They explained that the word meant “ to give or to grant the soul.” Boy, was I ready for that; I had been waiting for this moment all these years. Chiyoko Sensei told us that we were to receive one attunement every day, for five days. We were then given clear instructions about how we were to sit. Then Chiyoko began by chanting the Reiki- Principles together with us. During the Reiju it was easy to leave behind my Reiki Teacher’s attitude, and be soft and receptive. I did not try to figure out how the Reiju was done, all I noticed that it was quite different from what I had learned in the Western tradition. It was simple and short and in a way unspectacular. But when I was asked to get up, I couldn’t. There was no impulse in the mind to get up, to do something: everything was just perfect the way it was… a sacred moment of silent contentment. My hands and my feet were on fire, and were pulsating strongly. After the Reiju the light was turned back on again, and we sat in a circle touching each other’s backs. This was called Reiki Mawashi and was meant to help us perceive the energy flow and what was going on in our partner’s bodies. At the end we did a feedback round to see how everyone was feeling. The next thing we did was to transform the low table into a massage table. Tadao got a futon (cotton mattress) and placed it on top of the table and one of the students laid down to receive Reiki from the rest of us. Chiyoko said that the most experienced in a group ought to treat the head, so she took the head position. While we were treating each other, Chiyoko Sensei gave instructions, commented on what she felt while touching a certain area, or told something that had happened to her during the day. It was not a holy atmosphere at all. She told us that illness is a cleansing process- in a way, a good sign that the body is trying to find its balance again. The inner organs, she said, oscillate and the body deposits toxic substances close to them. If these substances increase too much, the organs can’t work smoothly anymore and the balance tips from “health” to “illness.” She shared with us how Hayashi Sensei worked. He always had two practitioners work on one client, without using a set of pre meditated hand positions. He suggested to always treat the head, the soles of the feet and the afflicted area. She told us that there was no set time for a treatment and that you should do as much as you can. If you have an hour do an hour, if you have 2 hours do two hours. But you should do at least 30 minutes. Less won’t do. The more experienced practitioner of the group should treat the head, to determine the path of the treatment. She was quite clear about being comfortable when you work. We sat with our legs crossed under the table, and sometimes with our legs stretched out under the table, and sometimes with our legs falling asleep under the table! She told us that our physical comfort is the most important thing. “Don’t put out your back while you are fixing someone else’s.” I asked Chiyoko if she minded me asking her questions. I knew that Japanese students don’t ask their teacher about what torments their hearts. She answered she’d be glad to answer. *** The second Day of Shoden (Reiki One) Today we began our morning with chanting the Reiki Principles and receiving the delightful Reiju. Chiyoko gave the Reiju together with Tadao, and it was lovely to see mother and son perform such a beautiful ritual together. Before we began she told us that Hayashi Sensei used to chant The Meiji Emperor’s poetry while he performed the Reiju. Next we practiced the Reiki Mawashi again, and then we were taught the power symbol. We were told not to write the symbol down. This was an old tradition that goes back to Usui Sensei and Hayashi Sensei. (Later on, when Chiyoko was continuously confronted with the inability of her foreign students to memorize the symbols instantly, she reluctantly changed her mind.) When Tadao drew the power symbol on the whiteboard, I nodded my head in agreement. Chiyoko Sensei looked at me and said “ Right- you use it in Western Reiki too, don’t you?“ I agreed and she said with a mischievous smile " and you also repeat the name of it three times when you use it, right?“ I agreed and she said “that is like picking up a spoon and saying three times "Spoon, spoon, spoon!“ They write the symbol slightly differently, and it has a different name and meaning as well. After we had laughed a lot, she showed us a wonderful technique called Ketsueki Kokan. This has been beautifully illustrated and published in the book „ The Hayashi Reiki Manual“ by Tadao Yamaguchi and Frank Arjava Petter, Lotus Press, Wisconsin. Some time during the day, I asked her what Reiki meant for her. She thought for a while and then answered “When I see someone at the bus stop who is obviously suffering, I want to help him.“ When I asked her about the meaning of the Reiki principles she answered, “Incorporate the first four into your life” Today we were taught about the Byosen. Hayashi Sensei, she said, taught that the body deposits toxic waste materials in strategic places, to be able to eliminate them later. If the body lacks energy, the elimination process is disturbed and more and more toxins accumulate. Then you give the client Reiki. The process of Reiki energizing the body is like stirring up mud in a creek. You stir up the toxins and then the body eliminates them through the natural elimination avenues and the body liquids. Hayashi Sensei also said that giving Reiki works like peeling off thin layers of paper. You have to be patient. Hayashi Sensei, Chiyoko Sensei said, and she relied entirely on the byosen and did not use a set of standard hand positions. When I asked her later about what she felt when she was giving Reiki, she answered, “Love”. Today we treated one of the other participants lying on the belly. I asked Chiyoko Sensei if there was a rule for treating someone laying on his or her back or his or her belly. She answered ” Whatever is most comfortable for the client and for you is good.” Suddenly she started to stroke and massage our client’s legs. She said that if you feel like on body area is blocked, you could open it up with a massage or a downward stroking movement. Sometimes you can use pressure as in Shiatsu. But after you have opened the area up, you should place your hands on it and give Reiki to it for a few minutes. During the treatment, I asked her if Reiki was expensive in the old days. She answered that the cost of becoming a Reiki teacher in the late thirties was 50 Yen, almost double the salary of a young professional. Only rich people were involved in teaching then. She told us that Reiki was a way of the wealthy people to give something back to society. The teaching was expensive but the treatments were given either for a little money, or a barter system was used. The farmer who received Reiki treatments brought rice, the fisherman brought fish…
*** Today we began with the customary chanting of the Reiki Principles and then the Reiju, followed by Reiki Mawashi. Then we spent a few hours with perception training. We began with putting our hands in the Gassho position. Then we were asked to concentrate on the Tanden (two or three fingers width below the navel). While keeping the attention there, we let our palms separate for a few centimeters and practiced feeling the energy that was building up in between the hands. Then we kept letting the palms of the hands come further and further apart- still feeling the energy. To end the exercise we brought the hands in front of the Tanden, paying attention to the energy flow. Chiyoko Sensei suggested keeping the eyes open just a little during the exercise, to discourage the mind from wandering about. With a little bit of experience she said, this exercise could be practiced with closed eyes as well. Afterwards we learned more about the Byosen. Chiyoko Sensei said that the art of perceiving and working with the Byosen is the most important subject in Reiki. She is quite accommodating about any Reiki Issue with the exception of writing down the symbols and the byosen. If you don’t know the byosen, she said, you are unable to work properly. Without understanding the art of byosen you don’t know what you are doing, what the effect of your work is, and how long and how often you client must be treated... We were asked to do a partner exercise. One of the partners was to receive; the other one was to give. The receiver sat quietly while the practitioner placed one hand on the receiver’s shoulder and the other on his own upper thigh. Now we were asked to feel the difference between the hands. After the byosen exercise we practiced Nentatsu- Ho, a technique for detoxification. At the end of the day we gave each other Reiki again. Today it was my turn. Chiyoko touched my head, and after a while started massaging my shoulders lightly and lovingly. While she was massaging me she said, “Look his skin looks much better already…” What a tender touch she has. *** Today we began our morning with chanting the Reiki- Principles and receiving Reiju. During the Reiju I was quite tired, but could always feel both of them before they came around to me. Electric shocks shook my body. After the Reiju again my hands and feet were electrified, on fire. After the Reiju we practiced the customary Reiki Mawashi and Reiki Okuri (another technique for increasing the perception and for maintaining health). This morning was dedicated to learning the Mental Healing technique, called “Sei heki Chiryo. ” The word sei heki, Chiyoko said means “habit”. In Usui Sensei’s time, sei heki meant the whole bandwidth of habits: physical, mental, emotional and soul- habits. Nowadays the word sei heki is associated with sexual perversions… We were told that all habits could be treated with this miracle cure (in the years following, I witnessed amazing healings with this technique). Then we learned a mantra that was used in conjunction with the sei heki chiryo. Again the symbol looks slightly different from what I learned previously.
Before we gave each other Reiki today, Chiyoko showed us how to use Reiki with the eyes and the breath. She also taught how to treat injuries. Today I noticed again that Chiyoko seems to be suffering from a backache; because of the way she stretched her back during the day. Still unsure if I could cross the cultural borders, and knowing that the Japanese students would never dare to give her a treatment, I asked Tadao if I could give her a back treatment. (One of my favorites). He said that I could ask her. She was surprised but happy accepted about my offer. In the evening, after the others had gone I took care of her back. She was very happy with my hands and said that she felt some huge energy caressing her. The second Day of Okuden (Reiki Two) Today was the last day of the training. We met at 3:30 pm and stayed together until the evening. These five days passed too quickly. As usual we began with the chanting of the Reiki Principles and receiving Reiju. Again my body was electrified during the Reiju, and I felt especially hands and feet burning with the Reiki Fire! After the attunement we practiced Reiki Mawashi and Reiki Okuri. Today we learned distant healing, called Enkaku Chiryo in Japanese. As expected by now, the distant healing symbol too is different from what we have learned in the West. So is the distant healing technique and the philosophy behind it. It has been such a pleasure to be in Chiyoko Sensei’s presence. For years I have been wondering what happens to a person who is exposed to Reiki for a long time. How does his character develop, how does he act in public and what is he like at home. Here in the Yamaguchis home I found the answers. The qualities I longed to find in a Reiki practitioner I have found in Chiyoko Sensei. Simplicity, honesty, humbleness, and great skill- all the ingredients of a delicious Reiki cocktail were overflowing from her heart. Western Reiki Practice is still in its adolescence. We don’t have much experience and have been taught a great deal of New Age techniques in the name of Reiki. In the last five days I did not find any of that and Reiki took on its original Japanese flavor. When I said goodbye to Chiyoko Sensei tonight, I told her that I was very happy to have met the first Reiki adult, and that I hope that she will teach many of us in the years to come. In the evening we went out to dinner together, had a lovely vegetarian feast and a couple of glasses of beer. Before we said goodbye on that evening, I asked Tadao if he would like to publish a book with me, and the rest is history… *** Copyright © by Frank Arjava Petter, 2007
Workshop News: If you would like to catch up with me somewhere, please consult the schedule below. Arjava in Action: Schedule 2008 22-28, Düsseldorf, Germany March 2008 14-16, Hanau, Germany 19- 23, Düsseldorf, Germany 24- 25 , Düsseldorf, Germany 28- 30, Saronida- near Athens, Greece 30 Athens, Greece, Public Lecture 31 March - April 1, Saronida, near Athens, Greece
April 2008 10, Frankfurt, Germany 11-15, Frankfurt, Germany 19-23, Pohlheim, Germany 24-25, Pohlheim, Germany May 2008 1-7, Buenos Aires, Argentina- SORRY FULLY BOOKED 6-7, Buenos Aires, Argentin- SORRY FULLY BOOKED, 12-24 Japan Reiki Journey to Kyoto and Tokyo-SORRY FULLY BOOKED June 2008 June 13, Düsseldorf, Germany SORRY FULLY BOOKED June 19, Düsseldorf, GermanySORRY FULLY BOOKED June 19- 20, Düsseldorf, Germany SORRY FULLY BOOKED June 25-27, Eressos, Greece July 2008 Juli 2- 11, Eressos, Greece August 2008 11-17 , Düsseldorf, Deutschland 19-23 , Düsseldorf, Deutschland 25-29, Hamburg, Germany 30- 31, Hamburg, Germany September 2008 3-7, Biebergemünd,Germany 17-21, Suhl, Germany 25-29, Naxos, Greece Oktober 2008 3, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 4- 8, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 9-10, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 12-16, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 17-18, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil October 29- November 2, Saronida near Athens, Greece November 2008 November 3-4, Saronida near Athens, Greece 12- 16, Buenos Aires, Argentina 17- 21, Buenos Aires, Argentina 22- 23, Buenos Aires, Argentina December 2008 8-12, Bitburg, Germany 13- 14, Bitburg, Germany
|
|||||
 |
|||||
|
Frank
Arjava Petter |
