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ReikiDharma Newsletter Volume 27 March 27, 2009

Dear friends!

Hello again from your fellow traveler Frank Arjava Petter. Spring has come and I would like to touch base with you again. This time I would like to talk to you about an issue that burns in my heart.
Reiki has developed greatly in the western World and even though some of the developments may be helpful, I feel that many of us have lost touch with the original teaching. It seems that the more Reiki generations are born, the less this spiritual science seems to be handed down, and I often meet Reiki friends, who even though they are supposedly Reiki Teachers, do not seem to know the basics of Reiki.

The basics of the Usui Reiki Ryoho

Originally the word Reiki meant Soul Energy. Every one of us has been given a soul and is swimming in this soul energy like a fish in the sea. In the process of evolution, however, we are disconnected from our soul, from our essential nature. This disconnection has grave implications: we become sick and/or unhappy. The dormant Soul Energy must be awoken by serious inner work, by divine intervention or, in our case by Reiki Initiation. The energy is awoken in the Attunement process, if the teacher knows how to do just that.

The soul is our common treasure, but as long as you don’t know that you own this treasure, you are not able to use it. Let me explain this with an example: think of your left little toe as you read these lines. Suddenly your attention alights in your toe, you may feel it vibrating with energy, filled with life and light.

When asked whether Reiki is a psychic healing method
(Shinrei Ryoho), Usui Sensei answered in an interview that Reiki is both a psychic healing method and physical therapy. As the soul is considered to live inside the body, we treat the body, especially the head. The reason for this is that the Japanese consider the seat of the soul to be deeply inside the head, where the crown chakra and the third eye meet. This little soul is activated in the attunement process.

But not only in the attunement process do we work with the soul. Every time the client’s head is touched, the energy tickles the soul and asks it to awaken. Therefore, we must touch the body and the soul it automatically touched, healed and transformed.

The soul is immortal and records everything that happens to it- in each and every incarnation. When you treat someone’s head, you work on his or her past, present and future.
Reading these lines you will understand the seriousness of what we do. Reiki must be treated with love, respect and utmost dedication. Koyama Sensei the previous president of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai says in a handbook that was given to me in the nineties that Usui Sensei went to Mount Kurama to die. She suggests that we keep this spirit alive and work with the same determination in our daily practice.

I know that many of you have received and been taught to practice distant attunements. In the light of what we talked just about, you may want to reconsider this practice. It just lags all of the aforementioned.

The attunements

If the teacher has learned how to aid the student in the soul activation process, the magic happens. Therefore it is crucial to use a proven process- and not one that has been invented by a clever Reiki businessman.

With a Reiki Attunement (Japanese: Reiju) one is attuned to Reiki forever- the soul is activated. This does not depend upon a degree. So one is not attuned to a certain symbol or to a certain degree: one is attuned to Reiki. In this sense the work is done with the first attunement and from then on your development depends entirely upon your own efforts. These efforts are your inner work- and, giving Reiki treatments. Further attunements fine- tune the student and give him the chance to become accustomed with his soul and its workings. More of that will follow in my next book.

The Reiki Symbols

In Reiki we use the three symbols of the second degree, and some schools teach another symbol in the first degree. All other symbols, whether they are called Egyptian, or Tibetan or Non Traditional or whatever don’t belong into Reiki. The Reiki symbols are tools given to a student who has developed certain skills while working with Reiki.

Healing

Reiki is not about healing a headache- it is about growing into your own potential, about healing the soul- ache that we all know so well.

Who heals

The body of the client heals itself. When we give Reiki to a client we energize his body, so it can detoxify properly. Once detoxified, the body finds its equilibrium by itself. The only healer is the body…Working with this attitude both client and practitioner are transformed by the energy. The client heals and the practitioner practices egolessness: a beautiful positive habit to nourish and the reason and outcome of every spiritual discipline.

Transformation

Reiki is essentially a method for self- transformation. When you look for a teacher choose one who has been successful in this process. If the teacher displays an inflated ego, he has not learned his own lesson yet. How is he supposed to guide you to find happiness? In case you have not found the right teacher yet, trust in life and existence will send you someone who can teach, support and guide you. No need to look for a saint, though…

The Reiki Principles

The Reiki Principles, called Gokai in Japanese are the main tool for transformation besides the hands on healing. I have written on them in detail in the ReikiDharma Newsletter #19. You find it on my website at www.ReikiDharma.com in the menu under the heading Reiki Dharma Newsletter Archive.

Reiki in your daily life

Reiki does not belong into the classroom alone, it belongs in your daily life. My teacher, Chiyoko Yamaguchi was given the first two degrees by Hayashi Sensei. Her foster father paid for the initiation saying that it will be part of her dowry, so she could give Reiki to her family members. Koyama Sensei says that it is good to treat children daily, especially their heads. In this way they become good human beings. I assure you that it is true…

New Book Projects:

I just finished a new book on Reiki History and Practice- you will love it. This book is my legacy. It will be published in German in October 2009 and I hope that I will be able to find an English publisher for it. Please stay tuned for further info.

My previous book, Reiki Ganz Klar is still not published in English, but we are working on it.

New CD Project:

We are in the process of finishing a lovely CD with spoken Meditations. The music is done by Merlin’s Magic and the texts are spoken by me: if you would like to hear a deep, relaxing voice with a German accent… here is your chance.

Japan Tour:

From May 6-18, 2009, I will be conducting another tour of Japan. Part of the tour is a Shoden and Okuden Reiki- Training (Reiki 1 and 2) with Tadao Yamaguchi and visits to all the important Reiki Sites in Tokyo and Kyoto. We will visit Usui Senseis Memorial in Tokyo and the Kurama Temple in Kyoto, besides many other highlights. Your Reiki practice will never be the same after you have experienced the roots of Reiki yourself. Breathing the air and walking through Japanese gardens, temples and shrines will have a lasting effect on you. If you are interested, there are some spaces left due to cancellation. It may be the last tour that I organize myself. (The tour in October 2009 is already fully booked.) Please email me for further info.

2009 Schedule:

Please look at the schedule below, if you would like to meet me on the road. I will be traveling less in 2010 and will be spending more time with my family.

Personal Info:

We will be moving to Greece in the end of the year, and will close the center in Germany.