Challenges to the Reiki Prinicples

This will be a short post, just to give you some idea how our daily reciting of the Reiki principles helps put things into perspective, and how difficult situations challenge these principles…

Just for Today…

I will not worry…

as I have complete faith in God and His Universe and that EVERYTHING that is happening is unfolding exactly as it should for the Higher Good of all…no matter how difficult, and even cruel it may seem through our limited human depth of understanding

I will not get angry….

this is fairly easy when we are talking about our boss, some crazy driver on the road, a clerk in the bank or any other “simple” challenging situation. But in this kind of situation, it is very easy to fall into a pattern of anger…at everything that is happening and that we have no control over. Overcoming our anger in this type of situation is a challenge, and finding myself truly anger free at this time is a great blessing.

Count my blessings….

they are numerous and gratefully received….see

http://mindfulnessjournal.blogspot.com/#116082114114869094

for more details…I AM truly blessed

Love and respect every living creature…..

including myself. I am doing my best at this time to keep my own health intact and to respect my feelings by being in touch with my soul and only those people who can provide me with positive energies and insights…go to the gym everyday, do my practice every morning which includes yoga, pranayama , meditation etc., eat properly, rest when I feel the need ( find myself needing enourmous amounts of sleep) and be alone when I feel it necessary

on myself as well….again, my daily practice sustains me and for the present time, the most important daily work I can do, as everyone benefits from it. It is an anchor in a churning sea-like the eye of the storm- granting me harmony in chaos and tranquility in turmoil.

Just for Today...I Will Not Worry Parts I,II and III

The full series of posts on the first Reiki Prinicple, "Just for Today I will Not Worry", are now available, Please just scroll down and see the next 3 posts for the full series.
Enjoy...
coming up next: The second Prinicple: Just for Today...I will not get Angry.

Much love and light, peace and tranquility, harmony and balance, good health, love and laughter.
Jane

Just for Today...I Will Not Worry - Part I

This post is long overdue, but everything happens exactly as it is meant to and in the most suitable time frame, so a little background as to the reasons for the delay, and how those reasons themselves add further clarity, strength and understanding to the whole concept of worry as we generally understand it.

Following a very difficult period, not only because of my Father's passing (see my new blog for further details, updated postings etc.) In Memoriam, but also due to the new harsh reality of my Mother's financial situation and the need to find new living arrangements for her, the whole concept of "Just for Today I will not worry" was put to the supreme test.

There were some shaky moments to be sure, very shaky actually, but the constant use of Reiki, meditation and prayer have proven themselves once again. It took some time, more than my problematic impatience could stand at moments, but things are slowly working their way out in ways of course that I could never imagine.

Which is all part of it! Let GO and let GOD! Don't worry about the "how's". Don't set limits as to how the solution will present itself. Just know that ..."when we release our needs and prayers to the universe without strings attached, the heavens take care of coordinating the outcome."..."Look upon everything from the end of (your) prayer onward as having a part to play in the answer to your prayer..." (Caroline Myss, Invisible Acts of Power).

Hopefully the following will give you a deeper understanding of the principle..."just for today I will not worry"...and I am sure my own personal involvement over the past few months precisely with this principle, was not by chance. Nothing Is. It was all meant to give more depth and concrete understanding to me before presenting it here to you.

My Father passed away on Octber 16th, following almost 6 months of a difficult and lingering death, during which time I had also left my job as administrative assistant in a Hi Tech Company to be able to care for him and spend more time with him, as well as my Mother...it was an extremely difficult and stressful period. In addition, I had cancelled a 4 month trip to India just 2 days before I was meant to fly out, as it was obvious that the situation was very serious. (He passed away 10 days later). I had planned to spend the time in India to make better use of my months of unemployment payments, but as things would have it, that didn't work either. My Mother also was in a very precarious financial situation as mentioned above, and it was all getting to be too much.

Even saying "Just for Today I will not worry" became difficult...but I continued to do it! I found myself in a very strained position, financially, emotionally, physically, even spiritually...completely drained. When I simply could no longer ignore the fact that I was worrying about what would happen, I began meditating and praying (pretty much one and the same thing for me) in a more focused direction, asking for renewed strength, continued faith in God and trust in His Universe, for clarity, guidance and direction, as well as the wisdom to "see" the solutions as they were presented to be (as I was sure they would be). On October 27th, after a full prayer/meditation session, I fell asleep as usual...and that night had the following dream.

I don't remember it in its entirety, even though I wrote it down immediately upon awakening, but it was very long and quite lovely, involving much pleasant company, beautiful places, food, pleasure...But the two points which were brought home for me to "see" and understand from the dream, the answers to my prayer, the clarity, guidance and direction I was seeking, are as follows:

• Finding myself all of a sudden completely alone and in someone else's clothing (dreams are like that aren't they?) actually typical Indian men's clothing, and coming outdoors from wherever I was and feeling cold. The clothing was not warm enough for the sudden change in weather. Feeling quite chilled and not knowing what to do, I was all of a sudden given a shawl to keep me warm. Telling me, as I see it, that you will ALWAYS be provided with whatever you need to keep you comfortable in every new and unexpected circumstance.
• I next found myself confused while walking through alleys of what seemed like some old part of town, (not lost, frightened confused), just confused that I didn't understand how to get where I wanted to...as if it was something I already knew and couldn't remember...When I asked the first person I met, he simply said "Follow your instincts". I think that needs no explanation...but was for me at that point so profound that I woke in tears of joy.

To be continued shortly in Part II

Just for Today...I Will Not Worry - Part II

"Worrying about something that may never happen is like paying interest on money you may never borrow. "

Let's continue where we left off in Part I following my dream...

The above quote is very apt for what we are discussing now as it brings home the absurdity of worrying! But we are human, and worrying is something we are very adept at, and do often. So how do we train ourselves not to worry? By training! By practicing...and by understanding where worry comes from and why it is just simply an energy draining, non-productive, past- time.

Not worrying implies FAITH. Implicit Faith in the Universe to always supply us with all we need…without understanding the means by which this is done. It is simply beyond our human comprehension.

Faith...it is like a plant...it must be nurtured and cared for or it will whither and die. We can nurture our Faith by talking with God, but talking WITH does not mean monologue. It is not enough just to talk to God...we must listen as well. Be aware...or we will not hear what the other side is saying, as with any conversation, it must be a dialogue.

TALK to God (Universe, Source) every day. I make it a habit to do this morning and night and in between very frequently. Not just asking for things, but "seeing" and "hearing" and being aware when they happen in answer to our requests. Thank you for the parking space, the short line at the supermarket, an answer in only 5 minutes when calling technical support. these things are all orchestrated for us but we need to be aware of this and acknowledge our awareness....our "hearing" the other side.

Once we send our request out, things are set in motion by our Partner, our co-creator. Nothing "just happens". And once we cultivate this living, working system, and truly believe in it, there really is NO NEED TO WORRY.

Here another quote which I also like to use when trying to explain the futility of worrying to my clients and the need for manifesting solutions, rather than worrying about "what is going to happen?...what if I can't?...what if it doesn't?"...etc.

"If you take your eyes off your goals, all you see are obstacles."

This helps us to see that we must look beyond what we perceive as obstacles and focus continually on our goals, visualize them in detail, often, not only when praying or meditating, but throughout the day. To believe they will be manifested, but in ways we, as human beings, with our limited senses and understandings could never contemplate.

Not worrying implies FAITH.

Faith in God, however it is you perceive him, in the Universe, in your Higher Self.…There is an "overview" (a term used by Kryon:…see next post for further insights into this whole idea from Kryon), a full picture, which we as human beings can never see. We live in the world of linear time, where past present and future are just that: past (what has already occurred), present (what we see this moment), and future (that which has yet to happen). But this is again because we are limited by our human capacities. In effect, all time is NOW. (That also makes it easier to understand how we can use Reiki, or other methods, to bring about change not only in the future, but in the PAST.) For in Universal terms, there is no past present or future, but only NOW. This is the Overview that we are unable to see.

What we need to understand is that although we cannot "see" the actual ways in which solutions will unfold, we can manifest these goals by "Seeing" the end result exactly as we wish it to be. And once we have done this, we must leave the "how's" to God and his Universe, with complete trust. And when we do this, there is NO REASON TO WORRY!.

Always remember: "Thoughts become things...…choose the good ones", and you cannot go wrong. When we worry, we incorporate negative thoughts into our manifestations, into our prayers, into our requests, and this negative energy is received by the Universe and incorporated into the solution which is being formulated (or has already been set in place!).

Please continue with the post

Letting Go and Letting God- Parable of the Missing Bridge which follows these 2 posts.…It will give you considerable food for thought and more in-depth understanding of the idea of Trust in the Universe and the futility of worrying.

I would like to end this Part II of the First Reiki Principle with the following from Carolyn Myss' Book, Invisible Acts of Power, pp. 141-142 as it is so appropriate:

A Third Chakra Prayer

I realease into this universe my trust that my journey in life and all who walk my path with me are there by divine design. Therefore, I trust that along this path, others will always be there for me, even when I cannot see them waiting for me. And I open myself to be of service to those who m ay provide me the gift of empowerment.

THE PRAYER OF THOMAS MERTON

Dear God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself...and the fact that I think that I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe this:

I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You.

I hope I have that desire in everything I do.

I hope I never persist in anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road, thought I may know nothing about it at the time.

Therefore I will trust You always, for though I may be lost...I will not be afraid, because I know You will never leave me to face my troubles all alone.

Continued in Part III....next post...Parable of the Missing Bridge-Kryon

Do Not Worry Part III - Parable of the Missing Bridge from Kryon

Let Go and Let God

Following the previous posts which hopefully gave you further insights into the Reiki Principle “Just For Today-I Will Not Worry”…I am including the following from a Kryon Channeling. If you choose to read it, you will be taken further along into the idea of Trust in the Universe…the ideas presented are not unique in any way, but the parable of the Missing Bridge is one of my favorite examples for understanding the concept of “Letting Go and Letting God”. If you want to delve further into the channelings of Kryon and get further information, you can check out the Kryon Also note that the word “Spirit” is used frequently in these channelings, but God, Universe, Higher Source etc., could all be used just as easily…do not let semantics confuse you.


The first (thing to understand about trusting the Universe) is this: As you see and acknowledge the fact that the solution already exists even though you cannot see it, visualize the solution…. Now, this is important. Don't visualize what you THINK you need to create the solution. Let that be your partner's job (Spirit). Let US do that. If a human is going to run a race in the morning and wants to be one of the few who finishes, but doesn't know how he is going to get through that exhausting hill or around that tight turn, he might pray to God about the tight turn and the exhausting hill. We're here to say instead, he should be visualizing only passing easily over the finish line. Let US figure out about the exhausting hill and the tight turn. That's our job.

Let us review for a moment the parable that was given to you regarding Henry and the Missing Bridge. Some of you will remember that this was a story about Henry who was speeding toward a bridge that he knew was out. Everything that Spirit said to him was, "Continue on, Henry. Things are not always as they seem, Henry. You will be taken care of, Henry." The missing bridge was a metaphor for what human beings cannot fathom or see in the future that God has already taken care of. ….. For the solution to Henry's problem of the missing bridge had already been taken care of. You can read that parable again, (Kryon Book 7- “Letters from Home”, pp. 226-229)

As Henry approached the area where the bridge was supposed to be, he opened his eyes and realized that it was still gone. His fear increased... it was the last moment! It took everything he had in him not to stop right there, yet Spirit said, "Henry, continue on, continue on." So Henry in all his faith, continued on even faster than before, trusting God, and the partnership within. Just as he thought he was about to have his vehicle careen over the cliffs to a certain death in the valley below, he saw workmen on the road guiding him around to an area he had never seen before - an area completely out of sight that he had never, ever observed - hidden. And standing in full glory there was a beautiful new bridge! It was a bridge that was so big and so awesome that Henry realized that it had been under construction long before his need. He crossed it in ecstatic joy, realizing the power of his partnership with God.

Dear ones, this is the key to the parable. There are solutions … to problems you don't even have yet! By the time you get around to asking Spirit for the solutions, they've already been built, you see.... already been built. It's part of the balance. There HAVE TO BE solutions for the tests that you've agreed to... and there are.

Henry didn't visualize how his bridge dilemma was going to be solved. The thought of a miracle bridge popping before him was silly. The thought was beyond his human reality. So instead, he simply visualized moving to the other side... the end result. The runner visualizes breaking the tape. Regarding your problem? Visualize it all taken care of and then leave the details to us... but YOU do the energy visualization... often!

The second attribute, therefore, is that "things are not always as they seem." The answers may come in very shocking and unusual ways. Sometimes the miraculous energy will astound you. Sometimes the answers seem complex. In retrospect you might say, "long ago if person A hadn't done this, and person B hadn't done that... then my solution would never have been possible." There is something in you that realizes that person A made his move BEFORE you ever needed it. How complex this was, you might say. How elegant and perfect! Not only that, but within your solution, no matter how complex the interaction is with others, somehow everyone seems to win! Dear ones. That's the mark of a SPIRITUAL solution. Visualize, therefore, the solution as having been taken care of.

The third attribute is Don't LIMIT GOD. You don't know what we do. There are so many of you who are standing here asking for a bush when Spirit stands with …a whole forest (for you)! You don't expect it since you don't feel the self-worth of it. The solution to your little problem may contain the whole forest as a gift for you! Things that you don't even know about yet will be solved within the solution of the one problem you have on your lap... perfect within the simplicity of the physics and love of Spirit, and the complexities of your humanism.

So let US do the work. That's the overview of your partner (Spirit), the one you're holding hands with. That's the golden one in the golden chair - the one who knows everything about your potentials - about your contract - called the golden angel, or higher self. It has the energy of Spirit, yet it also has your name. Don't limit Spirit.

Just for Today I Will Love and Respect Every Living Creature

…thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…leviticus 19:18

If we look at this, as it is worded in the fourth of the Reiki Principles, it appears to be fairly straightforward. It is pretty obvious to us that one of the most important things in this world is to love and respect others, show compassion and tolerance, patience and understanding etc. We also know that we must be kind to EVERY living being and this would of course include animals, insects, plants etc., etc.

The original wording of the principle as stated by Dr. Usui is slightly different, but the message is more easily understood with the above paraphrase which I prefer using in my Reiki classes and in my own daily meditation practice.

And the profoundness of the principle, if we truly think about it, opens the door to an entirely new way of perceiving the ups and downs of our lives, of relating to instances where we feel we have been wronged by someone, or taken advantage of, even purposely hurt or embarrassed, or injured in any way. Of relating to the different people who come into our lives and the way we accept and embrace all that is sent our way by God and the Universe.

In addition, if we add just two small words to the above principle, it changes the impact and intent even more deeply. Just for Today I will Love and Respect Every Living Creature…INCLUDING MYSELF!! If we do not truly love ourselves, how can we possibly love and respect our neighbor??

I will try and give insights into the following two questions we must try to answer:

1. Can we truly love and respect others if we don’t do the same for ourselves
2. Can we truly be expected to love and respect EVERYone??


Before going any further into the idea of loving even those who we perceive as causing us pain or wishing us ill, let us, just for a moment, think about our relationship with ourselves.

Do you love yourself? Are you proud of yourself? Do you respect yourself? Do you take yourself for granted? Do you put yourself down? Do you say unkind things about yourself ? Just for the next week, in addition to saying this principle each day with your daily prayers, meditation or whatever your regular practice is, try delving a little deeper into it. Pay attention during the day to the thoughts that you have regarding the things you do. Check the impulse to criticize yourself, or be compassionate with yourself. Note how you feel when you make a wrong decision, or get lost on the highway, or break a dish you are washing, or burn the supper, or simply forget to do something important. What feelings do you have, what words fill your head at the moment (stupid, clumsy, thoughtless, lazy). What sensations do you feel physically in your body? Where? Are you automatically hard on yourself, or, perhaps, compassionate and understanding.

Think about this for a week, and I think you will be quite surprised at what you find. Many of us cannot even say out loud “I love myself”, “I think I am great”, “I am perfect just as I am”, etc., but even those of us who CAN say these things and truly mean them, are still too often overly critical of ourselves.

I would even think to perhaps state the principle in a little different way. Instead of “Just for today I will love and respect every living creature…(including myself)”…How about: “Just for today I will love and respect myself in the same way I imagine I love and respect every other living creature” . Said in that way, it might make it easier for us to realize how much more compassionate we can be with others, how much more tolerant and understanding, how much more patient and loving, than we tend to be with ourselves.

Like a caring mother
Holding and guarding the life
Of her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Hold yourself…. And all beings

…Buddha

“We might quite readily offer such care to others, but we can learn to offer this same kind of gentle attention to ourselves. With the tenderness we might bring to stroking the cheek of a sleeping child, we can softly place a hand on our own cheek or heart. We can comfort ourselves with words of kindness and understanding. “ Radical Acceptance”, Tara Brach, PhD.

For once again, if we do not GENUINELY love and respect ourselves, our pretense at loving and respecting every living creature is just that…pretense… Self love is the first step in truly loving our fellow creatures. And when we love and respect ourselves, everything and anything that happens to us, can be dealt with in a healthy way.

Only when we come to terms with our own shortcomings and learn to accept ourselves exactly as we are, to extend unconditional love to the beautiful person we are, to be compassionate with ourselves even when we are not all we expected of ourselves, to love and respect ourselves and recognize the beauty of our soul within…to feel worthy and deserving and freely offer praise and genuine respect to ourselves…only when we cherish our own being, no matter where we may find ourselves at a particular moment, or stage in our lives, only when we offer ourselves encouragement and love at each step along the way and appreciate our accomplishments-no matter how small, only when we stop taking ourselves and our own needs and wants for granted and understand that we are just as worthy and deserving as everyone else…only when we truly love and respect ourselves can we begin to truly love the next person.

Many people will say “I don’t expect anything from the next person (my children, my spouse, my co-workers, etc.) that I don’t expect from myself.” Well, perhaps we are much too hard on ourselves! Others find it easy to extend loving-kindness, compassion, patience, tolerance, understanding, forgiveness and encouragement to others, while they dole out to themselves judgment, blame, anger, belittling words, harsh accusations, lack of forgiveness, etc.

But it is only when we can find the way to love ourselves unconditionally that we can truly understand the words:

…thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself…leviticus 19:18

The idea has obviously been around for a long time and is not a new concept developed by Dr. Usui… The Great Hebrew Sage Rabbi Akiva said “This is the most important point in the Torah…the rest is just commentary”.

The idea of loving the next person as we love ourselves becomes very easy as we simply extend the same gracious and loving attention to everyone that we do to ourselves.

And that will bring us to the second part of this discussion…loving and respecting EVERY living creature:

Let us look at this idea of loving and respecting EVERYone …. This would seem almost impossible when we think of some of the strange, difficult, inconsiderate, spiteful and even abusive people who we meet in our lifetime. But there is a profound lesson in extending understanding, forgiveness (see the post re: Forgiveness ) , compassion , patience and tolerance to those who truly wish us ill. It brings us once again in contact with the idea of FAITH…faith that God is sending these people into our lives for a loving purpose…no matter how difficult that may be for us to see.

We must learn to Cherish those we dislike, even those we perceive as enemies, for they are gifts from God and we must be thankful for this blessing and pray for the wisdom to learn the lesson these people have been sent to teach us

We draw to us those who will help us learn about ourselves. Each time we are presented with a challenge dealing with another, we are really being presented with an opportunity to look inside ourselves to see what about us it is that needs working on, so that we may grow.

The idea of loving each and every person, no matter what, is quite difficult, almost impossible, but I present the idea to you for further thought and consideration, together with the following collection of quotes and insights, and perhaps your comments will lead to further discussion which will benefit us all:

Every person sent to us is a blessing meant to teach us a lesson we need to learn.

In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher.

Dalai Lama

Everything that irritates us about others

Can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

Carl Jung (1875-1961), Psychologist ~

I have learned silence from the talkative,

tolerance from the intolerant

and kindness from the unkind.

I should not be ungrateful to those teachers.

Kahlil Gibran

What angers us in another person is more often than not an unhealed aspect of ourselves. If we had already resolved that particular issue,we would not be irritated by its reflection back to us.~ Simon Peter Fuller (from 'Rising Out of Chaos') ~

No-one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962) ~

Nothing can hurt you unless you give it the power to do so.

~ A Course in Miracles ~~

The main teachers of patience are our enemies."
Dalai Lama

and with this I wish you all much love and compassion, patience and tolerance, and freedom from fear to accept and embrace all that is sent your way by God and His Loving Universe.

Jane

New Poem with Background Story-Tears

This poem will find it's way to the "Poetry Post" with all my other poetry, but since it is new, I am posting it here as well for all to see. A little background. As mentioned on the poetry post, I do not "write" poetry. It seems to be sent to me already written, and I am just asked to get paper and pen and record what is being "said" to me. It goes straight down on the paper with no changes or work involved. What you see here is just as it went onto the paper this morning.
It comes after a month of dealing with my Dad's hospitalization, nursing facility and finally being released home today. In addition, I have left my job, (a true blessing I assure you), one of my daughters has moved in with me (forcing me to give up my clinic room), another daughter is leaving to set up her life in Boston and is also staying with me the past 2 weeks, another daughter arrived this week after 3 years of Embassy work in Uruguay with husband and 3 children. As they are Gush Katif "homeless", they have no home, no job, etc., and also find themselves in what will be a very stressful month until they find a place to live, get their kids registered in school and find work. Another daughter is also moving with her family from her city home to a country home and are also dealing with moving. And of course my youngest, my son, has moved in together with his wonderful girlfriend in Jerusalem (you can see pics of them on the post "A couple of lovely couples"). So, it has not been a quiet period and I guess the events have finally gotten to me in some way. Although my daily meditation, pranayama, yoga etc., has kept me generally quite relaxed and unstressed...just flowing...and my complete faith in God and His Universe has kept me from worrying about the future, as well as my daily dose of Reiki and the 5 Reiki principles which I meditate on each morning (see the blog title for a list of them), which give me much strength to deal tranquily with whatever comes my way, knowing that all is for the Higher Good of all concerned. However, we are human, and so, apparently the following poem found its way to me today...

TEARS
A wellspring trying to break loose,
And release its burden of unshed tears.
A lifetime worth of sorrow and pain...
Loneliness and Aloneness...
Of being known and understood by no one but You.
I've chosen my own way-no complaints.
But at times the burden is unbelievably heavy.
Can I get a porter for a few days????