Not with love… Please.

I have just rediscovered sourdough and for anyone looking for a first rate meditation practice I can really recommend sourdough bread making. It also has an advantage over most other disciplines in that you can usually eat the result. But enough of that.

Like any other activity, bread making has a whole lexicon of new words to confuse and baffle. And it’s part of your apprenticeship as a newbie to learn the talk before you can walk the walk. In the early days of emailing how many of you misunderstood the acronym LoL? Go on, admit it, you did. Then just after you had used it in an email to your recently bereaved old Aunt you found out what it really meant! Oh! What a laugh that was. If you are still using LoL for lots of love, you had better start digging out all those old sent emails to see who else you have offended.

Everything seems to have an “in” language and the words of that language have unique meanings within their circle of use. Just like the LoL above it is very easy to pick up the lingo and use it with gay abandon (gay in the old sense), get it wrong and really miss the point. Sometimes this is just funny, other times it is very embarrassing. So to paraphrase; It might be better to remain silent and let people think you are stupid than to open your mouth and let them know for certain… Quote, unquote! But sometimes it means you get the wrong end of the stick altogether and in so doing continue doing what you think is right without really understanding what you are doing wrong. The trouble with this is that, like a virus, you can pass your misunderstanding on to others and upset their chances of success. Another illusion of knowledge is created.

Reiki, like any other discipline, has words whose meanings are not exactly the same as when they are usually used. This can happen when there is not an exact word for what you are trying to describe. So to convey what you want, you use a word near to it, something which to you seems to convey the feeling or meaning. Knowing what you actually mean, you hope that your understanding will be passed on. Most of the time, with a little jiggling, this works. The real problem starts when you try this with something like Reiki. Now Reiki is a doing, or more a “being” sort of thing rather than a spoken or written thing. Words don’t really work. You just have to do it. (Yes I know I am using words here, but give me a break, be kind to an aged Reiki Master; humour me.)

As humans, when we get enthusiastic about something, we like to talk about it and pass it on. This is one of the reasons why as a species we have done so well. We can pass on complicated ideas and thoughts easily. More so now with the net and modern communications. It’s so easy and fast; we can do it quicker that ever before. In fact we can do it so quickly that we don’t even have time to understand and digest what we have just read before we feel the need to let the rest of mankind benefit from our newly acquired knowledge. Then if enough folk follow our lead, in the press of a button it becomes a true fact and is referred to as an absolute. From then on when those words are used everyone knows what is meant and they are believed completely. No one will benefit from this knowledge because it’s all based on… well, nothing. So if we are to use a jargon word we need to be very careful that we understand its in house meaning. And we need to be mindful of what we pass on.

Mindful! Good word. So let’s not pass on things that we have not checked up on. I get loads of emails from kind hearted friends about things like: A new super virus (Google knows about it) that is going to eat my computer then take over my mind and finally destroy the whole universe and all because I opened that attachment!Shit! Pass it on and save the world. A little checking and you find it’s a spoof, been floating around since Adam was a boy and was originally posted by a group of pensioners from Grimsby who sole delight in their declining years is to reek absolute havoc. Meanwhile, world wide, 10 million people have started wearing hats made of tin foil to protect them from the virus. ““Flash” you have only 5 minutes to save the universe.” Just be a little aware.

Awareness! Another good word. It is so easy to know what you are looking for that you miss seeing what you really need. Rather than go headlong after the goal you think you should achieve, enjoy the journey, look sideways and maybe you don’t have to achieve anything after all. Give up the attachment to being what you think you should be. Look sideways, look around, it’s wonderful.

Attachment! Another good word. It’s so easy to get attached to the idea of unattachment that you get even more attached to it. Loving giving up stuff is an attachment to giving up, yes? Love the idea of it.

Love! Now here is a word that is used over and over again. Give Reiki with love… Universal love… Love your aura Darling. Correct me if I am wrong and I usually am. If I give Reiki with love, that implies that there is someone (me) who gives something (reiki) to someone else? Therefore, every time I give Reiki with love I reinforce to myself the illusion of separateness. Now don’t get me wrong, I know what is meant but it is not helpful. You can’t just switch on love. Does it mean that you can give Reiki without love? Actually you can if you think this way. But as Reiki is love, maybe you really can’t. Or, in fact, give it all.

At this point and before I disappear up my own bum, may I quote a few lines of my book “Reiki in times of Crisis “( now available from good bookshops everywhere or, better still, from my website as a download, it’s cheaper.) End of blatant advert …good book, though!!!

When we start out with any practice we are often told that we must cultivate universal love; we must love all things and we are overwhelmed by this prospect and we set ourselves up for disappointment and failure. We are told to start by loving ourselves, as it's the tool we have been given to work with. Both of the above, in their way, are true, and I certainly would go along with being kinder to yourself and all things, treating them both with understanding, kindness and with respect. If this is too hard, then treat them with equanimity. Do them no harm. Stop wasting energy on destructive actions. But, better still is to channel that energy into awareness. This is a hill we can understand and conquer. We have the tools to do this and we are not adding to our burdens or to our belief systems. With no other dogma to carry or to wade through we become aware and we are able to see things for what they are, we understand that we no longer need them. We can put them aside and without their hindrance we can see more, lose more until we are left only with the tools. Then, with nothing left to fix, we can throw them away too and we have nothing left to hinder us. Like Dr. Usui, we throw away our 21 stones and we are left with everything. Love! Universal love! Not you loving me, or me loving myself. Just love! It was there all the time. It had to be. There is nothing else! We don't even have to give it a name.

Well, that's about it and the end of this book. Once you understand love you can see as you should, and you know all there is to know. But whilst here, it is the journey that matters. If, at the end, there is nothing, then it doesn't matter anyway, but the journey will have been fun. If there happens to be something more, then that's where we should be and all is fine. Understanding where our thoughts and ideas spring from will help us to free ourselves from them; free us from the fear of this unknown. If there is a guide for living in this world, it should be to pass through leaving nothing in our wake except love. We should tread gently and with awareness. We should recognise ourselves in all living creatures, and in ourselves the wonder of all creation.

Recognising the Big Danger in Reiki

I

f there ever was such a person as the Historical Jesus, I can understand why he lost his rag in the temple and upturned the tables of the money lenders. I can understand his anger.

There have always been those who will exploit people’s devotions and vulnerabilities. It’s life! But because it has always been so, does not make it right.

As the world seems to be steering into anarchy and chaos, there is a swing toward things that will act as an antidote to the despair, the fear and the worry, some way to escape or at least to blunt its sharp, painful edges. Booze and drugs have always been a tried and tested counter balance and they are increasingly in evidence on our streets. Another old favourite is religion, but the Church now seems to have lost its control and with it its appeal. Once a brand leader it now has a dwindling number of followers. Medication has also been a mainstay for hiding the pain; tranquilisers and pills have deadened and shortened the lives of many in the process of keeping them comfortable and malleable.

But, as the saying goes… “you can fool some people all of the time but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time” and so in growing numbers people are seeing the reasons behind and recognising the weaknesses in these traditional crutches. They are asking the age old question “there must be something more?” And as an answer are turning to the so called “alternatives”.

Healing modalities like acupuncture, (that have been chugging on for over 2000 years) have become part of this new age of understanding. Self help books, groups and experts have sprung up over night. A rise in awareness! Great! When I was a kid being a vegetarian had me labelled as some kind of weirdo. But with this increase in awareness there has also sprung up the awareness that here is a way of making lots of money.

Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with money and the making of it. I love it and long may it flow my way. But there is a law that can be easily forgotten and that is the law of exchange… It is a law of balance.

If I accept your money as payment for my services it is my duty to give you the goods I promise. And this law of exchange is not only about money. If someone gives me their trust, I am responsible for repaying that trust with respect and honesty. So where is all this going?

With the growing demand for all things mystical and spiritual, there are quite frankly a lot of people out there not helping but doing harm. I see it every day in my practice. When someone needs help they are often in an open and vulnerable state and will accept what they are told if it is done with enough authority. I have had many people come to me worried sick over something some expert has told them.

Now for me the most important thing when treating is not to add to the problem. Telling someone that they have a black demon attacking them or that their past life has created massive problems, that their aura is full of holes or that their chakras are going backwards does not make an already worried person more at ease. When you are in a nervous state even the slight mention of something really wrong goes in deep and it is much easier to sow the seeds of fear than to remove them.

So when I hear of practitioners making these claims, especially Reiki practitioners, I get angry. Wahoo! I hear you say, Anger, heavy!!! There is nothing wrong with anger, it can be much more useful, more real and honest than fluffy “I love everyone, I am tranquil and spiritual, hug, hug, kiss, kiss”. Anger can be just the sort of kick up the bum that gets you started. It moves stuff. It can be a sword cutting through inertia and apathy. It’s when it is suppressed, pushed down, allowed to fester, often under the camouflaged of serenity and knowingness, that it becomes harmful. So if anger is appropriate use it, but carefully. Importantly don’t let it use you.

With energetics and things we are unused to it is so easy to con oneself and then go on to con others. Some do this intentionally, others unconsciously. Different reasons but to the receiver the outcome is the same. If you are setting yourself up as a healer it is probably the biggest danger you face.

No one in my mind should call themselves a healer ‘cos no one can heal another person. Healing is done by that person in the large and in the full sense and meaning of those words. Try always asking yourself do I really believe it is me who is doing all this?

Folk have come to me asking; “can you do this for me? Can you sort out my Khama, remove my demon? Because if not “so and so” says they can.” Really? What can we really do? If we see things are we sure they are what we think they are or is it just our ego and mind playing games? Are we justified therefore in telling someone for certain it is so? Or even hinting with false modesty? For us it can be just a gentle massage of our egos or to ease the embarrassment of “I don’t know”. After all they are sitting there expectantly waiting for an answer, you have to say something. Or maybe it’s just for a few more bob in the pocket with another appointment filled to boot. But for the other person, the person sitting hoping, in doubt and pain, it can mean more. It can affect their lives forever and it can even help to end it. I don’t over egg the cake; one last straw can break a camel's back.

It’s so easy to get someone spaced out and hyped up, especially when they are agitated, deprived of sleep or maybe hungry with low protein intake through fasting, de-toxing or just not bothering to eat. Add the repetition of sounds or words and you have a susceptible subject capable of seeing visions and hearing voices. This is not spiritual training… this is brain washing.

Any treatment should be aimed at empowering the individual not making them dependant on practice, persons or groups. So many unsure of their own beliefs strive to recruit others in order to support fragile egos.

Reiki above all should be free from rigid beliefs; it should strip away the chains of dogma and dependency, allowing the individual to return to clarity; to see themselves and the world as they truly are… as one.

Yet time and time again I hear that this form of Reiki is more powerful than that, this way is newer, bigger, better. This is the only way/the proper way/the true way. After all, it’s got more symbols, more levels, more bells and whistles and more secret teachings.

In a world taught to be greedy and to expect the next edition to be bigger and therefore better, it makes folk dissatisfied with what they already possess. The attention becomes focused on acquiring rather than stripping away. The clutter we have already acquired is added to, the confusion is increased. You find you are doing your practice, and rather than just doing and observing the ego says, “Now if I had the latest version how much better all this would be.

If there is a place called Hell (and I don’t believe there is) there would be a special place for those who mislead, who teach as absolute something that they have no real knowledge of or who just pass on what they have read or seen on the internet as truth.

If there is a thing called Khama (and I think there probably is) then these people are not being very skilful, they are just adding to suffering.

I feel it is important to be mindful in all you do when treating others (and yourself). Do it not with love (unless you really understand that word, I certainly haven’t even scratched the skin of it yet) but do it with respect. Respect for yourself, the person you are treating, and for the privilege we have to learn about this wonderful physical existence we know as life. Live it now, experience it and don’t waste the time by trying to escape from it. While we live let us live.

Rant over! Spleen vented! All done! Lay down in a darkened room.

Thanks for reading.