Nowadays many practitioners and teachers talk about being Reiki and this is wonderful. However, sometimes it is talked about as if it is so easy to do: just go and stand there and be Reiki with your client, animal, or nature.
But what does ‘being Reiki’ really mean?
There are many layers to that question. To make it easier to understand, let’s couple being Reiki with being the light. Within the system of Reiki, you have a symbol and mantra which means ‘great bright light.’ This great bright light is your True Self, your essence. And it is from having rediscovered this great bright light that you are in a state of mind of being reiki
In essence we all are being Reiki already, we all are that great bright light already. But often we cover it up with anger, worry, fear, attachments, ego…you name it.
So to really be Reiki when we ‘be’ with a person, an animal, or in nature, we have to let go of all those layers. We have to have rediscovered our great bright light, our true self. So as you can see, that is not an easy task.
Mikao Usui sat on a mountain top for 21 days without water and food to help him to lay bare his own great bright light, to help him to be Reiki.
Thus if we say just after one Reiki course that we are being Reiki, we are right on one level, as we are all being Reiki already. But on another, deeper, level we have to be very careful about what we say. Because to really be Reiki, we have to sit on our meditation pillow and practice our daily meditation practices as taught within the system of Reiki. In doing that, we can rediscover our great bright light, our true self.
When we link being Reiki with the Shinpiden Reiki III symbol and mantra, the great bright light, we see that being Reiki is being in a state of non-duality. This means that if we say we are being Reiki and yet at the same time we feel we need to send Reiki, beam Reiki, or create a bridge to someone, if we feel that there is a past, present or future, etc., we have already stepped outside of that space of truly being Reiki. If we say we are being Reiki and yet we feel that we are different from the other person, the animal, or nature, we have thus also stepped out of that space of truly being Reiki.
In that true state of being Reiki, there is no difference; there is pure non-duality. There is no here and there, them or us, this or that, no this or that kind of Reiki, no past, present, and future, no doing and no not doing. It is the pure light of our true self shining; that’s it. So simple and yet so complicated.
At that stage of truly being Reiki, we can not even truly say, “I am being Reiki!” Because at that true stage of non-duality there is no ego, no ‘I’ to really say anything! As soon as we say, “I am being Reiki”, we have thus stepped outside of truly being Reiki as well.
So as we can see, really being Reiki might take many years of practice, a life time, or maybe more. If we really want to say something about it that we can honestly feel is true, we might say something like, “I am practicing to be Reiki”. It all returns to our daily practice.
In essence when we are practicing we are ‘doing’, we are doing our practice. And by doing this practice again and again we slowly start to be in a state of being. But being is not just sitting or standing still. When we are in that state of mind of being we also do things. We are now doing from a state of being!
“Try falling silent completely for just one moment, outwardly and inwardly letting go of all thoughts, all your ideas, concepts and expectations. Perhaps you can try it right now. For just a little while, stay completely quiet and empty. What is it that remains? You haven’t disappeared! However, for a moment, there is nothing but empty space; pure awareness. For now, let go of any ideas you might have about yourself- man or woman, tall or short, young or old, wise or ignorant; don’t hold on to any concept whatsoever. Don’t give meaning to bodily sensations. They can exist but don’t call them “I” or “mine.” Until you just are, without attributes. Now, there’s only “being.” Does it have a shape or meaning? No, not at all, it’s pure being, timeless, unbound. Beyond all characteristics. You can’t see it, but you know it intuitively. So simple – and ungraspable. This is your essence, the True Self, which you will only discover when a;; thinking is silenced. As soon as you get lost in your mind again, this True Self is veiled and you live in delusion, mistaken yourself to be a person full of opinions and emotions.” – Buddha Sees Everything – Six Years under the Guidance of Japanese Zen Master Harada Tangen by Ciska Shizuka Matthes
Based in Holland, Frans Stiene teaches in North America, Europe, UK, Australia and Asia.
Frans is also the author of Reiki Insights, it is the continuation of his previous book The Inner Heart of Reiki, taking your personal practice and understanding of the system of Reiki yet another step deeper.