This is the 4th article in this series – see here for Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3.
What the Students got from this Program
The students came into the program as spiritual aspirants, each of them following some manner of practice to start with. The students have been having life changing experiences through the course of this program. And I am not saying that to hype anything. Here is a sample of what the students have been sharing with me and each other, about their experiences.
Our class has brought more than anything, opportunity.
Not having a history with Reiki, I found it to be more of a spiritual practice than a hands-on healing experience. More importantly I feel the method of delivering the class has worked very well with the way I need to ingest ideas and practices like these. The chance to come back to class every other week and add smaller bits of practice and information allows for it to resonate deeper. For me, it is a building process. I don’t think I could ingest everything over the course of a few days and then head into the world ready to put it into practice. I think it would be information overload. Learning Reiki through experience is such a treat. It becomes a layered practice that has much more of a foundation.Thank you, Sundar, for taking us on this fantastic journey. It has been life changing, perspective changing, and eye opening on so many levels. I truly appreciate your effort, and your insights. You are a great teacher.~ TJ
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The whole methodology has provided confirmation, structure, and a framework within which to further solidify my own personal beliefs and system. It has been and continues to be a great journey of self-realization and affirmation that I have been on the right path. This path is now growing from that paved in dirt to one with dashed lines down the middle of the spiritual freeway. ~ Doug
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What I have most appreciated about this year-long study of Reiki is that we didn’t start “doing” anything until we had developed a meditation practice. As a somatic wellness educator, I am a big fan of embodied practices and I am not sure if I would have had the discipline to commit to the incredible power of regular meditation had I done a weekend workshop. I have also enjoyed working with my teacher, Sundar, and my cohorts over the past half year, deepening our understanding of how broadly, diversely and powerfully we each experience Reiki. ~ Stacy
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Throughout the last seven months I have had the pleasure of learning Reiki from Sundar Kadayam with an inspiring group of people. We have met roughly every two weeks. Even better has been the off chance we meet two weeks in a row, which for me makes the experience even richer. I have enjoyed so much being in the presence of Sundar and my fellow students. The program, Support Your Spiritual Journey with Reiki, I believe has been designed perfectly so that when we meet we discuss and experience the practice; precepts, symbols, breathing, meditations, hands on healing, and also receiving attunements and Reiju. The program then gives us enough time in between sessions to live the practice on our own. This type of learning and experiential progression lends itself to more consistency in my practice, which is so supportive in allowing me to experience Reiki deeply. In other words, the structure of this program keeps me “in it”, whereas a one or two day program might not. Reiki is now a part of my daily life, and Sundar’s program is aiding me in building a strong foundation to continue beyond. ~ Ian
What the Students Wish to Tell Other Spiritual Practitioners
Here’s what the students have to say to others who may be interested in learning the system of Reiki as a support for their spiritual journey:
You will find immense knowledge, structure, and community surrounded by a teaching/learning environment designed to support your ever evolving spiritual journey. The fundamentals through education coupled with the practical ‘hands on’ practice are key to forming a foundation from which to build. ~ Doug
If someone were looking to experience it in this way, I guess I would say, it depends on who you are and how you learn. Those who ingest information and have the capacity to analyze it and apply it to daily life, you may not need it delivered this way. I need the touch and feel aspect of bring this practice into my life. I also need the every other week aspect to keep me tuned in. The scheduled repetition of having a class just around the corner does wonders for keeping me on track with practice. On top of that, everything I learn leverages the prior week’s daily practice and blends right in. ~ TJ
Experiencing Reiki with Sundar is nothing short of profoundly powerful, beautiful, and poetic as he mindfully articulates his experiences and teachings and ever so generously shares them with us. Expounding upon his generosity, Sundar makes himself always available by being just an e-mail or message away, and has created a Facebook group in which he shares his insights and includes step by step instruction of methods such as Joshin Kokyo Ho, hands on healing, Hatsurei Ho, [the symbols] and more. I deeply, deeply recommend this program to all spiritual seekers. ~ Ian
Coming up next, in Part 5, more details about what I got from this program, and where we go next from here.
Sundar Kadayam is a Shinpiden graduate of the International House of Reiki.
Comments 7
Sundar, how did you decide what to charge for a class of this duration? Were the sessions typically an hour each? I’d also love to know what questions you asked on the form that helped you decide whether or not to take on a given student. Maybe you need to write Part 6! Gassho, Elly
Oops, I forgot to ask my other question (brainfade—-sorry!). Are you planning to take your class all the way to Reiki teacher in this one year, or make that another course for another time, should they decide to pursue it?
Elly, The sessions were 2-hours each. You might recall from Part 2, that I had settled to do this as a “love offering” from students – i.e. they can give whatever they desired at the end of any session they felt was useful to them. Others have also asked about the questionnaire I created to know more about students before they were accepted into the class—I will find out from Frans and Bronwen how best to share this. By mid-June when we’ll conclude this one-year program (actually closer to 11 months program), the students and I would have worked through practice of Shinpiden-level techniques, but not the training to be a teacher. As you will see in Part 5, I am planning on creating a whole “Advanced” program lasting another year—which goes much deeper into the amazing practices in the three levels of the system of Reiki, and I plan to offer the information and practice of offering Reiju and attunements in that setting—at least, at this time, that is how I’m thinking about it 🙂
Thank you!
Sundar
Thanks, Sundar! You’re right, I re-read Part 3 yesterday but not Part 2, and had forgotten about the love offering. I definitely agree that a second year is called for to reach the teaching level, and it will be invaluable to your students. What a wonderful foundation for their progress on the path!
Hi, Sundar,
Thanks for sharing so freely about your journey to teaching Reik in this manner. It’s a beautiful way to teach the practice and benefits both the student and teacher by keeping both engaged in the practice over the long term. There are so many ways to share the gift of our Reiki practice. You are inspiring me to go back to a plan I had begun to put in place a few months ago, prior to Hurricane Sandy’s arrival in our area. My plan was far more informal, just a gathering every other week of Reiki practitioner friends to deepen our practice through meditations, chanting, and sharing of our experiences. I wanted to shift the focus from a mostly hands on practice and to the practice of the other parts of the system of Reiki. You have been an inspiration to get me going again in this direction. Blessings and thanks.
Susan
Sundar, this is so inspiring. Each segment I read has me wanting to do something similar where I live. Thank you so much for sharing with us! Blessings, Candice
Susan, Candice: Thank you for your most kind words. I appreciate it. As Susan points out, I can vouch for this from my experience with this experiment—this is not just a benefit for the student, which it undoubtedly is, but it has also brought amazing benefits for me as a teacher. I am seeing all sorts of deeper insights about the tools and the methods in the system of Reiki now, that I couldn’t see before. For instance, in my last session with students, I spent nearly the entire session on dealing with the idea of “surrender”, and then experientially walking through Byosen Reikan Ho as a tool to cultivate surrender. When I had used Byosen before, I was thrown into a live healing situation where I simply let it flow, and didn’t think much about it. But as I came to share it with students, I had to really pause and sit and play with it, so I could provide a deeper perspective into it and strong guidance. The students had a very powerful energetic experience of the active nature of surrender. For me, as a teacher, this is extremely rewarding at so many levels. Taking a single tool like Byosen, in this instance, and being able to see it as a far deeper tool than I could understand it before, being able to see how it too, like so many aspects of the system of Reiki prepares and takes a student deeper into the idea of surrender, that is just amazingly gratifying for me. So, there is nothing static about this kind of “teaching”. This kind of “teaching”, for me, is so much about facilitating and witnessing the flow of what emerges, and learn more and grow in my own journey! Can you sense the excitement I feel about this as a result? I’m feeling like a child having discovered my special candy store 🙂 I hope you will allow yourself to boldly experiment on your own, to find a suitable way of sharing that brings out your very best too.
Thanks again!
Sundar