Intent, Path, Result

A complete system requires the three ingredients of intent, path and result.

Let’s look at how these ingredients work within the system of Reiki.

Intent is necessary to begin your journey. Intent is the directed thought that triggers an action to take place. Without intent you would not have read this article, let alone begun to study the system of Reiki.

Therefore it is intent which has brought you onto the path of the system of Reiki.

To successfully study the system of Reiki this path must have previously been well trodden, leaving a clear and easily accessible track for you to follow. This clarity lies in your teacher’s experience of the system and in the five elements of the system of Reiki – reiju, hand-positions, symbols and mantras, precepts and meditations.

If you need to hack your way through the undergrowth it is too easy to become disoriented and side-tracked or simply bogged down. This often occurs when practitioners find the phenomena attached to energy work more fascinating than the healing journey itself.

Very importantly, this path that you are following also needs to guide you through certain steps or signposts along the way. These steps can be found in the path that consists of the five elements.

An example is of the steps experienced within the symbols and mantras:
Step 1. You meditate on the first symbol and mantra for a length of time until you have become that symbol and mantra – at the end of this step you can discard the tool.
Step 2. You begin to work with the second symbol and mantra until you, too, have become them. And so on… Step by step you slowly start to walk the path of the system of Reiki.

Unfortunately, in many modern teachings of the system of Reiki the path has completely disappeared; the practitioner is left wandering aimlessly, with nowhere to go. In these teachings you might learn a great variety of symbols, mantras or techniques, but the question remains “Is there a path to it?”

Even with the right intent, if the path is gone it will be impossible for these practitioners to achieve certain results. And it is results which are the third ingredient. You can practice something, but if the result is not there then what is the reason for practicing it in the first place? Eventually you become discouraged and disinterested and your practice becomes something you “once did”.

Traditionally in the system of Reiki, you will find results as your practice evolves.

The first major result is that you find out energetically where your hara is when practicing Shoden (beginner’s level). This is why it is called the beginner’s level; you create a foundation for the teachings to rest upon. Without an energetic understanding of the hara there is no foundation.

In Okuden (inner teachings), you begin to experience the result of becoming Earth and Heaven energy and realizing a state of mind of Oneness. This is why it is also called Okuden, you are discovering what is inside of yourself.

In Shinpiden (mystery teachings), you have the ultimate result of realizing that you are the great bright light and that everything around you is also the great bright light. This is why it is called mystery teachings, you are about to discover the mystery of life.

Are the three ingredients of intent, path and result interwoven into your Reiki practise?

Bronwen and Frans Stiene

Bronwen and Frans Stiene are the co-founders of the International House of Reiki and co-authors of The Reiki Sourcebook, The Japanese Art of Reiki, Your Reiki Treatment, The A-Z of Reiki Pocketbook and the Reiki Techniques Card Deck. Bronwen and Frans teach in the USA, Europe and Australia. Visit the Courses page to find a course near you.