For Today Only:
Do not Anger
Do not worry
Be Humble
Be Honest in your Work
Be Compassionate to Yourself and Others
We all know the Reiki precepts but in this blog we wanted to focus on the deeper aspects of the precept “Be compassionate to yourself and others”.
Generally this precept is considered to be about being kind or loving to ourselves and others, yet this is just one layer of a complex subject.
To discover deeper layers of understanding and wisdom within this precept we need to look not only at what compassion is, but importantly for those practicing the system of Reiki, what the meaning of compassion was in Mikao Usui’s time?
Supreme compassion in Usui’s lifetime focussed on bringing all beings into the Great Bright Light of enlightenment. This Great Bright Light is symbolized by the Reiki Level III symbol and mantra DKM (which literally translates as Great Bright Light).
However, to be able to help to bring others into the Great Bright Light we need to first have discovered that Great Bright Light within ourselves.
Without being in this Great Bright Light state yourself, there is limited wisdom available to help others to achieve this state. And it is within the Great Bright Light state that there exists primordial wisdom; this wisdom to know how to help others.
So, by putting “be compassionate to yourself and others” in the precepts Mikao Usui was pointing us towards the supreme aspects of the teachings; helping you to discover your own Great Bright Light and at the same time finding the wisdom to help others to achieve their Great Bright Light.
This deeper understanding of the precepts also signifies that the system is not just a hands-on healing practice but a serious spiritual practice. This is why Mikao Usui included many meditation practices within his system; meditations on the symbols and mantras, meditation practices like Joshin Kokyu ho, and meditations on the precepts themselves.
This leads us to the realization that the most authentic way to heal others is to help them to discover their own inner Great Bright Light.
No matter the level of your own personal journey you can begin to put the last of the precepts into practice. Firstly; at the beginning of each of your personal meditation sessions set your motivation that you want to realize the Great Bright Light in order to help others to achieve this as well. Then at the end of each practice; set the intent that you intend to help everyone to achieve the Great Bright Light state.
What is interesting to note is that Judith Pennington, author and brainwave researcher, discovered the power of showing compassion to others in her own brainwaves. In the article The Brain Waves of Reiki she states:
I have always been interested in energy healing, especially since 2001, when I discovered in my own brain waves that sending out healing prayers at the close of meditation expands and evolves the mind more than anything else—and in precisely the same way as loving communion with universal Light.
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.
Comments 6
When you first hear this Precept you say, yes, oh, course and then can sometimes gloss over it to tackle those “bigger” issues of anger and fear. But, the more you work with the Precepts, the more you keep coming back to Be Compassionate to yourself and others. Because, unless you are compassionate to yourself first, you can forget about facing your fear and anger. Without being compassionate to yourself you can beat yourself up for not “dealing” with your anger or fear in a “productive” manner. You can end up calling yourself a failure, a fake. And when you feel like that, you can project those (your) feelings onto others. Not very compassionate to others – causing another round of anger at self. Being compassionate to yourself allows you to see The Self and be compassionate to others. The Precepts are interwoven together, if you pull out the compassion to yourself and others thread, the garment can unravel rather quickly.
When you first hear this Precept you say, yes, oh, course and then can sometimes gloss over it to tackle those “bigger” issues of anger and fear. But, the more you work with The Precepts, the more you keep coming back to Be Compassionate to yourself and others. Because, unless you are compassionate to yourself first, you can forget about facing your fear and anger. Without being compassionate to yourself you can beat yourself up for not “dealing” with your anger or fear in a “productive” manner. You can end up calling yourself a failure, a fake. And when you feel like that, you can project those (your) feelings onto others. Not very compassionate to others – causing another round of anger at self. Being compassionate to yourself allows you to see The Self and be compassionate to others. The Precepts are interwoven together, if you pull out the compassion to yourself and others thread, the garment can unravel rather quickly.
Thank you.
The beauty of timing of this blog-exquisite. I set up a teleconference to discuss to work with students on this precept for next week. The form of it had not yet shown up. Then “voila”, here is the missing link. I am grateful to be plugged into this wonderful Reiki grid that you are assisting all of us to better understand. In times of great change and puzzlement, it is quite easy to turn the judgments about what is not working on the self. We ask, “What is it that I am NOT doing?” thinking it is something we have missed. So the emphasis is on the practice and what we ARE doing. Gracias, again.
Hi All,
Interesting article about compassion:
http://www.dailyzen.com/zen/zen_reading1109.asp
Hi All,
Just read this and wanted to share it with you.
The spiritual path begins with a period of retreat from the world, like a wounded deer looking for a solitary, peaceful spot to heal her wounds. Here, the wounds are those inflicted by ignorance. To try to help prematurely is like harvesting wheat when it’s still grass, or like a deaf musician playing beautiful tunes that he can’t hear. To be able to help beings, there should no longer be any difference between what you teach and what you are. A beginner might feel an immense desire to help others, but generally doesn’t have sufficient spiritual maturity to be able to do so.
Matthieu Richard
Hi Frans,
Love the quote you posted here..you cannot help others if you are not strong inside you.While I am writing this I am thinking isnt same when we just use the element of hands on healing to try to help others and not work on the other elements of system of reiki how the “healing” seems so incomplete. I myself experinced this first learning from a modern approach and working on only hands on healing and when started teaching realized I wasnt really “ready or capable” to help anyone , not students , not myself , no one. Just realized after reading “be compassionate to self and others” has this another layer. Thank you , thank you