Breathing the Precepts

The Reiki Precepts change everything for the better – how I see myself, how I see the world, how I see myself in the world. “The secret of inviting happiness through many blessings, the spiritual medicine for all illness.” This is the reason I come back again and again to the Precepts. Peace, wholeness, integration, joy.

I inhale “just for today,” feeling the breath in the nose, hooking the mind and the precept with the breath and bringing it all down into the hara. This moment comes alive in me and expands. My exhale allows the transformation the knowing that Now is all there is, this moment, out through my skin, my being. I am fully present.

Breathing “do not anger” in the same way, I understand that anger really is an illusion, a mistake, a form of attack, the sword I hold at my brother’s neck or my own. The precept allows me to drop the sword. Here I am willing to be shown. Wisdom is welcome.

Breathing “do not worry,” fear really is seen as a distraction, not something out of my control. It is not something to fight. This Precept allows me to choose another way. Allowing Great Bright Light space within me, this Precept lifts me from the battlefield.

Breathing “be grateful,” I am reminded that I know nothing but the stories I make up, and that Great Bright Light expanding within me will take care of me and everything else. Having lived long enough to experience miracles through right perception, I recognize that everything happens for me, not to me. Seen through Great Bright Light’s vision, what hurts holds a great opportunity for transformation, for healing. I can truly be grateful for everything, no matter how it looks.

Breathing in “be true to my WAY and my BEING” resonates in me and through me, gently reminding me that I do have a life purpose and it is to be truly helpful: to be the agent, that perfect expression or vehicle for Great Bright Light to live in and through me.

Breathing “show compassion to myself and others” allows me to drop any remaining obstacles to love. I soften and experience this moment without expectation, without judgment, assessment, opinion or condemnation. Everything is just as it is and I did the very best I could. I understand in a very loving way that all my brothers and sisters did the very best they could, too. In this way I perceive truly that there are no sins, only mistakes, and we get to choose once again.

Breathing “Because this is the center of Buddhahood” means I am embodying the Way in its gentleness, patience, kindness, holding us all in compassion. As a Course in Miracles says, “Our brothers’ needs becomes our own, because they are taking the journey with us as we go to God. Without us they would lose their way. Without them we would never find our own.”

The Precepts give me a map to get home. They are my companions, my teachers, my guides and my comforters. I am taking the time to allow them to come alive in me. Sometimes it feels like they are breathing me. They balance my mind, body, spirit and that feels really good.

Julie Bergum