by Frans Stiene
“Even if I stand in the same place, the wayI see things is different from the way you see them.” – Master Dogen’s Zazen Meditation Handbook with a commentary by Zen master Kosho Uchiyama Roshi
Within the system of Reiki we have the concept of hibiki – a feeling or sensation which we feel during hands-on healing on ourselves or others. However in Japan the concept of hibiki is also related to whatever we feel or experience during our daily life.
The word hibiki translates as echo; thus to understand the concept of hibiki we need to understand the concept of echo. In many Zen and other Japanese Buddhist teachings like Tendai, the concept of hibiki – echo is interwoven in a lot of their teachings. Mikao Usui trained on Mt Kurama which, at the time he was doing his 21 day meditation practice there, was a Tendai Buddhist mountain. Plus we also have heard the stories that Mikao Usui was training at a Zen monastery.
“In Japan we say hibiki. Hibiki means “something that goes back and forth like an echo.” If I say something, I will get feed-back—back and forth. That is sound. Buddhists understand a sound as something created in our mind. I may think, “the bird is singing over there.” But when I hear the bird, the bird is me already. Actually, I am not listening to the bird. The bird is here in my mind already, and I am singing with the bird. Peep-peep-peep. If you think while you are studying, “The blue jay is singing above my roof, but its voice is not so good,” that thought is noise. When you are not disturbed by blue jays, blue jays will come right into your heart, and you will be a blue jay, and the blue jay will be reading something, and then the blue jay will not disturb your reading. When we think, “The blue jay over my roof should not be there,” that thought is a more primitive understanding of being. Because of our lack of practice, we understand things in that way.” – Branching Streams Flow In The Darkness by Shunryu Suzuki
Zen master Shunryu Suzuki explains here what an hibiki is from a Zen perspective. He explains that when we intellectualize or get caught up with the story of what the blue jay is doing, “The blue jay is singing above my roof, but its voice is not so good,” that this thought is just noise: it is not the correct understanding of what hibiki is. When we are not disturbed by the blue jay, no analyzing, distinguishing or labeling, then that is a true understanding of hibiki.
“In an empty hall of a mouth or canyon
A voice or echo arises from vibrations of the air.
Foolish and wise ones hear it in different ways
As if anger and pleasure are really different.
Seeking the origin, we find that things have no essence.
All is unborn, imperishable, and has no beginning nor end.
Stay in the One Mind of no discrimination.
Voice and echo only deceive the ears.”
Kukai – Kobo Daishi founder of Shingon Buddhism
The founder of Shingon Buddhism in Japan explains the concept of an echo very beautifully in this teaching. An echo has no essence, so when we feel or hear an echo stay in the one mind of non discrimination. Because if we do not stay in the mind of non discrimination we will only deceive ourselves and therefore also others.
So during hands-on healing on ourselves or others, or during a meditation practice, we might feel some sensations or see some things. If we get caught up in the story of what we feel (warm – cold, light – heavy, etc.), then that is not the right understanding of hibiki. As Suzuki states: “…that thought is a more primitive understanding of being” and he notes that we do not understand the real concept of hibiki because of our lack of practice.
Within the teachings of Tendai Buddhism we find the same concept about hibiki – echo.
“No matter which tactile sensations become objects of awareness, one immediately realizes that they are like reflections, like an illusion, or like a conjuration, and thus unreal. If one experiences a pleasurable tactile sensation to which one is temporarily agreeable, one does not give rise to desirous attachment. If one experiences painful tactile sensations to which one is temporarily opposed, one does not give rise to hateful affliction. If one experiences tactile sensations to which one is neither opposed nor agreeable, one does not give rise to thoughts which retain them in mind nor does one engage in making distinctions among them. This constitutes the cultivation of calming. What is meant by the cultivation of [insight] contemplation when the body engages tangibles? One should bring forth this thought: “Lightness and heaviness, coolness and heat, roughness and slickness and other such dharmas are all tactile sensations….. The nature of tactile sensations is that they are all empty and false.” ~ Chih-i, Founder of Tiantai
Chi-i, the founder of Tiantai, points out that all these sensations are empty, just like an echo, an illusion. Take hot for example. What is hot for one person might not be hot for another person; it completely depends on our own filters, our perception. Thus we can say that hot is empty; it doesn’t exist in a concrete solid way and therefore we need to train ourselves not to get caught up in the labeling. In fact this is also pointed out deep within the Reiki precepts, just be grateful for what we experience right now. It doesn’t mean that we don’t feel hot, or cold, or any other sensation: of course we do. But being grateful means to not be caught up in trying to explain these feelings and sensations, just let them be. Because if we get caught up in these feelings and sensations, we might then get angry and worried.
“Even if one does not clearly perceive the byokan sensation, the effectiveness of the treatment does not change one bit.” – Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing by Tomita Kaiji (Published in 1933)
Here Tomita Kaji explains that no matter if we feel the sensation or not, the effectiveness of the treatment does not change one bit; why? Because, as he is also pointing out, hibiki – echo is not something to get caught up in. If we get caught up in it, the effectiveness then changes: good – bad etc…
Therefore it is of utmost importance in our practice that we realize what a hibiki – echo is and not get caught up in these feelings and sensations. Just as we needn’t get caught up in it if the weather makes us feel hot or cold or tired, if a feeling or sensation comes up during our practice, in our hands or otherwise, we can just feel it, and let it be.
“You should see form like a man blind from birth, hear sounds as if they were echoes, smell scents as if they were like wind, experience tastes without any discrimination, touch tangible objects without there being in gnosis any contact, and know things with the consciousness of an illusory creature. That which is without a state of being self and a state of being other does not burn. And what does not burn will not be extinguished.” – Buddha Shakyamuni.
In some Japanese schools of Reiki they focus a lot on hibiki and that is fine too but we should not forget that Mikao Usui taught different people different things.
“Usui Sensei had no standard curriculum, and the length of time of the training depended on the spiritual progress of each student. It is said that he gave one-on-one lectures mainly on the right mental attitude needed for spiritual advancement based on his own experience.” – Hiroshi Doi
For me this means that Mikao Usui taught some people very basic ideas about hands on healing, where to place the hands, what to look for etc.. because they were not ready yet to go deeper into the mind practices. This is neither good nor bad, just the way it is. When we go for a private training at a fitness school the trainer also instruct us from where we are at that moment, and that is also neither good nor bad, just the way it is. For people who had a deeper understanding he taught more about the mind, forgetting the “self.” Letting go….spiritual freedom.
“Dento Reiki as it was practiced by members of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai before Usui sensei’s death drastically changed after his passing and even more after the end of Word War II.” – Hiroshi Doi
Hiroshi Doi points out very clearly that the practices within the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai changed drastically after Mikao Usui’s death.
“This is because, while other forms of Reiki Ryoho consisted merely of hands-on healing, Usui Reiki Ryoho was never intended solely as a healing method.” – Hiroshi Doi
If Usui Reiki Ryoho was never intended solely as a healing method why then in spend so much time focusing on the hibiki and trying to understand it? Here we can already see that, for example, the Usui Reiki Gakkai has moved away from the rest of Mikao Usui’s teachings as they focus mainly on hands on healing and sensing hibiki.
“Reiki Ryoho first heals our mind and then our body and allows us to live a life of peace and joy while simultaneously healing those who are ill and promoting happiness for ourselves and others. The expressions “to make the person healthy as a whole ” and “first of all to heal the mind” indicate that the ultimate goal was not to cure disease.” – Hiroshi Doi
Again and again we see that within Mikao Usui’s teachings the mind comes first and then physical issues.
“The mind should be healed first and the body second, so that one can tread the right path of humanity. When the mind is healthy and its path of oneness has been adjusted, then the body will regain its strength by itself.” – Mikao Usui in the booklet Shin-Shin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho Kokai Denju Setsumei
As we can see Mikao Usui here points to the mind, when we heal the mind the body issues follow. When people look for hibiki they look for physical issues, but as we all know a lot of our physical issues have their origin in our mind. Mikao Usui knew this too. So he pointed out we should first of all go straight to the mind.
“If Reiki was just a medical treatment then there was no need for the precepts.” – Takeda Hakusai Ajari.
Again we can see that Mikao Usui’s teachings was about the mind, of course we can see this also within the Reiki precepts which are all about the mind. So how do we heal the mind?
A student of Mikao Usui pointed this out beautifully;
“Its essence is seeking the harmony of body and mind. When engaged in self-cultivation by doing seiza, forgetting the “self” is of utmost importance. When it comes to self-cultivation, one must discard all thoughts” – Tomita Kaij, Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing was published in 1933.
We have to forget the “self.” When we look at the Reiki precepts we can see this forgetting the “self” too and Mikao Usui also pointed this our within the symbols and mantras. And the meditation practices are also about forgetting the “self.” How do we forget the self? By not watering distinctions, what is hot or cold, this or that, by not watering this is me and this is my client, etc. Because what we water grows and if we water distinctions we will never forget the “self.” We can only forget the “self” by letting go of I, me, mine, this and that, here and there, distinctions.
“Usui Sensei did not give additional healing trainings but I heard that he often taught classes about a Shihan’s mental attitude in order to improve one’s teaching methods when teaching about healing to the members. Though his one-on-one Shinpi-den lecture did not include healing training, I also heard that Usui Sensei’s mentorship greatly enhanced the healing ability of many of the Shinpi-den practitioners, as it strengthened their resonance with the Universe and encouraged the awareness that a human is the small universe derived from the Great Universe.” – Hiroshi Doi
Here we can see that Mikao Usui didn’t teach additional healing practices, however what he taught enhanced the healing ability. So what did Mikao Usui taught which triggered this? Forgetting the “self”. When we forget the “self” we realize that we are the universe and the universe is me.
“When this inner light appears, even the most intense physical pain dissolves like mist; the mind experiences a subtle bliss and a weightless freedom.” – Shaku Reikai, founder of Dai Rei Ryōhō
Another well known teacher at that time Shaku Reikai pointed this out too, when we remember our inner bright light – our true mind (forgetting the “self.”), even the most intense physical pain dissolves. Thus if we keep focusing on the hibiki of physical issues then it will be very hard to do a hands on healing session from mind to mind. How do we do this mind to mind healing? By forgetting the “self.”
“Some groups claim that 臼井霊気療法 Usui Reiki Ryoho was intended to cure disease, as the Japanese word 療法 “ryoho” literally means the curing therapy. If so, Usui Reiki Ryoho would have been just another one of the treatment therapies that existed before Usui Sensei. Usui Sensei said, “I have never studied any methods for disease treatment.” He also stated, “Usui Reiki Ryoho makes us fit and well, moderates our thought and enhances one’s joy of life.” and “Usui Reiki Ryoho heals Kokoro [mind and spirit] first, and then makes the body strong and healthy.” These statements of his clearly mean that he did not give first priority to curing disease. Usui Sensei wrote two descriptive statements that introduce 五戒 Go-kai The Five Precepts: 招福の秘法 “Shofuku no Hiho” “The secret method to invite happiness” and the second one, 萬病の霊薬 “Manbyo no Reiyaku” “The miraculous remedy/elixir for all diseases” that follows it. through hand healing.” – Hiroshi Doi
One of Mikao Usui’s main meditation practice he taught was joshin kokyu ho, which translates as pure mind with each breath. He taught this already at Shoden Reiki I, thus in a way we need to perform hands on healing from this state of pure mind.
“When you are involved in some dualistic idea, it means your practice is not pure.” – Shunryu Suzuki
Thus we have to practice like Mikao Usui intended from this space of joshin, pure mind, nonduality.
“To see the whole directly means to see before thinking, without time for analysis or discrimination. If we look at things with our thoughts, we see only a portion, and if we use intellect before we see understanding is superficial. More can be learned through the power of seeing the whole directly then through intellection.” – The Unknown Craftsman – A Japanese Insight into Beauty by Soetsu Yanagi
All of these wonderful Japanese teachers point out the same again and again. To see the whole we need to see before thinking, this is really the symbol/mantra hon sha ze sho nen which translates as my original nature is right mind. Thus if we label something ot or cold, hibiki, during a hands on healing session we can’t see the whole anymore because we are already caught up in our thinking.
“In order to give free play to intuition, one must not permit anything to intervene between one’s self and the object. When that happens, one’s self and the object remain separated to the end and intuition can have but a limited sphere to work in, revealing only a partial view of the object. Only after one’s self has been reduced to nothing can intuition wield its unrestricted power, for only then is the opposition between that which sees and that which is seen dissipated. The viewer is not restrained by subjectivity nor does the viewed and in objectivity; the subject is itself the object, and the object is itself the subject. When intuition is at work, the object is never objectified; or, in Buddhist phraseology, seeing intuitively means entering the sphere of Non-Duality.” – The Unknown Craftsman – A Japanese Insight into Beauty by Soetsu Yanagi
We have to forget the “self” and when there is no “self” there is also no “other” who needs something specific or who has an illness which needs to be fixed.
“We human beings are accustomed to thinking, ” I am now painting a picture”, or “I am now weaving a cloth”. According to Buddhism, however, such phrases express a dualistic relationship from which no true picture or cloth can result. Buddhism says that the root of the dualism is the word “I” and that it must vanish, until the stage where “picture draws picture” or “cloth weaves cloth” is reached.” – The Unknown Craftsman – A Japanese Insight into Beauty by Soetsu Yanagi
I am sensing something and I think that means this or this. When we focus a lot on hibiki we focus a lot on I, I, I. And the more we train this I, I, I, the more anger and worry we will have, the less gratefulness, being true to our way and our being and compassion we will have as well.
“The object of Buddhist aesthetics is the clarification of the following truths:
1) That the inherent nature of man is not dualistic; that non-dual entirety is the primordial home of us all: that the place is purity itself.
2) That the division of things into two is merely a later event and is unnatural, that the distinction between the beautiful and the ugly is based on human delusion and is wholly artificial.
3) That we must accordingly forsake the dualistic fallacy and return to our old home of non-duality, where our salvation is promised.” – The Unknown Craftsman – A Japanese Insight into Beauty by Soetsu Yanagi
As we know Mikao Usui was a Buddhist and within his teachings we can also see links to Buddhism. In essence we have to even, for example when we perform hands on healing, let go of the distinction of sick and healthy. Letting go of these divisions is Mikao Usui deepest teachings.
“First put aside the desire to judge immediately: acquire the habit of just looking. Second, do not treat the object as an object for the intellect. Third, just be ready to receive, passively without interposing yourself. If you can void your mind of all intellectualization, like a clear mirror that simply reflects, all the better. This nonconceptualization – the Zen state of mushin (“no mind”) – may seem to represent a negative attitude, but from it springs the true ability to contact things directly and positively.” – The Unknown Craftsman – A Japanese Insight into Beauty by Soetsu Yanagi
Mikao Usui also pointed to this state of mushin – no mind in his teachings by the symbol/mantra hon sha ze sho nen. If he wanted us to judge and label constantly why put these teachings of no mind, forgetting the “self” in his teachings?
