New edition of The Inner Heart of Reiki – Rediscovering Your True Self

Frans StieneUncategorized, Articles, English Leave a Comment

by Frans Stiene

When my book the Inner Heart of Reiki first came out in 2014 it was a huge success, mainly because this kind of book about the system of Reiki had not been written before. I wanted to write the book from a traditional Japanese viewpoint, explaining the essence of the system of Reiki, not making it just about hands-on healing. For when we look deep into the heart of the system of Reiki, we can start to see that it is all about rediscovering our True Self.

Mikao Usui, founder of the system of Reiki, explained this in his own words in the Shin-Shin Kaizen Usui Reiki Ryoho Kokai Denju Setsumei and the Usui Reiki Ryoho Hikkei, two booklets handed out by the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai:

“Q. Does Usui Reiki Ryoho only heal illness?
A. No. Usui Reiki Ryoho does not only heal illness. Mental illnesses such as agony, weakness, timidity, irresolution, nervousness and other bad habits can be corrected. Then you are able to lead a happy life and heal others with the mind of Kami or Hotoke [Buddha]. That becomes the principal object.”

So we can see that the principal object of Mikao Usui’s teaching is to lead a happy life and to help others with the mindset of Kami or Hotoke. These are just different words for the same thing: our True Self. Kami stands for rediscovering our innate divine being and Hotoke is our innate buddha nature. This mindset is also pointed out within the Reiki precepts:

For today
Do not anger
Do not worry
Be grateful
Be true to your way and your being
Be compassionate to yourself and others

Today means right here at this present moment, not something we hope for in the future. We have to realize that all of this, our True Self, is available right now. We are already touching the universe 100% inside and out, but as we are always looking outside of ourselves we do not see this. And therefore, we also do not believe it.

To help us in this rediscovery of our True Self, Mikao Usui created a complete system which includes the Reiki precepts, meditation practices, symbols and mantras, hands-on healing, and reiju/attunement/initiation. By practicing these, we can slowly start to see that our inner great bright light, kami, buddha nature, is right here, right with us and within us, today.

The Inner Heart of Reiki – Rediscovering Your True Self explains these teachings in simple language that makes them easier for the reader and practitioner to understand. The more we intellectually understand the concepts within the teachings, the easier it is to practice so that we can have the direct experience that we are Reiki. The more we realize that there is no need to “channel” Reiki, but rather that we have to gain a direct realization that we are Reiki, the more we can take this awareness into our daily life.

Mikao Usui stated today; he didn’t say on a Reiki table or on a meditation pillow, no…he said, today. This shows that the system of Reiki is much more than hands-on healing, for we can not perform hands-on healing on ourselves or others all day long. We have to work, drive our car, do our shopping; we have to live our day-to-day lives.

However, we also can shine the great bright light of our True Self in every action we take today. This helps us to stay in a place of compassion, as the Reiki precepts point out: a compassion which doesn’t change according to circumstances during our daily activities. In this way, we can bring our practice into our day-to-day life. If our practice only stays on a Reiki table or a massage pillow, we are gaining only a tiny fraction of the benefits it can offer. And if we see our practice as something done only in the “Reiki/meditation space,” it will be difficult to bring it into all that we do.

The Inner Heart of Reiki delves deeply into the Reiki precepts to help readers gain a profound understanding as to why they form the base of the system of Reiki. It also discusses the idea of Mind, Body, Energy, to help practitioners grasp these essential concepts and enable them to bring the Reiki precepts into all they do.

Many people think the system of Reiki is only about energy. But we must remember that energy follows the mind and that if we want to bring this practice into our daily lives, we have to stay grounded and centred into our body.

The book also discusses the symbols and mantras in detail, as they are also an integral part of Mikao Usui’s teachings. They are not magical symbols or mantras, but are sign posts to our True Self. The more we understand why they are there and how we can use them, the more we can gain that direct experience of our True Self.

For example, if we do not understand why these symbols and mantras are there and if we do not know how to use them correctly, then we will not arrive at the place they are pointing to. If you want to go to Amsterdam but you do not know how to get there, or you take the wrong train, then you will never reach your destination no matter how long you travel.

Therefore, Mikao Usui said, Today. Today we have to understand why we practice the system of Reiki and how to practice it correctly. Then it is also possible to arrive at our destination today, to rediscover and arrive at our True Self.

Mrs Takata, who was instrumental in bringing the system of Reiki to the West, pointed out the depth of Mikao Usui’s teachings as well.

“When John studied with Takata, he made over 20 audio tapes of her lectures and classes. On one of the tapes she discusses travelling to Japan in order to teach her approach to Reiki. While there, she met some Japanese citizens who were actively practicing and preserving Reiki as they understood it in Japan. Takata regarded their approach as entirely valid, but inappropriate for the West. It was highly complex, required years of training and was closely intertwined with religious practices. She felt these factors would deter students in the West and hobble the spread of Reiki through the world at a time when, in her view, it was urgently needed.” – Hand to Hand by John Harvey Gray

As we can see, the system of Reiki was traditionally highly complex, took years of training, and it was closely intertwined with Japanese religious practices. This doesn’t mean that one has to become a Buddhist or a Shinto practitioner; it means that Mikao Usui borrowed his teachings from traditional Japanese esoteric practices and traditions.

The Inner Heart of Reiki – Rediscovering Your True Self helps you to understand the relationship between these traditional esoteric Japanese teachings and the system of Reiki. Through this understanding we can go to the heart of our practice, to the heart of our True Self. And this is so needed in our current world, so that we can shine the light of compassion on all that is.

You can order the new edition of The Inner Heart of Reiki – Rediscovering Your True Self on Amazon.com or Amazon UK.

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