by Frans Stiene.
Mikao Usui taught hands on healing on ourselves as a means to soften the concept of I, me, mine. The more we soften I, me, mine, the more we lay bare our inner great bright light, that we are Reiki.We often say, “I am giving myself Reiki.”
But that is not the whole truth; when we give ourselves Reiki, we also receive it. On a deeper level, we are both the giver and the receiver and this process helps soften the concept of I, me, mine.
“Double sensation, through the intuition of identity between which is touching and that which is being touched, links the subject-body with the object-body…and brings them into an interfusion.” ~ Seishin to shite no shintai – The Body as Spirit by Ichikawa Hiroshi (Japanese philosopher 1930-2009)
Or in other words, we are both touching and being touched. This double sensation, in turn, will help collapse the subject/object distinction. And when that collapses, what is left? Non-dual awareness, the knowing that we are Reiki.And why does it collapse the distinction between subject and object? This is because we normally see things from only one side, not from both. It is a paradox.Most of the time we only say, “I am giving myself Reiki,” or “I am touching myself.”
But that is not the whole truth; we are also receiving and being touched at the same time.This is also always true when we touch someone or something else; check it out for yourself. We might say, Frans is touching the chair, but at the same time the chair is touching Frans. When we perform hands on healing on someone else, we touch them and simultaneously, they touch us—a double sensation, the collapse of subject and object. But if we do not notice this, or only keep seeing it one way, we never rediscover the deeper layers of hands on healing that Mikao Usui was pointing out.
“Although I am touching myself who is [also] being touched, this doubling of sensations is further internalized to enable me to discover myself who takes note of touching, which invites me to a purification of the thought that “I am touching.” ~ Seishin to shite no shintai – The Body as Spirit by Ichikawa Hiroshi.
The more we purify I, me, mine, the more we lay bare our original nature. Mikao Usui pointed this out very clearly with the inclusion of the symbol/mantra hon sha ze sho nen, which translates as my original nature is right mind. What is this right mind? Our non-dual mind.And what happens when the subject/object distinction collapses? We realize deeply that we are the universe and the universe is us. And what happens then to your energy? It flows like never before, because you are wide open, without beginning and end, unlimited energy and an unlimited flow.
“Everyone innately [literally, “as a gift from Heaven” (ten’yo)] has sufficient Reiki or energy (katsuryoku). However, we are just unable to realize it or put it to use.” -Tomabechi Gizō(1880–1959) was one of the twenty shihan (Master-level) students trained by Usui Mikao. He studied under Usui-sensei, from 1923 to1926.
One of Mikao Usui’s direct students, Tomabechi Gizo also stated that we innately have sufficient Reiki but we just do not realize it. However, the more we soften I, me, mine the more we realize what we already have.
Mikao Usui also pointed this out with the meditation practice of seishin toitsu in which we put our hands in gassho.
“In many religions, the reason that one closes his eyes, and joins his hands together [gassho] when he prays is because he attempts to reach by way of his activity a certain pure state that is without fissure between activity and passivity, between interiority and exteriority, and between subject and object.” ~ Seishin to shite no shintai – The Body as Spirit by Ichikawa Hiroshi.
Thus we see that the collapse of I, me, mine is at the forefront of Mikao Usui’s teachings and is the inner meaning of hands on healing.“To practice gassho is to flow like water. When you gassho, just gassho. In the middle of “just gassho” there is no subject and no object.” – Keep Me in Your Heart a While: The Haunting Zen of Dainin Katagiri by Dosho Port.
Of course we can see the same pointed out within the Reiki precepts as well. When there is no I, me, mine, then there is automatically no anger and worry. When there is no more anger and worry, then all that is left is being grateful, true to our way and our being, and we have laid bare our innate compassion, true compassion which doesn’t change according to circumstances.
“To reach the aim of gassho, one must always – not only when doing gassho – maintain this gassho heart-mind power. In other words, gassho is done to receive a certain benefit, and the aim of gassho is only fully reached when constantly maintaining this heart-mind power, twenty four hours a day.” – Reiki and the Benevolent Art of Healing by Tomita Kaiji (Published in 1933)
So to fully realize the benefits of our practice for more than just fleeting moments at a time, we have to maintain that state of non-dual awareness around the clock. As the precepts remind us, today. Of course, this is not always easy, and does not come quickly. That’s why we practice, so that with our continued practice and attention we can maintain our non-dual awareness, always. Today, in every moment, in all we do. And hands on healing, done properly, will help us facilitate this.
“Usui sensei himself explained that the starting point of Usui Reiki Ryoho was the concept that people are originally created healthy and happy. The microcosm must resonate in harmony with the macrocosm to recover our initial healthy condition. The ability to heal with our hands is made possible when they resonate in unison. The ultimate state of Anshin Ritsumei is also attained when these levels are in resonance with each other. I want to transmit the path to Anshin Ritsumei through hands-on healing as a gateway accessible toanyone.” – Gendai Reiki Ho -The Spirit of Usui Sensei and the Truth of Traditional Reiki by Hiroshi Doi translated by Rika Saruhashi.
