The Three Ps of the system of Reiki

The three Ps within the system of Reiki are Practise, Patience and Perseverance. All of these are important when practicing the system of Reiki. They should not be seen as separate entities. There is a reliant interconnectedness between them. Successful practise without patience and perseverance is not possible, and neither is perseverance without patience and the practise itself. To get the most profound experiences from your Reiki practise you will need to utilise all three Ps.

Practise

Practise means that the five elements of the system of Reiki are employed for self development. These are the precepts, meditations, hands on healing on yourself and others, symbols and mantras, and the attunement/reiju. You will find detailed information on each of these five elements and ways to work with them for self-healing in The Japanese Art of Reiki. Briefly, here are some examples of what such self-practise entails.

Precepts: Sit in meditation and contemplate why one must not anger or worry. Can you feel this somewhere within your body? Can you feel an emotion coming up when you contemplate the precepts? How do the precepts relate to the meditations, your hands on healing, symbols and mantras and the attunement/reiju? Do they interrelate with each other?

Meditations: Practise the meditations taught within the Japanese system of Reiki daily. This includes foundation practises such as joshin kokyu ho and hatshurei ho.

Hands-on healing: Perform self healing on your self daily and on others if possible (working with others provides you with some good feedback on what is happening when you work with energy).

Symbols and Mantras: Meditate on the symbols and mantras taught in Okuden Reiki Level II. Yes, they are for spiritual self development, not for external use!

Attunements/reiju: And if you are a Reiki teacher, practise the attunements and reiju daily. If these rituals are performed in the correct manner they aid you in reaching a deeper level of inner strength, interconnectedness and peace.

Patience

Healing often doesn’t happen overnight. It can be a long process which takes time and, therefore, patience is required. Do not be discouraged if your physical or emotional pain is not healed quickly. The more attached you are to a certain outcome, the harder it will be to let this go. Some issues will go very quickly as they may not be held on to too tightly, while others may be ingrained at a deep level and, consequently, may require more time to be released.

Patience is also needed for spiritual development within the system of Reiki. From a spiritual perspective, the system is a life-long practise to one day realise one’s true nature. Thinking of a practise in terms of “life-long” can mean that we sometimes get discouraged and patience is the best antidote to ongoing success.

Perseverance

The elements of the system of Reiki will not bear fruit if you lack perseverance and only practise once in a while. The fruit that results is the realisation of your own true nature.

When working with the physical self it is also desirous to persevere. Many issues are so ingrained that it may take a long time to release them.

Naturally, the more you practise, the more accomplished you become. There are some teachers who believe that there is no need to practise elements of the system such as meditation, and that all you need do is place your hands on someone. But think about this… who would you rather have a treatment from? Someone who is a dedicated practitioner working towards self-healing and wholeness, or someone who has just completed a Reiki Level I course. It is perseverance that makes the difference.

So, as you can see, practise cannot be complete without perseverance and patience, and perseverance cannot be complete without something to practise and loads of patience. All three need to come together to create a complete and effective system of personal and professional practise. This is not to take away the pleasure of working with the system of Reiki. To work towards a life-long practise offers you a constant in a world of insecurity. Your practice is a saving rope you can hold on to that is not reliant upon what others say or think about you. Your practise is an experience of inner pleasure and contentment that evolves as you move through the layers of self-development towards true realisation.

Bronwen and Frans Stiene

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.