Reiki and Everyday Living: Part 1

Reiki History

To understand what Reiki is, you need to know a little about Reiki’s history. The Reiki Method is a Japanese form of rebalancing the energy in the body. Two kanji, or symbols, make up the word Reiki. Rei means “universal”, and ki means “spirit energy”.  Reiki Method’s founder, Sensei Mikao Usui, stumbled onto Reiki during his 21 days of meditation at Mt. Kurama.

Sensei Usui searched for a way to be happy and receive fulfillment, not necessarily healing ability. On the last day of his meditation, he found what he was looking for, and in the process, also gained a healing ability.

The Gokai

During his short-lived practice in healing others, he devised a set of five precepts to invite happiness into our lives. The Reiki community knows these five precepts as the Gokai. There are many different interpretations of the Gokai, but the general meaning of the Gokai is this:

The Secret Method of Inviting Blessings, the spiritual medicine for many illnesses,
Just for Today
• Do not Anger
• Do not Worry
• Be Kind
• Work Hard
• Show Appreciation
Mornings and evenings, sit in the gassho position and repeat these words out loud and in your heart. For the improvement of mind and body.

Usui Spiritual Healing Method (Usui Reiki Ryoho) The founder, Mikao Usui

Such simple words are extremely powerful in helping us achieve balance in life. Without balance, dis-ease can occur. Living and incorporating the Gokai into your everyday life helps us flow with life changes and helps us become the reeds that bend with the wind and not break or crack when life throws us a storm. The purpose of this article and the few which will follow is to discuss ways to integrate this sage advice into our everyday living.

Do Not Anger, and Do Not Worry

We begin with the first and second precepts, Do not Anger and Do Not Worry.  All major religions: Christianity, Judaism, Shintoism, Buddhism, and Islam, to name a few, address anger and how detrimental it is to our health. Research shows anger increases certain body chemicals (fight or flight). When we were hunter/gatherers, this fight-or-flight response was necessary for survival. 

However, most people in today’s society no longer hunt for food, nor are they afraid of being attacked by wild animals. Therefore, we are a very sedentary society and lead busy and stressful lives. As such, our basic survival requirements changed. The issues we face today, like whether my bills get paid, whether I have a job, and whether I can keep my house, are the issues that cause the fight or flight response. When the adrenal glands constantly produce those chemicals and are not appropriately discharged, many health problems, like high blood pressure, insulin resistance, diabetes, and high cholesterol, occur.

The Ego and “Pain Bodies”

We can’t always control what life throws at us, but we can control how we react to those events. In Eckart Tolle’s book A New Earth, he talks about our “pain bodies” and the ego reacting to triggering situations. As a result, when we become an observer and notice when the ego engages and recognize the behavior as such, we detach and address the underlying causes of anger.

The more we practice detaching and observing our “pain body” in action, the shorter the ego engages and the shorter the emotional response. We no longer respond to those triggers with anger. This is not an easy thing to do and takes constant review and practice. Basically, by reciting the Gokai and practicing self-healing daily, we get to the point where the car cutting you off doesn’t affect you when those annoying habits of your coworkers or loved ones no longer cause you to fume and turn red. I’m still working on that.