Reiki II; Deeper into the Light

     In the western tradition of Reiki, we often refer to Reiki II or Second Degree, as "Practitioner level".  When I initially learned Reiki, that title was a little confusing.  However, it is not a complete misnomer.  For anyone desiring to open a Reiki practice it is a logical next step.  Yet, that is not the only reason for wanting to take your Reiki to the next level.
     Second Degree, is, also, known as Okuden.  This has been translated to mean "the deep inside" or to transmit in depth".  The essence of Second Degree is that it takes your practice to the next level.  This level takes you deeper into the uses and understanding of Reiki.  Not only does it enhance your treatments for others, it enhances them for yourself as well.  Through my personal practice of Reiki, I have come to understand it as a way of life--not just a healing modality.  In fact, I never personally established a Reiki practice.  Although, I have spent a lot of time using Reiki to treat others, I found my personal journey with Reiki to be much more beneficial to me.  I spent many years at Level II.  I found that at this level, I was able to heal others and myself while deepening my relationship to Reiki.
  In fact, with the guidance of my Master, my self-treatments turned into something different.  Using the three Sacred Symbols that I acquired at this level and the Second Degree techniques, my personal practice flourished.  I developed a new understanding of what it means to be connected to Divinity.  My intuition began to grow and become stronger.  I could feel in my hands where healing and energy were required.  When I sat in meditation, I could feel the energy around me and moving through me--even stronger than before.
     Furthermore, the more I practiced and used Reiki, the more focused I felt the energy become.  It was, also, as if I had more control over the energy.  I likened it to being like a laser.  I seemed to be able to concentrate the energy more effectively.  The Reiki energy seemed to be telling me where to put my hands, for how long and what to do with them next.  Thus, I began to change as did my view of the world around me.  It was a gradual process--so gentle and loving.  Yet, it changed me at my core.  It deepened my connection to everything.  It was at this level that I truly began to understand the limitlessness that Reiki holds.  Coming to understand the symbols and their many uses can take a lifetime.  Thus, only those who have a calling to teach really pursue Reiki beyond this level.
     Looking back on my life with Reiki, I realize that it was at this level that Reiki sank into my heart and soul and I began to know:

Reiki is a Way of Life!

Reiki I; The Journey Begins

     My Reiki master, Barbi Lazonby, used to say that treating yourself with Reiki was like giving yourself a big hug.  The essence of Reiki is love.  From a point unknown, from a source unknowable comes this amazingly powerful energy.  Energy that can transform your life and body.
     Reiki I, or First Degree, also known as Shoden, is a powerful  first step.  It serves as a foundation.  Upon completing his 21 day meditation on Mount Kurama, the first miracle of Reiki states that Usui Sensei stubbed his toe in his haste to get down the mountain.  When he sat down and applied Reiki to the injury he found it was immediately healed.  So, one of the first teaching of Reiki is that we work on ourselves first.  At all levels, Reiki is available to use on anyone.  However, the fundamental teaching is to use Reiki for our own healing and enlightenment first.  As we transform, the world around us will be transformed.
     In First Degree, we also learn that Reiki affects us on all levels--physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  Through self-treatment and daily practice, we are able to heal traumas and transform toxic thoughts.  We can break old behaviors and form healthy, new thoughts.  Even at it's most fundamental level Reiki is a life changing experience.  The joy of this is that it is so gentle and so subtle.  Sometimes, we may not even be aware of the depth of change that is occurring until after the fact.  So, when applied with intention and mindfulness Reiki becomes limitless in it's ability to transform us and we see this transformation begin with our first attunement.
     One of the important aspects of the first attunement is that we signal to ourselves that we are ready to make a fresh start.  We are ready to take our health and our life into our own hands.  First Degree is an invitation to leave all old, outmoded ways of thinking behind.  It is an invitation to a new beginning.  We begin to examine ourselves.  We are asked; What are the things that no longer serve us?  What is our body telling us about our behaviors? What can we change in our life that will help heal us?  Simply, by placing our hands on our body and letting the energy move, we begin to find answers, healing, and transformation.  One of the joys of Reiki is it's simplicity.  If it hurts, touch it.  If you are stuck, confused, or just in a funk, give yourself a treatment.  Soon, you will find the answers you need.
     The Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu said, " The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step."  First Degree, Reiki is that first step.

My Life with Reiki

     Nearly 20 years ago, I had the pleasure of taking my first Reiki class.  I loved it. I used Reiki everyday.  I used it on myself, my food, my pets, my family and friends--anything that moved got Reiki.  After, a few months, I realized the value that my new found path held.  So, I delved into Second Degree.  Learning some of the advanced techniques of Reiki took me even further along my journey.  I soon realized, as my Master had taught me, that the more I used Reiki, the more I connected to it.  Many years passed, and I came to use Reiki more and more.  Until, eventually, I realized that it had sneaked into and permeated nearly every aspect of my life.
     During those years of using Reiki, I had continued learning and studying other healing modalities--crystal healing, aromatherapy, etc...Just about anything that fell onto my path.  Yet, what I found was that Reiki was always there.  It augmented all of those other techniques.  So, I would always return to it as a constant in my daily practice.  It was truly at the core of all that I did.
     As time went on, I realized that I wanted more.  I realized that I wanted to share what I knew about Reiki on a deeper level.  So, I pursued Mastership.  I wanted to teach.  And, I did.  I taught Reiki in the same fashion that I had learned Reiki--as a healing modality.  That was what people wanted to learn.  In fact, for many years, it was the only thing that people seemed to know about Reiki.  They had come to know it as a "healing technique".  As I taught,  I realized that not everyone was getting the same thing from Reiki that I did.  So, I stopped teaching for awhile--thinking perhaps it was my teaching style or maybe I had missed an element in learning to teach.
     So, I began to research and meditate.  I just sat with the energy.  I returned to what I knew about Reiki.  I knew that IT would show me the way.  What I saw in my study of Reiki was that many of us in the West were struggling with the same issue.  So, as more and more students began researching (some even going to Japan), more knowledge became available to all of us.  This only fueled my love of Reiki.  Then, I realized all of the things that I was learning about Reiki had been taught to me by my Master.  She, just taught them in a very subtle way.  So, I jumped right into all of this "new" knowledge.  I wholeheartedly began to incorporate it into my own practices.
     Thus, a new way of Reiki was born into my life.  It took me a few years to pull all of the pieces together.  However, what I realized was that I had come full circle.  My life with Reiki was reborn with a new and deeper understanding of the Art of Reiki.
     This "new" path only echoed what I had known to be true for so many years.

Reiki IS a way of Life!

The Light

     When I was young, going to school was quite challenging for me.  So, my Mom took on the job of trying to make the mornings as cheerful as possible.  When I woke up, she would be really excited about the day.  I would eat breakfast.  As the time crept closer and closer for me to leave, I would feel this wave of anxiety come over me and I would start to cry.  That was when my Mom would break out in song.

     She would sing, "Oh, Let the Sunshine In."  A simple little song that has stuck with me my whole life.  In all honesty, I thought it was something that my Mom made up.  I only ever remember hearing the chorus.  After some research several years ago, I found out that it is indeed a real song.  However, to me it was a magical incantation that taught me to fight back the dread and fear that I felt every morning. 

"Oh, let the sunshine in

face it with a grin

smilers never loose

and frowners never win.

So, open up your heart

and let the sunshine in."

 That was the magic that got me started in the mornings.  I kind of joke about it now.  Yet, the truth is, from childhood to now, when I'm facing a daunting task or challenge, I return to this practice.  When, I'm stressing out about money, work, or just life changes, I find myself humming this tune. Over the years, it's almost become automatic.

     Moreover, the great thing about this little ditty is that it can be sung, chanted, or spoken like an affirmation.  After a little research, I learned that this song is actually a religious song.  It talks about how smiling and being happy keeps the "devil" away.  I, personally, don't believe in such a being.  However, I do believe that there is negativity.  I, also, believe that like attracts like.  So, when we get caught up in a negative pattern, it grows if left unchecked.  So, teaching me this song, was my Mom's way of teaching me to reign in that negativity.  Just that small portion that I knew seemed magical.  Obviously, my Mom had no idea the impact this one little song would have on my life.  

     However, it wasn't just about the song.  It was about how she taught me to stand up tall and talk to myself encouragingly.  Fortunately, I have always had a very active and powerful imagination.  So, as we performed our morning ritual, I would envision myself standing in the sunshine.  It would shine straight into my heart and spread throughout my body.  I never really told my Mom about what I was seeing in my head.  However, it worked and made the mornings a little more bearable.  Even now, when I start to sing the words or just say them in my head, my posture changes.  My attitude begins to shift and I just know that I can handle whatever needs to be handled at that moment.  It wasn't until later that I discovered that this little trick had a name.

     Furthermore, I discovered that it had several names--visualization, affirmations, visioning, and creative visualization just to name a few. No matter what you call it, to a six year old it was magic.  You see, all of those mornings spent singing and self-talking taught me about the Light.  Not just the light of the Sun, but the Light with a capital L.  More importantly, I learned how to call upon this Light--shifting my consciousness from fear and negativity to positive thoughts and empowerment.  You see, this Light was not just sunshine.  Yes, it came from the Sun.  However, it was powered by Divinity.  I really don't know if I figured that out on my own.  Maybe my Mom told me that.  Either way, somehow I knew.  I knew that it was not ordinary sunlight that I was standing experiencing.  More importantly, I knew that the Light was there to protect me and guide me.  I developed a trust in this Light.  To this day, that trust has never been broken.  There have been times when I have forgotten about it or not listened or just straight up ignored it.  Yet, when I return to it.  It's always there just as loving and protective as ever.

     Furthermore, this Light taught me that my fears were not founded in reality.  They were forged from doubt.  When you shine a light on something, things become clearer.  The shadows that plague us begin to disappear.  We can then see the truth of the situation.  Author and teacher, Richard Seaman uses the phrase, "Hold it up to the light."  A teaching I identified with while taking one of his classes.  He further explains this in his book, Spiritual Reliability. 

"For the purposes of my teachings, 

holding something up to the light means

to expose or reveal the truth about something

and to bring clarity to a situation."

This thought resonated with me very deeply.  It reminded me that I had been doing this my whole life.  What started off as a simple form of encouragement, turned into a life long technique of self-empowerment.  Since I had practiced this technique from childhood, I believe learning other forms of visualization came easily to me.  

     More importantly, it taught me that when you invoke the Light, you are connected to Divinity.  When you are connected to Divinity, you live an empowered life.  You pause, you breathe, you listen.  Then, when the Light has revealed all that you need to know, you act.