My goodness… its Christmastime again! Time sure flies when you are pretending that time doesn’t actually exist.

Speaking of time, it has been far too long since my last post… life has a way of getting in the way at times, however, if there ever was a time for Reiki it would certainly be during the holidays. Alleviating just a fraction of the stress would make it worth all that effort in memorizing the Distance Reiki symbol. And I’m quite sure Santa would appreciate a little Reiki after Christmas… I’d imagine his back must be a wreck what with all that bending down and chimney sliding. Mercy!

Wow! Sounded a little like Roy Orbison there for a minute… sorry about that! Won’t happen again.

If you missed my post on Reiki For The Holidays you might want to have a quick look for some tips in dealing with certain situations that might call for a bit of Reiki. I would also recommend my post on Laughter Reiki as a holiday without joy and laughter is just like any other day of the year.

And finally, I’d like to wish you all the happiest of holidays, full of warmth, giving and love and if you add a dash of Reiki to the mix you will surely have achieved Total Christmas Mastery! Reiki blessings to us, everyone!

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Okay, I’ll admit it… the new Dan Brown book has me quite intrigued and once again, my imagination is running rampant. Not since Indiana Jones and the Lost Reiki Journal of Dr. Usui have I considered the possibility of missing information… at least not publicly… but riddle me this, if you will, if there were a unifying symbol for Reiki, one that summed everything up and brought everything together… what would it look like? Well, I’ve got a theory… let’s see if it holds water.

In The Lost Symbol, one quote in particular got me to thinking. There was a non-religious discussion taking place on the many variations of the Man as God paradigm, such as, “Know ye not that ye are gods?” and “The kingdom of God is within you” where one interpretation was given as:

Abandon the search for God… instead, take yourself as the starting place. – Monoimus

Whereupon I immediately abandoned the whole discussion and got on with my day, but that thought lingered in the back of my mind and while scouring the web for useful Reiki thoughts this thought wedged itself in my mind and proved itself to be quite stubborn as I attempted to dislodge it… the result being this post.

The Lost Reiki Symbol

The idea of a unifying symbol (or at least concept with a graphical representation) had me stumped at first.. but then it struck me. Unification, in the case of Reiki does not mean something that pulls everything together, but on the contrary something that pulls everything apart. Reiki, being a spiritual path, knows no one way… there are many possible paths and we each take the one that we most (largely unconsciously) resonate with. So, while being on the Reiki path, we are unified in the sense that we are all together on the Reiki path, but we do not share a common path.

“Hey, you’re on the Reiki Path? So am I!” smacks of unification as we are both on the same, i.e., the Reiki Path… but the paths will be unique depending on our own interpretations, experiences, preferences, etc. And they will meander in their own direction until finally they all meet again at the end… enlightenment! Make sense?

Several years ago I went to a VERY high level Reiki meeting here in Japan (sorry, I’m not allowed to be more specific) and for several weeks prior to the meeting I was filled with speculation and wild imaginings about what was in store for me… I was sorely disappointed and not until formulating this post did I realize why.

I was expecting to discover the lost secrets of Reiki, to be the first Westerner to have access to the mysterious powers of the unknown, the Holy Grail of Reikidom… what I got instead was a bunch of old people who asked more questions than answered and rambled on and on about things that basically had no relationship… to anything. I asked my translator if things were watered down on my account, but she said ‘no… that’s how it always is’. Hatsurei Ho and a few other exercises and then talk, talk, talk. What a let down.

So how does this unified theory bring that into focus? Well, since they were all on different paths, and understood they were all on different paths, they knew there was no point in comparing notes. Even markedly similar experiences would have completely different meanings to different people. So basically the long and short of it is that when you are on the Reiki path you are totally and utterly alone in finding your way. The slightest hint at a suggestion could easily (and in all likelihood) take you years off course.

In Japan, the majority of the Reiki Masters I’ve met, including several members of the Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai all understand this… whether it was taught to them or not… and so teachings or discussions on how to proceed are avoided… as opposed to teachings in the West whereas the teacher expects you to walk the same exact path they did (even though they are no closer to enlightenment than you are).

So the above symbol, and the concept of a unification theory in Reiki basically says that once you learn all there is to learn, go back to where you started, abandon the idea that there is a one size fits all path, and, beginning where you are… enjoy your unique experiences on the Reiki path. And anyone telling you differently simply doesn’t understand their Einstein.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Okay, I admit it… I’m in the Harry Potter Fan Club. There, I said it! WOW!!! I feel like a tremendous weight’s been lifted off of my shoulders! I don’t have to hide it any more… not that I ever did!

Being a good little Gryffindor (yes I was sorted) I feel it my duty to report on the implications of Harry Potter for Reiki (or vice versa as the case may be).It may sound silly, but hear me out… there’s more to this than meets the eye.

First off, since that Potter kid hit the book shelves, people have loosened up considerably in terms of accepting things that are a bit out of the ordinary… and yes, Reiki has been known to raise a few eyebrows. This has made Reiki much easier to swallow for a lot of people. We know the world of Harry Potter is just fantasy, but that doesn’t stop us from believing… if just for a little while… and that is all that is needed to open the door to other, miraculous possibilities.

Second, since most Harry Potter fans, at some point or another fantasize about having the ability to perform magic the disappointment that follows the realization that we can’t can be a bit, well… disappointing. Reiki has been described as magical, miraculous, not to mention downright awesome (my own preferred adjective) Reiki Practitioners around the world do indeed have the ability to perform feats beyond the ability of mortal man.

I’m sure I can take this discussion in regard to Reiki much deeper by discussing the opposing forces of good and evil in the Harry Potter Series, the value of a good teacher, the benefit of being around like-minded people to help you grow and the pride felt when we, through Harry (Ron or Hermione) do something unselfish and good for the benefit of all, but there is a lightning storm heading this way and no matter how much Reiki I throw at it it just seems to be getting angrier and angrier, as it gets closer and closer, and my poor little PC can’t withstand another attack from the elements… so I’ll have to cut it off here… even before pointing out the benefits of a good fantasy in your quest for Total Reiki Mastery.

Love to hear your comments though!

 For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

My how I’ve seem to grown so dependent on the Internet… it’s so hard to remember what life was like a mere 10 years ago when the Internet was but a mere babe. My Internet service has been down for 4 days straight (using a friends computer now) and what a life altering experience… so, naturally, my thoughts have wandered to the impact the Internet has had on Reiki… and, naturally, I thought I’d share… the good, the bad, and the ugly of it all.

The Good

There are so many good points about how the Internet has effected Reiki that it’s hard to know where to begin. I guess the greatest benefit is found in the ability to communicate with likeminded people all around the world. Reiki chat rooms, forums, blogs, etc. has made everyone so accessible, that, where once, we were limited to the local (or not so local, as the case may be) Reiki Share or Reiki Circle, we can now instantly hook up with thousands of Reiki Folk with just a click of the mouse. The power inherent in this is truly awesome.

There are some incredible Reiki WebSites in existence with a staggering amount of information. And new exercises, tips and techniques are published to them every day. Where once there was the occasional new book, no those have been replaced (although not completely) by websites that keep us much further up to date than any book could.

Finding Reiki teachers or Reiki training is a piece of cake, thanks to the Internet, and there are so many true Reiki Masters using the Internet on a daily basis that they are never far away. Compare this to the pre-Internet days, and there really is no comparison.

The Bad

Turning now to some of the bad points the Internet has ushered in with it, I think that the worse thing is that with all the information being published to the Internet everyday, a fair amount of it is bad. It is either erroneous, misinterpreted, mistranslated or just downright fabricated and it’s hard to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. There were a few quite popular books that were total fabrications, but the number of WebPages far outweigh the number of published books that fit this scenario. Thus we need to stay vigilant, stay on our toes and constantly be taking what we are exposed to on the Internet with a grain of salt.

Another bad point is that people take advantage of the anonymity the Internet offers to behave in a way they would surely not behave in their local environs. These people are found all over the Internet, and Reiki chat rooms offer no protection. I guess it is to be expected, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. There are also some really sweet looking people out there with some really sweet looking WebSites… but they are selling pure manure.

The Ugly

There is not much in the way of ugly but there are a few things that have long been pet peeves of mine, but such is the nature of the Internet. One of these is the number of outright rip-off artists out there trying to sell Reiki courses that are completely worthless. There was one woman on ebay who sold hundreds of "certifications" to courses she had never even been attuned to herself. Chances are very good she just pocketed the money when it came in, sent out her certificates, and never gave it another thought.

I’m sure there are many other things that could be said on the subject (and I’d love to hear your thoughts on them) but I do believe the good far outweighs the bad and the ugly combined. The Internet has really come a long, long way in the last 10 years that it is almost scary to imagine where it will be 10 years from now. I can’t wait to find out… how about you?

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

I have a quick little exercise for the more inquisitive and adventurous among you. Its interesting and I know it works, because I just did it myself.

Go to your local home center and get yourself two little house plants as similar as possible. Take them home and put them in different rooms with as similar as possible orientation (sunlight, open air, room size, etc.) One of them will be your control plant and the other you will be giving Reiki on a daily basis. Take care of the control plant as you would any house plant. Don’t give it any more, or any less attention than usual. For the Reiki plant there are several different things you can do. Only the first is mandatory;

• ♦ Give it Reiki every day (even more than once if time permits).
• ♦ Optionally give Reiki to the water you feed it.
• ♦ If you are a Reiki Master you can also give it an attunement (or attunements) to whatever level you like.
• ♦ You can optionally draw the Reiki power symbol on the vase or container.
• ♦ Perform your self healings or meditations in the presence of the plant.
• ♦ Send distance Reiki to it when you are away.
• ♦ Send distance Reiki back in time to when it was a seed and in its infancy.
• ♦ If you are a Reiki Master give it Reiju as often as you like.
• ♦ Feel free to experiment with any Reiki techniques you may have learned.

Continue this for 30 days and then put the two plants back together and see if there is any discernible difference(s).

The next step is very important… click on the comment button below and let us know what you discovered. Both positive or negative feedback is welcomed and, depending on the amount of feedback received I will take this to the next level (or not).

Enjoy!!!

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Another great Reiki Share has come and gone… although I must admit, Doi Sensei does seem to be getting a bit wordier as the years pass. Reiju was given though, so it was well worth the price of admission. At any rate, here is my report on yesterday’s Reiki Konshinkai in Ashiya (that’s in Japan for all the newcomers).

It was hot, and humid, stiflingly so. Hmm… sounds more like a Mickey Spillane Detective Story than a Reiki report… I guess I could’ve completely left out the whole hot and humid part… this is Japan after all and such a thing should be expected long about this time of year. Just seems a bit more so lately… especially the last couple of days. I left the house at about 10 am and after a 3 or 4 minute walk to the train station I was already drenched in sweat. Being no newcomer I was well prepared… a change of clothes in my backpack and I was fresh as a daisy when I arrived. Well, relatively speaking I guess. I did keep on the Japanese bandana though; the Gendai Old-timers thought it was cool.

After a brief introduction sorting out the newcomers from the practitioners, we dove straight into some Jiko Joka Healing, which is an energy recycling and refreshing exercise. The same guided recording was playing that I enjoyed at my first Gendai Koryukai about 8 years ago. Jiko Joka is always a pleasure and while I was pretty tired after the travel to Ashiya, the exercise left me quite alert and refreshed.

Following the Jiko Joka Healing, Doi Sensei led us in a guided meditation which serves as both an introduction to Reiki for the newcomers and a Reiki meditation for the rest. I don’t catch most of what he says as my mind generally drifts into a deep meditation where I remain until I sense it’s time to return.

After the meditation Doi Sense filled us in on all the changes in the Reiki world from the previous month, things he’s learned or discovered, scheduling changes and/or adjustments and anything else he finds interesting at the moment. Recently these monologues seem to drag on, but it does present another opportunity to meditate.

One note of interest is always his travel plans. He announced that he will be in Toronto, Canada this year from 10/28 through 11/6 where he will be teaching and enjoying the sights. For those of you unable to get to Japan to take his classes I highly recommend them. He is definitely one of the world’s leading authorities on Reiki and his knowledge on the subject is awesome.

If you can’t make it to Canada this year you might want to pencil in some time in March of 2010 for a trip to Trieste, Italy (exact dates to be announced) where Doi Sensei will be bringing his expertise and training to the Continent.

When the monologue was finished the mike was passed around and everyone had a chance to introduce themselves. As usual there were a few people who took advantage of the spotlight and gave what seemed to be their entire life history… starting in the womb… exciting stuff… another great chance to sink into a deep meditation.

After that we took a break and came back to some solar imaging training and a new energy exercise which proved most interesting. I’ll call it the A-I-U-E-O Exercise as I’m not sure there is even an official name for it. In Japanese the order of the vowels is A-I-U-E-O, as opposed to the A-E-I-O-U of English. This exercise, after connecting to Reiki uses the resonance of the sounds to focus the Reiki on different areas of the body. I haven’t worked out all the steps and details yet but it will sure to be included in this year’s 30 Day Reiki Challenge scheduled for later this year.

With these new energies out of the way it was Reiju time, which is the main reason I travel to Ashiya. The other stuff is good, but I really love getting Reiju from these guys. Especially Doi Sensei, his Reiju always hits me like an energetic cannonball right between the eyes. I’ve been getting them for years and they never fail to leave me shaky in the knees and hungry for more. No other Reiki Master’s reiju has the same effect. I generally can sense its Doi Sensei even before he gets to me, his energy precedes him wherever he goes. Then all I can do is brace myself for what’s to come. One of the interesting things is that his reiju only lasts a few seconds whereas most people spend more time. He is there and then just as quickly he is gone, but I’m generally quite fuzzy for some time afterwards.

Finally we formed a big Reiki circle and did the Reiki version of Kumbaya… the Reiki Mawashi. We also sent Reiki to a hospital in Tokyo at the request of one of the practitioners.

Generally, I attend the konshinkai (after Reiki Share gathering) but as it was Father’s Day, my children were waiting to take me to dinner so I had to scoot on off home. Needless to say, I had a great time, got to make some new friends and got to catch up with some old ones.

If you are ever in Japan, be sure to schedule the third Sunday of the month for one of Doi Sensei’s koryukais. They are certainly not to be missed.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

R eiki – What It All Be Like has now officially been transmogrified into Total Reiki Mastery. I’m sure there are still a few wrinkles to be ironed out, but they will have to wait until I find them (or until they are found and reported). Thanks in advance for that!

I started Reiki – What It All Be Like on a whim, never imagining that it would evolve into a real Reiki presence on the Web. Now that it has (or at least appears to have had to the uneducated eye) I felt it was time to make things a bit more permanent… et voila… Total Reiki Mastery is born.

Total Reiki Mastery

The idea behind Total Reiki Mastery is simple… put in a nutshell… there is a difference between being a Reiki Master and Mastering Reiki. Becoming a Reiki Master is quite simple, and with the myriad of free certifications available the title is not only extremely easy to attain, but quite worthless in many cases. I’ kid you not… I have met so-called Reiki Masters that:

• - have no idea who Dr. Usui was
• - have had no idea that Reiki originates from Japan
• - had no knowledge whatsoever of the spiritual side of Reiki
• - never learned the Reiki Principles

And some of the things that have been added to the miscellaneous teachings and labeled "traditional Reiki" are quite astonishing.

I pass no judgment at all on these Reiki Practitioners or their teachers… they are all in most likelihood just innocently passing on what they learned. It’s not their fault that a few pages were lost from the book as it made its way to them. In fact, this site welcomes all styles of Reiki, Reiki of traditions and learnings, any and all lineages and absolutely any viewpoints on Reiki at all. I will set the record straight where it needs to be set straight… those that have been following my posts for any length of time know that I am not one to hold anything back… and our only goal is to help those that aspire to master the art/science of Reiki to do just that. And we will do everything we possibly can to assist.

So… take full advantage of these pages… everything has been transferred over from the Reiki – What It All Be Like Site (with the exception of the 30 Day Reiki Challenge which is scheduled to be released later this month as a downloadable e-book) so have at it. Your questions and comments are cherished as is your readership… for which I am truly eternally grateful.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

Recently I’ve been receiving a lot of questions from extreme beginners. A lot of them relating to the best way to actually get started with Reiki. Where to begin… so to speak. So I thought I’d jot down a few things here for those wishing to to get you off on the right foot with Reiki but really have no idea where or how to begin.

To get started you might also want to take a look at my post on The Top 10 Things to Consider when Choosing a Reiki Teacher for some specific advice relating to getting a teacher… although finding a good teacher is not the only consideration for beginners. There are many different types of Reiki, many different types of classes, and many different types of teachers… and not all of them are created equally. So before even considering a teacher, you need to know something about Reiki.

For beginners, I would recommend a basic Reiki class. Either Western Style or Traditional Reiki are fine for getting started and names like Usui Reiki, Reiki Ryoho, Usui Shiki Ryoho, Gendai Reiki, Komyo Reiki are all basic Reiki classes that are the type of thing you want to start with. Styles of Reiki such as Karuna Reiki, Lightarian Reiki, Angelic Reiki, Dolphin Reiki, Violet Flame Reiki, Kundalini Reiki, etc. are all Reiki variations, and you steer away from them until you have reached a certain comfort level with basic Reiki.

You also need to make a decision between a distance attunement and training and face to face. I’d venture to say that 95% of the distance Reiki classes out there are shams with a few exceptions. Contact me directly if you’d like my opinion on a distance class or teacher. Most of these Reiki ‘Masters’ offer no support, really have no idea how to actually send a distance attunement and/or are just in it for the money. In there defense I have to say that its not their fault, they learned this way and consider their learning valid. It may very well be… but in most cases I have my doubts. In any event I would go for a local teacher and a live class if at all possible and leave the distance classes for those that are really desperate to find a teacher.

So deciding live or distance, which style you want and which teacher are the first three steps that you should not rush into. Take your time and find the right class and the right teacher and you’ll be quite happy you did in the long run.

A few other things you might wish to consider are reading a good Reiki book (I recommend William Rand’s Reiki: The Healing Touch for getting a good introduction) joining a few online Reiki forums, and browsing some Reiki Websites for some unique and interesting viewpoints. A very good idea would be to start keeping a Reiki Journal even before you get started to keep track of and help you notice changes along the Reiki Path… again, further on down the line you’ll be quite happy that you did.

Of course you are free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have and I’ll be more than happy to help you get started. I am not teaching distance classes at the moment but I’d be quite willing to support you any way I can.

Best of luck with your Reiki practice… again, don’t rush into it… you only get one chance to start off on the right foot.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

At long last Reiki – What It All Be Like is moving out from under the WhatItAllBeLike umbrella to a home of its own. <insert SOUND OF APPLAUSE here> By the time the move is complete nothing important will (hopefully) have changed.. all the posts, pages and comments will be transferred and you will even be automatically redirected to the new site should you decide to continue typing in reiki.whatitallbelike.com to get there (here?). For those of you looking for a sneak peak you can check things out as they are underway at TotalReikiMastery.Com and please do send me comments, suggestions, recommendations, etc. on how the site can be better. The old page format was just too restrictive and the title was (admittedly) a bit odd.

In addition to sporting a sleek new look, the new site will have a bunch of new bells and whistles that should satisfy even the most discriminating Reiki palate. So take a look at it… give it a good testing and let me know if you find something that needs changed.

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!

I‘d like to take a moment and offer my condolences to the family, friends and students of the remarkable Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois, one of the great spiritual leaders of our day, who passed away yesterday at the blessed age of 93. Pattabhi Jois was the creator of Ashtanga Yoga and is one of those responsible for reviving and popularizing the lost practice of Yoga.

As a student of Ashtanga Yoga, Pattabhi Jois holds a special place in my heart and it was long my desire to go to study with him in Mysore. Events kept me from doing so and now I will not be able to study with him as I planned… at least not on this plane.

I highly recommend his book Yoga Mala for anyone interested in expanding their awareness of Yoga. For me, there is quite a bit of overlap between Reiki and Yoga, and once you get to the higher (spiritual) levels of either, they look remarkably similar. Both are first and foremost, spiritual paths… so I guess its easy to picture these paths leading to the same place.

In closing, here’s a short video of Pattabhi Jois covering a few of the finer points of Yoga… notice how so much of it is quite similar to Reiki. R.I.P. Guruji!!!

[flv]http://totalreikimastery.com/wp-includes/images/2009/05/sri-k-pattabhi-jois-on-ashtanga-yoga.flv[/flv]

For further explanation or discussion, your thoughts are most welcome and highly encouraged, please feel free to comment below!!!