Mindfulness and Compassion

In this article, I want to talk about Mindfulness and Compassion, which I believe are two essential components of Reiki practice. Whether we are treating others, working on ourselves, empowering others, or living our lives with Reiki, we should grow to embody those two states, the essence of the Reiki precepts.

According to Usui Sensei’s surviving students, Mindfulness was taught at the First-Degree level and emphasized further at Second Degree. Mindfulness is a state of living in the moment, of being relaxed, calm, and fully engaged in what we are doing. Mindfulness is being aware of what is happening right now and giving ourselves completely to our tasks without distraction. By learning how to enjoy and be in the present moment we can find peace within ourselves.

I believe we are exhorted to achieve this state by the precepts, where “just for today” we release anger and worry. These are distractions. We don’t dwell on the past and beat ourselves up for things that did not go the way we wanted, we do not think about the future and worry about things that have not yet happened. Our reality is an illusion. We can learn to release our attachments to the past and the future and just “be” now, content and accepting of the moment. For me, the precepts both represent a goal to work towards and a description of the effects that Reiki can produce within us, over time, if we work with the energy in a committed dedicated way.

Compassionate Towards Ourselves And Others

The final precept, that of being “compassionate towards ourselves and others” is for me an exhortation to be gentle with ourselves, to be patient, to be light-hearted, to not take ourselves quite so seriously, and above all to be forgiving – first of all of ourselves but also of others. By accepting and forgiving ourselves we start to release our anger and our worry and move towards a state of contentment at the moment.

The original system was a spiritual path, a path to enlightenment, and the precepts were what Usui Sensei’s system was all about. These principles are a foundation for everything we do with Reiki; the states of mindfulness and compassion arise from following the precepts and from working with Reiki.

For example, how do we feel when we carry out a Reiki treatment? Treating someone with Reiki is a special, special gift. We feel a closeness, an intimacy, a merging with the recipient; we receive trust and we experience compassion. Ideally, we should just be there in the moment, with the energy, with the recipient, with no expectations. We do not treat someone with the intention to resolve their health problem or eliminate their headache. We just merge with the energy and allow Reiki to do its work. We create a sacred space for healing to occur. If our mind wanders, as it may do, then we notice this and gently but firmly bring our attention back to the present and what we are doing. We become one with the energy as it flows through us, we become one with the recipient, and we experience that blissful contentment at the moment.

Though some are taught that you can hold a conversation with someone as you treat, or watch television at the same time, this really will not lead to the best being given to the recipient. To be the most effective channel we can be, we need to be there with the energy, fully and gently engaged in our work, giving ourselves fully to the task without distraction.

Those same principles apply when working on ourselves, whether carrying out Hatsurei ho or self-treating. The state we should seek to achieve is that of being fully engaged in the endeavor, of being with the energy without distraction, merged, aware, and simply existing at the moment, with a gentle feeling of forgiveness, love, and compassion towards ourselves.

Mindfulness and Compassion

So both Mindfulness and Compassion are fundamental to our life with Reiki, fundamental to the Reiki precepts, to working on others and working on ourselves. Not surprisingly they are also an essential component of the transmission of Reiki to another person through carrying out Reiju empowerments. Reiju is the ‘connection ritual’ that Usui Sensei used and taught to his surviving students. It is simple, elegant, and powerful, free from the clutter and detail that surrounds most Western attunement styles. When we perform Reiju we have no expectations: we are there in the moment with the energy, following the prescribed movements. We are relaxed and fully engaged in what we are doing, aware of what is happening right now, and we give ourselves completely to our task without distraction. That is the essence of Reiju, the essence of treatments, the essence of the precepts, and the essence of our life with Reiki.