Alrighty then!

So, I put it out to the forum and I haven't had any answers yet, but on my own I seem to have broken through whatever was blocking me from doing my self-healing. It seemed to me like I had to shift my consciousness out of the pain-awareness and into my higher self awareness, my observer self, and then the energy started to flow. It was very good to feel the pain easing. Yay!!!

The dilemma of self-healing

When I am not consciously trying to heal myself, things just heal. In the course of healing others, without deliberation on my part. My cataracts dissolved on their own. My leg got stronger. It just happens on its own. But when I am injured, as now I am injured, it seems no effort on my own behalf makes a difference. Other healers have said they believe we healers should be able to heal ourselves. Yet it doesn't seem I can do it.

My arm continues to hurt. It's so painful so continuously that it has begun to affect my mood. It's getting on my nerves. The pain reminds me of the sciatica I used to have years ago in my leg. It is really difficult to endure, and it seems like everything I do just aggravates it more.

So I can't help but wonder if there is something I am doing wrong. And why is it so easy for me to heal others, but so difficult to help myself?

I will put it to the forum and see what others say.

Healing Prayer for 10/22/09

To Nancy and Brandon in Colorado; to Dinh in New Caledonia; to Richard and Leonard, Karen and Crystal, Erin and Sara, Shaun and Jonathan, and Kate who all live in the neighborhood (you could all get hands-on treatment); to Eric in Singapore; Michael in Kansas: Kathleen in Massachusetts; and Caglar in Turkey; to Zephira in the City by the Bay; and Diane in California; to Cecil in Western Washington; and Lisa in Kentucky; to Maria in England; and to P.J. and Ninna in Connecticut; to little Chloe in Colorado;
and sweet Mai in England; to Patricia in Texas; and to David in New Zealand, please open your aura tonight, and let a small ray of energy in. It's just energy, like the universe is made of, the same energy you are made of, it is clear and simple and full of love. Take it into your field, let it fill up any empty places, open any blockages, ease any pain, soothe any fear, quiet your mind and warm your heart. May this brief ray of love coming in for your highest good, help to open you to your own higher self, which is your true self, and invite higher guidance into your life at this time, when you so need it. And may you heal more fully, more quickly and more joyously into your journey, and know you are never alone. I am sending you white light.

Pain and Spirituality

Pain can really drag you down. Chronic pain in particular. It saps your energy and tricks your mind into negative thinking. I always used to think that people who are in pain and still smiling must be brain-dead. There just has to be something wrong with somebody who can be cheerful when they are in pain. You know what I mean? if you've ever been in serious pain for any period of time, you probably do. So how do they really do it? I think one major thing is not feeling sorry for yourself.

And then of course, pain makes you angry. It's frustrating and it wears on you emotionally. It does on me, anyway. When your mind starts yammering on about why is this happening to me, or you're just plain depressed, you have to have some presence of spirit. You have to notice, first of all.

It definitely helps if you have an established spiritual practice. By this I mean you have somewhere else to go, other than your mind and your emotions, both of which will likely become part of the problem, not part of the solution. You have to develop a way of watching what is happening, rather than being blown away by it. A little distance goes a long way toward poise.

When sadness arises, watch it roll in like you're watching waves at the ocean. Just let it wash over you. And if there are tears, let them come. And then they will go. Watch them go. Relax into it. Listen to your mind like you're listening to a friend. Don't judge, just listen. And always have compassion for yourself. The more you love yourself the less you will hurt.

Pain is a circumstance. It is just there to be dealt with. Remember we didn't incarnate into this world to have it all easy and sweet. We are here to be challenged.

Creative Visualization, Intention and Reiki

I was asked recently if Reiki is anything like creative visualization. There is visualization in Reiki. However, the energy I feel with my hands has density, color and temperature. So I think of visualization as a switch, like a light switch. You visualize the flow of energy and it turns on, begins to flow and becomes quite real and present. I visualize to focus myself on being a channel rather than the source of the energy that I am sending to another person.

When I am doing distance Reiki, I visualize the person within the dome created by my cupped hands. If I have never seen the person, I review what information I have about them and direct (intend for) the energy to go there.

It is very difficult to keep my healing intentions out of it. I continuously check to see if I am releasing my personal intentions and simply sending universal life force energy to the recipient. What they do with that energy is not really for me to say.

I personally want people to suffer less and enjoy life more. Since suffering is optional, I send the desire for people to release themselves from suffering. I have no way of knowing whether their pain can be relieved/healed or not. But with an influx of energy, perhaps they can manage and deal with their pain better, perhaps heal themselves. I hope people will be refreshed, and in a more refreshed state of being, will not only be better able to heal, but will choose to release themselves from any suffering they may have unnecessarily created for themselves.

Namaste.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering are not synonyms. Suffering is optional.

PAIN IS NOT OPTIONAL.

Pain is a part of life. It may be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual, or any combination. But no matter how we describe it, the bottom line is that there is no avoiding it. Pain comes with the territory.

SUFFERING, on the other hand, is entirely and only a choice. It is a choice to dwell on your complaints, focus on what makes you miserable, and thereby increase your own pain.

But if pain is unavoidable, how can we tell the difference between pain that we are experiencing in the present and suffering that we are experiencing by keeping the past alive and/or projecting past or present pain into the future?

Where is the line between feeling and processing pain, rather than stuffing it away or hiding from it... and then suffering from it?

How do you allow yourself to greive in a healthy way?

Pain becomes suffering when we resist it, make generalizations about it, and attempt to avoid it. You have to experience pain and allow it to come and go in your life.

It is very helpful to notice your mind thinking about pain. The mind wants to figure out why it is happening and how to avoid it happening again in a similar way. The mind also generates positions, opinions, judgments, grievances, grudges, complaints, and strategies of avoidance, defense, manipulation, entitlement, and outlook in response to pain. None of these really helps us deal with pain and release it. Releasing pain is the key to reducing your suffering.

To release pain, you have to forgive, both yourself and others. In addition, you must practice acceptance as well as accountability for what has occurred and your part in it. Then and only then, can you release it. No regrets, no blame, no bitterness. It simply passes.

Pain is not negative but it is unpleasant. It is designed to create avoidance behaviors. “Once burned, twice smart,” the saying goes. But try as we might, and we do try mightily, there is no way to avoid pain.

The good news is that your own pain will not kill you. The bad news is that trying not to feel it will. Avoidance of pain leads to all sorts of problems, up to and including addiction and suicide. But if you have to experience pain, at least do not prolong it by adding a bunch of judgments and such. The pain is bad enough in and of itself. There is no need or purpose served by also suffering. Since all of the suffering is produced in your mind, it’s important to learn how to watch your mind at work. Then when you notice it creating suffering, you can choose to release it instead.

What Is Healing Anyway?

WHAT IS HEALING?

Healing is restoring and/or repairing ourselves in response to an injury or illness.

The injury or illness may be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. Generally an injury or illness in one area is reflected in the other areas. And an injury or illness may be multi-dimensional to begin with. Addiction comes to mind immediately. It destroys the person physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, if not all at once, then certainly in a cumulative manner.

Physical injury/illness is characterized by a visible disruption of function in the body, with or without pain. With the exception of fatal injury, and short of regenerating lost body parts, the human body is always healing itself.

Mental illness is observable as an inability to process information in a meaningful, productive or coherent manner, and/or bizarre ideations, dysfunctional communications, all sorts of self-destructiveness, violence, etc.

Emotional illness/injury generally consists of suffering that doesn't have an obvious physical root or cause, and includes all sorts of mental anguish, heartache, remorse, fear, loss and mourning, etc.

Spiritual illness or injury takes the form of lack or loss of hope, purpose, connectedness, meaning and joy. It also generally has an appearance of lack of animation.

Clearly, these categories are arbitrary and they overlap a great deal. Personally, I get the blues when I'm sick. Not only does my body feel bad, but I also become mentally lazy, emotionally self-pitying, impatient and joyless. I tend to communicate less, and when I do communicate it is mainly to complain.

HOW DOES IT HAPPEN?

Healing is something our bodies do automatically, without our conscious volition.

We all see this. We can do things to support our body's healing processes, or we can impede these processes, but our bodies will keep trying to heal in spite of us. This ability to self-repair and renew is less apparent emotionally, mentally and spiritually, but it does occur.

We are all familiar with the expression "time heals" with respect to emotional wounds. Like the body's scars, emotional injuries leave their mark, but the intensity of emotional pain generally diminishes over time.

Mental illness is more perplexing. If you have a mental illness and you are prescribed drugs to treat it, I strongly suggest you take your medication. But we all know that periodically most people with a mental illness will stop taking their meds, just to see if they still need them. I know of people who have healed from mental illnesses.

Spiritual illness seems to involve beliefs about mortality and the meaning of life. Connecting with the higher self, or soul dimension goes a long way toward healing an ailing spirit. Conversion is a form of spiritual healing. But it isn't necessary to believe in a "God" or a higher power to be spiritually healthy. I include 12 step recovery programs in this category. AA/NA are programs of spiritual healing.

Connecting with your higher self or soul self is spiritually healing. Meditation is very good for connecting with ones own higher self. A simple beginning can be made by observing the mind. Make friends with the observer, because that is your higher self. So far as I can ascertain, the higher self doesn't get the blues. It can be a wonderful refuge in difficult times.

It is very helpful spiritually to believe that you have an immortal soul. This takes some of the sting out of the inevitability of physical decline and death.

Taking responsibility for oneself also helps with any spiritual recovery. This includes recognizing your own power as managing director of your life. Claiming values and goals connects you with your creative dimension. Creativity is spiritually healthy. If you don't currently have a reason to live, create one and your life will begin to work in ways you never imagined possible.

Life is short and confusing. Only you can make your life matter (to yourself). Waiting around for anyone else to give you the "answer" to the "meaning of life" is futile and wastes precious time you could be spending enjoying yourself. Create your own meaning.

HEALING HAPPENS

There are a lot of differing perspectives on what healing is and when and why it happens.

But one thing is for sure. Healing does happen. It happens when we try and it happens when we don't try. And sometimes it doesn't happen, no matter how hard we try. We've all heard about spontaneous healing, faith healing, the "placebo effect," the garlic cure, and the list goes on. There is no shortage of "miracle" cures.

Some people will tell you that the ability to heal our bodies is unlimited. I've heard it said that if you want to live forever, contract a serious illness and take care of yourself.

On the other hand, most of us have lost someone to an illness or injury from which their bodies did not heal.

There is this notion that if we just had the right "juju," we would heal ourselves and live forever. And somebody always says that we create our own illnesses and injuries because we need to suffer, or because of our karma from a past life, or because it is teaching us a lesson.

Personally, I think when you incarnate on a rock that is spinning around a ball of fire, you have to expect a certain amount of damage. Things bang around, things break, things get old and wear out. It goes with the territory. Even in a world without war, we would still need hospitals.

And what if you heal on one dimension, but not on another? A friend of mine who has cancer recently said that while he may not survive, he will most assuredly heal. I think what he means is that his body may not survive, but his spirit is doing quite well, maybe even better all the time.

REIKI AND ENERGY HEALING

I'm a Reiki Master and an ordained Spiritual Healer.

I became a Reiki Master initially because I wanted to heal myself. I was suffering. I have post-polio syndrome and it was kicking my butt. My life was more and more about exhaustion and pain, and there was just so much conventional medicine could do for me.

Reiki was a natural fit for me. All my life, I've had the ability to cure a headache or backache just by putting my hands there. And before I learned about Reiki, I would frequently remove the pain from someone else, but end up transferring it into my hands. Sometimes the pain I absorbed would hurt all the way up my arms. And it could take hours to dissipate.

Reiki taught me how to relieve another person's pain without taking it into my own body. Rather than absorbing the other person's energy, the Reiki practitioner channels what I call clean energy from the universe, through their body and their hands, into the other person's energy field.

I don't know why it works, but that clean energy transforms the other person's painful energy back into healthy energy. The energy is literally changed. I can feel the change in my hands.

Reiki focusses on the person's energy by promoting energy flow throughout the body's energetic system. Reiki literally means universal life force. We all have this life force within us. If we didn't have it, we would be dead.

When the energy is blocked, the body's natural ability to heal is impaired. At the very least, it is slowed way down. The challenge is to keep your energy moving freely, like a fresh mountain stream.

You've seen what happens when water gets backed up into a slough and stagnates. Whenever there is an illness or injury, your personal energy flow is blocked, either at the physical location of the injury or at the chakra, or energy center, associated with that type of disturbance. Heartbreak generally shows up in the heart chakra, while a problem with self-expression generally shows up in the throat. Hesitation shows up in the knees. So does arthritis.

When I find a lot of trapped and stagnant energy, or what I call dark energy, I use my hands to move it out of the person's energy field altogether, rather than trying to transform it. Once I've cleared most of it out, I then use Reiki to send clean energy into the area. The combination of removing the dark, blocked energy and adding clean energy seems to work pretty well.

SENDING ENERGY EVERYWHERE

I thoroughly enjoy giving hands-on Reiki treatments. But as a Reiki practitioner, I've also been trained to send energy remotely. Don't ask me how it works, but there is no distance in spirit. I'm able to connect with someone at a distance, sense their energy, and send them energy. I don't get the detailed specific information about the person that I do in a hands-on session, but I get a very strong sense of their overall energy. I can tell who is doing well and who is having a hard time. Sometimes, what I sense is their pain, or their anger and frustration. As I send energy remotely, I can feel the quality of the person's energy changing.

My prayer

To David and Kate, Patricia and Mai, to Chloe and Carla, to Linda and Jonathan, to Shaun and PJ, to Maria and Sara, For Ruben and Lisa, and Cecil and Meghan; To Diane and Zephira, Nisroc and Caglar, to Gary and Dotty and Heidi and Kathleen, for Karen and Mary, to Michael and Alex and to Eric comes energy, clear and simple and full of love. Take it into your field, let it fill up your emptiness, soothe your fears, ease your mind and warm your heart. May it open you to your higher self, and invite higher guidance into your life at this time, when you so need it. And may you heal more fully, more quickly and more joyously into your journey, and know you are never alone.

Distance Healing

At night with my list in the quiet house where everyone else sleeps, I feel you. I feel your stress, your distress, your worry and your pain. Your energy is tight or ragged or weak; it jangles or rumbles of throbs. I stay with you no matter how angry you are feeling, no matter how unfair it seems to you, no matter how medicated and confused you are. I stay with you and send energy into your space. Sometimes it isn't easy to be with you, but almost always, if I just stay with you, it gets easier. Your energy settles down, you relax, you let go, stop fighting, start accepting. The tension eases and the energy starts to flow. And then I let you go.

Just when I think I am wasting time, the dog wags its tail and the cat purrs.

From Catherine

Stepping Stones on the Spiritual Path

by Lynn Claridge @ http://www.facebook.com/l/;mysticalempowerment.com


Here are nine steps to help you on your spiritual path.

Self control - Means not depending on sense experiences or the default influence of past habits, one can exert true free-will and experience the inherent happiness of the soul. Whereas the norm is to act based on what one is accustomed to doing, rather than following one’s true wishes. A spiritually committed person throws out bad habits that offer temporary pleasure before ultimately bringing suffering and chooses the lasting satisfaction of the spirit found through self-control.

Humility - Your spiritual path and your spiritual awakening is cultivated by the willingness to learn and show understanding, striving for the well-being of others and contributing to the environment by setting an admirable example without speaking of one’s greatness. Once one realizes that the self is something far beyond the body, and that the soul is a microcosm of the greater Spirit, one acts with the intention of being a vessel for this benevolent force to express itself. Rather than taking credit for good actions, it is possible to present successes as offerings to the divine aspect of the self, holding gratitude rather than pride for the attributes and achievements. When your thoughts become centered on the welfare of others, you have reached true manifests.

Selfless unconditional love - Love is the driving attractive force that gives life and purpose to existence. Spiritual Master Sri Yukteswar said that ordinary love is selfish and based on personal desires and gratification, while divine love is boundless, changeless, and unconditional. Spiritually brings harmony with nature and other people, loving equally all humanity and holding compassion indiscriminately regardless of creed, nationality, deed, or any other boundary. Love entails great freedom, but comes only when the mind is quiet and selfless. Only love, mercy and goodwill developing in each individual can bring peace and stability at both a personal and global scale.

Calmness and concentration - A spiritually developed person has formed great powers of concentration to accomplish their goals. If one compares the true self to the bottom of a lake, it is only visible when the ripples of thoughts have subsided and the water is tranquil. If the water is muddy or disturbed, the bottom cannot be seen. Events, memories, concerns, and desires all try to intrude ceaselessly throughout a person’s day. If your thoughts are strongly attach to your emotions, they are even more difficult to let go. Concentration and meditation techniques train the mind to prevent restless thoughts from clouding and obstructing the experience of one’s true spiritual path.

Non-attachment - Part of spiritual awakening is mental freedom from possessions. By practicing non-attachment, one can enjoy things and perform material duties with a sense of service rather than of personal gain. The ego wants to cling to objects, ideas, youth, and other aspects of worldly experience; by letting go of these things gracefully when they have served their time, inner peace becomes strengthened.

Intuition - Intuition is a resolute, unfailing source of wisdom and guidance to one who is receptive to its subtle advice. When one taps into this resource by surrender and daily meditation, one is able to hear and trust what the right course of action is to fulfill his or her best interests. Everyone has this quality and with increasing awakening and clarity, it becomes a fountain of growing insight and security.

Self-Knowledge - Those committed to a spiritual path constantly examines themselves in order to make progress and implement necessary changes. Spiritual teacher J. Krishnamurti asserts that without knowing who one really is, there is no starting point for right thought so there cannot be transformation. By being aware in each present moment of one’s thoughts, intentions, and desires, one can begin to chisel away unwanted personal qualities and give life to new traits that lead to triumph over oneself.

Happiness - Everyone strives to be happy. One becomes devoted to the spiritual path ultimately to find an unchanging peace and bliss that is elusive in material things.

Freedom - In the end, one is individually responsible for his or her own habits, mistakes, and resolutions. Once your greater self is found in the soul with devotion and faith, one attains freedom and life is truly beautiful. The Bhagavad Gita says, “Unattached to the sensory world, the yogi experiences the ever-new joy of being. His soul engaged in the union with Spirit, he attains indestructible bliss.
--------------------

Daily Exercise

Bless your enemies.
Everyone who has ever done you harm.
Ignore the resistance that arises.
Do it anyway.
Do it now.
Practice.

You begin to realize that you have no enemies.

This is the state of mental health.

Carrying Pain

Want to let go of something? But it seems no matter how hard you try, you just keep clinging to it? Angry toward someone or something that happened? Can't seem to forgive? Remember the hurt like it just happened?

It helps to consider that you are not alone. It is your nature and you are wired to remember this way. Healing is not synonymous with forgetting. The pain you remember is yours forever. Do not resist it. The beginning of peace is to accept your own pain.

Some people are afraid that the pain they feel will kill them. It will be too much to bear. Remember that it is not the pain that kills you, but trying not to feel it. Think for a moment about what you do to avoid feeling pain.

Rejecting, avoiding and resisting our pain takes a great deal of effort, and is so frustrating that it creates its own additional pain, compounding the problem. You are going to carry this pain. Why fight it?

It is like walking in the rain. Your clothing is soaked and your hair is dripping. What good does it do to wipe of the water? What's the point of shaking your head? I knew a man who was a runner. He lived in a city where it rained most of the time. He said it didn't bother him because "there is just so much water you can carry," he said.

Seeing The Soul

Do you believe in something you cannot see? Can you see your feelings? Can you see electricity? But you do believe in these.

Scientists are convinced that the soul is a product of the chemical and electrical activity of the human brain, and as such has no existence in its own right. They do not believe in the soul. They believe in the body and its processes.

I think we can all agree there is nothing eternal or transcendent about the body and its processes, as awe-inspiring and miraculous as they may be. The body comes into being and eventually it ceases to exist. And if you only believe what you can see, then it is difficult to believe in the soul.

Unless you have seen death. If you have seen death, you have witnessed the separation of the soul from the body. At the moment of death, the soul appears as a chimera rising from the lifeless body and floating free. It has the color of mercury, and its fluidity. So if you only believe in something you can see, then look for the soul when you are witnessing death.

In the end, it doesn't matter whether you believe in the soul or not. Your soul will continue to inhabit your mortal body. Until you die, and then it will float free and go on its way.

Quote

I like this so much, I want to preserve it by posting it here:

When hope is not pinned wriggling onto a shiny image or expectation, it sometimes floats forth and opens like one of those fluted Japanese blossoms, flimsy and spastic, bright and warm. This almost always seems to happen in community.



Anne Lamott
"The Impossible Will Take a Little While," Plan B

The Four Agreements

1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Natural Standard Research Collaboration March 08, 2007

I found this research report about Reiki. It is interesting.

Synonyms
Distant healing, energy medicine, group healing, Karuna ReikiTM, Medicine Buddha, self healing, Tara Reiki, Tera Mai ReikiTM, Traditional Japanese Reiki, Western Reiki.
Background
Reiki is a Buddhist practice that is approximately 2500 years old. The name "Reiki" is derived from two Japanese words: rei meaning universal spirit and ki meaning life energy. Mention of Reiki can be found in the Tibetan sutras and in ancient records of cosmology and philosophy.
Hichau Mikao Usui, a Japanese physician and Buddhist monk, revitalized the practice of Reiki in the 19th century. It is said that after 21 days of fasting, Reiki was presented to Usui on Mt. Kurama, a Japanese mountaintop near Kyoto during a spiritual experience. By this account, light struck him upon the forehead, opening up a "third eye" possessing the highest source of power in the human body. Usui passed down his teachings, and Hawayo Tokata, a Japanese Hawaiian, introduced Usui Reiki to the West in 1930.
In modern times, multiple styles and historical accounts of Reiki are taught and practiced. In general, there are three levels of certifications/attunements associated with the practice of Reiki. A Level I degree often involves a weekend course which teaches the potential practitioner to transfer "universal life energy" to him/herself and to others. Students are trained in the concepts and hand positions of Reiki. Four ceremonies (attunements) are performed with the goal of opening students' inner healing channels to engage them in the flow of energy. The Level II degree includes an initiation ceremony that aims to enhance the practitioner's ability to interact with the flow of energy. Other training may include distant healing, teaching of symbols, and enhancement of mental/emotional/spiritual healing. In some cases, practitioners receive a Level II degree after 'intuitively' receiving Sanskrit symbols from spirit guides that are believed to increase their healing powers. The Reiki Master degree (Level III) takes years of close training with a Reiki Master, and allows the practitioner to teach Reiki to others.
Reiki practitioners conduct sessions with the intention to heal specific maladies or to improve overall well being. Treatments involve the systematic placing of hands in 12 to 15 varying positions. Hand positions are held for approximately 2 to 5 minutes each. Hands may be placed directly on a clothed patient, or held 1 to 2 inches above the skin. The practitioner's hands are positioned palm-side down with the fingers and thumb extended. The standard positions may be modified if deemed necessary by the practitioner. The timing of the hand positions may be cut short if the practitioner believes that he or she senses energy flow. All of the body systems can be covered with the hand positions within 30 to 90 minutes. The number of sessions varies from patient to patient based on the judgment of the practitioner. Acute issues may be treated faster than chronic conditions.
Patients have reported feeling different sensations during Reiki sessions such as warmth, tingling, sleepiness, relaxation, or invigoration. Practitioners have reported tingling in their fingers, heat, cold, or pulsing while administering Reiki.
Sometimes a technique called "sweeping" is used prior to starting the formal healing session. Sweeping involves the practitioner aiming to pass hands through the patient's energy field. This technique is said to allow the practitioner to more easily detect areas of energy disruption, imbalance or blockage, and to cleanse patients of negative feelings, emotions, or physical burdens.
Principles taught in Reiki include: "just for today do not worry," "just for today do not be angry," "just for today give thanks for your many blessings," "honor your parents, teachers and elders," "earn your living honestly," "be kind to your neighbors and every living thing," and "show gratitude to everything."
Types of related therapies include distant healing, self-healing, group healing, Tera Mai ReikiTM, Karuna ReikiTM, traditional Japanese Reiki, Tara Reiki, and Western Reiki. There are numerous schools and professional Reiki organizations. The International Association of Reiki Professionals maintains a list of practitioners who have pledged to uphold a Code of Ethics developed by the group.
Reiki is also used on animals, including horses. Reiki Masters believe that all living beings are affected by the "universal life energy" flow around them, and animals may be treated in the same manner as humans.

Theory
Reiki practitioners believe that therapeutic effects of this technique are obtained from a "universal life energy" that provides strength, harmony, and balance to the body and mind. Life energy is thought to be transferred to patients when practitioners place their hands on or directly above treatment areas. This life energy is thought to vitalize organs and cells, and to release trapped negative energy. Practitioners do not view themselves as the sources of life energy.
Reiki practitioners believe that human energy flows through meridians (or pathways) in the body that can be sensed by trained individuals. A disturbance in the flow of this energy may be caused by physical illnesses or negative emotions. Reiki practitioners aim to channel life energy to problem areas where the patient's energy flow is sensed as being disrupted.
Practitioners believe that Reiki can treat symptoms and enable patients to feel enlightened with improved mental clarity, well-being, and spirituality. Reiki is sometimes administered to patients who are dying with the goal of instilling a sense of peace.
It has been proposed that Reiki can lower heart rate and blood pressure, boost the immune system and endocrine (hormonal) systems, stimulate endorphins, or affect skin temperature and blood hemoglobin levels. However, these properties have not been well studied or clearly demonstrated in scientific studies.
Evidence
Autonomic nervous system disturbances

One randomized trial suggests Reiki may have an effect on autonomic nervous system functions such as heart rate, blood pressure, or breathing activity. Large, well-designed studies are needed before conclusions can be drawn.

Grade: C
Depression and stress

There is evidence that Reiki can reduce symptoms of distress when compared to placebo. More information is needed before a conclusion can be drawn.

Grade: C
Medical illnesses

Reiki has been used or suggested for the management of many conditions. However, Reiki is not well studied scientifically. There are several challenges to conducting high quality research on techniques such as Reiki: there are different styles of practice with variation from practitioner to practitioner; it is challenging to design studies with "placebo" Reiki; and there is not widespread agreement on how best to measure outcomes. Better research is needed before a recommendation can be made either for or against the effectiveness of Reiki for any specific condition.

Grade: C
Pain

Patients in a preliminary ("phase II") trial of Reiki in combination with standard pain medications (with opioids) were reported to experience improved pain control. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.

Grade: C
Stroke recovery

In a randomized controlled trial, Reiki did not have any clinically useful effect on stroke recovery in patients receiving appropriate rehabilitation therapy. Selective positive effects on mood and energy were noted.

Grade: D
No Evidence
AIDS, addiction, adjunct in surgery, alcoholism, allergies, anemia, anger, anxiety, arthritis, asthma, bone marrow transplant support, breast cancer, brain damage, broken bones, cancer, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, cardiovascular risk reduction, carpal tunnel syndrome, cellulitis, cervical dysplasia, chemical burns, chronic pain, diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic wound healing, drug withdrawal, emotional problems, emphysema, epilepsy, fatigue, fibromyalgia, gallstones, grief, guilt, Guillain-Barre syndrome, headache, heart attack, hemophilia, hemorrhoids, hernia, herpes zoster, hiccough, high blood pressure, hysterectomy, impotence, labor, mental problems, migraine headache, multiple sclerosis, muscle spasms, nervous system function, nosebleeds, neuropathy, post-operative pain, post-traumatic stress disorder, pregnancy, promoting healing, prostate problems, psoriasis, radiation sickness, rash, recovering from anesthesia, reduction of adverse effects of chemotherapy and radiation, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, relaxation, rheumatoid arthritis, sickle cell anemia, sinus congestion, suicide prevention, systemic lupus erythematosus, trauma, tremor, ulcers, varicose veins, venereal diseases, warts, wound healing.
Safety
Reiki is not recommended as the sole treatment approach for potentially serious medical conditions, and should not delay the time it takes to consult with a healthcare professional or receive established therapies. Serious adverse effects have not been reported in association with Reiki. Some practitioners believe that Reiki should be used cautiously in individuals with psychiatric illnesses due to a risk of bringing out underlying psychopathology, although this risk has not been formally reported in the published literature.
Attribution
This information is based on a professional level monograph edited and peer-reviewed by contributors to the Natural Standard Research Collaboration (www.naturalstandard.com).
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©2007 Natural Standard Research Collaboration

Basic REIKI

REIKI works on the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical bodies.
REIKI brings balance and harmony back into the body including balancing the chakras as well as the auric and etheric fields.
REIKI supports the body's own natural abilities to heal itself.
REIKI promotes a state of relaxation.
REIKI is a gentle, subtle energy that works at the core level to promote healing at that level so, it can begin to bring wellness to the whole body.

With Reiki the practitioner facilitates the healing by channeling the energy so the body CAN HEAL itself.

The Official Anubis Oracle Site: The Tarot Cards of Shamanic Egypt ∴ Oracle Spread

The Official Anubis Oracle Site: The Tarot Cards of Shamanic Egypt ∴ Oracle Spread

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Nuts and Bolts Reiki

I was reading a discussion today about protecting oneself while doing Reiki. There were lots of suggestions for how to prevent the other person's disrupted/negative energy from affecting you in a negative way.

When I am doing Reiki, I am being a clear channel and moving energy through me. I bring it through my crown or third eye and channel it through my body and out through my hands. That is what I was trained to do. When I do that, I usually don't get negative energy.

But if I do CHOOSE to absorb some negative energy in my determination to relieve someone of some pain, then I channel it out into a tree, a rock, the earth in some way, depending on the situation. I have absorbed a good deal of pain at times, but it was my choice in every case except once.

That one time, it was before I was trained, and I reached my hand to shake hands with someone and their contact sent sharp pain up to my elbow. The pain was there for hours. It was a long time before I was willing to touch anyone at work again. Other than that one time, I have never had that happen again.

In rare cases, someone's energy is so disrupted that it is painful for me to be in contact with it. I simply do not continue if I encounter someone who is that negative. If I can't take care of myself, it is foolish indeed to attempt to continue the healing. Some people are simply not receptive, or they are so negative that you will only get hurt.

As a general rule, I like to visualize myself surrounded by white light. I like to wear an amethyst or a clear quartz crystal. I find they are very protective.

If you are a Reiki practitioner, do what works for YOU.

I have a friend who uses crystals to do energy work. He finds that he cannot have physical contact without absorbing some negative energy.

We do not do Reiki to get hurt. That is NOT the purpose of it. Reiki is a blessing. When I do Reiki, I am blessed as well as the person I am helping.

The Energetic Connection

When I send energy remotely, I experience a connection with that person's energy. I can feel the level of tension or disruption in their energy. In one case, the person's energy was so disrupted that it was difficult to have contact with it, almost painful for me. Generally, I can feel the energy calm down, level out as I send. When it seems to have changed for the better I stop and move on to the next person on the list.

Recently, I was asked to send energy to an infant suffering from pneumonia. This baby's energy was very distressed. Then I couldn't feel him anymore. It was neither good nor bad, just not there. I couldn't establish a connection. A few days passed, and I finally sent a message to the person who had asked me to do the healing work. I was informed the baby had died.

This was very disturbing for me. It seems to me that I should have been informed without having to ask. I suppose it's possible my sensitivity and intuition will continue to develop to the point where I can tell when someone has died, but at this point I don't feel certain about what I am feeling. I wasn't sure if he had just recovered, or what?

Well, in any event, when there is no strong energetic connection I will simply stop attempting to send energy. But I sure wish people would let me know. Oh well.

The Daily Healing List

Today i edited the list. I did this because either I felt energetically that the person was over the crisis and/or healed, or had returned to a workable status. Another reason for editing the list is simply to manage my own energy and time. It takes something to send healing to people. I find I need to feel a clear need is present. Another reason to take someone off the list is if they are simply not receptive to receiving the energy, or are so intensely negative that it is difficult for me to be in contact with their energy. All these considerations come into it.

If I took you or a loved one off the list and you think they should still be on the list, please request to have them put back on. Don't be shy. Remember one of the laws of the universe is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

The Secret of Self-Healing

"If our spirit is healthy and conformed to the truth, the body will get healthy naturally. Usui Reiki Ryoho's purpose is to lead a peaceful and happy life, heal others and improve the happiness of others and ourselves. " - Mikao Usui

Dr. Usui was the founder of Reiki in Japan a hundred years ago. His words still ring true today. The part to unpack and be sure you understand, is the words "conformed to the truth." What, after all, is the truth?

Reiki Messages

More than energy flows through me during a Reiki treatment.

Did a hands on session today. It would be possible to do Reiki without speaking. You know, just open the chakras and get the energy moving. Listen to the new age sounds on the CD deck.

But the voices in my head won't have it. As I work, impressions and questions float into my mind. Because I'm focussed on the energy, it's like a meditation for me. My own mental chatter is at a minimum. If I do try to ignore the incoming impressions, they take on an edgy quality, demanding my attention.

I've learned to listen and share what comes through to me. This information, these messages, are part of the treatment.

The Japanese symbol for Reiki

What is Reiki and How Does It Work?

Reiki is a Japanese healing technique in which the universal life force energy is channeled through the practitioner and transferred to the person being healed. Reiki was started by Mikao Usui, and brought to America in the 1970’s. Modern science has proven the transference of energy from one person to another can be measured and quantified. Science has also proven that Reiki energy improves the healing of tissue and bone.

Reiki raises the vibrational field of the person who receives it. Reiki is like a laser, healing whatever needs to be healed. Reiki energy heals by flowing through the affected parts of the energy field, displacing negative energy and charging the energy field with positive energy. It raises the vibratory level of the energy field in and around the physical body where negative thoughts and feelings linger. Reiki opens the free flow of energy throughout the person's energy field, with emphasis on the Chakras. Reiki can also be applied to areas where injury has created a blockage, to improve energy flow to the area and promote healing. Reiki clears, strengthens and heals the energy pathways, thus allowing the life force to flow in a healthy and natural way.

Reiki is the universal life force energy. It can only be channeled by someone who has been attuned. Everyone who legitimately practices Reiki has been attuned by a Reiki Master in a direct line of practitioners from Mikao Usui. Reiki symbols are sometimes used to help focus the energy. Reiki can be done in person in a hands-on treatment, or at a distance. The Reiki practitioner connects with the energy field of the person being healed, and channels the energy. There is no distance in spirit. My practice consists largely of distance healing. Distance Reiki is every bit as effective as hands-on Reiki.

Reiki can never hurt the person giving it or the person receiving it. It is pure life force energy. Receiving a Reiki treatment is a breath of fresh air for your spirit. Reiki has an innate inspiration. The Reiki practitioner does not control the energy, but simply transmits it. The energy itself knows exactly where to go and what to do! Reiki is a spiritual practice. It is not a religion, nor is it affiliated with any religion.

How does a reiki treatment work? Reiki energy flows through the practitioner's hands onto the client. The client is usually lying on a massage table, but treatments can also be given while the client is seated or even standing. The client remains fully clothed. The practitioner places their hands on or near the clients body in a series of hand positions. Each position is held for a few minutes, depending on how much reiki the client needs at each position. The hand position is maintained until energy begins to flow freely through the area.

Feelings of deep relaxation are usually reported following a Reiki treatment. People may also feel a calming, glowing radiance that flows through and surrounds them. Reiki encourages one to let go of all tension, anxiety, fear or other negative feelings. A state of peace and well-being is experienced. Some drift off to sleep or report floating outside their bodies or have visions and other mystical experiences. At the end of the treatment, one feels refreshed with a more positive, balanced outlook. Intense and miraculous healing has been reported all over the world due to Reiki.

Chloe's Energy

There is a single infant on the Daily Healing List, little Chloe, who was born with terrible birth defects. The first time I connected with Chloe's energy, I was stunned at the clarity, lightness and optimism that filled my hands and my space. Her energy was the loveliest I have ever felt. It was a blessing for me to be in touch with it. I realized that Chloe doesn't need energy healing. Her energy field is open, bright and healthy. If only the rest of us were more like little children.

Loving Them

The other day, a man walked into a church and shot an abortion doctor dead. The doc had just been acquitted on all criminal counts related to his practice, in which he conducted late-term abortions. He was one of very few doctors in the U.S. who would do that kind of an abortion. There are people who saw him as a hero of the pro-choice movement. There are people who see the man who shot him as a hero of the pro-life movement.

Were either of these men heroes? I personally find it difficult to support either of them, as far as the choices they made in their lives. The doctor is dead now, and his killer will be in prison for a long time to come. In a very real way, both of these men chose violence. Both of them chose to end another person's life. The doctor surely ended many lives, lives that had hardly begun. The doctor, as it happened, had a long life. He was a grandfather. Undoubtedly, both the doctor and the man who killed him thought they were right. Which frankly is beside the point. They were both killers. That is more to the point, I think.

Under natural law, you reap what you sow. The doctor reaped a violent death, and that is just what he dealt in. He drew it to him like a magnet draws a nail. The other fellow is harder to understand. How do you take the position that you are a stand for life, and then take another person's life? What was he doing? Playing the percentages? Did he think if he saved a lot of lives, it would be okay to take just one? Well I can tell you I wouldn't want his karma. Gandhi had it right. He stuck with non-violence. To be sure, it is easy to love Gandhi. But how to love these other two?

But that is the challenge. To have compassion for the murderer as well as the abortionist. To extend unconditional love to both of them, in the same measure as we extend unconditional love to our own children, to the newborn baby, to the unborn baby in the womb, to our mothers. We are here to practice this, and the suffering will not lessen until we get busy.

Unconditional Love

It takes a gentle touch sometimes to tell people what they need to hear and do so they can heal. The information comes to me straight and direct, undistilled, blunt. If I delivered it the way it occurs to me, well it would land like a brick. Better to suggest, and better yet to ask questions that lead the healer to see it for themselves.

What we deny kills us. ("I'm not angry.") What we hold onto kills us. ("I'm not ready to forgive that person.")

We have to let it all go. Face it, and then give it up. There is only one healthy way, and that is unconditional love.

The Miracle Of Distance Work

Today I did an attunement for a woman in Turkey. Every day I send energy around the world to the people on my Daily Healing List. In the spiritual/energetic realm, there is no distance. I place my hands around a ball of energy that arises naturally between them. Inside that ball of energy, I intend to connect with someone, and instantly, their energy arises between my hands. I can feel if they are upset or in pain. I can feel their energy shift as I gently send them healing energy.

Several years ago, my father was very ill. He had bleeding ulcerative colitis, and they couldn't seem to get the bleeding under control. His health was in real trouble. I started sending healing energy. A few weeks later, I called. He came to the phone, and as soon as he knew it was me he said, "You're healing my belly." I asked him how he knew. "I just knew," he said. I had told no one. My father got well. Was it because of my efforts? I will never know. But the fact that he knew tells me it had an effect.

I always have two ways to go. I can do Reiki, just Reiki, in which I channel and send the pure energy of the universe. Or, I can take the pain/illness from the person's body, literally pulling the dark energy out of them. The problem with doing that is that I generally end up with some of that dark energy in my own body, especially my hands and arms. So I have to be careful.

Most of the time, I stick with Reiki. I send and let the energy and the other person's own healing system do the work. But sometimes, like when it is somebody very close to me, or someone who is in trouble, I just go ahead and take it.

Either way, being able to do this is a gift.

A little poem

Little soul little stray
little drifter
now where will you stay
all pale and all alone
after the way
you used to make fun of things

Today I stumbled upon this lovely little poem, written by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. It's very sad, and seems to describe that sense of abandonment we all feel sometimes. As if we are all alone. As if we are small, astray and drifting. As if we are pale, alone, and ashamed of our erstwhile gaity and lightness of spirit. And who or what has kicked us out, as it were into our current exile? The author doesn't say.

Who hasn't felt this way? Before I sat with my higher self and surveyed my lives, I often felt this way. DIscovering that my life today is part of a greater pattern, an ongoing unfolding, and that my soul is never consumed in the fires of life and death, has given me courage to live.

And yes, make fun of things.

Michael S.

Michael passed away this afternoon. He was waiting for a new heart, but he had an infection his body couldn't fight. When someone's body is so wracked with illness, passing over is a relief, although they themselves may not know that until it actually happens.

The living experience death as loss. For those who pass over, it is a new beginning.

Dr. Usui, the original Reiki Master

The Daily Healing List

The latest development in creating this ministry is the Daily Healing List. Every day, I pause at some point to focus my attention on channeling healing energy to people I know of who need it. So far, there are eight people in Malaysia whose names are totally unpronounceable and none of whom are known to me, a man I used to know but haven't seen for 30 years, my sister in law, an author in New Zealand and my best friend.

Right off the top, I am aware that there is no limit to the size of this list. I don't need to know the people to send them healing, and the energy grows/expands in proportion to the size of the list with no effort on my part.

This is an extremely valuable spiritual practice for me, in addition to any benefit the recipients may realize from it. Not only are my hands positively on fire, but my entire personal energy field is more present in my own ordinary awareness. This indicates to me that I am also receiving healing as a result.

Book Offers Spiritual Openings

I just finished reading a great book. It's called "You Don't Have To Die When Your Doctor Says." It's written by David Elliott, a New Zealander who has been given a terminal diagnosis of cancer, but is living in the belief that nothing is inevitable, the future is unwritten and the statistical data on his condition is really all about the past, and doesn't necessarily apply to him.

This book should be required reading for anyone who has a life-threatening illness, certainly. But I think it should be recommended reading for everyone, and especially anyone who wants to grow spiritually. David builds his arguments around some basic beliefs, among them the belief that we are responsible for our own lives, that we create our reality. He is particularly interested in how our beliefs about ourselves can create health or illness, and the distinct possibility that belief is decisive in healing. I personally find this to be a very encouraging notion. There is no place for a victim mindset in David's concept of recovery. On the contrary, what is needed is to take responsibility for your own condition and your own healing.

The principles and ideas David explores are relevant for anyone who wants to have more power and freedom in their life. Even many healthy people live as though they haven't got a choice about many aspects of their lives. Whether you have a short time to live or many healthy years ahead of you, that is no way to live them.

Why wait until you are facing the likelihood of imminent death to discover your personal power? Read this book now, and enjoy living more for the rest of your life, however long that may be.

Reiki Master

Hands full of energy.

Rules to be Happy

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

The soul chooses to take this journey in partnership with the body.

Free Will

We choose this life. We choose to inhabit a physical and mortal body and take whatever comes with this physical partnering. We contribute to our physical, emotional, social, material, psychological and mental reality within this physical plane of existence. We come here to learn. We don't learn much when the grass is green and the sun is warm, but when the storm winds blow and the tree falls on our house, we are awakened into learning mode. It is for this, for adversity, that we have come into this plane of existence.

Our souls seek balance. We remember the imbalances of previous lives in our soul self, and we live this life in a clear determination to set things in balance again. I was self-centered in a prior life, talented and successful and spoiled. I used other people to entertain myself. Now in this current life, I have been abused and used by others to meet their own needs, and I have learned the empathy that I lacked. The adversities I have faced in this life have been gifts to my soul. It has grown in love and wisdom through every hardship.

In a previous life, I was an herbalist. I knew the plants and combinations of elements to heal the sick or calm a troubled heart. i remember doing it, but not the knowledge of those things. In this current life, i have the gift of healing. I work with the energy, and the energy works with me. The energy guides me, and I am guided when I am channeling the energy by my spirit guides, who plant suggestions in my mind. I can sometimes hear them talk.

All through our life, we are creating what is coming next. We see it and then we claim it, and before we know what has happened, it is ours. But we do not get to control the physical plane in a perfect or absolute extent. The processes are so great that all we can do is yield to them.

Process Meditation

Since somebody asked today, I took a few minutes to write out a basic guide to "process meditation." Here it is:

Usually, we try to quiet our minds by distracting ourselves, with a word or phrase, listening to music, watching a candle flame, seeing a white light, watching our breath, etc. In process meditation, we don't try to do anything about our minds, except to observe them. The trick is not to IDENTIFY with the mind or its chatter. We are accustomed to the belief that our mind is our self. "I think therefore I am" is the trap. Rather, think of the mind as something you have, not something you are.

The mind develops habits, patterns, styles. It likes repetition. It also likes to be busy. Do not expect your mind to be quiet. This only leads to frustration. Many people abandon the effort to meditate because the mind is noisy. Allow the mind to be noisy.

Find a quiet place to sit where you won't be disturbed for a while. Sit comfortably with your back straight but not tense. Focus on your feet. Tense the muscles in your feet for a count of ten, and then release. Move to the next muscle group, the lower legs. Tense, hold, release. Move up to the upper legs, then the buttocks, stomach, chest, shoulders, neck, arms, hands and finally the head and face. Your breathing will slow down naturally as you relax.

Notice your chest rising and falling as your breath goes in and out. Notice any sounds that come in and out of your awareness. Notice any thoughts that arise. Do not evaluate or assess your thoughts. Just let them come. Let them go. Simply observe them. If you find yourself getting caught up in a thought, simply notice that and return to observing. If it helps, bring yourself back to observing by noticing your chest rising and falling as you breathe in and out.

The goal of process meditation is to observe the mind. Continue to return to observing for 15-20 minutes, extending your meditation practice gradually over time.

Remember that every time you assume the position of observer of your mind, you connect with your higher self. Strengthening this connection increases peace, energy and emotional well-being.

What You Think Matters

Everybody wants to know how to do creative visualization. The enthusiasm over the book and movie "The Secret" is testimony to how strongly people want to be able to create their own reality. Yet the pervasive experience is that life comes at you, and the only thing you have any say about is your response. Life just happens to you.

Often we find ourselves in reactive mode, which is even worse. Because reactions do not feel like choices at all. In fact, there is no freedom in a reaction. When somebody jumps you in a dark alley, you react. It's fight or flight. The automatic wiring takes over. There is nothing wrong with this. It just isn't a great way to live.

Today a plane flew low over New York City and people stampeded to escape from buildings. Right now there is a run on face masks and anti-flu medications all over the country. I know people who have stockpiled food and water for years. I also know people who are stockpiling guns and ammunition.

Let's face it, the world is a dangerous place. Just when you have a closet full of face masks and flu medication, a basement full of food and water to last at least two years, and enough guns and ammo to hold off a small army, you get cancer and you have to regroup.

Take a look at the situation. A rock hurtles through space around a star. Things get born and things die constantly. Consciousness blinks on and off like the twinkling of a star seen from the surface of the Earth. Virtually no one has any idea what is going on. People make up stories to reassure each other through agreement. When the final moment comes, they open their eyes in wonder for a brief moment, right before they close them forever. We all want to know what they see.

There is a constant tension between the soul, which knows itself as eternal, and the body, which knows itself as mortal. All fear originates in the body. It arises directly from the experience of mortality. We know our body is going to die, and we will do anything and everything we can to avoid it. Alas, all to no avail. Something is going to get you. That's just the way it is around here.

The soul, on the other hand, has no fear. It is truly fearless. It's also indestructible. I don't know for sure why the soul chooses to incarnate. Some say we are here to learn something. Others say we are here purely and simply to have the experience of a physical life. Some people say we are working out some karmic debt, and this is supposed to explain the suffering. Whatever the reason, we are spirit and body, and the body breaks and the body dies. And the spirit doesn't. That much is reality.

The only thing to do is maximize your experience. The best way to do this is to maintain your connection with your soul. The body will holler and kick and scream in fear and horror (watch the evening news), and there isn't really much we can do about that. But by staying in touch with our higher (soul) self, we can have access to a measure of peace during this life.

Even more, we can manage our energy to maximize the health of our body. Fear blocks the natural flow of energy through the body. It weakens the immune system and encourages disease. When you have a physical injury, the energy to that area gets blocked. By working with your energy field, you can promote energy flow, which will promote faster healing.

If your energy field is positive, negative energy will not be attracted to you. This does not mean you will walk around in a protected bubble. You are in the physical world. Things will bump, bang, crack and crumble. There is no avoiding it. But there is no reason to actively draw it in.

Whenever you have the presence of mind (you aren't in a fight or flight reaction mode), visualize surrounding yourself with white light. Picturing it creates it energetically. Picture yourself healthy and strong and you will be healthier and stronger. Picture yourself weak and sick and you will most assuredly be weaker and sicker. What you think matters.

And suffering is optional.

Coming To The Party

We hear of people dying and of new people being born. Nothing is in stasis in this place. Here everything is in flux. I am getting old, but it seems only yesterday I was in my prime and I still remember clearly being young. Not only is the ebb and flow continuous, it is happening in ever-tighter cycles. Faster and faster the years go by. Everything seems accelerated. The pace seems relentless.

Yet the soul abides. There in the center of being, there is an enduring presence that each of us brings to this otherwise raucous party. It gives us grace to withstand the onslaught of events, so many of which are tragedies.

Don't ever wish to miss it, not even one single bitter bit of it. No, wish to experience it all with a little grace.

See Your Own Light

Turn out the lights and hold your hands in front of your face. Look at the outline of your fingers in the darkness. Do you see the light around your fingers? Move your fingers in the air and see if you can see the light chasing your fingers as they move. See if you can get a tug of war going between your two hands. It's like pulling taffy, but it's only light. It's your light. The light of your aura, your electromagnetic field. Spend some time with it. Get to know yourself as an electromagnetic field.

Being Out In The World

Although I didn't go so far as to pass out my business cards at the reunion today, I also did not hide. Richard's family is a Baptist enclave all unto itself. There are so many preachers, he said, that he has hardly ever gotten to say the blessing before the meal. So he was truly honored to have that privilege today. An odd setting for a fallen-away Catholic who does Tarot Readings and Energy Healing. Not exactly a tailored audience. I thought if this group was aware of my spiritual orientation and activities, they would probably have done with me forthwith.

But still I didn't hide. I established internet connections with two of the women, who will of course be exposed to my spiritual orientation shortly. It will be interesting to see if they are responsive in a positive way, in spite of the family template.

I have no desire to shock or offend.

Magic

Want some true magic? Anybody can do it. But it's not as easy as it sounds. Here's the spell: practice gratitude and wonderful things will happen to you. Believe it! It's magic. Works like a charm. Because it is a charm. And you will lead a charmed life if you practice this.

Keep it simple. In every situation, no matter what, find something to be grateful for. Once you have identified it, be grateful for it. It's that simple. The energy you create will draw positive energy to you. Like attracts like. Positive energy attracts positive energy. Like a magnet.

This is especially important when something pisses you off. Forget about being right. So what? It doesn't attract positive energy. Be grateful. And create your life.

Talent

"I'm telling you, people are born with it," he said. He was referring to the gifts and talents that set people apart from the crowd, that special edge that takes them beyond their time in history or their place in society and sets them completely apart from the rest of us, we masses of squirming, hungry, horny beasts, we who live and die without really leaving much of a mark. Well upon reflection, I think he's right. But I think it takes more than talent. It also takes good fortune, primarily the good fortune to head off in the right direction in life. I mean if Edison had been a farmer, maybe he would have lived and died unknown. Or maybe not. But my guess is that you have to find your niche, and that's where you will shine.

Joseph Campbell said we should follow our bliss, and the rest will follow naturally from that. And what is "bliss?" For me, it is the experience of being fully present in the moment, and I am never as "present" as I am when I'm creating something. When the inspiration is flowing, life is truly worth living.

Mortal Body, Immortal Soul: Thinking About Easter

I was raised Catholic, and Easter was always a big deal, even a bigger deal than Christmas. I mean the possibility of rising from the dead is way more appealing than the virgin birth. I mean who cares if your Mom was a virgin? But cheating death, now you're talking! This is what everybody wants, something we can all agree on.

I mean let's forget for a minute how weird the story is. I mean, he gets up physically and in his body, scars and all, he ascends to heaven on a cloud. A testimony to how attached people are to their bodies, I suppose. They want to live forever, in their current bodies. But why would you need a body in heaven? I can see it now: millions of souls and one body.

And I have to think even in biblical times, people were clear that clouds are not magic carpets. But maybe not.

Be that as it may. The amazing bottom line is that people don't believe in the eternity of their souls. They believe in death.

Now I personally believe in death, of the body. Every body. Everything physical is coming or going. But the soul knows itself as enduring. Why is this so hard for people to see?

Inside the experience of physical being, I'm every bit as fearful as the little mouse that spends its life trembling in terror. As a physical being, I don't want to die. And I'm really worried about being hurt. It's bad enough to die, but to die in agony, horrible!
This fear of physical death persists in spite of my personal certainty that the soul lives on when the body dies. I think this aversion to suffering and death simply comes with the territory. I tend to find serenity suspicious. It's great when it's convenient. But faced with an immediate threat, the instinct to fight or flight kicks in. Even Jesus suffered in the garden of Gethsemane.

So me, I have a mortal body and an immortal soul.

The Voices

When I do a Reiki/energy healing, my guides show up in the form of messages I get and questions that pop into my head as I am working. The same thing happens during a Tarot reading, when I interpret the cards in a unique way for that particular reading.

I've heard this type of thing referred to as "intuitive" work. And I think there is an intuitive component in it. But beyond that, I hear the voices. I feel sure these are the voices of my spirit guides.

The first contact I had with spirit guides, that I was aware of, was back when my now 27 year old daughter was a baby. I was driving along the country road to my house, and I was wondering if there was any such thing as a spirit guide. So I asked a question. The question was, "Should I write?" The answer was a resounding "Yes!" But what was astonishing about it, was that it wasn't one voice, but rather a multitude of voices, all answering in loud, emphatic tones. I was startled. I had expected at best a whisper. Mostly, I expected nothing at all. It was a turning point. I decided that my days as a Bookkeeper were over, and started writing for the local newspaper soon after. I worked as a journalist and freelance writer for several years after that, until the local Judge offered me a job with the local corrections department. Often I have thought that taking that job was a big mistake. Had I not taken it, I would have continued to write.

As it is, having a career in corrections probably gave me as much as it took away. That is just the way things work. Now that I'm not working in corrections, or anything else for that matter, I am free to write again. And what better to write about than my lifelong spiritual quest?

For me, this started in a high school Mythology class. I remained so fascinated with mythology, that I ended up in the Classics department in college, right up until the interdisciplinary Religion department was initiated. I was the first person to major in Religion at my school. None of which changed the fact that I didn't "fit" in any of the religions I was studying. I remained an outsider from orthodoxy.

And so the journey continues. The belief system I find most sensible is Hermeticism.

Lanai Meditation

This video was taken from atop a rock on the beach in Lanai, Hawaii. The beach is called Shipwreck Rock Beach. The water was teeming with sea turtles. It was one of those places I could have stayed forever. See if you can feel the peace as you watch the video.

Dealing With Stress

When things do NOT go your way, when it seems like you are being thwarted at every turn, that is the moment when you most need to connect with your soul self. But it's also the moment when it will be most difficult to make that connection. World weary and frustrated by the events and circumstances of your life, you will most likely lose all access to that peaceful center where none of these seemingly important goings on have much meaning. Fear, anger, frustration all conspire to detach us from the quiet center of our being.

At such moments, it's important to remember that you have a higher soul self, whether you can feel it right at that moment or not. Simply notice the feelings that are arising in you. The observer who notices is your soul self. The more you relax and observe, the more you will become aware of your higher soul self, and with that awareness peace will return.

You may notice that your physical body has to process the adrenalin pumped into it by stressful reactions to events. Simply observe this happening. Do not resist. Be patient and wait for your body to chemically readjust. Do not take any substances into your body in order to counteract the body's natural process.

All drugs interfere with consciousness. I don't care if they are called consciousness expanding drugs, relaxants, narcotics, hallucinogens, whatever. They interfere with your natural higher consciousness.

A to Zen

TRIBE OF ELDERS at Burning Man

The Tribe of Elders Tents at Burning Man.

Being Seen and Being Heard

I don't know what it will take for Rose the spiritual healer and metaphysical counselor to be seen and heard by the world.

I took the bold action of printing business cards, but I don't know who to give them to, or where to be to give them out. So they wait in my purse to be used.

It's my impression that nobody but me reads this blog, although I often invite people to read it, on Facebook and by putting the link at the bottom of my emails.

I'm going to try something new.

Getting To Nothing

There is nothing in the future. There is nothing in the past. There is only the present. Try to grab it. You can't hold on. As meaning-making machines, we populate our past with memories and stories about them. We clutter up our future with predictions and fears.

To get to nothing is to be present, holding nothing and holding nothing back. Without a past that matters to the future. At the very least, to take it all less seriously. Less and less.

The less that is left of you, the better.

In the opening that is nothing, you can create something. The first thing that will arise is love.

The universal consciousness is awakening. We are its eyes and ears, its fingers, its breath and its mind. We invent it all. Try not to let the mechanisms of survival limit your creativity. The more you get to nothing, the more creative you can be, the more creative you are, the more your heart will open to the miracle of which you are a part. The more you open to the miracle, the more your soul speaks. And you will know yourself as eternal.

We are the dreamer

... The Gnostic is the true and original Christian (or pre-Christian) who sees in Jesus the allegorical ideal of man awakening to his true origin and nature. The Literalist is one who bullies everyone into blind belief in dogmas that obstruct and distort true experience of God. ... Gnosis is a natural state akin to lucid dreaming (dreaming, yet consciously recognizing that you are dreaming.) You experience a shift in consciousness and perspective. Your ordinary world and life does not disappear as you enter some new supernatural state or dimension. No, but your consciousness expands to the point that you realize that your old everyday life, including the your old sense of self, is not the totality of existence. You realize that you are part of a greater "life-dreamer" which is dreaming both itself, as well as, everyone and everything. You realize that we are all part of this great dreamer and are all connected at this higher level. We are all One. The purpose of life is to awaken and personally experience to this knowledge- this Gnosis...


This quote is from a book review. I thought it was worth quoting. Gnosis is not a word that I am used to employing. The experience he describes, however, is quite familiar to me. We are the dreamer and the dream.

Breathless and Beautiful

How much of that do you suppose they are getting in Darfur these days? Or Iraq or Afghanistan or Palestine? Or any number of other places in Africa and Asia? Or right at the present moment, in Italy?

The world is a knock around place, whether or not people create the carnage. Carnage there is. And hunger. And that isn't saying anything at all about loneliness or grief or people going crazy with anger or fear.

I am amazed that we are able to keep a positive outlook at all. So if you are in a position to see the beauty and grandeur in the world, be grateful. For you are privileged indeed.

Quote

There must be always remaining in every life, some place for the singing of angels, some place for that which in itself is breathless and beautiful.



Howard Thurman

The Eternity Club

I was at a funeral yesterday, and the minister presiding over the service actually came out and said that if you don't accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you will not have eternal life. So what was he saying? That only some souls will continue to live after the body they are currently associated with has died? I was completely astonished that someone could say something so silly in public and yet there was no outcry. Everyone there listened attentively, as if what he was saying made sense. I almost laughed out loud. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. As if eternity is a club and membership is limited to Christians. That's mainstream religion for you: layers and layers of bullshit.

So what's the truth then? The simple truth is that the soul is eternal. Period. All souls, everywhere. There are no requirements for eternal life. You came in with an eternal soul and you will leave with an eternal soul. And you will know it when you get there.

As I sat there in the memorial chapel listening to that nonsense, I thought how ironic it is that Jack, who the minister claimed specifically asked him to deliver this specific message to us, yes Jack, who had died, knew better than anyone, right at that moment, that the minister's message wasn't the truth at all. By virtue of having died, Jack now knows the truth.

So how is it that I know? Well, to start with a psychic told me that there was a little girl five years old, and an old woman with me. Spirits. Just with me. At the time, I was 28 years old. I'd had an abortion five years before. The psychic said the little girl wanted me to know she forgives me. My grand mother had died a few years before. She also said I would be married within the year, for which there was no evidence in my life at that time. But I was married within the year. This all occurred in a crowded room in a little cinder block building in South LA. It was as crowded as the subway at rush hour. Some people had asked for and paid for a reading. I had not. I was just there with my mother. The psychic just looked at me and said what she said, and then she moved on to the next person.

Then my grandfather came to me in a dream. He was in a burning building. I tried to get him to come out, but he said he wanted to stay. He wanted to be with Mama (my grandmother). I told him to please come out, because he hadn't yet met my little daughter, his great grand daughter. He walked out with me holding my hand. When I woke up, my father called and said that my grandfather had died on the table the night before during emergency surgery, but that after the doctors had already given up, he had come back.

Then my cat died. I was sitting at my mother's house in LA, talking to her and my brother when all at once I felt him saying goodbye. I was overcome with grief. I loved the cat. I went back to my own apartment and dug through my things until I found a picture of him, and I taped it up on the wall over my bed. I sat down and cried. A few hours later, my girlfriend called from New York to say that my cat had died.

Not so very long ago, my deceased first husband came to me and told me he is looking over my grandson, his grandson. Then Carl came to me and asked me to assure Donna that he will be waiting for her when she dies. He even showed me the place where they wait. It is called "the curb." There are all these people there, spirits, waiting patiently for their loved ones to come. Carl was driving a car. He wanted Donna to know that he will "pick her up at the curb" when she comes over.

And the others. I've written about them in this blog. But more than all of that, is the direct experience of my own soul's being.

I believe this direct experience of the soul is available to everyone.

So when this minister stands there and tells us all that our only access to eternity is by being a Christian. Whew. I gotta tell you, that is just surreal.

Spiritual Orgasms?

Absolutely. There is orgasm in the spirit world. It lacks the sweaty muscularity, the grunting and groaning and grinding, the effort and expelling of force of physical sex. But there is definitely orgasm, the envelopment of being in ecstasy, the moment of blissful surrender. Think of the sex scene in the pool in the movie "Cocoon." The alien, who is a being of pure light, simply touches the human and he is overcome with bliss.

How the hell do I know that, you ask? Direct experience is and has always been, my primary teacher. The issue is whether you can tell the difference between a wet dream and spiritual sex with another being. If you've had both, you can tell the difference. There may or may not be a physical dimension to the spiritual encounter.

I remember my first "wet dream." I was about 20 years old and I was in a relationship. It wasn't a good relationship, as I was as yet incapable of that. The sex was one-sided, and afterwards I would unwind myself from whatever excitement had built up, and fall asleep listening to the guy snore blissfully at my side. It was a lonely affair, disappointing to say the least. Then one night, after I went to sleep still aroused and frustrated as hell, I woke up in the middle of an orgasm. It was a rousing orgasm and I awoke gasping for air. When I realized what was happening, I distinctly remember smiling. The dolt beside me woke up too and wanted to know what was going on. "Oh nothing. Just a dream," I told him. This was pure physical release.

Fifteen or so years ago, I was out of town doing training, and I had a student in the class with whom I had an immediate chemistry. A sudden flare of attraction, something that was going nowhere, but was undeniable nonetheless. I made it clear that I was unavailable. He made it clear that he was unavailable. That was that. Then that night, I awoke in the middle of an orgasm. But this time, it was not coming from my imagination. His presence in the room was palpable. His taking of me, while thrilling, was aggressive, invasive. Upon awakening, I was immediately aware of being violated. Mentally, I fought him off. In spite of the sexual pleasure I felt, it wasn't a pleasant experience. The next day in class, he tried to act like nothing had happened, but there was a touch of smugness and self-satisfaction in his demeanor, and he stayed far away from me after that. This was a spiritual assault.

My deceased ex-husband paid me a visit some years ago. Although the experience was thoroughly enjoyable, and I awoke immersed in total self-indulgence of how pleasurable it was, the fact remains that it was uninvited. Consequently, I sent him a mental message to that effect, as soon as I woke up enough to realize who it was I was making love to. It was a little irritating and I felt taken advantage of. The mental message I sent him was, essentially, "Knock it off!"

Most recently, an old friend showed up in a dream and made love to me. It certainly seems my guard is down when I am asleep. When I woke up, I was thoroughly enjoying the encounter, right up until I was awake enough to know what was going on, at which point I recoiled. No orgasm that time, only because I woke up too soon. It was definitely working out well up to that point. In this case, we were both alive and sleeping in our respective beds, with our respective spouses. A few days later, he was back, in another dream. But this time, it was not sex that he wanted. He wanted to connect with someone who loved him, and he wanted reassurance. He was worried. I distinctly remember holding my hand on his cheek and telling him everything was going to be okay. I remember the expression on his face as he looked at me, and especially his eyes. "Yes, it's going to be okay." Three days later, he died.

The rest of the time, if I do have a sexual dream it involves my husband. If I wake up during the dream, I generally wake him up too, so we can make love right away, which is always fun. Sometimes, I wake up horny in the morning or after a nap. It's a no-brainer. I tell him about it, and let things evolve naturally from there. Why waste perfectly good sexual energy?

I never feel guilty about a horny or "wet" dream. But when another man visits me in spirit and we make love, I always feel like I've cheated on my husband. The trouble is, in spirit there isn't the restraint there is in waking consciousness. By the time consciousness kicks in, it is too late.

Personally, I have only gone out spiritually to contact another person on one occasion. That time I was so angry, my intention was to hurt him. When I got there, I saw his bare chest rising and falling with his breath. I didn't see his face or any other part of him, just his chest. At the point of contact with him, I was overcome with love. Any thought of hurting him disappeared. Other than that one time, I've never attempted to travel in spirit to another person.

The exception to this, of course, is Reiki. When I do a distance healing or attunement, I bring the person's spirit into my space. Or, put another way, I create a space between my hands in which the other person's spirit occurs for a time. So, in essence, I am there and they are here. But back to spiritual orgasms. They are disembodied, which makes them no less real, just different than an orgasm "in the flesh."

If there is anything about this physical life that is worth missing, it is probably sex.