Reiki is well known around the world as a traditional hands-on spiritual healing
art with its origins in early 20th century Japan. What may surprise some
people is that it is also a path to enlightenment. In fact, the spiritual
aspect of Reiki was traditionally as important as the healing aspect. The
founder of Reiki, Usui-sensei was himself a deeply spiritual man. In
truth, Reiki as practiced by Usui-sensei had two distinct purposes, both
connected, yet both separate.
Reiki was and still is a wonderful healing art that can be used to work on
physical, emotional and spiritual conditions. Reiki was and should be a
means of self-development and spiritual growth, and in effect a path to
enlightenment. These two elements of Reiki flow as one, as healing takes
place so to does spiritual growth. As spiritual beings in a physical
world, enlightenment is something we should all be taking steps to
achieve, it is after all, our ultimate goal, or at least it should be our
ultimate goal.
The word enlightenment means different things to different people and has many
interpretations, depending on the spiritual or religious beliefs of the
individual. To me enlightenment is the attainment of the ultimate
spiritual knowledge or awareness through correct thought and action.
Enlightenment is both a journey and a destination. To be truly happy, we
need to nurture our spiritual nature as well as support our emotional and
physical well-being. Any other happiness will be fleeting and
unfulfilling, happiness gleaned from purely physical desire or emotional
need never lasts.
The problem is many people often confuse pleasure with happiness. Buying a new
designer outfit or a flashy new car, going out for a great night out with
friends or a partner are pleasurable, and feelings of happiness may be
felt. But, these feelings of happiness can be fleeting and last only as
long as the event itself does. How long does it take for the memories of a
night out to fade, or for a new car to sop being new? Pleasing the
physical and emotional bodies is never enough to bring real happiness.
People can spend many years of their lives trying to attain happiness
through achieving material wealth or fame and power, only to end up
miserable. The only way to have true and lasting happiness is through
spiritual awareness and development. Only by nurturing our spiritual
growth can we ever find the peace and happiness that comes from within.
Reiki is a wonderful yet simple method for spiritual development and growth.
Reiki is the ideal choice for any one looking for a way to grow
spiritually. Taking a good Reiki course to at least level 2 gives the
student everything they need to reach enlightenment. The attunement
process, which is integral to Reiki, connects the student to the source of
the energy. It is this connection that starts the process for some
students, while for others it enhances and accelerates it.
Once connected to this energy, Reiki practitioners are able to treat themselves
and others. By self-healing, they can treat any physical or emotional
condition, they can raise their own vibrational frequency and connect to
their spiritual or higher self. By self-healing and following their
intuition and doing what is right, they can become closer to their true
spiritual nature. This has the effect of raising their understanding and
awareness. It is this change of awareness that can lead to enlightenment.
According to Mikao Usui, the founder of Reiki, enlightenment is achieved
through self-healing and 'right thinking' and 'right living'.
Sounds simple, but in fact this is far more difficult than it appears at
first glance. The first thing is actually knowing what right thinking and
right living is, which can be a long journey.
Deep down we all have all the answers we need, for many of us though, that is a
part of us we are either not connected to or not listening to. The answer
is to listen to our higher-self through our intuitive voice. Our intuition
is always right, it is the one voice we can always trust to steer us in
the right direction. As we trust in our intuition we can let go of our
physical and emotional desires and instead be guided by our higher-self.
Ultimately the only voice we hear will be that of our spiritual self and
our thoughts and actions will be guided by our intuition. As we continue
to do this, we will grow spiritually until we reach an enlightened state
of being
© Copyright Andy Chrysostomou 2009
