Articles about Reiki - Thoughts and Philosophical Reflections

Trust doubt, doubt certainty
Symbols - Fractals of Life
Reiki in Japan
Surrender - in a breath
The five concepts as questions
About strengths, weaknesses and Reiki
The palm leaf prophecies

Trust doubt, doubt certainty

A practitioner questions Reiki concepts in Western schools.

When I went to Japan in 2008 to learn Usui Reiki Ryoho, the original Japanese Reiki, I was certain I would find confirmation of the essential teachings from what I knew from the Reiki Network. I knew John and Esther Veltheim had done so much investigation, learning from different Western lineages, and finally it is Network vision to teach Reiki at the highest standards.

The response to complete certainty could only be complete failure. There wasn't hardly any common idea or technique. Today I can state Reiki has experienced so many modifications in the West, it seems paradoxical that the idea of Reiki has survived.

Paradox is a great tool for the mind and development of consciousness, and so I am thankful for my experience. It helps to free my mind from its preconceptions, a necessary condition when confronting sticky problems. Whenever the mind offers a thought, it is really offering a hypothesis about reality. And there is room for error. It either can be tested, which means it might be wrong, or it can't be tested, which means, empirically, that it has no truth value.

In this sense I want to share some thoughts coming from my study and experience of the Japanese Reiki, in such question fundamental concepts in Western lineages. In this article I cannot tell what Reiki is, but maybe I can help in telling what Reiki is not.

Reiki is not a separate entity

Many practitioners and teachers follow the interpretation, that Reiki is some kind of universal consciousness, which I am separated from. Reiki would be completely independent of the practitioner, who is considered to be a passive conduit out of the loop. Another statement is that Reiki can effectively be practiced in any state of practitioner consciousness. »Doing« an initiation is necessary to establish the connection to this entity.

But if I acknowledge, that there is a field, an invisible matrix, a network in which everything is connected then why would I be separate from Reiki?

The feeling of originally not being connected, being separated, creates a dilemma, starting with the question of how the founder of Reiki could have found Reiki. It would be difficult to imagine that there was no other initiator in the first place.

Beverly Rubik's study from 2006 has shown that Reiki is not independent from the practitioner and his well-being [The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Volume 12, Number 1, 2006, pp. 7-13]. The results suggest that Reiki, whether or not a universal life energy from a cosmic or divine source, may be modulated by the human biofield in certain psycho-physiological states.

In Japan Reiki simply means Soul energy. It is nothing separate. It is always there. It is eternal and therefore real. Not so body, mind and the concepts I have about Reiki. Those are temporary and therefore not real.

In a sense I could state using Reiki I treat the unreal with the real.

There are no initiations into different degrees of Reiki

There is no traditional initiation into second degree or master degree. The attunement is a pointer to say »Look, there is your Reiki«. Then either you have seen it or you have not.

When a boy is initiated to become a man, when a girl is initiated to become a woman both are not initiated into different degrees. There is no first degree man or second degree woman. The same is with Reiki in Japan, there is only one attunement, and it is repeated as often as the teacher meets the student. The repetition is not considered necessary but is meant to be a reminder of this connection.

I imagine that the technique of initiation itself is not so important. Likewise the Sioux Indians have different rituals for their boys to become man compared to tribes in Central Africa. This could explain why the initiations used in the Reiki Network and other Western lineages produce significant results. It will not answer of course, if the mystery of Reiki was transmitted using the modified ritual.

There is no »Master« in Reiki

The term »master« was probably born in the West. In Japan the term Shihan is used, meaning teacher.

There are no chakras in Reiki

In Japan the one and only initiation focuses on Tamashi, the seat of the soul. This makes sense, because Reiki is about soul energy. According to Robert Fueston, who has done Reiki master training with John Harvey Grey and Fran Brown, Hawayo Takata did not teach chakras. This means the chakra concept was introduced in some Western schools after Hawayo Takata.

Symbols are not doing an outside job

In the past - when I used symbols in everyday situations - I often felt kind of exhausted - drawing and again drawing the symbols in whatever situation. The statement »the more often the better« is another hint that some manipulative »doing« was going on in my understanding. I therefore find it only natural that I felt exhausted.

Today I assume the symbol itself is not doing anything. This would make the difference from Western Reiki symbols to Japanese Reiki symbols unimportant. The Japanese might write »LOVE«, and the network might write »L8VE«, both could draw on the memory of what love is about. This helps in an inside transformational process.

In the West there is no clarity in the meaning and use of the symbols

In Japan each symbol has a very clear meaning and function. Symbols are not mixed, i.e. not used in combination. There is no single application in writing a symbol on a body or subject. The 2 shirushi (symbols drawn by hand), the Jumon (magic formula) and the Kotodama (Mantra) used in Usui Reiki Ryoho 2 have a clear Japanese background. They are not thousands of years old. They are not coming from India or Tibet. Usui had created them after he found Reiki.

The first symbol is not the first symbol

In the West CKR is used as the first symbol. It is for grounding (locking with earth), for breaking energy blockages like in scars (unlocking), and as an amplifier - to make more out of less. I find this contradictious. Statements like the first symbol could strengthen the effect of Reiki cannot be proven valid and should be reconsidered. They also sound manipulative.

The CKR does not exist in Japanese Reiki 2.

Miss Takata discarded the real first symbol in the process of her teachings. Mary Mc Fayden has still learned the first symbol. Fran Brown has not.

The meaning of the real first symbol is limited to body problems, to help dissolving poisons in the body (unlocking). This relates to the Byosen concept, which together with the 5 principles is the essence of Japanese Reiki 1. The symbol is only drawn by hand, it is never written anywhere and no words are spoken with it. It does not relate to Chakras.

12 positions teach not to trust the hands

Miss Takata has discarded the Byosen concept and introduced the 12 body positions. Western Reiki puts great emphasize on those positions no matter what the sensations in the hands are. On the contrary Usui took understanding of those sensations very important. He introduced 5 degrees of Byosen (accumulation of toxins) in the body: little heat, strong heat, tingling, nothing-cold-pulsing, and pain. Areas with higher degrees of Byosen where treated until improvement took place. When we say 5-Minutes per 12 positions we basically say »You cannot trust your hands« It also means »You cannot trust yourself«. Finally it hinders the development of intuition. There might be situations where a specific area would need much more Reiki than 5 Minutes a day.

To »follow the Byosen« does not say to »treat a symptom«, because Byosen could be sensed in the left kidney and treated there, while the client reports about headache. For a beginner it is not easy to find the Byosen. That is why Usui compiled typical hand positions for different symptoms, and Takata's selection of 12 positions resulted from the most typical of all positions.

I still find the 12 positions very useful when no Byosen is found. But when sensing Byosen I now stay much longer on the indicated places, I apply the first Japanese symbol when needed and also use Kekko, a special massage like technique to help in the removal of Byosen.

The second symbol is not to create harmony or to protect

In Reiki 2 we aim for more harmony. We want to produce changes to create a better or more harmonic environment. But what is harmony? If everything is connected, aren't then the existing relations the perfect match already? Aren't they the perfect solution and response to whatever is? What is it that I do not like in the current picture of my world that I state I need harmony, that I want something different? How could I be of unconditional love if I would reject what is? Isn't a thunderstorm harmony, an insect eating another insect? So what is it the second Reiki symbol shall do for me?

In Japan there is no such call for harmony, at least not in the understanding that it is lacking. There is no call for security either. For facing the current of life the 5 principles are used, and more and more I feel living these principles is all that is needed.

In Japan the second symbol is exclusively used for treating bad habits. It is also drawn by hand only and not related to the solar plexus or energy vampires or protection of any kind. SHK translated from Japanese just means »bad habit«, so it is not a mantra. In modern Japanese language SHK would be understood as »sexual perversion«, so it is nothing holy or meant by chanting to sooth the mind. In Japan it is guarantee however, that you have 10 meters space around you if you would say those words in public.

Miss Takata obviously mismatched that the second symbol was used against SHK, or say to treat SHK, it was not representing SHK itself.

The original use of the symbol was to ask for help from the Buddha of compassion, which is why the root of the second degree symbol comes from the Siddham alphabet syllable representing this Buddha. There is only little deviation in the shape of this symbol comparing Western version and Japanese version. Miss Takata was not very good in Japanese, and maybe this is why the multiline Japanese Kotodama (Mantra) got lost, which in Japan is an essential part when using the symbol to treat bad habits.

The third symbol is not for sending Reiki somewhere

In Japan it is not the Reiki, which is sent over distance, but the HSZSN is used to bring the distant object close to the practitioner. Basically the absent treatment is also a local treatment. This deduces, that it is not so, that a multiple number of positions is treated at the same time.

The 5 Kanji syllables from HSZSN are installed on every computer with Unicode fonts. Jamming the syllables one into the other where they are identical creates the symbol. This is done with great precision and good understanding of the subtleties of the Japanese language. The expression formed gives a beautiful description about what it means to be human.

The shape of the Takata symbol indicates that Miss Takata did not know the Kanji by heart. Curiously early Japanese students never complained when they learned Western Reiki, that something was wrong with the HSZSN. When Miss Yamaguchi (student of Hayashi sensei) later taught those students the original version she asked kind of reproachful »How could you accept the western symbol?«. The answer of her Japanese students was very touching: »Because our western teacher has told us so».

The master symbol does not exist

I have no idea why the DKM was introduced into Western Reiki. Moreover already Miss Takata had given different versions of DKM to different students; this I read from a protocol of the gathering after her death.

Of course DKM is a powerful expression, but otherwise pure Kanji (on every computer with Unicode fonts). It is not used in the traditional Reiki.

Tell me sweet little lies ...

In the West, many Reiki stories were told that are now refuted.

Examples:

Mikao Usui was not a Christian but Jodo Shu (pure land) Buddhist.
Mikao Usui was not a Doctor.
Mikao Usui did not go to Tibet or USA
Mikao Usui was not searching for a healing method but had a personal crisis and wanted to achieve the »peace of mind«.
Mikao Usui did not set a 21 days time limit for the Kurama fasting, this would not be appropriate in his quest.
Mikao Usui did not see the symbols during the Kurama fasting but developed them after his return.
Chujiro Hayashi was not the successor of Mikao Usui. Juzaburo Ushida was the successor.
Chujiro Hayashi has killed himself with a scalpel and not by the powers of his mind. Hawayo Takata was not present.
Hawayo Takata was asked by Hayashi's wife Chie Hayashi to take the leadership in the Hayashi lineage as successor, but she rejected.
The Hayashi clinic in Tokyo was destroyed as any other building around and practicing Reiki did not prevent the building from being destroyed.

I believe the greatest challenge is to continuously question what I have learned and took for granted. Finally these questions are about self-honesty and integrity. I will not change Reiki by this questioning but I can free myself from false perceptions.

Reiki will remain mystery and the greatest gift in my life, the simpler it becomes the better.

Axel Ebert • May 2010

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Symbols - Fractals of Life

Albert Einstein at the Technical College BBB in Baden, Switzerland

There is a term in scientific language, which I came across more and more often recently, when reading about advanced concepts of leading mathematicians, cell-biologists and theoretical physicists. No matter they describe cell processes, disruptions in the continuum of life, even the creation of the universe; »fractals« have become talk of the town. We are on the cutting edge of an exciting and revolutionary development rocking the foundations of modern Physics.

Evolution is based upon fractal geometry

With his M-theory (M may stand for Mother, Mystery or Membrane) Michio Kaku has found a mathematical solution which has room for all our observations including the start of the universe, creation of matter, dark matter and black holes, spaces where our laws of physics do not apply and so on. Indeed »room« is a good expression for that, because his solution consists of 10 dimensions of space plus 1 dimension of time. It includes parallel universes. These are needed to process whatever decision we take, as you know the observer creates his reality, just read his books »Hyperspace« or »Parallel Worlds«.

The 4th dimension of space actually is the holy geometry and mathematics of manifestation. Here the laws of manifestation take form, create images, put structure into space, define how different parts of something fit together in relation to each other.

An understanding of this geometry is important for studying the structure of our environment and biosphere. But what does it look like? Until recently the only geometry studied was Euclidian geometry, which deals with structures like cubes, spheres and cones that can be mapped on paper. However, Euclidian geometry does not apply to Nature. In Nature, most structures display irregular and chaotic-appearing patterns. These natural structures can only be created by using fractal geometry.

The mathematics of fractals is amazingly simple. Only one simple equation of multiplication and addition is solved. The result is then put back into the original equation and that equation is solved again. This process is ever-repeating, and so is the inherent nature of the geometry of fractals. As a result we find »self-similar« patterns nested within one another, which is why cells, a human being and the human civilization are »self-similar« images at different levels of organization. The conclusion of Bruce Lipton is that a cell could tell us how to fix a universe.

In this article I want to focus on a different aspect, this is all the minor contributions to that big equation. A complex formula containing all relations and interactions is my concept of how all our universe can be described and how it alters. The equation is not stable or even fixed, because every thought from every player in this field, every decision has an impact and requires permanent rebalancing and new solutions. To be healthy means to be in - line with the current solution, be able to readjust when the formula changes, therefore be in synchronicity with the universe, respond in coherence.

Now imagine, to look just at the human race, how many forms and actions create fractal modifications within this running formula every microsecond, this gives a good image of the highly interactive process we experience in life, being part of this formula, part of its solution.

Is health when coherent self is connected in synchronicity with the environment? When spontaneous healing happens (it usually takes only seconds) could it be a switch has been found that functions at the instantaneous correct moment, and not after lots of thoughts, processing time and processing error? Is time-shift the reason for so much sickness in this world, because the conscious mind takes so much processing time to respond on what is? Is the response then no longer adequate? And how precisely could a response be, when input is filtered through the belief systems via the five senses? If I live in the past, is it possible that the small portion of my realization is not valid anymore? Maybe the effort I take to act on something is a strong correlation to time shift and filter size? How far am I living in the past?

Aikido and the Harmony of Nature

$Wall painting with swastika as a fractal$ The swastika symbol as a fractal - in Sanskrit associated with well-being
Wall painting at the gate of Jaipur City Palace in India

He who is »in the flow« - like an Aikido master in his practice - shows different response capabilities, namely harmony in action. It is a customary practice in Aikido that the student tries to attack his master, who is neither seeing nor hearing the student. Of course the student fails. His action creates instability and disturbs the balance or peace of the universe. The master, if he is ONE with the universe, is aware of the disturbance, but there is no conscious sense of the attack or even his response. Still he throws the attacker through space before the attacker could have even touched him. Needless to say - this action is effortless.

I call being in the present moment intuition. Top athletes talk about »being in the zone«, and it feels like being able to reflect upon how earth begun.

Reiki Symbols are fractal solutions

When I wrote about the way I see Reiki symbols and their effect, I described Reiki Symbols like tools to look at my world (address the moment) in a specific way, and the rest of the formula has to balance that equation. With the new science I could now further refine that understanding, that with the symbols I recall certain concepts of unity, harmony and primordial consciousness, and as a geometric fractal I superimpose these symbols as a partial solution into the running formula of my environment. The new solution of the great formula will consider my focus. Repeating these patterns will create a more stable environment around my place in the universe. Applying Reiki to my body or creating a place full of Reiki around me is like connecting to the inherent solution describing the best fit harmony in the present moment.

While Aikido is action in harmony Reiki is a harmonic solution with no action required. Both are effortless.

Axel Ebert • April 2009

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Reiki in Japan

What is the essence of Reiki? What is just form?

Reiki Practitioners in Tokyo

In spring 2008 I travelled to Japan to learn Japanese Reiki (Usui Reiki Ryoho) first and second degree with Tadao Yamaguchi. Tadao's mother has learned Reiki from Chujiro Hayashi, that's why they call their teachings Jikiden - direct. I am not sure about my motive. On the one hand I have practiced Western Reiki in the lineage of Takata and the Reiki Network for 8 years; I have become a Reiki master because of my inner knowing that Reiki works, the greatest gift I have been awarded in life. On the other hand there is this curiosity. The unexplainable is attractive for exploration. I guess it is a kind of network tradition to look behind the scenes. Will I find confirmation of our teachings, methods and of course our symbols? Why do I challenge my concepts about Reiki? Why do I question my perceptions? It turns out, destruction is on its way. Typically Reiki, I would say. Because the way Mrs. Takata taught the symbols and attunements differs from what her teacher Chujiro Hayashi has done in Japan. Talk about the disruptive feminine! This I mean highly philosophically because without Mrs. Takata, Reiki would not have been so popular.

As already mentioned - the initiation is different. It feels very good. I am deeply touched. I learn that Mikao Usui and Chuchiro Hayashi have given only one type of attunement as initiation ritual, that this attunement has been given several times within the seminar, on occasions after that and also accross the different classes or degrees.

Japanese Reiki is described essentially the same way we do. However, the concept of regular self-treatments has not so much emphasis. In my opinion nothing is more important, so here I am really happy about Takata's and the Reiki Network teachings, possibly as modification of what was taught before.

The purpose of the 3 Reiki symbols is quite similar, more restricted and clearly demarcated. The techniques of application, the symbols themselves and their mantras are all different. I see the roots of the symbols, which lie in Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese calligraphy, and the derivation from origin to symbol make sense; it also feels good. From experience I can say the symbols work.

On the other hand, from experience I can say that the symbols and initiations in the Western Usui Shiki Ryoho also work. It is obvious that some applications over time have been added and others have changed.

Shrine on top of Kurama Mountain Roots on top of mount Kurama
Don't get your toes gashed!

So I feel great disturbance, as symbols are so significant in Reiki. We know that certain sequences of certain lines create a certain effect. As C.G. Jung states - symbols are energy fields that release and transform other energy fields. Here I am deeply shaken and so is my concept of symbols. How could I follow a different rule and still achieve the same thing?

In questioning my concepts about symbols I find a manipulative part. It is the »achieving« part, making me belief I would, by using patterns, be able to manage and control my environment, making it safer for example, switching on Reiki in another person and so on. Ultimately this thinking is manipulative. Control does not exist, and I cannot achieve anything. If I would have control I would have it forever, otherwise it would not be control. It would also mean nobody else could have control, what a contradiction! Control would also require me to be separate from my environment, otherwise how could I control it? I must admit my perception of the environment has an effect on me. My reaction will change my environment.

Actually I am nothing more than an observer within the system, so I am part of the formula I want to change. This is like an equation with more than one unknown, so it has an infinite number of solutions. The way I look at my world (address the moment), the same way the rest of the formula has to balance that equation. Reiki is a specific way to look at life, recalling concepts of unity, harmony and primordial consciousness. If that is my focus, the effect is inevitable. With symbols I do not create or move anything, I just use them as a means, or tools, to focus on Reiki, to recall Reiki. It is like a rock painting I want to see in a dark cave. I could use a torch with a yellow handle, or I could use a torch with a red handle instead. This is how I feel when I read about discussions amongst Takata's students, regarding whose Reiki is most authentic. Now the irony of life says hello because, it turns out, that all students were rather far from the Japanese way, where to see the paintings a green candle has been used instead.

The same way religions fight for being true or not, one could fight for the Reiki symbols being true or not. But also to truth applies the above said. I could only recognize truth if I were separate from it. Being part of the formula, I cannot recognize truth, I can only observe and address the observed. The consciousness is my key. The misperception of truth and correctness of tools, I believe, is related to the misperception of separation. It is the most undermining belief system, to be separated from the world, to have an identity. From this belief, all others arise. If I could just experience being great, unimportant and ALL-ONE! From misperception of the opposite - the awareness of separation - follows the urge to importance, the addiction to do something, having to manipulate.

Take another example. I could write »love« or any symbolic message using Japanese or Hawaiian or any other language. The clue of addressing would mean I have to know what is behind those letters I write, and then all that happens is I recall and focus on the essence behind the word "love", for which I have to learn the alphabet I want to use, for which I have to have a deep understanding for what »love« is about. I could use the Japanese symbols for it, or the Takata symbols. Keeping the million-times-applied symbols in use makes good sense, because there is a strong matrix behind them. It squares the sum of the knowledge of the individuals and creates less efforted work.

When a student and I come together in an initiation into Reiki, with both tools I can draw the attention to Reiki, and the student will become aware of Reiki. I am not switching Reiki on, but consciousness meets, the student wants to experience Reiki and I use my torch or candle to show and change focus, change the formula.

Nothing much done. Something unimportant and great happened ...

Axel Ebert • June 2008

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Surrender - in a breath

»Train yourself to let go - of everything you fear to loose.«

Today I believe I understood the essence of breathing. When I realized this I simply had to laugh. Although I had practiced yoga for 24 years, somehow I never really did it. 24 years for a 5 Minute lesson. My breathing exercises were like the Reiki we call unconsciously given. I was hunting for the perfect cycle 4-16-8-8, which stands for in-hold-out-hold in seconds. I improved to 5-20-10-10 and soon after to 6-24-12-12. From there, there was no move in time extension and - as you might already guess - in joy, and over all these years the benefits I gained from this »trying« were rather limited.

A few months ago I heard the yogis would have a saying »Perfect Breath - Perfect Health« and my mind got busy in the background. Where lies the essence of this perfect breath? Is it really in this rhythm or in who can hold longest?

This breath indeed is the breath of life! When I breathe in I let the whole divine energy and existence enter and fill my self, my body, my mind. This breath connects my body with my higher self. The deeper and more complete I am breathing in - the closer I come to my true spiritual nature. Fully assimilating this breathing in is to approach my own divine nature. It is that breath that connects the apparent with the unknown. When I am able to fully unite and digest this gift then I become ready to let it go. This let go is surrender; it is absolutely necessary and has to be complete. I have no right to keep what I was granted as a borrowed good. Everything on earth follows the sacred »law of return« for which gravitation can be considered a minor sample case. When I breathe out I surrender to this law. I enter the world and I let my self be absorbed by this whole divine manifestation. The deeper and more complete I can let flow these cycles the more I am one with the universe and myself.

It is my opinion that this full surrender requires an intuitive action and understanding that has to take place first. And this is the complete absorption.

Doing my exercise with this focus I instantly felt joy in my breathing. I became energized, unexpectedly in this clarity. A small pain in my left hip joint disappeared, which had bothered me for a few months. I suddenly felt dizzy because there was this unusual freshness. Soon after I met a very charming girl and this awoke feelings of love inside me to a level I had never known. To say in other words: my being extended and harmonized with the full breaths.

With this discovery my breathing cycles became not only deeper but also longer than ever before. Now I can see it. I was hunting for a goal that could not be reached. This goal is not a goal but an effect of not trying, an effect preceded by proud absorption and devoting surrender. I am not on earth just to surrender. But surrender is a natural part of it.

The physiological explanation of the yogic statement above is, that the bodymind is scanning the existence from the lowest frequency (bones) to the highest (chakras). Maintaining health requires the awareness of what happens. How could a person with shallow breath cycles possibly be healthy and use their full potential?

My breath is my continuous witness of how much I am ready to absorb and surrender, of how much divinity I put into my actions. It is not the multi-tasking that creates this consciousness but the opposite. In the Far East they say:

I play when I play.
I sleep when I sleep.
I eat when I eat.
I breathe when I breathe.

So let me say:

I let this universe enter my being when I breathe in.
I surrender (let myself enter the world) when I breathe out.

Axel Ebert • February 2006

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The five concepts as questions

The secret art of inviting happiness
The miraculous medicine for all diseases

At least for today, do not be angry.
Do not worry.
Be grateful.
Do your duty.
Be kind to others.

Every morning and evening, join your hands in meditation and pray with your heart. State in your mind and chant with your mouth.

For improvement of mind and body.
Usui Reiki Ryoho

The founder

Mikao Usui

With his 5 concepts or principles Mikao Usui, founder of Reiki, has left a highly philosophical legacy, how the recipe for a satisfied life looks like. During the Reiki seminar I explain in detail, why Reiki is so helpful if someone wants to live these concepts, therefore attain happiness in life. In this article however I want to emphasize that to live these concepts, Reiki is no prerequisite. Lets take a closer look, even if you do not have Reiki.

How would it feel like, to have a knowing with deep inner certainty, that only the »now« matters, that sometimes things just happen, that I do my best and leave the rest to providence, that I am grateful to others? I will feel at home in those concepts. I will have found the miracle medicine for all diseases and the secret method to invite happiness.

Affirmation around these concepts could be useful to manifest this state of mind. I suggest to rewrite the concepts as positive questions, and this will be great food for the mind.

Here is the hint given by Andreas Ackermann, a Swiss mental trainer: »From sales training we know, that statements and arguments are way less effective then asking pep questions. The brain is much more comfortable with questions than with arguments and statements. If the brain already solves the questions than why not bypass statements and ask questions straight away? Try for yourself: 'Why am I happy, healthy and wealthy? Why do I get so many interesting and lucrative offers?' And so on. The key is not to find answers, but to initiate processes - and so there is no rational search for an answer. And now imagine what you initiate when you ask yourself 'Why am I always losing? Why does it always hit me? Why am I always sick? Why do I always meet the wrong boyfriend?' Until today that worked pretty well - don't you agree?«

Let us write down and ask.

Why is this day so important to me?
Why am I satisfied (do not get angry)?
Why am I confident (do not worry)?
Why am I grateful?
Why do I fulfill my duties?
Why am I kind to others?
Why do I practise Reiki?

And on the spur of a moment I might ask myself: and why not? I do not know why I behave so, but it is good the way it is.

Axel Ebert • January 2006

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About strengths, weaknesses and Reiki

This is about comparison with others and criticism. Criticism naturally involves judgments, coming from relative perceptions. I sense my neighbor always relative to me, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker.

How did I get a sense for my strengths and weaknesses in the first place? At the very beginning, there were probably environment signals, perhaps even criticism given by a close relative. Such criticism should not necessarily deserve mayor attention. Often it says more about the perspective of the critic. Am I »weak« when I do not follow social standards, when I do not fight, not win, not succeed, not gain recognition, when I am sick?

If I criticize, I come from the position of strength or from the position of a victim. Often, both is the same. From the position of strength - how much fear is present, to trap into a similar awkward situation? Doesn't this sound like victim consciousness mixed with an undeserved feeling of luck, fortune, coincidence, being spared (so far)? Is there an insecure feeling of relief that it did not hit me (so far)? How would I behave in such a miserable situation as the other is in? What does the person being criticized show me in reality?

As a critic I show strength. Maybe I once defeated others. Certainly I have defeated »weaker persons«! My strength is my weakness! Would I fight against a stronger one? Even more challenging - would I fight against myself, facing my own fears and and other well covered weaknesses?

Anyone who believes he is strong - is already weak. And what about those feeling weak? Maybe you have fought and lost? Weren't you strong then? Maybe you have realized that a fight was useless? Weren't you wise then? Where is the weakness then? Maybe a situation requires training in non-resistance or adaptation? It is not always the fight, that overcomes an alleged weakness. It can be more of a battle to change the personal point of view.

Suddenly strengths and weaknesses loose their emotional load. It makes me strong, to get in touch with my supposed weaknesses, to address the situation. It is like bringing a »dark side« to the light, and uniting with it is like uniting with a part of my self, then this part is no longer hidden in the darkness, the concepts dissolve.

Reiki is extremely valuable in this process. I have found a tool that releases positive and negative charges (judgements) from all areas of life. With Reiki I feel what it means to be »Son of God«.

Axel Ebert • August 2004

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The palm leaf prophecies

I understand there are different libraries at various places. In India they say if it is your destiny you will find your leaf(s) without searching.

In Bangalore I found an interpreter who was pretty precise in my past and hobbies and also what might happen in the future. On the other hand some things did not happen as predicted.

From my visits (2) I value most that I was given suggestions which lead me to unexpected ways, and also the understanding that everything is happening for a reason was great.

On the other hand I find it important not to put too much emphasizes on the interpretations. It could nurture a victim consciousness instead of working with the moment and loving myself the way I am (the recipe for happiness).

My palm leafs were written on in Sanskrit from long time ago. I had to tell only date, time and place of birth. The predicted arrival date in my library then gave the clue, if there was a leaf for me.

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