Resuming studies...

[jarandhel]

Well, I've decided after much poking by my subconscious that it's time to resume my studies into Reiki. So I pulled out the books that I own on it once more... and I realized that I haven't even gotten halfway through them, which surprised me.

I own three that are actually reiki-specific books... "Essential Reiki by Diane Stein", which I bought in 1999 soon after I was introduced to Reiki; "Traditional Reiki for Our Times" by Amy Z. Rowland, which I do not remember when or why I bought, but which seems to represent a bit more of a traditional American "Usui" Reiki approach, since it does not even name the symbols in the entire book, let alone tell you how to draw them; and my personal favorite "The Spirit of Reiki" by Walter Luebeck, Frank Arjava Petter, and William Lee Rand, which I bought during my last bit of major researching of Reiki's history and permutations. This book is very, VERY intriguing and contains a TON of information from several different perspectives... I don't know how much of it I've read already, but just today I opened it at random and found a rather interesting treatise on the nature of the reiki symbols, which has interesting implications when compared to the myth of the lost reiki symbols, and the symbols which others have channeled for use in Reiki. Not done reading the essay yet, but I think it's stuff that a lot of the kin Reiki masters I know would be intrigued by. Same with the aspects of the book which deal with the actual history of Reiki, as it really descended from Usui, minus the dogma and mythology which have become entangled with Dr. Usui's system.

So, dusting off these books and the various books that I have one related energy systems uch as qi gong, I'll be looking into Reiki once more.

I'm still of the opinion that Reiki is very heavily yang, though, and needs to become more balanced with yin energies to minimize the negative effects it has on certain systems, and to reduce the negative side effects of which it is capable. I also think we need to understand the nature of the energy more... some of my research, particularly that which delves into the hawaiian concept of mana, indicates that Reiki may not be sentient after all but only appear to react in a sentient manner because it is being directed by your "lower self", or "inner child", or "subconscious"... the exact terminology dependant on the system you are working with.

More to come as I proceed along this line of study once more.

Comments

[silenti77.livejournal.com]

The Luebek/Petter/Rand book sounds fascinating - do they go into the Japanese symbols and traditions at all? Nate has been looking for something other than the Stein book to study for some time now, so he can get an understanding of reiki past the ad hoc theories and general "Well, some say this, but others say that, you'll have to try it out" debunking I gifted him with when I first attuned him. ;)

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Frankly, they go into more depth than I have yet explored... for a small book it contains an amazing array of in-depth information. 23 chapters, not including the appendix section. It delves deeply into the history of Reiki in both the east and the west; there's a section on Reiki energy "basics" which are anything but basic... foundation principles might be more accurate, as it delves into the japanese system for describing different life energies related to reiki, the meridians of the body, and other related concepts; a section on Reiki Practice which includes information about training, the relationship between teacher and student, the Reiki symbols and mantras, the traditional japanese Reiki techniques which were originally used by Usui and largely abandoned in the West, and some more modern, western Reiki techniques. It even has a section on Reiki Today and Tomorrow, which deals with Reiki as a path, harmony between different Reiki groups, and the future of Reiki.

It's definately one of the best books on Reiki that I have ever found, and some of the information in it is truly fascinating. It's theories about the nature of the Reiki symbols, and how they are not themselves "Reiki symbols" but symbols which can be used, through the intitial initiation, within the scope of the Reiki tradition are quite unique, and their implications are rather incredible as you come to understand what that means. Particularly when you take into account the many channeled symbols that people have begun to find useful. It is... quite thought inspiring, to say the least.

[silenti77.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks - that's definitely a must-have, then. :)

[jarandhel.livejournal.com]

Heh... yeah, it definately is. I was actually going to type up the table of contents for you... before I realized that it spans four pages. Amazing amount of info for a relatively small paperback. :)