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Hit the road. May 7, 2014

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“As the Buddha was fond of saying, the spiritual teacher only points the way; we must do our own travelling.”

—Sri Eknath Easwaran, Words to Live By

This is such a valuable lesson. Spiritual teachers, including Reiki teachers, can set our feet upon the path, but it’s up to us to find our own Reiki Way rather than clinging to our teacher(s) for continual guidance. Usui Founder, himself a Buddhist, was very aware of this, and he sent the students he felt were ready, such as Chujiro Hayashi Sensei, out into the world to find their own Way and transmit it to others, as he himself had done after his momentous satori (enlightenment) experience on Mount Kurama.

There is a beautiful story in the movie “Zen” about how Dogen Zenji, the 13th-century founder of the foremost Zen school, Soto Zen, is asked to come to the rescue of the leader of Japan, who’s suffering from a nervous breakdown because of all the horrible deaths he’s inflicted on his enemies. Dogen agrees, because he, like the lord who asked him, is convinced that all Japan will disintegrate into chaos if this ruler can’t keep his grip on the reigns of rule.

After arriving, Dogen asks the ruler if he can cut up the reflection of the moon in the water outside his castle. Well of course I can, the ruler replies, grabbing his sword and hacking into the water. The image of the moon splits in half. But, even as the ruler is smirking in triumph, the ripples his sword made in the water calm, and the image of the moon reforms, whole and pristine as ever.

The ruler realizes that Dogen is pointing the way, and begs him to stay and continue to teach him. But Dogen knows his work lies back at his modest monastery far away, so he resists all the ruler’s promises of vast wealth and influence and a huge monastery and goes his way. As he departs, the ruler recites one of Dogen’s own poems, proving that he, too, is ready to do his own travelling.

Did the ruler stay in touch with Dogen? The film doesn’t say, though it shows all of his closest disciples finding their own and varied Ways after his death. Should we stay in touch with our Reiki teachers? Absolutely. Should we find our own Way? Absolutely. Are these things incompatible? Absolutely not. The spiritual teacher sets our feet on the path, but we are the ones who have to walk it.

Just for today, keep walking.

Mind and body drop away. February 5, 2014

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“All spiritual disciplines are done with a view to still the mind. The perfectly still mind is universal spirit.”
—Swami Ramdas

“Enlightenment is possible only in that one way—from the inside.”
—Tai Situ

“This is the core of the teachings, bringing our mind home to an untroubled state.”
—Frans Stiene

I was reminded of all this yesterday while watching one of my favorite movies, “Zen,” about the life of Dogen Zenji, the founder of the Soto Zen school. Though Dogen lived in Japan in the 13th century, his school remains the most widespread to this day. The movie is very moving and beautiful, and there’s a marvelous documentary at the end that interviews prominent Dogen scholars, including the master of calligraphy Kazuaki Tanahashi, and Soto Zen Roshis. Not to be missed!

But I digress. What sets Soto Zen apart? Soto Zen practitioners do zazen, seated meditation, but so do Rinzai Zen practitioners. But while the Rinzai school uses nonsensical riddles or sayings, koans, to try to break the student free from the iron grip of reason and into satori, enlightenment, Soto Zen doesn’t hurl itself against the cliffs of the mind.

Instead, like the wind, like rain, like time itself, it works quietly to erode those cliffs, with a technique called shikantaza. This literally means “just sitting.” You sit in meditation, not focusing your thoughts on anything, and sit, and sit, until “mind and body drop away,” as Dogen’s teacher told him. Until the mind is perfectly still, and the great lake that has so patiently lapped at its edges for so long finally carries it out and away into union with the All.

Just for today, watch “Zen.” You’ll be so glad you did.

Ghost busters. August 30, 2013

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“If you let your mind dwell on ghosts, you’ll become a ghost yourself.”—Sri Ramakrishna

“There are times when past mistakes swim into our vision and do their best to consume us in guilt or regret. At such times it is essential to turn all our attention outward, away from ourselves.”—Sri Eknath Easwaran, Words to Live By

I just spent a weekend at Dai Bosatsu Zendo, attending a Komyo Reiki Zen Retreat. A central part of the formal meals served at the Zendo is appeasing the “Hungry Ghosts” by setting aside a tiny portion of everyone’s food for them.

I believe this tradition comes from China, where Zen was born: Zen Master Rinzai, for whom Rinzai Zen was named, was himself Chinese, and Dogen Zenji studied and received enlightenment in China before returning to Japan to found Soto Zen. To this day, the Chinese celebrate a Hungry Ghosts festival around this time of year, where they not only provide food but “ghost money” and paper versions of TVs, laptops, iPods, and the like so the ghosts can enjoy a comfortable existence in the afterlife.

But for us, as Sri Eknath says, our ghosts tend to be the mistakes we’ve made and humiliations we’ve endured in the past. A dear friend recently told me how he’d been going into a meeting with someone he’d never met, whose name was Amos Ano. Coming out of his office, after ten minutes of reviewing the man’s name, my friend stuck out his hand and said in a hearty, welcoming tone, “Hello, Anus!”

I’m ashamed to say that I’m still laughing about this, but the upshot isn’t funny at all: After all these years, my friend still vividly remembers the incident. Just as I can vividly recall every humiliating, stupid thing I’ve ever done or said, whether it was twenty minutes or twenty years ago. And every time one of the incidents returns to mind, I berate myself for wasting yet more time on it.

The truth is that these incidents are bruising to our almighty ego, since that’s what they ultimately humiliate and diminish. If we have hurt someone else because of our crass, boorish, or thoughtless behavior, we certainly have a right to berate ourselves and try to learn from our mistakes. But then it’s time to move on. To continue to obsess over every little thing is simply to stoke our egos by assuming that our actions matter, that it matters if people think badly of us. Poor, poor, pitiful us!

The motto of Komyo Reiki is “Go placidly in the midst of praise or blame.” This gives us a way to set our egos aside, since it’s the ego that puffs up with pride when praised and puffs up with shame or outrage when blamed.

Just for today, be placid.

Zen, Dogen, and Komyo Reiki. June 14, 2013

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“What’s your favorite movie of all time?” my partner Rob asked me the other day. Of course, I didn’t know. I love many movies, from “Kagemusha,” “Mongol,” and the Flamenco “Carmen” to “The Usual Suspects,” “Blow Dry,” “The Full Monty,” “The Commitments,” the James Bond films, even “Conan the Barbarian.” Not to mention various adaptations of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” “Emma,” and “Persuasion.” Or historical series like “John Adams” and “The Tudors.” How could I possibly choose just one?

I didn’t give an answer, but in my secret heart, I wondered if the movie “Zen,” about the life of Dogen Zenji, founder of Soto Zen, might not really be my all-time favorite. Though the action is dramatic, often violent, and sometimes heartbreaking, the film as a whole is astonishing for its beauty and serenity. If you haven’t seen it, rent or buy it at once. I promise that your life will be changed for the better, and that, as a follower of the Reiki Way, your experience will be deepened.

Dogen’s focus was on enlightenment, satori. He found Zen as a path to enlightenment. He urged his students to continue sitting zazen to find the truth within themselves, beyond themselves. And it is in this truth that Dogen’s Zen and Komyo Reiki meet. Komyo Reiki, the Reiki of Enlightenment, helps those of us who follow the Reiki Way to find our highest good, our highest self. And, thanks to Komyo’s founder, Hyakuten Inamoto Sensei, and Thin Thin Lay, we have a unique opportunity to combine Reiki and Zen.

This August, Sensei will arrive from Japan to teach Komyo to Reiki Masters and teachers of all lineages at an amazing Zendo in upstate New York. You have to see the Dai Bosatsu Zendo—an exact replica of a mediaeval Japanese Zendo—for yourself to believe how amazing it is. For the Komyo retreat, you’ll not only study with Sensei, you’ll participate in zazen, Zen meditation, join in the magnificent Zen Kanzeon chant, and dine with the Zen community. It’s a marvelous opportunity to merge Zen and Reiki in a glorious weekend. If you believe that the point of Reiki is to become enlightened, it’s not to be missed.

To find out more, go to http://www.komyoreikiretreat.com/ and check out the details. If you sign up, I look forward to meeting you in August!

All content © copyright Red Dog Reiki. All rights reserved.

The vividness of life. June 5, 2012

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“Live the Self that fills the whole Universe.”

                    —Kodo Sawaki-roshi

“We constantly run around fantasizing about our dissatisfactions and irritations, which only results in the vividness of our lives being clouded over… By throwing our life force into our work, every situation literally comes to life and that in turn generates clarity and vividness. When the situation is full of life, we become more alive as a result. This means, then, that our life force has breathed a vividness into the situation.”

                     —Kosho Uchiyama-roshi, How to Cook Your Life 

Like me, some of you may still be grounded in the vividness of life even in today’s multitasking, media- and social-media-driven, stressed-out, fast-paced, unforgiving world. You may be grounded because the beauty and wonder of the world exerts a stronger pull than any superficial values. You may be grounded because you were lucky enough to be born knowing exactly who you are, and no amount of societal pressure has been able to shake your faith in the suchness of you as you are. In either case, you are likely to pull away from the siren calls of fame and fortune and surrender to the vividness of the now, of life as it is in every moment.

If, ironically, fame and fortune follow you because you know who you are and carry your life-enhancing vividness everywhere you go—in the West we call this charisma, in its truest sense—you are prepared to see it for what it’s worth: An opportunity for giving rather than self-aggrandizement, for helping others find what you’ve always had, the peace and security of being fully who you are amid the life of the glorious world. To be the self that fills the whole universe.

I just this morning finished reading How to Cook Your Life, Kosho Uchiyama-roshi’s commentary on Dogen Zenji’s 13th-century masterpiece, Instructions for the Zen Cook. Uchiyama-roshi was the student and Dharma Heir of Kodo Sawaki-roshi, whose wonderful quote begins this post. Uchiyama-roshi mentions in the text that he was born in a suburb of Tokyo at the end of the Meiji Period and was just 11 when the Great Kanto Earthquake leveled his family home.

If you recall your Reiki history, you know that it was this very earthquake, the deadliest in Japanese history, that established Mikao Usui’s reputation as a great healer and put Reiki on the map. The earthquake struck on September 1, 1923, leveling much of Tokyo,  Yokohama, and three surrounding prefectures, including Chiba prefecture.

Because Japanese houses were built of wood and paper and placed close together, people heated and cooked with fire, and the earthquake hit just at the lunch hour, fires quickly spread out of control and caused much more devastation than the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, resulting in as many as 142,800 deaths and untold injuries.

Here’s a little Reiki trivia for you that may help put this incident in context. The Usuis were a samurai family, related to the powerful Chiba clan. So when Chiba prefecture was decimated by the earthquake, Usui Founder had more than a generic compassionate reason for springing into action: These were his people who were suffering and dying. It is said that he treated thousands of earthquake victims with Reiki during this time, and gained enduring fame as a result. Because of this, Reiki survived and thrived as a healing school; because of this, each of us has been able to follow the Reiki Way that our Founder envisioned.

I of course have to wonder if it happened that Usui Founder treated a frightened 11-year-old boy and his family in the wake of the devastation, and if Reiki healing eventually led that boy to the path of Soto Zen, the Zen of Dogen Zenji, the Zen of living the Self that fills the whole universe, that can see the vividness of all life. I’d certainly like to think so.

Just for today, be true to your Self.

All original content © copyright Red Dog Reiki. All rights reserved.

Breath sweeps mind. May 5, 2012

Posted by ourfriendben in Reiki, Reiki Tips, Reiki wisdom.
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The Soto Zen master Shunryu Suzuki-roshi was nothing if not down to earth. In Not Always So (HarperOne, 2002), he gave the most cogent argument for why people should meditate that I’ve ever encountered, by comparing meditation to going to the bathroom. His point was that, when we go to the bathroom, we remove wastes from our bodies that would otherwise build up and become toxic. Likewise, when we meditate, we remove wastes from our mind that would otherwise build up and become toxic. Wow. What a perfect analogy!

In the Soto Zen tradition, people meditate by facing a wall and focusing on their breath. If this sounds easy, consider that they also have to sit in full lotus position, legs folded over each other, with their backs ramrod straight and their hands in a classic Indian mudra. For 40 minutes at a stretch. Zen literature is full of references to the pain this position causes. Not to mention the tension caused by the undeniable possibility that at any moment your teacher could come by and, out of nowhere, whack you with a stick! And I’m not even addressing the mental rigor of focusing on your breath, and only on your breath, for 40 straight minutes every morning. These people are true spiritual Samurai.

Fortunately, those of us on the Reiki path have another way to focus on the breath and clear our minds, without assuming a painful position or being hit with a stick. (Thank you, Usui Founder, and thank you for popularizing this technique, Hiroshi Doi-sensei!) It’s called Hado breathing, “ha” being the sound of exhalation, “do” being Japanese for way. Thus, Hado is the Way of Breathing, as Kendo is the Way of the Sword. Hado breathing is truly all you need to empty your mind and bring yourself fully into the present moment. As Jakusho Kwong-roshi so beautifully puts it, “Breath sweeps mind.” You simply can’t focus on your breathing and your superficial thoughts at the same time!

You can practice Hado breathing in any position you find yourself in—sitting, standing, lying down—and at any time. Though I wouldn’t recommend doing Hado in public, unless you’re doing it with a Reiki group where everyone’s doing it, simply because that “Haaaaaaa!!!!” exhalation could be quite startling and disconcerting to other people.

Hado is so simple, and so amazing. Try it right now, if you’ve never done it before, and see for yourself. Put yourself in a quiet place. Put your Reiki hands over your belly—power hand over your navel, healing hand over your hara (aka tanden, dantien, center of grounding), which you’ll find automatically by placing this hand under the other. This hand placement will allow you to feel your breath and keep your focus. And you automatically get a little Reiki self-healing as a bonus!

Now, feel your third eye, the point of enlightenment between and just above the eyebrows. Feel your nose, your windpipe, your lungs. Draw in a huge breath through your nose, feeling it as if it were also drawing through your third eye. Pull that breath way past your lungs into your belly, all the way down to your hara. Hold it there. Feel the stillness. When you’re ready, release all that air through your mouth with a long, sighing “Haaaaaaaaa!”  Continue breathing the “Haaaaaa” out until there’s no air left. Then rest in the stillness, the utter stillness, that this exhalation leaves behind.

When you’re ready, take another deep, deep Hado breath. Hold. Feel the stillness. Release, release completely: Haaaaaaaaa. Feel the stillness, the amazing, inconceivable stillness between breaths. Rest in the stillness. Find that amazing stillness after the last Hado breath. Linger there, then bring that awareness, that stillness, to every breath.

This is not a rigorous practice; you can begin with just 5 to 7 Hado breaths. If those are enough to “sweep your mind,” there is no need to ever go beyond them. If you find that you need more, add them slowly. Listen, feel, become the stillness after Haaaaaaaa. I like to do my Hado breathing after Reiki self-healing, often very early in the morning, while still lying in bed. (Mercifully, my partner Rob snores, so he wouldn’t be aware of a train crashing through our house, much less my Hado breathing.)  

Breathe, and rest in the cleansing power of breathing. Rest, too, in the cleansing power of going to the bathroom. Breath sweeps mind; bathroom sweeps body. Reiki sweeps everything.

Just for today, remember to keep breathing.

All content © copyright Red Dog Reiki. All rights reserved.