Japanese Precepts
When I found out about the letters exchanged between Saicho and Kukai, I was just blown away. Imagine two young monks, carefully chosen, to travel to China to study Buddhist teachings and to bring back the select texts to Japan. The year was 804! This is the beginning of a journey of friendship, hope, anticipation, collaboration and rivalry. One of the monks was Saicho, later to be the founder of Tendai School of Buddhism, the other was Kukai, the founder of Shingon school of Buddhism. Even though the storm separated their ships and they each went their own separate ways in China, the passion and dedication of these two men, unknowingly, impacted the history of religion in Japan and in some subtle ways our practice as Reiki practitioners.
Lately, there has been some discussion in the Reiki community questioning whether the founder of the system, Mikao Usui, actually taught the DKM mantra/symbol in the system of Reiki. DKM is encountered in the system’s final teachings of Shinpiden Reiki Level III. Most Reiki practitioners know of DKM through the teachings of Mrs Takata who, in the late 1930s, brought the system from Japan to the West. Mrs Takata taught the DKM mantra/symbol as the last of the system’s four mantras and symbols. Those questioning the DKM’s origins stem from the lineage of Mrs Yamaguchi.
Reiki is a great teacher and its simplicity means to me that I can just get on with the practice and let it sink deeper and deeper within, rather than getting lost in lots of books trying to figure it out with my mind/ego. Then, I had the chance to re-sit my Shinpiden with Frans. As with most things it happened at just the right time. I was now a peach ripe enough to hear what Frans had to say (the analogy belongs to Frans).
As a practitioner of both Yoga and the system of Reiki, people often ask me how Yoga and the system of Reiki relate to each other. I see them both as paths of self improvement that lead to “self realization”. Practiced together, they can support each other and lead the practitioner to the ultimate goal, “self-realization” or being “Great Bright Light”.
In last week’s blog we began an in-depth look at the precept; show compassion to yourself and others. Today we want to have a look at yet another layer of this precept which is often not discussed in Reiki classes.
What a great response to our last question about the Reiki precepts, so many interesting and tasty answers. One thing which is becoming clear is that many say that the precepts are one of the most, if not THE most, important element within the system of Reiki. When we speak of elements, we are discussing the five main elements to the system of Reiki.
In one way or another in all Reiki courses the precepts are taught or shown.
